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"Metal" is the best thread title here.
I've always liked metal, but I don't know (m)any metal bands, so I don't listen to much metal.
I know for a fact we have some metal fans here. Tell me exactly what I should listen to.
I know for a fact we have some metal fans here. Tell me exactly what I should listen to.
Post edited by Andrew on
Comments
All that Remains
Killswitch Engage
36 Crazy Fists
BlessTheFall (kinda)
soilwork
flyleaf
40 below summer
Deftones
God forbid
Chevelle
Won't be too harsh on your ears, once you like this, you can move on to Lamb of God, Kittie, Pantera, Sepultura, Soulfly, slipknot, mudvayne(more rock than metal), otep, etc.
If you want to get into metal, you should try to figure out what it is, in particular, that attracts you to it, and go from there. Machinae Supremacy is a good way to cut your teeth. I would also reccomend checking out Apocalyptica, particularly their non-cover stuff; they're an amazing band.
Follow Scott's advice and find what you like in the old stuff; you should be listening to those classic awesome bands anyway. From there, you can branch out and find bands that go in new directions. A few of the bands I listen to:
Progenitor Extreme Metal Bands
Death
Mayhem
Burzum
Mercyful Fate
Venom
Celtic Frost
-this stuff is from the early/mid-80's and is the origin of modern black and death metal, and associated sub-genres
Death Metal/Progressive Death Metal/Melodic Death Metal/Blackened Death Metal/Melodic Progressive Blackened Deathgrindcore
Cannibal Corpse
Nile
Deicide
Bolt Thrower
Gojira
Decapitated
Cattle Decapitation
Necrophagist
Amon Amarth (more melo-death/Viking death)
Children of Bodom (progressive melo-death)
Behemoth (also had a black/death phase, and started off as black metal)
Arsis
The Faceless
Arch Enemy
Therion (first two albums)
In Flames
Dethklok
Goatwhore
Vader
Skinless
Lamb of God
Shadows Fall (progressive death metal)
Mastodon (sludge metal)
Dark Tranquility
Classic Thrash
old Metallica
old Megadeth
SLAYER!
Anthrax
-These are The Big Four of 80's metal; if you like metal, listen to these guys. If you really like Slayer, you may be ready to dip into the more extreme stuff (like the death metal)
Progressive Metal/Power Metal/Symphonic Power Metal/Symphonic Metal
Jag Panzer
Kiuas
Blind Guardian
Hammerfall
Gamma Ray
Helloween
Kamelot
Rhapsody (of Fire)
Conception
Dream Theater
Symphony X
Dragonforce
Stratovarius
Savatage (really more progressive rock, but fuck you, I like 'em)
Nevermore
Iced Earth
Therion (after their first two albums)
Nightwish (with Tarja)
Epica
Manowar (more classic metal, but you should really listen to them)
Opeth
Pain of Salvation (metal-ish, more prog than anything else)
Black Metal/Gothic Metal/Doom Metal
Dimmu Borgir
Satyricon
Cradle of Filth
old Behemoth (as mentioned above)
Einherjer (Viking Black metal)
Type O Negative
Lacuna Coil
The Sword (very Black Sabbath-esque; a good place to get started)
The Odd Ones
Strapping Young Lad (and other Devin Townsend projects) - makes music that is difficult to classify; mostly industrial/death/thrash/progressive
Finntroll - folk metal, with a black metal streak
Korpiklaani - straight out folk metal
Buckethead - not strictly speaking a metal guy necessarily, but you should check him out
Fantomas - I put this here because Rym and Scott hate them fiercely; weird experimental death metal fronted by Mike Patton - it's interesting, but I don't know if I like it or not
I'll edit in more as I remember them, but this is a good start. If you could post what metal bands you've heard so far, that'd be a great help. You can find videos of a lot of these folks on teh Youtubes.
And yes, I'll give you Apocalyptica, they are indeed amazing.
You forgot kreator, Morbid Angel and Nile on the death metal front.
Doom metal is different from black metal and more resembling of death metal but it has slower tempos.
Not to mention you forgot nu-metal *shiver* being headline with bands such as Korn and slipknot.
You also forgot metalcore, but that should die in a fire.
Dream theater is not metal, they are progressive rock, if you listen to masterpieces like octavarium and still label them metal you should die in a fire.
Nile was the second band I mentioned in the death metal section. Morbid Angel was an oversight, and I don't really listen to Kreator.
I didn't mention Immortal, Atheist, or Deathspell because they can all die in a fire; I also left out Emperor, another huge black metal band. I hate most black metal, so I don't make a lot of reccomendations on it.
I lumped them into the categories I did because that's how they came to mind when I was typing this up. I would put the doom metal bands separate from everything else, but screw it, they are where they are. Also, a lot of doom metal doesn't necessarily resemble death metal; a lot of it is an older metal style reminscent of Sabbath.
I very specifically left out nu metal and metalcore because, yes, those genres can die in a fire.
And, very technically, I would say that Dream Theater has some very metal elements, particularly the Train of Thought album. I consider Pink Floyd or Genesis to be more progressive rock; DT is progressive hard rock/heavy metal.
Also, the Images and Words album is a masterpiece. Octavarium was good, but it wasn't quite up to the level of their first two albums.
MrRoboto:
Fair enough. When someone asks me about metal, though, I like to give a complete picture, excluding the crap (metalcore or nu metal). I generally don't think about whether or not a particular lyric is offensive; I make the (fairly safe) assumption that if you're asking about metal and have any idea about the genre at all, you should be prepared to expect a certain amount of shock and such.
And it really does need to repeated: listen to Apocalyptica. New album on September 17th! Also, Kamelot and Dream Theater both have new albums. Get 'em.
I already regularly listen to Machinae Supremacy, I like Black Sabbath, I wasn't fond of Iron Maiden, what I've heard of Slipknot I hated, and I've heard two Dethklok songs and liked them both. I also am fond of System of a Down for the awesome vocalist, but I guess they're a little more nu-metal and can therefore "die in a fire".
And thanks, Pete. I had my fingers crossed for an awesome post like that from you. And "Melodic Progressive Blackened Deathgrindcore" is the best name for a sub-sub-sub-sub-genre EVER.
If you like awesome vocalists, you should check out Kamelot; Roy Kahn's voice is like pure sex played over heavy metal. It's orgasmic.
Hating Slipknot is good; it means you have taste. It's also OK to like SoaD, because they have black/progressive influences.
And the long sub-sub-genre name was purely a joke, but I'm sure there's a band out there with a similarly stupid sub-genre name. I'm reminded of Cephalic Carnage who call themselves "Rocky Mountain Hydro-Grind," whatever the fuck that means.
I could yell for days about how utterly asinine this sub-sub-sub-genre bullshit is, but I need my vocal cords.
EDIT: I read over my post again, and holy shit, I listen to a lot of metal. The bands I listed are all bands that I actively listen to; there are about 100 other metal bands that I've merely heard.
So much for claiming I have diverse musical tastes.
I'll also pick a few semi-familiar names from your list plus Kamelot, Apokalypta, and Metallica and report back. Thanks again! This'll keep me busy for a while...
EDIT: Sail: I'm a huge Metallica fanboy, so if you're not familiar with the band, I feel the need to give you fair warning. Pretty much every Metallica album sounds different from every other album, so you'll run into some things you'll absolutely love and some things you'll absolutely hate. Give it all a listen before you make up your mind.
I'll tell you straight out that the "...And Justice For All" album is quite possibly the greatest collection of heavy metal music in existence, second only to Master of Puppets, in my opinion. Some people put Puppets ahead of Justice, but they're wrong.
Pre-Black Album. When Scott says old, YOU FUCKING LISTEN TO HIM.
Cannibal Corpse
NOT FOR NOOBS - OHMUHGAWD. Don't start with this...
Tool is GREAT. Sabbath is the shizzle, Pantera is my favorite though, without a doubt. If you like awesome vocalists, you should check out Kamelot;
Hating Slipknot is good; it means you have tasteI find this contradiction hilarious. Kamelot might not be screamy like Corey, but god dammit, they are GOD AWFUL.
I like Slipknot, but they take a bit of getting used to. Excellent music, vocals are iffy.
I'm not going to say that you should only listen to pre-Black Metallica, because I find things I like in all their albums. Give it all a listen, because it all has something going on. The Black Album itself has some excellent music, Load/ReLoad have some very interesting songs on them, and Garage Inc. is just a good album all-around.
You can probably skip St. Anger, though. It's not their best; the idea intrigued me, and I can hear elements that I like, but the whole album is difficult.
I prefer bands like Iron Maiden for my metal music.
Maybe so, but they don't utilize their talent... :(
I didn't mention Tool earlier because it's not metal (or at least I don't think it is), but anything Maynard is gold. I'd say the same thing about Reznor, but the last NIN album sucked balls.
TheWhaleShark: have you heard OTEP? If you haven't, and you don't mind a chick doing vocals, give it a try.
Well, that was my point of view, and I probably won't post any more suggestions, as it seems I'm a weird breed here. So, if you'll excuse me, I'll go look for a can of kerosene and my zippo.
Last.fm was having teh issues, so I used Pandora for my music sampling instead. Turns out I didn't have to pick bands at random, because many, if not most, of the "similar artists" also appeared on your list. I also put off listening to Metallica for now because of your recommendation. So let's get started...
Kamelot I thought was pretty good. I listened to four or so tracks from them and was especially fond of the song "Karma"(Or so say my notes. I do not remember what this song sounded like at all).
Rhapsody of Fire was awesome. The high fantasy elements were awesome, the music was awesome, everything about it was awesome. I'm definitely buying that album.
Dragonforce struck me as a less good Machinae Supremacy, I even thought I could hear the SID machine.
I thought Symphony X was pretty good.
I'm so glad I gave Iron Maiden another shot. They blew my mind.
I also really, really liked Hammerfall. I'm not sure exactly what it was about them, but it gave me a really good feeling.
I went for Slayer next. At first, I was a little put off. It sounded inverted compared to everything else I had heard up to this point. But it soon grew on me, as I fell into the rhythm and realized how much they had earned those soundbytes. I felt like I should have been playing it louder, but all my volumes were maxed out. I really, really liked Slayer.
Apocalyptica really impressed me. They've got amazing all-around musical talent.
The only band that appeared on your list that I listened to that I didn't really like was In Flames. But that's totally ok, because 7/8 is pretty damn good. You really know your shit when it comes to metal, TheWhaleShark.
If you really liked Rhapsody of Fire, listen to Blind Guardian and more Kamelot. Also check out Gamma Ray and more Hammerfall. There are a crap ton of fantasy-themed metal bands. If you also like Iron Maiden a bunch, try Jag Panzer too. Also check out Nightwish and Epica. And if you want to go really crazy, try Luca Turilli and Dionysus.
If you liked Slayer, and you've liked a couple of Dethklok songs, you have potential to be a death metal fan. I'd reccomend trying Children of Bodom, Dark Tranquility, Mastodon, and Gojira. See how you like those.
A note about Dragonforce: they're a speed metal band, straight out. There's no SID machine; the similar squealing you hear is either crazy keyboard or (more likely) crazy-ass guitar. Observe:
This video is made of epic lulz, by the way.
MrRoboto: Tool is, like, one of my favorite bands ever. I just generally don't lump them in with the rest of metal; they go a little all over the place. Good stuff. I've listened to OTEP, and I'm not really a fan. I like me some chick-fronted metal (Arch Enemy, Nightwish, and Epica), but they just didn't do it for me.
Black Sabbath is the most important band of metal.
WhaleShark, you forgot your Rammsteins and your Dir en greys. Industrial metal have some awesome, and Rammstein and DEG are full of it. You also omitted Trivium. They're worth about one-and-a-half cursory glances at least.
Sail, if you like teh prog rox, try Black Sabbath's album Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.
What I've heard of Dir En Grey has been alright, but nothing really special. It feels unnecessary in my current music rotation. Generally, I'm not a fan of any Japanese music. I thought L'Arc-en-ciel, for example, was pretty average and not anything really special.
Yea TheWhaleShark basically has it nailed down, all superb choices.
It can't hurt.