100 Songs that Define Heavy Metal

4.8 (45)
Music Commentary
Updated Weekly

100 Songs that Define Heavy Metal is the ultimate journey into the heart of heavy music, hosted by Metal Blade Records’ founder, Brian Slagel. Each week, Brian dives into one of his personally curated tracks from his list of the heaviest songs in metal and hard rock, exploring the music that shaped a genre. With special guest musicians—some who wrote and recorded these iconic songs and others who found inspiration in them—the show unearths the stories behind each track. Whether you’re a lifelong metalhead or a new fan, this podcast brings you closer to the music and the legends who define it. Joining Brian are music journalist and critic Martin Popoff, offering deep historical context for each song, and acclaimed producer Jay Ruston, who provides technical insights into how these heavy anthems were crafted. Together, they bring an all-encompassing look at the hits that set the stage for metal and continue to inspire. Subscribe to 100 Songs that Define Heavy Metal and discover the unforgettable songs that live at the core of heavy music, one groundbreaking track at a time. Proud part of Pantheon Podcasts.

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Trailer

Welcome to 100 Songs that Define Heavy Metal

Welcome to 100 Songs that Define Heavy Metal, the ultimate journey into the heart of heavy music, hosted by Metal Blade Records’ founder, Brian Slagel. Each week, Brian dives into one of his personally curated tracks from his list of the heaviest songs in metal and hard rock, exploring the music that shaped a genre. With special guest musicians—some who wrote and recorded these iconic songs and others who found inspiration in them—the show unearths the stories behind each track. Whether you’re a lifelong metalhead or a new fan, this podcast brings you closer to the music and the legends who define it. Joining Brian are music journalist and critic Martin Popoff, offering deep historical context for each song, and acclaimed producer Jay Ruston, who provides technical insights into how these heavy anthems were crafted. Together, they bring an all-encompassing look at the hits that set the stage for metal and continue to inspire. Subscribe to 100 Songs that Define Heavy Metal and discover the unforgettable songs that live at the core of heavy music, one groundbreaking track at a time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

4.8

out of 5

45 Ratings

Well Done!

Aug 3

Castermt

Love the show. Not sure why the song snippets are of a lowfi quality though?? Also, no more of that Siriusxm Jose Magniwhatever guy. Please. Guy loves to talk about himself. UPDATE* Soooo happy to see Too Fast For Love near the top!! One of my all time favorite records. Awesome!!
good podcast, just skip….

Jun 20

FoxxyBikerChic

that 20 seconds of the opening that has Lizzy Borden …is absolutely unlistenable…. if i’m not in a position to fast forward thru it…. i have to take off my headphones. But the content of the podcast is great…. i’m a bit confused of the choices of the songs.. for the top 100 songs of heavy metal…. just pick a song you like….
Only for die-hards

Jan 16

Nicholas, Tell Him

Slagel is a decent host, and his intimate knowledge of metal is worthwhile. He gets great guests who drop intriguing details from metal’s past and present. But the editing of this podcast is HORRENDOUS. People talk over each other in a way that’s clearly just a bad copy-paste, the trims are jarringly unnatural, the volume is mouselike (exceedingly inappropriate for tinnitus-plagued metalheads). It’s worth a listen, but it desperately needs better production — a major topic of the podcast itself.
Great but…

05/15/2025

Tsauce124

I absolutely love this podcast, but the amount of ads is absurd. Most of the time you’re close to 7-8 minutes in before there’s any content that isn’t an ad, the intro song, or the copy and pasted intro. Then, more ads (at least 2 minutes) between each segment. It’s crazy. Like I said, I love it, but, c’mon, a 50 minute episode shouldn’t be 30-35% ads and less than 30 minutes of new, original content. It could be great, but for now it’s frustratingly good.

100 Songs that Define Heavy Metal is the ultimate journey into the heart of heavy music, hosted by Metal Blade Records’ founder, Brian Slagel. Each week, Brian dives into one of his personally curated tracks from his list of the heaviest songs in metal and hard rock, exploring the music that shaped a genre. With special guest musicians—some who wrote and recorded these iconic songs and others who found inspiration in them—the show unearths the stories behind each track. Whether you’re a lifelong metalhead or a new fan, this podcast brings you closer to the music and the legends who define it. Joining Brian are music journalist and critic Martin Popoff, offering deep historical context for each song, and acclaimed producer Jay Ruston, who provides technical insights into how these heavy anthems were crafted. Together, they bring an all-encompassing look at the hits that set the stage for metal and continue to inspire. Subscribe to 100 Songs that Define Heavy Metal and discover the unforgettable songs that live at the core of heavy music, one groundbreaking track at a time. Proud part of Pantheon Podcasts.