Sometimes hated, often ridiculed – and very occasionally venerated – the instrumental can be a mixed area of success for a rock band. From guitar specialists (like Steve Vai and Yngwie Malmsteen), through to contemporary prog and math rock (we’re thinking our friends Rolo Tomassi, and the guys in And So I Watch You From Afar) have tried their hand at them. And yeah, plenty of bands have also dropped instrumentals somewhere onto their albums as little more than filler…but even the humble “filler” track can turn out to be something rather special every now and again.

For this week’s Slaylist, Jon Kerr scoured Spotify and put together a Sunday Slaylist of some of the finest instrumental cuts that rock music has to offer. It spans a vast range of styles and eras, with classic names like Queen, Iron Maiden and Kiss sitting alongside the thrash of Evile, the OTT power metal of HammerFall, and Lamb of God’s burly grooves.

Listen to our Sunday Slaylist: Instrumentals

Spotify is available to most of Western Europe and the USA for free – though obviously you’re better off shelling out either £5 or £10 a month for one of Spotify’s premium packages, as then you can listen to our Slaylists without having them interrupted by adverts. For our readers in countries not currently serviced by Spotify….sorry.

Listen to ‘Kid Psychic and the Sidekick Kid’ by Astrohenge (as it’s not on Spotify):

What do you think of instrumental music? What is its place in heavy music? What classic pieces of instrumental heaviness have we missed off our Slaylist (and no points for saying ‘Orion’ because it’s not on Spotify)? Drop us a comment down below.