Lamb Of God - Guilty
LOG has always been a band that creates songs that make you want to mosh your guts out. Notable songs over the years are 11th Hour, Now You’ve Got Something To Die For, Set To Fail and Black Label. The mixing of traditional blues with thrash metal makes for punchy and fast songs that will get you amped up. Guilty, from the 2011 album Resolution is one hell of a workout song. When the cheeky two-note riff comes in at 02:01, you can’t help but feel like head-butting something.
August Burns Red - Up Against The Ropes
From the opening drum fill, to the off-beat break-down, this song will have you hooked. The lyrics express the feeling of being back into a corner and fighting your way out, which will make you want to push yourself just that little bit harder. ABR often showcases obscure scales, with melodic guitar riffs that set their songs apart from the rest of their metalcore brethren.
Limp Bizkit - Break Stuff
Does this song even need any explanation? Anyone who grew up in the era of Nu Metal will know how pumped this song will make you. Although today this would probably class as pop-music, being played at football games and even the cricket, it was a controversial hard-hitter eighteen years ago. Crank it up to eleven and go and break stuff, with a motherfucking chainsaw… what?
I Declare War - March On
I’ve thrown this one in for the deathcore fans in the crowd. It’s simple, it’s heavy, and it pumps. If you like Thy Art Is Murder or Suicide Silence, you’ll probably dig this band. This is one hell of a song to perform a throw-down ballet to. When I first saw this film clip a few years ago, I thought it was lame as fuck, but don’t let that get in the way of how good this song actually it.
Parkway Drive - Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em
It’d be fucking un-Australian not to put this song on the list. The boys from Byron Bay certainly know how to write a song to get you pumped up, mixing their punk/harcore ethics with metal influences, their music is vastly different from anything else. One of their oldest songs, it has been on the Parkway Drive / I Killed The Prom Queen split EP, Killing With A Smile and the re-released Don’t Close Your Eyes album, and has been performed at pretty much every show they have done since. Although harder to find, if you haven’t listened to the original recording of the song, I’d highly recommend it.
Ed Howson
