For metal fans, one of the major draws of the genre has always been its affinity for the dark side. Metal has a unique ability to explore the darker impulses of human nature, while also wrenching the listener between giddy euphoria and sinister despair at the drop of a hat.
As such, the metal genre has lent itself well to other cultural tropes, chief among these is the vampire genre.
From Ozzy Osbourne’s affinity for bats to the spate of hit vampire films that are furnished with stellar metal soundtracks, it seems that vampires and metal are a match made in hell. Let’s take a closer look at why metal fans and vampire fans have plenty in common.
Metal songs about vampires
In the annals of music, no genre has paid ode to the fanged undead as much as metal. There are countless iconic metal songs that celebrate vampire tropes or find fitting parallels between the myth of the vampire and the heavy metal archetype of the dark-sided hedonist.
For true metal fans, Cradle of Filth is the ultimate vampire-loving band. This is best exemplified by their unforgettable track Funeral in Carpathia, with tells the tale of Count Dracula commanding his army of the undead to take over the underworld, complete with bat-swarm drumbeats and piercing shrieks.
On a more humorous note, there’s Black Dahlia Murder’s hit track Nocturnal, which tells the tale of a secret vampire society living parallel to our own, plotting ceaselessly to “murder the sun”. For 80s metal excellence, Slayer’s legendary track At Dawn They Sleep is a riotous celebration of the unceasing evil and hedonism of a vampiric cult, one that will have you thrashing about the room in no time.
Vampire movies with metal soundtracks
The crossover between metal and vampires is not only confined to music. In the rich genre of vampire films, you’ll find no shortage of truly epic death metal soundtracks that accompany the on-screen excess. There’s the iconic Aaliyah film Queen of the Damned, which has a metal-tastic soundtrack compiled by none other than Korn’s Jonathan Davis and Richard Gibbs.
There’s the 2000 vampire slasher film Dracula, which saw the debut of Slayer’s chart-topping song Bloodline, as well as contributions from Disturbed, System of a Down, Monster Magnet, and Pantera.
For some lighthearted metal weirdness, the 2015 comedy-horror Deathgasm tells the tale of a metalhead who accidentally summons hordes of vampires and the undead with his guitar, complete with a soundtrack from Skull Fist, Midnight, and Emperor.
Vampire games for metal fans to try
If you’re a metal fan who also has a fond appreciation for vampires, there are also plenty of games for you to try out. There’s Vampire: The Masquerade, where you can play as a powerful vampire lord marauding his way through the land of the living. Then there’s the 2018 game Vampyr, in which you play a freshly-bitten victim who must satisfy his bloodlust on the streets of WW1-era London.
Beyond this, there are also online casino slot games that feature plenty of vampire aesthetics, alongside real cash prizes. There are many examples to choose from, but one of the most popular right now is Blood Suckers.
This 5-reel slot is named as one of the most popular real money games on this guide to PayPal casinos and features plenty of vampiric characters that wouldn’t look out of place in a contemporary metal band. For those who get lucky, a top prize of $45,000 is also up for grabs.
The vampire canon and the heavy metal genre have a lot in common, and we can probably expect plenty more metal songs that feature vampires, as well as plenty of vampire movies with death metal soundtracks.
