Soundgarden may not be metal, but here are the five most metal Soundgarden songs.
While pretty much all bands have been placed into some sort of subgenre, there are many who teeter the line between different styles. Soundgarden, obviously, have always been labeled “grunge” because of their affiliation with the late ’80s and early ’90s Seattle music scene, but they’ve experimented with their sound a lot since the beginning.
“To me it was that perfect meeting of The Beatles and Black Sabbath,” Dave Grohl described to Rolling Stone of Soundgarden’s style, particularly that of their 1994 album Superunknown and its hit single “Black Hole Sun.”
Soundgarden’s early albums, Ultramega OK and Louder Than Love, were more fast-paced and had stronger punk undertones than most of their later works. Their 1991 release Badmotorfinger was probably their heaviest set of material, fusing that early punk sound with a more metal edge. Superunknown and Down on the Upside featured more psychedelic flavors.
READ MORE: The Tentative Song Titles From Soundgarden’s Unreleased Album With Chris Cornell
There are a handful of songs from all of those releases that can be considered metal, even if Soundgarden aren’t actually considered a metal band.
“We never strived to be heavy metal,” guitarist Kim Thayil told Vice years ago. “Metal is a big part of our make-up. We were listening to what Metallica and Slayer were doing, but at the same time, we were also listening to the Big Boys, Black Flag, and the Meat Puppets. We just did not want to be considered one or the other.”
Read on to see our picks for the five heaviest, most metal songs Soundgarden ever made.
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1
“Jesus Christ Pose”
This is probably the first song Soundgarden fans think of when someone asks them what the band’s heaviest songs are. Featured as the lead single for 1991’s Badmotorfinger, it’s hands down the group’s most blistering song of their entire discography. MTV actually banned the video from its network due to controversy that it was anti-Christian — that makes it even more metal.
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2
“Birth Ritual”
If you’re not a diehard Soundgarden fan and haven’t seen Cameron Crowe’s 1992 film Singles, there’s a chance you may not have ever even heard “Birth Ritual” at all. It was recorded specifically for the movie soundtrack, and the band actually played it during a scene in the film. The track was later released on the 2010 compilation album Telephantasm, so if you haven’t heard it before, give it a listen. Chris Cornell sang in his highest register throughout much of it, and the pace of the song in general is completely visceral.
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3
“Gun”
This Louder Than Love track starts off pretty slow, but the droning guitar riff and rhythm eventually pick up in momentum as it progresses, and the latter half of the song is a full-blown frenzy. We need to give a special shout out to Matt Cameron on this one, too, because it sounds like a pretty exhausting one to play.
“It’s basically saying how there are days when I want to grab some rich broker and rip his head off,” Chris Cornell once told Melody Maker of the song’s meaning.
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4
“Room a Thousand Years Wide”
As we stated earlier, Badmotorfinger was Soundgarden’s heaviest release. One of the record’s lesser-known tracks than “Jesus Christ Pose” is “Room a Thousand Years Wide,” and it completely supports that statement. The lyrics for this one were written by Kim Thayil, but Cornell’s screams really help accentuate the brutality of it all. There may not be many metal songs with a saxophone solo on them, but consider this the cream of the crop.
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5
“Beyond the Wheel”
The king of all Soundgarden songs. Though not as widely known as tracks on Badmotorfinger and Superunknown, “Beyond the Wheel” has long been in a staple in Soundgarden’s live performances. Even in his 50s, Chris Cornell belted out the high notes — and reached them. It’s one of the doomiest tracks of Soundgarden’s entire catalog, and it was one of the very first bits of music they released, as it was featured on their 1988 debut full-length Ultramega OK. Soundgarden were pushing boundaries from day one.
