Awesome Heavy Metal

Meliani Siti Sumartini (aka “Mel”) may be just 15 years old, but she proves that rocking out has no age, gender or cultural boundaries, as she shreds with the best of them on her electric guitar. Hit up her YouTube channel for more headbanging.

(NSFW: Language) GWAR stopped by A.V. Club’s offices, and turned in an unexpected thrash metal version of Pet Shop Boys’ ’80s classic West End Boys. Stick around for an even more awesome cover of Jim Carroll’s People Who Died.

Leave it to heavy metal guitarist Charlie Parra del Riego to find a way to take Gershon Kingsley’s head-boppingly catchy classic 1969 synthpop tune Popcorn and make it rock. It’s the official theme song for making popcorn this way.

Just because your partying days are behind you doesn’t mean you can’t continue to rock. See for yourself as the best death and grind metal is gently combined with parenting reminders in this hilarious Funny or Die vid. (Thanks Spencer!)

The Hellraiser, the Master of Puppets, the Iron Man, the Angel of Death and the Black Dog all pale in comparison to the Tiger Train. Kneel and headbang to Liam Lynch’s hilarious parody of heavy metal songs. #theturtletrucksux

MajorScaled TV digitally transposes sad songs to a major scale, replacing the melancholic mood with a strangely happy one. Listen to what they did to Metallica’s Nothing Else Matters.

Check out Compressorhead kicking out the robot jams in their cover of Motörhead’s Ace of Spades. When the Country Bear Jamboree is in ashes, you have my permission to rock. (Thanks everyone!)

At first glance, you’d think the girl on this French TV talent show was going to sing some dainty little ballad. You’d be so very wrong. We wonder if this is Rachel’s cat. (Thanks Thomas!)

We’re not too sure about his costume skillz, but Eric Calderone (aka 331Erock) sure knows how to shred, as he kicks out this hard-rockin’ medley of Halloween favorites.

Beer brand Kronenbourg 1664 somehow managed to convince Motörhead to make a slowed down acoustic version of Ace of Spades. And it’s still bad-ass. Full song here, making of here.

We’re going to go out on a limb and say that death metal wasn’t the original soundtrack for these guys’ bitchin’ dance moves, but even if this isn’t what they were dancing to, somehow it still works.

So, we’re scratching our heads over here at TA while being entertained, wondering how Wax Audio’s Lady Gaga-Judas Priest mashup works. No, really, it’s all wrong. So why does this work?

Ever wonder how those screaming death metal vocalists warm up for a performance? Listen up as vocalist Olle Ekman of Deals Death & Volturyon gets ready to scream his lungs out in the studio.

NSFW: Comedian Brian Posehn expresses his passion for metal and disses pretenders in this headbanging song, which is included in his appropriately-named album, Fart & Wiener Jokes.