With their striking renditions of old favourites or original festive compositions – metal Christmas songs excel. From Manowar’s mythological-focused offerings to Judas Priest’s Rob Halford giving his all on a Christmas album filled with traditional holiday hits as well as his original compositions, there are few bands or performers better at creating musical Christmas cheer than metal artists themselves. Here are five metal Christmas songs you don’t have to be ashamed to listen to!
Anvil & Bumblefoot
Anvil are one of the premier metal bands from Canada, influential bands like Metallica and Slayer in particular. Renowned for their 1982 release Metal on Metal as one of the heaviest albums ever produced. Unfortunately after briefly becoming popular worldwide they began their descent towards obscurity – this documentary by Sacha Gervasi follows their last ditch efforts to keep their name alive and keep rocking!
Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal is an exceptional multi-instrumentalist. His playing blends elements from old school Iron Maiden with more melodic vocals and guitar harmonies for an engaging performance, including hard and fast rock tracks like “Titanium”.
Anvil showcases their distinctive Steamhammer sound in songs such as ‘Metal On Metal,’ ‘Nabbed In Nebraska,’ and ‘Food For The Vulture. Even as veteran band, they still rock as though in their prime!
Experience live Anvil shows with this DVD featuring two full concerts recorded at Toronto’s Paramount Theater! A must-have for metal fans everywhere! ‘We Wish You A Metal Xmas And Headbanging New Year’ was first released October 14th 2008 featuring rock artists from MOTORHEAD, BLACK SABBATH and KISS performing Christmas classics such as ‘Run Rudolph Run, Santa Claus Is Coming to Town and Grandma Got Ran Over by a Reindeer.’
Black Stone Cherry
Black Stone Cherry are a Kentucky band who have redefined Southern rock for the modern era since forming in 2001 and signing to Roadrunner Records. Their name was inspired by a brand of flavored cigars, and all members have an extensive musical heritage – drummer John Fred Young was raised around The Kentucky Headhunters while bassist Chris Robertson’s grandmother was an accomplished jazz singer! In fact, their early practices took place at a house used by The Kentucky Headhunters themselves! Their early practice sessions even involved shoveling corn for local farmers so that they could continue paying rent!
Folklore & Superstition was the album that put Black Stone Cherry on the map. As their first release to incorporate more diverse influences, and with Bob Marlette (known for working with such acts as BLACK SABBATH, SHINEDOWN, AIRBOURNE and LYNYRD SKYNYRD) providing production support gave this record its own distinct sound.
The band has performed alongside heavyweight acts like SEVENDUST, Alter Bridge and the legendary duo Def Leppard/Whitesnake on multiple tours and festivals; their energetic live shows spreading the word of their unique blend of rock music.
Christopher Lee
Heavy metal veterans like Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson and Judas Priest’s Rob Halford have released Christmas albums over time, which sound amazingly cool.
While some Christmas traditions can be bothersome (such as spending too much time with relatives and eating sprouts and stupid paper hats), others are truly anticipated. One such tradition that we look forward to each year is listening to heavy metal Christmas songs.
Finding a song suitable for this special holiday occasion can be challenging, but August Burns Red’s track “Growler” might just do the trick. With its growling guitar riffs and voiced croaks sure to raise blood pressure during this holiday season!
Christopher Lee, 92-year-old British actor, is an ardent admirer of metal music, as evidenced by two full albums of Christmas music he has composed to express this affinity. Darkest Carols Faithful Sing features metal versions of popular Christmas classics with Lee’s unique baritone adding macabre touches to each tune.
Though this album did not become an annual tradition for most metal fans, its impact was nonetheless significant and its influence saw subsequent artists bring their own reinventions of Christmas music recordings to bear. Dave Grohl, Alice Cooper and Lemmy from Motorhead all recorded holiday tracks!
220 Volt
220 Volt was a Swedish heavy metal band who were part of the early 1980s European melodic hard rock scene. Their albums such as 1983’s ‘S/t’, 1984’s Power Games and 1985’s Mind over Muscle are filled with captivating songwriting that includes catchy tunes, epic guitar riffs and great vocalists – hallmarks of great melodic hard rock albums!
Mats Karlsson and Thomas Drevin were truly spectacular on these records, their guitar playing being an intriguing blend of Glenn Tipton’s and K.K. Downing (of Judas Priest). Additionally, vocalist Jocke Lundholm had one of those incredible voices perfectly suited for heavy metal music.
Band popularity rose after they performed with Nazareth and AC / DC between 1984 and 1986. After disbanding in 1992, some original members reformed and organized concerts in Jamtland Sweden during 2002 – also releasing an album entitled ‘Voltage 1’ featuring new material as well as highlights from their concerts.
Bob Kulick was so taken with the sound of Black Sabbath that he decided to commission half the band for his 2008 compilation album ‘We Wish You A Metal Xmas And A Headbanging New Year!’. This track showcases Dio’s dulcet pipes, Iommi’s constant yet crushing riffs and, of course, an awesome Christmas tune!
Magnum
Magnum was an award-winning television series that took risks with genre tropes. While Tom Selleck is a great actor, Richard Bellisario made this series truly stand out. Bellisario worked to give Magnum some unexpected turns and unpredictable moments – unlike most action heroes on TV, Magnum didn’t always save the day; sometimes even dying himself! Nonetheless, Magnum still had great writing that allowed for an intriguing series.
The band has shared the stage with Hall and Oates, Dave Mason at the Playpen in Pennsylvania and played to large crowds across eastern seaboard. Their single Public Memory #1 was even picked up by Billboard magazine for radio play in PA, NJ DE MD.
Magnum took a hiatus from performing in the late nineties, but have recently returned with force. Their latest single release commemorating World War One’s centenary Christmas truce commemorating On Christmas Day features powerful music with all the hallmarks of classic heavy metal songs.
Mark Birch-Stanway is an esteemed musician in his own right. Besides leading Magnum as lead singer, he has released numerous albums as a solo artist, served in Gems Edge and Flashback bands respectively and written music specifically tailored for stage performance – not to mention being passionate about tennis and billiards!
Twisted Sister
After the success of their debut album in 1976, Twisted Sister expanded their repertoire by including Christmas songs in their repertoire. Their rendition of “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” went in an decidedly heavy metal direction, featuring searing guitar riffs and vocal performances by shock rock icon Alice Cooper; although not chart-topping single, it did earn Twisted Sister some serious street cred among metal audiences.
Secret Records’ president had the chance to watch them perform live when they were offered a contract by them, and was impressed with their punk-metal style and creative music video of “We’re Not Gonna Take It”.
Despite some internal disagreements, the band decided to stay together. Snider later formed Desperado and Widowmaker as metal bands while French and Mendoza found work as managers/writers respectively.
In 2006, the band released their full-length holiday album A Twisted Christmas with both holiday classics and original compositions written specifically for this event. Unfortunately, this would be their last album together although they continued performing and making special appearances over the following years; Snider kept appearing as both television/radio personality as well as in horror movie Strangeland.