100 Favorite Metal Songs - Part Five

20.  Blackened - Metallica

Almost every song that opens every album in the top ten of my 100 favorite metal albums list is on THIS list.  Which brings us to "Blackened".  For years before I stumbled on a version of ...And Justice for All that actually features bass, I had no problem ignoring the daft production.  That is because the drums finally do not have that reverberated 80s treatment, (and anything that makes Lars sound better = a good thing), but also because these jams are the best batch in Metallica's songbook.  "Blackened" is the only song that Jason Newsted got credit on and go him.  Tight and complex as the rest of the album, but trashier than everything except "Dyers Eve", this is just about as good as Metallica ever got.

19.  Dying - Obituary

Superb Scott Burns production and one of the best death metal albums ever made, Obituary's sophomore effort Cause of Death naturally features the band's finest song as well, the almost instrumental "Dying".  There are only four lines in this song and they do not come in until almost the end.  Also meaning of course that they come after killer riffs for days, including one of the dumbest and greatest chunk breakdowns in history.  I bought this album almost solely because of this song and had previously no idea who Obituary was, as I was an overall noob to death metal.  Having acquired most of their albums since and generally always liking what I heard, (this is their third entry on my list after all), my ears are still most pleased by "Dying".

18.  Blood and Thunder - Mastodon

There seems to be a three-brilliant-album streak rule with many a metal band.  Remission was solid enough of a debut for Atlanta's Mastodon, but Leviathan, Blood Mountain, and especially Crack the Skye just bring the house down.  Skye is great for being a prog masterpiece far above a metal one, and I could have easily picked something out from Mountain for inclusion here even though more oddball melodies and classic rock influences were creeping in amongst the progginess.  Yet "Blood and Thunder", (again an album opener), belongs on this list, toweringly so above all other Mastodon cuts.  This opening riff is slamming as hell and as usual, Brann Dailor cannot at all control his drum-fill-gasms, making the whole song sound like an unhinged beast.  Also, Clutch's incredibly likable Neil Fallon is on it, lest us forget.

17.  Blinded By Fear - At the Gates

More album openers still, this one stemming from the best metal album of any kind, At the Gate's Slaughter of the Soul.  "Blinded By Fear" remains the most covered ATG song, as it should.  This was yet another one that my first death metal band learned and another band that I am friends with also performed it live on an occasion or two.  So we did our part and contributed to the "most covered" record.  I first heard about this album in a Guitar Player magazine article from the late 90s which listed it as essential death metal to get.  Twenty years later, it is just as essential.  Every song on it could make any metal songs list and it would be perfectly fitting.  "Fear" was crafted by the band as the ultimate album opener, and success by leaps and bounds did they achieve.  If you do not like this song, go sit in the corner.

16.  Dechristianize - Vital Remains

Thanks to Vital Remains, I can no longer hear the most epic piece of music ever composed, (Carl Orff's "O Fortuna"), without thinking about killing Christians.  These guys are both brilliant and assholes for starting Dechristianize off with that before I got a chance to with one of my albums in one of my own bands.  Said Excalibur theme leading into Glen Benton proclaiming "Let the killing...begin!" and then of course the nearly nine minute piece of genius that is the title track was one of the greatest things I ever heard then and now.  My old guitar player picked this album up, said it was the best death metal made, and then played me this song.  At which point I came in my pants.  Everything here works from the brutal as spiked-balls riffs, to the fastest blast beats possibly committed to record, to the no bullshit, best guitar harmony of all the times.

15.  Summoning Redemption - Morbid Angel

Speaking of blasphemous excellence, let us have some Morbid Angel!  The letter G ended up being the last great MA album at this writing, as Heretic is flawed as shit and Illud Divinum Insanus, well, let us not even go there.  Eric Rutan was back on Gateways to Annihilation, Steve Tucker was throwing down most of the lyrics, Pete Sandoval's drum sound was triggered garbage, and the overall style of the music was more sluggish and oozing.  "Summoning Redemption" features all of these things as well as arguably the best extreme metal vocal performance there is by Tucker.  This song is just evil incarnate.  That main riff is demon summoning and Tucker's deity-defying "demand to know the light of the promised land" gets me growling along every time.

14.  Bitter Peace - Slayer

Leave it to Jeff Hanneman to, (sans one song), singlehandedly write the greatest Slayer album.  I know that only me and my former bandmates in my first death metal band think this but still, fuck ya'all, Diabolus in Musica is Slayer's masterpiece.  Rather than do what they had been doing since Christ Illusion, (trying to recapture older glory), Slayer cira-1998 was experimenting with their well defined style.  Hanneman wanted to change up his writing, and Diabolus ended up being the band's stab at groove metal, though with some of the most intricate arrangements in Slayer history.  Even if you are not a fan of the world's greatest thrash band making dem asses shake as well as banging heads, you need your hearing checked to not like "Bitter Peace".  The opening riff is infectious and it is overall just a brilliant piece, (Get it?), of songwriting.

13.  Tornado of Souls - Megadeth

There are few finer riffs in all of metal than the ones in "Tornado of Souls".  Furthermore and once again, the breakdown here is just as good as music gets.  It is one of those "Everybody just shut up and headbang" moments when it comes on in a room with a group of people, or if it is just you in your car.  Rust In Peace is hard if at all to top in album form when it comes to both metal and shredding and shit, just pick your poison far as songs go.  I have another one on the way, so that shows you right there how at least THIS metalhead digs the Dave Mustaine excellence.  There is a reason that the two Daves, Nick Menza, and Marty Friedman are still regarded as the golden line-up of Megadeth.  Listen to this breakdown and just try not to bow down.

12.  One By One - Immortal

I picked up Sons of Northern Darkness on the blind after hearing the name "Immortal" thrown around a few times.  They looked like an evil version of Kiss with axes on the cover, so I was in.  Then I played this in my car on the way to work, (in winter mind you, which is the ideal time to listen to anything black metal related, FYI), and needless to say, it woke me up.  Rarely have I bought something that I had never heard and been so impressed, metal or not.  "One By One" was the song that jolted me to life that random morning at 3 AM and I love it as much now if not more.  Every riff in this song just keeps getting better, plus the production is astounding.  Horgh's drums in particular sound gargantuan.  It is on the short list as one of the heaviest songs of all time and easily Immortal's best.

11.  Immortally Insane - Pantera

Years as a Pantera fan, (to the point of them arguably being my favorite metal band), it is ludicrous that I did not know that "Immortally Insane" existed until about maybe five years ago.  It showed up originally on the Heavy Metal 2000 soundtrack which was both a soundtrack and movie that I completely ignored.  I was and remain an album guy, so b-sides and whatnot usually allude me for a spell, case in point here.  Yet alas, when my brother stumbled upon this and sent it to me by saying "This is the greatest Pantera riff of all time", I was needless to say intrigued, and ultimately, he was right.  Clearly the band themselves knew this, as almost the entire song is that same riff played over and over again.  Because really, how can you fuck with this?  Dimebag is almost Tony Iommi in the riff department, exhibit A right goddamn here son.

10.  One - Metallica

As much of a cliche it may be to consider "One" the best Metallica song, I care not.  The best track from the band's best album has always held that distinction for me, as well as many others.  I am one of those Metallica fans that actually likes (The Black Album) and will make no apologies for doing so, but I also agree with most metalhead friends of mine that everything else that they have done since is garbage.  "One" on the other hand sure as hell is not.  A ballad up until the metal-fied end that Lars cannot play live anymore is worthy of all the praise, but the entire song as a whole shows off what Metallica was always best at, which was excellent arrangements.  "One" builds as good if not better than most epics ever have.

9.  Slaughter of the Soul - At the Gates

When At the Gates reunited and went on tour, they opened their set with the title track from the metal album that will never be topped, Slaughter of the Soul.  Cue me standing elbow to elbow with a bunch of other smelly, white metalhead males proceeding to lose our goddamn minds.  I hardly remember actually WATCHING this band live as I was far too busy headbanging and screaming along.  "Slaughter" is the ultimate ATG song and perfectly encapsulates why this is the best extreme metal album of all time.  Every riff destroys, Tomas Lindberg rips his vocal chords, the breakdown is ridiculously awesome, the production is flawless, and it is heavy as a sack of heavy things.  The best stuff to ever come out of Sweden right here.

8. Sothis - Vader

I think that the only death metal album which my brother bought before I did was Vader's Live In Japan.  This is double odd since both of us almost always ignore live albums to begin with and my brother is hardly a huge death metal head.  "Sothis" was the first track after the intro on said live album and after one riff in, come on now, how could you not be hooked?  This is arguably the best DM song of all time and there are few examples of a song whose numerous riffs are so relentlessly headbanging.  Poland's Vader have always been excellent anyway, and "Sothis" originally stemmed from their second album De Profundis, which you guessed it, is solid as ever.  This song, which was my introduction to this band, has never ceased amazing me.

7. Unleashing the Bloodthirsty- Cannibal Corpse

Just beating out Vader by a hair in the "best death metal song ever" category is the closest thing that the genre has to a household name, Cannibal Corpse.  It is fitting that these guys would come out on top.  Going as strong as ever still today, there are only maybe two Corpse albums that are not great, but 1999's Bloodthirst may trump them all.  Much of this has to do with it being their only album that the mighty Colin Richardson produced, who should be required by law to be the only man allowed to produce every metal album made by anyone.  Of course another big part of the excellence is the almost title track "Unleashing the Bloodthirsty".  Alex Webster, (another mighty fellow), penned the music and lyrics and this is his masterpiece.  THEE Cannibal Corpse breakdown is in this song, and the rest of the riffs could destroy Catholicism if given the chance.

6.  Legions of the Dead - Testament

Now when it comes to "heavy", there is everything else and then there is "Legions of the Dead".  Amazingly, Andy Sneap mixed Testament's greatest achievement The Gathering, the reason it amazes is because Sneap is one of the things that I feel is wrong with modern metal as his sound-replaced, punched-in "every album sounds exactly the same" sound is loathsome.  This album on the other hand sounds like glory.  Chuck Billy and Eric Peterson were kind of without a band when they cut The Gathering, so as the album title dictates, they simply "gathered" three A-listers to help out.  Dave Lombardo, James Murphy, and Steve DiGiorgio all appear and clearly this trick worked wonders.  "Legions of the Dead" destroys everything in its path.  Billy's vocals are straight up cookie monster-esque and this is as ferocious as thrash metal has or will ever get.

5.  Angel of Death - Slayer

From this point on, all of these songs appeared on my 100 favorite songs list so for the two people reading this who saw that one, the surprises are over.  "Angel of Death" at any given time I can rightly consider the definitive metal song.  This is the Slayer jam to rule them all, no question.  Public Enemy had the right mind to sample it brilliantly and who are you to talk shit about anything off of It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back?  Written about one of real life's most evil men, (Nazi physician Josef Mengele), and of course penned solo by the only Slayer guitarist that matters Jeff Hanneman, "Angel" is a classic and always will be.  It is impossible to imagine what the metal world would be like without this song's existence, so Mr. Hanneman, we salute thee!

4.  Neogenesis - Enslaved

The twelve minute closer to Enslaved's third masterpiece in a row, (2004's Isa), is the haunting, gorgeous, and of course still heavy "Neogenesis".  This was my favorite Enslaved song after the first time that I heard it, as this entire album had me under its trance willingly.  The eerie and melodic intro with those chanty and clean Viking vocals gives way to thrashy goodness and then bounces back with excellent guitar solos, more double bass, and keyboards soaring over it all.  Then at about the 8:40 mark, it kicks into arguably my favorite thing in any song made by humans.  The three-plus minute slow as fuck stoner/classic rock riff that they play the shit out of to send it all home is what all music should be.  Plus Ivar Bjørnson's lead over it is as good as solo guitar playing gets, if not more so.

3.  A Vampire Bit My Balls - Maggot Twat

Now we arrive at my five year old daughter's favorite song, Maggot Twat's "A Vampire Bit My Balls".  Just so you know, we call it "The Vampire Song" when she routinely asks to listen to it every car ride.  Parenting done right.  Chicago land locals, I have seen this band numerous times live, each show ranking as the best and funniest that I had ever witnessed.  All of them ended with this jam right here.  Everything I and everyone else should love about this band is here, namely "how the hell is he doing that?" wammy riff awesomeness, as well as some of the most hilarious lyrics of all time.  Did Bob Dylan ever pen anything as brilliant as "Now my dick is all evil, it keeps me up all night long.  I can't go out in the daytime without a coffin on my schlong"?.  Exactly.

2.  Painkiller - Judas Priest

The only song from Judas Priest to appear on this list yes, but also, look how high.  Go team.  Priest's first album to feature former Racer X's skinsman Scott Travis opens with the title track "Painkiller" and you would have to put a gun to my head to admit that anything else this band has or will ever do again will top it.  There might not be a riff in the entire cosmos that kills more than this one.  Rob Halford, (who never ceases to amaze even now into his sixties), has never been more impressive than he is on this one, as well and Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing likewise ripping their most perfect dual lead.  It goes to show you that a band as great as Death can do a cover of this song on what I think is their best album and this would still end up being probably the best thing that THEY ever did as well.  Cannot fuck with the Priest or the "Painkiller".

1.  Holy Wars...the Punishment Due - Megadeth

For a change, I actually did not know what was going to top one of my lists when I began making it.  I knew that "Holy Wars...the Punishment Due" was a contender for sure, but I was pleasantly surprised that it ended as high as it did.  To label this song as my favorite in the history of metal just sounds right.  Rust In Peace could be my favorite metal album after all, but the track that kicks off Megadeth's high watermark is utterly perfect.  A six and a half minute epic, two part suite with lyrics about both the Northern Ireland Conflict and the Punisher because sure why not, "Wars" also features Dave Mustaine's finest guitar solo.  Which I would go as far as to say is the best metal guitar solo ever played, sorry Dimebag.  Dave Mustaine seems to be on a quest to prove that he is one of the most impossible musicians on earth to work with and enough word blips to make him sound like douche, but credit where it is "due", (huh, huh, puns); the man and his band knows how to do metal like goddamn bosses.