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

[Kguillemette | 1,557]

#34 Ozzy Osborn- Crazy Train

I do have a bit of a story for this song. When I was early into my drumming journey, I managed to land a spot in a new band with a couple very experienced musicians. The bass player modeled his playing like Les Claypool, and the guitar player modeled himself after Eddie Van Halen(at least when they jammed.) Now I was and largely am self taught, so complicated fills and grooves were just not part of my wheel house. But I could keep time and that was good enough for them to hire me. One time at practice, Kent the bass player started playing that opening bassline to Crazy Train, and Johnny the guitar player just played the song like they had been playing it together for years, which I'm sure they did. I just kept the time and they seemed pretty happy with the result. Over the course of the next week leading up to our next band practice, I practiced and learned Crazy Train obsessively. Every fill, every groove, every note. I printed sheet music and everything. When band practice finally came around, Crazy Train was the first song I wanted to play. Less than a minute into the song Johnny stopped playing and just looked at me. When I asked him what was wrong, he replied that he just stopped to listen to me and didn't know I had that in me. It was one of the best complements I'd received in my life and one of my proudest moments as an aspiring musician.

[Kguillemette | 1,557]

#33 Van Halen- Hot For Teacher

How did Eddie become the GOAT? Having a brother that can lock in a double bass herta groove perfect for shredding over certainly helps! This song is legendary! Back in my 80s cover band days, we came so close to being able to add this to the set list. The thing holding us back was I just didn't have the gas to get through the whole song. The second solo where Alex plays the ride bell I always tighten and cramp up and lose my ability to play loose. I still do. One day I'll be able to play the whole thing. It's like the Ninja Gaiden of metal. I can't finish it, but boy do I never get tired of trying!

[Kguillemette | 1,557]

#32 Clutch- Mob Goes Wild

If The Company Band was featured, one had to know the Clutch was going to find its way on here eventually. Once those opening chords start up, I knew I was in for a good time. Jean Paul Gaster is also among my favorite drummers. 

For those who don't know, my career is that of a chef. Back in my early 20s I did an internship at Hotel Fort Des Moines way out in Iowa. I made quick friends with the Sous Chef at the restaurant they placed me at. He was an old school metal head. His journey into metal was finding an old cassette of Metallica's Metal Up Your Ass as a young teenager, taking it home and listening to it and it changing his life. Long story short, we would take turns with the radio at work, driving everyone crazy of course. According to our Mexican Salad Chef Javier, our "Musica es El Diablo." He would show me Slayer, I would show him Opeth. He would show me Testament, I would show him Soilwork. One day he showed me Clutch. That's when I discovered I liked blues. He played the Blast Tyrant album and that changed my life. Part Southern rock, part stoner metal, but just ever so groovy. They may not be the type of band to share a stage with dudes covered in corpse paint, but their lack of image and disinterest in having a brand for themselves makes them pretty damn metal in my eyes!

[Kguillemette | 1,557]

What day is it, Monday? I swear I'm not slacking! Seriously though, life has been hectic, but in a good way. More on that later!

[Kguillemette | 1,557]

#31 Stratovarius- Hunting High and Low

I have a serious love/hate relationship with Stratovarius. When they are on, they have some of the finest power metal to have ever been created. But I also know them to drop a turd from time to time. Pretty much the entirety of Elements Pt 2 I think is just a hot mess. Stratovarius has the distinct honor of having both the first power metal song I loved, and the first power metal song I actively disliked. "Hunting High and Low" is the former. In spite of their catalogue being very mixed, this song remains one of my first loves and still finds itself getting played anytime I need to feel upbeat and inspired. It's quintessential Power Metal song!

[SNESNESCUBE64 | 556]

11 hours ago, Kguillemette said:

#31 Stratovarius- Hunting High and Low

I have a serious love/hate relationship with Stratovarius. When they are on, they have some of the finest power metal...

I feel the exact same way about them. I don't know what it is is but I can never vibe with their sound. They got a few bangers like "hunting high and low" and "Paradise" but I just can't get through so many of their songs. A couple songs from their newest album are good, like "Survive".

Edited October 24, 2023 by SNESNESCUBE64

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

On 10/20/2023 at 2:52 PM, Kguillemette said:

#32 Clutch- Mob Goes Wild

If The Company Band was featured, one had to know the Clutch was going to find its way on here eventually. Once those opening chords start up, I knew I was in for a good time. Jean Paul Gaster is also among my favorite drummers. 

For those who don't know, my career is that of a chef. Back in my early 20s I did an internship at Hotel Fort Des Moines way out in Iowa. I made quick friends with the Sous Chef at the restaurant they placed me at. He was an old school metal head. His journey into metal was finding an old cassette of Metallica's Metal Up Your Ass as a young teenager, taking it home and listening to it and it changing his life. Long story short, we would take turns with the radio at work, driving everyone crazy of course. According to our Mexican Salad Chef Javier, our "Musica es El Diablo." He would show me Slayer, I would show him Opeth. He would show me Testament, I would show him Soilwork. One day he showed me Clutch. That's when I discovered I liked blues. He played the Blast Tyrant album and that changed my life. Part Southern rock, part stoner metal, but just ever so groovy. They may not be the type of band to share a stage with dudes covered in corpse paint, but their lack of image and disinterest in having a brand for themselves makes them pretty damn metal in my eyes!

It's cool to see this one. Probably my favorite song of theirs.

[Kguillemette | 1,557]

#30 Zimmer's Hole- When You Were Shouting at the Devil...

I fucking love Zimmers Hole. Consisting of the core of Strapping Young Lad, they just beat all hell! Yes, Jed Simon, Byron Stroud, and the great Gene Hoglan are all members here. From my understanding, they actually predate SYL and are some true pioneers to that extreme metal sound that really came together when Devin joined them. Their lyrics are pure works of comedy that I just can't get enough of. I also should emphasize that Gene Hoglan is 100% my favorite drummer of all time, and this is just the first time seeing him on my list. Specifically about this song, it absolutely rips on hair metal. Glam rock can go suck a cock!

If you are a fan of Devin and SyL and unfamiliar with Zimmers Hole, change that ASAP!

[Kguillemette | 1,557]

#29 Huntress- Blood Sisters

This is one of my all time favorite pandora discoveries. They had that classic metal feel and dropped in traces of thrash and power with great melodies behind it. "Blood Sisters" was another one of those songs where I needed to stop what I was doing and hit that "like" button. I also love the singer Jill Janus, and her "not quite clean" style of singing. Looking back on her history, she seems to have been on track for greatness in the metal community had she not tragically taken her own life. Oh I must wonder what could have been. RIP

[Kguillemette | 1,557]

#28 Devin Townsend- Kingdom

 

The mightiest of Devin's solo stuff is right here. I remember first hearing this song on the Physicist album, and it always struck me compared to the rest of the songs. Then one day some 7 years later I had the chance to hear it performed live. He cleaned the vocals up and really showed myself and the audience exactIy how capable of a performer he is. I thought it was just a throwback song mixed into the middle of his set, but then it turns out he re-recorded it into this beautiful rendition. It's such an epic display of vocal prowess. It's a simple song, yet so powerful. I really wanted to put something from Ocean Machine being that is my favorite solo Devin album, but this is a song I can't deny being completely in love with.

[Kguillemette | 1,557]

#27 Symphony X- The Accolade

We are seeing some true heavy hitters right now. I love everything about this song made by some of the masters of prog metal. The subtle piano, the guitar harmonies, the seamless rhythm section that ties everything together, and of course the great Russel Allen belting out the tragic story of a knight going into battle. 

A common theme going forward is that the bands are just so good that it is near impossible to pick a favorite. So here's a bonus!

 

Symphony X- Smoke and Mirrors

 

[SNESNESCUBE64 | 556]

Excellent choice with Symphony X. I listened to a lot of them in High School and have been listening to them more recently. Smoke and Mirrors is an excellent choice. My absolute favorites are all on Iconoclast, although that is one of my favorite albums of all time.

I got to see Symphony X live last year, it was a hell of a show. Although I don't think that "The Odyssey" is a great closer, especially when they are starting it at midnight and you gotta wake up for work at 5:30AM the next day.

[Kguillemette | 1,557]

#26 Black Sabbath- Heaven and Hell

Sorry Ozzy. Dio you are not. I fucking love Black Sabbath like every proper metal head should. Paranoid is rightly considered an all time great album. Ozzy is one of the best and most influential rock singers of all time, no question. But still he's no Dio. And I don't consider rating a Sabbath song with Dio higher than a Sabbath song with Ozzy the least bit controversial. Heaven and Hell is an amazing song, no other way around it, and Dio's Operatic voice just rings so beautifully. 

Edited November 9, 2023 by Kguillemette

[Kguillemette | 1,557]

#25 Elvenking- Seasonspeech

There are more than a few dedicated folk metal bands I do enjoy as well as folk inspired metal bands. Unleash the Archers comes to mind. Tyr as well. FInntroll and Eluveitie have already been featured. As far as dedicated ones, Elvenking takes the crown with their song "Seasonspeech". It's an great ballad with really nicely blended polyrhythmic vocals. Then all the usual metal tropes such as fierce guitar playing, great aggressive drumming, and all the other things that make heavy metal great are done well here. It's very ambitious for what they were trying to do and they nailed it!

Edited November 9, 2023 by Kguillemette

[SNESNESCUBE64 | 556]

21 minutes ago, Kguillemette said:

#26 Elvenking- Seasonspeech

There are more than a few dedicated folk metal bands I do enjoy as well as folk inspired metal bands. Unleash the Archers comes to mind. Tyr as well. FInntroll and Eluveitie have already been featured. As far as dedicated ones, Elvenking takes the crown with their song "Seasonspeech". It's an great ballad with really nicely blended polyrhythmic vocals. Then all the usual metal tropes such as fierce guitar playing, great aggressive drumming, and all the other things that make heavy metal great are done well here. It's very ambitious for what they were trying to do and they nailed it!

Elvenking is a neat band. I think Pagan Revolution is my favorite song up to this point.

[Kguillemette | 1,557]

#24 Hollenthon- To Kingdom Come

We have reached the top 25!

Hollenthon is probably the most obscure band left to be featured. They are the side project of Martin Schirenc, who is probably better known as the front man for the so-so death metal band Pungent Stench. With a little help from his then wife, he put together this really impressive project of a band that mixes symphonic elements, gregorian style chanting, synths, horns, strings, and woodwinds all into an MDM package. I cant recommend this enough! And of course we have a bonus feature being this high in the countdown. It was so difficult to pick just one song for the list because the library is just so high quality.

 

Edited November 9, 2023 by Kguillemette

[Kguillemette | 1,557]

#23 Sinergy- I Spit on Your Grave

 

The story of Sinergy as I understand it is Kimberly Goss, who traveled from California to try her hand in the emerging European metal world, saw a void of female led aggressive metal. She managed to recruit the likes of Alexi Laiho to play guitar and with a name like that involved, the rest of the lineup filled out with some real players giving Sinergy almost a supergroup feel. Alexi added his trademark sweeping guitar style and him and Goss made a couple excellent albums, got married in a fever, broke up after a tumultuous couple years and then the group disbanded. It was awesome while it lasted and truly was pioneering in many ways. 

Edited November 9, 2023 by Kguillemette

[Kguillemette | 1,557]

#22 Diabolical Masquerade- The Eerie Obzidian Circuz

I have a lot of side projects of big name bands near the top of my list, don't I? Anders Nystrom of Katatonia had an itchy black metal finger and inner kvultist that had him put together this little solo side project. He made a couple very good albums and then absolutely caught lightning in a bottle with the album, Nightwork. It is an has remained my favorite black metal album of all time and "Eerie Obzidian Circuz" remains my favorite black metal song. Just the little intro bellow "OUT OF MY WAY WRETCHED HUMANS" sets the tone. First time I heard it as the album was winding down, I was pulled right back in knowing I was in for a good time. 

And that's right. This is as good as black metal gets right here. This little side project, and especially this song and album is superior to every other black metal band and album. And in my opinion, it is superior to his main band, Katatonia. This is a must listen to anyone curious of the genre.

Edited November 9, 2023 by Kguillemette

[Reed Rothchild | 9,610]

I own these last two albums (well, three actually) and do like  them, and I do like side projects, but they often seem so... unmemorable to me.  Like the songwriting doesn't quite stick with me as much.

Case in point, I consider that the best Sinergy album and have listened to it like 20 times.  But compared to Follow the Reaper?  That's like 200 times.

Biggest offender is this guy.  Soilwork + Blind Guardian should be amazing.  Instead it's the most boring thing Strid has ever done

[Kguillemette | 1,557]

3 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

I own these last two albums (well, three actually) and do like  them, and I do like side projects, but they often seem so... unmemorable to me.  Like the songwriting doesn't quite stick with me as much.

Case in point, I consider that the best Sinergy album and have listened to it like 20 times.  But compared to Follow the Reaper?  That's like 200 times.

Biggest offender is this guy.  Soilwork + Blind Guardian should be amazing.  Instead it's the most boring thing Strid has ever done

I've never actually heard of Coldseed. I'm sure there's a reason for that. My personal pick for worst side project I've ever listened to is easily...

So incredibly yawn inducing. And I fucking love Dream Theater! I have no idea why I though James Labrie would ever make a good solo album though.

This is a bit of a coincidence on my end. I honestly never noticed having this many side projects next to each other in the low 20s until I started writing them up.

[Kguillemette | 1,557]

On 11/2/2023 at 7:50 PM, SNESNESCUBE64 said:

Elvenking is a neat band. I think Pagan Revolution is my favorite song up to this point.

I've been digging into the rest of their library after heathenreel while making this list. I must say I'm enjoying their more recent stuff. I did not enjoy The Scythe and kinda gave up on them.

[Kguillemette | 1,557]

#21 Evergrey- The Great Deceiver

From the moment I first heard this song it became one of my favorites. It lead into the album perfectly and is prog and power metal near perfection. 

I have a fun little story somewhat related to this song. When this came out back in 03 it was basically on repeat for several weeks I was enjoying the album so much. My go to hobby at the time was Magic: The Gathering and the current set at the time was Champions of Kamigawa which featured little creatures called "Deceivers". Now there wasn't anyone nearly as metal as myself in my playgroup, so nobody understood the reference every time I played a deceiver. Because I had to SING deceiver everything I played one. One by one, despite nobody ever having heard an Evergrey song in their life, they began to sing when casting their deceiver until half the playgroup began doing it too! If anyone here has ever played MTG, you understand that there are some players that took the game way too seriously. I drove them mad when my goofiness became infectious!

"It's a Cruel Deceiver!!!"

Edited November 11, 2023 by Kguillemette

[Kguillemette | 1,557]

Just checked my master list and noticed the numbering is all fucked up. All fixed now!

[Kguillemette | 1,557]

#20 Aghora- Atmas Heave

These are starting to be the songs absolutely closest to my heart now. Many of us reading this are familiar with Cynic. They entered the Florida death metal scene and really transformed what metal could be by adding jazz fusion and progressive notes to it with lyrics that explored spirituality instead of the usual piling up of corpses. They made one amazing album that is now considered a classic and disbanded shortly after. Well, shortly after they disbanded, the Seans hooked up with another jazz fusion guitar player, Santiago Dobles, and a new band with a new but similar sound was born. I love these guys almost as much as I do Cynic and the album Formless in patucular. After this album, the Sean's left, probably because that much songwriting talent and technical skill can't just stay bottled up in an otherwise niche band forever. Also, here is appearance of another one of my top 5 metal drummers of all time, Sean Reinert.

[Kguillemette | 1,557]

#19 The Gathering- Strange Machines

There was a doom and gloom metal scene for a bit in the early to mid 90s. Lots of bands shunned the aggressive riffage in favor of a very mellow sound. The Gathering was just another mediocre band in that scene... till they had the sense to hire an extremely talented female vocalist to lead the way. And their sound was found! While The Gathering has drifted away from metal over the years and abandoning it entirely towards the end, "Strange Machines" remains a classic and solidly in my top 20.

Edited December 7, 2023 by Kguillemette