300.

A list of 300 songs as the start of a curated list:

Contents

Alternative Rock/Metal Pioneers

  1. Jane’s Addiction – “Been Caught Stealing”
  2. Mr. Bungle – “Retrovertigo”
  3. Primus – “Jerry Was a Race Car Driver”
  4. Soundgarden – “Black Hole Sun”
  5. Tool – “Schism”

Crossover Innovators

  1. Rage Against the Machine – “Killing in the Name”
  2. Living Colour – “Cult of Personality”
  3. Body Count – “Cop Killer”
  4. Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Under the Bridge”

Industrial/Experimental Trailblazers

  1. Nine Inch Nails – “Closer”
  2. Ministry – “Jesus Built My Hotrod”
  3. Skinny Puppy – “Smothered Hope”
  4. Killing Joke – “Love Like Blood”

Prog/Avant-Garde Explorers

  1. King Crimson – “21st Century Schizoid Man”
  2. The Mars Volta – “The Widow”
  3. Porcupine Tree – “Trains”
  4. Devin Townsend – “Kingdom”

Heavy Fusion Bands

  1. Mastodon – “Blood and Thunder”
  2. Opeth – “Ghost of Perdition”
  3. Meshuggah – “Bleed”
  4. Clutch – “Electric Worry”

Genre-Bending Wildcards

  1. System of a Down – “Chop Suey!”
  2. Gojira – “Flying Whales”
  3. Fugazi – “Waiting Room”
  4. Sleepytime Gorilla Museum – “The Donkey-Headed Adversary of Humanity Opens the Discussion”

Post-Rock and Art Rock Innovators

  1. Radiohead – “Paranoid Android”
  2. Swans – “Screen Shot”
  3. Deftones – “Change (In the House of Flies)”
  4. Sonic Youth – “Teen Age Riot”
  5. Björk – “Army of Me”

Avant-Garde and Experimental

  1. Fantômas – “Rosemary’s Baby”
  2. Dog Fashion Disco – “Rapist Eyes”
  3. Secret Chiefs 3 – “Book T: Exodus”
  4. Zappa/Mothers of Invention – “Peaches en Regalia”
  5. Igorrr – “Opus Brain”

Heavy and Groovy Fusion

  1. Helmet – “Unsung”
  2. Pantera – “Walk”
  3. Soulfly – “Back to the Primitive”
  4. Sevendust – “Black”
  5. Nothingface – “Bleeder”

Post-Hardcore/Noise Rock

  1. At the Drive-In – “One Armed Scissor”
  2. Refused – “New Noise”
  3. Drive Like Jehu – “Here Come the Rome Plows”
  4. The Jesus Lizard – “Seasick”
  5. Shellac – “Prayer to God”

Prog Metal and Prog Rock Visionaries

  1. Pain of Salvation – “Ashes”
  2. Haken – “Cockroach King”
  3. Leprous – “From the Flame”
  4. Coheed and Cambria – “Welcome Home”
  5. Between the Buried and Me – “Selkies: The Endless Obsession”

Funk, Groove, and Fusion Artists

  1. King’s X – “Dogman”
  2. Urban Dance Squad – “Deeper Shade of Soul”
  3. 24-7 Spyz – “Grandma Dynamite”
  4. Fishbone – “Everyday Sunshine”
  5. Extreme – “Play With Me”

Industrial Innovators

  1. Godflesh – “Like Rats”
  2. Fear Factory – “Replica”
  3. Marilyn Manson – “The Beautiful People”
  4. Rob Zombie – “Dragula”
  5. Static-X – “Push It”

Experimental Black/Death Metal

  1. Celtic Frost – “Procreation (of the Wicked)”
  2. Enslaved – “Isa”
  3. Deathspell Omega – “Abscission”
  4. Gorguts – “Obscura”
  5. Ulver – “It Is Not Sound”

Post-Metal and Atmospheric

  1. Neurosis – “Through Silver in Blood”
  2. Isis – “Celestial (The Tower)”
  3. Cult of Luna – “Ghost Trail”
  4. Pelican – “March to the Sea”
  5. Amenra – “A Solitary Reign”

Genre-Breaking Wildcards

  1. Faithless – “Insomnia”
  2. Massive Attack – “Teardrop”
  3. Gorillaz – “Feel Good Inc.”
  4. Modest Mouse – “Float On”
  5. The Melvins – “Honey Bucket”

Modern Eclectic Bands

  1. Puscifer – “The Humbling River”
  2. Arcade Fire – “Wake Up”
  3. Battles – “Atlas”
  4. Twelve Foot Ninja – “One Hand Killing”
  5. Dance Gavin Dance – “We Own the Night”

Pioneers of Stoner/Sludge

  1. Black Sabbath – “Into the Void”
  2. Melvins – “Boris”
  3. Sleep – “Dragonaut”
  4. Kyuss – “Green Machine”
  5. Saint Vitus – “Born Too Late”

Classic Stoner Rock

  1. Fu Manchu – “King of the Road”
  2. Monster Magnet – “Space Lord”
  3. Orange Goblin – “Some You Win, Some You Lose”
  4. Clutch – “The Mob Goes Wild”
  5. Electric Wizard – “Funeralopolis”

Sludge Metal Giants

  1. Eyehategod – “Take as Needed for Pain”
  2. Crowbar – “Planets Collide”
  3. Acid Bath – “The Bones of Babydolls”
  4. Buzzov•en – “To a Frown”
  5. Neurosis – “Locust Star”

Modern Stoner/Sludge Innovators

  1. Baroness – “Take My Bones Away”
  2. Mastodon – “Oblivion”
  3. Kylesa – “Tired Climb”
  4. Torche – “Across the Shields”
  5. High on Fire – “Snakes for the Divine”

Psychedelic and Atmospheric Stoner Bands

  1. YOB – “Prepare the Ground”
  2. Elder – “Lore”
  3. Earth – “Old Black”
  4. Colour Haze – “Tempel”
  5. Windhand – “Orchard”

Psych Rock and Shoegaze

  1. The Brian Jonestown Massacre – “Anemone”
  2. My Bloody Valentine – “Only Shallow”
  3. Spiritualized – “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space”
  4. Ride – “Vapour Trail”
  5. Slowdive – “When the Sun Hits”

Post-Rock and Instrumental Rock

  1. Explosions in the Sky – “Your Hand in Mine”
  2. Godspeed You! Black Emperor – “Moya”
  3. Mogwai – “Auto Rock”
  4. Russian Circles – “Harper Lewis”
  5. Sigur Rós – “Sæglópur”

Doom Metal

  1. Candlemass – “Solitude”
  2. Saint Vitus – “Living Backwards”
  3. Electric Wizard – “Witchcult Today”
  4. Pentagram – “Forever My Queen”
  5. Witchfinder General – “Burning a Sinner”

Mathcore/Progressive Hardcore

  1. The Dillinger Escape Plan – “43% Burnt”
  2. Converge – “Jane Doe”
  3. Botch – “To Our Friends in the Great White North”
  4. Coalesce – “There Is a World You Know Nothing About”
  5. The Red Chord – “Dread Prevailed”

Garage Rock Revival

  1. The White Stripes – “Seven Nation Army”
  2. The Strokes – “Reptilia”
  3. The Hives – “Hate to Say I Told You So”
  4. The Vines – “Get Free”
  5. The Black Keys – “Howlin’ for You”

Noise Rock and Avant-Garde

  1. Sonic Youth – “Teen Age Riot”
  2. Big Black – “Kerosene”
  3. The Birthday Party – “Release the Bats”
  4. The Dead C – “Tuned Guitars”
  5. Swans – “The Seer”

Punk and Hardcore Influences

  1. Black Flag – “Rise Above”
  2. Minor Threat – “Straight Edge”
  3. Bad Brains – “Banned in D.C.”
  4. Fugazi – “Waiting Room”
  5. The Misfits – “Last Caress”

Gothic Metal and Darkwave

  1. Type O Negative – “Black No. 1”
  2. Paradise Lost – “One Second”
  3. Lacuna Coil – “Heaven’s a Lie”
  4. Moonspell – “Opium”
  5. Tristania – “Angels”

Avant-Garde Jazz Metal Fusion

  1. John Zorn – “Naked City”
  2. Painkiller – “Buried Secrets”
  3. Naked City – “The Prestidigitation”
  4. The Mars Volta – “L’Via L’Viaquez”
  5. Atheist – “Unquestionable Presence”

Alternative Metal Classics

  1. Tool – “Lateralus”
  2. Korn – “Freak on a Leash”
  3. Deftones – “Diamond Eyes”
  4. System of a Down – “Toxicity”
  5. Mudvayne – “Dig”

Experimental Death Metal

  1. Gorguts – “Colored Sands”
  2. Cryptopsy – “Phobophile”
  3. Obscura – “Anticosmic Overload”
  4. Suffocation – “Pierced from Within”
  5. Nile – “Sacrifice Unto Sebek”

Doom and Stoner Metal Giants

  1. Sleep – “Dopesmoker”
  2. Orange Goblin – “Time for Deliverance”
  3. Clutch – “The Regulator”
  4. Kyuss – “Green Machine”
  5. The Sword – “Freya”

Crossover Thrash and Hardcore

  1. D.R.I. – “Thrashard”
  2. Suicidal Tendencies – “Institutionalized”
  3. Municipal Waste – “The Art of Partying”
  4. S.O.D. – “Kill Yourself”
  5. Cro-Mags – “We Gotta Know”

Experimental Metal

  1. Meshuggah – “Bleed”
  2. Ihsahn – “Frozen Lakes on Mars”
  3. Arcturus – “The Chaos Path”
  4. Devin Townsend Project – “Kingdom”
  5. TesseracT – “Of Matter – Proxy”

Electronic/Industrial Metal Fusion

  1. Front Line Assembly – “Mindphaser”
  2. Ministry – “Just One Fix”
  3. KMFDM – “Juke Joint Jezebel”
  4. Skinny Puppy – “Smothered Hope”
  5. Nine Inch Nails – “The Hand That Feeds”

Funk Metal and Groove Metal

  1. Primus – “Jerry Was a Race Car Driver”
  2. Infectious Grooves – “Therapy”
  3. 24-7 Spyz – “Sick & Tired”
  4. Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Give It Away”
  5. Living Colour – “Cult of Personality”

Sludgecore/Blackened Sludge

  1. The Ocean – “The Grand Inquisitor I: The Fall”
  2. Yob – “The Lie That Is Sin”
  3. Baroness – “March to the Sea”
  4. Mastodon – “Blood and Thunder”
  5. Kylesa – “Tired Climb”

Post-Black Metal and Atmospheric

  1. Deafheaven – “Sunbather”
  2. Wolves in the Throne Room – “I Will Lay Down My Bones Among the Ruins”
  3. Agalloch – “In the Shadow of Our Pale Companion”
  4. Alcest – “Autre Temps”
  5. Drudkh – “Sunwheel”

Progressive Death Metal

  1. Opeth – “Ghost of Perdition”
  2. Atheist – “Mother Man”
  3. Cynic – “Veil of Maya”
  4. Pestilence – “Mind Reflections”
  5. Death – “Lack of Comprehension”

Stoner Rock and Desert Rock

  1. Fu Manchu – “King of the Road”
  2. Queens of the Stone Age – “No One Knows”
  3. Kyuss – “Space Cadet”
  4. Truckfighters – “Desert Cruiser”
  5. Clutch – “Electric Worry”

Post-Metal

  1. Isis – “In the Absence of Truth”
  2. Neurosis – “The Tide”
  3. Cult of Luna – “I: The Weapon”
  4. Pelican – “March to the Sea”
  5. Russian Circles – “Memento Mori”

Progressive Black Metal

  1. Enslaved – “Isa”
  2. Borknagar – “Colossus”
  3. Wolves in the Throne Room – “Two Hunters”
  4. Drudkh – “A Letter to You”
  5. Agalloch – “The Mantle”

Death-Doom Metal

  1. Anathema – “One Last Goodbye”
  2. Paradise Lost – “Gothic”
  3. Katatonia – “Heart of the Country”
  4. My Dying Bride – “The Cry of Mankind”
  5. Swallow the Sun – “Ghosts of Loss”

Hardcore Punk and Crust

  1. Discharge – “Hear Nothing, See Nothing, Say Nothing”
  2. Crass – “Do They Owe Us a Living?”
  3. Anti-Flag – “Die for the Government”
  4. Nausea – “Unholy Grave”
  5. Tragedy – “Crusade”

Industrial Metal

  1. Rammstein – “Du Hast”
  2. Ministry – “N.W.O.”
  3. Godflesh – “Like Rats”
  4. Fear Factory – “Replica”
  5. KMFDM – “Anarchy”

Doom and Blackened Doom

  1. Bell Witch – “Mirror Reaper”
  2. Pallbearer – “Fear and Fury”
  3. Skepticism – “Lead and Aether”
  4. Warning – “Footprints”
  5. Ahab – “The Hunt”

Math Rock and Instrumental Rock

  1. Battles – “Atlas”
  2. Tortoise – “Djed”
  3. Hella – “Biblical Violence”
  4. American Football – “Never Meant”
  5. Don Caballero – “Fire Back About Your New Baby’s Sex”

Avant-Garde and Experimental Rock

  1. King Crimson – “21st Century Schizoid Man”
  2. The Residents – “Constantinople”
  3. Frank Zappa – “Peaches en Regalia”
  4. Captain Beefheart – “Hot Head”
  5. Van Der Graaf Generator – “Killer”

Grunge and Post-Grunge

  1. Nirvana – “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
  2. Pearl Jam – “Alive”
  3. Soundgarden – “Black Hole Sun”
  4. Alice in Chains – “Man in the Box”
  5. Stone Temple Pilots – “Plush”

Alternative/Experimental Metal

  1. System of a Down – “Chop Suey!”
  2. Mr. Bungle – “My Ass Is on Fire”
  3. Sleepytime Gorilla Museum – “A Hymn to the Morning Star”
  4. The Dillinger Escape Plan – “Milk Lizard”
  5. Mr. Bungle – “Quote Unquote”

Black Metal (Traditional)

  1. Darkthrone – “Transylvanian Hunger”
  2. Mayhem – “Freezing Moon”
  3. Immortal – “Blashyrkh (Mighty Ravendark)”
  4. Burzum – “Dunkelheit”
  5. Bathory – “A Fine Day to Die”

Stoner Doom

  1. Electric Wizard – “Dopethrone”
  2. Sleep – “The Clarity”
  3. Om – “Meditation Is the Practice of Death”
  4. Witch – “Tarantula”
  5. Saint Vitus – “Born Too Late”

Post-Hardcore/Emo

  1. Fugazi – “Waiting Room”
  2. At the Drive-In – “One Armed Scissor”
  3. Jawbreaker – “Boxcar”
  4. Thursday – “Understanding in a Car Crash”
  5. The Used – “The Taste of Ink”

Grindcore

  1. Napalm Death – “You Suffer”
  2. Pig Destroyer – “Gravedancer”
  3. Carcass – “Heartwork”
  4. Brutal Truth – “Denial of Existence”
  5. Agoraphobic Nosebleed – “The Point of No Return”

Folk Metal

  1. Finntroll – “Trollhammaren”
  2. Ensiferum – “Lai Lai Hei”
  3. Turisas – “Battle Metal”
  4. Eluveitie – “Inis Mona”
  5. Korpiklaani – “Vodka”

Gothic Rock

  1. Bauhaus – “Bela Lugosi’s Dead”
  2. Siouxsie and the Banshees – “Spellbound”
  3. Fields of the Nephilim – “Moonchild”
  4. The Sisters of Mercy – “This Corrosion”
  5. Christian Death – “Romeo’s Distress”

Progressive Doom

  1. Warning – “The Strength to Dream”
  2. Solitude Aeturnus – “The Lake of Fire”
  3. Pallbearer – “The Ghost I Used to Be”
  4. Candlemass – “Bewitched”
  5. The Obsessed – “Sodden Jackal”

Hard Rock and Proto-Metal

  1. Led Zeppelin – “Immigrant Song”
  2. Black Sabbath – “Iron Man”
  3. Deep Purple – “Smoke on the Water”
  4. Blue Öyster Cult – “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper”
  5. Uriah Heep – “Easy Livin'”

Technical Death Metal

  1. Necrophagist – “Stabwound”
  2. Obscura – “The Anticosmic Overload”
  3. Spawn of Possession – “Abodement”
  4. Suffocation – “Effigy of the Forgotten”
  5. Cryptopsy – “Phobophile”

Now we have a diverse mix across so many different styles, from doom to grindcore and progressive to gothic.

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