Instead of doing Sober October or getting caught up in all the craziness of the world, I’ve decided to do something fun and positive. Every day in October, I plan on writing a blog and putting up a YouTube video about a heavy metal band that influenced me or my writing. I encourage others to join me and share just how much metal means to them. If you put something up please use the hashtag #MonthOfMetal so I can see it. You’re also welcome to head over to my YouTube page to leave comments, your favorite songs, and have a chance at winning some free books.

Today’s pick may seem like a strange one as this person’s band hasn’t been much of an influence, but I thought it was the perfect way to kick this off. Brian Posehn is a funny comedian, actor, and writer, but it’s his song “More Metal Than You” that made me choose him to start this. That song pokes fun at metalheads who try to outmetal each other, which is sort of what I’m doing with this list.

I recently read and reviewed Brian’s book Forever Nerdy giving it 5 stars. One of those stars was for Brian’s honesty in discussing a brutal upbringing full of bullying. One star was for the quality of the writing and funny one-liners. The other three stars were because he worked his way to a place where he could play metal with some of his heroes. How badass is that to record songs with Corey Taylor, Johan Hegg, Gary Holt, Phil Demmel, and Scott Ian just to name a few.

A few weeks ago I checked out Brian’s virtual show An Evening with Grandpa Metal. His stand-up was a lot of fun and it was cool to hear him talking with Scott Ian and a couple other members of the band.

While maybe Posehn is not my favorite singer, he makes me feel good about singing along with him as I’m not going to screw up his vocals.

First song I heard of his was “Metal By Numbers,” a real fun one I could sing with my kids. From there was “More Metal Than You,” and his latest album, Grandpa Metal.

A fun song on there that I’ve listened to with my kids despite the explicit lyrics is “New Music Sucks.” The song teaches such an important lesson about new music when it says, “New music sucks. Fucking-A it sucks.”

I’m sure you don’t need a warning, but not all all the songs are as child-friendly. While I did do a good job of skipping over “One Quarter Viking, Three Quarter’s Pussy” when I had my preteen daughter in the car, I got caught up in a conversation with her and didn’t realize the catchy “Big Fat Rock” was playing until we got to the part that says, “This isn’t inneundo. I’m talking about my cock.”

Here are my favorite songs:

1. “One Quarter Viking, Three Quarter’s Pussy”

2. “Grandpa Metal”

3. “The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)”

4. “More Metal Than You”

5. “The Gambler”

6. “Take On Me”

7. “Satan’s Kind of a Dick”

So if you’re an artist who’s more metal than me, I’d love to hear it. Share how your love of metal has helped your life and please use the hashtag #MonthOfMetal

And be sure to stop by tomorrow to hear me go on and on about motherfucking Machine Head. Peace.

Click the photo below if you’d care to watch the video.