The True Metal Thread

[UntilTheEnd]

I've decided to create a place for people to chat about metal. Here you can talk about your favourite bands, stuff you're currently listening to and any new releases you're looking forward to (for example). Basically, anything generally related to the genre.

If anybodies looking to get in to metal then there'll be people here, including myself, to give guidance and informations about the genre. When it comes to metal I do specifically listen to certain sub-genres so I'm more knowledgable in some areas than others. I'll give it my best shot though.

Anyway, about myself and metal. It wasn't until I turned 16 that I got in to "metal", if you want to call Linkin Park and Papa Roach that. Before then I was listening to chart music and dance, so a step up some might say. From the nu-metal stuff I moved on to listening to mostly American bands, Static-X, Disturbed, System of a Down and Killswitch Engage are some of the ones I remember. I also liked Rammstein and that was about as far as it got for mainland European metal for quite some time. From about 16-19 years of age I continued this trend.

By around mid-2004, after a short period of listening to Pantera and Machinehead, I'd had enough of that American stuff. I'd heard of a Swedish band called In Flames some 3 years earlier and had listened to a couple of tracks, and liked. For some reason I didn't listen to any more, until one day I just decided to see what I could find. It was at this point I got addicted to melodic metal. From In Flames I started liking bands like Children of Bodom (early stuff), Dark Tranquillity, Eternal Tears of Sorrow and Skyfire.

Over a period of years my taste for melodic metal has increased dramatically. I realised in that time that I don't enjoy clean vocals very much and that includes power metal ones. Growling is my "vocal" of choice although BM screams are alright. As for where in the world my metal comes from it'd probably be about 90% European and then the rest spread around.

My favourite bands (according to last.fm) are Hypocrisy, Kalmah, Zonaria, Norther, Unleashed, Ensiferum and Bloodbath.

[Chez Daja]

First of all:

From about 16-19 years of age I continued this trend.

HAH. You sucked for longer than I did. Losahr.

If anybodies looking to get in to metal then there'll be people here, including myself, to give guidance and informations about the genre.

Yeah, count me in.

Anyway, though. My current favourite metal bands are Krohm and Bergraven. Both are atmospheric forms of SBM and I recommend them to anybody who enjoys long and somewhat repetitive riffs and little to no vocals. The vocals that are included are usually low grunts and the ocassional BM scream.

[Furore]

Oh goody, I've always wanted to talk to some professionals about Metal.

Nahh, I'm very picky with my metal, nothing that makes my ears bleed. Now, I'm a fan of Sludge Metal, in particular bands such as the Melvins, Corrosion of Conformity and (moreso a few years ago) Bongzilla, so which other bands would you recommend based on those tastes?

[Chez Daja]

Silver, I don't really have many recommendations I could give you, since I barely listen to Sludge. Maybe you could provide members with information about that genre.

Personally I find Power Metal to be bland and boring after a while. I think a lot of people feel that way about BM, but there are massive differences. I've never liked Power Metal vocals that much, although I think Blind Guardian are good for a couple of listen throughs now and then, and Iced Earth are pretty good as well. I personally don't like hearing about peoples' personal struggles and emotions, and although I hear a lot of it in S/D/BM, I can pay less attention since the vocals are distorted and barely classify as words.
As for fantasy and mythology, I get tired of hearing about that after a while as well. I don't think the lyrics are the most important part of the music, but they do play a major role if I can hear what people are saying.

As for Manowar. Well, I find it hard to see why anybody could like them, but that's just my opinion.

[Polk]

Oh goody, I've always wanted to talk to some professionals about Metal.

Nahh, I'm very picky with my metal, nothing that makes my ears bleed. Now, I'm a fan of Sludge Metal, in particular bands such as the Melvins, Corrosion of Conformity and (moreso a few years ago) Bongzilla, so which other bands would you recommend based on those tastes?

I think I told you about Harvey Milk, right? If not, look them up. They're amazing. Other than that, I'd say look for bands like:

High on Fire- a great Doom Metal band

Kyuss- a stoner metal band from back in the 1990's, the guitarist being Josh Homme, of later QOTSA fame

Pelican- Not really my thing, but they're a sludge type band with a large following

Mastodon- Progressive Metal with a large sludge influence to them

Sleep- Stoner Metal band

Thrones- Joe Preston solo project, more doom metal.

That's just me though, I tend to group doom/stoner/sludge metal in the same spectrum.

[UntilTheEnd]

The closest I get to doom is a band called Slumber who are, I guess, melodic death/doom.

Here's a song by them on youtube;

YouTube - Slumber - Distress

Not very doomy, amazing atmosphere though.

[Raider]

Slayer - amaing video

YouTube - Slayer - Dead Skin Mask (Live)


and i hate manowar, they suck, there just a rip off of classic thrash

[Chez Daja]

Slayer - amaing video

YouTube - Slayer - Dead Skin Mask (Live)


and i hate manowar, they suck, there just a rip off of classic thrash

This isn't a thread just for dumping links into. You haven't included any information about the band, asked any questions or even answered the original question. Please don't post like this again or I'll have to issue a warning. Feel free to join into the conversation, but please make it more relevent or add a line or two about the band at least.

Thanks.

Note: Don't not reply to this message, if there is a problem, please PM me instead. Posts quoting this one will be deleted.

[Dimi]

I recall going through that Nu-Metal phase not too long ago. Before that, I was a huge fan of mainstream stuff. For a while, I remember being obsessed with KoRn, Disturbed, Static-X, Coal Chamber, and a song or two from Slipknot sadly.

Eventually, my music tastes have shifted and I wanted to explore many other types of music. I think the first subgenre of Metal I got into was Gothic Metal. I know it's not the heaviest of metal but it was a start with bands like Tristania, Mandragora Scream, and Paradise. I also got into Power Metal bands like Kamelot, Nightwish, and Symphony X.
Other bands I like are Cannibal Corpse, Bloodbath, Arch Enemy, Darzamat, Septic Flesh, and Therion.

But yeah. I have a diverse taste with metal. I don't consider myself a metalhead because I like Industrial and Rock but I'm always interested on people giving me new recommendations on bands I've never heard of. I'm trying to get more into the Death, Black and Progressive Metal genres. Don't know if you guys consider Progressive Metal "true" metal but I like bands like Opeth.

[UntilTheEnd]

Yeah, prog metal's "true". Tbh, I haven't really heard much although quite a few of the bands I like have prog influence. A good one's probably Elenium, melodic death/prog or something like that. Also, there's Insomnium who are kind of in the same sub-genre.

YouTube - elenium - to aim and miss

YouTube - Insomnium - In The Groves of Death

[You]

Id like to join this also^^

I like all kinds of metal but right now im mostly into melodic death metal and a bit of metalcore I guess. Although of late ive maybe been leaning a bit towards other rock genres metal is still my favourite.

Progressive rock is great. Mastodon are perhaps my favourite progressive metal band, they can be called that right?

[UntilTheEnd]

Thought I'd post up a few things that I'm currently listening to these days.

First off, there's the new Omnium Gatherum album out which is Finnish melodic death. It's got some really great tracks on it and they've made a video for one of the best songs;

YouTube - Omnium Gatherum - Nail

Next up, a band called Zonaria. Again, melodic death, this time from Sweden. They're quite similar to Hypocrisy. There's a song up on myspace entitled "Contra Mundum" which is one of my favourites;

http://www.myspace.com/zonaria

Then we have a one man project from the county of Yorkshire in England called Oakenshield. If you've ever heard Falkenbach then this is similar. The only thing that could make it better is the use of real drums instead of computer ones. Excellent epic black/folk metal with lyrics about vikings;

http://www.myspace.com/oakenshielduk

Bloodbath have a new album out called "The Fathomless Mastery". They play old school style death metal, similar to bands like Entombed and Dismember. They're a bit more brutal than those bands though on this new one;

http://www.myspace.com/bloodbathband

And then, finally, there's the newest Amon Amarth album, "Twilight of the Thunder God". It's melodic death with viking influenced lyrics. They made a video for the title track;

YouTube - Amon Amarth "Twilight Of The Thunder God" official video

[Jin]

Generally speaking, I'm a metal fan, but I'm extremely picky. Metal is so broad, it's hard to like everything or even most of it.

I like most power metal, but certainly not all. Power Metal can be really repetitive and bland sometimes, so it takes the right bands. Older Helloween still does it for me. I wouldn't exactly call it un-repetitive, but Gamma Ray also usually fills the quota. Blind Guardian, Kamelot and Rhapsody are also great, when I'm in the mood for something more epic.

I also enjoy a fair bit of earlier thrash. Old Metallica, Slayer (if I'm in the mood), Anthrax and Testament. Not a big Megadeth fan, although they have their moments. Judas Priest and Iron Maiden are always great.

I despise death and black metal. Most "brutal" metal actually. The only exception is Opeth, but they're not so much brutal as...well they're not so much brutal.

Anyways, yes, picky.

[Sean]

See I have this love-hate thing for Metal.

I love melodic guitar riffs, blazing solos, driving drum beats

I hate screaming as a form of singing. Hate. Hate it as much as I hate emo.

I can be really into a song, then I hear one little guttural scream and I turn it off and throw that band into my list of shit I'll never listen to again.


So find me some good metal with a singer who sings.

Edit: In Flames is my only exception to that, because there's a couple songs that are just so amazing I don't ****ing care.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7Q_w74GHHk That song is hot.

Hammerfall's a great band too.

Northern Kings if you want to classify them as such. Who can't love classic 80s music being covered metal?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKwQKqQ8MMY Tina ****ing Turner song, made hard. Woo I say.

Also... Nightwish. *explodes in pants*

I like the more fantasy-ish metal, because it tends to be hard and have singers, not GROWWWWL YOUR FACE OFF BECAUSE I CAN'T SING junk.

[Chez Daja]

Sean, have you tried Dream Theater? I'm sure you probably have. There are some growling tracks, but they're outweighed by the number of clean vocal tracks.

Not a bad band, either, if not a little weird.

[Unknown Entity]

Wow... Over the past few years, my music tastes have changed. I actually remember when I liked D12 (WTF?). Now, I like quite a bit of brum and bass and rock. I'd like to see if metal could... cut it in my book. So far, all the metal bands I've heard of have far too much screaming, singing as if they are in serious need of having a glass of water, or overpowering bass.

So... I was wondering if anyone could tell me what I'd be looking for if I said: "I hate screamers, I'd like to work out what the flying fudge they are singing about, and as much as I like drum and bass, I want to hear whats they are saying."

There is a bad I researched called Crossfade, which I like. But I don't know if you could class them as metal... more alternate rock or post-grudge. *shrugs*

[Raider]

ok my way of getting into metal was starting out with classic metal and softer thrash, listen to, Megadeth, metallica, slayer (mabye a bit to heavy) the older the albums the better. Try these:

One of My Favourite Metal Songs Of All time -- Metallica
YouTube - Metallica Ride The Lightning

YouTube - Metallica - Sad But True

YouTube - Metallica - One -- Amazing

YouTube - metallica - nothing else matters

YouTube - Metallica - Master Of Puppets With lyrics

Good, Soft Songs -- Megadeth
YouTube - Sweating Bullets - Megadeth

YouTube - MEGADETH--99 Ways To Die

YouTube - Megadeth - Sleepwalker

YouTube - Megadeth - Train of Consequences

YouTube - Megadeth - Kill The King - [Prince of Persia] AMV


enjoy, hope this was helpful

[Unknown Entity]

I've always had a thing for Metalica! I've just been really bad at keeping with them... Especially seeing as my access to the interent has been pretty bad over the last few months.

[Sean]

Sean, have you tried Dream Theater? I'm sure you probably have. There are some growling tracks, but they're outweighed by the number of clean vocal tracks.

Not a bad band, either, if not a little weird.

Oh yeah, Dreamtheater is amazing.

Metallica is hit or miss... their first two albums were amazing, the 2nd two were still great but you can feel them slipping off, Black Album was a turning point, and after that it's only tolerable, up until St. Anger and now Death Magnetic where you just go "wtf is this shit?"

Lars Ulrich needs to l2drum, and I HATE Rob.


Voivod is a good band to look into now too, Jason Newstead's current band (Newstead being the replacement for Cliff Burton in Metallica in 1986 up until 2002ish)

[IRANianCha0s]

Any Catharsis fans in here? (russian power metal for those not in the know)

Children of Bodom, In Flames, Nightwish, and Arch Enemy are other favorites of mine (out of my 30 GB of metal, just the tip of the iceberg).

[UntilTheEnd]

I don't dislike clean vocals completely, for example, I like Nevermore;

YouTube - NEVERMORE - Final Product

Diablo doesn't use growls, just deep sounding cleans;

YouTube - DIABLO - Icaros

[Sean]

I don't dislike clean vocals completely, for example, I like Nevermore;

YouTube - NEVERMORE - Final Product

Diablo doesn't use growls, just deep sounding cleans;

YouTube - DIABLO - Icaros

Both are good songs, thanks! I'll look into those bands some more.

YouTube - Hammerfall Trailblazers

That be my favorite Hammerfall song. I always tend to lean towards vocal styles like that (sounding a bit higher, that is) but I don't mind the harder sounding vocals like Diablo.

[Chez Daja]

Metallica is hit or miss... their first two albums were amazing, the 2nd two were still great but you can feel them slipping off, Black Album was a turning point, and after that it's only tolerable, up until St. Anger and now Death Magnetic where you just go "wtf is this shit?"

Oh, for sure. I haven't even bothered to look at St. Anger after I heard the track playing on the radio one time, there was another track I heard off that album, a terrible song, that lasted for so long, it was embarrassing. Death Magnetic hasn't even registered with me, that's how much I have learnt to distrust recent Metallica.

And aye, Nevermore are amazing as well, they've got a number of great albums out. My personal favourite is Dead Heart, In A Dead World. Such a lame title, but a top album.

There's Ayreon (I suggest The Human Equation first) as well, they're not heavy, or particularly guitar based, but I find a lot of metal fans who like clean vocals enjoy them. They're good for a few tracks. (Also, James Labrie stars as one of the "characters" in this huge album of metal and rock based vocalists.) Can be fun, but I have to be in the right mood to flip it into my stereo.
There's also a band named Aina. I don't particularly enjoy them myself, and they're not outright obvious metal, however they're pretty fantasy based and similar to Ayreon. Less popular, I got the album free somewhere, don't remember where, haha. Think it was an old rock magazine or something.

Also, Katatonia are excellent. I don't recommend the earlier albums, since they use excessive growling, but "Tonight's Decision" is an amazing album which I think you'd enjoy. Think Opeth styled vocals, but faster and a little less soft. That said, Opeth are good if you enjoy slower metal tracks, they use growling in all albums, but they use clean vocals as well. Good combo for Opeth and one of the only bands that pulls it off well, in my personal opinion.

[Lilium]

In the beginning, I listened to mainstream stuff that my friends listened to. Stuff like Disturbed, System of a Down, etc. from... around age 9-14 or 15. Then, after talking with a friend or two online, I discovered the underground and indie scene.

Now, because my taste in music here went away a little from metal, I should inform you that I am into pretty much every type of music that you can think of.

I started listening to stuff like Bright Eyes, Circa Survive, Cursive, and indie groups like that, from around age 13-15. Around this time, I discovered some metal, such as Demon Hunter, Korn, Linkin Park, and those types of bands. The nu-metal and metalcore scene, along with some regular metal pieces.

I guess it was later into age 15 or early 16 that I discovered death metal and melodic death metal. It was the band Soilwork that got me into the melodic scene. I loved bands like Soilwork and Dark Tranquility. Quo Vadis was a death metal band that I really got into as well. So was Necrophagist and Opeth.

Then, through death metal, I discovered doom metal. I discovered disEMBOWELMENT while checking up death metal, since they're a fusion of death and doom. This was short-lived, but I still show interest in the doom metal scene. disEMBOWELMENT is what got me into the real underground of metal, and not just indie, like Soilwork was.

I believe that, either after my doom metal interest, or inbetween death and doom, I discovered the band Cradle Of Filth, but I can't really remember. Even though I didn't like the band in the beginning, they grew on me. I haven't checked out too many extreme metal bands yet, though.

Since then, I've been checking out all different types of metal bands, such as Atreyu, Awaiting The End, Cannibal Corpse, Celtic Frost, Lacuna Coil, Lamb Of God, Mudvayne, Symphony X, Shadows Fall, etc. etc. etc.

After a while, I started getting into bands like Type O Negative and such.

Then, just recently (around August I guess. age 16 going on 17)), I began my descent into Black Metal. I've heard about them on comments on YouTube, and through comments on iTunes, but never really checked them out. I heard their song Conquer All on YouTube, and loved it, though I now know that their older stuff is soooo much better. I became hooked on their song Ceremony Of Shiva. I then looked up and read on the history of Black Metal and such, and downloaded the album De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas by Mayhem, and loved it as well. This is what marked my new found interest in the black metal scene.

I then started to look into Behemoth's oldest material, Blut aus Nord, December Wolves, Swordmaster, Anaal Nathrakh, and Emperor, through the Black Metal exclusive on iTunes.

While looking up black metal on Yahoo! (sometime mid-August), I found out about Depressive Suicidal Black Metal, which got me hooked on bands such as Leviathan, Xasthur, and a few others. This is where I also learned of Gorgoroth, which led me on YouTube to Satyricon, somehow, which then led me, on iTunes, to Dimmu Borgir.

Right now, I'm going through the phase of Black Metal, along with DSBM.

So, in just the span of two years, I went from bands like Disturbed, System Of A Down, and Linkin Park to Xasthur, Gorgoroth, Mayhem, and Satyricon. ...that is one hell of a move up.

[Zargabaath]

I just started listening to Ensiferum and am loving it. I'm waiting for Rhapsody of Fire to settle their legal suit with their record label so they can record/release their album. Waiting for the 4th Luca Turilli cd. I need to put Hammerfall, Amberian Dawn, Ensiferum, maybe some Iced Earth.

I'm more interested in Power/Symphonic metal: those said above plus, Domine, Highlord, Thy Majestie, Elvenking, Dragonforce, Dragonland, Ride the Sky, Blind Guardian, etc. I've been trying to expand my metal collection, for my girlfriend, but the screeching/death grunts, that deep death singing from Black, Death, Gloom Metal turns me off. Ensiferum was able to tie it together very well and am wondering if there are other bands that are similiar in Black, Death, Thrash, Viking Metal?

[ZantetsukeN]

Nowadays, I only listen to old metal really.

I started (like most metallers I know) with Metallica. Unfortunetly, I started, album wise, with St Anger (not my wisest of choices) and was put off them. I decided to go to older Metallica after I heard 'For Whom The Bell Tolls' and BAM! I loved Metallica. 'Ride The Lightning' is by far my favourite album, and probably of all time.

Because I loved Metallica, I decided to listen to Megadeth next, mostly due to the fact Dave Mustaine used to be in Metallica. I like Megadeth way more than I do Metallica. Mustaine is such a wizard at guitar. 'Holy Wars...' is my favourite, and 'Rust In Peace' is probably my second favourite album ever.

Other bands I love are Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Testament, Dream Theater, Tool, Saxon, Motorhead, Pantera, Cradle Of Filth, Evile and Gojira.

[Neo Nagisa]

I don't really have a favorite genre.
Any metal that has good screamo, good instrumentals, and aren't Punk-Metal, calling themselves "Playas" And whatnot.
My ranges in taste go from Bullet for my Valentine, to Atreyu, to the semi-girlish screamo of Alesana, to underOATH even though they're a christian band. Speaking of which, I also like The Devil Wears Prada.

[Angantyr]

I like Black Metal but the whole true cult thing reeks of fail and aids... I do not associate with those people.

I love Doom Metal... Pagan Altar, Candlemass, Witchfinder General, Pentagram, Saint Vitus etc.

[ZantetsukeN]

Does anyone listen to Heaven & Hell? I just bought their album 'The Devil You Know', and it is awesome! It's better than what these guys brought out when they were Black Sabbath. It's really heavy.

[Hjortkayre]

Does anyone listen to Heaven & Hell? I just bought their album 'The Devil You Know', and it is awesome! It's better than what these guys brought out when they were Black Sabbath. It's really heavy.

I've heard two of the songs on the radio - Eating the Cannibals and Bible Black. Sounds pretty decent.

Anyway I got into 'true' metal a few years ago. Since I was five I had listened to rock music (Bon Jovi, Guns N' Roses and, urgh, Nickelback) so it wasn't that hard a transition. My friend introduced me to Metallica (obviously I had heard of them), Lordi and... something else?

I liked the Metallica songs - Enter Sandman and Ride the Lightning. So I went on the internet and looked up some Metallica to listen to. Unfortnately, I found St. Anger. After a 'What the Hell?' moment I went back to rock.

Then a family friend introduced me to music channels on the TV, at around the age of 11. Kerrang! and Scuzz were the two main ones, but at the time I preferred Kerrang! as it was easier on the ears than Scuzz.

This got me into Nu-metal (if you could grace it with such a name) - Linkin park and Korn. Shortly after, another friend introduced me to System of a Down, claiming they're '10 times better than Iron Maiden.' Pah. I still listen to them occasionally, only not terrible Nu-Metal Band. I was around 12 at the time.

Then I found Bring Me the Horizon, Job for a Cowboy and other Deathcore via another friend. This was when I was 13, nearly 14. Then, after reading about 'pure' metal bands in Kerrang! magazine, I decided to check them out on Youtube.

First was Dillinger Escape Plan, who I enjoyed despite some reluctance at first. Then came Amon Amarth, Gojira and Children of Bodom. And that takes me up to the modern day.

Since then I;ve become a massive fan of melodic death metal, black metal, gothic metal and progressive metal. Favourtie bands include Dream Theater, Tool, Gojira and Norther.

And that's how I got into metal.

I like bands with harsh/screaming vocals and clean vocals. It really just comes down to each song.