If life is just a game, we’re all just stupid sweaty nerds tryna get a high score. And if we’re all doomed to eventually be replaced by newer, sleeker, debugged/updated versions, let’s at least grind out these repetitive generic levels with a killer soundtrack.

If you, like me, grew up in the late 80’s/early 90’s, you’ll most likely at least have some degree of seemingly irrational nostalgia for the time when playing video games meant furiously mashing one of two unresponsive buttons, while navigating a jerky 2-D side-scrolling landscape fraught with heavily pixelated obstacles and ceaseless waves of automaton baddies. The kinds of games that when merely mentioned in passing conversation means you simply must track down and play for a grand total of 6 minutes…before realising you’re not nearly drunk/stoned enough to revert to the cognitive level of your 7 year-old self…yet. Maybe after another shatter dab you’ll fully appreciate the intricate mental challenges that Alex Kidd In Miracle World has to offer. Or maybe not. Either way, one thing that totally fucking holds up are their accompanying 8-bit soundtracks.

We’ve had a fair few posts dedicated to our love of all things vidya here on the Toilet. Hell, we’ve even got a bloody exclusive category up there just for them. We’ve certainly discussed the music we love in games a couple of times before. The crossover between video game music and metal run long and deep. Let’s face it, we’re all dorks. Don’t lie to yourself. Even you outlaw metal alphas out there know it. Ever since I first played Doom on my cousin’s shitty-ass computer back in 1993 as a naive 9 year-old, I knew that there was a visceral change happening to me. The combination of the room’s dark suspense, cacodemons spewing forth out of hell’s portal, and my first exposure to metal music (albeit through 8-bit) was a profound, and almost primal experience. Looking back, I guess the shit running down my leg also helped solidify that memory as one of sensory-overload.

Clearly I was not the only one influenced by this kind of experience, as if you look around on YouTube you can find a plethora of nerds who’ve transposed their favourite metal tunes to 8-bit. Why? Because they’re fucking awesome. So today I thought I’d share some of my favourites with you. Some songs just suit the 8-bit treatment more than others, as you’ll no doubt find out.

Please drop your faves in the comments section and crack a nostalgia boner without judgement on this fine day.

Autopsy – “Impending Dread”

Death – “Flesh And The Power It Holds”

Bathory – “Call From The Grave”

Dismember – “Override Of The Overture”

Sepultura – “Dead Embryonic Cells”

Gorguts – “Waste Of Mortality”

Lamb Of God – “The Subtle Arts Of Murder And Persuasion”

Dissection – “The Somberlain”

Slayer – “Metal Storm/Face The Slayer”

Pestilence – “Land Of Tears”

Emperor – “With Strength I Burn”

Morbid Angel – “Maze Of Torment”

Entombed – “Drowned”

Let’s hear your faves!

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