I rarely listen to heavy metal anymore. I have to be in a certain mood for it. The wife has to be elsewhere. Neighbors at work. Then, I can crank it up. 
Favorite Group Black Sabbath War Pigs
The air raid sirens get me every time.
Honorable mention Molly Hatchet Flirtin’ With Disaster
When you’re in the mood- what’s your go to metal band?
Black Sabbath, with the Ozzy, Dio, and if I’m in the right mood Gillan lineups. I don’t have a favorite song, but the albums I’ve listened to the most over the years are *Sabbath Bloody Sabbath *and Technical Ecstasy. I also like much, but not all, of the music Rob Halford has done. I still listen to those old Judas Priest albums sometimes, and I really liked Fight. Other bands that spring immediately to mind include Motörhead, Bruce Dickinson’s solo stuff, the Genitorturers, and Marilyn Manson. There are hundreds of good metal bands out there (among thousands of bad ones), but like aceplace57, Black Sabbath is my favorite among the metal genre(s).
Definitely War Pigs for my favorite metal song. As for my favorite metal band - it’s hard to say. Honestly, I can’t say Sabbath, because on balance, they’ve been going downhill for the latter half of their career.
I do quite like most of the Slipknot stuff I’ve heard, but I haven’t heard much. Maybe Judas Priest?
After reading Gil-Martin’s post, I’ve realized I forgot Lemmy & crew - my favorite metal band has to be Motörhead, if only because they bridged dirty 70s punk and metal in a completely awesome way. Hell, they even had a song called R.A.M.O.N.E.S. - that’s just kickass.
And they’ve stayed relatively consistent over the years without getting pretentious or fancy-pants - you always know when you’re hearing Motörhead.
Slayer for sure. Reign in Blood and South of Heaven are two great albums.
I love Priest and Black Sabbath as mentioned, Megadeath, I hate to say it but Justice for All is an amazing album. Right when I wanted to hate them the most they had to ruin it by putting out a masterpiece. Kill em’ All is still a great listening album.
I Am also slightly embarrassed to say to say I have a child like love for the album “to fast for love”.
Appitite for Destruction is like lightning in a bottle. What an amazing album.
I know you asks for songs but I listen to some of these albums as a single song.
It’s a toss up between Nightwish, Blind Guardian, Iron Maiden and Rammstein. I listen to all of them about as much (and more often than other metal bands), but it really depends on the mood.
I listen to other metal bands, of course (most notably: waking up to Annihilator’sKing of the Killcan not be matched), but them’s the big four.
I think this is one of the best rock albums of all time.
Fav group: SLAYER!
Fav song: Ace Of Spades by Motörhead (the 2nd best rock song ever written)
Paranoid by Black Sabbath is right up there, but what gets the most play around here when my wife isn’t around is Through the Fire and Flames by Dragonforce.
No love for the Mighty Zep?
I particularly love to drive on the freeway with Humble Pie - Rockin The Filmore on full blast.
Something by Queensryche, please don’t make me pick just one?
Does Alice Cooper count as heavy metal? If so, I pick the whole album Billion Dollar Babies. By far his best.
I HATE Zep. I’d rather pound my nuts flat with a wooden hammer than listen to Robert Plant.
That said, my favorite heavy metal group is Queensryche. Can’t name a particular heavy metal song as a favorite, though.
Dio, Black Sabbath, AC/DC. Ain’t gonna pick songs. Too much good stuff for each one.
Hopefully that will prompt someone to check out some Queensryche
War Pigs is the very first song that comes to mind. The Flaming Lips do a mean version…they have a cool habit of covering songs of their favorite bands.
Black Sabbath and Motorhead are definitely in the top 5, with honorable mention going to Monster Magnet. I love their heavy, stoner vibe.
Just off the top of my iPod list:
1/ Motorhead - Emergency (There’s another version where Lemmy sings a duet with Girlschool and they do a damn good job of it). It has the air raid sirens as well. I think Lemmy had a strong influence in the success and marketing of Girlschool.
2/ Iron Maiden - Hallowed Be Thy Name. Great work. And a beauty live. Bruce really helped this band graduate from small halls to a legend of arena rock and future success.
3/ Queensryche - Not that they’re slacking, but rather as mentioned above, they’re one of the best of the 90’s. If I have to pick one, I’d go with “I’m American” from Operation: Mindcrime II.
And an honorable mention to Guns ‘N’ Roses - Nighttrain.
I miss the Metal Years. ::sigh::
Queensryche here, too. So many good songs, but if forced I’d have to pick “Eyes of a Stranger.” The e-minor variations are brain-crushing…
I don’t think you can call Molly Hatchet metal. It’s southern rock in my mind.