Heavy Metal and subgenre description

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

[Black Lushus 0]

I'm not a metal expert, but Strapping Young Lad's "Alien" is one of my all-time favorite albums.

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

 

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

[Ravenbomb 0]

I dunno where they fall in the infinite number of metal subgenres, but here's Arcturus

[Ravenbomb 0]

"Hufsa" by Arcturus (I posted a different Arcturus song in the Comments thread)

[Ravenbomb 0]

"God Hates a Coward" by Tomahawk

[Retard Girl 0]

ISIS - In Fiction

i liked this one.

 

 

Why Finntroll ISN'T good for humanity

obnoxious singing, but made up for with the shortness of the song and that dude being dorky as hell.

 

 

i didn't even look to see who was responsible for that horrible "Angel of Death" cover, let's move on now.

 

 

Khanate - Too Close Enough To Touch

horrible.

 

 

 

i'll go through the rest later.

[Retard Girl 0]

I'm not sure why you'd ever expect melodic vocals with music like that. It would be completely out of place.

 

 

 

melodic would be cool, but i mean... Dave Mustane sings. just sayin'.

[NoCalMike 0]

You can never go wrong with some classic Cannibal Corpse.....look up the Butchered At Birth/Tomb of the Mutilated/The Bleeding albums.

 

Suffocation

Dying Fetus

Incantation

 

 

[Slayer 0]

okay, no snarkiness here, I swear

 

First, while I liked the stuff he posted, based on the criteria Taiga tossed out I can see her disliking most of the videos Agent posted.

 

Next, I see Taiga's primary area is thrash metal. This post of mine from a few years ago lists out a few other thrash bands to check out

 

As for Anthrax, I can understand not liking them based on that poodle-haired motherfucker. Check out Sound of White Noise and We've Come for You All with the infinitely better John Bush on vocals... and for that matter, check out Armored Saint, Bush's other band.

 

Lushus had a good one also with Strapping Young Lad. Most of Devin Townsend's other material would also be worthwhile to check out.

 

No wailing vocals. Okay, that rules out most of power metal then, but try Nevermore, Iron Savior or Kamelot

 

Not sure how that might fit in with the wailing vocals criteria, but there's also operatic female bands such as Nightwish, Epica, Within Temptation, After Forever. Save for Nightwish (who I haven't liked since the singer switch), they're not my cup-of-tea, but the genre as a whole has flirted with mainstream attention in the last few years.

 

Since you want it fast, I imagine that eliminates most doom/goth metal, my personal favorite genre, but for the hell if it I'll toss out Paradise Lost (my favorite band... one warning though, they tweak their style on every album so any one or even few songs you hear won't be indicative of their entire career), Sentenced, Candlemass and Amorphis, especially their latest Silent Waters, which has become a top favorite of mine. I'll note that their new singer does do some death growls, but sings clean as well, and does very well at both.

[Slayer 0]

You can never go wrong with some classic Cannibal Corpse.....look up the Butchered At Birth/Tomb of the Mutilated/The Bleeding albums.

 

Suffocation

Dying Fetus

Incantation

She already established she doesn't want grunty growly metal

[Kinetic 0]

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[Guest Desensitized]

The only metal I like is prog-metal, the frozen strawberry daiquiri of the metal universe.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

The way I see it, if you're not okay listening to the growly/grunty stuff, then maybe metal isn't for you.

 

Bay Area legends Exodus with the song "Altered Boy" off of their 2006 album Shovel Headed Kill Machine. Of all of the older thrash metal bands (Metallica, Anthrax, Testament, Slayer, Megadeth, Sepultura, etc.), these are probably the only guys who can still go like they used to be able to. Shit, I actually think they're better NOW than they were during their "prime."

 

Demolition Hammer with "Infectious Hospital Waste." Sadly, this band broke up after one of the members died back in the early 90's, which is a pity because if they stayed together for just a little longer they'd probably be legendary. This is also the band's only official music video.

 

British thrash metallers Evile, winner of Terrorizer magazine's 2006 Best Unsigned Act. The video is made by a third party, but the song is fucking tight. "We Who Are About To Die."

 

Speaking of tight...

Municipal Waste's "Unleash the Bastards." These guys are the KINGS of thrash these days, and for good reason: even if you think the music is basic (which it is), their live shows are one giant fucking party. The band with rip beer bongs with people, and the singer with throw a boogie board out into the crowd and jump on it mid-song.

 

And since you're from Mass, here are some bands you need to check out ASAP if you haven't already:

Unearth - "Giles"

 

Shadows Fall - "Of One Blood" (from their second, and best, album; live recording, so sound might be fucked)

 

Legendary Boston thrashers WARGASM with their one and only video, "Dreadnaught Day"

[The Metal Maniac 0]

I have to second Slayer's later Anthrax recommendation. I was actually going to point that out, until I saw that he already did.

 

Also, have you tried any older Pantera? You may have already, but if not, check out Vulgar Display of Power...I actually prefer Cowboys From Hell, but it has Phil doing some screams you may not appreciate.

 

Also, maybe try some Suicidal Tendencies. They've had a few different styles over the years, but right around How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today and Lights...Camera...Revolution they were pretty metal.

[Retard Girl 0]

Pantera is pretty good. i have a few tracks, good shit. i'm gonna go through this thread and work on finding some of these reccomended bands/albums and play the videos. this may take a while though.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

How could I be so fucking stupid?! I forgot two of my favorites...

 

The band that made crossover (hardcore punk + heavy metal, even moreso than thrash metal was) famous, Stormtroopers of Death with "March of the SOD" lead directly into "Sgt. D and the SOD" from their Speak English Or LIVE (AKA Live at Budokan) home video.

 

Summer's End - "Haunting Hallowed Graves"

One of the many bands I got into just before they broke up (see: Stuck Mojo, Strapping Young Lad, Send More Paramedics, Crimson Spectre). It might be a bit too screamy for ya, but the music itself is pretty fucking tight. This is one of those bands where if they worked a little harder to get recognized, you'd probably be seeing them on major tours with Killswitch Engage and shit.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

Actually, he sneers. There's a difference. Singing is matching your vocal tone with that of the music. Sneering is not giving a fuck and just getting the words out.

 

Hrmmm...how to put this, uhhh...shit, it's hard to actually say the differences between death and black metal, considering everything about them is different. The music, the lyrical content, the stage shows, the philosophy...FUCK...I'm glad you started the other thread. It gives more room.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

Re: difference between black and death metal

For starters, you're not likely to hear real black or death metal on ANY radio station, save for maybe a metal show on a local public access or college station. Boston used to have "Nasty Habits" every Sunday night, 11p-2a, on WERS 89.9 FM, but that show lost funding and had to be cancelled. Even XM and Sirius have lame choices for metal, ESPECIALLY Sirius (every single band is metalcore, and then they'll randomly throw a Slayer or a Motörhead tune on).

 

BLACK METAL

The genre gets its name from the Venom album Black Metal, which many (falsely) claim to be the first black metal album and band. Venom, if anything, were the prototypical thrash metal band, featuring stripped-down chord progressions with a reliance on minor scales, overtly Satanic imagery, and a powerful stage show focusing around headbanging, spiked gaunts, and the raw power of the band themselves. Those more familiar with the style point to Bathory as the first black metal band, with its focus on primal ferocity and topics closer related to Asatru (the ancient Scandinavian Viking faith) than outright Satanism. Black metal has always carried with it an air of ambience, of drone, and the more "true" black metal bands will oftentimes change into techno/trance or pseudo-industrial forms of music to help create this inhuman, unearthly sound they yearn for.

Musically, black metal is unlike any other form of metal. Many songs focus on powerchords played on the fifth string of the guitar (the A string) while vocalists screech out lyrics that range in topic from Asatru and the worship of Odin to outright Satanism to neo-Nazi propaganda to even more modern tales of warfare. Drumming is usually kept to either fast double-kick and unrepentant blast beats or a slower, more groove-oriented blues drumming style that is meant to change the pace dramatically, and thus throw the listener out of their comfort zone, creating a sense of surrealism. Bassists are almost unimportant in black metal as a whole, as the style is more driven by the guitars and the vocals, much as "traditional" metal is.

And then there's the mindset behind black metal, or at least "true" black metal. Satan worship and/or an invoking of ancient regional faiths is the usual modus operandi of black metallers, and can either focus on individualism or fascism. Black metal is odd in that there's not one solid mindset in the style, and there is so much more thought put towards black metal than many other styles of music, yet most of the music churned out sounds so identical that it's hard to pinpoint which band is which. Very few bands of the subgenre stand out besides the mainstream ones (Dimmu Borgir, Cradle of Filth, and few others), which leads to the more elitist of metalheads to stand by black metal moreso than other subgenres (specifically thrash and -core) as it is a style almost guaranteed to remain underground if all "rules" of it are kept straight.

Yeah, it's really hard to actually describe black metal without sounding like either a contradictory buffoon or a holier-than-thou douche, but once you actually "get it," then it becomes clear.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, Bathory - Bathory, Burzum - Det Som Engang Var, Marduk - Panzer Division Marduk

 

DEATH METAL

The subgenre gets its name from word-of-mouth essentially, though there was an album released in the mid-80's entitled Death Metal (it might be by Possessed, and early pioneer of death metal, but I'm not sure on that one). Musically, death metal is much closer to thrash metal than would expect, but if giving a listen to older death metal albums (Morbid Angel's Altars of Madness, Death's Leprosy, Possessed's Seven Churches, and Cannibal Corpse's Eaten Back to Life) it becomes more apparent that Slayer's Reign in Blood and Seasons in the Abyss albums are almost more death metal than they are thrash metal, thus bridging the gap. Death metal is, then, a more extreme form of thrash metal, focusing on even faster drumming, more technical riffing, and a lighter reliance on vocal clarity (the growling is a pivotal part of the style that stems from hardcore and grindcore, which rejected "traditional singing" in favor of what they viewed as their own style). Lyrical topics focus primarily on the occult or graphic depiction of brutal murder and torture, although the lyrical content is not set in stone and can be focused on anything the lyricist chooses.

A reliance on minor scales is more dominant in death metal than it is in black or thrash metal, and the initial rejection of melody was intentional so as to create a more dominating, more "in your face," a much "heavier" sound. Guitars are often either downtuned (Drop D is a favored tuning, as are C-standard and even Drop A at times) or just overly distorted, and the bass is focused upon much more greatly than in black or power metal. The drumming is usually more varied than in black metal, with blasts giving way to blues-y grooves or military marching, and, in some cases, tribal beats (specifically early Sepultura and Nile) or jazz improv. Death metal is also a much wider style than black metal is, allowing crossover attempts while still being able to be called death metal. If this were not the case, then the Gothenburg scene would have crumbled under the weight of elitists.

Death metal's ideals focus primarily on the realization that we all are going to die. Initially, the philosophy of the scene was that once you embrace your inevitable fate that you could finally live your life the way you feel it should be lived, which allows for facets of any and all religions and spiritualism to filter in so long as the ultimate knowledge, that we die, is still focused. Death metal is not true death metal unless there is that element of nihilism there, which is why many bands labelled "death metal" by the media are rejected entirely by the true scene. For some fans, mono- or polytheistic faiths are considered right for them, and others can reject any and all idea of a supreme being. It's the individual that matters, not their belief, which is how bands like Deicide (which literally means "the murder of God") can even exist, considering frontman Glen Benton (who has an inverted cross burned into his forehead) and guitarist Jack Owen (ex-Cannibal Corpse, ex-Nevermore) get along when the former is a well-known atheist and the latter is a devout Christian.

Other styles of death metal include brutal death, deathgrind, melodic death, Gothenburg (a specific style of melodic death that originated in Gothenburg, Sweden), deathcore (death metal meets hardcore, how original), and progressive death. There are even more styles, but most of them sound the same, and these, at least, sound a little bit different.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

Cannibal Corpse - Tomb of the Mutilated, Death - The Sounds of Perseverance, Dying Fetus - Stop At Nothing, Nile - Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka, Morbid Angel - Altars of Madness, In Flames - Jester Race

[Retard Girl 0]

i forgot who said what, so here's a breakdown...

 

~

 

Atheist: Animal

i appreciated that i could actually hear the bassline in this song. and the scrunting wasn't so obnoxious.

 

 

"Hufsa" by Arcturus

OMFG SINGING~! even though it's another language. some of it anyway.

 

 

"God Hates a Coward" by Tomahawk

the police uniforms are adorable. a little weird, but when have i ever rejected "weird"?

 

 

i never realize Cookie Monster rocked so hard

 

 

yes, Exodus. i need more from them.

 

 

Demolition Hammer with "Infectious Hospital Waste."

this was spectacular. minimal grunting. the music is outstanding.

 

 

British thrash metallers Evile, "We Who Are About To Die."

good shit right there.

 

 

Municipal Waste's "Unleash the Bastards."

this is pretty basic... but i like it. basic is good sometimes... heck, most of the time. and the show does look like a good time; a party instead of "we're seventeeth centruy viking warriors"

 

 

Shadows Fall - "Of One Blood"

his dreads are fucking spectacular, and it should rule just based on that. now if he would take some singing lessons...

 

 

WARGASM with "Dreadnaught Day"

holy fuck, i like.

 

 

Stormtroopers of Death with "March of the SOD" lead directly into "Sgt. D and the SOD"

is that dude in a lucha mask? very tight.

 

 

 

 

The way I see it, if you're not okay listening to the growly/grunty stuff, then maybe metal isn't for you.

maybe it's not then. i should start listening to Mariah Carey or boyband pop. or maybe not, as i just threw up a little.

 

[Retard Girl 0]

"death" metal, "thrash" metal, "death" metal... very confusing.

[Guest Desensitized]

Try some Kayo Dot or Sieges Even!

[tekcop 0]

Burzum - Det Som Engang Var

My personal favorite Black Metal album.

 

Dying Fetus - Stop At Nothing, Nile - Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka

Ignore these and get Fetus's Destroy the Opposition and Nile's In Their Darknened Shrines. Of course both those albums Corey mentioned are good, but these are so much better.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

I would say stick with the ones I picked, because they're a little easier to get into than any other album of either band. Amongst... is Nile's shortest album, so if you can stand that then you can stand their longer songs (which they do have plenty of). And Stop At Nothing has my personal favorite Dying Fetus tune, "One Shot One Kill," so that's why I threw that there. Plus, I feel the production of it is at its best, and Gallagher's back-up vocals aren't annoying (for once) during that album.