The Top 5 Metal Songs That Were Written About a Band Member or Ex-Band Member

There are entertainers in every art form that gain inspiration from their own life experiences, and metal music is no exception. Naturally, when you’re around a few specific people every time you walk onto a stage, into a recording studio, or into a rehearsal room, you’re bound to have a story about one of them or a summary of their antics that can become a song. Here are several tunes that come to mind and need to be shared when discussing that idea.

5. Bulldozer - Rob “Klister” from “IX” (1987)
www.youtube.com/watch
In the days before every band had a website with a biography page for each member, sometimes fans could learn about a musician through a song that their band wrote about them. At the risk of potentially ruining their next drummer’s chances of attracting the attention of females with his musical chops, these Italian heathens chose to reveal the perverted ways of Rob “Klister” while in the middle of introducing him to their audience. The message of this track is clear: If Rob “Klister” wasn’t the filthiest incel in the thrash metal scene at the time, he was certainly the most open and unapologetic about it!

4. Megadeth - Liar from “So Far, So Good…So What!” (1988)
www.youtube.com/watch
In his drug-crazed twenties, Megadeth guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine always had somebody on his hit list, whether it was a girl who rejected him or Metallica. In this case, it’s fellow six-stringer Chris Poland, who was fired from the quartet after their second album for selling Mustaine’s guitars for drug money. Feeling the need for satirical exaggeration, Mustaine has a flippant tune on his hands that describes a character with other problems besides theft, drugs, and excessive dishonesty. It condemns someone who has warped everyone in his path and has the personal hygiene of a skunk!

3. Slayer - Repentless from “Repentless” (2015)
www.youtube.com/watch
Sometimes the best way to honor someone who has passed away is to write a song about them. The title track to Slayer’s final studio recording is their obituary to their original guitarist Jeff Hanneman, who passed away from liver failure in May 2013. It covers Jeff’s disdain for what is going on with the rest of the world around him and how channeling that animosity into his uncompromising commitment to his instrument and his band is what made Jeff Hanneman Jeff Hanneman. It’s exactly what he would have wanted and it’s by far one of their thrashiest 21st-century cuts! Don’t forget to look for Machete himself, Danny Trejo, in the gory music video.

2. Bulldozer - “Don” Andras from “The Final Separation” (1986)
www.youtube.com/watch
Unlike the rest of the band’s material, this song’s lyrics are sung in Italian and the vocals were handled by the their namesake drummer. To someone unfamiliar with the language, it will sound like a song that is meant to be goofy. However, Bulldozer’s bassist/vocalist AC Wild has explained in an interview with Voices From the Darkside that it was about Don’s upbringing in a dicey part of Naples, Italy, and that it was meant to be “funny and serious at the same time”. Bulldozer also paid tribute to founding member/bassist Dario Carria with the song “Willful Death/You’ll Be Recalled” in 1988, shortly after his tragic decision to commit suicide.

1. Acid - Anvill from “Acid” (1983)
www.youtube.com/watch
Acid drummer Anvill was clearly the kind of guy who could tear right through a metal performance without suffering from a sudden energy drop. I don’t know that from having witnessed him perform live myself, but I will take the band’s word for it. This was the Belgian quintet’s ode to their timekeeper, and listening to this cut and the rest of their debut shows that the drums were certainly this act’s heaviest musical element. Concluding with a solid drum solo, it is rightfully the most drum-focused song on the record. Given that this is the one track on this list that does not describe anything about the musician’s character or personal life outside of his instrument, you can’t help but raise your curiosity about the guy a little. They also had a song on this album called “Demon”, but it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with their lead guitarist who went by that stage name.

Let us know what you think about this list in the comments section below!



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Tags:  top 10, Bulldozer, Acid, Slayer, Megadeth

Nick Statuto    April 16, 2023