Blog

FLIGHT OF ODIN Discusses New Double Album ‘I Traveled The Crooked Path’, Old-School Metal Influences And Keeping Music Human

Washington, D.C.-Area Doom Metal Band Talks Songwriting, Recording Without Click Tracks, The Sanctuary And Plans For A Doom Metal Opera

Washington, D.C.-area doom metal outfit FLIGHT OF ODIN recently joined The Zach Moonshine Show on Metal Devastation Radio for an extensive conversation about the band’s new double album, I Traveled The Crooked Path , their evolution since forming in 2015, their approach to songwriting and recording, classic heavy metal influences, and what they have planned for the future.
Released through Riding The Dragonfly LTD , I Traveled The Crooked Path captures a band that refuses to stay inside a single musical box. Doom metal provides the foundation, but psychedelic rock, progressive music, classical influences and traditional heavy metal all find their way into the band’s sound.
During the interview, FLIGHT OF ODIN also discussed the decision to release a double album, the addition of guitarist Tyler Beddow , vocalist Xyra’s wide-ranging vocal abilities, the band’s Washington, D.C.-area underground scene, and their commitment to preserving the human element of heavy music.
WHY A DOUBLE ALBUM?

According to the band, the decision to release I Traveled The Crooked Path as a double album came down to having a large amount of material and wanting to properly document the band’s history.
The first disc features material representing FLIGHT OF ODIN’s current lineup, while the second disc revisits the band’s Goddess In Smoke EP material from a previous lineup.
The band explained that they wanted those earlier recordings to receive a physical release rather than remain available only digitally. The material represents an important chapter in the group’s history, and the musicians who created it deserved to have their work preserved.
The result is a release that effectively bridges two eras of FLIGHT OF ODIN while showcasing the band’s ongoing evolution.
SONGS THAT DEVELOP ORGANICALLY

One of the defining characteristics of FLIGHT OF ODIN’s songwriting process is the band’s willingness to let songs develop naturally.
Some tracks on the new album originated from older material that was reworked and reinvented, while others came together through spontaneous rehearsal-room sessions.
Instrumentals such as “Andromeda” and “Obsidian Cove” are prime examples.
“ Andromeda” developed from guitar ideas brought in by Tyler Beddow, with the other members adding their own parts until the piece evolved into something much larger.
“Obsidian Cove” began from a warm-up idea and eventually became a fully developed composition.
That collaborative approach is central to the band’s chemistry.
Rather than attempting to force every song into a predetermined structure, FLIGHT OF ODIN allows its members to respond to one another and see where the music takes them.
A DOOM METAL OPERA?

The band’s ambitions don’t stop with conventional albums and live performances.
During the interview, FLIGHT OF ODIN revealed that they have discussed creating a doom metal opera , potentially involving other bands and incorporating extensive visual and theatrical elements.
Considering the band’s emphasis on atmosphere and storytelling, the concept could be a natural extension of what they are already doing.
For now, however, the band has plenty of new music to work on.
Despite just releasing a double album, FLIGHT OF ODIN is already developing new material, with several songs taking shape that push the band’s sound in new directions while maintaining its core identity.
THE SANCTUARY: FLIGHT OF ODIN’S CREATIVE LABORATORY

The band’s rehearsal space, affectionately known as The Sanctuary , plays a major role in the creative process.
Located in the band’s basement, The Sanctuary is designed to be a comfortable environment where the musicians can experiment without worrying about whether an idea is immediately perfect.
Fairy lights, a solid sound system and a relaxed atmosphere turn the room into something more than a rehearsal space.
The band records rehearsals and listens back to the performances afterward, allowing them to identify ideas that might have been overlooked in the moment.
FLIGHT OF ODIN is also considering filming a live performance or playthrough featuring the current lineup inside The Sanctuary.
RECORDING WITHOUT A CLICK TRACK

The band’s commitment to keeping performances human carries directly into the recording studio.
FLIGHT OF ODIN records together in the same room and does not use click tracks.
Instead, the musicians allow the tempo to naturally speed up and slow down depending on the performance.
The band views those fluctuations as part of what makes a recording feel alive.
Their sessions take place at BIAS Recording Studios in Springfield, a professional facility with decades of history. The band typically records multiple songs during a session and returns later for mixing.
Mastering is handled by Mike Monseur at AXIS Audio in Nashville.
The result is a polished production without stripping away the natural interaction between the musicians.
“THE HUMAN ELEMENT” IN THE AGE OF AI

That recording philosophy led to a broader discussion about the growing use of artificial intelligence in music.
For FLIGHT OF ODIN, the imperfections are not necessarily problems that need to be fixed.
They are part of the performance.
A drummer pushing a tempo, a guitarist holding a note slightly longer, or musicians reacting to one another in real time can create moments that are impossible to completely manufacture.
The band believes that preserving that human interaction is especially important for underground music.
Technology can certainly be useful, but for FLIGHT OF ODIN, the reason to play in a band in the first place is the experience of musicians creating something together.
FROM CHOPIN TO BLACK SABBATH

FLIGHT OF ODIN’s influences cover a considerable amount of musical territory.
Classical music, including Chopin , has influenced the band’s approach, while rock and metal influences include Iron Maiden, Scorpions, Judas Priest, KISS, Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi , and numerous other artists.
The band also cited Nico and The Velvet Underground , Roxy Music and Bryan Ferry among their broader influences.
Those influences help explain why FLIGHT OF ODIN can move from heavy doom passages into psychedelic, progressive or melodic territory without sounding like a straightforward genre exercise.
The musicians aren’t attempting to reproduce one particular era.
Instead, decades of music have become part of their collective vocabulary.
WRITING FROM THE VOCAL MELODY

Another interesting element of the band’s songwriting process is the role of vocalist Xyra .
Several FLIGHT OF ODIN songs begin with vocal melodies, lyrics or musical ideas developed before the full band arrangement exists.
One example is “You Can’t Stop Me Now,” which came to Xyra one morning and was reportedly written in roughly 20 minutes.
She recorded the initial idea on an iPhone before the rest of the band eventually built the full arrangement around it.
The band’s approach demonstrates how songs can originate from almost anywhere.
A guitar riff.
A vocal melody.
An acoustic recording.
A rehearsal-room jam.
Even a warm-up exercise.
The important part is recognizing the idea when it appears.
“SEANCE” AND THE BAND’S MORE EXPERIMENTAL SIDE

FLIGHT OF ODIN also discussed “Seance,” which they consider one of their most ambitious compositions.
The song developed through contributions from multiple members and took on an almost automatic-writing or channeling quality during the creative process.
That experimental attitude is one of the defining traits of the band.
FLIGHT OF ODIN isn’t afraid of long songs, instrumental passages, unconventional arrangements or allowing a piece to develop at its own pace.
For a doom metal band, that’s hardly surprising.
But the group combines that patience with an appreciation for the immediacy and energy of traditional heavy metal.
THE WASHINGTON, D.C. METAL SCENE

Although FLIGHT OF ODIN identifies with the Washington, D.C. area, the members actually come from Leesburg and the surrounding Northern Virginia region.
They discussed the challenges facing the local original-music scene, where cover bands, tribute acts, Americana and blues can often be more prominent than original rock and metal.
The band pointed to Baltimore and Richmond as areas with stronger rock and metal communities.
Rather than simply accepting the situation, however, FLIGHT OF ODIN wants to help build the local scene.
That DIY mentality has always been an important part of underground metal culture.
THE NAME FLIGHT OF ODIN

The band’s name dates back to its formation in 2015 and was inspired by Norse mythology.
Odin’s legendary eight-legged flying horse provided the initial inspiration, with the concept of music serving as a kind of flight.
Although the band’s lyrical and visual identity has expanded beyond its original Norse mythology focus, the name and imagery remain an important part of the group’s identity.
The band’s logo features Odin riding the flying horse, while the primary logo uses the band’s distinctive lettering.
TYLER BEDDOW JOINS THE LINEUP

Guitarist Tyler Beddow has also played an important role in the band’s current direction.
Beddow brings a technically capable and powerful approach to the guitar, including the use of a seven-string baritone on some of the band’s material.
His studio and live rig includes an ENGL Fireball , Mesa 4×12 , tape echo and a Marshall DSL 100 , contributing to the band’s substantial guitar sound.
The gear, however, is only part of the equation.
The band’s chemistry remains the foundation of the music.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR FLIGHT OF ODIN?

Even with I Traveled The Crooked Path now available, FLIGHT OF ODIN is already looking toward the next chapter.
The band is writing new material and expects to return to the studio in November .
They are also hoping to get back onstage, while continuing to explore new visual ideas and potentially developing their Sanctuary performance concept.
And somewhere further down the road, there is always the possibility of that doom metal opera.
For now, FLIGHT OF ODIN is continuing to follow its own path.
It may be crooked.
It may be unpredictable.
But judging by I Traveled The Crooked Path , that’s exactly how they like it.
LISTEN TO FLIGHT OF ODIN ON THE ZACH MOONSHINE SHOW

FLIGHT OF ODIN’s complete interview with Zach Moonshine covers I Traveled The Crooked Path , songwriting, recording, classic metal influences, the Washington, D.C. underground scene, The Sanctuary, AI and the future of human-made music, as well as the band’s plans for new material and live performances.
Listen to the full show on Mixcloud now:
Full Track List: 
Battle Of The Bands Top Six Winners:
1 – Another Demon – Reduced to Ash
2 – Soul Of Sheol – Paradise Is Not For Us
3 – Minstrel – Guardianes de la Noche y el Tiempo
4 – Sharp n’ Loud – Armored sexy girl
5 – Mistress – Terrified eyes
6 – PS:23 – The Angel They Call Evil
The Zach Moonshine Intro
7 – Ozzy Osbourne – Over The Mountain
8 – BEHEMOTH – In League with Satan
9 – CIRITH UNGOL – All The Shadows
10 – Smoulder – Shadow Of The Vulture
11 – Darren Michael Boyd – The Day Beneath Yesterday
12 – Rise From Your Grave – Stay Awake
13 – HELLUCINATION – Petrified
Flight of Odin – Interview featuring You Can’t Stop Me Now/The Ravens Eyes
14 – Riftpatrol – The Sky is Not the Limit
15 – Demon Christ – Curse You All
16 – Blind Illusion – Smash the Crystal
17 – Ministry – We Hate
18 – CREEPER – Big Bad Wolf
19 – Plusminuszero – Runner´s High
20 – THRONEHAMMER – Rise of Resistance
21 – Body Count – Last Breath

Iron Maiden's 50th anniversary tour has finally come to the United States. Continue reading…

Dave Mustaine’s Metallica songs number six in the official credits — four on Kill ‘Em All and two on Ride the Lightning, the album released after he’d already been fired. He was in the band barely a year, and the riffs he left behind are the DNA of their first two records. Here they are ranked worst to best, plus the Master of Puppets track he still claims was his.

It is the greatest what-if story in metal.

Dave Mustaine was the lead guitarist in the original, rawest incarnation of Metallica. He lasted barely a year. When he was put on a bus back to Los Angeles in April 1983, he didn’t just take his anger with him — he took his riffs.

But Metallica kept some of them.

James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich would go on to become one of the great songwriting partnerships, but their early blueprint was heavily co-written by Mustaine. His feral, over-stuffed, faster-than-necessary style of riffing is what Kill ‘Em All is built from. And he’s on two of the best tracks on the follow-up — an album recorded months after he’d been fired.

Six songs. We’ve gone through the liner notes and the interviews, including the claims he is still making, and ranked every one.

6. “Jump in the Fire”

Album: ‘Kill ‘Em All’ (1983)

Something has to be last.

“Jump in the Fire” is a good thrash song and the least threatening thing on this list. There’s a swagger to it that’s closer to rock and roll than to the world-ending band Metallica were about to become.

The riff is Mustaine’s. The original lyrics were his too, and Hetfield scrapped them entirely, rewriting the song from the perspective of Satan — which is a substantial upgrade. But the mid-tempo chug doesn’t hit the way the rest of his contributions do.

It’s the one that sounds like 1983. Everything else here sounds like it could have come out last year.

5. “Phantom Lord”

Album: ‘Kill ‘Em All’ (1983)

A deep cut with a devoted following, and the best example on the record of a very specific Mustaine habit: cramming a dozen ideas into one song and refusing to throw any of them away.

It’s chaotic and multi-part, and there’s a clean, almost pretty bridge in the middle that simply appears out of nowhere with no warning and no obvious reason. It shouldn’t work. It absolutely does.

This is the sound of a band with too much speed and too many riffs and no editor. That’s a compliment.

4. “Metal Militia”

Album: ‘Kill ‘Em All’ (1983)

The sound of a genre being born, and the fastest thing on the album.

That main riff is a buzzsaw. There’s no build, no atmosphere, no mercy — just three and a half minutes of a band trying to play quicker than anyone else in California. It closes Kill ‘Em All and it functions as a mission statement.

Whatever the speed limit was in 1983, this is the record that raised it.

It’s only at four because the three above it aren’t just great thrash songs. They’re the foundation everything else was built on.

3. “The Call of Ktulu”

Album: ‘Ride the Lightning’ (1984)

Mustaine is credited on an instrumental from the album released after he was fired. Sit with that for a second.

Nine minutes, no vocals, entirely Lovecraftian in mood, and it works as a piece of storytelling without a word in it. That opening riff — the descending one everybody hums badly — is his.

What Metallica did with it, with Cliff Burton’s arranging instincts all over the arrangement, is the part Mustaine couldn’t have done alone. He handed over a foundation and they built something considerably more sophisticated on top of it.

It’s the bridge between the raw debut and the band they became.

2. “Ride the Lightning”

Album: ‘Ride the Lightning’ (1984)

The title track. The song the album is named after. And it came from riffs Dave Mustaine wrote.

The arpeggiated intro lures you in and then the main riff arrives like a door being kicked open. It’s the first time this band sounded genuinely dark rather than just fast — the lyric is written from the perspective of a man strapped into an electric chair — and the structure is far more ambitious than anything on the debut.

This is the song that proved Metallica were more than speed. It’s also the song that proved Mustaine’s writing was.

1. “The Four Horsemen”

Album: ‘Kill ‘Em All’ (1983)

It was always going to be this one.

Seven minutes, multiple movements, and one of the most recognisable galloping riffs anyone has written. It’s the definitive Mustaine-era Metallica song and arguably the best thing on the debut.

Then there’s what happened next. Mustaine took the song back, re-recorded it at its original speed with his own lyrics, and put it on Megadeth’s first album as “Mechanix.” You can play them back to back and hear two of the Big Four splitting apart in real time.

Hetfield’s rewritten lyrics are better. The mid-section — the one everyone points out sounds like “Sweet Home Alabama” — is a genuinely strange decision that somehow works. Metallica’s version is the definitive one.

But the riff is his, and it’s the single greatest monument to the year Dave Mustaine spent in that band.

Every Dave Mustaine Metallica song, ranked

6. “Jump in the Fire” — Kill ‘Em All (1983)
5. “Phantom Lord” — Kill ‘Em All (1983)
4. “Metal Militia” — Kill ‘Em All (1983)
3. “The Call of Ktulu” — Ride the Lightning (1984)
2. “Ride the Lightning” — Ride the Lightning (1984)
1. “The Four Horsemen” — Kill ‘Em All (1983)

The Ghost in the Machine: The Song Dave Claims He Wrote

The list above sticks to official credits. If you ask Mustaine, it doesn’t end there.

For forty years he has maintained that the main descending riff in “Leper Messiah” — from Master of Puppets, the biggest metal album ever made — was his. Metallica have consistently denied it, Hetfield and Kirk Hammett most directly.

He has no credit and he never will.

But go and listen to it. That churning, chromatic, thoroughly irritated riff sounds exactly like something that would have sat comfortably on Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying?, which we’ve ranked against the rest of the Megadeth catalogue. We can’t prove it and neither can he. He’s the ghost in that song regardless, and it remains one of the most argued-over credits in metal.

Did Metallica Make The Right Call?

Look at what he contributed and it’s hard to argue he deserved to go. He was a riff machine who set the band on their path and then wasn’t there for any of it.

But the split had to happen.

That volatile creative clash is what gave us Megadeth — and the run of guitarists who have passed through that band since is a story almost as long as this one. It also forced Hetfield and Ulrich to become songwriters rather than riff collectors, because suddenly there was nobody else to do it.

One firing, two of the Big Four. Metal got a considerably better deal out of April 1983 than Dave Mustaine did.

And we’ll be playing “The Four Horsemen” forever either way.

TL;DR

He was fired in April 1983 and replaced by Kirk Hammett, weeks before Kill ‘Em All was recorded.

Six official credits. Four on Kill ‘Em All — “The Four Horsemen,” “Jump in the Fire,” “Phantom Lord,” “Metal Militia” — and two on Ride the Lightning, the title track and “The Call of Ktulu.”

Best: “The Four Horsemen.” Seven minutes, multi-part, and the riff he later took back and re-recorded as Megadeth’s “Mechanix.”

Worst: “Jump in the Fire.” A good song that sounds more like 1983 rock and roll than the band Metallica were becoming. Hetfield scrapped Mustaine’s original lyrics entirely.

The strangest credit: “The Call of Ktulu,” a nine-minute instrumental on an album recorded months after he’d been fired.

The disputed one: Mustaine has claimed for decades that the main riff in “Leper Messiah” from Master of Puppets is his. He has no credit and Metallica deny it.

FAQ

Six songs, one year in the band, and a firing that created two of the Big Four. Does Metallica’s “The Four Horsemen” beat “Mechanix,” or did Mustaine get the last word? Settle it in the comments. And keep it locked on the Loaded Radio stream — follow Loaded Radio for daily rock and metal news.

The post Dave Mustaine’s Metallica Songs, Ranked appeared first on Loaded Radio.

Williams suffered a medical emergency during Enjoy Wrestling’s Five-Year Anniversary event

Source

The Loose Lips train just keeps on rolling! One year after Josh, Nadine, and Ethan clobbered us with their great album Last Laugh, they return with a new EP that smashes together all the best parts of garage punk, power pop, Aussie punk, and kick-ass rock ‘n’ roll. Out on DIG! Records, the four-songer Love You is exactly what you were hoping it would be: 10 minutes of pure electricity crammed with infectious hooks. Loose Lips have found such a natural and distinctive sound as a trio that I sometimes forget that they’re a super-group. They’ve got the main band energy going strong on this EP. 

Ahead of a new album built on collision — raw against refined, violent against fragile, plan against accident — the Tokyo band explain why the best songs are the ones you can’t quite steer. There’s a story, often repeated and probably a little embellished with each telling, about how the fuzz pedal was born: a … Continue reading J-Rock : THE FUZZ ACT: Static, Thorns and the Art of Losing Control in Tokyo

What the hell is Emperor’s 1994 track I Am The Black Wizards all about?

“I came up with this sort of parallel universe, this dark dimension that was very Tolkien-esque. I wanted to use it for a concept record for Emperor. One of the ideas was for it to have this massive tower with incredibly deep dungeons, housing, amongst other things… these strange wizards controlled by a hive mind. Everything is connected, and that’s where the title comes from.”

Presumably there was a big Tolkien influence on the Mortiis mask…

“Yes and no. I knew that I wanted to do something beyond corpsepaint. I’d grown up with Kiss and W.A.S.P. and Mötley Crüe – these big-image American bands – so that was something I’d always liked, but I was definitely into The Lord Of The Rings.

The early version of Mortiis was just me finding things I could mould into noses and ears and all of that, and then putting make-up on top of it. To get the long nails, I would cut out the bendy ends of soda pop bottles, then paint them and glue them to my fingers.”

How do you feel about this current crop of masked bands, like Ghost and Sleep Token, becoming some of the biggest names in metal?

“I don’t pay a lot of attention to it, but Tobias [Forge] has done really cool stuff with Ghost. I’ve only met him once but he seemed like a very nice person. He was quiet. I’m only aware of Sleep Token because people talk about them. I see a shitload of masked bands fly by on my algorithm. The weird thing is, I feel like I’m the only guy who wears a mask but still has a face.”

What are the masks like to travel with? How many airport security guards have you shocked over the years?

“They pull my stuff out a lot. I usually carry weird electronics, and they think it’s a bomb or something and scan it, like, three times. I’ve half-expected sometimes for them to go, ‘What’s inside this box?’ and then all of a sudden there’s a face staring back at them. Ha ha! It’s never happened, but, then again, these people, can you imagine all the weird shit they must see every day?”

You’ve travelled all over the world. Who’s the weirdest person you’ve ever met?

“I met a guy in the 90s who was completely tattooed, top to toe, and he had 12 kids in 12 [US] states. This was back when I was still drinking, and I drank with him all night. He was like a living piece of art and he was super-nice, but I was thinking, ‘How the hell do you even get to the point where you have 12 kids in 12 different states?!’”

Must’ve been a bit of a vagabond type.

“I guess! Maybe he just travelled around and… he must have been a very charming person.”

You were charmed enough to drink with him all night.

“Yeah, I didn’t have kids with him, though. Ha ha ha!”

You’ve been Mortiis for more than 30 years now. What keeps it fun?

“I’m a stubborn motherfucker, that’s for sure! I love trying new things musically. Even as I was completing [new album] Ghosts Of Europa a few months ago, I already had a whole bunch of other, different-sounding music on my hard drive. There’s, like, three more albums I’ve started: some similar, some vastly different. It’s the ability to explore new ideas and see where I can go with it.”

When you’re not Mortiis, you’re a healthcare worker. What do your colleagues think of the Mortiis music and presentation?

“When I started that gig, early on, some of them probably didn’t quite know what to make of me. I walked in there scruffy-looking, with long dreads. But I’m gonna believe my boss when she tells me that I’m a fairly well-liked employee. You try to have a good attitude and just be a fairly comfortable person to be around. That’s a big part of the job. If you’re an uncomfortable person to be around, you’ve failed the first test! Ha ha!”

What’s the most rewarding part of that job?

“Getting paid. Ha ha ha! But, in all seriousness, it’s nice to be nice, man.”

Ghosts Of Europa is out now via Prophecy.

Van Halen had quite the summer. On Tuesday (Sept. 1), Alex Van Halen was knighted in the Netherlands. The Van Halen drummer was appointed a Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion, one of the country’s highest civilian honors, during a ceremony in Nijmegen, the city where Alex and his brother Eddie spent much of their childhood before their family moved to the United States. Mayor Hubert Bruls presented Alex with the royal honor at the Berchmanianum, the academy building of Radboud University.

The post Alex Van Halen Gets Knighted, Reunites With David Lee Roth, Calls Sammy Hagar “A Complete Idiot” appeared first on Stereogum.

The best metal movie soundtracks are the ones people bought without ever seeing the film. For roughly fifteen years, from the early nineties into the early 2000s, movie soundtracks were where heavy bands went to do things they’d never attempt on their own records — unlikely collaborations, one-off covers, songs that exist nowhere else. Some of those albums outsold the films they came from and outlived them by decades. These are the twenty best, ranked by how good the record actually is rather than how good the movie was, and the one at number one has been untouchable since 1994.

How this list was built

One rule: would a metal fan own this album?

Not “is every track metal,” because that criterion would eliminate almost everything worth including — starting with the number one. The Crow’s tracklist has The Cure and Violent Femmes on it. Judgment Night is half hip-hop. Lost Highway has David Bowie and a Badalamenti score.

What matters is whether the record belongs on a metalhead’s shelf, and whether it delivered something the bands involved never gave you anywhere else.

Beyond that: how good the album is as an album, whether it produced songs that outlived the film, and whether it still holds up now.

Scores are excluded — this is about compilations of songs, not orchestral work. And films about metal don’t automatically qualify. It’s the record that counts.

20. Airheads (1994)

Key tracks: White Zombie “Feed the Gods,” Motörhead “Born to Raise Hell,” Anthrax “London”

A comedy about three idiots who take a radio station hostage to get their demo played, with a soundtrack considerably better than the film deserved.

The White Zombie track is exclusive to it, Motörhead’s contribution features Ice-T and Whitfield Crane, and Prong and Primus both turn up. It’s a proper snapshot of where American heavy music sat in 1994, right before everything changed.

19. Rock Star (2001)

Key tracks: Steel Dragon “Livin’ the Life,” “We All Die Young,” “Stand Up,” “Blood Pollution”

The gimmick here is genuinely great: the fictional band Steel Dragon was played by an actual supergroup.

Zakk Wylde on guitar. Jason Bonham on drums. Jeff Pilson of Dokken and Foreigner on bass. And two lead vocalists — Jeff Scott Soto, singing for the Bobby Beers character, and Miljenko Matijevic of Steelheart, who provided the voice for Mark Wahlberg’s character.

So the “fake” songs are real recordings by real heavyweights, and the writing credits are stranger still. “Blood Pollution” was written by Twiggy Ramirez of Marilyn Manson. “Stand Up” was written by Sammy Hagar — and this version came out before Hagar’s own, which appeared on 2002’s Not 4 Sale with different lyrics. “We All Die Young” is a Steelheart song from 1996, sung by the man who wrote it.

Around them sit Bon Jovi, KISS, Mötley Crüe, Ted Nugent and Def Leppard. A love letter to eighties metal made just as nu metal was peaking, which is part of why it got overlooked.

18. Underworld (2003)

Key tracks: A Perfect Circle “Judith (Renholdër Mix),” The Dillinger Escape Plan, Renholdër

Curated largely by Danny Lohner — Nine Inch Nails’ longtime collaborator, working under the name Renholdër — which is why it’s more cohesive than most soundtracks of its era.

The A Perfect Circle remix is the centrepiece and became the definitive version for a lot of people. Getting Dillinger Escape Plan onto a mainstream vampire-movie soundtrack in 2003 remains one of the odder achievements in soundtrack history.

17. Dracula 2000 (2000)

Key tracks: Slayer, Static-X, Disturbed, Powerman 5000

A better album than a film, which is a recurring theme on this list.

It arrived at the exact peak of the nu metal and industrial crossover, and it’s a genuinely useful time capsule of that moment. Slayer on a mainstream horror soundtrack alongside Disturbed and Static-X tells you everything about where heavy music sat commercially in 2000.

16. End of Days (1999)

Key tracks: Guns N’ Roses “Oh My God,” Korn, Rob Zombie, Limp Bizkit

Notable for one reason above all others: “Oh My God” was the first new Guns N’ Roses music in years, and for a long stretch it was the only glimpse anyone got of what Chinese Democracy might sound like.

Around it, a solid slab of 1999 heavy music — Korn, Rob Zombie, Limp Bizkit, Everlast and Prodigy. The album is remembered far better than the Schwarzenegger film it came from.

15. Private Parts (1997)

Key tracks: AC/DC “You Shook Me All Night Long,” Ozzy Osbourne, Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie, Deftones

Howard Stern’s autobiographical film produced a soundtrack that hit number one on the Billboard 200 and went platinum — which almost no soundtrack on this list managed.

It’s a strange, sprawling collection that works precisely because it isn’t curated for coherence. Ozzy and AC/DC alongside Deftones and Marilyn Manson, with Van Halen and Green Day in between. Stern’s taste, unfiltered, and it sold enormously.

14. Resident Evil (2002)

Key tracks: Slipknot “My Plague (New Abuse Mix),” Marilyn Manson score, Coal Chamber, Mudvayne

Marilyn Manson co-scored the film alongside Marco Beltrami, which gives it a coherence most horror soundtracks lack.

The Slipknot remix is the draw — an exclusive version of an Iowa track that put the band in front of an enormous audience who’d never gone near that record. The rest is a solid cross-section of 2002’s heavier mainstream.

13. Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991)

Key tracks: KISS “God Gave Rock ‘n Roll to You II,” Megadeth “Go to Hell,” Faith No More “The Perfect Crime,” Primus “Tommy the Cat”

Two idiots from San Dimas play air guitar against Death, and the soundtrack turns out to be a genuinely serious document of 1991 metal.

Megadeth’s “Go to Hell” is exclusive to it. Faith No More’s “The Perfect Crime” is one of their best non-album tracks. Slayer contribute. Steve Vai turns up. And KISS’s contribution became one of their most enduring later-period songs.

For a film about a phone booth, it’s an oddly stacked record.

12. Mortal Kombat (1995)

Key tracks: The Immortals “Techno Syndrome,” Type O Negative “Blood & Fire,” Fear Factory, KMFDM, Napalm Death

Everyone remembers the techno. What gets forgotten is how heavy the rest of it is.

Type O Negative contribute “Blood & Fire” from Bloody Kisses. Napalm Death — actual grindcore — appear on a soundtrack to a video game adaptation, which in 1995 was genuinely remarkable. Fear Factory and KMFDM bridge the gap between the industrial and the electronic.

It went platinum, largely on the strength of a shouted single word.

11. Detroit Rock City (1999)

Key tracks: Pantera “Cat Scratch Fever,” Everclear “The Boys Are Back in Town,” Van Halen “Runnin’ with the Devil,” Thin Lizzy

A film about four kids trying to get into a KISS show, with a soundtrack built almost entirely on seventies hard rock and covers of it.

Pantera’s take on Ted Nugent’s “Cat Scratch Fever” is the standout and one of the best covers they ever recorded. Everclear’s Thin Lizzy cover is better than it has any right to be. Marilyn Manson and Drain STH provide the contemporary edge.

It’s a nostalgia record made by people who actually understood the nostalgia.

10. Last Action Hero (1993)

Key tracks: Megadeth “Angry Again,” AC/DC “Big Gun,” Alice in Chains “What the Hell Have I,” Anthrax “Poison My Eyes”

The film flopped. The soundtrack is one of the strongest metal compilations of the decade.

“Angry Again” earned Megadeth a Grammy nomination. “Big Gun” was AC/DC’s first US number one on the Mainstream Rock chart. Alice in Chains and Anthrax both contributed exclusive tracks. Def Leppard, Queensrÿche, Aerosmith and Tesla fill it out.

If you’d released this as a various-artists compilation with no film attached, it would still have gone platinum.

9. Queen of the Damned (2002)

Key tracks: “Forsaken,” “Not Meant for Me,” “System,” “Redeemer,” “Slept So Long”

The best story on this list.

Jonathan Davis of Korn wrote and produced five original songs with composer Richard Gibbs, and recorded the vocals himself — but his contract with Sony permitted his voice in the film and not on the soundtrack album. So the songs had to be re-recorded by other singers.

Five of them, one per track: Wayne Static of Static-X on “Not Meant for Me,” David Draiman of Disturbed on “Forsaken,” Chester Bennington of Linkin Park on “System,” Marilyn Manson on “Redeemer” and Jay Gordon of Orgy on “Slept So Long.”

Davis’s own reaction, years later, was unambiguous: it made him furious, because he knew how hard he’d worked on it.

There’s a footnote worth knowing too. Jeff Scott Soto was hired to sing the parts first and didn’t make the final cut — the same Jeff Scott Soto who fronted Steel Dragon on the Rock Star soundtrack at number 19.

The result is an album of Korn songs sung by five other frontmen, which shouldn’t work and absolutely does. Davis’s original versions circulated for years and were eventually released officially, making this the only entry here that exists in two legitimate versions.

Released February 19, 2002, it was also Aaliyah’s final film, arriving after her death.

8. Freddy vs. Jason (2003)

Key tracks: Ill Niño “How Can I Live,” Killswitch Engage, Lamb of God, Hatebreed, Slipknot

The heaviest soundtrack a major studio has ever put its name to.

Two horror icons finally meet, and the music matches. Killswitch Engage, Lamb of God and Hatebreed on a summer blockbuster soundtrack in 2003 was genuinely unusual — this was metalcore arriving in the mainstream via a slasher film, two years before most of those bands broke properly.

Ill Niño’s “How Can I Live” became the single, but the album’s value is in how uncompromising the rest of it is.

7. Spawn: The Album (1997)

Key tracks: Filter + The Crystal Method “(Can’t You) Trip Like I Do,” Slayer + Atari Teenage Riot “No Remorse (I Wanna Die),” Marilyn Manson + Sneaker Pimps “Long Hard Road Out of Hell,” Orbital + Kirk Hammett “Satan”

The concept: every track pairs a rock or metal act with an electronic artist. It’s Judgment Night’s formula pointed at a different genre four years later, and it’s very nearly as good.

Slayer with Atari Teenage Riot is as violent as it sounds. Metallica appear twice — DJ Spooky remixes “For Whom the Bell Tolls” as “The Irony of It All,” and Kirk Hammett separately adds guitar to Orbital’s “Satan,” which opens the film. And Filter’s team-up with The Crystal Method became a genuine hit that outlived the movie entirely, closing the end credits.

Korn work with The Dust Brothers, Butthole Surfers with Moby, Silverchair with Vitro, Incubus with DJ Greyboy, Henry Rollins with Goldie, Stabbing Westward with Josh Wink, and Soul Coughing with Roni Size.

One track connects two entries on this list: The Prodigy and Tom Morello’s “One Man Army” also appears on The Matrix soundtrack at number five.

It debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200 and went gold, making it the most commercially successful of the collaboration-concept soundtracks after Judgment Night.

6. Heavy Metal (1981)

Key tracks: Black Sabbath “The Mob Rules,” Blue Öyster Cult “Veteran of the Psychic Wars,” Sammy Hagar “Heavy Metal,” Cheap Trick “Reach Out”

The original, and the only entry here from before 1990.

The animated anthology film built from Heavy Metal magazine came with a soundtrack that reads like a snapshot of where hard rock stood at the turn of the eighties.

And it contains one of the great collector’s details in metal. Black Sabbath’s “The Mob Rules” appears here as a completely different take from the album version — not a remix, a separate recording. It was also the first new material Sabbath recorded after Heaven and Hell, cut for this film before the Mob Rules album existed. That version wasn’t officially available on a Black Sabbath release until the 2010 Deluxe Edition of Mob Rules, meaning that for twenty-nine years the only way to own it was this soundtrack.

“E5150” is heard in the film too, but never made the soundtrack album.

Blue Öyster Cult’s contribution is one of their best late-period songs. Journey, Devo, Nazareth, Grand Funk Railroad and Stevie Nicks round it out.

It went platinum, and for a generation it was the gateway record.

5. The Matrix (1999)

Key tracks: Rammstein “Du Hast,” Rage Against the Machine “Wake Up,” Deftones “My Own Summer (Shove It),” Marilyn Manson “Rock Is Dead,” Rob Zombie “Dragula (Hot Rod Herman Remix)”

The soundtrack that introduced an enormous mainstream audience to bands they’d never have found otherwise.

“Wake Up” closing the film turned a five-year-old Rage track into a permanent cultural fixture. Rammstein’s “Du Hast” reached a vast American audience through this and The Matrix’s marketing. Ministry, Monster Magnet and Propellerheads fill out one of the most commercially successful soundtracks of the decade.

It went double platinum, and it did more to move heavy music into the mainstream than most albums by the bands on it.

4. Singles (1992)

Key tracks: Alice in Chains “Would?,” Chris Cornell “Seasons,” Screaming Trees “Nearly Lost You,” Pearl Jam “State of Love and Trust,” Soundgarden “Birth Ritual”

Cameron Crowe’s Seattle romantic comedy produced a soundtrack that outlived it by three decades and went double platinum.

“Would?” is the reason it’s this high. Alice in Chains’ contribution — written about Andrew Wood — is one of the heaviest and best things anyone from that scene recorded, and for many people this soundtrack was the first place they heard it.

Around it: an exclusive Soundgarden track, two Pearl Jam songs, Chris Cornell’s first solo material, the Screaming Trees at their peak, and Mudhoney. The Lovemongers’ “Battle of Evermore” cover is the Wilson sisters doing Led Zeppelin properly.

Is every track metal? No. Is it a record that every metal fan of a certain age owns and still plays? Absolutely, and that’s the test.

3. Lost Highway (1997)

Key tracks: Nine Inch Nails “The Perfect Drug,” Rammstein “Du Hast,” Marilyn Manson “Apple of Sodom,” Smashing Pumpkins “Eye,” David Bowie “I’m Deranged”

Trent Reznor executive produced it, and it shows. This is the most cohesive record on the list — a soundtrack that functions as a genuine album rather than a compilation.

“The Perfect Drug” is one of the best Nine Inch Nails songs and appears nowhere else. Marilyn Manson contributed two exclusive tracks. And crucially, this was where a great many Americans heard Rammstein for the first time — two years before The Matrix, and the beginning of that band’s US career.

Angelo Badalamenti’s score sits between the songs without breaking the mood, which almost never works and does here. Dark, unsettling and unified in a way soundtracks almost never are.

2. Judgment Night (1993)

Key tracks: Helmet + House of Pain “Just Another Victim,” Slayer + Ice-T “Disorder,” Biohazard + Onyx “Judgment Night,” Faith No More + Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. “Another Body Murdered”

This album invented a genre.

The concept was simple and had never been attempted at scale: every single track pairs a rock or metal band with a hip-hop act. Not a remix, not a guest verse — a genuine collaboration, written together.

Slayer and Ice-T covering The Exploited’s “Disorder” is the one people remember. Helmet and House of Pain produced the best song on the record. Biohazard and Onyx built the title track. Sonic Youth teamed with Cypress Hill, Living Colour with Run-DMC, Mudhoney with Sir Mix-a-Lot, Dinosaur Jr with Del the Funky Homosapien, and Teenage Fanclub with De La Soul.

Everything from Rage Against the Machine’s mainstream breakthrough to nu metal’s entire commercial run traces back through this record. The film is completely forgotten. The album reshaped heavy music for a decade.

It’s number two only because of what’s above it.

1. The Crow (1994)

Key tracks: The Cure “Burn,” Nine Inch Nails “Dead Souls,” Stone Temple Pilots “Big Empty,” Pantera “The Badge,” Rage Against the Machine “Darkness,” Helmet “Milktoast,” Rollins Band “Ghost Rider”

Untouchable, and it isn’t close.

Released March 29, 1994, the soundtrack reached number one on the Billboard 200, was certified triple platinum, and has sold around 3.8 million copies in the United States. For a dark, uncompromising album attached to an R-rated comic-book film, that was extraordinary.

Every element works. The Cure’s “Burn” was written specifically for the film and is one of the best things they recorded in that decade. Nine Inch Nails’ cover of Joy Division’s “Dead Souls” improved on a song most people considered untouchable. Pantera covering Poison Idea’s “The Badge” gave that band’s audience a hardcore history lesson. Rage, Rollins Band and Machines of Loving Grace supply the weight, while Violent Femmes, Jesus and Mary Chain and Medicine give it range.

One for the completists: Helmet’s contribution is titled “Milktoast”, not “Milquetoast.” It’s an alternate version of the song that appeared on Betty later that year — the soundtrack mix is by Butch Vig, the album mix by Andy Wallace. Two different recordings, two different spellings.

And it sequences like an album. That’s the part people undersell — this isn’t a collection of tracks, it’s a record with a mood that holds from the first bar to the last.

The context is inseparable from it. Brandon Lee was killed in an accident on set during filming, and the album carries that weight whether you want it to or not. It became the definitive soundtrack of nineties gothic rock and metal, and thirty-two years later nothing has come near it.

If you own one album on this list, it’s this one.

The full ranking

20. Airheads (1994)
19. Rock Star (2001)
18. Underworld (2003)
17. Dracula 2000 (2000)
16. End of Days (1999)
15. Private Parts (1997)
14. Resident Evil (2002)
13. Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991)
12. Mortal Kombat (1995)
11. Detroit Rock City (1999)
10. Last Action Hero (1993)
9. Queen of the Damned (2002)
8. Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
7. Spawn: The Album (1997)
6. Heavy Metal (1981)
5. The Matrix (1999)
4. Singles (1992)
3. Lost Highway (1997)
2. Judgment Night (1993)
1. The Crow (1994)

We Also Recommend – Bands Like Sleep Token: 25 Artists To Hear Next

Why the nineties own this list

Fifteen of the twenty come from between 1991 and 2003, and that isn’t an accident.

For roughly that fifteen-year window, soundtracks were a genuine commercial format. Labels funded them properly, films used them as marketing, and — crucially — bands treated them as a place to do something they wouldn’t attempt on their own records. Exclusive tracks. Odd covers. Collaborations that would never have survived a label meeting in any other context.

Judgment Night exists because someone was allowed to put Slayer and Ice-T in a room. Spawn exists because someone thought Metallica and DJ Spooky was worth trying.

Then the format collapsed. Streaming removed the reason to buy a compilation, films moved toward score-driven marketing, and the exclusive track — the whole point — stopped making commercial sense.

There are good soundtracks now. There isn’t a Judgment Night now, and there probably won’t be again.

If you want more of this, the full Loaded Radio rankings archive is here.

Where this list will start arguments

Singles at four is the placement that’ll draw most fire, and the reasoning is in the criteria above — the test is whether metal fans own it, and they do. “Would?” alone justifies its position.

The Crow over Judgment Night is genuinely close. Judgment Night is the more important record; The Crow is the better album. Importance and quality aren’t the same thing, and this list measures the second one.

Heavy Metal at six will annoy older readers who consider it foundational. It is foundational. It’s also less consistent than the five above it.

And the omissions. The Devil’s Rejects is a seventies southern rock record, brilliantly chosen but not a metal soundtrack. Blade is mostly electronic. Dazed and Confused is classic rock. Scream is alt-rock. All great. None of them belong here under the criteria used.

Check Out – 13 Bands Like Deftones You’ll Become Completely Obsessed With

TL;DR

• Best: The Crow (1994) — reached number one on the Billboard 200, certified triple platinum with around 3.8 million US sales, and sequences like a genuine album rather than a compilation.
• Most important: Judgment Night (1993), which paired a metal band with a hip-hop act on every single track and effectively invented rap-metal as a commercial format.
• The best story: Queen of the Damned — Jonathan Davis and Richard Gibbs wrote five original songs, but Davis’s Sony contract barred his voice from the album, so they were re-recorded by Wayne Static, David Draiman, Chester Bennington, Marilyn Manson and Jay Gordon.
• The heaviest: Freddy vs. Jason (2003), with Killswitch Engage, Lamb of God, Hatebreed and Slipknot on a major-studio blockbuster.
• The oldest: Heavy Metal (1981), featuring a completely different take of Black Sabbath’s “The Mob Rules” — the first thing they recorded after Heaven and Hell, and unavailable on any Sabbath album until 2010.
• The window: fifteen of the twenty come from 1991 to 2003, when soundtracks were still a commercial format worth funding properly.

FAQ

Twenty soundtracks, and fifteen of them from a fifteen-year window that’s never coming back. What did we miss, and where did we get it wrong? Tell us in the comments. And keep it locked on the Loaded Radio stream — follow Loaded Radio for daily rock and metal news.

The post The 20 Best Metal Movie Soundtracks, Ranked appeared first on Loaded Radio.

The guitarist/professional wrestler passed away over the weekend at the age of 48, and many rockers and wrestlers have paid tribute to him. Continue reading…