All times greatest metal songs
This is my ultimate, but never complete, list of greatest metal songs I have learned to love since the late 70's. The order is non-hierarchical, every band and song mentioned deserves credits and attention. I hope you'll enjoy. |
| 1 |  | Opeth
Blackwater Park
The Drapery Falls
A melancholy masterpiece blending subtle sections with harsh, but beautiful melodies. |
| 2 |  | Rainbow
Rising
Stargazer
Classic composition, the culmination of talents such as Ronnie James Dio and Cozy Powell. Ritchie Blackmore -my personal favourite guitar player- delivers one of his most memorable solos. EPIC in capitals. |
| 3 |  | Pantera
Cowboys from Hell
Cemetery Gates
Forget the ridiculous album title and sink into one of the most emotionally overwhelming pieces of metal ever. |
| 4 |  | Warlord
Deliver Us
Winter Tears
A beautiful, woeful song that almost moves me to tears. This really is a band for metal connoisseurs who can appreciate subtlety, emotion and melody. |
| 5 |  | Metallica
Ride The Lightning
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Does this song need any introduction or explanation? A thrash classic. |
| 6 |  | Demon
The Unexpected Guest
The Grand Illusion
Sabbath-esque song from this strange, intriguing NWOBHM band. |
| 7 | | Ostrogoth
Full Moon's Eyes (ep)
Hailing from Belgium, Ostrogoth debuted in 1983 with this astonishing ep. The title track combines strong guitar melodies with vocal agression and speed. |
| 8 |  | Riot
Narita
Narita (instrumental)
This melodious, straightforward, yet enchanting instrumental has the X-factor that lifts it above the average. |
| 9 |  | Raven
Wiped Out
To the limit, to the top
This song from the 'Crazy Chaos Trinity' Raven takes you to the limits of 80's metal. A very well structured piece of over the top blasting metal with blues and jazz ingredients. |
| 10 |  | Accept
Restless and Wild
Fast as a Shark
High speed proto-thrash from Germany. The intro is incredible, the melody unforgettable. But above all: the neo-classical catchy guitar solo is overpowering. This is one of the seminal thrash metal anthems. |
| 11 |  | Kreator
Pleasure to Kill
Pleasure to Kill
A pleasure to hear, this brutal, raw assault loaded with machine gun drumming and furious vocals. It leaves you comfortably crushed. |
| 12 |  | Praying Mantis
Forever in Time
Wasted Years
Written in the margins of the NWOBHM this ears-friendly, melodic and passionate song has it all. Noteworthy are the twin guitar arrangements. |
| 13 |  | Judas Priest
British Steel
Steeler
The most energetic and mean song on the famous 1980 album. |
| 14 |  | Alcatrazz
No Parole from Rock 'n' Roll
Kree Nakoorie
Extraordinary metal song, combining the hot-blooded voice of Graham Bonnet with the otherworldly playing style of Malmsteen. But the multilayered oriental melody 'does the trick'. This is an all time highlight. |
| 15 |  | Fight
War Of Words
Immortal Sin
Halford's throaty voice over heavy, lapidary, doomy and lazy bulldozer riffing: that's what distinguishes this song. |
| 16 |  | Led Zeppelin
Physical Graffiti
Kashmir
The primordial, classic example of marriage between hard rock and oriental music. |
| 17 |  | Yngwie Malmsteen
Magnum Opus
Vengeance
Malmsteen is at his best when controlled and regulated by demands like melody, structure, teamwork, functionality. Like in this awesome song. |
| 18 |  | Atomic Rooster
Atomic Roooster
Do You know who's Looking for You
Nice hard rocking song from prog rockers Atomic Rooster. |
| 19 |  | Annihilator
Never, Neverland
Sixes and Sevens
Not only guitar player Jeff Waters at his best in this piece, but also a main role for the desperate vocals. |
| 20 |  | Amorphis
Elegy
Cares
Crazy song combining death growls with Finnish folk music and even dance, but with such mastery that we can forgive. |
| 21 |  | Budgie
Never Turn Your Back on a Friend
Breadfan
1973 progressive epic that inspired not only Metallica, but a whole generation of metal musicians. Recognizable from the first few notes. |
| 22 |  | Burzum
Hvis lyset tar oss
Det Som Engang Var
The most haunting, desolate piece of music ever produced. Plaining cries, grandiose synths and creepy repetition create a malicious atmospheric masterpiece. |
| 23 |  | Manowar
Gods of War
Hymn of the Immortal Warriors
The Gods of cheesiness created this immortal poem and I kneel down in admiration, for it is a superb battle song. |
| 24 |  | Van Halen
Van Halen II
Light up the Sky
Nice, quite heavy, up tempo rocker from the sunny side of life, including a magnificent solo by Edward. |
| 25 |  | Falkenbach
Ok Nefna Tysvar Ty
Vanadis
Almost 10 minutes of enthralling, saturnine Viking/Folk metal. Gorgeous melodies alternating hoarse vocals. Very very atmospheric. |
| 26 |  | Drudkh
Blood In Our Wells
Furrow of Gods
Creating a sorrowful and agressive ambiance with harsh vocals and twin guitar melodies, this lingering black metal composition drags you into realms of evil beauty. |
| 27 |  | Angel Dust
Bleed
Addicted to Serenity
Everything in this song is perfect. The ingredients: epic vocals, divine melodies, powerful energy, splendid song writing and a lot of X-factor. |
| 28 |  | Sepultura
Machine Messiah
Phantom Self
Impressive modern thrash song. Rhythmically complex, tight composition characterized by interplay of pleasingly oriental tones. |
| 29 |  | Celtic Frost
To Mega Therion
Circle of the Tyrants
After more than 30 years still an impressive sonic attack of the Swiss masters of extreme metal. This thunderous song smells dirty, nasty and angry, supported by the indifferent vocal style of Tom Warrior. |
| 30 |  | Mercyful Fate
Mercyful Fate
Nuns have no Fun
An early MF song drenched in an over the top vile, blasphemic atmosphere, but irresistably attractive because of great musicianship of both Diamond and Shermann. |
| 31 | | Killer
Wall of Sound
Kleptomania
The Belgian variant of Motorhead showcasing their sense of enticing songwriting in this simple, energetic and entertaining song. 'We are Killer...and we play rock 'n roll'. |
| 32 |  | Saxon
Strong Arm of the Law
Heavy Metal Thunder
Although to my ears Saxon is too plain and elementary and the vocals quite monotonous...this classic NWOBHM with it's 'Black Sabbath'-intro and vigorous riff is outstanding. It defines everything the genre stands for. |
| 33 |  | Immortal
Sons of Northern Darkness
One by One
Don't let the image of the band distract you: this is a relentless black metal blast, but with melody and variety |
| 34 |  | Darkthrone
A Blaze in the Northern Sky
Kathaarian Life Code
Maybe Satyricons cover of this evil mesmerizing song is even better, but I give Darkthrone the credits for writing a song so simple, yet overmastering. |
| 35 |  | Cattle Decapitation
Monolith of Inhumanity
A Living, Breathing Piece of Defecating Meat
Very brutal, misanthropic piece of grindcore. The surprising melodious parts, the rabid vocals and technical tight playing style contribute to the greatness. |
| 36 |  | Carcass
Heartwork
Heartwork
Impressive, well constructed and melodious song from the godfathers of extreme metal. |
| 37 |  | Exodus
Bonded by Blood
Bonded by Blood
The primitiveity, the power, the speed, the rawness, the shrieks, the legacy. |
| 38 |  | Machine Head
Unto the Locust
The Locust
This heavy droning song has it's moments of brutal power but is not without subtlety and melody. |
| 39 |  | Dio
The Last in Line
Last in Line
Nice guitar performance and of course very good song writing by Dio himself. The song floats between Black Sabbath and Rainbow, but still has it's own feel. |
| 40 |  | Michael Schenker Group
The Michael Schenker Group
Into the Arena
Schenker belongs to the most gifted, and still a bit underrated, guitar players in the rock scene. This instrumental from 1980 is classic: the integration of the instruments, the beautiful composition and the appealing guitar sound (lot of wah wah) create a masterpiece. |
| 41 |  | Y&T
Earthshaker
I believe in You
Power ballad from 1981 with incredibly emotional guitars and powerful vocals, working towards unforgettable climax. |
| 42 |  | Anvil
Forged in Fire
Winged Assassins
Good intentions are everywhere, but low production, husky vocals and cheesy lyrics can kill 'em all. Winged Assassins is a good song (anti war lyrics, speed, intelligent composition), but maybe Megadeth should perform and improve it! |
| 43 |  | Marty Friedman
Scenes
Valley of Eternity
the former Megadeth guitar player shows his versatility in this dreamlike, orientally spiced instrumental piece. Beautifully layered melodies and intricate song writing. |
| 44 |  | Venom
Black Metal
Black Metal
The most brutal, scary and ludicrous music one could get back in 1982. Still the piss off punk attitude, the crudeness and exorbitant satanic lyrics kick you in the face. Great Fun! |
| 45 | | H-Bomb
Coup de Metal
Coup de Metal
Lesser known French band H Bomb from the early 80's released satisfying ep with the title song as a standout. |
| 46 | | Sortilege
Larmes de Heros
d'Ailleurs
The most famous song from a French metal band. Unintelligible lyrics don't derogate the appetite: the energetic drive, twin guitar harmonies and talented vocals are ravishing. |
| 47 |  | Queensryche
The Warning
Sanctuary
In my opinion the 'distant' or 'faded' production destroyed this album and this song. Sanctuary is an intricate, ingenious, undulating prog rock classic with delicate vocals and nice harmonies that deserves a much richer, more powerful production. But the song remains...excellent. |
| 48 |  | Sacred Reich
Ignorance
Surf Nicaragua
Sarcastic anti-American imperialism song with a political punky attitude, but the heavy riffs and machine gun drumming in the impressive middle section belong truly to the thrash genre. |
| 50 |  | The 3rd and the Mortal
Tears Laid in Earth
Why so Lonely
Mournful and melancholic doom song. The singular, crystal clear voice of Kari Rueslatten is almost otherworldly. |
| 51 |  | Samael
Ceremony Of Opposites
Ceremony of Opposites
Heavy and lingering, simple yet convincing, evil and ominous track by the Swiss investigators of Black and Doom. |
| 52 |  | Jason Becker
Perpetual Burn
Altitudes
Not only one of the most sympathetic guitarists around and the most unfortunately stricken, but also one of the most gifted. Mixing ultra fast shredding arpeggios and riffs with a good sense of melody, structure and composition. This instrumental track resumes his talents and genius. |
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