Some melodies just worm themselves into your ears and attach to your brain. They become, like Thanos, inevitable. For me, this has happened a lot with heavy metal songs.
I think sometimes people don’t associate metal with melody the way they do with other genres. Which is disappointing because you are cutting out an entire section of incredible songwriting by being presumptuous.
Before I get too high and mighty, let me share with you a few metal songs with incredible melodies that really stand out and linger in my head. Read on!
“My Last Serenade” by Killswitch Engage
Discovering Killswitch Engage in the early 2000s, for me, was my entrance into the world of melodic metalcore. Their self-titled debut (2000) was a remarkable first record. It was, however, the follow-up, Alive or Just Breathing (2002), that put them on the map.
Among that flawless tracklisting sits “My Last Serenade”, a true rose of a metal song. Sure, the stem is covered in thorns, but the real beauty blooms with that heartfelt chorus: “This is / my last/serenade! I feel you / as you fall / away.“
To this day, I’ll randomly think about this song and just have to listen to it.
“Albatross” by Corrosion of Conformity
In the mid-90s, the grunge scene was in full bloom, and death metal was kind of running things underground. Nu-metal was on the come-up, and Pantera was making the biggest waves in the mainstream metal scene.
This is where Corrosion of Conformity’s brilliant brand of southern sludge metal comes in. Because most of what I just named wouldn’t exist without them.
Originally formed in North Carolina in the early 80s, CoC played a role in the sludgy pre-grunge. Like, if the Melvins were THE West Coast sludge band, CoC ruled in the East.
Over the years, the band’s sound morphed into more of a bluesy southern metal style, and in 1994, they released their fourth album, Deliverance. That record featured one of the most underrated 90s metal tunes of all time, “Albatross”, featuring a bluesy guitar melody that will nurture your soul.
“Needled 24/7” by Children of Bodom
The Gothenburg metal scene birthed several major melodic death metal bands and inspired countless more across the world. Finnish metalers Children of Bodom were just outside of all that, doing their own thing and making some really killer jams along the way.
CoB’s first few records are a great example of how eclectic melodic death metal could be, but it was the band’s fourth album, Hate Crew Deathroll, where they really found their stride. One of the most crucial songs from that record was “Needled 24/7”.
It’s fast as f**k and furious to boot. But there’s a wicked melody running underneath the chaos, and it surfaces in the bridge and chorus sections of the song. Giving you a chance to come up for a breath of fresh, melodic air.
“The Wicker Man” by Iron Maiden
I know, I know. I could have picked from NUMEROUS Maiden songs, and I chose this one. Well, you know what, tough s**t. This is MY list, and I LOVE this song.
Maiden’s 2000 album, Brave New World, had a big impact on me. Before this, I’d heard the greatest hits, but this was when I really spent time sitting and listening to one of their records in full.
Having been obsessed with horror movies, the album’s lead single being titled “The Wicker Man” really stuck out to me. And to this day, that epic melody of the song’s chorus, with Bruce Dickinson singing “Your time will come!”, resounds in my head.
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