YO, WTF IS COUNTRY METAL??

Talking about a slew of bands known for fusing country music and heavy metal together.
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#countrymusic #heavymetal #nickelback #volbeat #nashvillepussy #mayleneandthesonsofdisaster #meandthatman #texashippiecoalition #thenativehowl #panopticon #sixstringshooter #lakeview #themetalmeltdown

[@MadMike1]

Ronnie Radke could be the next Gene Simmons with how much he gets credit for inventing things that existed for generations before him.

[@rockmovieswithtyler1989]

Not a bad comparison honestly 👌 👏 😅

[@themetalmeltdownofficial]

They're both overrated bigots too

[@MoonlightBelladonna]

Sounds about right

[@flynnhale1243]

​​@@themetalmeltdownofficialyou know what's funnier then country metal white stones memori viva and its coming out this month please review it please talk about one if not all three of the white stones albums 😮

[@ashleybrown4754]

I have an immediate fight or flight response when country comes on

[@themetalmeltdownofficial]

Kinda same. For every great country song or album or artist, there's another that just makes me cringe and vomit. Like I fuckin' can't stand bro country and the super clean over-produced pop country shit, so obnoxious.

[@Rosterized]

you know how some people say "I can listen to all music" but when you put some really gnarly metal they back out of that statement? Yeah thats basically me but with country music, its not necessarily bad or offensive but I find even the "greatest" stuff of that genre kinda boring to listen to.

[@archangelofcoffee922]

"WTF is country metal?" David Vincent

[@themetalmeltdownofficial]

Ehhh not really. He's a metal musician playing straight up country on the side, not one fusing the two genres together.

[@theprisonmetaller7005]

Grant Macdonald’s Ram Ranch is kind of country metal. 😂😂😂

[@DylanTheCDAndVinylCollector]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@codybeinert1109]

Totally agree with the Panopticon choice lol. I've also considered them to be within the "country metal" camp but I acknowledge that calling them that, while accurate, doesn't necessarily feels right lol.

[@manuelplatino1926]

The cover of Nashville Pussy's first record is a gem

[@nlwrigh]

Rebel Meets Rebel. There ya go.

[@terrypace2134]

Damn right

[@SuperRoo_22]

Rebel Meets Rebel is the greatest Country Metal album of all time. End of story. 🤘🤠

[@Grim_666-]

Also as a side note, I’ve never understood the hate towards Nickelback. Nickelback is a band that pushed me closer to being into heavier styles of Rock and Metal and to this day, I think their music holds up.

[@mojuy11]

Side of a Bullet is an objective banger

[@themetalmeltdownofficial]

They have some legit terrible songs here and here but sometimes Nickelback hits (and theres not a single person alive that wont sing 'How You Remind Me' drunk as fuck at karaoke)

[@talesxavier5752]

I always find the hate towards them suspicious, because if they are quote unquote "The Worst Band of All Time" then why they make big concerts and sell thousands of records? Same thing with Limp Bizkit and Creed. That's not saying that they have always great songs, but majority of them are good.

[@Lebronfan37876]

yea i Don't get why people hate bands like Nickelback Limp Bizkit and festivals like Mayhem Fest and Summer Slaughter

[@themetalmeltdownofficial]

Limp Bizkit 🤮🤮🤮

[@speakerdestroyer425]

Huge fan of Maylene and the Sons of Disaster. If you like them i'd also recommend The Holly Springs Disaster. They only have one album but its an absolute rager.

[@Qaqortoq-v6d]

Korn invented dubstep? Hahahaha OMG was that a real comment? That is hilarious

[@themetalmeltdownofficial]

It was, from the "Requiem" album review. Time flies eh?

[@Qaqortoq-v6d]

@@themetalmeltdownofficial Damn people are stupid these days.

[@Grim_666-]

Idiots: Ronnie Radke was the first to combine Metal with Country Me: *listens to Hellyeah who did the same fucking thing before Ronnie even thought of the idea lol*

[@themetalmeltdownofficial]

Ngl I completely forgot that Hellyeah existed lmao

[@Saliva1]

Hellyeah deserve to be forgotten

[@mediumvillain]

​@@Saliva1They should only be remembered for the fact that their component parts came from better bands, like Nothingface

[@theprisonmetaller7005]

Hellyeah’s first album is actually enjoyable after that not so much. It kind of has a Five Finger Death Punch sound but it’s not as bad as FFDP tbh. Chad Gray is better off with Mudvayne.

[@Grim_666-]

@@theprisonmetaller7005I personally enjoy everything by Hellyeah but I do agree that Mudvayne is better lol

[@kodokushi4701]

You brought up He is Legend. Do a tier list to aid an ailing world.

[@mooseclappin11]

Some of Jerry Cantrell's solo work (as well as a couple of Alice in Chains songs) could be described as country metal, or at least country influenced. Jerry also did a rock/metal cover of a Willie Nelson song as part of a tribute to him in the late 90s.

[@psychosis8429]

Country and metal can be a really cool combo. The band Appalachian Anarchy combines blue grass and metal and it's awesome

[@animal1439]

The Native Howl is one of the best live bands I’ve ever seen! I can’t wait for their new album to come out!

[@JohnEdmiston684]

Hank Williams III

[@lukeknutson3191]

rebel meets rebel is a fun party country/metal album. Dime has some of his best solos on that album AS well.

[@charles616]

Volbeat to me is if James Hetfield fronted Social Distortion, but "heavy"

[@CrypticlyEncrypted]

Why wouldn’t wayfarer count? The latest record is gothic country and atmospheric black metal

[@themetalmeltdownofficial]

Wayfarer is great don't get me wrong, but I don't hear a ton of country really in their sound.

[@CrypticlyEncrypted]

@@themetalmeltdownofficial It’s more on the western side, but a lot of influence from gothic country which is a sub genre, its not as in your face country, its more dark sounding, even a small tint of post-punk ish.

[@rockmovieswithtyler1989]

Technically you could say Hank Williams III who was also on that Rebel Meets Rebel project as a guest feature. Also though not quite metal per say but his legitimate son Cole Williams aka IV of IV and The Strange Band has at least an interesting debut album that flirts with some adjacent stuff in his music. Also not saying they are necessarily for everyone but figured they were worth acknowledging nonetheless. 😉

[@CrustaceanCraigory]

Lemmy was more of a cowboy than most modern pop country musicians I say this as a huge country fan from West Texas going to see Archspire & Aborted next week 😂

[@themetalmeltdownofficial]

He really was, dude played old rock & roll and rockabilly with The Head Cat too.

[@leeasson]

I predicted you would list Panopticon, and I don't disagree. I would describe his sounds as more folksy rather than county (at least the newer albums)

[@proudhammer62]

"Room temperature whiskey " Perfect!

[@evanatkins8923]

Love your content. There's no conversation about country metal without Hank 3. Keep up the good the good shit.

[@ELECTRIKDOOM77]

My favorite is BANJO SLAM by KNOWONEGETSOUTALIVE!!🤠

[@rosshodgkinson3346]

How about PRIDE & GLORY from 1999? Zakk Wylde formed this band as a side project and they released at least one album. Worth checking out!

[@crucifixmegabuster95]

I read this title out loud and curious now

[@sarajamus]

Fun fact- The precursor to Dub-step was a track off of Michael Jackson’s Invincible record (cant think of the title), a good ten years before that genre became a thing.

[@MarcoReusel]

Good lesson. Good you named wayfarer Next...

[@bordiuras14]

Devildriver's album "Outlaws 'til the End: Vol. 1"

[@themetalmeltdownofficial]

OHHH YEAAAA, forgot about that. Kinda wish they'd finally drop a Vol 2.

[@marktaylor7162]

1:22 First metal band to ever fuse metal and horror? Uhhh... that would be Black Sabbath, literally the first ever metal band. Duh.

[@dsc1970]

Check out Appalachian Anarchy. They've only been putting out music for a little while but they describe themselves as 'Applachian Bluegrass Death Metal'. Really it isn't but it's interesting music if one doesn't mind swinging country every now and again.. This isn't a serious song or video but for a few laughs check out 'My Ex's Lawyer is the AntiChrist' from Travis Shredd and the Good Ol' Homeboys. I stumbled across this some 8-9 yrs ago.

[@rayv0125]

Taake myr. Only a track but love the banjo on it thought it was worth a mention!

[@cbn6635]

You mentioned VolBeat, who are originally a Danish band, and here in Denmark we have another band called D.A.D. (Disneyland After Dark) and on their two first albums, 'Call of the Wild' from 1986 and 'Draws a Circle' from 1987, they played, what they called 'cow-punk', which was essentially a original mix of country music and hard rock/metal.. Later they streamlined their sound, but those early albums had a unique sound.. 🤗

[@dimmufrost666]

This is a deep cut. It's a side project. They only released one LP. "Rebel Meets Rebel" by Rebel Meets Rebel. Redundant? YES, yes it is. David Allen Coe - vocals and guitars Dimebag Darryl - guitars Rex Brown - bass Vinne Paul - drums I'm not saying it's good. I'm not saying it's bad. But it is 100% country fuckin metal.

[@jameslowery9925]

I would have been tempted to add Wayfarer to this list

[@rockmovieswithtyler1989]

Oh... and I'm glad you didn't mention Hardy lol😅

[@Milo-it1tf]

Let’s just pretend that Hardy doesn’t exist

[@rockmovieswithtyler1989]

@Milo-it1tf I'm trying but some friends IRL aren't getting the picture😒

[@BigMacAttack83]

Check out Cody Parks and the Dirty South Band. Fucking great

[@Milo-it1tf]

I like a lot of 40’s to 80’s country and I like a lot of metal, although I don’t really like it when they blind together, it’s just not for me

[@melvinramone2605]

Hank III's band Assjack is more Country Punk but there is som Metal in there. A super obvious one: James Hetfield's vocals in the 90s were very Country influenced and their ballads have a lot of Country in the DNA. If you like Nashville Pussy Blaine's other band Nine Pound Hammer is pretty great too, and has more Country influence. Great video. Thanks.

[@AltNerdMusic]

I'm still very happy that Dallas Taylor survived and is healing from his ATV incident. That man is a warrior. Been a fan of his version of Underoath for a long time when they were almost blackened death metal.

[@Nathan09Musica]

Yesterday I was listening to "Gunslinger" by Avenged Sevenfold and then this video popped out. What a casualty haha. PD: That Motorhead shirt is freaking dope. Amazing.

[@themetalmeltdownofficial]

Great song

[@carlos_srn08]

Not sure if it counts, but To hell and back by Sabaton does have a lot of american folk music elements mixed in with their classic heavy/power metal

[@Hellenicheavymetal]

What about Tom Angelripper's band Desperados? Only one album.

[@themetalmeltdownofficial]

Never heard of em so no comment

[@antoniovazantunes8325]

I always felt corrosion of conformity was kind of country metal

[@PapaMetal47]

They became that later.

[@antoniovazantunes8325]

@@PapaMetal47 yup

[@user-kz6oi1sy1f]

Check out Crestfallen Dusk

[@nighthawk9532]

Nickelback was my gateway to metal, yes you read this right, if it wasn’t for Nickelback I wouldn’t be a metalhead, Nickelback legit can get somewhat heavy, I was blown away when I first heard the songs “fight for all the wrong reasons” and “This means war” they definitely have some metal in their discography True story now cope people

[@AgainstTheeWickedlyMusic]

I'm in the midst of watching the video, but I just wanted to say that Volbeat's "Outlaw Gentlemen and Shady Ladies" does indeed slap, despite me not really loving that much of their stuff

[@maxkliegl2001]

Even though they are more hardcore and metalcore but Every Time I Die used to incorporate country and southern rock in their music before their breakup.

[@lionlissauer7104]

Not exactly a "Country Metal" fusion but the guy from Ghoultown used to be in Solitude Aeturnus. So there's definitely a link I suppose :)

[@TuffEsox]

I just watched 2 1/2 minutes of the FIR video. I hate you for making me do that. lol

[@alexmurphy888]

Throwing out Steve 'n' Seagulls, and Slaughter of the Bluegrass for fun and what the hell maybe The Bridge City Sinners coming from the other direction.

[@themetalmeltdownofficial]

Almost thought of Steve 'n' Seagulls but I felt they needed more metal in their sound

[@Jeff.3]

Not enough people talk about texas hippie coalition, they are actually really good. Plus i find it cool how a guy the size of big dad Ritch can sing the way he does.

[@jeffnduran]

Lmao this is a genre I wish I never found out about but pretty cool that it exists. 😎

[@DamnableReverend]

Panopticon is the first band I imagined you would mention when this video started, even though I aree they're not exactly "country metal". Interestingly bi bluegrass fanatics seem to have a different view of the genres, thinking that bluegrass is "bigger" than American country music at least in terms of scope. Unrelated btw but I've always wanted to her a group witha couple of banjos da bluegrass cover of the song "Exciter" by Judas Priest.

[@midnighttoker98]

LOVE Thc! My buddy introduced them to me back in 2015....way before Radfuck

[@CraigMader]

Metal and country have been getting their chocolate in each others peanut butter since the beginning: ('71) DUST-Loose Goose ('69) LEO KOTTKE- Vaseline Macine Gun ('72) DEEP PURPLE- Anyones daughter ('75) NAZARETH- Broken Down Angel & Whisky Drinkin Woman ('77) RAM JAM- Black Betty ('79) BLACKFOOT-Train, Train ('79) MOLLY HATCET- Flirtin With Disaster ('92) REVEREND HORTON HEAT-Full Custom Gospel Sounds of... ('00) SLOBBERBONE- Placemat Blues & Gimme Back My Dog ('03)UNCLE FUCKER- Usurpers of Tradition HAYSEED DIXIE made a minor career out of doing bluegrass covers of old metal tunes in the 2000's. The FALLING IN REVERSE kids just haven't been around...

[@DamnableReverend]

Seriously though, maybe it's just because I am an old-school guy, but the first thing I thought of when I read the topic was "Oh, so Lynard SKynard but a little bit heavir".... I instantly thought of a cool album I recently discovered, as in just a few weeks ago hearing it for the first time: Special Forces by the band 38 Special. maybe not enough country for some people but the influence is definitely there and so far that's by far my favourite album frm them. I guess people could look into some Molly hatchett stuff as well. I'm obviously way more into rock than country so my suggestions would tend to lie moreon thesouthern rock end of things, but most of that stuff has a priofound influence. You alsohavea number of older metal bands joking around with country ideas. The really cool band Deadhorse from Texas released a fun litte ditty called "Hank" on their album Horsecore--An Unrelated Story that's Time-consuming in the late 1980s. Great album of intense somewhat punky thrash with a lot f cool rock influenes. Their crushing track "Scottish hell" was covered by Entombed at some point. Also a newer progressive weird metal band caleld Leeches of Lore -- seemed to have some country touches as well as bits that could hae come out of spaghetti western scoe, complete with horns and everything. Cool stuff but with real weird vocals.

[@reljandino]

Not really related, but some FIR fan told me that i have an adolescent brain cuz i said that all my life is terrible.

[@themetalmeltdownofficial]

Most sane comment from a FIR fan straight up

[@reljandino]

@@themetalmeltdownofficialthe fact that FIR fans claim that they invented anything tells me that they only listen to FIR and nothing else

[@reljandino]

@@themetalmeltdownofficial the fact that FIR fans think they invented anything tells me they only listen to FIR

[@reljandino]

@@themetalmeltdownofficialthe fact that people think FIR invented anything tells they only listen to FIR

[@DylanTheCDAndVinylCollector]

I got no shame to say this but I do enjoy some Nickelback’s music such as Far Away, If Everyone Cared, Burn It To The Ground, Side Of A Bullet, Edge Of A Revolution and some others.

[@themetalmeltdownofficial]

They have quite a few bangers and bops. I remember hearing Nickelback's "Learn The Hard Way" in the Daredevil movie back in the day, loved that shit lmao

[@Skycladatdusk78]

I think credit has to be given to the harder edge southern rock bands like Blackfoot and Molly Hatchet for first bringing these styles together.

[@peeholio3260]

Cody Parks is pretty bad ass for country/metal

[@MetalThrashingMan13]

I'm not a Nickelback fan but if I had to pick between them and Radke, who wants to go see Nickelback live? 😂

[@themetalmeltdownofficial]

🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️

[@MetalThrashingMan13]

@@themetalmeltdownofficial Hell yeah 😂🤘 Also because of you I now love Nashville Pussy 🤣

[@rockmovieswithtyler1989]

Already did and it was the show in STL that Chad almost ended the show because his vocals were fucked right in the middle of playing Animals

[@phrjcf]

Panopticon is the only i really like, Austin is a great artist

[@PapaMetal47]

I respectfully disagree about Panopticon. Panopticon is black metal with elements of folk and blue grass woven into his songs, but it is not a fusion of the two genres. That would be like saying White Ward is jazz metal because they include saxophone. I completely agree with all of the other bands you mentioned(I was able to sample each band you mentioned), but I've gotta give some push back on Panopticon. And I welcome comments disputing my claim.

[@kevintrjohnson]

This topic is right up my alley, though I have to admit I'm more familiar with cowpunk and southern hard rock than countrified metal. Heavy metal, especially extreme metal, kind of feels antithetical to country ethos, but here goes. Primus. They're not consistently country, but Wynona's Big Brown Beaver, Those Damned Blue Collar Tweakers, and the South Park theme song (especially the latter seasons upgrade) are solidly in the country/groove metal camp. Left Lane Cruiser--a bit more punk/hard rock, but they cross over into metal just enough for me to list them (just listen to Claw Machine Wizard). ASG--the trailer trash stoner metal band. Fucker's wearing a Waylon Jennings wifebeater shirt and a trucker hat in the video for Lightning Song from Survive Sunrise. Might as well toss in Baroness and Corrosion of Conformity here, though I can't think of a specific example of country/bluegrass off the top of my head, but I'm sure it's there somewhere. Drivin' N Cryin'--originally something of a cowpunk band (Scarred but Smarter) that morphed into a more arena rock/hard rock/hair metal(?) sound with Fly Me Courageous. Honestly, Danzig, both in his own band and the Misfits. He always had a kind of rockabilly vocal style, like an evil Elvis. Meat Puppets--again, more on the cowpunk/noise rock side, but there is absolutely a country tinge to their music. Nazareth--hard rock/proto hair metal band from Scotland. Outside of Hair of the Dog (Now you're messin with a son of a bitch), they were best known best for their amazing, turned-up-to-11 covers of everyone from Joni Mitchell (This Flight Tonight) to Nils Lofgrin's Grin (Beggar's Day) to Leon Russell (Alcatraz) to the Everly Brothers (Love Hurts) to Bob Dylan (Ballad of Hollis Brown--a fuzzed out epic). Their cover of Woody Guthrie's Vigilante Man deserves special mention, as it starts out as a straight country cover and just builds and builds until it is just fucking enormous. Tempted to list folk metal bands like Cruachan and Klabautamann, but they're European folk. Birds of Prey--featuring members of other southern metal bands Baroness, Alabama Thunderpussy, The Last Van Zant, Beaten Back to Pure, and Municipal Waste. Hank Williams III--he has several side projects, including death metal/thrash/metalcore (tell me when I start getting redundant) outfit AssJack and, briefly, two of Anselmo's side projects, Superjoint Ritual (I'm not sure if he was in it before or after it was shortened to Superjoint) and Arson Anthem. Superjoint--I'm not a fan of who Phil Anselmo has become, and his whining about PC culture and SJWs on the most recent Superjoint album really soured the enjoyment of the album (the ultimate irony, fighting SJWs makes you an SJW, just for the conservative status quo nonsense), but I can't deny, they weren't a half bad band when they started. Chat Pile. They call themselves noise rock, not metal, but I think they qualify. Even their name is a reference to the mining operations in northeastern Oklahoma (Picher and Miami especially, as well as some of the towns in SE Kansas, are surrounded by these lead-contaminated rock piles). Speaking of Oklahoma bands, Helen Kelter Skelter. (I'm going to name drop Blattaria while I'm at it, though they don't fit the list, as they are a discordant black metal band (solo artist?), also from Oklahoma, that almost exclusively releases their albums on cassette (I think there's one they released on CD, and most of their output is available for digital purchase on Bandcamp super cheap (name your price). No, I don't work for them or bandcamp). Today is the Day. On the album Temple of the Morning Star, they even sample a Waylon Jennings/Willie Nelson song. Electro-acoustic band Horseback. They're metal enough to be on Relapse Records Black Tusk, Red Fang

[@kevintrjohnson]

Fun fact that i forgot about, but one of the first uses of distorted guitar was in the old Marty Robbins single Don't Worry from, I think, 1961. It was supposedly accidental (some sort of short, if I remember correctly), but they liked it and kept in.

[@Indoctrinated_Lethargy]

My pick would be Assjack, the rockabilly/psychobilly project of Hank Williams III. Well done, fun, aggressive, and with this intense country twinge. Unfortunately, it was just a one off thing. Still very good.

[@themetalmeltdownofficial]

Never heard of it but it sounds cool as hell, might check that out.

[@Indoctrinated_Lethargy]

It is cool as hell, I would absolutely recommend it!

[@JustAnotherHeavyMetalManiac]

Hank the III also played bass in Superjoint Ritual for a bit.

[@Indoctrinated_Lethargy]

@@JustAnotherHeavyMetalManiac I did not realize that!

[@JustAnotherHeavyMetalManiac]

@@Indoctrinated_Lethargy Yep, he also was the drummer for Arson Anthem with Phil Anselmo and Mike from Eyehategod.

[@DinoSoGreat5000]

what Ronnie Radke innovated is more ways to annoy the masses with his never-ending idiocy...that said...Although I am not a country is not my thing and I don't relate to it, I appreciated the fact that you took the time to go find country influenced metal. Gotta love the Metal Meltdown...Oh yes...I will gladly take Nergal over that clown show Ronnie Radke and that fathead Jelly Roll any time of the week

[@talesxavier5752]

For some reason, I think a lot of Sludge bands are heavily influenced by country. Also I think you would put Corrosion of Conformity here, at least the 90s era.

[@themetalmeltdownofficial]

Tbh I think the swampy 'southern' feel and sound is just a natural byproduct of the most iconic sludge metal bands being primarily from the American south (especially Louisiana). They might be genuinely influenced by country music but if so I don't think its really reflected in the sound.

[@JustAnotherHeavyMetalManiac]

A lot of Southern sludge bands were influenced by Southern rock bands like Skynyrd and Blackfoot, who were themselves influenced by country music, so makes sense.

[@FortniteEmoter981]

Anti Metal is your answer!

[@FiveFootFailure]

I enjoyed the new Falling In Reverse song, but it's definetely corny asf (like the rest of their discog.) Also, how have the FIR fanboys never heard of Rockstar by Dolly Parton? It's a great album!

[@themetalmeltdownofficial]

FIR fans havent heard of anything that isnt FIR

[@adecentmeal]

Corrosion of Conformity?

[@themetalmeltdownofficial]

Nahh, I dont hear much country influence at all there

[@TheKatzenjammer]

Primus? Thoughts?

[@themetalmeltdownofficial]

Not really country or metal. Primus just kinda be doin shit anyways.

[@Gojira-r1l]

Volbeat 🤘🏻 🤘🏻 🤘🏻

[@dlwseattle]

Love me some Nickelback!

[@blakegunnels9205]

COUNTRY METAL 🪕🎻🎵🎶

[@Cyclist-o6e]

Why would anybody want to take credit for this? If Ronnie Radke wants credit as the creator of "Country Metal", let him have it. "Country Metal" is a terrible idea. I remember hearing Rebel Meets Rebel many years ago and it was awful. After watching your video, unfortunately I became curious and watched 'All My Life' by Falling in Reverse. First and foremost, it's a radio-friendly Pop Song, not much different from the stuff Pop Punk bands like Sum 41 were releasing 20 years ago. If you enjoy this music, you're a Pop fan. Yes, it is Country-tinged and it has some heavy guitar interludes, but it isn't really a Metal song. Also, I've heard an Ice Nine Kills Song now. So thanks for that *he said sarcastically*

[@pusrot3942]

Nonsense !! Miss me with that bollocks !!

[@leeasson]

I predicted you would list Panopticon, and I don't disagree. I would describe his sound as more folksy rather than county (at least the newer albums)