Metal

[hellmitre]

I've got odd musical tastes, especially for my personality and seeming eternal optimism/realism. That said, I love metal and other forms of angry rock. I'm a sucker for dual bass drums.

Example groups:
Machine Head, As I Lay Dying, Lamb of God, Metallica, In Flames, Avenged Sevenfold.

I've done a lot of thinking on the subject and its relation to me and my personality. I think an endless amount, about everything, constantly analyzing and forming theories about any number of random stuff; why someone is acting a certain way on the bus, so on. And I think the angry music allows me to channel my aggression out into it and zone my brain out while looking ridiculous headbanging around my house in the wee hours of the morning when no one's up. It's like therapy for me.

[chrispy1]

absolutely, totally and 100% agreement. I have certain albums that I listen to (Lamb of God, Nine Inch Nails, Metallica (up to, but not including, the Black album), Rammstein, Meshuggah, Sepultura, etc. etc. etc.) when I've had a bad day at the office. A lot of the bands I don't understand the words (that whole growling thing confuses me), but meh, I'm not listening to it for the lyrics.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

Rumsfield, Soulfly (lead singer from Sepultura), Deftones, early Clutch (they havent been metal for a few years), early Monster Magnet, Korn, Flyleaf (debatable), Black Label Society....

EDIT: Seether (some), Drowning Pool, POD, American Head Charge, Madball, Death From Above 1979 (they sorta qualify), Finch, Disturbed (before they got all assy)...

[haveblue]

I'm the same way. I find that generally the heavier/angrier the music is, the more relaxed it makes me. I can't listen to metal in bed anymore, because it relaxes me to the point of falling asleep.

Notable relaxants: Children of Bodom, In Flames, Mastodon, Lamb of God, Hatebreed

[chrispy1]

I'm the same way. I find that generally the heavier/angrier the music is, the more relaxed it makes me. I can't listen to metal in bed anymore, because it relaxes me to the point of falling asleep.

Weirdest series of dreams I've ever had was falling asleep to Metallica's Master of Puppets album. Gee Willikers I woke up at about 2 a.m. and was so completely confused, disoriented, and generally "fuzzy" it was weird. I don't remember much about the dreams, but I do remember there was a chainsaw-weilding dragon. Like I said, weird.

[Stief]

I for one love metal, and it relaxes me (for some strange reason)

nothing better than a woman screaming lyrics to calm you down ^_^

Metallica are amazing, as are Rammstein, and most of the bands listed here....

Anyone like In this moment?

[damienthebloody]

Ah...my very favourite genre of music. I'm more of a black/doom/death person, but I don't mind a bit of traditional and thrash and so on. I'm reasonably broadminded in my taste in metal. Some bands that I like (and think you should all investigate), sorted roughly according to subgenre:

Black Metal
Emperor
Darkthone
Abigor
Nazxul
Burzum
Bathory
Moonsorrow
Arcturus
Ulver
Immortal
Marduk
Ildjarn
Shining
Dødheimsgard
Deathspell Omega
Enslaved
Dissection
Lord Kaos
Belketre
Satyricon
Xasthur
Weakling

Death Metal
Suffocation
Cryptopsy
Immolation
Nile
Incantation
Gorguts
Angelcorpse
Demilich
Death
Cynic
Portal
Stargazer
Vader
At the Gates
Morbid Angel
Deicide
Negativa
Disciples of Mockery

Doom metal
Candlemass
My Dying Bride
Anathema
Paradise Lost
Saturnus
Solitude Aeternus
Grief
Forgotten Tomb
Forest of Shadows
Confessor
Solstice
Esoteric
Unholy
Mournful Congregation
Funeral
Skepticism
Shape of Despair
Evoken
dISEMBOWELMENT
Dolorian
the Gathering
Khanate
Thorr's Hammer
Trouble
Halo

Traditional/Power Metal
Mercyful Fate
King Diamond
Blind Guardian


...yeah, not really my style(s).

Thrash/stuff like that
Slayer
The Haunted
Strapping Young Lad
(Early) Meshuggah

Grind
Napalm Death
Blood Duster
Degeneracy

(not really into grind, either)

Gothic/whatever
Cradle of Filth
Virgin Black

...if people like, I can hunt down representative songs on Youtube (as has been done in the past in the deathdoom thread). Otherwise, all of the above bands are highly recommended. Check some of them out!

(edited for formatting).

[Gelsamel]

Dream Theater
Scar Symmetry
Heaps of Others, but at this present point in time these are my fav (Dream Theater will always be on this list).

[Jesse]

I second Damien's comments, that guy blew my mind with his metal.

I also place emphasis on My Dying Bride. I fucking love them so very, very hard.

[xooll]

Anyone else listen to folk metal? I love the stuff...
Agalloch
Bathory (kinda)
Elvenking
Falkenbach
Finntroll
Korpiklaani
Skyclad

I suppose most folk metal could also be called "____ metal with folky stuff," but I prefer to make the distinction since it's the folky stuff that I'm more interested in.

[Jesse]

Isn't that referred to as Power Metal? Or Fantasy Metal or something like that.

That said, I've listened to Finntroll and Korpiklaani, not majorly impressed.

[thefiddler]

I'm not a fan of Finntroll, but I guess they're playing in the Chicago area in September or October.

...But I'm not going.

[chrispy1]

Anyone else listen to folk metal? I love the stuff...

Ditto - prefer the celtic/folky portion, but meh, is all good. Check out Moonspell, Vanitas, and Opeth are three of the one's I'm into right now...Opeth's Damnation is really, really cool...

[EradicateIV]

If you consider opeth and moonspell folk metal... sure?

I CAN'T STAND FINNTROLL. AHHH *ears bleed*.

Black metal is amazing. I've taken a liking to mostly usbm for some reason, but I still have not seen a single band live.

When does Varg get out?

[chrispy1]

If you consider opeth and moonspell folk metal... sure?

This is what I based my definition on:

Rooted in Scandinavian death metal, Opeth later delved deep into experimentation, having since incorporated influences from jazz, progressive rock, blues, and folk crossing genre borders to create a unique blend of musical styles[1]—most successfully with their ground-breaking Blackwater Park (2001),[2] and their latest release Ghost Reveries (2005)

...and yeah, Moonspell's gothic, not folk. Really need to start reading up on definitions.

[Castaway]

Korpiklaani

Yes. Awesome. Win.

I listen to a medly of metal (hahaha, medly of metal.) LIST TIME!
Children of Bodom
Mastodon
Metallica (Ride the Lightning, Metallica, and Master of Puppets)
Dir En Grey
Lamb Of God (though they're sort of metal-core)
HORSE the band
Kittie
Sonata Arctica
GWAR
Slayer (Reign in Blood)
Megadeath
Rammstein
Corvus Corax
The Kovenant
Gorgoroth
Gallhammer
Dragonforce (The hardest metal known to man?(i jest, i jest))
Mayhem
Cadavaria
Brujeria
Lightning Bolt
Moi Dix Mois (do they count?)
Onmyouza
Opeth
Pantera
Symphany X
Stormwarrior
The Sword
Tiamat

[damienthebloody]

Finntroll is, in fact, marvellous. Especially the last two albums, where the songwriting has changed from just being shedloads of fun to having a more serious edge. Recommended songs - Nattfödd, Grottans Barn - you'll find yourself singing along, especially with the latter.

Korpoklaani is way fun, although I hate the singer, for he has no sense of pitch.

Other folk metal that is great - Primordial. They are from Ireland, and play really simple, repetitive, hazy songs that are also very addictive, and have an excellent vocalist. My absolute favourite Folk/Viking/whatever Metal band has got to be Moonsorrow - the main writer plays keys in Finntroll, and you can really recognise his influence in Finntroll once you've heard Moonsorrow. Not a fun band - big, long, Bathory-esque epics, very progressive, very interesting, enthralling stuff. Very much a "we have swords and chainmail and accordions, that we use to KILL people, but in a traditional and folky manner". Great stuff.

Opeth - eeeeeeeh....yeah. They have 3 and a half great albums - Still Life, Morningrise, Damnation, and the first half of Blackwater Park. The rest of their work I find unspeakably boring. Sometimes I think they must just be incredibly lazy songwriters, because they have written so much good stuff, but more and more I find it generic and bland. They do a good live show - I was fortunate enough to catch them in Boston on the Damnation tour, and it was stunning - entirely 'acoustic' set, really well done. I've also seen them a few other times, playing proper death metal, and find it hilarious whenever Mikael starts talking about playing "real, heavy, Satanic death metal", because their music is just so...nice. Not really an 'evil' band by any measure - for some time now, I've considered them much more a prog band than a metal band, but that's really neither here nor there.

Moonspell - used to be a byword for 'suck' on a forum I posted on years ago. I haven't listened to them in ages.

Agalloch = very nice.

USBM - I really, really like Xasthur. They (he?) contributed a cover to the black metal tribute to Katatonia, and it's a favourite of mine. Just so cold and ugly. Clanging, weird stuff. Really like Weakling, too. Other than that, there aren't many bands I can think of that I've really stuck with.

[haveblue]

I'm a bit surprised to see no mention of Wintersun or Dimmu Borgir in here. Both are awesome.

Edit: A more accurate description of Wintersun perhaps is "unbearably good".

[damienthebloody]

I'm a bit surprised to see no mention of Wintersun or Dimmu Borgir in here. Both are awesome.

Edit: A more accurate description of Wintersun perhaps is "unbearably good".

Don't actually know Wintersun - what do they sound like?

I've found Dimmu Borgir increasingly uninteresting after Enthrone Darkness Triumphant - For All Tid has some great moments, I loved Stormblast (the original recording), and find about half of ETD to be very enjoyable, but after that, it really stopped working for me. The last album of theirs that I bought was Puritanical Something or Other - the first song is fantastic, but it really loses steam after that. I've never made it all the way through the album in one sitting - I've had to listen to it in sections, but it still doesn't hold my attention. It's very well recorded, though.

Do you like Old Man's Child? I think In Defiance of Existence is actually better than most of the later Dimmu albums. In fact, I think I'll put it on now

[haveblue]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=g97c2aEekp8

Though, there's no speakers here, so I have no idea how the sound quality on that is. They have a couple samples on their website, here.

[J]

With my favourites (doom metal) already listed, I would just like to mention:

Ayreon
http://www.ayreon.com/ayreon/ay_media/a ... k_full.mp3
http://www.ayreon.com/ayreon/ay_media/a ... n_full.mp3
(bonus points for recognising the singers)

Apocalyptica
http://www.apocalyptica.com/media/videos.php (lousy sound quality)

Therion
http://www.megatherion.com/media/sample ... 0Kingu.mp3

My Dying Bride (because they can't be mentioned enough)
http://mydyingbride.org/mp3/The_Raven_A ... sample.mp3

Oh, and The Gathering, though a great band, definitely does not go under doom metal.

[chrispy1]

Apocalyptica's first three albums were amazing (Plays Metallica by Four Cellos, Cult, Inquisition Symphony). Don't even bother listening to the others.

Have also just discovered Nightwish. Holy Damn, I think I'm in love.

[J]

Agreed on Cult and Inquisition Symphony, but I have to disagree on all the others, especially the songs with Lombardo in them.

[refreshingapathy]

Not a huge fan of Cult, but their other albums are stupendous.


I have to find an article I read a few months back about how smart people listen to metal as an intelligent way to release their frustrations. Or something like that.

I like pretty much any kind of metal you can throw at me except for "cheese metal" (e.g. Carnivore) or really ridiculous grindcore (e.g. Waking the Cadaver). Or stuff like is highlighted in the most excellent YouTube video by Brian Posehn entitled "Metal By Numbers."


Watch out for the shirtless white trash guy, he'll punch you and he smells bad.

[Castaway]

What Moonsorrow and Primordial album do you recommend? I really like folk metal, and I have hardly any.

[chrispy1]

Eluveitie and Cruachan are two bands that I've just found that seem to be really good - I haven't given them enough of a listen to say one way or another, but they do look promising.

Has anyone heard of Guahaihoque or Tezkatlipoka? They're classified as Native American Metal, and I'm very curious. I've looked online and there doesn't seem to be much info on either band, but just wondering if anyone's heard them and can recommend albums or similar bands. I'm guessing the closest mainstream would be Sepultura, whom are awesome in my books...

[refreshingapathy]

What Moonsorrow and Primordial album do you recommend? I really like folk metal, and I have hardly any.

Well... common suggestion, but have you tried Finntroll? They're the one that instantly pops to mind when you say folk metal.

[Castaway]

if you ever need to know anything about Metal check out Encyclopaedia Metallum (metal-archives.com). It has good info.

[chrispy1]

thanks Castaway - will head over in a bit...

[EradicateIV]

if you ever need to know anything about Metal check out Encyclopaedia Metallum (metal-archives.com). It has good info.

That website is key for finding out information about cds. But most importantly, being able to pull up random bands by genre is genius!

[digitalc]

i really love progressive-metal, like Tool, A Perfect Circle, Deftones.

J-Metal like Dir en Grey is a favorite too.

mmmhmm. One of my favorite genres fer sure

[Bondolon]

Man, I've fallen in love with Drone Metal lately... Sunn 0))) really rings my bell.

[refreshingapathy]

I love them.

Half because I have Sunn amps, half because they're awesome.
Check out a band on myspace called laggadrone (there may be an additional "d" in there, I forget). Very well done drone metal.

Boris is good too.

[Urbal T]

Metal is my feel-good music. Metal bands I listen to that I can remember right now:

The Project Hate MCMXCIX
Opeth
Orphaned Land
Sad Legend
Devil in the Kitchen
OSI

RE: folk metal, Devil in the Kitchen is pretty awesome folk metal--may be difficult to find, though. Here's their myspace.

Edit: forgot Strapping Young Lad and Devin Townsend Band

[damienthebloody]

What Moonsorrow and Primordial album do you recommend? I really like folk metal, and I have hardly any.

For Moonsorrow: Kivenkantaja or Verisäkeet. Both are long and wonderful. The previous two, Suden Uni and Voimasta Ja Kunniasta, are also lots of fun but I would say a bit less developed. They're both worth checking out, though. Their latest album, Hävitetty, is absolutely beautiful, but it's only 2 songs, 25-30 minutes long each, so I'm not sure if it's the best place to be jumping in (even though it might be their best album).

Primordial: I've only got the one album - the Gathering Wilderness. I love it to bits, and mean to explore them a bit further. I was actually first exposed to them because their singer recently made a guest appearance on the new Marduk album (which is also highly recommended) - really strong, clear, powerful voice, and he uses it really well. Tends to be a little rough around the edges, but I think that only adds to his evocative skills.

Wintersun - that Youtube song was genuinely excellent. I'll be investigating them further.

The gathering: I fuckin' love the gathering. Even their original doom-death stuff (although what they do now is their best stuff ever).

Sad Legend: AAAAAHHH. Very special band. They definitely belong in the 'not-well-known-enough' category.

Eluveitie - also highly approve of them. It took me a while to work out what it was that made them feel so different from, say, Finntroll, and it wasn't until I visited their websites and looked at all of their favourite bands - they're all into Dark Tranquillity, In Flames, Soilwork, etc - and it really shows. It's like melodic death with accordions, instead of, say, black metal with accordions (which is, I think, more traditional). As it happens, I much prefer Eluveitie to all of those bands (except, of course, Finntroll), so well done them.

Damn. Anyone else here into Trollfest?
Also, Carnivore was mentioned - any Type O Negative fans?

[refreshingapathy]

You know, I don't like Carnivore a whole lot, but I do love Type O. Their old stuff. New album doesn't do it for me at all.

Then again, half the time I spin that on my radio show at college it's so I can leave the studio for a bathroom break... hooray for 11 minute songs that I can rock to while... you get the drift.

[damienthebloody]

hooray for 11 minute songs that I can rock to while... you get the drift.

And so singalongable, too! "I know you're fucking somebody else! He knows you're fucking somebody else! I know! He knows! I know! He knows!"

....yeah.

Now playing: At the Gates - All life Ends.

[refreshingapathy]

Ohhh yes.

"Loving you is like loving the dead..."

Broke up with my ex and played that song to start the radio show that night. Boy that was a fun show... got to play all the breakup/ex girlfriend metal. Of which there is a surprising amount.

[xooll]

RE: folk metal, Devil in the Kitchen is pretty awesome folk metal--may be difficult to find, though. Here's their myspace.

Ah, yes, I forgot to mention them. They are awesome incarnate.

[mrcheesypants]

The only metal I will listen to is power metal, but I hate Dragonforce. Everytime one of my friends state how "awesome" dragonforce is, I force them to listen to Rhapsody of Fire's Dawn of Victory. Makes them feel they know nothing about music.