So which songs should've been on this list instead?

September 23, 2021 3:05 AM

666 Teeth: the best metal songs EVAH!1! (Well, according to Dutch music journalist, metal podcaster and headbanger Peter van der Ploeg.)
posted by MartinWisse (25 comments total)

That's not a terrible list. I would've picked different tracks for a bunch of the artists, but it hits pretty much all the essentials.

Except Bolt Thrower. Those Once Loyal is a silly concept album, but damn if it isn't the best collection of heavy riffs there is. And they're missing from this list.
posted by Dysk at 4:03 AM on September 23, 2021 [2 favorites]

Pretty interesting that there's some newer stuff on there, like one from Altarage's 2021 album. Usually lists like this end up flooded with just the classics.
posted by TheKaijuCommuter at 5:24 AM on September 23, 2021 [1 favorite]

Also, not mad seeing three Krallice tracks on there.
posted by TheKaijuCommuter at 5:26 AM on September 23, 2021

Disfear - "Get if Off": yaaas

I do also love how this is (rightfully!) weighted toward the contemporary. The more general rock megalists still tend to tilt toward music of the last century.
posted by bendybendy at 6:59 AM on September 23, 2021 [2 favorites]

Seems... kinda random. Pretty light on both thrash and stoner/doom. And like, who thinks Slayer's best three songs are "Death's Head", "Disciple", and "Dead Skin Mask"? Still, looking forward to skipping around this playlist-- plenty of bands I've never heard of.
posted by gwint at 7:00 AM on September 23, 2021 [2 favorites]

They have the wrong Dillinger Escape Plan songs (should be 43% Burnt and When Good Dogs Do Bad Things). There's some really good choices on here: Sweven, Thantifaxath, the two best Inter Arma songs.

Only ONE! Neurosis song?

No Sleep!??!

There's a distinct lack of grind, no The Drip, no Cult Leader, and, criminally, no Pig Destroyer.
posted by MisantropicPainforest at 7:09 AM on September 23, 2021 [4 favorites]

This is definitely not a Rolling Stone list--where are Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Guns 'n' Roses, Motley Crue?

I don't want to be the person who sticks up for hair metal, but if you're going to pretend that a whole very-popular-albeit-somewhat-embarrassing subgenre just never happened, maybe you should kick out Korn and Limp Bizkit.
posted by box at 7:56 AM on September 23, 2021 [3 favorites]

If Korn and Limp Bizkit are there, then KMFDM A Drug Against War and Ministry Stigmata should be there.

Megadeth - Peace Sells but Who's Buying?

Anthrax deserves at least one song.

Other than that, every metal song I really like was there. And about 590 I've never heard before, but I trust that this list came from some peoples' hearts first.
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:02 AM on September 23, 2021 [2 favorites]

I don't want to be the person who sticks up for hair metal

The list is more about what metal is rather than what it was. A "comprehensive" rock list today probably wouldn't include Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, but a list from 1975 probably would, even while both would include Bo Diddley.
posted by bendybendy at 8:07 AM on September 23, 2021

Too much Metallica and Moonspell. No Nine Inch Nails at all feels like a pretty specific diss but there's a lot to like here. Agreed that they picked the wrong Dillinger but I respect that they burned three slots on the band. While less clearly pinned down as metal, I like Puciato's solo output from this past year.

I also feel like there's been some real strong output during the pandemic, some albums that have become instant classics for me. Though that could be a function of the heavy Whatsapp group I got added into and the amount of time I've had working from home to listen to music this past 18 months...

Will dig into this looking for my next rabbit hole, thanks!
posted by slimepuppy at 9:21 AM on September 23, 2021 [1 favorite]

I didn't scroll through all 666 titles but Dopesmoker should be there somewhere ( near the top ) .
posted by Liquidwolf at 9:40 AM on September 23, 2021 [1 favorite]

Possibly a Gen-X problem, thinking on that stuff like hair metal: I feel like at some point the Overton window of metal shifted. Seems like things I considered metal are merely rock, and the "metal" label now applies only to stuff I would've considered death metal and, um... heavier? IDK how to express that last bit. I'm at a loss for labels.

Also worrying about labels might be about as metal as giving a damn about the Grammys, but here we are talking about it.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 10:01 AM on September 23, 2021 [3 favorites]

I didn't scroll through all 666 titles but Dopesmoker should be there somewhere ( near the top ) .

It's in alphabetical order by artist -took me longer than I want to admit to figure that out.
posted by The_Vegetables at 10:05 AM on September 23, 2021 [3 favorites]

I'd have found room for "Blood Red Skies" (not just a superlative metal song, but a superlatively metal title), but I'm really into the Priest.
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:53 AM on September 23, 2021 [2 favorites]

Is Nine Inch Nails metal? I've always considered it to be industrial, like also KMFDM.
posted by MartinWisse at 11:30 AM on September 23, 2021

Except Bolt Thrower. Those Once Loyal is a silly concept album, but damn if it isn't the best collection of heavy riffs there is. And they're missing from this list.

Is that a concept album? Isn’t it the same concept as every Bolt Thrower album? But yes, obviously they should be here, one of the most universally liked bands in the genre.

Of course it’s hard to pick what Bolt Thrower to include on a list, because most of it is good and most of it is pretty similar except that the first couple albums are different from the rest.
posted by atoxyl at 11:49 AM on September 23, 2021

Is that a concept album? Isn’t it the same concept as every Bolt Thrower album?

Almost. This one's about WWI rather than space war.
posted by Dysk at 12:20 PM on September 23, 2021 [1 favorite]

Metal might even have a leg up on electronic music when it comes subgenre pedantry...

I really don't know what the line is where industrial/stoner/post/prog/etc metal turns into rock and vice versa. But admittedly my appreciation of metal is more about going wide than it is going deep into a single subsubsubgenre.
posted by slimepuppy at 12:24 PM on September 23, 2021

Is Nine Inch Nails metal? I've always considered it to be industrial, like also KMFDM.

KMFDM generally is more keyboard driven than guitar driven and doesn't feature grindy metal guitar riffing on a lot of their albums, so I think they are generally industrial but have some metal tracks. I'm not the biggest NIN fan, but the ones I know and like don't have any metal guitar playing so they are definitely industrial.
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:52 PM on September 23, 2021

I felt like complaining about the lack of Black Sabbath (the song) for obvious reasons, but a list with four Death songs can't be all that bad.

Some of the choices by bands you'd expect are a bit off the wall, but hey. I'd certainly add some Blind Guardian since judging by some of the inclusions it's not like Peter is above a bit of melody. Also, Candlemass.
posted by ersatz at 1:18 PM on September 23, 2021

So after having this play on shuffle in the background all day, I'm back to say: Damn, there's a lotta great metal out there. Thanks for posting MartinWisse.
posted by gwint at 2:56 PM on September 23, 2021

Some fine tunes on here, and to echo gwint, this has been a lovely thing to have on shuffle in the background. Was happy to see some quite new acts like Zeal&Ardor on the list.

Answering the title of the post: some Amon Amarth, Babymetal, Bloodywood, and even a representative tune from folk metal superstars Korpilaani would have been welcome.

Love 'em to pieces, but you could reduce the Rammstein quotient to make up the space.
posted by erikred at 4:39 PM on September 23, 2021

Lists are very personal, to be sure, but no Candlemass and their Iron Maiden doesn't include "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"? Very sus.
posted by wintermind at 6:44 PM on September 23, 2021

I'm more of a metal dabbler than a "all my shirts are metal shirts" guy but I definitely appreciate some of their niche picks while it does seem strange many bands get 3 songs while other strong candidates get none.

My two biggest surprises were:
* That Creature's "Fugue en Sol Mineur" made the list (it should), just an insanely intricate one-man metal band with trombone covering/reinterpreting Bach. Great album it's on too.
* Incubus, who do metal but also rock/funk, get 2 songs (and not "New Skin"!), while In Flames get only 1 song. But in Incubus' defense, probably more variety between those two songs than most of In Flames' most enduring albums. It's ok to do one thing really well!
posted by JauntyFedora at 7:45 PM on September 23, 2021 [1 favorite]

I keep hoping someday Budgie will get their due, but that day still awaits it seems.
posted by gusottertrout at 3:08 AM on September 25, 2021