Kguillemette's Heavy Metal top 100 songs of all time. COMPLETE

[Kguillemette | 1,547]

#48 Mors Principium Est- Destroyer of All

One of the biggest sins I have committed is not having heard of these guys until last year. They are so on point with their MDM skills and seamless blending of piano and synths. I've been looking for this kind of music my whole life. If I were to rewrite this list of bands 2 years from now, a song from Mors Principium Est may well end up in my top 20. They are that good.

Edited September 30, 2023 by Kguillemette

[Kguillemette | 1,547]

#47 Dragonforce- Through the Fire and Flames

Next up on the list of songs I like more than Katatonia @Brickman we have the most famous song that was featured in Guitar Hero. There's a theme here of metal songs that I originally discovered there, isn't there. I will say that I don't find the song amazing, I do find it to be extremely fun. It's the prototypical party song. It's nothing serious but just a gas to listen to. And I think that is worth some points all on its own.

 

[SNESNESCUBE64 | 554]

17 hours ago, Kguillemette said:

I will say that I don't find the song amazing, I do find it to be extremely fun.

I feel that way about most Dragonforce songs. You hit it right on the head with that statement. You really see that with their newer album "extreme power metal" where they kinda lean into that. I will say that there are some songs that they have that I think are genuinely good like "Seasons". They really scratch a certain "itch" and are nice to listen to sometimes.

I wasn't gonna comment on the placement of any these songs on the list because opinions are cool and everyone has slightly different tastes in music, but Dragonforce ahead of Gamma Ray? Come on man...

I have tickets to see Dragonforce in November, I am super excited because it seems like their shows are parties.

Edited October 2, 2023 by SNESNESCUBE64

[Kguillemette | 1,547]

8 hours ago, SNESNESCUBE64 said:

 

I wasn't gonna comment on the placement of any these songs on the list because opinions are cool and everyone has slightly different tastes in music, but Dragonforce ahead of Gamma Ray? Come on man...

 

What can I say? Some pleasures are guilty. Others are straight up filthy!

[Kguillemette | 1,547]

#46 Corrosion of Conformity- Clean my Wounds

I do love a good bit of groove and blues mixed into my metal. Loud music can be so down and chill at the same time and being energetic. Corrosion of Conformity is a band like only a couple others that really pull this style off, and I love it when it's done well!

[Brickman | 4,020]

Wow that's a band I haven't heard of for a long time! Might need to give them a play today.

[Kguillemette | 1,547]

#45 Eternal Tears of Sorrow- The River Flows Frozen

 

I am always fascinated by bands that seems to tweak their sound with every album. EToS is certainly a band of that nature, beginning as a Black metal band, and moving into melodic death and Gothic metal. The Virgin and a Whore album was a nice blend of the latter. They hung up the blast beats and went right for the groove. This started as a blind album purchase, and ended up being one of the best ones I've ever made. Great tune, great album, great band, though its membership changed quite frequently.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,593]

Niiice

Love that album

[Kguillemette | 1,547]

#44 After Forever- Beyond Me

After Forever, especially their early works, is a little blend of progressive and Gothic metal with symphonic elements. Their main shtick was the frequent use of the "Beauty and the Beast" vocals that was big among those types of bands of the day. Here we find the debut of the great Floor Jansen spinning a duet with the also great Sharon Den Atel, and it feels like the end credits of a demonic horror movie. Many members of After Forever have gone on to be major players in Symphonic Metal. This band, and this album is where a lot of it not necessarily began, but certainly kicked off.

Edited October 12, 2023 by Kguillemette

[Kguillemette | 1,547]

#43 Therion- Enter Vril-ya

There isn't much out there like Therion. They certainly vary in style from album to album while staying symphonic overall, but Deggial is an album unlike anything else I know of. They did away with the concept of lead vocals and instead went with a choir. Now choirs in metal isn't unheard of, but usually as an accent or backing vocals. It's very interesting and has grown on me over the years, especially this catchy little tune. The best way I would describe this and the rest of the Deggial album would be a heavy metal baroque era catholic mass with each song representing a hymn or the Kyrie Elieson. Take that for what you will. I'm not sure how this style works, but it does and it works very well. 

Edited October 6, 2023 by Kguillemette

[Kguillemette | 1,547]

#42 Eterna- Goodbye My Dear Ophelia

Eterna is a very very good power metal band out of Brazil. They are ever so slightly proggy and not afraid to be creative, like writing songs about Shakespeare plays. This was another blind album purchase I made and was another big winner. Newbury Comics was the shit back in the early 00s with the great metal they kept in stock. This is another song that belongs on any good power metal playlist.

[Kguillemette | 1,547]

#41 Primal Fear- Chainbreaker

This song channels Painkiller era Judas Priest so much that the first time I heard it, I checked Pandora to see which Judas Priest song it was! Ralf Scheepers is such a Rob Halford sound alike it's kinda scary. To my understanding, he was actually a finalist to replace Halford in JP until the band went with Ripper Owens. Considering Painkiller is among my favorite metal albums of all time(foreshadow...), having a song of such quality that feels like it belongs right on it will make shoot right up my list of favorites. Yes, I compared Primal Fear to Judas Priest. That's how good they are.

[Kguillemette | 1,547]

#40 Slipknot- Before I Forget

Slipknot has been a guilty pleasure for me all this time. I couldn't deny enjoying the energy and rhythms they give off, as well as the blatant aggression and heaviness. Plus the main tom groove here made me a believer in Joey Jordison and knew he was more than just hype.

Edited October 10, 2023 by Kguillemette

[SNESNESCUBE64 | 554]

17 hours ago, Kguillemette said:

#41 Primal Fear- Chainbreaker

This song channels Painkiller era Judas Priest so much that the first time I heard it, I checked Pandora to see which Judas Priest song it was! Ralf Scheepers is such a Rob Halford sound alike it's kinda scary. To my understanding, he was actually a finalist to replace Halford in JP until the band went with Ripper Owens. Considering Painkiller is among my favorite metal albums of all time(foreshadow...), having a song of such quality that feels like it belongs right on it will make shoot right up my list of favorites. Yes, I compared Primal Fear to Judas Priest. That's how good they are.

I absolutely love Primal Fear, they just came out with a new album not too long ago, Code Red. Some of my favorite songs are Supernova, The Sky is Burning, and Face the Emptiness. Also a big fan of Another Hero from their new album. They also did a couple pretty good covers, like Die Young which was originally sung by Dio.

Also, I love their album covers. I think they are some of the best metal covers out there! Angry bird is the best.

[Kguillemette | 1,547]

#39 Eluveitie- A Rose for Epona

Eluveitie comes in 2 forms. There's the one where they make some excellent folk inspired MDM, and the other where they make awe inspiring celtic folk metal power ballads. Anna Murphy's voice is incredible and fits so perfectly in with the sound they are trying to make. Really my favorite songs by Eluveitie are also the ones where she has writing credits. Damn shame they couldn't work it out to figure a way to keep making songs like this. While they still make great music, the quality they had with Anna Murphy will never be repeated. 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,593]

Love that one.  MDM Eluveitie ftw in general though.

[Kguillemette | 1,547]

#38 Dimmu Borgir- Kings of Carnival Creation

I began typing a writeup for this song with it playing in the background and Vortex began to sing. I became utterly distracted. As far as black metal goes, this is so very and incredibly close to as good as it gets. Shagrath with his distinct growls, Nick Barker hammering away those blast beats perfectly in time, Vortex with his unmistakably amazing and powerful voice, and a well balanced guitar and synth attack make this a masterpiece. I wonder if the Ozzfest crowd had any idea what they were in for when Dimmu took the main stage. I have to imagine less than 25% of them knew who they were. I bet more than a few Kvultists were born right here!

 

[Kguillemette | 1,547]

15 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Love that one.  MDM Eluveitie ftw in general though.

Gotta respect that opinion. It's hard to believe this is on the same album

 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,593]

I think this is the first actual song that we've both had 

[Hammerfestus | 3,891]

1 hour ago, Kguillemette said:

#38 Dimmu Borgir- Kings of Carnival Creation

I began typing a writeup for this song with it playing in the background and Vortex began to sing. I became utterly distracted. As far as black metal goes, this is so very and incredibly close to as good as it gets. Shagrath with his distinct growls, Nick Barker hammering away those blast beats perfectly in time, Vortex with his unmistakably amazing and powerful voice, and a well balanced guitar and synth attack make this a masterpiece. I wonder if the Ozzfest crowd had any idea what they were in for when Dimmu took the main stage. I have to imagine less than 25% of them knew who they were. I bet more than a few Kvultists were born right here!

 

\m/

Vortex is a beast.   Love it.   Though every time his name comes up I think of the futurama joke about IC Wiener.  
Was supposed to see them with Bodom back in the day but they didn’t make the gig for whatever reason.  I don’t remember.  Disappointing.

[Kguillemette | 1,547]

2 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

I think this is the first actual song that we've both had 

Spoiler: won't be the only one! I won't say how many though!

[Kguillemette | 1,547]

#37 Ghost- Dance Macabre

There isn't much to be said about Ghost. They are among the most successful metal bands today and for good reason. Tobias Forge is a master of melody and harmony. He takes Gothic crooning to whole new heights seen through the eyes of a made up satanic character. Each song is so warm and welcoming while at parts so dark and heavy. Choosing just one song as my favorite was near impossible, but Dance Macacre is probably the one I go back to the most. Everyone reading this list is probably already a big Ghost fan. If not, fire up a music streaming channel of choice and give them a listen. It won't be regretted!

[Reed Rothchild | 9,593]

Metal world: "we need to be more brutal"

Tobias: "fuck it, let's do saxophone, kazoo, and now disco"

Shout out to the official Carpenter Brut remix too

 

[Kguillemette | 1,547]

#36 Danzig- Mother

Yes it is an outright classic. Slow bluesy riff with Danzig's trademark vocal style. Everyone has heard this and nobody dislikes it. Anytime it comes on it a group full of people there is always someone who starts singing along(me). 

[Kguillemette | 1,547]

 

#35 Cadaveria- Spell

As much as I enjoy the over the top 13 minutes epics that Cadaveria fronted when she was with Opera IX, she really found a great sound when she went solo. She went for a much more traditional metal sound here with a touch of prog and MDM and just makes for a very fun listen. Oh and witchcraft. We need to have all the songs about Witchcraft. I highly recommend at least her first album, The Shadow's Madame. It's very approachable, enjoyable, and well put together.