Our month-long quest to find rock’s spookiest song has reached a logical and epic final battle, with Iron Maiden facing off against Black Sabbath.
It’s a war of era-opening title tracks, as “The Number of the Beast” from the first album Iron Maiden recorded with Bruce Dickinson as their lead singer goes up against the title track to Black Sabbath’s legendary and genre-creating debut album.
“The Number of the Beast” got here by beating the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil” in round one by a margin of 54% to 46%. That was the toughest fight they’ve faced so far, as they bested Alice Cooper’s “Black Widow” 64% to 36% in week two and Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” 68% to 32% last week.
Meanwhile, “Black Sabbath” arrived in the finals by defeating Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear the Reaper” in round one (58% to 42%), then Motley Crue’s “Shout at the Devil” 79% to 21% in round two. In an admittedly poor case of bracket planning, the group then went up against and defeated their longtime frontman Ozzy Osbourne and his “Bark at the Moon” single 71% to 29% last week.
Read More: Revisiting 11 Famous Halloween Rock Concerts
So here we are, Maiden vs. Sabbath for all the marbles, with their fates in your hands. Round three voting ends on Thursday, Oct. 30 at 11:59PM EST. The spookiest rock song of all time will be crowned on Halloween.
Watch Iron Maiden Perform ‘The Number of the Beast’
Watch Black Sabbath Perform ‘Black Sabbath’
Classic Halloween TV Episodes
Halloween: a time for candy, costumes and binge-watching spooky special editions of your favorite TV shows.
Gallery Credit: Corey Irwin

