100 Heavy Metal Protest Songs

May 22, 2024

Power Trip, from artist’s Bandcamp

When people think of metal they may tend to associate it with Satan, death, and the occult. Or they might think of the debauchery promoted by the hair and glam metal bands of the 1980s. Often overlooked are heavy metal’s considerable contributions to the canon of protest tunes. But it shouldn’t be a surprise that several bands have delved into political issues because the aggression of the music lends itself to expressing righteous indignation over world conditions.

For this list, I selected one song per artist. Also at times, there were judgment calls made when dealing with hardcore and other metal-adjacent genres. The list is presented in chronological order. I was also initially planning on doing writeups for each tune, but the reality is that I was probably never going to get around to completing it. Instead, I’m posting the list without writeups, along with a Spotify playlist. I also posted a video of the top 10.

  1. War Pigs – Black Sabbath (1970)
  2. Bomber – Motörhead (1979)
  3. Breaking The Law – Judas Priest (1980)
  4. Crazy Train – Ozzy Osborne (1980)
  5. Strong Arm of the Law – Saxon (1980)
  6. Wardance – Killing Joke (1980)
  7. Lambs to the Slaughter – Raven (1981)
  8. Run to the Hills – Iron Maiden (1982)
  9. Protest and Survive – Discharge (1982)
  10. Balls to the Wall – Accept (1983)
  11. Two Sided Politics – Suicidal Tendencies (1983)
  12. Dreams of Eschaton/Epilogue – Manilla Road (1983)
  13. We’re Not Gonna Take It – Twisted Sister (1984)
  14. Warriors Of Ice – Voivod (1984)
  15. Mad World – Corrosion of Conformity (1985)
  16. M.A.D. – Cryptic Slaughter (1986)
  17. Indians – Anthrax (1987)
  18. False Prophets – Toxik (1987)
  19. Suicidal Justice – Satan (1987)
  20. Nobody’s Driving – Amebix (1987)
  21. Toxic Trace – Kreator (1987)
  22. Surf Nicaragua – Sacred Reich (1988)
  23. One – Metallica (1988)
  24. From Enslavement To Obliteration – Napalm Death (1988)
  25. Operation Mindcrime – Queensrÿche (1988)
  26. Cult of Personality – Living Colour (1988)
  27. Slaughter of the Innocent – Repulsion (1989)
  28. Gun Control – D.R.I. (1989)
  29. Greenhouse Effect – Testament (1989)
  30. The Act of Defiance – Exodus (1989)
  31. 18 and Life – Skid Row (1989)
  32. Corporation Pull-In – Terrorizer (1989)
  33. Bullshit Propaganda – Extreme Noise Terror (1989)
  34. Critical Mass – Nuclear Assault (1989)
  35. Why Bother? – Atheist (1990)
  36. Holy Wars…The Punishment Due – Megadeth (1990)
  37. War Ensemble – Slayer (1990)
  38. For Whose Advantage – Xentrix (1990)
  39. Soldiers of Misfortune – Sacrifice (1991)
  40. Opiate of the Masses – Heathen (1991)
  41. Arise Above Oppression – Fear Factory (1992)
  42. Killing In The Name – Rage Against The Machine (1992)
  43. N.W.O. – Ministry (1992)
  44. It Came Upon One Night – Solitude Aeturnus (1992)
  45. Dying Creed – Bolt Thrower (1992)
  46. Black and White and Red All Over – Biohazard (1992)
  47. Firestorm – Earth Crisis (1993)
  48. Territory – Sepultura (1993)
  49. Jesters of Recession – Rottrevore (1993)
  50. Shallow Graves – Body Count (1994)
  51. Don’t Care – Obituary (1994)
  52. Val Toma No Cu – Nailbomb (1994)
  53. Civil War Dance – Skyclad (1994)
  54. Enter Chaos – Edge Of Sanity (1994)
  55. A Nation On Fire – Machine Head (1994)
  56. Born in a Mourning Hall – Blind Guardian (1995)
  57. Godmoney – Nevermore (1995)
  58. Selling Jesus – Skunk Anansie (1995)
  59. War Pimp Renaissance – Lard (1997)
  60. Dar-Al Harb – Racetraitor (1998)
  61. Jonny – Kittie (2000)
  62. In Times of War – Dying Fetus (2000)
  63. History Is Rotten – Misery Index (2003)
  64. Amerika – Ramstein (2004)
  65. Ashes of the Wake – Lamb of God (2004)
  66. Warhead – Otep (2004)
  67. B.Y.O.B. – System of a Down (2005)
  68. A Speculative Fiction – Propagandhi (2005)
  69. Global Warming – Gojira (2005)
  70. Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr – Trivium (2005)
  71. Wage Slaves – All Shall Perish (2006)
  72. Deathonomics – Revocation (2009)
  73. Stand For Something – Skindred (2009)
  74. Power And Shame – Immolation (2010)
  75. The Colonist – Fit For An Autopsy (2011)
  76. Black Soot and Red Blood – Panopticon (2012)
  77. The Carbon Stampede – Cattle Decapitation (2012)
  78. Cycle of Violence – Iron Reagan (2013)
  79. Voice Your Disgust – Jungle Rot (2013)
  80. Teh-Hell-Ran – Confess (2015)
  81. Viva Presidente Trump! – Brujeria (2016)
  82. Strike Again The Hammer Sings – Dawn Ray’d (2017)
  83. No Sanctuary – Sharptooth (2017)
  84. I Saw The Bombs Fall – Phinehas (2017)
  85. Executioner’s Axe (Swing of the Axe) – Power Trip (2017)
  86. Black Supremacy – Divide and Dissolve (2017)
  87. Crop Killer – Slugdge (2018)
  88. Trigger – Fever 333 (2018)
  89. Stranger Fruit – Zeal & Ardor (2018)
  90. Home Back – Jinjer (2019)
  91. Planet B – King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard (2019)
  92. Blue Shirt//White Hood – Nekroi Theoi (2019)
  93. Inhuman- Putrescine (2019)
  94. The Law of Asbestos – Ashenspire  (2022)
  95. Why – Chat Pile (2022)
  96. Sell The World – The Hu (2022)
  97. Where I’m From – Zulu (2023)
  98. War Remains – Enforced (2023)
  99. What’s The Holy (Nobel) Today? – Voice of Baceprot (2023)
  100. DTA – Ragana (2023)
Tags: ,