Written By Lucien Drake
Metal isn’t just about the songs that filled arenas or landed on greatest hits compilations, it’s about the tracks buried on rare pressings, lost in demo tapes, or tucked away as bonus cuts. Welcome to Deep Cuts: Metal’s Hidden Gems.
This week we dig into the vaults of thrash and extremity. Testament’s primal chaos, Dark Angel’s demo-only ferocity, Annihilator’s lost imports, and Bathory’s venomous outtakes. Alongside them, Mastodon’s blues-soaked rarity, Celtic Frost’s hidden experiments, Black Label Society’s reissue-only fury, Children of Bodom’s bonus-track shred, and Danzig’s apocalyptic sermon remind us that some of the fiercest songs never made the spotlight. These are the riffs for the diehards. These are the hidden treasures buried deep, waiting for those willing to dig.
Testament: Reign of Terror – Live at Eindhoven (1987 EP)
Most fans never even hear this one. Written back in their Legacy days, Reign of Terror never made it onto a Testament studio album. It just slipped out on the Trial by Fire single and a raw cut on Live at Eindhoven (1987). It’s Testament at their most primal. Razor sharp riffs, Chuck Billy spitting fire, no polish, just Bay Area thrash chaos.
I’ve always thought it sounded like the missing link between The Legacy and The New Order. A song that could’ve stood toe-to-toe with Slayer if it had gotten a proper album slot. For me, this is the definition of a deep cut. Not just overlooked, but buried.
Mastodon: Just Got Paid – Revolution in Sound (2009)
This one sits way out on the fringes of Mastodon’s catalog. A ZZ Top cover recorded during the Crack the Skye era, first released on the Warner Bros. compilation Covered: A Revolution in Sound (2009) and later reissued as a Record Store Day 7″ single. What makes it special is Brent Hinds himself, he takes the lead vocal, leaning into his Southern drawl with raw swagger. It’s a side of Mastodon we almost never get to hear, blues-soaked, loose, and straight from Brent’s heart.
This track feels like Brent unchained, channeling the music that shaped him long before the prog-sludge epics. It’s not the technical labyrinth of Blood Mountain or the conceptual sprawl of Crack the Skye. It’s just Brent, a guitar, a groove, and pure soul.
In memory of Brent Hinds (1974–2025): a singular guitarist, a wild spirit, and an artist who could turn even a buried cover into something unforgettable. The riffs live on, and so does he.
Annihilator: Fantastic Things – Japanese edition of Set the World on Fire (1993)
Now this is what “deep cut” really means. Fantastic Things never saw daylight outside of Japan, tucked away as a bonus track on the Japanese edition of Set the World on Fire (1993). Unless you were the kind of fan who shelled out for pricey imports, you never heard it.
Musically, it’s peak Jeff Waters with razor thrash riffs balanced with the melodic experimentation that defined early-’90s Annihilator. It’s not a throwaway B-side, it sounds like it could’ve slotted onto the main album, which makes it all the stranger (and cooler) that it was locked behind a regional release.
For me, this is the kind of find that makes the digging worth it. Fantastic Things isn’t just overlooked, it’s buried treasure, a secret handshake between collectors and die hards.
Dark Angel: Welcome to the Slaughterhouse – We Have Arrived (1984)
If you want the deepest cut in Dark Angel’s arsenal, this is it. Welcome to the Slaughterhouse appeared only on their 1984 We Have Arrived demo and never made it onto the full length album a year later. Unless you were part of the tape trading underground, you probably never even knew this song existed.
The track is pure, filthy proto thrash with raw riffs, chaotic drumming, and that reckless energy that defined Dark Angel’s earliest days. It’s less refined than the Darkness Descends material that followed, but that’s what makes it so vital. It’s the sound of thrash before the polish, just five young maniacs starting out.
For collectors, the 1984 demo tape cover is the true marker of this track’s origins. The later We Have Arrived studio album (1985) shares the name but not the song making this demo-only cut one of the rarest pieces in Dark Angel’s discography.
That’s the magic of it. Welcome to the Slaughterhouse isn’t just overlooked, it’s locked away in history, a time capsule from the moment thrash was still clawing its way out of garages and onto the global stage.
Celtic Frost: Journey Into Fear – Into the Pandemonium (1987)
Celtic Frost were never afraid of strangeness. Into the Pandemonium (1987) is proof enough but lurking even deeper is Journey Into Fear, a track most fans didn’t even know existed. It never appeared on the original vinyl or cassette; instead, it was slipped onto select CD pressings of Into the Pandemonium as a bonus track, making it one of the hardest Frost songs to track down.
Musically, it’s pure Frost with jagged riffs, eerie atmosphere, and Tom G. Warrior’s signature death grunts echoing in the void. It feels like a bridge between their doomy thrash roots and the avant-garde experiments that polarized fans. That it was buried as a bonus track almost makes it more powerful. It’s Celtic Frost daring only the most dedicated listeners to find it.
For me, Journey Into Fear is the very definition of a deep cut. Not just overlooked, but hidden away. An artifact from a band that thrived in the shadows and never played by anyone’s rules but their own.
Bathory: You Don’t Move Me (I Don’t Give a Fuck) – In Memory of Quorthon box set (1996)
Bathory has plenty of legendary songs, but almost none as buried as this one. You Don’t Move Me (I Don’t Give a Fuck) was recorded during the Under the Sign of the Black Mark sessions in 1987, but Quorthon shelved it. It never appeared on any of the classic albums and sat in the vault for nearly a decade until it surfaced on the In Memory of Quorthon box set (1996).
The track itself is pure venom with raw, punk-soaked riffing with Quorthon snarling like a street brawler. No Viking grandeur, no epic choirs, just Motörhead’s ugly spirit channeled through first wave black metal. It’s Bathory stripped bare, reminding us that before he built Valhalla, Quorthon was just as happy slinging filth in the gutter.
In my opinion this song is Bathory’s truest deep cut not just obscure, but almost forgotten, a glimpse into a side of Quorthon he chose to keep in the shadows. Finding it feels like cracking open his private notebook and seeing the hand written riffs that never made the saga.
Kittie: Do You Think I’m A Whore – Spit (2000)
This one’s the real dark horse, a heavy, emotionally shattered powerhouse that flew under the radar from Spit’s 2000 release. Morgan Lander named it her favorite deep cut, a brutally honest mirror. “I look in the mirror, the whore is all I see.” That cuts deeper than they gave it credit for.
Discarded from live sets for nearly two decades, it finally clawed its way back in 2023 at Sick New World Festival proving it’s got staying power, rage, and resonance. For those who dig beneath the surface, it’s Kittie at its rawest.
Danzig: Pain in the World – Danzig II: Lucifuge (1990)
While Glenn Danzig’s debut gave us the infamous Mother and Twist of Cain, it was Lucifuge that truly revealed the breadth of his vision. Nestled at the very end of that record is “Pain in the World,” a nearly seven minute dirge that’s as much ritual as it is song.
Where most fans remember Lucifuge for swaggering cuts like Her Black Wings or Snakes of Christ, “Pain in the World” sinks into something deeper. A slow burning, apocalyptic hymn built on brooding organ tones, blues-soaked guitar lines, and Glenn’s voice rising like a preacher at the end of days. It’s the kind of track you don’t stumble on unless you let the album play to its bitter conclusion, and maybe that’s why it remains overlooked.
But for those who make the full descent, “Pain in the World” is one of Danzig’s most haunting creations. A chilling reminder that beneath the leather and riffs, Glenn was always conjuring something darker, slower, and far more sinister than mainstream ears could handle.
Black Label Society: Lost My Better Half – Sonic Brew (1999 US Reissue)
Most BLS fans will tell you Sonic Brew (1998/1999) was the start of Zakk Wylde’s whiskey-soaked crusade, but only diehards know about the rare track “Lost My Better Half.” This snarling, aggressive beast wasn’t even on the original Japanese release. When delays pushed back the U.S. release, Zakk and drummer Phil Ondich hit the studio to lay down a bonus song as a thank you to fans and the result was pure fury.
The riffing is heavier, the tone meaner, and it reportedly set Zakk on the path toward the thicker, more punishing BLS sound that would dominate the next two decades. While most listeners associate Sonic Brew with staples like Bored to Tears, this bonus track lurks in the shadows, absent from some pressings and often missing from streaming services.
For the collectors and the diehards, “Lost My Better Half” isn’t just a hidden gem, it’s a glimpse of the exact moment Black Label Society sharpened their teeth.
Children of Bodom: Tie My Rope-Blooddrunk (2007)
Children of Bodom were never shy about loading their albums with high-octane shred and razor edged melodies, but some of their fiercest work slipped quietly into the cracks between official releases. Case in point: “Tie My Rope.”
Originally released in 2007 as a bonus track during the Blooddrunk era, “Tie My Rope” never got the attention it deserved. It wasn’t part of the main album’s tracklist, and unless you owned the right pressing or hunted down the extras, chances are you never heard it. Which is a shame because it’s a total riff fest. With Alexi Laiho’s snarling delivery and that trademark mix of thrash aggression and neoclassical shred, the song could have easily held its own alongside the album’s heaviest cuts.
Instead, “Tie My Rope” remains a cult treasure, a hidden blade in the Bodom arsenal. For those willing to dig past the official albums, it’s a reminder that even their “throwaways” were lethal.
Missed last week’s Deep Cuts: Metals Hidden Gems? Unearth it here.”
FAQ – Deep Cuts: Metals Hidden Gems
Q: What is Deep Cuts: Metals Hidden Gems?
A: Deep Cuts: Metals Hidden Gems is Metal Lair’s weekly feature that uncovers rare, overlooked songs in metal. Each edition explores hidden treasures from classic albums, bonus tracks, and cult bands.
Q: Which bands are featured in Deep Cuts: Metals Hidden Gems?
A: All metal bands from every genre.
Q: Why are these tracks considered hidden gems?
A: These songs are deep cuts because they’re rarely discussed, often overshadowed by more popular tracks, or only found on special editions and forgotten releases.
Q: How often is Deep Cuts: Metals Hidden Gems updated?
A: Deep Cuts: Metals Hidden Gems is updated weekly series with new selections of rare tracks for metal fans to discover.
Q: Where can I find past editions of Deep Cuts: Metals Hidden Gems?
A: You can find past editions by browsing the Metal Lair archives or following internal links included in each week’s feature.
About the Author
Lucien Drake is the voice behind Deep Cuts: Metal’s Hidden Gems at Metal Lair digging up the rare riffs, lost demos, and overlooked tracks that prove the underground always runs deeper.
