Hooded Menace’s Lasse Pyykkö Shares His Ten Favorite Hallowen Albums
In the realm of modern death metal, Hooded Menace do horror like nobody else. Their brand of eerie long-form death-doom perfectly channels all the slimy, musty atmosphere of an old haunted castle, festering crypt and all. Their newly-released fourth studio album, Darkness Drips Forth, is an epic distillation of that sound, featuring four sprawling tracks of contagious sonic ooze that will feed the creepy cobweb-eating ghoul in any morbid listener’s hearts.
To celebrate Darkness‘s release on Friday and Halloween on Saturday, we reached out to Menace frontman Lasse Pyykkö about his ten favorite metal albums to put on in celebration of the satanic Easter. He was more than happy to oblige us. Check out Lasse’s picks and then listen to some selections below.
Halloween, Don’t Metal with Evil
Well, obviously! This Heavy Metal gem for the ’80s is pretty much the ultimate soundtrack for Halloween. Fun record.
King Diamond, Fatal Portrait
It´s King Diamond, the king of horror metal, and there´s a song called “Halloween” on it. Fair enough.
Mercyful Fate, Melissa
Can´t have too much King Diamond on a list like this, right?
“Rise, rise, rise, it´s Halloween
Rise, rise, rise, The ghost will rise!”
Helloween, Keeper of the Seven Keys Pt. 1
Don’t care much about the power metal bands these guys have spawned, but I love early Helloween. And hey, there’s a track called “Halloween” on it.
Iron Maiden, Killers
This record reeks of blood and murder. As a kid I was a little scared of the cover art and the menacing title track. Still sends shivers down my spine. Brilliant for Halloween, I´d say!
Electric Wizard, Witchcult Today
If I had to pick Electric Wizard album that has the most horror movie-like vibe, this would be it. Doom your Halloween!
Death SS, The Story of Death SS 1977-1984
I guess the list would be horribly inaccurate without these Italian creeps.
Death, Scream Bloody Gore
Death Metal Halloween soundtrack material from start to finish. I recommend to start with “Evil Dead” because its intro sets the mood right immediately, while there´s nothing wrong with the opening track “Infernal Death,” really.
Cathedral, The Carnival Bizarre
In case you fancy a little groovier Halloween… It has references from The Blind Dead to Matthew Hopkins, and the songs are catchy as hell, so what´s not to like?!
Kiss, Creatures of the Night
Finland does not have a strong Halloween tradition really, although it’s being marketed to us more and more nowadays. So, Halloween was never a big deal to me when growing up. But let’s pretend it’s 1985 and Finland had a strong Halloween tradition. What would make my Halloween soundtrack? Kiss, of course! Gene Simmons dressed up as a Demon, spitting blood and playing an axe-shaped bass… that looked evil, man! The cover of the record has a cool supernatural vibe to it with all those glowing eyes staring at you from the masked faces, and the album title emphasizes that mood. The title track is a real heavy rocking monster and has remained as one of my Kiss favorites still to this day and age. Goes well with Halloween if you asked me in 1985 — or now.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAXcMq3laHljDlc7KkMcaNBylb7dv9pYK
