10 Best Metal Videos of 2013

From: 'Chemistry of Consciousness'

Toxic Holocaust's video for 'Acid Fuzz' is exactly what you would expect from a song with that title. With a bit of a nod to the animated film 'Heavy Metal,' 'Acid Fuzz' is a colorful journey through tripped out blasphemy. Zombie astronauts soar on jetpacks and blow up Heaven, a fire-breathing dragon makes an appearance, and a cobra eats the devil. We don't really know exactly what's going on here, but it's one fun ride!

From: 'Scion A/V Single'

Welcome to your worst nightmare. High on Fire is a tripped out band, but Matt Pike and co. may have outdone themselves yet again. The video for 'Slave the Hive' depicts a man going into the hospital for surgery. However, this hospital is run by half-human, half-animal creatures who specialize in reversed 'Island of Lost Souls'-like experiments.

From: 'Meir'

Kvelertak's video for 'Braune Brenn' is light-hearted, showcasing kids playing the song rather than the band. At first, they start off just jamming in a a trailer with fake instruments. They leave the trailer, smash their instruments and cardboard amps and discover a warehouse with a full stage setup. They pick up the instruments and start playing for a crowd of kids who show up after the singer finds a taxidermied owl mask.

From: 'One of Us is the Killer'

The music video for 'When I Lost My Bet' matches the spastic nature of the Dillinger Escape Plan wonderfully. This video is not for the squeamish as it is replete with blood, gore, and guts. There's no clear cut story or concept here because nothing with this band is ever taken at face-value. It appears like someone is bloodied and feathered and further into the video someone is sucking on intestines hanging from a body. Whatever the bet was about, we don't want to know.

From: 'Volition'

Protest the Hero released one of the most peculiar videos of the year. 'Underbite' is a song that has stage banter written into it, which makes for a fun video. Cardboard finger puppets of fans and the band play into each other as a fan sees the band taking off their "costumes" and shouts "Imposters!" The fan is crushed and is defeated. He walks the streets full of real people before heading back to the show to reveal the band for who they really are, to the dismay of the crowd.

From: '13'

The sepia-hazed video for Black Sabbath's killer single 'God is Dead?' loosely follows one man who is questioning the things he sees going on in the world. Sabbath have always criticized war, and here they take the famous quote from German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, add a question mark to it, and attach it to war atrocities. Clips of war and politicians flood the video which is peppered with flashes of the band members playing as the question is trying to be resolved.

From: 'Starbound Beast'

Become a psychedelic adventurer with Huntress as they take you on a trip through the cosmos with their video for 'Zenith.' Looking like a heavy metal background projection version of a Hawkwind show, this video has all the classic '70s acid-inflected tools like triple-vision of distorted band members and an astral backing. UFOs and fighter jets become engaged in a battle towards the end, bringing things back closer to earth by the time the song is through.

From: 'Koloss'

In this animated video for 'I Am Colossus,' Meshuggah take the approach of making an animated video that serves as the forefront where the music fits as the soundtrack to a short film. A faceless, cloaked woman is taken through a sequence of ghastly events with a palpable atmosphere. The video itself would be enjoyable as a silent film, but Meshuggah's unique brand of metal helps connect this atmosphere. 'Koloss' was released in 2012, but this video was made in 2013.

From: 'Vexovoid'

Australia's Portal match the visual component of their music perfectly. The members are cloaked in all black, including black hoods as their frontman, The Curator, dons unsettling headwear and gloves. The video for 'Curtain' is the most chilling music video of the year, opening with flickers of a figure dangling from a noose. Marionettes dance in horror as sublime figures wreak havoc and weave their way into viewers' nightmares.

From: 'Infestissumam'

The identity of Papa Emeritus II and the Nameless Ghouls still remain an enigma. The video for 'Year Zero' only furthers the mystery as an elderly man enters a sinister convent. The gentleman sits around the dinner table with the women as they dine on raw meat. Following the meal, the women discard their garments in favor of the robes of the Nameless Ghouls. Ghost continue to reside in a shroud of wonder as they parade their blasphemous and catchy hymns around the globe.