Metal/hard rock musicians pick their favorite songs for the season

JOHN ALLEN (Charm City Devils)
“‘Hells Bells’ (AC/DC). ‘Cuz it’s EEEEEE-VILLLLLLE!!!!”

MICHAEL AMOTT (Arch Enemy)
“We don’t really do Halloween in Europe like you do in North America, although it does seem to be picking up in popularity in recent years. Anyhow, my favorite scary metal tune would be ‘Zombie Ritual’ by Death off their legendary debut album, Scream Bloody Gore. It’s an amazing song and it’d probably scare the living shit out of the kids knocking on your door.”

JOEY BELLADONNA (Anthrax)
“Right now, it would be ‘The Devil You Know’ and ‘Fight ‘Em Till Can’t’ (both by Anthrax)—those are my zombie songs. I don’t really have any Halloween song. Alice Cooper was always good during Halloween, ‘Welcome to My Nightmare.’”

RYAN BENNETT (Eye Empire)
“‘This Is Halloween’ by Marilyn Manson, cover of the theme song for Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas. It has always been considered one of my favorite soundtracks. To capture the essence of Danny Elfman, such a killer composer and songwriter, is an amazing feat. Definitely a great rock artist to capture the spirit of another amazing and influential artist of this era.”

TONY CASTANEDA (Kyng)
“One of my favorite songs to listen to during the Halloween season would have to be ‘Black Sabbath’ by (of course) Black Sabbath.

“The song has a very eerie feel to it. The intro is something straight out of a horror film. The ringing of a church bell with the sound of rain and thunder is enough to set the mood, but when you hear Ozzy's vocals come in, it gives it a campfire story feel to it.  Listening to the lyrics, you can hear why it suits this holiday so well.

“According to the band, the song was inspired by an experience that Geezer Butler had related to Ozzy Osbourne. In the days of Earth, Geezer Butler painted his apartment matte black, placed several inverted crucifixes and put many pictures of Satan on the walls. Osbourne gave Butler a book about witchcraft. He read the book and placed the book on a shelf before going to sleep. When he woke up, he claims he saw a large black figure standing at the end of his bed. The figure disappeared and Butler went to get the book, only to find that the book was gone. He then told Osbourne, who wrote the lyrics to the song.

“So, when you’re out hanging on the porch handing out candies to the kiddies, crank up some Black Sabbath and give the kids a REAL treat this Halloween! LISTEN TO BLACK SABBATH!”

RICHARD CHRISTY (Charred Walls of the Damned)
“Definitely the song ‘Halloween’ by King Diamond. The lyrics ‘Every night to me is Halloween,’ that pretty much describes my life. This is my favorite time of the year. I love the chill in the air. I love going to haunted houses. I love horror movies. I love horror music. This time of the year, I listen to King Diamond every day. I listened to The Eye today to get psyched up—in a couple weeks I’m going to Salem, Mass., where the witch trials were. I always listen to The Eye to get psyched up to go to Salem. That song, ‘Halloween’ by King Diamond, pretty much sums up the greatest day of the year, which is Halloween, and I freakin’ love it.”

JOHN CORABI (Official site)
“‘I Love the Dead’ by Alice Cooper. I think it’s self-explanatory.”

PHIL DEMMEL (Machine Head)
“The first time I saw Slayer, in 1983, they came out to the theme from Halloween, and they went right in to ‘Evil Has No Boundaries.’ Every time I think of Halloween, I think of that Slayer show and ‘Evil Has No Boundaries.’”

JOHN J.D. DESERVIO (Black Label Society/Cycle of Pain)
“Anything off the first Black Sabbath record is totally fitting.”

OL DRAKE (Evile)
“‘Halloween’ by Helloween because it goes on for eight years and has the most amazing hooks in it. (Michael) Kiske is a legend.”

ABBY GENNET (Slunt)
“‘Summer Breeze’ by Type O Negative. Possibly one of the creepiest remakes EVER. RIP Peter Steele. This one’s for you, dude. Happy Halloween!”

JAMES HART (Burn Halo)
“‘A Little Piece of Heaven’ by Avenged Sevenfold. This is the standout track off the ‘White Album’ by A7X. Lyrically, it paints a deadly love story. The man keeps his woman alive and does unspeakable things to her corpse. Musically, the track is haunting. It sounds like something that could’ve been composed by Danny Elfman for a Tim Burton animated film. This song to me is a musical masterpiece.”

RICK JIMENEZ (This Is Hell)
“‘Halloween’ and ‘Halloween II’ by the Misfits. Definitely a cliché answer, but they’re both so eerie. The lyrics are everything evil and absurd that could happen on Halloween. Add to the creepiness, the guitars being slightly out of tune. Whether that was done on purpose or not, who is to know, but it makes it so much cooler. Latin is also one really fucked up language. It even creeped me out on the TV show ‘Lost,’ so (Glenn) Danzig from the ‘80s speaking it is obviously that much more radical.”

JULIAN JORGENSEN (Rev Theory)
“‘Hells Bells,’ AC/DC. Around Halloween was the first time my stepsister played me ‘Hells Bells.’ I must’ve been 12 or 13, no better time than to start a love affair with the SG and one of the baddest bands ever.”

BC KOCHMIT (Eye Empire)
“‘Halloween’ by Helloween. ... Just remember rollin’ to haunted houses with all my buddies and jamming this tune in the car. Good times. Very fitting for Halloween obviously. Cool video, too. ... What’s not to love about hair metal and zombies in the woods?”

SPENCER KRAY (The Krays)
“The answer is obvious: The Misfits’ ‘Halloween.’ Sure, it’s not the most original answer, but no on can deny it was the anthem of mischievous adolescents everywhere.”

DEAN MILLER (No Redeeming Social Value)
“My all-time favorite Halloween song (and actually my favorite song of all-time) is ‘Monster Mash’ by Bobby Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers (1962 version). The song not only captures the spirit of Halloween, and makes all the creeps wanna dance, but it’s a timeless classic that is easily recognizable and NEVER forgotten. When I hear this song, I just wanna jump up outta my grave and eat brains. There are many cover versions of this song; the best one being Murphy’s Law’s version, recorded in ‘96 (too bad it was never officially released).  I have the original version on my iPod and I ‘monster mosh’ to it year round. A truly unforgettable song.”

JASON CHARLES MILLER (Godhead/solo artist)
“My favorite Halloween song is ‘Black No. 1’ by Type O Negative. Reminds me of all the goth girls I dated back in the day who died their hair blue-black.”

DANI NOLDEN (Shadowside)
“A few songs came to mind, like Meatloaf’s ‘Bat Out of Hell,’ but Alice Cooper is the Halloween man for me. ‘Feed My Frankenstein’ to be more specific. Great song and it has the monster, it has the fun, perfect for the adult-themed Halloween party. Complimented by the show he puts on, it’s scary for the kids (and to people that hate rock music and think we’re all possessed by the devil) and entertaining to us rockers.”

JONNY SANTOS (Silent Civilian/Spineshank)
“‘Halloween’ by the Misfits is by far my fave. To me, it’s the flipside of the fun, candy-filled way we see it. It’s, to me, what Halloween really is. It’s the true evil, ugly side of who we are as humans and what lives inside of some of us.”