Top 10 Metal Songs Made by Non-Metal Bands

Metal is not always where the band bio says it should be. Sometimes the heaviest riff comes from artists better known for arena rock, punk, grunge, alt-rock, pop experimentation, or whatever strange laboratory Ween was operating out of that week. You hear the guitars thicken, the drums start throwing furniture around, and suddenly a non-metal band has wandered into the pit like it paid for VIP access.

That is what makes these songs so fun to argue about. You are not just picking the loudest tracks. You are sorting through songs that borrow metal's speed, weight, menace, distortion, and glorious lack of chill, even when the artists behind them are usually filed somewhere else at the record store. Some are proto-metal accidents. Some are full-on genre raids. Some feel like a band said, "What if we scared the radio programmer today?" Grab your earplugs and vote for the songs that brought the most metal energy from the least expected places.

The Top Ten

  1. Stone Cold Crazy - Queen

    Metallica covered this song, but Queen's version is still the best. It was way ahead of its time.

    This is said to have predated thrash and speed metal by a few years.

  2. Helter Skelter - The Beatles

    I think it's debatable whether this is a metal song or not. It was definitely heavy for 1968 though.

  3. It's Gonna Be a Long Night - Ween

  4. Stroker Ace - Ween

  5. Ogre Battle - Queen

  6. The Bitter End - Sum 41

    This one would actually fit in a racing game, not gonna lie.

  7. Mushroom Festival in Hell - Ween

  8. Room a Thousand Years Wide - Soundgarden

  9. Automatic Sun - The Warning

  10. Floyd the Barber - Nirvana

    11. The Newcomers
  11. ?

    Justice and Mercy - Flyleaf

  12. ?

    I'm So Sick - Flyleaf

    13. The Contenders

  13. What If - Creed

  14. Brianstorm - Arctic Monkeys

  15. Stockholm Syndrome - Muse

    The outro riff is really heavy.

  16. This Means War - Nickelback

  17. Bang Bang - Green Day

  18. Highway Star - Deep Purple

    Proto-speed metal, also neoclassical metal.

  19. Them Bones - Alice in Chains

  20. Unchained - Van Halen

  21. Into the Fire - Deep Purple

  22. A Gypsy's Kiss - Deep Purple

  23. Child in Time - Deep Purple

    One of the foundations of prog metal.

  24. Speed King - Deep Purple

  25. The Bird and the Worm - The Used

  26. Halls of Illusion - Insane Clown Posse

    Got some nu metal vibes. ICP even toured with nu metal bands too! Slash of Guns N' Roses also does the guitar for this song.

  27. Billy Knows Jamie - 100 Gecs

    There are a lot of nu metal influences in this song despite them being a hyperpop band. It sounds just like a Limp Bizkit song.

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