Author: Metal Untold
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THE VOICE THAT OUTLIVED THE MAN
In “Defender,” Orson Welles plays an absent father whose words remain for his son. Years later, fiction and reality would collide in a way no one could have planned.
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Mötley Crüe: One Word Changed the Devil
Before Shout at the Devil, there was another title: Shout With the Devil. One small change completely altered what one of Mötley Crüe’s most provocative titles could mean.
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Running Wild: The Accident That Gave Heavy Metal Its Pirates
Running Wild’s pirate identity was not born in a marketing meeting. According to Rock ’n’ Rolf, it began with a riff, a Pirates trailer on television and the song “Under Jolly Roger.”
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THE BAND FILE: PARADISE LOST
From the bleak beginnings of British death/doom to gothic metal and beyond — the story of how Paradise Lost evolved without standing still.
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PEACE SELLS: THE BASS RIFF THAT BECAME TV NEWS
How Megadeth’s iconic “Peace Sells” bass line escaped thrash metal and became part of MTV News — reaching millions beyond the band’s audience.
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BLACK SABBATH: THREE NOTES THAT CHANGED HEAVY METAL
Three notes. A midnight apparition. And a sound that would become inseparable from heavy metal. In 1970, Black Sabbath opened their debut album with a song unlike almost anything that had come before it. But the story behind “Black Sabbath” is even darker — and one of metal’s most famous legends isn’t quite what it…
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Painkiller: The Drum Intro That Announced a New Era
One drum intro. No guitars. No vocals. In 1990, Judas Priest opened Painkiller with a statement that sounded like a machine coming to life. The man behind it was Scott Travis — the band’s new drummer — and the intro was born far more organically than its precision suggests. A NEW DRUMMER. Scott Travis joined…
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Holy Wars: A Song Born From a Divided Land
On May 11, 1988, Megadeth took the stage at the Antrim Forum in Northern Ireland, during one of the most volatile periods of the Troubles. Before the show, Dave Mustaine encountered someone selling bootleg Megadeth shirts. When he asked where the money was going, he was told it supported “the Cause.” Mustaine later explained that…
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Ace of Spades: The Riff That Almost Didn’t Exist
The story behind the Motörhead classic — and how one of rock’s most recognizable riffs wasn’t even there when the song began.
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The Trooper: The Charge Behind Iron Maiden’s Classic
In 1983, Iron Maiden turned one of the most infamous military disasters of the Crimean War into one of heavy metal’s most enduring songs. The Trooper throws the listener into the chaos of a cavalry charge — not from the perspective of a general watching from safety, but from that of a soldier riding directly…