Halloween and metal. Seems like a synonymous combination. Much like coke a cola and pizza or coffee and toast. So every Rocktober it’s good to take a moment and listen to the metal bands that spook us the most. After all, Black Sabbath did create their sound (the original metal sound) with the idea of scaring people. Similar to what a horror film makes people feel. And since that fateful year of 1970, there have been countless bands using the element of horror to help define themselves. Even if they don’t do it in their lyrical subject matter. So this Halloween, as with all, crank up some excellent horror related bands. Here are my top five to jam on.
Alice Cooper
Well duh! If there’s an artist in hard rock or metal that will be on every list for Halloween related jams it’s going to be Alice Cooper. He invented shock rock after all. He created the character to be an anti-hero. He thought there were to many bright figures in the music industry. So he decided to wrap a snake around his neck, deck his eyes in zombie eye shadow, decapitate human mannequins and sing about his nightmares and billion dollar babies. Whether he meant to or not, he created a trend that would forever live in heavy music. And every Halloween I see it has almost a requirement to listen to the original musical anti-hero. So feed your Frankenstein and get jamming.
Helloween
The German power metal band Helloween is obviously a perfect fit for the 31st. Mostly because of the bands name. And their mascot; a glowing jack o’latern. They actually don’t really sing about horror elements to often. With the exception of the literal entitled ‘Halloween’. They’re more associated with a traditional fantasy realm such as early Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. But ya know what? That’s still appropriate. Just because it’s Halloween doesn’t mean you can’t visit The Shire. Actually picture the band being in a dark, abandoned version of The Shire. Albums such as ‘Keeper of the Seven Keys I & II’ and ‘Master of the Rings’ will have you banging your head until the dead rise. Seriously though, super underrated band in the states.
KISS
Sure, there may be no other band that’s as misleading with their image as KISS, but they’re still the greatest Halloween costumes out there if you ask me. Since their late 1975 break though there has always been a strong costume presence of the four members. Which makes sense because they’re excellent costumes. Particularly those of Ace Frehley and Gene Simmons. But don’t let Gene Simmons’ blood spitting fool you. Most of what they sing about are sexual escapades and partying in so many metaphors. But the odd track here and there such as ‘God of Thunder’ and ‘War Machine’ make KISS an ideal band for Halloween musically as well as costume wise. Except when they took the make up off. Please, nobody dress up as Gene Simmons via 1985. We don’t need that. On second thought though, it is truly horrifying. So what the hell, go for it.
Black Sabbath
The band that invented heavy metal is still the perfect Halloween band. Originally the band was a blues group entitled Earth. But then the band decided ‘Hey, lets scare people.’ And thus, Black Sabbath was born. Just looking at their debut album cover gives me the willies. That ominous faded witch standing just outside a cold, dark and abandoned home. The trees and bushes surrounding her, lifeless from the cold. It’s just gut wrenching when you really stare at it. And the music goes along. The title track and first song the band wrote ‘Black Sabbath’, is a trademark in horror. The rain and bell in the beginning. Then the slow, sludgy and heavy tempo mixed with Tony Iommi’s minor key riffing makes the hair on your back stand straight up. Then the lyrics come in.
White Zombie/Rob Zombie
Bringing the horror metal for the 90’s, White Zombie and eventually just solo artist Rob Zombie broke some ground in the shock rock circles. Not only did they up the shock element of 70’s groups like the Alice Cooper band and KISS with their salacious horror cartoon imagery. They also broke ground with their combination of metal and industrial sounds making them one of the originators of industrial metal. But there’s also a huge traditional metal element that their industrial 90’s peers did not share. They made horror fun. Really fun with their bouncy rhythms and tempos. I mean, I never thought horror based metal could also be so sexy, funky, dirty and fun. But that’s what made them so popular. Their fan base extended far beyond metal fans. Not just a great band with horror elements. Just a great band all around. Unfortunatly, Rob Zombies solo career is not as strong as White Zombie’s two break though albums.
So that’s my top five Halloween metal bands to crank on the 31st of October. Thanks for reading. Who are some of your favorite bands on Halloween?
