Topic: Music: Any metal fans here?

[greybrick]

Is this a clone of Big_Pimp's Hip-hop thread? Yes, but at the same time the discussion will likely be entirely different. Hopefully we get something going and this doesn't immediately sink into obscurity...


To kick this off, here's what I have been listening to lately:

• Reinkaos (Dissection)
• Defiant Imagination (Quo Vadis)
• Symbolic (Death)
• Cabinet (Spawn of Possession)
• Oracle Moon (Garden of Shadows)

[BranDonk Kong]

Yes. I listen to metal, and that's about it. Pretty broad range of stuff from Megadeth, Anthrax, etc, to Opeth, Amon Amarth, Acrassicauda, Lamb of God, Hiroshima Will Burn, and so on. I can't say that there's a few specific bands that I'm currently listening to, because I typically just cycle through a few metal ShoutCast stations on Xiia Live on my Droid when I'm in the car or mowing the lawn or something. I do really like Baroness (I even named my son Isak, after the song) and Walls of Jericho, and the new Slayer album is actually a breath of fresh air compared to their other 2000's stuff.

I used to basically just put on Liquid Metal on my Sirius radio (which was stolen, so I just use the Android app now), but the quality is so bad that I mainly use Xiia Live (like mentioned before), or occasionally Slacker Radio, though they mainly play the same crap over and over.

[greybrick]

Amon Amarth is one of my favorites, Thousand Years of Oppression gets me every time. Though I didn't care too much for Twilight of the Thunder God, I thought the production was a bit muddy.

[Ian Sane]

I listen to NWOBHM and like really old stuff like Black Sabbath but I'm not into thrash or any sort current metal.  Sometimes when I'm on my computer at home I'll load up all my Iron Maiden and all my Judas Priest and shuffle the playlist.  Combining the two bands just pumps me up.

Melody is always important to me.  Iron Maiden has that.  Motorhead has that.  It isn't just about really heavy sounds and I think that's what a lot of metal acts miss the boat on.

[BranDonk Kong]

If you like melodic stuff, you should check out Opeth, they've got some pretty eclectic stuff and they're all incredibly talented (and they're songs typically average around 10 or 11 minutes). I also forgot to mention Between the Buried and Me, they're a current favorite of mine as well, and they also play some pretty melodic stuff...again, pretty long songs.

[Spinnzilla]

I like a little chunk of metal.  Queensryche is my favorite band, with System of a Down, Mastodon, Sabbath and Iron Maiden coming after.

[greybrick]

If you like melodic stuff, you should check out Opeth, they've got some pretty eclectic stuff and they're all incredibly talented (and they're songs typically average around 10 or 11 minutes). I also forgot to mention Between the Buried and Me, they're a current favorite of mine as well, and they also play some pretty melodic stuff...again, pretty long songs.

Opeth and such are great places to start, they have enough mainstream appeal that I can see them easing plenty of people into the genre.

Personally I wouldn't put Opeth all that high on my list.  They have some great compositions, and sometimes I won't skip an Opeth song if it pops up in the shuffle, but the vocals and overall style don't suit me well. Too many of their songs slow to a crawl, and I feel like at times they throw in too many elements for the sake of sounding innovative.

 BtBaM doesn't do that much for me either, just a matter of taste. There is a specific kind of melodic death that I don't care for. While I don't have the vocabulary to create a mental box for them, I associate bands like Soilwork, Scar Symmetry, BtBaM, Opeth, et cetera with the sound I don't like. I think a big commonality within the bands I don't like is the inclusion of sections with choruses of clean vocals that have a sort of arrogance or superiority about them- as if the singer is angry, and preaching at the same time. This is a really weird thing to pick out and not like, and I am sure I'm not describing it to a degree that creates understanding. Of course that isn't the only element of the bands that I don't like, but it is a shared trait.

One other part of it is that some bands start sounding a bit "me too" and I gravitate towards the things that I heard earlier on. Then again, I just recently started listening to Depresy and I get a kick out of that.

[greybrick]

I listen to NWOBHM and like really old stuff like Black Sabbath but I'm not into thrash or any sort current metal.  Sometimes when I'm on my computer at home I'll load up all my Iron Maiden and all my Judas Priest and shuffle the playlist.  Combining the two bands just pumps me up.

Melody is always important to me.  Iron Maiden has that.  Motorhead has that.  It isn't just about really heavy sounds and I think that's what a lot of metal acts miss the boat on.

Ian you may find that a good place to jump into the heavier, more melodic stuff is from the early phases: In Flames or Dark Tranquillity. At this point, bands had yet to stray all that far from the groundwork that Maiden laid out.

Additionally, here is a bonus link for anyone still reading from a band I got wind of up in Canada: Blackguard's Scarlet to Snow

[bustin98]

I prefer industrial myself, though I'm not current in the scene now. Its probably not as much as a seperate genre as it was in the 90s. You just don't have the powerhouses of NIN, Ministry, KMFDM, and others anymore. They exist still, but it doesn't seem to be as accessible as it was. I went to see Lords of Acid and My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult last month, and while LoA was very entertaining, they're not really industrial and everyone else was lackluster. The big highlight beyond LoA was one of the groups doing a cover of Ministry's Burning Inside.

I'll have to listen to some of the groups listed here. I get caught in the trap of listening to what is on the radio and miss out on the gems that don't make the cut because of politics or whatever. Though I do think a majority of garage metal bands need to stay in the garage.

[greybrick]

Though I do think a majority of garage metal bands need to stay in the garage.

.... unless they are a Swedish garage band, those are usually great. Of course, without decent production value or creativity in songwriting they aren't worth your time, but that can be said about any band.

[BranDonk Kong]

There are a lot of shitty "metal" bands out there too - Killswitch Engage, Five Finger Death Punch, Bullet for my Valentine, Avenged Sevenfold (they used to be good, but success completely ruined them), pretty much every "metal" band that's played on the radio.
I do (irrationally) take a little offense at the comments about Opeth, I think they're amazing. The singer can sing a clean (dare I say beautiful) chorus, and then turn around and spew out the most brutal growls you'll ever hear. It's like Satan is in your stereo.

[greybrick]

I do (irrationally) take a little offense at the comments about Opeth, I think they're amazing. The singer can sing a clean (dare I say beautiful) chorus, and then turn around and spew out the most brutal growls you'll ever hear. It's like Satan is in your stereo.

I just don't like the way their vocals sound, but that doesn't mean the guy isn't talented. My clean vocals are embarrassing, so I respect anyone that can do both styles well.

[Stratos]

I'm a fan of bands like Nightwish and Within Temptation.

[Kytim89]

I will be picking up Distubed: Asylum and Korn 3 soon.

If the wii 2 is going to include any kind of multimedia functions such as a music player, I have a good idea of how to use it and make it unique. Basically have a music player where I create the miis of my favorite band, assign certain songs to them and then play the music and have some kind of rock concert going on inside my wii 2.
 
For example, I like the band Godsmack, so I would create the miis of the band such as Sully Erna, the lead singer, and then assign a song like "I Stand Alone" to the band and then play the song. The same would go for any other bands such as Korn or Disturbed.
 
There would also be sound amplifiers and what ever applications needed to alter the sound of the songs in a similar fashion to what the DSi music player does with soundtracks

[BranDonk Kong]

This is a metal thread, please don't crap on it. I know you mean well, but...

[Kytim89]

Sorry, I must gave pasted the wrong thing in this topic.

[BranDonk Kong]

...I was joking. Still though...

[greybrick]

...I was joking. Still though...

I laughed out loud, Brandogg. I would prompt Brandogg to apologize, but I am also guilty of being rude about others' music tastes. Why don't we just make an effort to not crap on other people's tastes.

Kytim, it appears that both Brandogg and I are both mildly rude metal snobs.   I know I listened to Disturbed while my tastes were still developing, and I don't want to sound like I think it isn't cool to exclusively listen to that if it is what you like. 

Honestly, Kytim, if you enjoy bands like Disturbed there is a chance that you will like some of the more musically focused bands. Not that Disturbed isn't music- they write catchy songs, but it is always cool to hear bands messing with counterpoint, timing shifts, or even just more complex melodies.

Why don't you take a listen to Insomnium? They are still very poppy, so they aren't that big of a leap from what you are already listening to. If you like it, I always have tons of recommendations up my sleeve.

@ Stratos

If you like Nightwish there is a chance you will like Unleash the Archers
don't let the horrible growls at the start of this song turn you off, their lead singer is one of the better female fronts in metal.

This one is more of a stretch, but if you have interest in bands with heavy symphonic elements try out Eternal Tears of Sorrow

[Stratos]

Thanks, I'm digging both of them so far. My musical tastes are pretty broad so it's not hard to make stretches to new bands I'll enjoy.

Something rather humorous I came across was a metal cover band called Northern Kings composed of artists from Nightwish, Sonata Arctica, Terasbetoni and Charon. They do covers of classic songs like "We Don't Need Another Hero" by Tina Turner, "Hello" by Lionel Richie, and "My Way" by Frank Sinatra among others. Also songs by Cutting Crew, Seal, David Bowie, Duran Duran and Bon Jovi. They're actually really good and I would put some of the covers over the original songs.

[BranDonk Kong]

Well I'm not gonna lie - I liked Disturbed when I was in high school, but that was a long time ago. I do find it enjoyable to play "Stricken" on Guitar Hero 3 though, and if their cover of "Land of Confusion" comes on, I'll listen to it. I can see where people get into stuff like that, but I'm not really into the whole "put your fists in the air" type of stuff. I was watching some concert on Palladia (I think) a while back, and it was funny because Disturbed was playing and David Draiman was like, "Get the **** up!" over and over, and the crowd just kept ignoring him and basically sat there impatiently until they got off the stage.

I used to like Godsmack when I was like 16 too, but then their second CD came out and I realized it was just the same song over and over. They say Alice in Chains is their biggest influence, but I can't see it in their music.

[Caliban]

Dethklok.

[BranDonk Kong]

Dethklok is awesome. I need to get Dethalbum 2, I have the first one and it's great. Amon Amarth actually sounds a *lot* like Dethklok, except Pickles is a better drummer, and Skwisgaar is a better lead guitarist.

[greybrick]

Dethklok.

Lol, for a while my nickname was Nathan Explosion.

[bustin98]

I hate the cover of Land of Confusion. Also hate on the cover of Careless Whisper. Probably showing my age there. Hell, when I was 16, Metallica was just starting to peak. Is Motely Crue metal? Whitesnake? Bullet Boys?? LOL Love me some Faster Pussycat too... I'd stick Queensryche and Faith No More in there as well since they're, you know, old.

Ohhhhhh yeahhhhhh, crappin' all over this new age new fangled metal music thread

[Caliban]

Dethklok.

Lol, for a while my nickname was Nathan Explosion.

My two favorite lines from him are "PICK IT UUUUP!", and "We will make everything metal, blacker than the blackest black... times infinity!".

Dethklok is awesome. I need to get Dethalbum 2, I have the first one and it's great. Amon Amarth actually sounds a *lot* like Dethklok, except Pickles is a better drummer, and Skwisgaar is a better lead guitarist.

Why is it that they never included "Crush My Battle Opponent's Balls" in the albums? It's like one of my favorites.