"You can't kill the metal; the metal will live on" - The Metal Thread

[Pegman]

Cake goes to the people who know the song that this is from.

Since there wasn't a thread about metal yet, I figured I should start one.

Basically, what styles metal y'all are into, and what bands etc. What really sets you into a headbanging mood?

I'll start the ball rolling with my all-time favourite band: Killswitch Engage. Videos are contained within spoiler tags.

Killswitch Engage videos

They underwent a vocalist change after two albums, and they went from this:



...to this:



Their current album has this song from it, and I'm currently covering the vocals for my band:



The video's absolutely hilarious; only Killswitch could get a "Your mum" joke into their music video...

Another band I listen to copiously are SikTh, who, unfortunately, broke up about 4 years ago:

SikTh videos

One thing to know about them is that they arewere very progressive metal-ey, and they had two vocalists. Go figure... Anyways, undeniably their best song:



Another of my favourites is this:

I'll finish with a band I hadn't heard of until recently, called Periphery.

Periphery belong to an unusual genre called Djent. Essentially, it is progressive metal combined with groove metal, which makes for a very enjoyable combination.

I particularly like their vocalist, who has an incredibly diverse vocal range, which is one of the defining characteristics of a good metal band, in my opinion.

Periphery videos

This song is just so catchy:



And this song, which has been re-edited for the video, but, in my opinion is better, as it demonstrates Sotello's (the vocalist) amazing vocal talents:

I'll update with more examples of good metal after going through my iTunes library.

I'll leave you with a discussion point: what makes a good metal band? Or, indeed, what makes a good metal song? Discuss.

[TheDividedGod]

Definitely have to get back to this - consider this just a taste until I have time to contribute in MUCH more detail.

I will say though, just to make it controversial from the start, heh, that Killswitch engage is not really metal, as such. They are a POP band - they write standard, verse-chorus-verse, highly formulaic pop music that incidentally happens to use distorted guitars. Same goes for Periphery.

now THIS is a good example of serious prog (progressive) metal - check out the sick tapping part that comes in around 1:10, and then the polyrhythmic kick drum beat that follows it at 1:20:



another great track by the same band:



See, Progressive means exactly that - not written based on a formula, certainly not pop-song format, but rather, progressing over time with multiple parts in a compositional format that is much more extensive and sophisticated, usually resulting in less repetition of the same parts, and longer songs.

another prog track by Tool that does use repeating parts, but changes up the percussion/melody dynamic to hide and dress up the arrangement instead of doing straightforward verses and choruses - check out the AMAZING build-up to the outro that begins at 6:00, reaches a climax with an amazingly long scream, and then finishes out with a ridiculous drum-heavy rhythmic pounding, IMO one of, if not the, greatest song climax+outro ever written:



I have a soft spot in my heart for Tool because they fall nicely in the middle of a lot of other more extreme types of metal, but still can get the attention of the mainstream without sacrificing their quality of their art.

And finally, REAL extreme experimental Prog metal - Meshuggah. This is aprt of the third segment of a concept album (just listen and be patient, it doesn't get really good until about 6 minutes in, but the build-up is incredible, and a good representation of what "prog" is supposed to achieve - literally, a progression, from one place to another):



And finally, a more subtle yet still heavy approach - Cloudkicker. comprised entirely of one man, Ben Sharp, his project Cloudkicker has a very doomy, heavily layered sound that uses multiple tracks to achieve (IMO) very beautiful arrangements - this is metal that you can listen to and drift away on, at high volume or just softly in the background - at high volume, you really get a chance to let the ear pick out very instrument and all the layers, and at low volume, you appreciate how beautiful the soundscape is:



That's all for now.

[Jimmythefoot]

Cloudkicker is amazing you cant get all his music off his blog thing for free http://cloudkicker.bandcamp.com/
I've been trying to get into Meshuggah haven't managed to yet.
Another band I have been listening to a lot recently is Isis who play really good sort post-metal/progressive songs which are mostly instrumentals with a scattering of vocals
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWTAkBRe6aI

[DeafMute]

Hopefully we are covering the whole genre rather then just metal by itself.

For years now eversince I first heard the band I've loved every track.
Talking about Nine Inch Nails

Some of my fav tracks would be...

-Head Like A Hole
-Terrible Lie
-Thats What I Get
-Wish
-Piggy
-Ruiner
& many more.

Other bands I am into would be...
Rammstein - Ich Tu Dir Weh (Official Video) [Alterated Song]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80P3wRY5h6g&feature=fvw

Slipknot- Danger Keep Away
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZJHTlIitYY

Slipknot - Snuff
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXEKuttVRIo

I like my depressive rock asmuch as I like my heavy stuff.

Onto some heavy stuff.
New release by
Murderdolls - "My Dark Place Alone" - Official Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMttR...eature=related

Godsmack - Cryin' Like A Bitch!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eXIOK2vOhM&NR=1

- Big UFC Fan

Quick list of my other bands-

A Perfect Circle
Incubus
30 Seconds To Mars
Fear Factory
Celldweller
DevilDriver
Dope
Ill Nino
Placebo
Saliva
Spineshank
Static-X
Still Remains

[TheDividedGod]

@jimmy the foot - Isis rocks. it makes sense that you would dig Isis if you like cloudkicker - they have the same slow doomy approach. Isis's best offerings are, IMO, Oceanic, named by terrorizer magazine as best metal album that year (2002), and Panopticon (2004) which is my personal fave. Their more recent albums have gotten a bit cheesy - it's a good thing they broke up when they did, instead of dragging on a long slide into obscurity as so many bands do.

If you're having a hard time getting into Meshuggah, here's a tune that is written verse-chorus-verse like a pop song, very straightforward, easier to get into than some of their other tunes, and the video is hilarious - the singer dresses up like the other band members in his apartment and pretends to play their parts:



Another meshuggah track with a very simple arrangement and more easily identifiable repeating parts, but still written in polymeter. Again, they are having a lot of fun and fooling around in the video - despite the intensity of their music and the technical skill required to play it so tightly, these guys don't take themselves too seriously and enjoy taking the piss out of everything, which is another reason why I love them:




@Deafmute - I'd say NiN definitely qualifies, esoteric though it may be. Downward Spiral is seminal, a really brilliant exploration of the darkest corners of the human condition, and I just popped in The Fragile double disc the other day, and it's aged pretty well. Tons of good material on there, and not a lot of filler, which is hard to do with a double-disc concept album.

[CyberSargent]

The only metal that I still like:

[Kryopsis]

Pegman: Tenacious D.

My humble contributions to this thread:
A) Map of Metal - An interactive map of the various genres of Metal, as well as the roots and the influences.
B) uneXpect, one of the local bands.

Spoiler

C) Cynic

Spoiler

EDIT:
Okay, generally speaking I prefer not to participate too much in Metal threads because a lot of snobbery and genre elitism comes to the surface. This said, TheDividedGod, bloody hell, that Animals as Leaders track is excellent! Thank you for sharing.

[TheDividedGod]

Glad you liked it. Tosin Abasi is a real monster.

Ahh, cynic. saw them live a couple times, they've really created a unique sound over the years. Also, that metal map isn't half bad. great design layout too.

[Kryopsis]

Cloudkicker is excellent, by the way. Are you familiar with Sleep Terror? It's also a one man project.

[TheDividedGod]

not as familiar as I should be...I really liked the Ascetic Meditation EP, and I'm thinking of grabbing The Cuts, since it covers most of their catalogue. They remind me of a really heavy version of Mike Patton's old band Mr. Bungle.

[Gorb]

Cake goes to the people who know the song that this is from.

[phrase] "The Metal Thread" - [noun, common] "Thread" == "The Metal".

Tenacious D

I'm not that familiar with most metal bands; I tend to stay in the safer cuddly realms of hard rock and/or grunge. I do listen to some bands occasionally, though. Not sure if Tenacious D counts; they've admitted theirselves they're simply a tribute band (<3 Tribute).

[GrimDark]

Best thing I heard in years, nothing else comes close in "metalness" scale to me:

Gentlemen, BEHOLD!

uhm. NSFW image?

Anorexia Nervosa

Another useful link for all the metal heads out there
Mohs Scale Of Rock And Metal Hardness
Where are You in that scale?

[Nightwolf]

oh killswitch engage lovely

[TheDividedGod]

Anorexia Nervosa is okay.....but speaking of black metal....A classic BM track by one of, if not THE seminal band of the genre: Emperor.



I've always thought Emperor utterly superior in nearly every way to their contemporaries...it helps that they were busy redefining the genre while it was still in the formative stages...by the time black metal proper had gained momentum, Emperor had already distanced themselves from most of the traditional BM conventions and begun writing really sophisticated music with much more complex arrangements. it was only really their first album or two that was heavy-handed with the dark-forest-evil-pagan imagery...by the time IX Equilibrium rolled around, they were exploring vastly different concepts, musically and lyrically. At that point the BM community sort of turned over on itself and many proclaimed Emperor to be Not Black Metal. However, I've always felt them to be the best representative of the genre.

[Kryopsis]

I second that, TheDividedGod. Personally I find the Black Metal community is quite closed-minded (even by Metal standards and that's quite something!) and is quick to dismiss anything that sounds even a little different. In fact, a few contemporary Black Metal acts seem to deliberately go for awful audio mixing to give the impression of an underground/garage act. Emperor stands apart among the derivative sound of the Black Metal community and that alone is an achievement.
I am impartial towards Enslaved, myself:


I am also keeping an eye on Keep of Kalessin. Their Kolossus album had several good songs and I do like the band's combination of Black and Death:

[TheDividedGod]

Is that track from a brand new Enslaved album? man I'm falling behind here. I also dig them, but more because they've stayed traditional without getting bland. Last time I really listened to any of their stuff seriously though was a couple years back, right before I saw them live at the Opera House in Toronto. Great show. I think that they might well be the only BM band that can claim consistent quality....they've never represented the best of the genre to me, but I've never really been able to criticize their music seriously either. Most, if not all of what I don't like about their releases comes down to nitpicky production bullshit or subjective, unaccountable matters of my own taste. their live show was phenomenal, no question, and I really respect their capacity to write easy, non-technical riffs, unpretentious bridges and simple solos, but yet, still keep things musically interesting and relatively (dare I say it) artistic.

Here's a great pair of tracks by a decent Death Metal act: Nile. They have an egyptian theme going on, which is perfect for death metal, as ancient egyptian culture and mysticism provides tons of great fodder for classic death metal lyrical content. They write highly technical stuff, but the arrangements aren't too crazy, just lots of parts, though they repeat key riffs often enough. I like them for the same reason I like, say, Necrophagist or even (urgh) Cannibal Corpse - their stuff is relentlessly brutal with very few exceptions, and they are VERY good at what they do, that is, super-technical super-fast super-heavy (not necessarily in that order, heh). Also, I'm partial to eastern scales and modes, especially mournful arabic scales, weird indian modal stuff, and asiatic microtonal scales, and I find I often enjoy when it is incorporated into metal to some extent, as Nile does frequently. I think one reviewer said it best: "It's technical, brutal, progressive and at many points, there is serious groove in the album (speaking about their latest, 2009's Those Whom The Gods Detest). Basically, if you like death metal at all, you cannot dislike Nile. It just wouldn't make sense."


from 2005's Annihilation of the Wicked:



an instrumental from 2007's Ithyphallic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udUFMs4ceTw

[Malachi]

NiN isn't metal, as much as I like them.

And now, some more extreme, European classics (warning, satanic content ahead!):

First, a great Polish band, Behemoth:


Second, my long time favorite band, Samael (from Switzerland), from their earlier, black metal days:


and later, when they started using more electronics:


Another classic from Sweden, Tiamat:


And last, Norwegian symphonic black, Limbonic Art:

[Kryopsis]

TheDividedGod:
Yeah, that was from the Axioma Ethica Odini album, the one right after Vertebrae.
I remember Nile. I was introduced to it by a former co-worker who was really into Technical Death Metal, along with a few other bands.

Here's an instrumental by Obscura, a pretty decent German band. The rest of the album is more traditional but I always liked this track.



Augury is a local band that is known for their varied influences and very interesting time signatures. Although it takes them several years to release a new album, they are consistent in their efforts. This is a track from their second and latest album:



If you would like to hear more Augury, try this song.

[MagosMechanicus]

Since we seem to have a few metal heads, there's something I've always wondered about. What exactly is the appeal of the growly voice thing? It can't carry melody, and it can't convey lyrics. As far as I know, those are the only functions a vocalist can have.

[Nashnir]

Not really. Here are a few that beg to differ.
Manowar - Warriors of the World


Manowar - Battle Hymn ( Live )


Nightwish - Islander


Skillet -Rebirthing


Of all these and more I love Manowar the best. Sadly I cannot link up more of their songs since most of them don't have an Original Video.
Got my won Fan-video in my sig below if you like WarHammer 40000 and Metal :P
Edit: @MagosMechanicus
There are Various Genres in metal itself and Most I listen do not have the Growling Voice. I prefer good Lyrics in a Song Over anything. The music is there just to compliment it.
For Just music I usually run off to listen to Rachmaninoff or immediate Music etc

[Malachi]

MagosMechanicus: it's an (unobligatory) part of the genre. Saying that it doesn't perform such and such function is irrelevant when talking about art. Art should not be approached pragmatically.

It lends itself to the overall atmosphere, and so this is it's "function". Clear singing voice would, in most cases, ruin that atmosphere.

[MagosMechanicus]

Ah, so it's not there not for what it does for the music specifically, but as part of the band image and the atmosphere of the performance? That makes sense. It's a choice that doesn't work for me personally, but that helps me see why they make it. Thanks!

[Richter]

Someone posted ze Islander (which i can play on acoustic, i love that song). But here is more from the vocalist's other band Tarot



@Magos - Sometimes it's easier to think of the vocalist as another instrument. As in they are more used to convey noise, than words. That's how i look at it sometimes anyway, when it comes to vocalists who i simply can't understand. Marco Hietala (male vocalist of Tarot and Nightwish) has an absolutely awesome voice in my opinion.

Also, some Adagio, particulary their latest album, which is by far the best:

[uncle_anaesthesia]

nobody mention slayer yet? ok i will

[Malachi]

I guess Slayer is too obvious, so I'm gonna post an Atari Teenage Riot / Slayer combo. Not really metal in this form, but awesome:

[Kryopsis]

Since we seem to have a few metal heads, there's something I've always wondered about. What exactly is the appeal of the growly voice thing? It can't carry melody, and it can't convey lyrics. As far as I know, those are the only functions a vocalist can have.

Personally, I can't stand vocals in most genres of music and especially in Metal. Unfortunately, there is very little instrumental Metal. Over the years, I learned to ignore the "I have throat cancer" vocals and focus on the music itself.


EDIT:
I am generalizing, of course. There are some good vocalists in Metal. I love Iron Maiden. This said, the band has been steadily running out of energy for a few years now. Nightwish was enjoyable but ever since the departure of Tarja Turunen, the band became unbearable and I would rather listen to Epica and Within Temptation. As far as Death and Black Metal are concerned, I think Alan Averill of Primordial has a very expressive voice but unfortunately the mastering on the album is pretty horrid and doesn't do the band justice.



If you're into Power Metal, there are hordes of Ronnie James Dio sound-alikes. Here's Astral Doors. Like most Power Metal bands, the lyrics are painfully cheesy.



It always surprised me that some of the best lyrics in Metal are from bands that use vocals as yet another instrument (as Richter commented). I always liked Meshuggah, in that regard. Neuraxis, another Montreal band, have some decent writing, every now and then.

Anyhow, it seems that Quo Vadis (also a local band) is working on a new album to come out this year. To understand why this is good news, just listen to this song from their latest studio album from 2004:

[Malachi]

And now for something more progressive:

When it comes to progressive metal, you can't get more classic (or awesome) than this:
Tool - Sober


And now something more rare:
Cynicism - Ravenous Blood


Lastly, another long time favorite of mine:
Neurosis - Lost

[TheDividedGod]

@Malachi - Again, I would point out that the term "progressive" refers to a style of writing and arrangement that uses multiple distinct parts which progress from one to the other through varying structural elements. The Tool track "Sober" is not really an example of progressive music (though it is most definitely a kick-ass track), since it uses standard pop-song format (ie. a verse-chorus-verse structure with a bridge and repeating choruses).

Now Neurosis, on the other hand...very slow, very heavy, very doomy, and often, very progressive.

now....for those people (even those fellow metalheads) who say that growling vocals really turn them off, or simply that they have tried and can't get into it....what would you say to a vocalist who does both clean and growled vocals equally well?

Though they have fallen off in recent years, Opeth was one of my favourite metal acts for a long, long time. Basically I think they haven't done anything worthy of note in many years - their last three or four albums were really formulaic and disappointing, not nearly as epic, heavy, and creative as their earlier material. However, they do have the distinction of being one of the few metal bands with obvious influences from other genres - many of their long instrumental sequences are reminiscent of everything from King Crimson to Pink Floyd, and their drummer plays more like a jazz percussionist than a traditional metal pounder. this could be (and IMO, has become) very cheesy, but their earlier work (2001's Blackwater Park and before) is really quite brilliant and tasteful.

Here is a track that perfectly exemplifies everything I am talking about. From their 1999 masterpiece, Still Life, the opening track, containing everything from brutal death growls and double-kick insanity to latin jazz and beautiful sung clean vocals:



And another great combination of growled vocals and beautiful clean singing on this track from 2001's Blackwater Park:



Again, it's the same guy doing the growls and singing.

Opeth's music has some of the best examples, IMO, of how and where both clean and growled vocals should be used in metal. Metal is an inherently intense and visceral genre of music, and both types of vocals have their place. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that growling is actually necessary in some types of metal - nothing else would sound appropriate given the tonality and style of the music.

So all you guys out there that can't handle the death growls, give this stuff a listen, and see if proper juxtaposition of both styles of vocal helps to ease you into an appreciation of serious growls!

[Malachi]

Well yeah, Sober isn't really a "progressive" track, just that Tool is generally branded a "progressive metal" band.

I'm not really much into labels when it comes to music, so yeah, you're right.

[Kryopsis]

I love Opeth, especially the Blackwater Park album. The band was always a creative force and while Watershed wasn't as good as their other works, I still think Opeth remains an excellent act. There are several bands that combine clean singing in growls and while few if any vocalists the delivery of Mikael Åkerfeldt, there are some very decent efforts. I quite liked Scar Symmetry with Christian Älvestam. While occasionally cheesy, the vocalist was able to admirably perform in both styles. I would recommend Holographic Universe as an album.

On an unrelated topic, I found myself returning to Skyfire recently. There is something very compelling about that band, particularly their latest album, Esoteric. While people may rise an eyebrow at the band's usage of piano, I find it works surprisingly well in the end.

[Kamikazebob]

This thread is seriously lacking in more awesome
So I present to you, more Awesome. I could post so, so so! much. And I probably will...

Eluvetie

Suidakra

Akphaezya

Altar of Plagues

Between the Buried and Me

Dan Swano

DeathSpell Omega

Forest Stream

[TheDividedGod]

@KamikazeBob - I'm REALLY digging that Altar of Plagues stuff. Apparently they only got it together and got signed to Candlelight a year ago, but I really like what I've heard from their debut album - just did some checking, apparently the White Tomb album has only two tracks, each with two movements, all over ten minutes each, for a total of almost 50 minutes of ambient black metal. Sounds right up my alley.

[FriendlyFire]

Now, as a disclaimer, I'll say that I'm not all that much into metal. I have a very hard time getting used to screaming and growls - I tolerate them in, say, Epica, but that's about the farthest I will go.

Some might say, thus, that I'm not really into metal. Honestly, my musical selection amounts to picking a band I've been listening to a lot recently and browsing suggestions on Amazon and similar sites. I usually pick up one album which I like out of the lot. I don't look at designations or genres or types - "progressive" and "metal" are a little meaningless to me. Does it sound good? Yes? Then I'm in.

So sorry if what I'm posting isn't metal - just do tell so that I know for next time

As a primer (and since it's late), I'll post this one clip from Alter Bridge's latest album.



I'm rather fond of the band in general, with great guitar solos, good rhythm and a tendency to shake their song layout every so often. Their style varies quite a bit, so they're hard to describe. Certain songs are nearly entirely acoustic.

I'll also mention 30 Seconds to Mars, but not their "new" iteration. While I like the newest album from the band, it's most definitely not metal anymore. However, their old sound was and, despite not being the most original song setup around, it was still quite enjoyable. Here's my favorite song from their debut album:

[Rotlung]

FriendlyFire: I myself don't like those screaming (non-clean) and growls, but I'm still very much into Metal. I don't know, maybe people have this strange tendency to thing Metal is all death growls and stuff. If that isn't your kind of Metal, you might want to consider something like heavy metal:
NIB by Black Sabbath (intro is a bass solo entitled "Bassically" if I remember correctly)
Great riffs, great solos


If you prefer something faster, you could always try Judas Priest:
Exciter by Judas Priest


Or for something more melodic, there's Iron Maiden (Bruce Dickinson has a very strong voice, going for a more opera-like singing style than the relatively wild antics of Priest's Rob Halford or Black Sabbath's Ozzy/Dio:
2 Minutes To Midnight by Iron Maiden

[MadCatChiken]

Ahh good ol' metal, though I really cannot stand screamo metal. I like old school metal like Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Pantera but I do like newer metal like Disturbed, Avenged Sevenfold. Incubus are great and Megadeth are always a good listen.

Now to pick out some songs that I think are really good. Lets start with a Pantera song called The Sleep, I think this song is brilliant has a great riff and one epic solo.



This song is a pretty good metal like song by Steve Vai, called Bad Horsie.



This ones 80s shred metal, Racer X's Technical Difficulties. Paul Gilbert is one awesome guitarist.



Megadeth song called Sleepwalker, pretty awesome song.

[Kamikazebob]

Amon Amarth
the pinnacle of pure manly awesome, cant believe I didnt post this first.

[Kryopsis]

I was wondering when somebody would post some Amon Amarth! Despite what I said earlier in this thread, I always liked Johan Hegg's vocals. 'Twilight of the Thunder God' was a rather good album too. There is a new album announced for 2011, 'Surtur Rising'. The first track is on YouTube.

It's nice to see another Eluveitie fan. While a lot of Folk Metal bands emphasise on the Metal part, Eluveitie clearly prioritizes the Folk over the Metal (in fact, their 2009 album was entirely acoustic). It is an excellent band!

Speaking of Folk Metal, I've been warming up to Ensiferum. While I still think their self-titled album is the best one, 2009's 'From A Far' comes very close.



Blind Guardian was one of the first Metal acts I became familiar with (the very first one being Helloween, of course). Although the band has its ups and downs, it always had a very distinctive style, due in part to Hansi Kürsch's layered vocals. It always impressed me how a 4-man band can have such presence, even though I wasn't a particularly big fan of their work.

[Copernicus]

I mostly listen to German metal (not exclusively) as Germany has a pretty active Metal scene, especially with regards to Folk/Black Metal. One of my favorites for already some time now is Eisregen; they're (in-)famous for their splatter lyrics although they've gotten far less extreme in the last few years. A song which actually isn't typical for Eisregen is Stahlschwarzschwanger (from their 2008s album Knochenkult, English: Cult of Bones). However, I didn't particularly like that specific album, the song still is fantastic (especially its end). It contains different styles of vocals all performed by their vocalist called Blutkehle.



Another band I like is Black Messiah (also from Germany), they're best described as Pagan Metal. Their last album First War of the World is a concept album about Northern mythology dealing with the first war between the Vanir and the Aesir, the two ancient lineages of gods. The lyrics are partly German and partly English which creates an interesting listening experience. The song you're about to hear is called Gullveig - that's the name of the witch who's ultimately causing the war. Structure wise the song is pretty simple and conservative which personally reminds me of the style a bard would use to deliver an ancient tale.

NSFW?

@Kryopsis:
If you like Ensiferum's From Afar (personally, I love that album) you should definitely give Turisas' Stand up and Fight a shot. It has been released just yesterday and I have only listened to it for 5-6 times but still I'd say it's an album you definitely shouldn't miss . Probably I'm over excited because that's my first vinyl ever, but anyway, here's the opening song:



@Kamikazebob:
Thanks for sharing Alter of Plagues! I really enjoyed that one.

[uncle_anaesthesia]

some kyuss, cant go wrong with them, metal punk stoner ace

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc-7FXzbeA0

and some early desert sessions

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_g9m...eature=related

[Kryopsis]

Germany indeed has a diverse Metal scene. A friend of mine is loves Eisregen (being German himself). It's not what I usually listen to but I have to admit that the song you linked is quite interesting. I am a little surprised nobody brought up In Extremo, Subway to Sally and Die Apokalyptischen Reiter.

Here is In Extremo performing Liam.



I am a little hesitant to include it in this thread because Lemmy always opposed the 'Metal' moniker but Motörhead is a legend and one of my favourite bands. Not only does it have a unique sound (thanks in part to Lemmy's vocals) but it is also quite consistent in quality. Here's Bomber.

[Pegman]

Germany's metal scene is really diverse - it has such a range throughout the genres. Caliban are a good example:





Their vocalist has an incredible voice - really deep and throaty.

On the subject of vocals, personally, I MUCH prefer a proper well-executed scream to a death growl. Metal bands that just employ death growls throughout the song, with unintelligible lyrics lose a fair bit of their musical X-factor. Proper melodic vocals are also pretty damn important in a song, if you ask me. I don't want to hear a vocalist employ harsh vocals for a whole song; a few melodic vocals are excellent for breaking the song up a bit. Am I really the only one who thinks like this?

TheDividedGod - I have to disagree with your statement that the fact that bands such as Periphery and Killswitch are classed as pop simply because they follow a verse-chorus-verse formula to their songs. There are plenty of metal bands that follow that formula - it's the standard by which almost all music is written in, with a few exceptions, naturally. The music my band and I write follows the trend of verse-chorus-verse, but we still employ distinct time signature changes, breakdowns and other metal essentials. I'd say the genre of music is defined by the way they play their music, rather than the structure they follow when playing their music (if that makes sense...).

[Kryopsis]

Pegman, I have a feeling you might like Catamenia. Their older albums tend to be more melodic (example 1, example 2) but I particularly like the new change of direction. While the latest album has a simpler song structure, I enjoy the Thrash-inspired vocals on the title track. I am pretty certain that 'Cavalcade' is not the band's best album and yet I've been listening to it on repeat on my mp3 player lately.

To address a much earlier comment from TheDividedGod:

Metal is an inherently intense and visceral genre of music, and both types of vocals have their place. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that growling is actually necessary in some types of metal - nothing else would sound appropriate given the tonality and style of the music.

I dare say that Metal did just fine for 20 years without growling or screeching. :0)

[Kamikazebob]

Seeing amon amarth in April.

[Kryopsis]

Thank you very much, Kamikazebob. You did me a favour by confirming that people don't read my posts.

[TheDividedGod]

I dare say that Metal did just fine for 20 years without growling or screeching

As such, yes, definitely. We'd never have made it this far into the various iterations of metal without classic(al) singing in general. But after 20 years, things change, and genres evolve. Certain types of metal that we have now (death/tech death, black, most types of euro extreme and thrash derivatives) simply wouldn't (and, i would argue, couldn't) exist without an accompanying vocal style that is appropriate for the intensity of the sub-genre. As it stands now, growling has become a staple of metal at large, and I'm glad to see it being integrated so fully with other genres as well (re: bands like opeth). I mean, can you imagine Meshuggah's music with soaring power metal vocals overtop? or an operatic female vocalist? No way, man. Just wouldn't make sense. Consider also the recent proliferation of REALLY good instrumental metal bands - metal with NO vocal has also become viable. I just always feel a pang of regret when someone who is into the genre expresses a distaste for something that is integral to some part of the genre, because I used to be that way as well, and all it took for me to achieve an appreciation of something like growled vocals was the right band writing just the right music for it, and as a result, I gained a greater appreciation for, and understanding of, the genre as a whole.

[mololu]

Growing up on german metal of various sorts (particularly folk & pagan) and slowly broadening my horizons, I've personally gained great distaste with any kind of lyrics I simply cannot understand. As long as I can guess the words I'm fine but as soon as I need to google the lyrics to get at what they're saying it starts pissing me off. As a result, I tend to not go into extremes, though I do enjoy Eisregen from time to time, most pure death/black metal just gets on my nerves.

Hard to pick bands, much more songs to go with though I'm surprised this one wasn't brought up yet:

Sabaton - Ghost Division (possibly better known for 40:1)



An oddly positive band in a genre generally ruled by darker settings, always good when you need a little hope:

Freedom Call - Eternal Flame



Probably one of the few bands that really goes to the limits with my vocal tolerance but still I enjoy their music:

Omega Lithium - Infest




Should probably note I'm not very informed on the actual genre of bands or their music, I prefer to listen for enjoyment than for tags. As a result, my musical knowledge is somewhat stretched when asked for any more than posting samples of music I enjoy.

Could add a number of more commonly known bands here (Iron Maiden, Manowar etc) but I'm guessing most of that's been chewed through in one way or another already so I'll leave that to the more sage metalheads here, reasons stated above.

[Kamikazebob]

Kryopsis - the only reason I know that Amon amarth is working on a new album and I'm going to see them is because I read your post. Though, I did miss the link to the song. Apologies for that.

Tyr


Orphaned land


Amogh Symphony


Ohh! and if you like Bling Guardian...
Demons and Wizards. Its Iced Earth and Blind Guardian in a band that sings about epic fiction like the Dark tower!

Persuader

[Richter]

THE METAL NEVER DIES. ARISE I SAY. ARISE.


Hi there; been getting into some Slipknot lately, particularly the All Hope Is Gone album:



It's a bitch to play on guitar. It is downtuned so much that my strings are ultra loose.

And this awesome band my gf found:



The vocalist is immensely talented, although I prefer it when I can understand the words he says, otherwise still good. Reminds me of a heavy Dreamtheatre.

Speaking of which, Dreamtheatre has a new album out, although I have yet to have a look at it.

[Ra owa]

I have the new Dream Theater album. This is the album with the new drummer, Mike Mangini, replacing Mike Portnoy.

Mangini does a good job of emulating Portnoy's style, probably just to fit with the rest of the band and win the fans over. I watched the documentary of the drummer auditions, and the rest of the band didn't seem to happy when some of the drummers didn't play in the style of Portnoy.

I have only listened to the album a couple of times, but right now it doesn't seem like anything too special. Most of it seems quite generic, as far as Dream Theater can be considered generic. Maybe another couple of listens will change my mind, but at a glance this album doesn't seem to be anything near as good as the last (count of tuscany! brilliant song!)

[Richter]

I keep hearing that all over the internet, that it's nothing too special. I watched the auditions as well, and Mangini outdid them all from the get go. Although the guy with the cookie monster shirt was pretty cool.

Just watched this, from Tesseract. Seems promising. Will investigate further!: