Aces High(er): Pop/indie/dreampop/ethereal covers of metal songs

November 29, 2016 4:34 PM

I've been listening to metal for nearly 20 years and lately I've gotten really into ethereal, dreamy, possibly sad or wistful covers of classic metal songs done by female singers. The Cardigans' covers of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Iron Man are getting close to what I want, but the instrumentation is not as sparse as I'd like. The original songs that scratch this itch probably stretch from Sabbath territory over to Iron Maiden, and less often into other metal subgenres. Please hit me with your best recommendations!
posted by Inspector.Gadget to Media & Arts (14 answers total)

Lemme introduce you to Hellsongs.

Paranoid
The Evil That Men Do
Run To The Hills
Orgasmatron (my personal fave, although there are also male vocals)
posted by Sternmeyer at 4:53 PM on November 29, 2016 [5 favorites]

This is not answering your question, but for covers of bitter ironic English 80's post-punk & new wave, the band Nouvelle Vague has lots of dreamy vocals and lilting beats. Maybe there's some songs that you'd like.

And there's always the classic Steve & Eydie cover of Black Hole Sun!

More swing/lounge than ethereal, and not very sparse, is Pat Boone's In A Metal Mood, which is lots of fun to play at the sort of parties that I would go to.
posted by ovvl at 6:30 PM on November 29, 2016

Do you know about Scala & Kolacny Brothers?
posted by procrastination at 8:07 PM on November 29, 2016

Seconding Hellsongs. I like their version of Seasons in the Abyss.

And not exactly a classic metal song, but The Flowers of Hell have a nice dreamy covers album called Odes that has a nice version of Atmosphere.
posted by Candleman at 8:11 PM on November 29, 2016

Harptallica is exactly what you'd expect it to be.

I also really like Pajo's covers of Misfits songs though they are more quiet and subdued, not so much pop-y.
posted by bobobox at 8:16 PM on November 29, 2016

In willful disregard of the Ask but hopefully entertaining, here's the opposite of what you asked for - slowcore in the style of the Misfits.
posted by Candleman at 10:48 PM on November 29, 2016

Tori Amos does plenty of covers, including Slayer.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 7:17 AM on November 30, 2016 [1 favorite]

Chelsea Wolfe did a cover of Burzum's Black Spell of Destruction that might still be a little heavier than what you're looking for, but is a nice ambient reimagining of the song. She also did a really excellent ethereal cover of Nick Cave's Let Love In, but that's not really a metal song.
posted by helloimjennsco at 8:44 AM on November 30, 2016

It's not metal, but I really liked this Haley Reinhart cover of Black Hole Sun. The Postmodern Jukebox YouTube channel has a ton of classic covers of modern songs.
posted by cnc at 11:52 AM on November 30, 2016

Katy Goodman & Greta Morgan's "Take It, It's Yours" album is all covers of classic punk - not quite metal, but it has Misfits, Stooges, Bad Brains etc.
posted by Gortuk at 12:57 PM on November 30, 2016

Susanna and the Magical Orchestra's cover of AC/DC: It's a Long Way to the Top (if you wanna rock'n'roll) would seem to fit your bill perfectly.
posted by UbuRoivas at 6:17 PM on November 30, 2016

Probably too straight a cover for you (though there's some good twang in the solo) but here's Nero Case covering Number of the Beast.
posted by Special Agent Dale Cooper at 6:21 PM on November 30, 2016

I quite like this one: SHEL - Enter Sandman
posted by ceithern at 6:38 AM on December 1, 2016

I love Ryan Adams's cover of Maiden's "Wasted Years."
posted by mikeg at 1:35 PM on December 2, 2016