With all the gig and festival cancellations it might feel like you'll never experience the thrill of watching your favourite heavy metal band storm onstage again.
But what if you could have all of the best bigs of a live gig? The crushingly heavy tunes, the mesmerising stage lights and the enthusiastic camaraderie of fans? Minus the sticky floors, overpriced alcohol, beer-covered boots and aroma of stale sweat?
Well, it turns out you can! So don your best gig attire, dim the lights, crack open a cold one and take a seat on your own sofa, for here are the very best live heavy music experiences available to stream right this instant.
1. Motorhead Live: Everything Louder Than Everything Else
With Lemmy’s immortal words opening the feature, Everything Louder Than Everything Else is more than just a live video, it’s a certified piece of history.
As his band of miscreants descend upon the ravenous masses of Munich, you know that the UK’s finest heavy metal trio are about to shake the very foundations of what it means to be just that.
Over the next hour or so of ELTEE it's hard to believe there are only a handful of people on stage, and with a staggeringly diverse set comprised of the best of their catalogue, Lemmy and co. prove that they were truly born to raise hell.
Motorhead's Live: Everything Louder Than Everything Else is available to watch on Amazon Prime
2. Slipknot: Disasterpieces
In their second video album, recorded on tour following the release of second album Iowa, Distasterpieces features their Slipknot's 2002 concert at London's Docklands Arena.
Filmed with 26 cameras – including one on the headstock of Mick Thompson's guitar – you'll witness a view-point you'd never experience at a real live show. Plus, it's got all those classic Slipknot tracks off the first two albums: People = Shit, Left Behind, My Plague, Spit It Out, Wait and Bleed and (sic)... what's not to love?
Slipknot: Disasterpieces is available to watch on Amazon Prime
3. Ulver: Live at the Norwegian National Opera
Slowing the pace down into more atmospheric territories, Ulver, at the avant-garde pinnacle of the metal spectrum, display their timeless talent for extraordinarily hazy textures and dark progressive ambience with their 2010 performance at the Norwegian National Opera house.
The first band outside of the established Norwegian music scene to be invited to play at the esteemed venue, Ulver take us on an esoteric journey through many of their career defining compositions, such as Eos, Little Blue Bird and Funebre - all performed with eye catching projections accompanying the mystical synth-laden experience.
Ulver Live at the Norwegian National Opera is available to watch on YouTube
4. Rammstein in Amerika: Live From Madison Square Garden
This sold-out show at New York City's legendary Madison Square Garden on December 11. 2010 marked the return of German industrialists Rammstein to the United States after a decade-long absence. Needless to say, it's a killer show. We're talking 102-minutes of all the pyro and of course, all your favourite Rammstein tunes. The only downside? Incredibly, Amerika is cut short.
Rammstein in Amerika: Live From Madison Square Garden is available to watch on Prime video
5. Alice In Chains Unplugged
One of the greatest performances in all of MTV Unplugged's history – and arguably the greatest metal acoustic album ever – Alice In Chains Unplugged remains a haunting reminder of the raw talent yet troubled of the Seattle heavyweights' late frontman Layne Staley.
Here he looks withered, a fraction of the energetic frontman he once was, at one of his last ever public appearances. Guitarist Jerry Cantrell is visibly propping his friend up when he loses his lines, a heartwarming reminder of the brotherly friendship they'd shared.
While it might be painful watch, it's stunning nonetheless, and a treat to be able to witness Staley in action almost two decades after his death.
Alice In Chains: Unplugged is available to rent on YouTube
6. Obituary: Live at Bloodstock 2017
We'd normally have recommended Obituary's first ever live DVD, Frozen Alive, but unfortunately it seems to have been taken off Prime (*hint*). Instead, we've sourced you the next best thing: Obituary live at Bloodstock back in 2017.
So avoid whiplash and severe bruising while enjoying death metal royalty live, by experiencing their full festival set, kicking off with Internal Bleeding and culminating, of course, with absolute belter, Slowly We Rot. Right from the front of the pit. You're welcome.
Obituary: Live at Bloostock 2017 is available to watch on Bloodstock's Official YouTube (and below)
7. Slayer: Live at the Hammersmith Apollo
A force to be reckoned with. Now they've called it quits you won't be seeing Slayer live again any time soon, but here's the next best thing.
Filmed back in 2008 on their Unholy Alliance Chapter III Tour, watch the mighty Slayer rip through some of their most revered classics from South Of Heaven and Seasons In The Abyss... oh, and then just casually kicking into 1986's Reign In Blood in full.
Slayer: Live At The Hammersmith Apollo is available to watch on Amazon Prime
8. Babymetal: Live at Wembley
On April 2, 2016 Babymetal kicked off their world tour at The SSE Arena, Wembley. The show attracted 12,000 excited fans, who purchased so much merch that the band set a brand new venue record for the most merchandise sold in a single day.
Their Star Wars-inspired show features pyrotechnics galore and pantomime-esque theatrics, attracting both hardened metalheads and kawaii kids from all over the world.
If you aren't sure what exactly the world of Babymetal entails, now's your chance to find out in all their stadium-filling glory.
Babymetal: Live at Wembley is available to stream Sky Arts via NowTV OnDemand. Sign up for an Entertainment Pass now and enjoy a 7 day free trial.
9. Iron Maiden's The Book Of Souls: Live Chapter
Recorded during Iron Maiden's The Book Of Souls World Tour in 2016-17, The Book Of Souls: Live Chapter sees Maiden playing 15 of their classic tunes including Children Of The Damned, The Trooper, Iron Maiden and The Number Of The Beast, as well as plenty from Book Of Souls.
However, if you're not a fan of the newest offering (why wouldn't you be? We gave it a rare 10/10 rating?!) and are looking for something that guarantees Run To The Hills, you'll have to dig out Live After Death.
Iron Maiden's The Book Of Souls: Live Chapter is available to watch on Amazon Prime
10. Black Sabbath's The End: Live in Birmingham
Recorded at Black Sabbath's last ever show, in the band's hometown of Birmingham England, The End is an epic farewell to Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne and (the tragically absent) Bill Ward.
The men who started it all finally laid their instruments to rest after almost 50 years of heavy metal: Watch them storm through one of the greatest setlists of all time, kicking off with the eponymous Black Sabbath and tracing their career through their extensive back-catalogue.
Black Sabbath's The End: Live in Birmingham is available to stream Sky Arts via NowTV OnDemand. Sign up for an Entertainment Pass now and enjoy a 7 day free trial.
