Ege Özgün (PHYS/PhD)
ozgun@fen.bilkent.edu.tr
There are some songs that you just can’t listen to sitting calmly in your chair. These songs pump energy into you, and suddenly you find yourself banging your head or moshing in your room. Here is a thrash metal-oriented list of mostly fast-paced moshing songs. Enjoy at your own risk!
Superjoint Ritual-Waiting for the Turning Point
The first one on the list is from Superjoint Ritual, which is a sludge metal/crossover band featuring the legendary Phil Anselmo and Jimmy Bower (Down, Corrosion of Conformity). “Waiting for the Turning Point” is a fast-tempo song with crossover-style riffing and hardcore-type vocals. It just starts out of the blue and shortly after finishes, but the damage is already done.
Uncle Slam-Say Uncle
Next on the list, we have a speed/thrash song from Uncle Slam. The song features highly artistic drumming combined with old-school thrash metal riffing and genuine singing.
Excel-My Thoughts
This song is from Excel’s second full release, “The Joke’s on You,” issued in 1989. The album also contains “Tapping Into the Emotional Void,” which Metallica later ripped off to make “Enter Sandman” (I talked about this in one of my previous columns). “My Thoughts” is a highly energetic song with a generic crossover attitude and melodic soloing.
The Exploited-Beat the Bastards
A classic moshing song from one of the pioneers of hardcore punk/crossover, this is such a raw and powerful tune. Rock
’n’ roll-oriented rapid soloing and strong, angry singing add up to create a perfect result.
Holy Terror-Christian Resistance
An extremely fast-paced monster from the Californian speed/thrashers’ ’88 album “Mind Wars.” Holy Terror is one of the most melodic speed/thrash metal bands, along with S.D.I., which is next in line.
S.D.I.-Megamosh
German speed/thrash metal band S.D.I.’s song title is quite self-explanatory, I believe. Their music is similar to that of Holy Terror, but more aggressive and punk-oriented, especially the singing.
Vio-lence-Serial Killer
Vio-lence features Robb Flynn, who later formed Machine Head, and also Phil Demmel, who joined Machine Head temporarily in 2001 and then permanently in 2003. This song has every moshing element—speed, aggressive riffing—plus Sean Killian’s weird but excellent hysterical singing.
Misery Index-Exception to the Ruled
Misery Index is a death metal/grindcore band formed by ex-members of Dying Fetus. The song has a few hardcore elements fused with some Gothenburg-style death metal riffing and never-ending energy.
S.O.D.-March of the S.O.D.
A side project started by Scott Ian of Anthrax, featuring Charlie Benante (Anthrax), Dan Lilker (ex-Anthrax, Nuclear Assault) and Billy Milano, S.O.D. is one of the founders of crossover, along with D.R.I. and Excel. “March of the S.O.D.” is a perfect song for moshing. Once you start listening to it, you can’t stop until you’ve listened to it at least four or five times in a row. There is an hour-long loop version of it on YouTube just for that reason.
D.R.I.-I Don’t Need Society
D.R.I. is among the inventors of crossover, and the band’s ’87 album of the same name actually coined the term. “I Don’t Need Society” is from their second full release, “Dealing With It!,” and with its energy, speed and aggressive singing deserves to be the closer of our list.
And even though we’ve come to the end, I guess I’m going to loop the list once more. I hope you’ve enjoyed it too. Stay connected to music.