The Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide for Metalheads!
Finding gifts for you family and friends every holiday season is stressful, but it doesn’t have to be, especially if they’re a metalhead: just browse our handy-dandy guide to some of the coolest items and best deals available from around the metalsphere and beyond! Apparel, music, instruments, electronics, booze, it’s all here — so take a look and see if anything strikes your fancy.
Slipknot, Slayer, and Ghost Funko Pop! Vinyl Figurines
Metal fans should be no strangers to Funko’s increasingly-popular line of toys; they’ve already done ones for artists like Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, and Rob Zombie. This year they added some more popular metal musicians to the line, including members of Slipknot, Slayer, and Ghost.
Buy: Slipknot’s Corey Taylor, Craig Jones, and Sid Wilson set – $24.99 at Big Apple collectibles
Buy: Slayer’s Kerry King – $8.99 at Amazon
Buy: Slayer’s Jeff Hanneman – $8.99 at Amazon
Buy: Slayer’s Tom Araya – $8.99 at Amazon
Buy: Ghost’s Papa Nihil – $17.50 at Amazon
Metallica’s S&M² Box Set
Recorded live during Metallica’s two performances with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra last year, S&M² comes in a variety of editions, ranging from a 4xLP vinyl set for $69.99 to a 2xCD set for $16.99 to versions with and without accompanying Blu-rays and DVDs. In other words: there’s an option for every Metallica fan in your life.
Buy: $16.99 – $69.99 at Metallica.com
Metal Blade Records Holiday Sale
Now through December 31, fans can take 15% off ALL Metal Blade Records product at the official USA store. Further discounted merchandise — from artists such as Amon Amarth, Behemoth, Between The Buried And Me, Cannibal Corpse, King Diamond and many more — is available right here. Apply promo code MBRXMAS20 and take an additional 15% off for heavy holiday savings!
Buy: Metal Blade Records
High on Fire’s Electric Messiah 2xLP Picture Disc
Get your own beautiful copy of High on Fire’s Grammy-winning — that’s right, actual freakin’ GRAMMY WINNING! — 2018 album, Electric Messiah. This stunning 2xLP set comes on deluxe 180g 12″ vinyl and is pressed on picture discs featuring the album’s artwork. Matt Pike’s amputated toe not included.
Buy: $24.99 at eOne Heavy
Metal Holiday Sweatshirts
What better way to upset your conservative relatives than a holiday sweater that says “fuck” or has a pentagram on it? We certainly are not going to recommend giving Granny Covid-19, so mask up in spite of your family’s insistence on getting together this holiday season even though they shouldn’t, throw on one of these sweaters, and horrify a boomer close to you.
The Black Dahlia Murder’s “Yule ‘Em All: A Holiday Variety Extravaganza” Livestream
There obviously won’t be any concerts this holiday season… but you can still treat a beloved metal fan to the best thing! “Yule ‘Em All: A Holiday Variety Extravaganza” will feature “live performances, special guests and more.” It’s set to debut on Friday, December 18 at 4PM PST/7PM EST, and will be available to stream for 48 hours thereafter.
Buy: $9.99 for a ticket, $29.99 for a ticket + merch bundle at nightshiftmerch.com
Lamb of God Memento Mori Coffee
“WAKE UP!” Randy Blythe screams on Lamb of God’s “Memento Mori,” and this coffee, named after that very song, will certainly help you do that! A collaboration between Lamb of God‘s Willie Adler and Between the Buried and Me guitarist Paul Waggoner’s Nightflyer Roastworks, Memento Mori is grown in El Salvador and roasted in Charlotte, NC.
Buy: 12 oz. for $20 at lambofgodcoffee.com
Cradle of Filth Tea
This collaboration with Pitch Black North comes in two varieties: “Dark Blood” English breakfast black tea and “Sweet Maleficia” blueberry-vanilla English breakfast tea. Tea has never been so metal!
Buy: $15 at pitchblacknorth.com
Jasta Pasta Perseverance Penne
The Hatebreed frontman’s delightfully-silly branded pasta is made from “simple ingredients” for a “wholesome experience. ” Because when you think “Hatebreed,” you think “wholesome.”
Buy: $7.99 – $12.99 at martyrstore.net
Motörhead “Ace of Spades” Scented Candle
Inspired by the British band’s legendary anthem, this candle “features a smoked whiskey fragrance,” natch.
CorpsePaintSoaps
FINALLY, you can take a bath with Abbath! Or King Diamond, Papa Emeritus III, Dani Filth, Euronymous, Dead, King Ov Hell, or a number of other infamous black and occult metal figures.
Buy: Various options available via CorpsePaintSoaps’ Etsy shop
“Metal Warz” Star Wars + Metal Mashup T-Shirts
These clever Star Wars-themed shirts spoof character names from the sci-fi trilogy in the style of famous metal band logos. Perfect for the Star Wars-loving metalhead in your life!
Buy: $15 at MetalSucks
Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure/ Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey/ Bill & Ted Face the Music 3 Film Blu-ray + Digital Bundle
The greatest heavy metal movie trilogy of all time is complete at last! Now you can gift all three films for one convenient price. In addition to the physical Blu-rays, you can free digital downloads of all three movies, too, for those times you’re too lazy to get off the couch and just wanna start streaming something. EXCELLENT!
Buy: $25.99 + $3.99 shipping at Amazon
Confess: The Autobiography by Rob Halford
One of the greatest metal singers of all time tells all in his memoirs, first published this past September.
Buy: $22.04 (hardcover) or $14.99 (Kindle edition) at Amazon
Rust in Peace: The Inside Story of the Megadeth Masterpiece by Dave Mustaine
This tell-all about the making of one of the most revered thrash metal albums in history was also released this past September. Some of the stories it holds have been disputed, which is probably par for the course for a gossipy book like this one. As a bonus, it has a foreword by Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash.
Buy: $16.99 (hardcover or Kindle edition) at Amazon
Daughters of Darkness by Jeremy Saffer
This coffee table book from one of metal’s most respected photographers is described as “a photographic love letter to the iconography of black metal and doom” via “a collection of fine art portraits of women in corpse paint.” There are various editions, natch, depending on how much you wanna spend.
Buy: $60 – $666 from Rare Bird Lit
Hellraisers: A Complete Visual History of Heavy Metal Mayhem
Co-authored by our own Axl Rosenberg and Chris Krovatin (MS scribe Emperor Rhombus), Hellraisers takes you on a journey through the history of metal from its earliest roots with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath to its popular modern incarnations. The book features cover artwork by Mark Riddick, a forward by Trivium’s Matt Heafy, exclusive interviews with members of Cannibal Corpse, The Obsessed, Killswitch Engage, Suicide Silence, Periphery and Coal Chamber, over 200 photos, genre-by-genre playlists and more. From AC/DC and Anthrax to Meshuggah and Mastodon, this hardcover coffee table book will be THE ultimate centerpiece in any metalhead’s living roomn.
Buy: $16.80 at Amazon
Rocks Off Coloring Book
Long-running independent New York City concert promotion company Rocks Off — which in recent years has hosted Every Time I Die on a friggin’ BOAT cruising in the New York harbor, among other awesome shows over the years — has released a line of products to help it stay afloat while the live entertainment business continues to be completely shut down. Aside from helping out an independent live music company for a nominal price, you should buy this because you’ve always wanted to color in a unicorn fucking a dolphin and a pin-up babe with goblins in her boobs.
Buy: $14.99 at Rocks Off
A Steel Panther Song with Custom Lyrics
For the low, low price of $7,500, Steel Panther will re-write and record the lyrics to any of their pre-existing songs to be about the subject of your choice. To make sure you’re happy with the outcome, customers get “a Zoom meeting with the band [to] talk about what you want in your song and pry as much information out of you as humanly possible,” as well as “up to two lyric revisions prior to recording the song.”
Buy: $7,500 at steelpantherrocks.com
A Donation to the ACLU made in the name of John Dolmayan, Chris Taylor Brown, Tommy Vext, or the conservative metal musician of your choice
Because the only thing that feels better than being selfless is pissing off irrational douchebags who watch too much Fox News and make latently or expressly bigoted comments.
A Donation to fight against racial injustice and police violence in America via Brutal Panda Records’ 2020 Label Sampler
The Brutal Panda Records 2020 label sampler features tracks by Mantar, Moon Destroys (ex-Torche), Ruby the Hatchet, Dead Now, Local H, Kowloon Walled City, Fight Amp and a number of other heavy hitters. It’s available for any price of your choosing (free, if you want), but any amount you choose to donate will go towards fighting against racial injustice and police violence in America, with 100% of proceeds donated to Campaign Zero (and Brutal Panda matching all contributions).
Epiphone Slash AFD Les Paul Special II Performance Package
Are you or someone you love looking to learn guitar? Well, starter packs don’t get much more metal than this Slash-endorsed set. For $349, you get a Les Paul “AFD” Special-II Guitar, a Slash Snakepit-15 Amplifier (with a headphone jack so you don’t bother the neighbors), a custom gigbag with Snakepit logo, Slash signature Dunlop Tortex picks, an instrument strap and cord, and a handful of free eMedia guitar lessons. Not to shabby, eh?
Buy: $349 at American Musical Supply
AmazonBasics Digital Delay Effect Sound Processor for Guitar and Bass
Want a delay pedal for guitar at a fraction of the price of the big name pedal brands? AmazonBasics makes pedals now (yes, really!) and the delay unit goes for just $45. What’s more, we hear they’re actually pretty good, good, good… good…
Buy: $44.99 at Amazon
Roland TD-1K Entry-level Electronic V-Drum Set
If someone in your live wants to learn how to play the drums but you don’t want to deal with the noise, this electronic drum kit from Roland is the perfect entry point. With an “advanced Supernatural sound engine,” whatever that means!
Buy: $499.99 at Amazon
Ernie Ball Electric Guitar Strings
A guitar player can never have enough spare sets of strings, so why not make sure your special person is all stocked up? Make sure you check with them (or do some stealth research) on what their preferred gauge is before buying, because that’s a very personal choice.
Buy: Starting at $14.99 for a 3-pack
Orange Micro Dark 20-watt Hybrid Head
The Orange Micro Dark hybrid electric guitar amplifier head puts great high-gain tones in a simple and very portable package. Based around Orange’s popular Dark series of amplifiers, the Micro Dark offers the same searing gain and tonal versatility as its big brothers, but boasts the same tiny format as the Micro Terror. This mighty mite crams 20 watts into a head about the size of a small lunchbox. If you need a simple-to-use, portable amplifier with huge tones, check out the Orange Micro Dark.
Buy: $189.00 at Amazon
Ghost Papa Emeritus II Action Figure
Super7, who have collaborated with Ghost in the past, are back with a new action figure of Ghost frontman Papa Emeritus II, who lead the band from during the Infestissumam and If You Have Ghost cycle from 2012-2015. The 3.75-inch ReAction Figure comes with his Grucifix staff as an accessory.
Buy: $18 at Super7.com
Coheed & Cambria ‘The Amory Wars’ Action Figure Set
Coheed & Cambria frontman Claudio Sanchez has teamed up with NECA to produce two action figures based on the protagonists of his ongoing The Amory Wars series, the husband and wife duo of Coheed and Cambria Kilgannon.
Buy: $80.00 at Coheed & Cambria’s official store (pre-order)
Metallica Blackened Whiskey
Metallica’s own brand of whiskey, created in conjunction with master distiller Dave Pickerell (R.I.P.), was subjected to loud blasts of Metallica music during the aging process inside of black brandy barrels, which allegedly influences the flavor. Meyer Sound has engineered a proprietary subwoofer that amplifies the low-frequency sound waves necessary to get the juices moving. The whiskey is a blend of bourbons, ryes and other whiskeys. Blackened American Whiskey is available at select retailers through the U.S. and for order online, although not all states allow mail delivery of spirits.
Buy: $39.99 at Flaviar
JBL Charge 3 Waterproof Portable Bluetooth Speaker
Everyone needs a bluetooth speaker. May as well get one with good sound quality — JBL always delivers — and that can withstand the rigors of the beer you’ll surely be spilling all over it while you headbang furiously with your pals.
Buy: $99.95 at Amazon
Shure SE215 Wireless Earphones with Bluetooth 5.0
Wireless earphones are a must these days, and Shure has been delivering top-quality products with superior sound since long before most companies (Apple included) got in the game. This is the way to go if you’re looking to upgrade your on-the-go music listening experience.
Buy: $79 at Amazon
Audio-Technica At-LP60X-GM Fully Automatic Belt-Drive Stereo Turntable
The perfect way to enter into the world of vinyl, this Audio Technica unit contains everything you need to hook into your stereo or pair of speakers and get started, including a phono stage to boost the signal.
Buy: $99.99 at Amazon
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