1000 lb. Metal

[Ricardo.]

I.e. Heavy Metal. Following that distortion topic, I realized that I don't have enough metal in my collection.

 

I dislike many metal bands because:

 

1. Silly lyrics (IMO, silliness in Metal is fairies, Satan, and sex with dead animals). Nothing against them I suppose but I don't like it much when it comes to Metal. Hell, I thought Led Zeppelin did a good job with mystic, fairy tale lyrics in some instances

 

2. "Cookie Monster" vocals. Don't like 'em.

 

3. "Too much" classical influence. If every solo is at Yngwie speeds and focuses on delivering diminished runs that sound melodramatic (it's a term I use loosely and often) and not "genuine" I lose interest.

 

4. No leads/entire Dropped-D riff'd songs. There's too many out there, and I already have Disturbed to satisfy that low-end need.

 

I think that covers most of it. At the moment, the only bands I've accepted into my circle of Metal is Metallica, some Pantera, System of a Down, Disturbed, and (I guess it counts) Black Sabbath. I also have Stratovarius as my lone representative Eastern Europe Metal band.

 

*Phew* looking for recommendations. I've searched far and wide for bands that have _strong, authentic riffs_, and are _angry_ without descending into heavy melodramatism (it's a fine line in music).

 

Help!

[PeeMonkey]

Cookie Monster is METAL! \m/

 

Well if you can stand the cookie monster to some extent, I would recommend.

 

Children of Bodom (awesome leads)

In flames

Lamb of God

Shadows Fall

 

How about old bands such as

Morbid Angel? (cookie monsterish)

Testament?

Iron Maiden?

Megadeth?

Racer X? (gogo paul gilbert!)

Ozzy Osbourne!?

Slayer?

 

This is basically metal stuff thats on my playlist.

[vikingrat]

Opeth,though the singer goes back in forth with normal singing and cookie monster vocals,are really stand outs.Check out blackwater park.Meshuggah are insane.No classical influence.If anything a John Zorn influence.Try out rare trax by them.In the middle of all hell breaking lose you will suddenly get this beautiful Holdsworth kinda solo out of nowhere.Theres more but not within those borderlines.

[DC Ross]

Hey, Starcaster. I'm a lot like you about metal bands, although when I was younger I was considered a metal head. This was pre-Cookie Monster. I was 10 when Motley Crue's Shout at the Devil came out, and that hooked me. That was some pretty cool stuff when you're 10.

Metallica, Megadeth, Testament, Iron Maiden were all on constant rotation.

 

PeeMonkey has some good suggestions. I'll second Slayer, although you're getting into speed metal territory vs. heavy metal. Check out Seasons in the Abyss for a good intro to their stuff.

 

I really tried to get into Lamb of God, but couldn't do it. There's no soul there that I could find. My bro-in-law really likes them.

 

For some excellent musicianship and phenomenal guitar work, get Queensryche's Operation:Mindcrime and Rage for Order. These guys fall more into the Prog Metal bucket.

 

Helmet is another good band, but they verge on breaking your 4th rule. Check out Meantime, Strap it On, or Betty.

Along similar lines as Helmet is Prong.

 

I'll have to check out vikingrat's suggestion of Meshuggah. I'm a big Zorn fan, so that really caught my attention.

 

Thought Industry is another that comes to mind that's somewhat more obscure. I haven't heard them in years, so maybe I'm remembering them being better than they were.

 

On the lighter side, get The Cult's "Sonic Temple". This album should be required for any rock guitar player. As a matter of fact, you should get a free copy when you buy a Les Paul.

 

I'm sure I'll remember more as soon as I hit the "Add Reply" button, but I've probably taken up enough room here.

[Ricardo.]

Oops.

[MILLO]

Originally posted by Starcaster:

3. "Too much" classical influence. If every solo is at Yngwie speeds and focuses on delivering diminished runs that sound melodramatic (it's a term I use loosely and often) and not "genuine" I lose interest.

If you think Yngwie has too much classical influence, then I don't think you have heard that much classical music, especially if you're using the term "classical" to refer to a "genre" and not to a historical period.

[Ricardo.]

Much thanks!

 

Racer X, Testament, In Flames, Children of Bodom - Might've tried before, but will go back

Lamb of God, Shadows Fall - Their rhythms, leads, and vocals don't interest me

Iron Maiden - The little I've heard of their offerings didn't attract me much, but apparently there's something to be found in there...

Megadeth - Don't like it very much. Reminds me of Metallica light; although I do have "Peace Sells" just for reference.

Ozzy Osbourne - I'm looking for more thrash/post thrash. Rhoads was a great player, but for this purpose I won't count him. I have Blizzard of Ozz though.

Slayer - Their whole Satan/blood/South of Heaven topical choice turns me off. Funny, I don't care when AC/DC sings about 'Big Balls' though If I ever get over their image, which I really shouldn't worry about from a musical point of view, I'll probably get their discography.

Opeth - Sometimes they come off as too 'epic' to me, but I'll give another listen. I remember appreciating their acoustic work.

Queensryche, Meshuggah, Helmet - I'll check it out.

 

And, I'll check out The Cult as rock/hard rock is probably my preferred choice of music.

 

Thanks for all the recommendations!

[MILLO]

Originally posted by Starcaster:

Slayer's 'South of Heaven' stuff turns me off to the music. In this genre, I look for (my idea of) perfection in all areas. Iron Maiden and Megadeth come off to me as more mystic and Black Sabbath-y, which isn't a direction I'm looking to go in. I have "Peace Sells" by Megadeth, but just for reference. I don't listen to it much. Osbourne, while good music, is not what I'm looking for in terms of Metal.

Meshuggah is definitely a good one, although you'll have a problem w/ their voice.

 

I could also recommend Voivod's "Dimension Hatros" and "Nothingface" albums, but most likely these have lyrics that won't interest you. Very wierd shit, think Sci-Fi. Weird in a quirky funny-serious way, not in a nerdy way. Very unique music when it comes to metal, you should give it a go.

 

Terrible vocals, including a ridiculously silly voice synth ALONG cookie-monster vocals, but w/ awesome music, w/ 'mystical' lyrics? Cynic's "Focus".

 

Badly played but good-for-the-genre songs? Anacrusis, their cd "Manic Impressions", but maybe too melodramatic.

 

How about some Grip, Inc?

 

Fear Factory?

 

Phil Anselmo had a side project called Down, maybe too melodramatic.

 

Queensryche must be way melodramatic for you, too, so that's out of the question.

 

By the way, I'm not sure why you're referring to Megadeth as 'mystic'--I'd use something like "melodramatically pseudo-political". You should try "Rust in Peace".

 

Have you ever heard Anthrax, by the way? Try "Persistence of Time" and "Among the Living".

 

Maybe you should decide you don't like the genre and listen to other rocking bands of today, like The Strokes and Franz Ferdinand. FF's first album has some really nicely written parts (no, I'm not joking). I don't care that much about The Strokes, but hey...

[Ricardo.]

Well, I suppose I throw the term around much too loosely. And I haven't advanced far enough in theory to understand all the melodic and harmonic theory that went into music composed in the 'Classical' period, and music composed in the classical style.

 

I refer to, well... I feel stupid for having almost used 'Mozart-y' to describe it. And, Mozart didn't compose much music that consisted of minor-key 64th notes played over raging root 5ths I guess.

 

I suppose the best example of the type of solo that I dislike in my metal is Bach's Toccata and Fugue. It is strict, with a strong, dominating harmony. While it is a great piece of expression in its own right, and may sound good in the Metal genre, I'm in pursuit of sludgier, more rock-based music.

[Ricardo.]

No thanks, I don't think I'll take the exit door on Metal. And, I have Franz Ferdinand's first album

 

And an example of a choice of lyrics by Megadeth:

Down fell the stars, as they

Splashed into the sea.

"Mi nomine Baphomet",

Come dance with me.

Sacrifice the virgins,

Spiritual rites.

Their master's time has come,

The moon is full tonight.

 

Granted, this is from a song of theirs called Bad Omen, and it preceeds 'I ain't superstitious' so they could just be poking fun at themselves with such a fantastic/fantastical/fantasy song. "melodramatically pseudo-political" is a good description I guess.

 

And, if I can be convinced by the band that what they're doing isn't too melodramatic, then whatever. I really like System of a Down's stuff, and some of the lyrics (and voices) they use sound downright wacky. And their earlier outings, which I got into first, don't have much in the way of guitar solos. But they pull it off in my book. Sounds like I've contradicted myself completely. Maybe I don't know what I want until I listen to it at least three times or so. Hopefully some of the bands here will come through

[Guitarzan]

i wouldn't count Megadeth out. they have done so much more since "peace sells" and "so far so good"

Rust in peace is totally incredible

i also have a big love for ..

youthanasia

the system has failed

contdown to extinction

i would never consider them "metallica lite"

Dave Mustaine is a great writer and i prefer his punky vocals to the growly bowel type.

check the writing credits on early Metallica

Judas Priest has always stayed in my CD rotation.

though some may be put off by the lyrical content.

i have just found out that the new Priest album will be a concept album based on the prophecies of Nostradomus.

if you can handle a girl with an amazing voice singing for a metal band check out Nightwish.

[PeeMonkey]

Originally posted by Guitarzan:

i wouldn't count Megadeth out. they have done so much more since "peace sells" and "so far so good"

Rust in peace is totally incredible

i also have a big love for ..

youthanasia

the system has failed

contdown to extinction

i would never consider them "metallica lite"

Dave Mustaine is a great writer and i prefer his punky vocals to the growly bowel type.

check the writing credits on early Metallica

Judas Priest has always stayed in my CD rotation.

though some may be put off by the lyrical content.

i have just found out that the new Priest album will be a concept album based on the prophecies of Nostradomus.

if you can handle a girl with an amazing voice singing for a metal band check out Nightwish.

OMG i love your avatar.

 

I guess most of the stuff thrown out here is what people would consider to be some really great metal bands, mostly if you dont like alot of it, your probably not really into the metal genre, but more of a casual metal listener like someone else stated.

 

Megadeth is metallicish because he was a metallica guitarist! But I love megadeth, I also love when marty friedman joined the band

[Ricardo.]

I do appreciate Nightwish; they're on my to-do list. And yeah, I know about Dave Mustaine's past. And I have in fact looked at the credits (on Kill 'Em All and Ride the Lightning anyways) and I've found that they happened to be tracks I didn't like much Take for example "Jump into the Fire." That riff IMO doesn't sound Metallica-ish.

 

Does no one here listen to Rammstein? I've heard their vocals and German's a sick language for Metal. It's not bad from what I've heard; has anyone else tried it?

 

And, quite honestly, I didn't really ask whether I should stop listening to Metal. I wnated to know what fell into my tastes for it. Though it seems that trends in Metal quickly progressed away from my tastes; from 'angry' and 'creepy' to 'DEATH (metal)' and 'BLACK (metal).' Hmm.

[Guitarzan]

i have heard some Rammstein and it is sort of cool.

for some reason i smile when i hear them. maybe its the serious german vocals.

if you do check out nightwish, Once is an excelent CD. thier previous stuff is cool too. you just have to hear them do Phantom of the opera. that just plain rocks.

Dave's still angry

really

do check out Megadeth's "the system has failed"

Chris Poland is playing lead on it.

i do have to get some Meshuggah. from a total headbanging angle Motorhead's "inferno" is real cool. IMHO

i dug the old cookiemonster avatar out just for this thread.

[Hardtail]

I'm always jamming "Countdown To Extinction" at work.

 

Architecture of Aggression is one of my favorites. Since I'm an engineer with a D.O.D contractor, it's an appropriate work song.

[MILLO]

Originally posted by Starcaster:

Does no one here listen to Rammstein? I've heard their vocals and German's a sick language for Metal. It's not bad from what I've heard; has anyone else tried it?

 

And, quite honestly, I didn't really ask whether I should stop listening to Metal. I wnated to know what fell into my tastes for it. Though it seems that trends in Metal quickly progressed away from my tastes; from 'angry' and 'creepy' to 'DEATH (metal)' and 'BLACK (metal).' Hmm.

Give my previous list a try...

 

More bands to consider:

 

There is also Flotsam and Jetsam.

 

Living Colour's [i think] third album, which is pretty heavy compared to their previous. Their second album may also be an option, not their first.

 

Suicidal Tendencies--these albums: "Lights Camera, Revolution", "The Art of Rebellion", "How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today?"... others, too. They were a bit 'punkier', or more 'hardcore' when they started out. Rocky George is/was a good player, too.

 

Also, I think Soundgarden's "Badmotorfinger" and Alice In Chains' "Dirt" album are pretty good heavy music. Not what many would call 'metal', but good and heavy.

 

There's also this er... Death/Thrash Metal (?) Florida band called Atheist, which I guess are no more (this is old stuff), that made this album I REALLY like called Elements, w/ elements (pun intended, I'm so funny) of Afro-Caribbean and Brazilian music. Granted, they couldn't play a samba if their lives depended on it (they have a short instrumental track called Samba Briza in which their guitarists seem to always be strumming too far back off the beat--STYLISTICALLY, THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO BE PLAYING W/ THEIR FINGERS, NOT STRUMMING W/ PICKS!), and their voices, guitar sounds (the album doesn't sound very good in my opinion), and lyrics may not be your cup of tea. Lyrics deal w/ environmental issues, but some of them are the 'ancient' elements (Earth, Water, Air andFire) and trees "talking".

 

Also, try Death, a project by a now-defunct guy, Chuck Schuldiner. Try these albums: "Individual Thought Patterns", "Human" and "Symbolic". Cookie-monster vox, though.

 

I dislike Rammstein. The songs I've heard from them have techno-dance grooves, and as appealing as that may be to some, they're really NOT very interesting.

 

Instead of Rammstein, try Prong--their album "Cleansing" had some infectious songs, like "Whose Fist Is This Anyway?", although they may be too repetitive for you (Rammstein's music is worse in the repetitive department, as far as I can remember).

 

Yes, I think the early 90's were a great time for heavy rock music... but that might be just my age.

[blitzkrieg bop]

Have you ever heard of Oratory? They are a melodic metal band from Portugal with female singer. I think they are great. They have pretty good metal riffs and great melodies. Give them a shot. Listen to the "Beyond Earth" album if you can, I like that cd a lot. Song of note: "Song of lust", I heard this clip and decided to buy the cd, I wasn't disapointed.

 

They don't seem like the typical "angry" metal band, they seem to write more mystical themed songs, which is cool.

[vikingrat]

Dont know why I forgot the first time.Budgie not only rocks but the lyrics are smart ass.Kyuss blues from a red sun rocks.I think the record from wolfmother should be good.

[Fumblyfingers]

Yeah Vikingrat, and thanks for the recommends with the Thrice and Porcupine Tree. That Wolfmother looks promising, based on the tease at iTunes.

 

Nice weather we are having in LA at the mo', yeah? Couldn't be better,80 Degrees, sunny, no wind....a bit humid, but decent nevertheless.

[Rhino Madness]

Evergrey - Recreation Day: all-around GREAT album.

 

Iced Earth - Something Wicked This Way Comes: a bit older and may contain some fantastic lyrics on some songs but otherwise a very strong CD.

 

As vikingrat mentioned, Opeth is great and Blackwater Park would be a great start. They are one of the few bands of which I can stand the cookie monster vocals (because of the great music and the great normal vocals).

 

If you can accept the part-time cookie monster singing and the more epic songs, Disillusion - Back to Times of Splendor would be another great CD.

 

And in a different way, Staind - Break the Cycle was also very strong.

[disaster]

i generally hate most "metal," espcially "nu-metal." i do, however like heavy and aggressive music. i also crave unique, creative stuff. and i hate the cookie monster stuff too. here's some of my favorites:

 

Converge:

Petitioning the Empty Sky http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:af967uy0o0jj

and You Fail Me http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:t95f8qpxbtx4

 

Dillinger Escape Plan:

Calculating Infinity http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:3kvsa9lgl238

Irony Is A Dead Scene EP http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:m2fibk09aakc

 

Botch:

We Are The Romans http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&searchlink=BOTCH&sql=11:wrf3zfgoehak~T2

An Anthology of Dead Ends http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:bc821va4zzba

 

Refused:

The Shape of Punk To Come (maybe not necessarily metal, but an amazing hardcore record nonetheless) http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:gpv1z81a1yv5

 

Tomahawk

S/T http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:2m8j1vf3zzba

 

anything by Fantomas http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&searchlink=FANTOMAS&sql=11:kijqoataiijz~T0

 

a lot of that stuff tends to have strong jazz influences, although they are manifested very untraditionally.

[vikingrat]

Originally posted by Fumblyfingers:

Yeah Vikingrat, and thanks for the recommends with the Thrice and Porcupine Tree. That Wolfmother looks promising, based on the tease at iTunes.

 

Nice weather we are having in LA at the mo', yeah? Couldn't be better,80 Degrees, sunny, no wind....a bit humid, but decent nevertheless.

Very nice plus in about 10 hours i get to pick up my malmsten strat!O.T but the only thing that kinda messed it up was a video post about 911 and posible cover ups posted on another guitar forum.I rather think about things I can control like myself and my guitar playing.

[thanny XIII]

Cradle of Filth. The worlds best metal band. If they wher women I would date them. I'm pretty close to dating them anyway

[rw2003]

I'm not really up on alot of these "nu" bands, but what about SWORD? These guys are like Black Sabbath, part 2!

[doc taz]

I was just turned on to Ensiferum the other day. Kind of like Blind Guardian , Nightwish , and In Flames sandwiched together. Sort of a melodic death/black metal brew, with various classical and European folk influences.

 

So... yeah, cookie mosnter-ish, but most of their tunes are in standard tuning (Yay!), but even at that, they manage to change keys enough for variety's sake. The clean tenor vocals are quite good. I'm currently spinning their first self-titled full release from 2001. Really good stuff, I recommend it.

[doc taz]

Originally posted by thanny XIII:

Cradle of Filth. The worlds best metal band. If they wher women I would date them. I'm pretty close to dating them anyway

HAHAHA... dude, that's F%^&ing sick. LOL

[doc taz]

dp madness thanks to my wireless connection

[vikingrat]

To anyone in the la area wolfmother is going to be at tower records at 5.00 pm for a free instore.

[thanny XIII]

It is very sick but thas just how cool they are.LOL

[Ricardo.]

Well, it seems that no one here recommended them, but the first new band I've gotten "in to" as a result of my lack of Metal in my diet (a little saying I picked up on the forum).

 

They probably pioneered Death Metal vocals as the singer gets cookie monster-ish, but I LOVE thrash metal and they get pretty thrashy (though I realize there's only so many songs that can be made by tremolo-picking an open 'E' string). I suppose I just have to listen to the band enough to fall in love with the sound. Hell if I know what they're singing about; don't think I want to

 

By the way, I hate The Smiths.