While heavy metal music has been associated with devil worship, drug abuse, and other societal ills, the fact is that heavy metal people are like everyone else. They put their pants on one leg at a time, and when the holidays roll around, they hang their Iron Maiden Christmas stockings and delight in the joyous occasion.
Here’s our list of 13 delightful Christmas songs from headbanging heavy metallers. While some are quite cheeky, others show a sincere love of the holidays and should be taken seriously.
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1. ‘Mistress for Christmas’ by AC/DC
This song off of their 1991 album “The Razor’s Edge” is mischievously bawdy and has lyrics some may find cancel-worthy. What makes it okay for your playlist is that Brian Johnson is impossible to understand except when he refers to ‘jingle bells’ and ‘Christmas,’ so no one will notice.
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2. ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’ by Dio
The Man on the Silver Mountain, Ronnie James Dio, sings this 17th-century holiday classic and turns it into a bombastic dirge as only he could. He could have probably sung some tremendous renditions of Hannukah songs too, if his performance on this is any indication.
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3. ‘No Presents for Christmas’ by King Diamond
This holiday classic from King Diamond is unbelievably goofy and the first time you hear it, you’ll think it’s a prank, especially when he starts trying to show off and sing very high notes. Having said that, it’s remained consistently popular with fans for almost 40 years and counting, so what do we know? Buy it on colored vinyl.
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4. ‘O Come, O Come, Emmanuel’ by Halford
Rob Halford stepped away from his duties with Judas Priest to record a whole album of Christmas tunes, which was released in 2009 as “Winter Songs.” The hymn “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” was one of the titular winter songs and it’s not nearly the train wreck it could have been, so kudos to the Metal God.
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5. ‘Run Rudolph Run’ by Lemmy Kilmister
Originally written by Chuck Berry, the legendary Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead helms this cover with the Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl. Motörhead may be the definition of heavy metal for some, but Lemmy always described them as a rock ‘n’ roll band, so the Chuck Berry connection makes sense.
Image Credit: Lemmy Kilmister (Hawkwind) by Mark Marek (CC BY-SA).
6. ‘Jingle Bells’ by Skid Row
Skid Row, the New Jersey band behind “18 and Life,” may not be the first group that comes to mind when you think of Christmas carols. Having said that, this version of “Jingle Bells” is rowdy fun, even if their music is not your bag.
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7. ‘Heavy Metal Christmas’ by Twisted Sister
Dee Snider and friends recorded this metal-tinged take on “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” and it utterly forgoes any mention of partridges. Instead, it starts with “On my heavy metal Christmas, my true love gave to me a tattoo of Ozzy,” and goes from there to add in such heavy metal must-haves as spandex pants, studded belts, and hairspray.
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8. ‘Silent Night’ by Chuck Billy
Chuck Billy is a big dude and the band he sings for, Testament, are veterans of the San Francisco thrash metal scene. This makes him the perfect choice to sing the beloved Christmas classic “Silent Night,” when he’s not busy singing “Souls of Black.”
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9. ‘Santa Claws Is Coming to Town’ by Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper may have been the premiere shock rocker of the 1970s, but in real life, he’s a born-again Christian who votes Republican and plays golf. So it’s really not that surprising to hear him do Christmas-themed material, even in jest.
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10. ‘Deck the Halls’ by Ted Nugent
The Nuge. Deadly Tedly. The Motor City Madman. These are the names people have given to guitarist Ted Nugent over the years, and while his political views may be off-putting to some, he also happens to play guitar quite well. This version of “Deck the Halls” is instrumental, so you can appreciate his playing without hearing the sound of his voice.
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11. ‘Christmas Song’ by Paul Gilbert
The 1980s saw countless guitar players come out of the woodwork who had been influenced by Eddie Van Halen and Yngwie Malmsteen. These guitarists were known as “shredders,” and Paul Gilbert was one of them, and it’s refreshing to hear a different spin on his guitar playing here.
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12. ‘Little Drummer Boy’ by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
Joan Jett is mostly associated with her rock attitude and punk sneer, which she used to great effect on her 1981 album “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll.” That album rocked pretty hard all the way through but mysteriously ended with a rendition of “Little Drummer Boy” on some pressings. After the holidays, the record company replaced it with a song called “Woe Is Me.”
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13. ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ by Helloween
Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that goes hard on all the clichés about elves, jousting, and wizards, and Germany’s Halloween is said to be the band that deserves credit (or blame) for this. They’re probably one of the only bands that could perform Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus” and not have their fans call them cheesy for it. In fact, their fans may not even know it’s not an original Helloween song.
This article was produced and syndicated by MediaFeed.
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