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

[CodysGameRoom | 2,008]

I still rock Kezia and Fortress at least once a month. Literally perfect albums IMO. 

[Gloves | 11,801]

@Reed Rothchild is Devin Townsend anywhere on the list?

[Reed Rothchild | 9,558]

49 minutes ago, Gloves said:

@Reed Rothchild is Devin Townsend anywhere on the list?

He is in the Ayreon song, and then he may or may not have an entry in the future for SYL and one for DT/DT Project/DT Band (which hypothetically would be considered one entry)

[Gloves | 11,801]

1 minute ago, Reed Rothchild said:

He is in the Ayreon song, and then he may or may not have an entry in the future for SYL and one for DT/DT Project/DT Band (which hypothetically would be considered one entry)

Cool. I was watching Youtube videos last night and it was like "remember this!?!?" and suggested I rewatch March of the Poozers and I was like "OH YEAH THAT!" lol. He has a pretty unique sound especially on DT Project.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,558]

#42: Iced Earth - Melancholy (Holy Martyr) (1998)

So, uh, Iced Earth has gotten a little infamy nowadays thanks to Jon's participation in the Capitol riot.  Ruined his life and the band overnight.  Not that it was a complete surprise; his "Sons of Liberty" album made it pretty clear that things were starting to become unravelled in his head 

And the fucked up part is that lead singer (and Jon's brother-in-law) Matt IS a cop.

In any case, we can always enjoy the art, and their 1998 album in particular holds a few of my favorite tunes.  And I thought Ripper did a hell of a job a few years later when he had to step in.

Honorable mentions: Gettysburg trilogy, The Hunter, Watching Over Me

[Brickman | 4,000]

2 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

#42: Iced Earth - Melancholy (Holy Martyr) (1998)

So, uh, Iced Earth has gotten a little infamy nowadays thanks to Jon's participation in the Capitol riot.  Ruined his life and the band overnight.  Not that it was a complete surprise; his "Sons of Liberty" album made it pretty clear that things were starting to become unravelled in his head 

And the fucked up part is that lead singer (and Jon's brother-in-law) Matt IS a cop.

In any case, we can always enjoy the art, and their 1998 album in particular holds a few of my favorite tunes.  And I thought Ripper did a hell of a job a few years later when he had to step in.

Honorable mentions: Gettysburg trilogy, The Hunter, Watching Over Me

A real shame about Jon. Such a great band. I was listening to some of their early 2000’s albums recently and had forgotten how good they are. Also, probably the band with some of the coolest artwork.

[Hammerfestus | 3,867]

Jon Schaffer is a fucking asshole.  Iced Earth spent a long time as one of my top bands.  You kind of always knew he was a shithead but who knew it was as bad as it was.  I could never do a top 100 like this because Dante‘s Inferno and Desert Rain exist and fuck him.  The whole thing makes me struggle to listen to Blind Guardian too, who are one of my all time favorites.  They were buddies and there was no way Hansi didn’t know Jon was like this.  I’m sorry but the Germans get zero tolerance on this shit.

[captmorgandrinker | 1,649]

2 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

In any case, we can always enjoy the art, and their 1998 album in particular holds a few of my favorite tunes.  And I thought Ripper did a hell of a job a few years later when he had to step in.

Honorable mentions: Gettysburg trilogy, The Hunter, Watching Over Me

Loosely related to that- I saw one of Iced Earth's bassists for a hot minute (Dennis Hayes) a few times at a local Chinese buffet.   We had no idea who he was, but you could tell he was some type of rocker, and this place was right down the street from the bar that Ripper owned.  Did some Googling after the second time we saw him and found him!

[Hammerfestus | 3,867]

3 hours ago, captmorgandrinker said:

Loosely related to that- I saw one of Iced Earth's bassists for a hot minute (Dennis Hayes) a few times at a local Chinese buffet.   We had no idea who he was, but you could tell he was some type of rocker, and this place was right down the street from the bar that Ripper owned.  Did some Googling after the second time we saw him and found him!

Used to see a lot of bands before a gig at Rascal House next to Peabody’s  

[captmorgandrinker | 1,649]

2 hours ago, Hammerfestus said:

Used to see a lot of bands before a gig at Rascal House next to Peabody’s  

Yeah, but on a random weekday at lunchtime at a quite small buffet?  (like 25 seats tops)

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

Used to fucking slam Iced Earth. Since I was bumping it in early 2000s and not at all since then, I feel separated enough from the terrorism to love the art only. 
 

Hope that fascist traitor rots in hell, but will always appreciate the aggressive, single line ripping thrash from everyone else. 

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

39 minutes ago, captmorgandrinker said:

Yeah, but on a random weekday at lunchtime at a quite small buffet?  (like 25 seats tops)

How was the food?

[captmorgandrinker | 1,649]

31 minutes ago, MrWunderful said:

How was the food?

AMAZING!   Their egg rolls were something else!

They were a smaller buffet (had about 8 different meat/veggie offerings and then rice or noodles) but all of it was quite tasty.   I miss that place, we used to hit it a few times a month.

Also, the food at Ripper's Tap House was good as well.  At least the potato skins and pretzel sticks; that's all I remember having.

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

38 minutes ago, captmorgandrinker said:

AMAZING!   Their egg rolls were something else!

They were a smaller buffet (had about 8 different meat/veggie offerings and then rice or noodles) but all of it was quite tasty.   I miss that place, we used to hit it a few times a month.

Also, the food at Ripper's Tap House was good as well.  At least the potato skins and pretzel sticks; that's all I remember having.

Sounds like he was smart for going there often then!

[Reed Rothchild | 9,558]

Getting this up now because I won't be able to tomorrow

#41: Amon Amarth - Victorious March (1995)

Amazing to think that this song came out all the way back in 1995, on their first album no less, and  basically defined their sound for the next 30 years.  They didn't need to evolve; they had it right from the get go.

Honorable mentions: Gods of War Arise, Destroyer of the Universe, Varyags of Miklagaard

[Hammerfestus | 3,867]

11 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Getting this up now because I won't be able to tomorrow

#41: Amon Amarth - Victorious March (1995)

Amazing to think that this song came out all the way back in 1995, on their first album no less, and  basically defined their sound for the next 30 years.  They didn't need to evolve; they had it right from the get go.

Honorable mentions: Gods of War Arise, Destroyer of the Universe, Varyags of Miklagaard

One of my all time favorites.  Fun fact, Opeth’s Martin Lopez played drums on this album.  

[Reed Rothchild | 9,558]

#40: Behemoth - O Father O Satan O Sun (2014)

Behemoth takes a slight break from their blackened death metal to release an album that's... Uh, atmospheric death and black metal?  Whatever it was, The Satanist ruled and this album closer represents their best work with it's slow tempo, thick mood, and typical dark and evil theme.  While I still love many of their older tracks, I think this evolution of their sound was a great move.  I saw them live once upon a time and it was one of the greatest performances I've ever seen.  I'm way overdue to see them again so I can see this newer material.

Honorable mentions: Christians to the Lions, Slaves Shall Serve, Blow Your Trumpet Gabriel

[Reed Rothchild | 9,558]

Catching up:

#39: Be'lakor - Abeyance (2012)

Suck it Scandinavia, the boys down under show they can pull off MDM with the best of them.

Be'lakor exploded onto the scene with their sophomore album in 2008, but it was the opener off their 2012 album that perfected their sound.

I don't know how to explain the particulars of the sound, other than drawing parallels with some of the Finnish groups like Insomnium and Omnium Gatherum, but with a little more of a progressive edge, and less keyboards.  Either way, it kicks ass.  This is one of those songs where the urge to headbang is so overpowering, that I basically am not allowed to listen to it at work if I need to deeply focus.  Part of my 'do not play because it will be distracting good' list.  That's the ultimate praise.

Honorable mentions: Venator, Held in Hollows, The Smoke of Many Fires

[Brickman | 4,000]

11 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Catching up:

#39: Be'lakor - Abeyance (2012)

Suck it Scandinavia, the boys down under show they can pull off MDM with the best of them.

Be'lakor exploded onto the scene with their sophomore album in 2008, but it was the opener off their 2012 album that perfected their sound.

I don't know how to explain the particulars of the sound, other than drawing parallels with some of the Finnish groups like Insomnium and Omnium Gatherum, but with a little more of a progressive edge, and less keyboards.  Either way, it kicks ass.  This is one of those songs where the urge to headbang is so overpowering, that I basically am not allowed to listen to it at work if I need to deeply focus.  Part of my 'do not play because it will be distracting good' list.  That's the ultimate praise.

Honorable mentions: Venator, Held in Hollows, The Smoke of Many Fires

Never even heard of these guys and they live in the same city as me  They sound great, I’m going to have to explore more of their stuff.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,558]

#38: The Ocean - Mesopelagic (2013)

So, astute readers may have noticed the lack of "post-metal" in this list so far.  It's something I'm super aware of.  When I was first putting the 100 together, I had a list of every single band that I listened to, and starting weeding them out one by one.

Intronaut?  Didn't make the cut.

Neurosis?   Out.

Isis? Out.

Rosetta?  Out.

Deafheaven?  Was so close, but landed just short.

Which isn't to say that I don't enjoy all of those bands.  But when looking at singular songs, they just couldn't quite make my cut.  That was me being honest with myself.

But The Ocean (or The Ocean Collective, if you will) is a major exception.  I love, love, love these guys.  Especially the first and third albums.  But they blew those away in 2013 with Pelagial.

For a little context, at the time I had been travelling a lot with my future-wife, while also planning a wedding.  I basically dropped out of the music scene completely for awhile.  Until one day, spur of the moment, I decided to catch up real fast:

I prioritized the bands I love, and The Ocean went straight to the top of the list.  It was the right choice.  It's the best work they've ever done, and it gets off to such a wonderful start with this track.

Honorable mentions: Bathyalpelagic, Nazca, Mesoarcharan

[Hammerfestus | 3,867]

7 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

#38: The Ocean - Mesopelagic (2013)

So, astute readers may have noticed the lack of "post-metal" in this list so far.  It's something I'm super aware of.  When I was first putting the 100 together, I had a list of every single band that I listened to, and starting weeding them out one by one.

Intronaut?  Didn't make the cut.

Neurosis?   Out.

Isis? Out.

Rosetta?  Out.

Deafheaven?  Was so close, but landed just short.

Which isn't to say that I don't enjoy all of those bands.  But when looking at singular songs, they just couldn't quite make my cut.  That was me being honest with myself.

But The Ocean (or The Ocean Collective, if you will) is a major exception.  I love, love, love these guys.  Especially the first and third albums.  But they blew those away in 2013 with Pelagial.

For a little context, at the time I had been travelling a lot with my future-wife, while also planning a wedding.  I basically dropped out of the music scene completely for awhile.  Until one day, spur of the moment, I decided to catch up real fast:

I prioritized the bands I love, and The Ocean went straight to the top of the list.  It was the right choice.  It's the best work they've ever done, and it gets off to such a wonderful start with this track.

Honorable mentions: Bathyalpelagic, Nazca, Mesoarcharan

I’m a fan.  I’ve enjoyed the new singles that have been coming out.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,558]

#37: Death - Cosmic Sea (1991)

One of the few instrumentals on this list.  Death moved beyond their (pioneering) death metal sound of their first couple of albums to the more progressive and technical sound that would define them for the rest of their output.

This album, Human, is often considered their best work.  And while I feel the album can feel a bit "samey" from beginning to end, I always look forward to this track.  It feels way ahead of it's time, with the heavy synth atmosphere, and the wonderful layers of guitars give me chills every time I listen to it.

Plus it's nice to have a little break from Chuck's vocals!

Honorable mentions: Crystal Mountain, Flesh and the Power It Holds, Together as One

[Reed Rothchild | 9,558]

Shit, I'm having the stupid idea to do a top 100 for video games and movies...

Someone stop me.

[Gloves | 11,801]

1 minute ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Shit, I'm having the stupid idea to do a top 100 for video games and movies...

Someone stop me.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,558]

2 minutes ago, Gloves said:

That movie would probably make the cut.  It's a sign!