Reed's Favorite 100 Metal Songs of All Time - Finished

[Hammerfestus | 3,837]

 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,522]

#89: Disarmonia Mundi - Kneeling on Broken Glass (2002)

What if I told you there was an Italian Soilwork?  One that consistently put out great albums full of great songs?  And what if I told you most of those albums just so happened to feature Soilwork's Speed Strid on vocals?

Most of you would probably say "who the hell is Soilwork?"

But for those who DO know what I'm talking about, welcome to a whole new library to check out.  You can't go go wrong with any of the albums, but I have particularly soft spots for the first one, and Mind Tricks.  Literally any song off Mind Tricks could have been here.  And Red Clouds features the most hilarious low-fi Italian music video ever.  I love it.

Honorable Mentions: Nebularium, Red Clouds, Resurrection Code, A Taste of Collapse, Nihilistic Overdrive

[Brickman | 3,983]

28 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

What if I told you there was an Italian Soilwork?

 

Loved the track, definitely going to explore more from these guys.
 

 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,522]

#88: System of a Down - Aerials (2001)

Admission time. When Toxicity broke out, I hated it.  Perhaps because my mind couldn't quite wrap itself around the weirdness involved, or perhaps because I was a teenaged contrarian edgelord.  Or perhaps it was because my CAD class played it every single day for an entire semester.  Either way, my friends and I routinely lambasted it.

As the years went by, I softened my stance and opened my mind.  I never fully came around on most nu metal, but I found myself enjoying SOAD more and more.  By the time I had a SOAD superfan roommate, we were rocking it together.  While they'll never be my absolute favorites (or on par with Faith No More and Bungle), they were a no-brainer for this list.

Honorable mentions: BYOB, Spiders, Sugar

[Brickman | 3,983]

Have loved this album since it was released and it still to this day gets a regular listen, actually listened to it 2 days ago.

I think all their albums bring something unique but this one is always my favourite. There’s just so many great songs on it. I always struggle to pick a favourite track, aerials is a great one, I also love ATWA, Psycho and Chop Suey.

[Kguillemette | 1,544]

SOAD is one of those few numetal bands that's pretty universally enjoyed by your traditional metal heads. I know I find myself a fan of them.

[guitarzombie | 924]

I dunno what SOAD actually is, but I never thought of them as 'nu-metal'.  To me thats something that has to do with rap, or people who wear backwards hats.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,522]

#87: Epica - Kingdom of Heaven (2009)

I blind bought this album.  As in, I had never listened to Epica before, but I saw the fancy hardbound book release that Nuclear Blast was putting out, it looked f'ing cool, so I said "screw it" and took the leap.  It was probably one of the best blind metal buys I've ever made.

Power and/or symphonic metal can be hit or miss with me.  Sometimes I find it too cheesy.  Which is ironic because I revel in camp.  See Dimmu Borgir.  But Epica was a hit.  The songs are great. They feel heavy.  They feel epic.  And Simone Simons is a wonderful singer who never makes me cringe, a power metal staple.  No high-pitched wailing, or falsetto, or Bruce Dickinson or Rob Halford impressions.

Their following albums never quite caught on with me the same way, but I still blast DYU every chance I get.

Will this end up being the biggest, loudest, longest, most over-the-top track on this list?  It may very well be.  But I guess that's the point when you literally put the word "epic" in your name.

Honorable mentions: Design Your Universe, Unleashed, Never Enough, Storm the Sorrow

[Brickman | 3,983]

Yeah I am the same with Epica, some stuff is great but others are meh. Similar to Nightwish.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,522]

#86: Testament - The Ritual (1992)

Testament.  Also known as the band that Dave Mustaine respects more than Anthrax.

I'll be perfectly blunt, and say Testament's fifth album The Ritual sounds very "inspired" by The Black Album, to put it nicely.  Which would make sense - it was a very influential album.  Probably one of the most influential in rock history.  So it shouldn't be any surprise that Metallica's contemporaries followed in their footsteps.

And I dig it. It's one of my favorite Testament albums. Almost up there with the likes of Formation of Damnation.  And the title track is the one that seems to find the most play with me.  Whether I'm in the car, or multitasking at work.

Side note: of all of the major thrash bands from the 80s, Metallica and Testament remain the only ones that I have yet to see live.  Maybe some day...

Honorable mentions: More than Meets the Eye, Souls of Black, Return to Serenity

[guitarzombie | 924]

12 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Side note: of all of the major thrash bands from the 80s, Metallica and Testament remain the only ones that I have yet to see live.  Maybe some day...

Saw them all when they toured as the big 4, minus Metallica, with Testament in their place.  Which was great because I think Metallica are absolutely rotten. 

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

Bay area thrash is the purest, most sacred  form of thrash

[nesmaster14 | 435]

Interesting, I haven't listened to much 90s Testament.  That song to me sounds very Alice In Chains influenced.  But yeah, I dig their stuff especially Skolnick's guitar skill.

 

 

[Hammerfestus | 3,837]

On 2/26/2023 at 11:29 AM, Reed Rothchild said:

#88: System of a Down - Aerials (2001)

Admission time. When Toxicity broke out, I hated it.  Perhaps because my mind couldn't quite wrap itself around the weirdness involved, or perhaps because I was a teenaged contrarian edgelord.  Or perhaps it was because my CAD class played it every single day for an entire semester.  Either way, my friends and I routinely lambasted it.

As the years went by, I softened my stance and opened my mind.  I never fully came around on most nu metal, but I found myself enjoying SOAD more and more.  By the time I had a SOAD superfan roommate, we were rocking it together.  While they'll never be my absolute favorites (or on par with Faith No More and Bungle), they were a no-brainer for this list.

Honorable mentions: BYOB, Spiders, Sugar

This was just a really good album.  Period.  I had a buddy who was really into their first release so I was pretty familiar with them but this album was next level.  Does this count as nu metal?

[Kguillemette | 1,544]

14 hours ago, Hammerfestus said:

This was just a really good album.  Period.  I had a buddy who was really into their first release so I was pretty familiar with them but this album was next level.  Does this count as nu metal?

I think so. Nu metal isn't bad in a vacuum, just a silly moniker invented by metalheads of the early 2000s to mock the Korn and Limp Biskit style radio rock. There are some truly quality nu metal acts out there though. I am a fan of Slipknot and Deftones for example. And even Korn has some tunes I can't deny enjoying.

 

And Epica? \m/

Symphonic metal is tits!

[Hammerfestus | 3,837]

37 minutes ago, Kguillemette said:

I think so. Nu metal isn't bad in a vacuum, just a silly moniker invented by metalheads of the early 2000s to mock the Korn and Limp Biskit style radio rock. There are some truly quality nu metal acts out there though. I am a fan of Slipknot and Deftones for example. And even Korn has some tunes I can't deny enjoying.

 

And Epica? \m/

Symphonic metal is tits!

There’s  some stuff in there I enjoyed.  Follow the Leader was good and I definitely have some TRL memories of their videos.  I always liked Linkin Park.  There was even a window in time where I was into Devil Without a Cause as shameful as that feels to say.  A lot of lot of garbage though.  ‘Member when they tried to convince us Wes Borland was a great guitarist? 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,522]

#85: Parkway Drive - Vice Grip (2015)

Australia makes their first appearance with this cut from Winston and company's fifth album.

I'll be the first to admit that I don't much care for Parkway Drive's new sound.  I get why they're doing it: how many bands want to release the same album over and over again?  And they'd explored their brand of metalcore quit thoroughly over their first four albums.  They had nowhere else to go.  So they've tried some new things, and unfortunately most of those new things simply don't work. 

But I appreciate what they did here.  This tune is such a fun, fist-pumping '80s throwback that I can't help but love it.  Sure it's not as heavy, or breakdown-laden, or message-driven, or any of their other signature things, but you gotta love those fun guitar licks, and that catchy chorus.  And while I'd say Karma is probably their actual best song, I like that this one stands out from the rest.

So even though that Deep Blue is their best album, and the only albums really worth listening to are everything up to Atlas, I still end up playing this song more than any other.  Sometimes you need to break up the blast beats with a fun time.

Honorable mentions: Carrion, Dark Days, Sleepwalker, Karma

[Kguillemette | 1,544]

53 minutes ago, Hammerfestus said:

There’s  some stuff in there I enjoyed.  Follow the Leader was good and I definitely have some TRL memories of their videos.  I always liked Linkin Park.  There was even a window in time where I was into Devil Without a Cause as shameful as that feels to say.  A lot of lot of garbage though.  ‘Member when they tried to convince us Wes Borland was a great guitarist? 

Maybe wes borland just has tiny little hands that can't reach all 6 strings, so that's why he had a 4 string guitar made for himself.

[Brickman | 3,983]

3 hours ago, Hammerfestus said:

There’s  some stuff in there I enjoyed.  Follow the Leader was good and I definitely have some TRL memories of their videos.  I always liked Linkin Park.  There was even a window in time where I was into Devil Without a Cause as shameful as that feels to say.  A lot of lot of garbage though.  ‘Member when they tried to convince us Wes Borland was a great guitarist? 

Yeah agree. Maybe it’s because I grew up in the era but I like Deftones, godhead, Disturbed, SOAD etc. I always felt the metalheads complaining about it were just trying to be elitist or wouldn’t move out of the one metal genre they like.

2 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

#85: Parkway Drive - Vice Grip (2015)

Australia makes their first appearance with this cut from Winston and company's fifth album.

I'll be the first to admit that I don't much care for Parkway Drive's new sound.  I get why they're doing it: how many bands want to release the same album over and over again?  And they'd explored their brand of metalcore quit thoroughly over their first four albums.  They had nowhere else to go.  So they've tried some new things, and unfortunately most of those new things simply don't work. 

But I appreciate what they did here.  This tune is such a fun, fist-pumping '80s throwback that I can't help but love it.  Sure it's not as heavy, or breakdown-laden, or message-driven, or any of their other signature things, but you gotta love those fun guitar licks, and that catchy chorus.  And while I'd say Karma is probably their actual best song, I like that this one stands out from the rest.

So even though that Deep Blue is their best album, and the only albums really worth listening to are everything up to Atlas, I still end up playing this song more than any other.  Sometimes you need to break up the blast beats with a fun time.

Honorable mentions: Carrion, Dark Days, Sleepwalker, Karma

I’m not really into metalcore but I do like a few bands like killswitch engage, trivium and these guys. Their early stuff was insane but yeah they’ve changed a bit. Like you said, they have to otherwise it just becomes stale. I’ll chuck on a song every now and then

[Reed Rothchild | 9,522]

#84: Symphony X - Sea of Lies (1997)

I feel like I'm gerrymandering the list here a bit.  Part of me really wants to add SX's "Set the World on Fire" here, and another part wants some representation from the late '90s (a rather dire era for metal in general in my opinion).

I can't feel too bad about it.  I love this song.  It's from one of the first power/prog albums I ever owned, with Russell Allen and Michael Romeo's superstar talents shining through.  When I once drove 8 hours to see them (among others) I was crushed when they didn't play it.

Honorable mentions: Set the World on Fire, The Odyssey, Of Sin and Shadows

[Hammerfestus | 3,837]

Michael Romeo always made me feel like I too could shred with just these fat little sausages.

[Kguillemette | 1,544]

That is hands down their best album. And that's saying something. Symphony X is a group full of badasses.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,522]

I once drove to Seattle to see Symphony X, Nevermore, and Soilwork.  Nevermore broke up, and Soilwork's guitarist got hurt, so SX basically had to carry the show by themselves.  They pulled it off.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,522]

#83: Cattle Decapitation - Forced Gender Reassignment (2012)

Death metal is a funny thing.  When it's played straight, without any frills or thrills, I tend to find it pretty boring.  I've owned a lot of albums by the likes of Cannibal Corpse, Deicide, Morbid Angel, Obituary, Kataklysm and many others, and they generally can't make a connection with me.  I wrap up the listen, and nothing stuck.

But the instant these bands start to add melody, or technicality, or something, they get me.  I buy in.

Cattle Decapitation is a perfect example of this.  Their early albums are boring.  They do absolutely nothing to stand out, or make the listener take notice.  And I think they knew it, because with their 2012 they changed their sound.  Subtlety, but changed nonetheless.  Things are more technical now.  And more brutal.  And better produced.  And there's some actual variety now.  Hell, there's even vocal effects.  Things are interesting.

Forced Gender Reassignment perfectly encapsulates these evolutions,and provides a hell of a fun listening experience while it's at it.  I don't know if this is the most brutal song on my list, but it's certainly in the running.

Honorable mentions: Dead Set on Suicide, Bring Back the Plague, Gristle Licker

 

[Brickman | 3,983]

I don’t know what it is about death metal but it honestly just sounds like noise that all blends into one for me. But on the other side MDM is probably my favourite metal genre alongside power metal. I just love what MDM bands did with death metal and made it actually sound good haha.