RANKED: The top 10 Green Lung songs

Once upon a time in the smog-choked labyrinth of London’s doom metal underground scene, there was a band that clawed its way out of pint-stained floors and onto the grand stage - GREEN LUNG, hometown heroes, the underground success story. When people talk about modern bands that have gone into the “big-time,” Green Lung are typically top of the list. There is a damn good reason that at least one person is wearing one of their shirts at every gig in the UK; they toured like wandering druids, cranking out spellbinding live shows until their coven swelled like a sabbath moon.

From shows in 2017 at fabulously dinkey venues such as the Crows Nest in Deptford, to headlining the O2 Academy Kentish Town and playing the almighty Arctangent festival in 2025,Tom Templar, Scott Black, Matt Wiseman, John Wright, and Joseph Ghast are ready to go medieval on your ass. But to distil their monster catalogue into just ten songs? No small feat. But with a lot of perseverance and elbow grease, we proudly present to you, Lunglings, the top 10 offerings of folk horror that define Green Lung’s extraordinary rise. Let’s dive in.

10) Old Gods

Striking like a great thunderclap, ‘Old Gods’ is the swan-dive into 2021’s ‘Black Harvest.’ Riff-master Scott Black’s gargantuan Brian May-gone-evil tone underpinned with some wonderfully creepy keys create a beautifully vast wall of sound. Let’s just say if Phil Spector heard this in hell, he’d probably crap himself. It’s a bludgeoning reminder that the old gods are not only alive, they’re pretty pissed. A great track if you were planning on introducing someone to the wonderful world of Green Lung for the first time. Lucky bastards.

9) Templar Dawn

According to Tom Templar, Green Lung’s songs fit neatly into a few categories, and ‘Templar Dawn’ from 2019’s ‘Woodland Rites’ falls squarely into the “we’re back!” section. And back they are indeed. Once, they were knights (in the service of Christ), now to Satan sworn, or so the story goes. An unbeatable concept pulled straight from a Hammer horror flick. The chorus is arguably the catchiest one they have, and the instrumentation creeps along close like a mangy dog in the pale moonlight. It is Lung at their very best.

8) Mountain Throne

Possibly the greatest single distillation as to what the Lung are all about is ‘Mountain Throne’ from 2023’s ‘This Heathen Land.’ It’s the tale of Albion’s mystical hills, the Pendle Witches riding out once more, and a love letter to everything sinister and supernatural that lurks in the countryside. It’s big, it’s bold, it’s spellbinding, and it contains the first known use of the word "phantasmagoria" in a doom metal track, which is reason enough to celebrate. Matt Wiseman’s vivacious drums elevate this one into a proper bop with more buoyancy than a witch on trial. It’s their very own “Detroit Rock City” with the sheer volume of locations mentioned, when a roomful of fanatics roars “MOUN-TAIN THROOOOOONE” in unison live, you begin to understand.

7) Reaper's Scythe

The lack of listens to this one on Spotify is truly baffling. As any survivor of a Green Lung pit will tell you, whenever this one starts at a live show the whole room goes bananas. It is a high-energy bonanza of a song, with great start-stoppage that makes you want to scream along. John Wright’s keyboard on this sounds like somebody going just a tad too hard at their local church congregation whilst the rest of the band goes with all the energy of the Duracell bunny. Not to mention that King Diamond bit in the middle, it’s all so strange, so macabre. But it works so, so, well.

6) Lady Lucifer

Back in 2018 when the Lung had fewer listeners, they came out with their first “proper” release in the form of ‘Free the Witch EP.’ The hype around this thing was very real, and it met expectations with flying colours. While it feels like a million years ago since this song came out, it still fits very snugly with the rest of their songs. In fact, it’s probably the first of the contemporary Green Lung jams, with a sound that would be gloriously expanded upon in the coming years. With downright filthy grooves, Sabbathian swagger, and a chorus that hooks its claws into your soul. Hard to overstate the importance of this song and how it signified such a massive shift in their sound. It’s this exact energy that began to deliver them from the London jungle.

5) Freak On A Peak

Something you may not know about Green Lung is that they are perfectionists. Scott Black’s guitar tone is the result of ages of tinkering and experimentation to create a unique and whole sound, and it’s clear that their success was forged in the fires of this hermetic dedication, but it all had to begin somewhere. So their first EP, 2017’s ‘Green Man Rising,’ is a curious look into the more stoner-based origins of their sound. ‘Into the Wild’ this is not, it’s stripped-down in comparison. Yet, this spacey jam’s one that veteran disciples remember fondly as the start of something great. But for now, it stands alone, like a noble savage in the wilds, waiting to be reappraised (and hopefully remastered). If you have not heard it before, now is the time to break out Bandcamp.

4) May Queen

Put that flower crown upon your brow, keep that smile upon thy countenance, and prepare to march into the Wicker Man, Miss May Queen. Because the gods aren’t gonna grow crops for nothing. ‘Woodland Rites’s’ display of pagan pageantry is a fuzz-drenched ode to spring rituals. A kaleidoscope of a ballad, the solo on this one is realised in glorious technicolour whilst the bass croons gently away into oblivion. By the time the whole thing erupts into its ecstatic, full-throttle finale, you can practically see dancers around the Maypole and bonfires blazing away into the night. Haunting and melodious, it stands tall as the soundtrack to every festival your ancestors didn’t survive.

3) One For Sorrow

The dark horse option on this list, many would ask why some of their other favourites aren’t on the list by now. For you there is one task; go see this song live. Because once you see ‘One For Sorrow’ live, you will never see it the same way again. At Bloodstock, it ushered about the “slowest circle pit in the history of the festival.” It was a beautiful, ethereal experience. Tom crooning out a sorrowful dirge, Matt beating out a doomy rhythm, Scott wearing out the whammy bar, Joe rumbling his bass, and John playing with legs spread further apart than a 17th century actor. And that breakdown. Necks cracked. Some heads may have come clean off. This song is a powerhouse, five minutes of bone-chilling majesty by the only ones who could do it.

2) Woodland Rites

The phrase “oh lord, yeah!” has not generated this much hype since Ozzy himself yelled it out at the start of Sabbath’s debut. Yep, its ‘Woodland Rites.’ When this song came out after the wait for their debut album, it was a ‘Master Of Puppets’ moment. ‘Initiation,’ the intro to this song, is incredible on its own, but that opening riff? A goddamn monolith, a towering pine forest of a riff as rows and rows of guitar gods before them look on in admiration. The organ swells, the guitars burn, and suddenly you’re in the woods, surrounded by naked figures, something ancient stirring beneath the roots that compels you silently. Just when you’re least expecting it, it erupts into that towering, earth-rattling climax. Green Lung at their most untamed and elemental and a genre staple forevermore. And just when you think it can’t get any better…

1) Let The Devil In

It really is iconic. You could be galivanting anywhere in the country, there’s a high probability you’ll spot some metalhead clothed in the legendary Branca Studio long-sleeve. You know the one, the white-eyed nun looking up to an unholy being has inspired so many to think “I gotta check THAT out!” From the first note, it’s a revenant spirit marching straight into damnation. The whole band is on point here like dark prophets. The best tale of sisterly corruption since Type O Negative’s ‘Christian Woman,’ it wears its many influences on its sleeve, dripping with everything from Sabbath’s dirty groove to early Maiden’s feverish energy. It’s got the swagger, the glory, and the sinful undercurrent to make it into a modern masterpiece. Now a staple in the soundtrack of metal bars across the world, it’s our best export since Jaffa Cakes.

Of course, you probably disagree with some of the choices on this list – good. That just means Green Lung is doing something right. Keep in mind that it is damn difficult to get these down into only ten, like cram Stonehenge into your living room. There are many honourable mentions, ‘Maxine,’ ‘Song Of The Stones,’ ‘Forest Church,’ and ‘Call Of The Coven’ to name a few. Hell, even their excellent cover of ‘Snowblind.’ That is the great thing about Green Lung; there is so much quality in their catalogue that trying to rank them feels almost blasphemous. It’s what happens when a band so wholly and fully embraces their sound and aesthetic that the quality just seems to come out of them like some kind of torrential dribbing ichor. Now they seem to be on top of the world, but one thing’s for certain - the coven is growing, the rites are far from over, and the next chapter of this band’s story is going to be one hell of a trip.

Catch Green Lung at ArcTanGent Festival this summer!

Words: Kiarash Golshani