
100 Songs that Define Heavy Metal
A Guided Tour of Heavy Music’s Greatest Hits with Brian Slagel
Brian Slagel
Show overview
100 Songs that Define Heavy Metal has been publishing since 2024, and across the 2 years since has built a catalogue of 94 episodes, alongside 1 trailer or bonus episode. That works out to roughly 80 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a weekly cadence.
Episodes typically run thirty-five to sixty minutes — most land between 49 min and 54 min — and the run-time is fairly consistent across the catalogue. Roughly 36% of episodes carry an explicit flag from the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-language Music show.
The show is actively publishing — the most recent episode landed 1 weeks ago, with 33 episodes already out so far this year. The busiest year was 2025, with 51 episodes published. Published by Brian Slagel.
From the publisher
100 Songs that Define Heavy Metal is the ultimate journey into the heart of heavy music, hosted by Metal Blade Records’ founder, Brian Slagel. Each week, Brian dives into one of his personally curated tracks from his list of the heaviest songs in metal and hard rock, exploring the music that shaped a genre. With special guest musicians—some who wrote and recorded these iconic songs and others who found inspiration in them—the show unearths the stories behind each track. Whether you’re a lifelong metalhead or a new fan, this podcast brings you closer to the music and the legends who define it. Joining Brian are music journalist and critic Martin Popoff, offering deep historical context for each song, and acclaimed producer Jay Ruston, who provides technical insights into how these heavy anthems were crafted. Together, they bring an all-encompassing look at the hits that set the stage for metal and continue to inspire. Subscribe to 100 Songs that Define Heavy Metal and discover the unforgettable songs that live at the core of heavy music, one groundbreaking track at a time. Proud part of Pantheon Podcasts.
Latest Episodes
View all 94 episodesRush - "The Spirit of Radio"
Def Leppard - "Let It Go"
Motley Crue - "Livewire"
Black Sabbath - "Heaven and Hell"
Iron Maiden - "Powerslave"
Gojira - "The Heaviest Matter of the Universe"
Metallica - "Orion"
AC/DC - "Hells Bells"
Black Sabbath - "Symptom of the Universe"
Slayer - "South of Heaven"
Iron Maiden - "Number of the Beast"
Metallica - "Creeping Death"
Queensryche - "Roads To Madness"
Jimi Hendrix - "All Along The Watchtower"
Black Sabbath - "Into The Void"
Fates Warning - "A Pleasant Shade of Gray"
Kiss - "Love Gun"
UFO - "Let It Roll"
Aerosmith - "Make It"
Slipknot - "Surfacing"
EMetal Blade Records CEO Brian Slagel discusses Slipknot's "Surfacing" from their debut record with the producer of that album, Ross Robinson, and Zach Johnson from the band The Ghost Inside. As always, Martin Popoff provides historical context and information about the song. You can watch the entire unedited version of the interview HERE: https://youtu.be/9EI8pSP6mRM Follow Ross Robinson on Instagram @Ross_Robinson Follow Zach Johnson on Instagram @zachjayjohnson Follow Brian Slagel on Instagram and X @Brian Slagel Follow 100 Songs That Define Heavy Metal on X, Instagram and TikTok @100Metal Songs Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices