I thought this might be a fun idea to throw around on here. Basically a thread dedicated to compiling as many instances of when metal bands do the unthinkable; rap.
The track that got me started on this cringe-worthy idea was that new Alestorm album, they did a cover of that damn hangover song which includes a small, sporadic rap segment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtSVi50UDbk

Personal all-time favorite has gotta be this Six Feet Under song where Ice T just shows up and shouts death threats at the unsuspecting listener for like a minute - I know I've brought this song up more than once, but it bears a listen to if you've never heard it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOEow23ntWo

Probably the only band that's experimented with rap and it hasn't come out as awkward and goofy as the above mentioned is Benighted's song grind wit off Icon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44nmr3YhDu4

The only time I could ever stomach any rap in metal is when Iommi got Iced T to rap on Illusion of Power.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifwvsYKuYRw

First post....

I primarily listen to Folk/Pagan Metal, but I do also like a couple of Mallcore bands (sorry). I honestly don't think rapping is that far off stylistically from screaming. Rapping's just another way of delivering lyrics without having a vocal melody. Both rapping and screaming sound silly if not justified by the accompanying instrumental parts. I think it's harder to justify rapping in a metal context, but I do think it's possible and can sometimes be successful.

I recall listening to a Rush album that had (subdued) rapping in it and it was half tolerable, half "are you kidding me?". The song itself I remember being pretty good.

-> Ah, "Roll the Bones" after the solo
http://youtu.be/8tNLvNOu9Mw?t=3m10s

"kick some gluteus max"

That Edguy song jumped to mind when I read this. I don't discount metal because its got rap vocals, I hated rap metal just because it was littered with boring music and lame songs.

On MA if you have rap vocals you are immediately banned correct? Seems a very strange approach, or is it just because there are no rapping bands actually playing metal?

Aside from the edguy one and the obligatory Anthrax track, it seems like there's really no segue into the rapping parts, just an abrupt smattering of dialogue that cuts back to the rest of the song. It's so awkward but I love the idea behind it, "lets alienate some of our audience for like 45 seconds on this one weird track".
I can't help but imagine what kind of train wreck a Viking band would sound like with 30 seconds of a Scandinavian rapper in a Mithotyn song.

It's not one of their standout tracks but Fear Factory worked with B Real from Cypress Hill on their song "Back the Fuck Up". Obviously has some tough guy/street lyrics but that was the whole point. It's a little cheesy but IMO isn't that bad, I still listen to it when I put on Digimortal so there's that.

The worst one that comes to mind isn't metal, but what the fuck was Axl Rose thinking on My World? It was done without the knowledge of the band. Apparently none of them were even aware of it until Use Your Illusion II was released.

Guys, you have to check this. Nice British boys rapping in a metal context, in 1986!

Just to clarify an answer to this; apologies if it is off-topic. We are concerned with whether the music has metal riffs. So long as it has that, then the rest is inconsequential. The only bands we "blacklist" are those that lack a predominance in metal riffs in at least one of their albums. So, theoretically, it's possible for a band to have rapping vocals and metal riffs, as Abom has pointed out above this post.

http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Lone_Rager/79461

What’s that loud, brash noise I hear
That leaves a ringing in my ear
Makes plaster fall and foundations resettle
Oh my god! It’s Heavy Metal!

You can’t go dancin’ to its beat
You may be tripping over your own feet
But chill out brothers, don’t get temperamental
There’s just no stoppin’ Heavy Metal!

Metal Music! Wait before you call it trash
Metal Music! Even though you’re close, some call it thrash
Metal Music! Makes you want to bang your head
And here come the Majors to sign all the Ragers

It started with a band called Cream
To play like Clapton was a dream
Then Iron Butterfly and MC5
Without airplay to stay alive

Of course, Blue Cheer had the “Summer Time Blues”
They came on fast and then were news
It seemed we’ve lost to never win
And then there came Led Zeppelin

Metal Music! Spurned by every noble scholar
Metal Music! Mass appeal amongst blue collar
Metal Music! Makes you want to bang your head
And here come the Majors to sign all the Ragers

Of course Jimi Hendrix cried out to the sun
And with Mountain climbing the onslaught begun
Ozzy and Sabbath filled up the void
Blackmore’s Purple and Rainbow just simply destroyed

It just kept a-comin’, no more hit or miss
From the wilds of New York came the monsters called KISS (Hey!)
Just reminiscing got me sentimental
You know we’re rappin’ Heavy Metal

Metal Music! Hardly played on radio
Metal Music! Is it too fast or are you too slow?
Metal Music! Don’t worry, you won’t hurt your neck
If you banged your head every once in a while
You wouldn’t be a nervous wreck

It quieted down then once again
It was New Wave and Disco, not Marshalls on ten
The music industry’s forgotten stepchild
All that leather and spikes they found it too wild

Metal just disappeared from all airwaves
Those demonic album covers with crosses and graves
But they couldn’t stop Metal , they couldn’t kill the Beast
On came the onslaught of Scorpions and Priest

And yesterday’s giants grow bigger than ever
Sold millions of records as producers got clever
Getting even heavier!
Yeah! It’s Heavy Metal!

Metal Music! Spreading fast throughout the land
Metal Music! On every block of Europe was a metal band
Metal Music! Makes you want to bang your head
For women and men who need it at ten

From England came Motörhead, Maiden and Angelwitch
From the U.S. Metallica, Quiet Riot, Ratt and Bitch
Anthrax, Great White, Dokken and Slayer
Everyone heavy, each musician a player

Manowar, Wild Dogs, Rods, Mötley Crüe
It seems each day there’s somebody new
From Europe Accept, Bodine, Bullet and Trance
And Warning, H-Bomb and Trust from France

Venom and Fate with metallic madness
The Japanese Bow-Wow, X-Ray and Loudness
And just when you thought it all reached a standstill
Came the Canadian onslaught with Exciter and Anvil

You want more, want your head to cave in?
I dare you to last one night with Raven

Metal Music! Snubbed by every noble scholar
Metal Music! Mass appeal amongst blue collar
Metal Music! Makes you want to bang your head
And here come the Majors to sign all the Ragers

Just one thing guy, what rhymes with Maiden?
...Super-Heavy Molten Laden!
And Metallica? ...Spectacula!
...That’s Heavy!
...I’m rappin’ Heavy Metal!

I generally dislike rap in metal with a few exceptions: "I am the Man" was one of the originators and it was kinda funny because it was done tongue and cheek style, not really meant to be serious. Public Enemy has collaborated with Anthrax and Slayer (well, they sampled Slayer, don't know if it really counts as "collaborating with" and in both cases, it kinda worked for me- and Body Count was pretty hit or miss- entertaining, but more in a rap way than a classic metal kinda way if you get my drift. Other than that, not really a big fan of rap in metal. Too much of a "Pickles and Ice Cream" kinda thing for me.

Those Metal RAPsody lyrics are actually pretty dope. Love the namedropping of classic and vintage bands alongside undergrounders like Exciter and Raven and irrelevancies like Europe and Great White.

Don't forget about this gem...

Disregarding the obvious obnoxious vocal talents of Ja Rule, the song itself keeps starting and stopping like those first-attempts at anti-piracy songs littered on Napster shortly before it's demise.

Mordred - In This Life

My neighbor listens to a large amount of deathcore and he played me Veil of Maya before. If I'm not mistaken they have at least one full on rap song stuck smack in the middle of one of their albums. No clue as to what the song is or even what album it was on though.

Pain of Salvation has a fair number of songs that incorporate rap in their discography. Some of them are pretty nifty (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDBhHhBujx4) and some of them are, well, not (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z19oKBBZMw).

There are indeed two relevant Anthrax tracks; I'm the Man and Bring Da Noize (not sure if I'm spelling correctly - too lazy to check), a cover of Public Enemy done with Public Enemy (someone else mentions them on this thread).

In the early to mid 90s, rap / metal was considered to be a viable genre. It was in this post-hair metal wake / grunge arising when being eclectic and close to hardcore did no one no wrong; cross-over with punk, hardcore and rap was considered to be creative and intelligent (not to mention: "industrial"). At least that's how I saw it as a college student (stop me if I start to sound like Sam Dunn). Fortuunately it didn't last; but one major output was the Judgment Night soundtrack, as forgettable as the film, which saw the Ice-T / Slayer cooperation (covering The Exploited;thus combining punk and rap with metal). There were grunge / rap collaborations as well (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judgment_ ... soundtrack)). Not much later, 1994, Nativity in Black tribute gave BioHazard the chance to do some Sabbath somewhat rap style. In 1995 Iommi thought having Ice-T do some spoken word (not rap) on Forbidden as someone else mentioned, it didn't sound like rap but the idea was to get the idea of eclecticness there and perhaps get a few new fans in buying the album ; it totally bombed.

From what I remember, Body Count themselves did not sound like rap either, but I could be wrong. Suicidal Tendencies did have some elements that are probably influenced from rap.

Haven't seen this gem mentioned. Then again, I really like Faith No More.

http://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Fa ... ered/11783

Edit: This is also from the Judgment Night soundtrack.

That random ass "BREEEE" at 1:42... :lol"
That part made sitting through most of the rap section entertaining.

You guys do know that that Edguy track is a cover of an 80s synthpop classic, right?

Most will disagree, but I really like the few times Zetro rapped in Exodus, in Fuel for the Fire and Forward March. I know the "I've got some news for you motherfucker" etc in the latter is usually lampooned as quintessential "tough guy" pandering, but the delivery works for me.

When about rappin' Glen Benton?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYDpKIx164w at about 1:30.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bH7ZZjBaa-Q at the beginning.

Not quite full blown rapping, but pretty amusing all the same.

Obituary did a rap song once which I actually love. Pain of Salvation's rap aren't awful but they are not that good either. Deadlock also made a rap song and Godflesh has hip-hop influenced vocals as well

Dying Fetus has plenty of rap-like vocal rhythms, and it's always even more obvious when Talley or Williams throw in hip-hop grooves beneath. Gallagher does love rap, but given that Fetus is essentially just a mishmash of everything that he likes, it works perfectly.

Agree about Dying Fetus.

I think my picks are gonna be the most obvious, but on Machine Head's Burn My Eyes there is some oldschool hip-hop influence in the vocals, like in the verses of Old and Thousand Lies. A similar approach but with a more modern rap influence can be found in Slipknot's debut, in the song Spit It Out.

I realise these are far from obscure but hey, since no one had mentioned them.

From 2:30 onwards.

F for Fist
F for France
F for Famine
A nutjob rooster who'll fuck you and BANG!
I'll punch a hole in your whole family,
With my dick, with a pick, with a carbine,
And on amphetamines.
At the same time as I ransack your cities,
Ruin your daughters
I'll harass
All the bohos
All the bonobos
All the hoodies from the ghettos.

I think Famine has spoken about releasing a rap album a few times, too.

I honestly never thought I'd hear black metal that took on rapping like that and actually made it really fucking good (again with France and really credible rap). I've been listening to Peste Noire a lot lately and the experimental parts are really growing on me, that wasn't as big of an abrupt transition as most other acts that try to incorporate stuff like that into their music.
Also, what about when rap metals? Not sure how many on here are into stuff like Ill Bill, Vinnie Paz or Army of the Pharaohs but there are some instances of rappers that either directly incorporate metal artists or take a lot of inspiration from metal in general, i.e. Ill Bill's track Paul Baloff which was sorta like a tribute to the former Exodus vocalist

Hahah I should have known you would beat me to this!

This is the only instance of rapping in a metal song I've ever enjoyed. I don't know what it is, maybe because the band is silly as a fuck to begin with. This is a classic album to me and it breaks my heart that you don't hear more about it. Anytime I describe it to anyone it's thusly: Rocky Horror Meets Mercyful Fate.

Martin Walkyier has a cool rap on Skyclad's "Prince of the Poverty Line".

Land of the Rising Slum

Show me a politician who's a man we can trust
And if I ever meet him then I think I'll have him stuffed
Look out of the window - see not one happy face
The only splash of colour's the graffiti 'round the place.

It's hard to even crawl
With your back up against the wall.
I find it hard to sleep at night
I feel that the worst is yet to come
Social helter-skelter
Ride the downward spiral has begun.
Are some people just born bad
Or is it how we all become?
Human termites driven mad
In the concrete mound of the rising slum.

The people who are dark fear the people who are fair
And hippies live in terror of the guys who have no hair
The saddest thing of all - what I really find grim
Is we haven't yet noticed what a mess we're all in.

It's hard to even crawl
Now your back's up against the wall.
I find it hard to sleep at night
I feel that the worst is yet to come
Social helter-skelter
Ride the downward spiral has begun.
Are some people just born bad
Or is it how we all become?
Human termites driven mad
In the concrete mound of the rising slum.

The "whether man" says that the outlook's not great
A few outbreaks of murder with some isolated rape
I ask my doctor his advice, this is what he says,
"Get yourself some cancer boy, before you die of aids."

It's hard to even crawl
With your back up against the wall.
I find it hard to sleep at night
I feel that the worst is yet to come
Social helter-skelter
Ride the downward spiral has begun.
Are some people just born bad
Or is it how we all become?
Human termites driven mad
In the concrete mound of the rising slum.

Thought I'd post the lyrics rather than a youtube link because they're awesome, much like the rest of Martin's lyrics.

I was listening to them the other day while reading this thread and thought that sounded kinda rappy. Thinking about it his vocal style, at least in the early days, often ends up as a kind of rap anyhow, tending more naturally to a generally monotone and aggressive barrage of his dense lyricism, like A Belly Full of Emptiness, A Near Life Experience, and such. Skyclad for coolest rap metal band??

No one's mentioned Disharmonic Orchestra yet? Really out of place on the album if you ask me.

Skyclad would have my vote for sure. Haha. You're absolutely right about his dense lyricism. Sooo many words to cram into those songs. I suppose you could even hear something similar to rapping in the Sabbat days. Don't get me wrong, I don't actually consider it rapping. I do consider it awesome, however.

And yes, how could I have forgotten Disharmonic Orchestra. "The Return of the Living Beat". Haha. That entire album is great. Herwig Zamernik was a huge influence on my bass playing back then.

HOly shit that six feet under song is so funny.

i know this probably isn't exactly what the OP had in mind, but whenever i think of Rap and metal i think of the Judgement Night soundtrack. IN particular the track of Onyx/biohazard. Not really metal per say, but i used to think it was pretty badass..especially since Onyx's vocals kinda have a harsh sound to them and fit well with guitars



also, Necro and Ill Bill (who are fairly well known rappers)started their musical careers as a thrash band...Injustice

Necro's current albums feature some big names too...Mike Smith, Steve Digiorgio, etc....

That album cover has gotta be one of the goofiest things I've ever seen. It looks like the grand wizard has an impressive collection of Oxford English dictionaries.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDjeFRdmRak&t=1m10s

Great Manes song, though this rap section feels way out of place.

Oh yeah, how about some NWOBHM? Okay it's only kind of a sort-of rap, but still. I can also hear a lot of future Metallica in this, at least some of Hetfield's vocal style.

I always liked the cover of "Disorder" that Ice T / Slayer did. I guess it helps that Ice T doesn't really "rap" in it and really just yells out the lyrics.