Heavy Metal Tunes About Classic Games

The worlds of online gaming and music have always been intertwined ever since Nine Inch Nails wrote the score for the arcade classic that started a gaming revolution, Quake.

It is now entirely normal for metal tracks to appear on the soundtracks of some of the world’s most popular online games, whether they are racing titles or full-blown open world adventures.

However, long before online gaming was even a thing, the very founders of the heavy metal genre were getting to grips with classic card games like Solitaire, board games, and table games, many of which have since made a seamless transition to online websites and app stores.

Here are some of the well-known heavy metal tunes whose lyrics tell the tale of playing classic games, be they offline or online in nature.

Chess is a game that tends to only receive passing mention in heavy metal tunes, but there are some rare exceptions out there, from bands clearly beguiled by the ancient board game

Lyrics with Chess References

Chess is one of the oldest board games in the world, popular for its seemingly endless number of possibilities, making it a game that is easy enough to pick up, but incredibly hard to master. Of course, the game is something of a slow burner, although there are new iterations such as Blitz Chess, which speed the game up so it is more to the taste of heavy metal artists and fans.

There are lots of instances of pawns, queens, and kings being mentioned in metal lyrics, but one of the most direct mentions of the game of chess itself comes in Will Of The Cobra by Majesty: “Looked at his game of chess. Sent a blast, destroyed the Earth.” Now that sounds like one hell of a reaction to having your opponent call “check mate” on you.

Lyrics with Table Game References

One variety of classic game that always gets a lot of play on the heavy metal airwaves is that of the table game, which can range from cards games like blackjack all the way through to others like roulette and dominoes. Motörhead perhaps wrote one of the most iconic songs about the former in the shape of the Ace of Spades track. Songs about roulette are slightly tougher to seek out, especially because mention of the game tends to be hidden within the choruses and verses of some well-known tracks. That is the case with Train of Consequences by Megadeth, who refer to setting “the ball a-rolling” as well as mentioning other table games along the way. What’s clear to see from these lyrics is that heavy metal rockers of both past and present have always been likely to engage with such classic games, which they perhaps encountered at land-based venues while on tour, but which can now be played at sites such as PokerStars Casino and Online Domino Games. For a good metal song all about dominoes, Sinheresy’s track Domino is a good one to check out.

There’s no doubt that plenty of heavy metal band tour buses have been abuzz with impassioned games of dominoes over the years

Lyrics with Gaming Soundtracks in Mind

Right at the outset, there was mention made of Nine Inch Nails’ involvement with the soundtrack for Quake and now the synergies between heavy metal bands and games developers have gone a step further. This is perhaps most evident in a game called Brütal Legend, which is a title completely dedicated to the heavy metal music genre.

Jack Black, who has some rock and metal credentials of his own, was brought in as the voice for the game’s protagonist avatar, and other legends of metal make appearances throughout the game as well, both with their music and their voiceovers.

Just some of them include Lemmy, Ozzy, and Rob Halford. While it is a bit a stretch to call a game made in 2009 a classic, there’s no doubting its classic status among those heavy metal fans who love a bit of online gaming in between going to gigs.