Amorphis – “Towards and Against “
From the album: Silent Waters

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Why this song doesn’t suck:
“Towards and Against” from Amorphis’ 2007 album Silent Waters is undoubtedly one badass, rocking track. Starting slow and with lead singer Tomi Joutsen’s soothing vocals, the full-fledged kick in the nuts when the song starts cranking just moments later is a pleasant, headbang-inducing surprise. Jousten provides some seriously vicious death metal growls as the rest of the Amorphis crew provides a good dose of heavy fucking metal.

Opeth – “The Grand Conjuration”
From the album: Ghost Reveries

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Why this song doesn’t suck:
From the first moment to the last, “The Grand Conjuration” cannot be described as anything but one huge, angry metal-to-the-bone song. Progressive death metal giants Opeth have always been a band to expand on their sound and create music of epic, sprawling proportions, and this song is no different. One of my favorite tracks off their 2005 album, Ghost Reveries, this song is 10 and a half minutes of creative and haunting guitar licks, intense drumming and a mix of ominous to absolutely brutal vocals as provided by band mainman, Mikael Akerfeldt.

Hypocrisy – “Fearless”
From the album: Virus

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Why this song doesn’t suck:
Holy shit, this song rocks. There’s little more that can be said about this track, or nearly anything Sweden’s Hypocrisy manages to crank out. I have to say I’m impressed and pretty partial to almost everything band mainman Peter Tägtgren, who in the case of Hypocrisy’s 2005 album, Virus, also served as producer and mixer, cranks out. I’m a huge fan of Peter’s sideband, Pain (which I’m sure will be featured in this series at some point), though Hypocrisy has always had a more full-on balls-crushing metal quality to them. An excellent example of what draws me to the brutality of this band is the song “Fearless”. It’s heavy as hell while still staying catchy and memorable.

Dark Tranquillity – “Therein”
From the album: Projector

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Why this song doesn’t suck:
When most metal fans hear the term “Gothenberg Metal”, coined after the Swedish city where the subgenre originated, Dark Tranquillity is usually near the top of the list of bands that are brought to mind. Since 1993 and continuing even today, Dark Tranquillity has been leading the pack when it comes to the distinctive Gothenberg sound. From using more melodic guitar riffs and solos to more diverse and varied song structures, the bands of Gothenberg, Sweden laid the groundwork for the melodic death metal genre as it’s known today. Along with At the Gates and In Flames (before their music turned to pure, unfiltered shit once the 21st century hit), Dark Tranquillity are the pioneers of what is probably my favorite genre of all of music, and their 1999 album, Projector, shows just why that is.

Muse – “Stockholm Syndrome”
From the album: Absolution

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Why this song doesn’t suck:
A lot of people may not attribute the word “metal” while talking about the English rockers Muse, but you have to admit many of their songs have the intricacies and heaviness that can be said for any good heavy metal tune. Much like fellow Brits Porcupine Tree, a great deal of their songs are heavy on crunchy guitar work as well as progressive songwriting techniques. I think an excellent example of their hard rockingness is “Stockholm Syndrome” from their 2003 album Absolution.

Eluveitie – “The Somber Lay”
From the album: Slania

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Why this song doesn’t suck:
One of my favorite bands of late has been folk metal asskickers extraordinaire, Eluveitie. As I’ve said before, any band that can seamlessly meld electric guitar with a goddamn slew of flutes, whistles, fiddles and bagpipes deserves and rightly gets my full admiration. You’d think it’d be hard to make a songs as heavy as “The Somber Lay” work with a whistle into, but Eluveitie pull it off quite nicely… and it’s something I’m glad to say they are able to reproduce perfectly live in concert.