# Best metal songs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 25, 2017, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-metal-songs/799856 "2017-10-25T23:44:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-metal-songs/799856/1 "2017-10-25T23:44:31Z")
I’m pretty much open to all kinds of metal here, so you decide what you want to include. Please include links to the song if they are available online. Youtube is huge for this. I recommend including only one per artist, too. Keeps things diverse. My top 5 are probably: 1. [Roots Bloody Roots - Sepultura](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_6IjeprfEs) - The greatest metal song from the greatest metal album(Roots) of all time. Bonus: [Check out Soulfly’s live version, the best performance of this song.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEZwA9i-XzM&list=RDHEZwA9i-XzM) Of course, Soulfly is, I think, 50% Sepultura these days. 1. [I Want My Tears Back Now - Nightwish](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fV2C9_MAJ0E) - See? I’ll count anything. This is a soft song for Nightwish, but it’s still metal to me. I have fond memories of dancing around with my little daughter and wife to this when it was new. 1. [One - Metallica](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM8bTdBs-cw) - The last time they showed any genius was around this time. They were still good after this, but it faded into mediocrity and just playing the classics. What would you include? Note: I’m going to cheat to include a 2017 song. However, it is from the current, drastically different line-up of Sepultura. It’s just one dude left, I think, at this point. However: [Phantom Self - Sepultura](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0mDeaivvi8) The best metal song I’ve heard in years. ---
**Author:** ![Plumpudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Plumpudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plumpudding)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-metal-songs/799856/2 "2017-10-25T23:54:43Z")
[KILL - SLO (+one more, kinda)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ss2vTIcb7uc) Rythmjunkie. ---
**Author:** ![Plumpudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Plumpudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plumpudding)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-metal-songs/799856/3 "2017-10-25T23:58:17Z")
Otherwise, [this one…](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDc5sHQWhbc) ---
**Author:** ![str8cashhomie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7cd45c/32.png) [@str8cashhomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/str8cashhomie)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-metal-songs/799856/4 "2017-10-26T00:59:51Z")
Rammstein - Sehnsucht: [Rammstein - Sehnsucht - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trBOVUv8g3o) ---
**Author:** ![somepumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@somepumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/somepumpkin)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-metal-songs/799856/5 "2017-10-26T02:24:19Z")
[Pantera. “Cemetery Gates”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OYw7FPB7CE) ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-metal-songs/799856/6 "2017-10-26T05:53:49Z")
Give me the classics. [Black Sabbath - Paranoid](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cen1SvpTsYk) ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-metal-songs/799856/7 "2017-10-26T06:09:49Z")
Well, I love, live and breathe the Melvins, and I honestly can’t think of a more metal band. [Sweet Willy Rollbar](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aO1XycAcNiM), [Honey Bucket](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2sez21Cyyo), and [Night Goat](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c6ewxDPMZA) are sweet, tasty short classics that they still play live. For longer, more epic songs, I’ll refer you to [The Decay of Lying](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_976M77YDU) for a taste of what they’ve put out in the last two decades (or last year, evennnn). But if you have the gumption to listen to _heavy_ metal and 18 minutes to spare and pay attention, there’s no real substitute for the perfection of [Hung Bunny/Roman Bird Dog](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zvg8hEhTmE4). Yes, by the nomenclature, that’s technically two songs. But as I said in another thread, the whole album’s one track, with no song titles. I’ve never heard them play those compositions separately, and there’s a nice fade out at that point, so I call it a song. I still listen to a lot of other slower or more de-tuned metal, but that is the standard I hold that stuff to. I may have heard a few tunes that approach it, but I still haven’t heard anything that honestly sounds heavier in my opinion. Oh, and also [Premenstrual Princess Blues](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCIbGsToGgU) and [March of the S.O.D./Sergeant D.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZSTfGIoPLc) (oooh those S.O.D. links seem to be short lived). Sooo metal, still so good, still so ignorant and silly in the way that music should dare to be. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-metal-songs/799856/8 "2017-10-26T10:21:35Z")
As I have stated probably too many times on the dope, when I need an injection of pure metal ;), I have found I go to **Just One Fix by Ministry**. I need that relentlessness, I guess. And I love the ghosty-sounding pre-echo vocals. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-metal-songs/799856/9 "2017-10-26T11:32:41Z")
Some good picks here. I’m a huge fan of the big 4 so I’ll go with some classics [Megadeth - Wake up Dead](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kSvN1dQjxc) [Anthrax - Caught in a Mosh](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlLn0UicWrM) [Metallica - Master of Puppets](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kV-2Q8QtCY4) [Slayer - Raining Blood](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDk6fvkEp2k) I played in an Iron Maiden cover band for a few years so I suppose I’d nominate [Rime of the Ancient Mariner](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AmrIydnXIs) since it’s really is their magnus opus. Such a great showpiece of their songwriting and musical style. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-metal-songs/799856/10 "2017-10-26T11:54:21Z")
Hard to pick one because I think the album should be taken as a whole but I’ll say Queensryche, Eyes of a Stranger. ---
**Author:** ![HumanMonkeyGod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c67d28/32.png) [@HumanMonkeyGod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HumanMonkeyGod)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-metal-songs/799856/11 "2017-10-26T11:56:37Z")
Anthrax - Only [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/-ReM4uzP7VI/maxresdefault.jpg "Anthrax - Only") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ReM4uzP7VI) Megadeth - Hangar 18 [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/B-oU2xlViRQ/maxresdefault.jpg "Megadeth - Hangar 18 (HD)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-oU2xlViRQ) ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-metal-songs/799856/12 "2017-10-26T12:05:47Z")
Master of Puppets is, what, a blueprint? for so much that came after it. Love Megadeth’s whole Rust in Peace album. Tornado of Souls\*, baby. \*could there BE a cooler song name to a 16yo? Pantera has the two best metal album names - Far Beyond Driven and the hilariously perfect A Vulgar Display of Power - but Tornado of Souls is an equally cool song title. I was such a UFO guy - their live Strangers in the Night album was played incessantly as I faked my way through Michael Schenker licks. They almost feel more hard rock than metal, but since they are considered NWOBHM alongside Maiden, I’ll namecheck them here. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-metal-songs/799856/13 "2017-10-26T12:30:07Z")
If Industrial/NoWave counts (as indicated by the Rammstein and Ministry refs above), then: [Morpheus Laughing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tBCGD3ZmGg) by Skinny Puppy [Longue Route](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdJH8q5c1k8) by Young Gods [Raping a Slave](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJXtHMBFWmI) by Swans [Z.N.S.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IL0r8tNnmMQ) by Einsturzende Neubauten I personally prefer that type of thing over metal of the fretwankery ilk. Although I do like a good headbang to _Paranoid_ or _One_ on the dancefloor. ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-metal-songs/799856/14 "2017-10-26T12:48:46Z")
These two: > [@Sparky812](#): > > [Megadeth - Wake up Dead](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kSvN1dQjxc) > [Slayer - Raining Blood](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDk6fvkEp2k) Plus (warning : almost exclusively 80s) [Testament - Do or Die](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv-yoWqr988) [Morbid Angel - Visions from the Dark Side](http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW-Zur-LcL8) [Anthrax - I Am the Law](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3ta5ahB-6w)\* [Metallica - Creeping Death](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO_84C3fpuI) [Sepultura - Beneath the Remains](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSv3-1taUTg) [Tool - Schism](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhjG47gtMCo) [Trust - Antisocial](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfD8Dnh2xho) \*My favourite Anthrax song is _I’m the Man_ but it’s not really metal. It’s great, immature fun, though. ---
**Author:** ![SykoSkotty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@SykoSkotty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SykoSkotty)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-metal-songs/799856/15 "2017-10-26T14:45:54Z")
Pantera has TONS of great metal songs. I’ve loved a huge amount of metal over the years but I always find myself going back to Pantera. That “groove metal” thing they did always hits me in all the right places. [FIVE MINUTES ALONE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m7njvwB-Ks) ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-metal-songs/799856/16 "2017-10-26T15:17:36Z")
Five just off the top of my head: Iron Maiden - [Hallowed Be Thy Name](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J51LPlP-s9o) Classic epic Maiden, practically an instrumental, and one of the greatest metal songs ever produced by anyone. Life of Agony - [Bad Seed](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3yA6CKJvOI) One of the most overlooked and underrated bands of their era. Judas Priest - [You’ve Got Another Thing Coming](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOk0mkwnmZQ) Classic. Alice in Chains - [It Ain’t Like That](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv9rtr_aAr0) They got categorized “grunge” just because of where they were from, but they were metal, they were _always_ metal, they were never anything besides metal. Megadeth - [Five Magics](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIRWEFxdNmU) Other tracks on this GREAT album get a lot of attention, but IMO this is the masterpiece. The final minute is total metal mayhem. . ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-metal-songs/799856/17 "2017-10-26T15:36:13Z")
I’ll restrict myself to only 2017 stuff; here’s 9 tracks: [Power Trip - Waiting Around To Die](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2qnk1qGSKQ) (thrash) [Less Art - Pessimism As Denial](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgGU55KukqE) (post-hardcore) [King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard - Rattlesnake](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-i1XZc8ZwA) (okay, more psychedelic rock, but these guys have played Roadburn, so they’re metal enough) [Kalopsia - Not Peace But Pestilence](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKwMILrJ6Vo) (grindcore) [Half Gramme Of Soma - Doofie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdq8HZtzjIg) (stoner rock) [Employed To Serve - Void Ambition](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGVN9esnvtY) (hardcore/math) [Dyscarnate - Iron Strengthens Iron](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Lrjiqph1PE) (death/groove) [Bantha Rider - Sarlacc’s Pit](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9SraWlBPuk) (stoner/doom) And last, and most importantly and happily, I am very, very happy to share, after a nearly 20 year absence, the return and new incarnation of one of my all-time favorite bands: [Iron Monkey - 9-13](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JH0os_xukQ) ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-metal-songs/799856/18 "2017-10-26T15:43:14Z")
[Electric Wizard - Devil’s Bride](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDUGHaSZM3s) So very heavy. This isn’t even their heaviest. [Pantera - Cowboys from Hell](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i97OkCXwotE) Gotta love the energy of this band [Rage Against the Machine - Bulls on Parade](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3L4YrGaR8E4) They’re pissed about something, and it’s infectious [Mercyful Fate - Evil](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWqBm28ZKeE) Gotta love King Diamond [Metallica - For Whom the Bell Tolls](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeqGuaAl6Ic) Love em or hate em, Metallica still has some epic riffs ---
**Author:** ![Clawdio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d07c76/32.png) [@Clawdio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clawdio)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-metal-songs/799856/19 "2017-10-26T16:28:00Z")
Architects - “Broken Cross” is a good one. [Architects - "Broken Cross" - YouTube](https://youtu.be/V_kjf2J7Als) ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-metal-songs/799856/20 "2017-10-26T23:38:56Z")
Kamelot deserves more mentions than they have gotten on here. Even I forgot them in the opening post. [Rule the World - Kamelot](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJeqUW-T5hE) Great song from a vastly underrated band. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-metal-songs/799856.md?page=2)