I got my first haircut in about four
years last June. I played in an unsuccessful metal band in high
school, and despite only reuniting with my former band members over
breaks, I somehow felt like it’d be some sort of “betrayal” to
them if I ever got a haircut.

Obviously, that’s stupid. The drummer
got a haircut within like the first year of college, and more
importantly you don’t actually need to wear the uniform to like
metal. Similarly, (and this is
something I was smart enough to figure out before my haircut) you can
like metal and other
genres. Trawling metal forums you’ll see a lot of high school
metalheads who forget this.

So if
you’re in that category and are looking to break out with your
musical tastes, here are a few artists who have expanded my
repertoire beyond Megadeth and Coroner. A lot of these songs are
definitely metallically tinged, but they still served as my proper
introduction to these artists, so enjoy.

“Ogre
Battle” | Queen |Queen II

Queen’s
often cited as one of the progenitors of heavy metal, but it seems
most of the focus on their contributions to the genre falls on “Stone
Cold Crazy” (probably thanks to the Metallica cover) and “Sheer
Heart Attack” (probably not because of the Helloween cover). With
“Ogre Battle,” Brian May throws down some awesome alt-picked
riffs and a healthy dose of palm-muted chugging to make this one of
Queen’s heavier offerings. There’s no shortage of energy from Roger
Taylor’s drumming here, either.

“Live
Wire” | M?tley Cr?e
| Too Fast For Love

Okay,
this one’s a bit of a cheat. Yes, they are technically a heavy metal
band, but if you go to a Slayer concert and tell a Slayer fan that
you like M?tley Cr?e, they’ll probably punch you in the face. Glam
doesn’t hold a very special place in most metalheads’ hearts, but if
you need convincing that not every Cr?e song sounds like “Girls,
Girls, Girls,” this is the song to do it. “Live Wire”
legitimately borders on speed metal, though the bridge kills the
energy a bit.

“Government
Flu” | Dead Kennedys |Plastic Surgery Disasters

Dead
Kennedys is without question my favorite punk band, and among my top
bands in general. “Government Flu” absolutely drips with energy
from start to finish. The 2001 re-release ofPlastic
Surgery Disasters
cuts the lengthy intro into a separate track titled “Advice from
Christmas Past.” Just to cram in a second recommendation: the track
immediately following “Government Flu” is “Terminal Preppie,”
which is lyrically among my favorite songs of all time.

“Titanium
Expos?”
| Sonic Youth | Goo

Sonic
Youth is pretty well known for their insane tunings and generally
unconventional songs that amp up the “alt” in alt-rock. The song
opens up with some fast, rolling, dissonant chords that bleed over
each other in a way that fits the Sonic Youth aesthetic without going
too far into the “noise rock” genre. The middle has a little
more traditional of a structure, but it’s a good bit of slowed-down
cohesiveness to balance out the song’s more chaotic bookends.

“An
Ode To No One” | Smashing Pumpkins |Mellon Collie and
the Infinite Sadness

Billy Corgan’s been known to extoll the virtues of heavy metal,
listing bands like Black Sabbath and Pantera among his favorites in
various interviews. You can definitely feel the metal tinge in a lot
of his songs,with tracks like “Geek U.S.A.” sounding like a White
Zombie song, sans Rob. Here, we have a similar groovy rhythm paired
with some seriously venomous vocals from Corgan. This one’s my
favorite on an album full of awesome tracks.

“It’s Getting
Boring By The Sea” | Blood Red Shoes | Box of Secrets

This one I found out about through the “Scott Pilgrim Vs. The
World” movie soundtrack. A bouncy rhythm thanks to some truly
kinetic drumming keep this song energized from start to finish. A
good, thick guitar tone proves you can be a two-piece without
sounding thin.

“Threshold”
| Sex Bob-Omb (Written by Beck) | Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World:
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

For
those who don’t know, Beck composed the songs for Scott Pilgrim’s
fictional band Sex Bob-Omb, though the songs themselves were
performed for the film by the actors (Michael Cera is an accomplished
bassist; the others learned their instruments for the film). A
version recorded by Beck is also available on the soundtrack, but the
Sex Bob-Omb version has more of a lo-fi vibe that fits better with
the band’s image. The last 20 or so seconds of the song might be my
favorite, but it’s an awesome song all the way through. Dig Scott’s
bass tone.

“Techno Man”
| Anamanaguchi | Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game- Original
Videogame Soundtrack

I’m going to stop nerding out over this franchise after this one, I
promise. I just figured it was different enough that it still bears
mention. Anamanaguchi blends the NES soundchip with real instruments,
so of course they were a natural choice for the Scott Pilgrim game
soundtrack. “Techno Man” in particular is a clear homage to the
music of the Mega Man series with some delightfully melodramatic
melodies.

“She Watch
Channel Zero?!” | Public Enemy | It Takes a Nation of Millions
to Hold Us Back

This
one should be a pretty obvious choice for metalheads who are looking
for an entry point to hip-hop (I know you’re out there). The
principal sample? Slayer’s “Angel of Death.” Pair that with
Public Enemy’s collaboration with Anthrax (Not to mention about a
thousand pictures of Scott Ian in a Public Enemy shirt) and you’ve
got a hip hop duo even the idiots who argue Metallica vs. Megadeth on
YouTube can respect. Of course if you don’t care about that, Public
Enemy is still one of the hardest hitting hip hop duos in history.
Chuck D shines here,as per usual. Flavor Flav’s verses tend more
toward yelling, but they’re still enjoyable in their own way.

“Offspring”
| Del tha Funkee Homosapien ft. El-P | Both Sides of the Brain

I
was first introduced to Del back in like sixth grade when someone
played “Clint Eastwood” for me, but I didn’t really get into his
solo work until someone played “3030” for me several years later.
I know Deltron 3030 is a supergroup, but the title track set me in
the direction ofBoth
Sides of the Brain. Del
to this day is probably my favorite rapper, and his interplay with
El-P here makes “Offspring” a standout track. Not the most
interesting beat on the album, but the rapping more than makes up for
it.