Rocktober '80s Song #18: "666" by Anvil (1982)

Well folks, we've reached the ultimate week of Rocktober, which means we are almost to All Hallows Eve.  Of course, that also means that the five Rocktober songs this week will not be for the faint of heart.  They will be ghoulish, ghastly, devilishly demonic, macabre songs about things like, oh, I don't know, Satan.

We're starting it out with Canadian metal band Anvil who rose to popularity in the early '80s and were extremely influential on the speed metal and power metal that followed (as well as on less "heavy" genres) -- a formidable bridge between the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Saxon, etc.) and the next generation of speed and thrash (Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, Slayer, etc.). For one reason or another, Anvil didn't achieve the success that so many of the groups they influenced did, and they kind of fell into obscurity until the fantastic 2009 documentary Anvil: The Story of Anvil.  If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it, whether you're into metal or not.  It's achingly hilarious, and shows a band of relatively normal dudes who never gave up on their dream. 

Metal on Metal, the band's second album, is generally considered a pioneer in the speed and thrash metal genres. Some of it may sound slightly dated now, but you have to realize that, in 1982, this was some pretty heavy shit. The drumming of Robb Reiner and the guitar work of Lips Kudlow are particularly good throughout the album. You can see how they influenced younger bands, particularly Reiner, who was one of the first drummers to use a double bass drum. No one was really drumming like him until that point.

"666" is the closing track on the album, and it finishes the album with a bang.  The songs starts with a flash of cymbals, before breaking into a crushing flurry of metal goodness, all about the number of the beast.  Lips has an awesome guitar solo in the middle of the song.  All in all, it's a great early '80s metal song.  And for you horror movie fans out there, the song was also featured in the 2017 remake of Stephen King's It.