Review Fix’s Top 10 Metal Songs of 2011

There were so many great metal albums this year, but what about those things that make up the album? You know, the songs?

That’s what this list is for; these are the 10 best metal songs of the year.

10: Bastard Priest – “Enormous Thunder of the End” (Death Metal/Crust): After the haunting minute long intro to this song clears, in comes a riff that will instantly get your headbanging, and there isn’t much rest for the weary throughout the rest of the track. The solos, drums, riffs, vocals and everything else are in top form here, making for one extremely catchy Bastard Priest song.

9: Antichrist – “Necropolis” (Thrash): The eight minute epic “Necropolis” from Antichrist’s “Forbidden World” is one of the best thrash songs of the year. The band managed to have enough going throughout the song that the eight minutes just seemed to fly by, never leaving the listener bored. The solos and melodies are brilliant, the riffs are awesome and the vocals are always a highlight from these guys.

8: White Wizzard – “Night Train to Tokyo” (Traditional Heavy Metal): This song is so catchy, it’s scary. Wyatt Anderson’s vocals and the way they move along so beautifully with the music full of memorable riffs and melodies is just perfection. The nice clean break in the middle of the song is also another fantastic highlight from White Wizzard.

7: Insinnerator – “Children of the Cult” (Thrash): Much like the aforementioned Antichrist, Insinnerator created a magnificent song that runs just a bit over seven minutes and every second is worth it. The best thing about Insinnerator has always been the riffs, and this track is the best example for that. Every riff is stellar and the rest of the music follows suit.

6: Vektor – “Echoless Chamber” (Thrash): “Echoless Chamber” is the perfect Vektor song. Everything that makes Vektor as amazing as they are is present on this track. The eerie, yet fantastic vocals, the melodies and general weirdness from the lead guitar, the riffs, intense drumming and overall Vektor atmosphere make this easily one of the best songs of 2011.

5: Miasmal – “Mesmerized” (Death Metal): It’s pretty cool that the actual music here reflects the title. After the chilling intro melody clears and the death metal madness ensues, you’re mesmerized by it for the entire song. The perfect mix of traditional death metal of the Swedish origin and crust is present here as well, so there’s plenty of variety to go around in just this track.

4: Landmine Marathon – “Beaten and Left Blind” (Death/Grind): Brutal. That’s the perfect description for this song. The heavy, crusty riffs here are made for destruction and the death metal tremolo passages are terrific. The vocals and drumming also help take this song over the top and make it that much more memorable.

3: Warbringer – “Echoes From the Void” (Thrash): “Echoes From the Void” is definitely one of Warbringer’s more unique sounding tracks, but it’s also one of their best. They managed to successfully take the pure energy of their more thrashy material and blend it flawlessly with some darker material and the result is some awesome, mystical sounding metal.

2: Morbus Chron – “Creepy Creeping Creep” (Death Metal): If this list was based on song titles, this would probably be number one just because it’s funny. Luckily, it’s also a great song. The riffs and eerie atmosphere throughout are top notch and the agonizing screams at the end really send chills down the listener’s spine.

1: Deadnight – “Heaven Shall Burn” (Black/Thrash): Coming in at number one is a song by a relatively unknown band. “Heaven Shall Burn” is an epic and mind-blowing song and the fact that Deadnight isn’t more popular is just astounding. The riffs here are all magnificent, the vocals and melodies all brilliant and the ending of the song is absolutely phenomenal.