Table of Contents
Heavy metal, or simply metal, originated in Great Britain in the early 1970s. Over the decades, some sub-genres developed, such as black metal, death metal, and power metal.
There are moments in life when a single Rock song is not enough and your ears are thirsting for something stronger and more aggressive. The drums and guitar riffs aren’t enough to calm the beast you’re carrying; you’re just one step away from exploding in rage, so you need the perfect playlist.
Metal offers the listener an enormous spectrum of musical techniques from extremely slow to rapidly fast rhythms. Heavy metal is one of the most popular genres around the world and its dark ideologies continue to play a fundamental role. Metal also offers songs that criticize society or deal with religions. Fantasy, orgies of hate, melancholy and romantic themes are also part of heavy metal.
In the end, the music and inspiration can come from any direction and source.
In our playlist, you will find the best and most popular heavy metal songs of all time. The following songs were selected for their influence and popularity in the world of heavy metal.
The playlist is here to inspire you and introduce you to some great metal songs, riffs, solos, and bands you may have never heard of or just to refresh your memory.
(You can find a Spotify playlist at the end of the article.)
The most popular metal songs of all time:
Each song is linked to its music video via its title.
| №: | Song: | Performer: | Listen to: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | One | Metallica | |
| 2. | Walk | Pantera | |
| 3. | Hallowed Be Thy Name | Iron Maiden | |
| 4. | Queen of the Reich | Queensryche | |
| 5. | Solitude | Candlemass | |
| 6. | Hangar 18 | Megadeth | |
| 7. | Over the Wall | Testament | |
| 8. | Master of Puppets | Metallica | |
| 9. | Mr. Crowley | Ozzy Osbourne | |
| 10. | Tornado of Souls | Megadeth | |
| 11. | 2 Minutes to Midnight | Iron Maiden | |
| 12. | Evenfall | Tristania | |
| 13. | War Pigs | Black Sabbath | |
| 14. | Doomsday For The Deceiver | Flotsam and Jetsam | |
| 15. | Demanufacture | Fear Factory | |
| 16. | The Endless Knot | Eluveitie | |
| 17. | Freezing Moon | Mayhem | |
| 18. | Evil | Mercyful Fate | |
| 19. | Got the Life | Korn | |
| 20. | War Ensemble | Slayer | |
| 21. | Phoenix | Stratovarius | |
| 22. | Ace of Spades | Motorhead | |
| 23. | Nightfall | Blind Guardian | |
| 24. | Wheels of Confusion | Black Sabbath | |
| 25. | Metropolis Part I | Dream Theater | |
| 26. | Chop Suey! | System Of A Down | |
| 27. | Paranoid | Black Sabbath | |
| 28. | Them Bones | Alice In Chains | |
| 29. | Black Dragon | Luca Turilli | |
| 30. | Caught in a Mosh | Anthrax | |
| 31. | Exciter | Judas Priest | |
| 32. | Neon Knights | Black Sabbath | |
| 33. | Into the Void | Black Sabbath | |
| 34. | Holy Wars… The Punishment Due | Megadeth | |
| 35. | Return to Serenity | Testament | |
| 36. | Chapel of Ghouls | Morbid Angel | |
| 37. | Mirror Mirror | Blind Guardian | |
| 38. | Angel of Death | Slayer | |
| 39. | My Generation | Limp Bizkit | |
| 40. | Embrace of the Endless Ocean | Amon Amarth | |
| 41. | Pull The Plug | Death | |
| 42. | Divine Wings of Tragedy | Symphony X | |
| 43. | Fast As A Shark | Accept | |
| 44. | At the Heart of Winter | Immortal | |
| 45. | The Trooper | Iron Maiden | |
| 46. | Battery | Metallica | |
| 47. | Emerald Sword | Rhapsody of Fire | |
| 48. | Symphony Of Destruction | Megadeth | |
| 49. | Black Sabbath | Black Sabbath | |
| 50. | Halloween | Halloween | |
| 51. | Blinded By Fear | At the Gates | |
| 52. | Aces High | Iron Maiden | |
| 53. | Kings of the Carnival Creation | Dimmu Borgir | |
| 54. | Balls To The Wall | Accept | |
| 55. | What Kind of Love | Avantasia | |
| 56. | Crazy Train | Ozzy Osbourne | |
| 57. | Territory | Sepultura | |
| 58. | You’ve Got Another Thing Coming | Judas Priest | |
| 59. | Blackwater Park | Opeth | |
| 60. | Victim of Changes | Judas Priest | |
| 61. | Fairies Wear Boots | Black Sabbath | |
| 62. | Courage | Manowar | |
| 63. | Season in the Abyss | Slayer | |
| 64. | Scum | Napalm Death | |
| 65. | Rainbow in the Dark | Dio | |
| 66. | The Beautiful People | Marilyn Manson | |
| 67. | Symptom of the Universe | Black Sabbath | |
| 68. | Always Will Be | Hammerfall | |
| 69. | Seasons in the Abyss | Slayer | |
| 70. | Demon of the Fall | Opeth | |
| 71. | Iron Man | Black Sabbath | |
| 72. | Elimination | Overkill | |
| 73. | Kings Of Metal | Manowar | |
| 74. | Breaking the Law | Judas Priest | |
| 75. | The Count Of Tuscany | Dream Theater | |
| 76. | The Four Horsemen | Metallica | |
| 77. | Heaven and Hell | Black Sabbath | |
| 78. | Wasted Years | Iron Maiden | |
| 79. | This World Can’t Tear Us Apart | Trivium | |
| 80. | Rime of the Ancient Mariner | Iron Maiden | |
| 81. | The Philosopher | Death | |
| 82. | Eagle Fly Free | Helloween | |
| 83. | Imperium | Machine Head | |
| 84. | The Number of the Beast | Iron Maiden | |
| 85. | Eternal Wait | Enisferum | |
| 86. | Black Metal | Venom | |
| 87. | Distance | Soilwork | |
| 88. | Dead Embryonic Cells | Sepultura | |
| 89. | Raining Blood | Slayer | |
| 90. | Voice of the Soul | Death | |
| 91. | Fear Of The Dark | Iron Maiden | |
| 92. | Punishment | Biohazard | |
| 93. | Mother Russia | Iron Maiden | |
| 94. | The Oath | Mercyful Fate | |
| 95. | Insanity’s Crescendo | Dark Tranquility | |
| 96. | Crystal Mountain | Death | |
| 97. | Shock | Fear Factory | |
| 98. | The Pharaoh Sails to Orion | Nightwish | |
| 99. | Run to the Hills | Iron Maiden | |
| 100. | Pull Me Under | Dream Theater | |
| 101. | Kill The King | Rainbow | |
| 102. | Ghost Love Score | Nightwish | |
| 103. | Phantom of the Opera | Iron Maiden | |
| 104. | Du hast | Rammstein | |
| 105. | Cowboys from Hell | Pantera | |
| 106. | Arise | Sepultura | |
| 107. | Halo | Machine Head | |
| 108. | I am the Black Wizards | Emperor | |
| 109. | Sins of Allegiance | Dragonlord | |
| 110. | Stargazer | Rainbow | |
| 111. | Bonded by Blood | Exodus | |
| 112. | The Exorcist | Possessed | |
| 113. | Crawl Through Knives | In Flames | — |
| 114. | Painkiller | Judas Priest | |
| 115. | Substitutional World | Falconer | |
| 116. | Nemesis | Arch Enemy | |
| 117. | For Whom the Bell Tolls | Metallica | |
| 118. | Pale | Within Temptation | |
| 119. | Hammer Smashed Face | Cannibal Corpse | |
| 120. | Guardian | Fates Warning | |
| 121. | Beyond the Realms of Death | Judas Priest | |
| 122. | Small Town Boy | Paradise Lost | |
| 123. | Material World Paranoia | Kreator | |
| 124. | Battle Hymn | Manowar | |
| 125. | Holy Diver | Dio | |
| 126. | The Power of One | Sonata Arctica | |
| 127. | Children Of The Grave | Black Sabbath | |
| 128. | Forever Walking Alone | Dragonland | |
| 129. | Screaming For Vengeance | Judas Priest | |
| 130. | Seek and Destroy | Metallica | |
| 131. | Fool’s Parade | Nocturnal Rites | |
| 132. | Over The Mountain | Ozzy Osbourne | |
| 133. | A Hamlet for a Slothful Vassal | Theatre of Tragedy | |
| 134. | Witching Hour | Venom | |
| 135. | Razorblade Salvation | Sinergy | |
| 136. | Enter Sandman | Metallica | |
| 137. | Forever | Kamelot | |
| 138. | Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath | Black Sabbath | |
| 139. | Black Winter Day | Amorphis | |
| 140. | Powerslave | Iron Maiden | |
| 141. | Cthulhu Dawn | Cradle Of Filth | |
| 142. | Keeper of the Seven Keys | Helloween | |
| 143. | Cemetery Gates | Pantera | |
| 144. | Killers | Iron Maiden | |
| 145. | Hellion/Electric Eye | Judas Priest | |
| 146. | The Flames of the End | At The Gates | |
| 147. | Overt the Mountain | Ozzy Osbourne | |
| 148. | Am I Evil? | Diamond Head | |
| 149. | Power | Helloween | |
| 150. | A Fine Day to Die | Bathory | |
| 151. | Peace Sells | Megadeth | |
| 152. | Eyes of a Stranger | Queensrÿche | |
| 153. | Sabbath Bloody Sabbath | Black Sabbath | |
| 154. | Heartwork | Carcass | |
| 155. | Valley of the Damned | DragonForce | |
| 156. | Chopped In Half | Obituary | |
| 157. | Hollow | Pantera | |
| 158. | N.I.B. | Black Sabbath | |
| 159. | Sweet Leaf | Black Sabbath | |
| 160. | Seek & Destroy | Metallica | |
| 161. | Dawn of Flames | Gates of Ishtar | |
| 162. | The Last In Line | Dio | |
| 163. | Afterlife | Avenged Sevenfold | |
| 164. | Babylon | Soulfly | |
| 165. | The Sixth Extinction | Ayreon | |
| 166. | South Of Heaven | Slayer | |
| 167. | Needled 24/7 | Children of Bodom | |
| 168. | Creeping Death | Metallica | |
| 169. | Surfacing | Slipknot | |
| 170. | Bleeding Heart | Angra | |
| 171. | Transilvanian Hunger | Darkthrone | |
| 172. | Walk With Me In Hell | Lamb of God | |
| 173. | Fade to Black | Metallica |