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We all know that heavy metal has an obsession with death and destruction. It’s just part of the genre’s mystique. And there’s no man-made weapon capable of more destruction than nuclear weapons.

This playlist examines the subject of nuclear war through the window of heavy metal songs.

Although there are metal songs that revel in the pain, death and destruction of nuclear annihilation, most of the songs are really a protest against nuclear weaponry.

This playlist kicks off with a band whose image and sound oozed evil, and paved the way for the genre, but whose lyrics could be socially conscious: Black Sabbath.

In all, the playlist contains 19 metal songs, and spans many sub-genres. You’ll find classic metal by the previously mentioned Black Sabbath as well as Iron Maiden and Deep Purple, but also pop metal by the likes of Dokken and Def Leppard, hardcore stuff by Slayer and Sepultura, and alt metal by System of a Down and Rage Against The Machine. They’ve all used the powerful imagery of nuclear war to get their points across and this playlist is a good example.

Heavy Metal Songs About Nuclear War Playlist

1. Electric Funeral - Black Sabbath 

2. Rust In Peace…Polaris - Megadeth

3. 2 Minutes To Midnight - Iron Maiden

4. South Of Heaven - Slayer

5. Beneath The Remains - Sepultura

6. Aftershock - Anthrax

7. Surgical Strike - Queensrÿche

8. Child In Time - Deep Purple

9. Thank God For The Bomb - Ozzy Osbourne

10. Gods Of War - Def Leppard

11. Children Of The Grave - Black Sabbath

12. Will The Sun Rise - Dokken

13. Thermonuclear War - Carnivore

14. Boom! - System Of A Down

15. Born As Ghosts - Rage Against The Machine

16. After The Bomb - Doom

17. Nuclear Winter - Dawn Of Oblivion

18. Set The World Afire - Megadeth

19. Blackened - Metallica