Move over, Mariah – there’s only one yuletide record worth talking about this December: 90-year-old actor Sir Christopher Lee’s A Heavy Metal Christmas.


The award-winning star of Dracula and Lord of the Rings has just released his over-amped takes on festive favourites The Little Drummer Boy and Silent Night, both of which are genuinely crushing, credible and darn good fun.

Although he’s infinitely better known as a thespian, Sir Christopher’s been in demand as a singer for years, having first showcased his classically-trained bass voice on the soundtrack to the 1973 horror movie The Wicker Man.

Sir Christopher started working with heavy metal musicians in 2005, when he made a guest appearance on the Italian power metal band Rhapsody of Fire’s single The Magic of the Wizard’s Dream. He then went on to release his first solo metal album Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross to critical acclaim in 2010.

As well as being recognised as the oldest performer in the history of the genre, Sir Christopher was awarded the Spirit of Metal Award by Metal Hammer magazine in 2010.

A Heavy Metal Christmas is available to buy now on iTunes and Amazon, and you can check out samples of the two tracks below.


Not one to rest on his laurels, Sir Christopher will be following up his Christmas tunes with a new metal release in 2013: his follow up to Charlemagne, called The Omens of Death.