Who doesn't love a good team-up? 2024 was the year that proved the art of the collaboration was still alive and well in the metal world, some of our scene's brightest and most fantastically weird acts uniting forces to create sonic mayhem. Hell, even our songs of the year vote was packed with collabs, Babymetal and Electric Callboy's electro-J-pop mashup Ratata even taking top spot.
That in mind, we've assembled a list of some of the best multi-artist mash-ups that set our heads spinning in the last year. Here's hoping for more in 2025.
Bad Omens x Poppy - V.A.N.
Bad Omens went all-out for the soundtrack to their graphic novel, Concrete Jungle, pulling the likes of Wargasm and Bob Vylan. The best thing was this collab with fellow genre-smasher Poppy, which saw her go from delicate croons to lung-busting screams.
Knocked Loose x Poppy - Suffocate
It’s that Poppy again, and this time she’s trading screams with Knocked Loose’s Bryan Garris, as well as adding ethereal vocals before that reggaeton breakdown. Some fans have called for her to become a full-time member. Not the worst idea…
Babymetal x Electric Callboy - Ratatata
The “funnest song of the century” is what Babymetal and Electric Callboy promised with Ratatata, and they delivered. Earworm melodies, hefty guitars, bouncing percussion - this was a killer East-meets-West culture clash.
Bring Me The Horizon x Aurora - Limousine
Oli Sykes originally wanted Billie Eilish, but Norwegian art-pop star Aurora added a slice of Nordic moodiness to this industrial-goth mash-up from BMTH’s Posthuman: Nex Gen. She’s said she wants to make more metal. Here’s hoping.
Bad Omens x Health x Swarm - The Drain
Bad Omens teaming up with Health was really a matter of ‘when’ not ‘if’. Another cut from Concrete Jungle [The OST], The Drain found Bad Omens frontman Noah Sebastian providing a sensual counterpoint to the robotic voice of Health’s Jake Duzsik. Throw Florida-based artist/producer Swarm into the mix, and you can see how the song ended up as pure, pulse-pounding industrial noise.
Ice Nine Kills ft. Reel Big Fish - Walking On Sunshine
The weirdest union of 2024? Ice Nine Kills teamed up with ska-punk vets Reel Big Fish on this cover of breezy 80s pop hit Walking On Sunshine, for the soundtrack to Sumerian Records’ American Psycho comic series. Cue an unholy mix of heavy metalcore guitars and happy-go-lucky horns. Like we said, weird.
Halestorm x I Prevail - Can U See Me In The Dark?
Is there anything Lzzy Hale can’t do? Not content with saving Skid Row’s arses, she teamed up with Michigan’s I Prevail for this slab of electronic-tinged modern metal. Next month: Lzzy Hale sorts out the US economy.
Lamb Of God x Mastodon - Floods Of Triton
Mastodon and Lamb Of God celebrated the 20th anniversaries of Leviathan and Ashes Of The Wake by touring together in 2024. They capped it with this hook-up, a roaring noise that sounds exactly how you’d expect it to.
While She Sleeps ft. Malevolence - Down
Two of the hottest British bands of the last 10 years teamed up here. Malevolence’s Alex Taylor brought an extra level of aggro to this seething electrocore rager. The perfect collab at the perfect time.
Megan Thee Stallion ft. Spiritbox - Tyg
Spiritbox’s second hook-up with hip hop force of nature Megan Thee Stallion (after a rock remix of the latter’s Cobra) was a seething trap-metal bombshell, with Courtney LaPlante offering screamed support to the raging Megan. The sound of boundaries being broken.
