Merry Metal Xmas!

Ho, ho, ho!

Brace yourself, Christmas is coming!
And despite the presence of an e-fireplace giving warmth and comfort, some of us are not in the Christmassy/star-filled-eyes/snow-longing mood.

What could be better than a proper Christmas music to set the mood! But with something a slightly more dynamic than the bori- traditional songs. 

Usually, I consider holiday record to be purely heavy commercialism with very little change to standard carols, but this one is far from a disappointment!

In 2008 was released a compilation of Christmas songs appropriately called "We wish you a Metal Xmas and a headbanging New Year", gathering a whole lot of inconic superstars.

Among rather traditional songs, but properly turned into metal versions, there are a quite many highlights!

The first one would be "Santa Claws is coming to town" (can you find the pun?), on which Alice Cooper's peculiar voice gives a nightmarish sound. This song stars also Billy Sheehan (bassist who worked with Steve Vai, Mr. Big, David Lee Roth and the Winery Dogs among others) and John 5 (lead guitarist for Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie), who provides a jaw-dropping guitar solo.

Then comes a more rock and roll version of "Run Rudolph Run", performed by an incredible trio composed of Lemmy (lead singer and bassist of Motorhead), Billy F. Gibbons (ZZ Top's guitarist ) and Dave Grohl (Nirvana's drummer and Foo Fighter's singer/guitarist).

One of the most impressive cover is the doomy version of "God rest ye merry gentlemen", performed by Ronnie James Dio and Tony Iommi, from the precusor of doom metal, Black Sabbath. The slow tempo, Iommi's dark sounding lead guitar riff and Dio's unique voice directly send you back to Black Sabbath's first albums!

Finally, one of my personnal favorite is the Scottish traditional song "Auld Lang Syne", powered by the ladies of Girlschool. I especially like the guitar solo, simple but effective.

And just in case that was not enough, please do check Megadeth's version to traumatise kids:

And you? What will you listen to while unwrapping a charcoal?
Feel free to discuss it over here!!