10 Greatest Closing Tracks In Metal

2. Hallowed Be Thy Name - Iron Maiden

The start of epicness in rock music begins with Iron Maiden. Even though acts like Sabbath and Zeppelin had their fair share of grandiose cuts in their catalog, the pure gallop of Maiden's tunes combined with Bruce Dickinson's wail made for some of the most forceful metal music ever conceived. As opposed to the more punchy offerings put forth on Number of the Beast, Hallowed Be Thy Name might be one of the greatest slow burns the metal world has ever seen.

Instead of the typical hard rock riff to start things off, the downtempo tone occupies the first few minutes of this song, as these guys want to get you acclimatized to the horror that you're about to partake in. Once Dickinson comes through with the line about his time running low, the entire track opens up to include one of the most hard-hitting musical pieces that these guys have taken on, as they stake their claim to be put up in the big leagues of metal bands.

Despite Maiden being Steve Harris's baby, the real gut punch of this song comes from guitarist Adrian Smith, who weaves his guitar riffs with his solos to create one of the prettiest tapestries of sound ever to be heard in the metal world. Iron Maiden may be a pretty safe bet for one of the greatest acts of all time, and yet if they have cuts like this sprinkled throughout their catalog, it's pretty hard to argue.