Top 10 Best Extreme Metal Songs of All Time

Your eardrums are about to take a beating, and you are going to beg for more. Extreme metal isn't just a category of music. It is an absolute assault on the senses. You do not just listen to these tracks. You survive them. Forget the radio friendly rock your parents subjected you to in the family minivan. This genre demands your undivided attention with blast beats that hit like machine gun fire and vocals dragged straight from the lowest pits of the abyss. You are stepping into a sonic war zone where guitars are down tuned to the core of the earth and tempos threaten to break the sound barrier.

If you trace the bloodline back to the late 1970s and early 1980s, you will find the seeds of this glorious auditory rebellion. You can thank a handful of speed obsessed bands from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal for pushing their distortion pedals a little harder than anyone else. Soon after, you got a front row seat to the birth of thrash. Then things got truly chaotic. By the late 80s and early 90s, you saw musicians taking those aggressive blueprints and stripping away all the remaining melody to forge death metal and black metal. You watched conventional tempo limits shatter. You heard singers abandon traditional melodies entirely in favor of guttural growls and piercing shrieks.

Now you get to decide which of these heavy hitters wears the ultimate crown. The tracks nominated here represent the absolute peaks of musical extremity. You will find songs that defined entire subgenres and completely rewrote the rules of heavy music. Cast your vote for the tracks that melt your face the fastest. Turn the volume up to eleven and show everyone what true sonic destruction sounds like.

1. Raining Blood - Slayer

   

   Wow, how can I deny Slayer's awesomeness? All hail Lombardo, the godfather of drums. He has magic hands, no doubt.

   Meshuggah, Slipknot, Lamb of God, Bathory (newer)? Really? This started the entire wave of it all!

   Great song. I'm surprised there's no Freezing Moon by Mayhem. Oh well.

2. Angel of Death - Slayer

   

   I like when the drums come in after the guitar breakdown. It sounds like a machine gun.

   The most brutal and heavy song of all time.

   This song just blows my mind.

3. Lack of Comprehension - Death

   

   As a representative of this vote, I want you all to know that Death pioneered the death metal genre during the mid to late '80s. I think Death being at number 3 may be good, but Death at least deserves to be here and not be overwhelmed by incoming bands on this list.

   Lack of Comprehension is one of their heaviest songs, or maybe one of the heaviest songs in the extreme metal genre. RIP Chuck Schuldiner. Death influenced many death metal bands.

   Technical old-school death metal with jazz influences. Just beautiful and brutal.

4. A Fine Day to Die - Bathory

   

5. Quintessence - Darkthrone

   

   This is just the perfect black metal song. Personally, I prefer Lamb of God, which is not on this list, but this song is absolutely epic.

   It was hard to choose, but I think Darkthrone deserve the crown!

   The riff. By Odin almighty. The riff!

6. One - Metallica

   

7. Welcome to Hell - Venom

   

   If Venom is not extreme metal, then what genre is it?

8. Freezing Moon - Mayhem

   

   Fantastic riffs, eerie lyrics, amazingly played and sung. It makes for a song that is simultaneously horrific and addictive.

9. Holy Wars... The Punishment Due - Megadeth

   

   Legendary song from when Megadeth were extreme metal.

10. Peace Sells - Megadeth

    
The Newcomers
11. ?

    Hitler Was a Sensitive Man - Anal C***

    
12. ?

    CAFO - Animals as Leaders

    
The Contenders

13. Dead by Dawn - Deicide

    

14. Bleed - Meshuggah

    

    Wow, I'm surprised this isn't number one. Although well known, it's just so technical. The vocals are even more extreme and technical than most.

    Although unconventional, this song kills it.

15. Lost Wisdom - Burzum

    

    His voice. Oh, that was the craziest voice I've ever heard!

    The guitar was insane!

16. All Shall Fall - Immortal

    

    A perfect song for this list.

17. Kill or Become - Cannibal Corpse

    

18. Your Disposal - Cattle Decapitation

    

    Amazing song, and heavy. The chorus always catches me.

    +1 for Cattle Decap.

19. Creeping Death - Metallica

20. Denial of Life - Death

    

    The sadistic drums on this song make me feel like a psychopath.

    The most brutal song ever by Chuck. That intro was a killer!

21. One Rode to Asa Bay - Bathory

    

    I'm not sure if this song fits the criteria of this list, but I strongly believe this is one of the best black metal songs I've ever heard.

    Quorthon was epic with his guitars. R.I.P.

22. Whiplash - Metallica

    

23. Ride the Lightning - Metallica

    

24. You're Dead - Megadeth

    

25. Hammer Smashed Face - Cannibal Corpse

    

26. Bleak - Opeth

    

27. Fight Fire with Fire - Metallica