10 Heaviest Metallica Songs

With Ride the Lightning being filled to the brim with heavy metal classics, "Trapped Under Ice" seems to fall by the wayside when talking about the best Metallica has to offer. After going back to this record, this cut in the back half is one of the eeriest headtrips the band has ever concocted.

While many mid-tier Metallica tracks juxtapose heavy verses and more drawn-out choruses, this song never lets up, with a tempo that keeps the listener on the edge of their seat. What may be even more brutal than the riffs themselves are the lyrics, detailing the nightmarish scenario of a man waking up from a cryogenic sleep with no one around to save him.

The riffs throughout are syncopated perfectly, with James Hetfield almost performing the equivalent of a metal drum part on the guitar. Kirk Hammett's leads on this cut shuffle between tasteful metal runs and full-blown chaotic barrages of notes that leave the listener delirious.

Rather than leave the listener on a traditional thrash gallop to the end, Hetfield and co. continue to blast away with an enhanced sense of urgency, almost as if they are trying to manually break the ice through the power of their music. The song may be a lowlight, but the raw muscle behind this song cannot be ignored.