10 Best Acoustic Metal Songs

Metal music is not a genre that tends to downplay a lot of things. From the first time bands like Black Sabbath and Judas Priest roared onto the scene, the dynamic range of most metalheads was set firmly to KILL without a tinge of remorse for the listener.

At the same time, even some of the best riff masters figured out that the pure shock value of metal does get diminishing returns every once and a while.

After slogging it out playing the same type of head-splitting riff for years on end, most acts start to see what other types of music are out there. It could be in electronica or jazz or even pop, but sometimes it's best just to pick up an acoustic and see where it takes you. As opposed to making a song designed to scare you to death, these tracks make you settle into their dark groove in a far more understated way.

While some may use the acoustic as the foundation for the dark tune, others may use it as an added extension to provide a sharp contrast from the bludgeoning you'll receive in the rest of the track. Even if it's only for a few seconds, stripping down these songs to their most bare form made them cross over from good to great.

Losing a member of a band is like losing a family member. After years of slogging it on the road, in the studio, or just hanging out, how are you supposed to move on once an integral piece of the puzzle isn't there anymore? Though times looked dark for Avenged Sevenfold after losing the Rev in the early 2010's, So Far Away showed them channeling all of their turmoil into the music.

When compiling the tracks for their next album Nightmare, the Rev had already laid down a lot of the songs before his untimely death. Left with half an album to finish, the group came together with an acoustic song in So Far Away, which felt like they were trying to contact their lost brother from the other side of reality.

While the song was originally written by Synyster Gates as an ode to his deceased grandfather, lines about time turning a page and not being able to speak to your loved ones has the Rev's aura all over it.

As the band took the road, they dedicated every performance of this song to the Rev's memory, becoming one of the true power ballads the band has in their catalog. It's said that time heals all wounds, and with songs like So Far Away around for catharsis, metalheads will have a great song for when they have to deal with friends venturing into the great beyond.