METAL

[Jenne]

Black Sabbath

Black sabbath has had many faces, but only one emotion. Tony Iommi has been the driving force of this band since the 70's, and basically inventing this whole genre albeit being surpassed later on until recently.  The Black Sabbath I will discuss today is the Dio years, past and modern, which far surpass anything Ozzy has done past Paranoid or Master of Reality.

The Dio years are fast paced and upbeat, and almost NWOBHM (See: Iron Maiden, Judas Priest). The highlights are some masterful riffs by Iommi and Dio's lyrics. His lyrics are hard to describe, often being ironic and poetic and really "old school." "Rainbow in the dark," "Breaking into heaven," Etc. Sabbath has recently returned to Doom, with Dio. Paired with his songwriting its some of the best in modern bands.

Also, it can be noted Dio is almost 70 and has the most energy of anyone live I've ever seen. See the video for "I" below.

Modern:

Breaking into Heaven

<- Favorite

Eating the Cannibals

<-Best damn title ever

Bible Black

The Past:

Rainbow in the Dark

"I" Live

-< Best

Holy Diver

I prefer to pretend Ronnie James Dio never existed, in any form.

[C-zom]

I've lost all respect for you.

[Jenne]

I've lost all respect for you.

Sorry for not being ghey.

[enragedlobster]

Meshuggah - Technical Post-Thrash Metal

New Millennium Cyanide Christ

Future Breed Machine

Meshuggah are one of the most rhythmically complex bands I've ever listened to. They commonly play in obscure time signatures, with the drums playing polyrhythms underneath. Their drummer, Tomas Haake, is fully capable of playing four completely different rhythms with his four limbs, and has done so on numerous occasions. They are a very tough band to "get," primarily due to the extreme complexity of their songs and completely atonal vocals. They have released one EP and one full-length album that each consist of one song, the latter split into separate tracks for ease of skipping through. Their typical albums have more than one song, though, so don't worry about that.

[rlrcstrnthusiast]

If a bit sadder or heavier progressive is your thing, you might want to consider Opeth. I'm not a huge fan, but they're straight foward and too tonicular for their own good. Mostly death vocals accompanied by an Insomnium-esque riffing pattern and their lyrics are almost entirely based on relationships.

Maybe if Blackwater Park is the only CD you listen to.

[C-zom]

My Arms your hearse > Blackwater

fyi

[C-zom]

I've lost all respect for you.

Sorry for not being ghey.

Its ozzy thats gay. Ozzy that sold out after Sabbath Bloddy Sabbath. Its Ozzy thats suing Iommi now for sole rights to the band. Itz Ozzy that sold out on TV and did one of the most awful solo careers in metal.

Fuck him. Dio > Ozzy

[Agent Lemon]

I'm not really into metal that much but I like Pantera and Megadeth and some other stuff is ok too. I'll listen to some stuff posted here and see if I like it.

[C-zom]

Sounds good Lemon. Tell me what you think

[enragedlobster]

Slayer - Thrash Metal

Black Magic

South of Heaven

For the longest time, I hated Slayer. They seemed to just be another generic "Satanic" thrash metal band who everyone loved because they were edgy. I finally gave them another shot, with the song Black Magic (linked above) and finally realized what I was missing. Everything fits together perfectly - the kind of on pitch vocals, the repetitive guitar and drums, the nearly inaudible bass, even the sloppy guitar solo. While those all seem like very negative things, they fit together so perfectly to form that pinnacle of aggression that metal is all about. Unfortunately, after their album South of Heaven, they suddenly forgot how to be good and indeed became another generic "Satanic" thrash metal band who everyone loved because they were edgy.

Fun fact: Slayer's lead singer, Tom Araya, is a practicing Catholic.

[enragedlobster]

I'm not really into metal that much but I like Pantera and Megadeth and some other stuff is ok too. I'll listen to some stuff posted here and see if I like it.

Be warned: you will hate a lot of what I posted. I'm a fan of the extreme side of metal, which is very difficult to get into.

[Jenne]

I used to listed to Danzig a lot back in the day.  Sure, he is such an egotistical prick that his band has left him several times, but he still keeps yelling like Grover doing a "near/far" bit.  It's simplistic, yet angry and evil all at the same time.  

Going Down to Die

Sistinas

- Very uncharacteristic of them, but I always liked it.

I've lost all respect for you.

Sorry for not being ghey.

Its ozzy thats gay. Ozzy that sold out after Sabbath Bloddy Sabbath. Its Ozzy thats suing Iommi now for sole rights to the band. Itz Ozzy that sold out on TV and did one of the most awful solo careers in metal.

Fuck him. Dio > Ozzy

Dio is about one step away from hair metal.

I tend to think of Ozzy with Sabbath and Ozzy solo as completely separate entities.  I was into Ozzy as a solo long before I really knew of him with Sabbath.  So, the transition going that way only makes him better.  

I'm not really into metal that much but I like Pantera and Megadeth and some other stuff is ok too. I'll listen to some stuff posted here and see if I like it.

Pantara is great gym music.

[DeadrAlive]

Nile
 Dethclok
 System of a Down
 Acid Mothers Temple
 Mastodon
 Strapping Young Lad
 Amon Amarth
 Gong


  Well there not all Metal  

EDIT: Frank Zappa

[C-zom]

Dio is about one step away from hair metal.

I tend to think of Ozzy with Sabbath and Ozzy solo as completely separate entities. I was into Ozzy as a solo long before I really knew of him with Sabbath. So, the transition going that way only makes him better.

This is completely wrong. Dio is Epic Doom for his Sabbath career. I can agree with that about his solo career though, but thats NWOBHM. See: He's extremely similar to Priest and Maiden at the time.

Yeah, I can agree with this sentence.

[Electric Mango]

Metallica has been my favorite heavy metal band of all time for a long time.  I'm going to see them Oct 13th when they hit the Target Center in Minneapolis.  I can't wait.

\,,/    \,,/

I feel bad for you.

Why feel bad.  Metallica are the gods of metal, there is none higher.  Nobody rocks harder than Metallica.

[enragedlobster]

In Flames - Melodic Death Metal

Moonshield

Jotun

Pretend you've never heard of this band. Their later stuff is absolutely atrocious and, unfortunately, extremely popular, but their old music is absolutely fantastic. They seamlessly blended acoustic melodies with the then-new Gothenburg melodic death metal scene, making what is, in my opinion, the two best melodeath records - The Jester Race and Whoracle - and a few other pretty good ones. Their guitar tone is heavy yet decipherable, the vocals are unmistakably death metal, but again, they are decipherable. These guys, along with Opeth, are the perfect bands for getting used to harsh vocals. Unfortunately, after Whoracle, they started a steady decline, going from such a fantastic sound to...

t

h

i

s

. Gone are the guitar melodies and subtlety, replaced by nü-metal power chords and obvious angst-filled lyrics.

[enragedlobster]

Metallica has been my favorite heavy metal band of all time for a long time.  I'm going to see them Oct 13th when they hit the Target Center in Minneapolis.  I can't wait.

\,,/    \,,/

I feel bad for you.

Why feel bad.  Metallica are the gods of metal, there is none higher.  Nobody rocks harder than Metallica.

Metallica have their moments (those being Kill 'em All and Master of Puppets), but on the whole, they are extremely generic and lost all their uniqueness when Cliff Burton died.

[Skulryk]

I know -NOTHING- about Metal. My knowledge lies in Classical (through training) and Rock (because I've always been inclined towards it). BUT, there is one metal band I'm familiar with and actively follow:

Nightwish. Discovered them after a friend swapped out my iPod for her's while I was distracted yelling at a stupid driver who cut me off. I liked what I heard and bought more.

Their latest album, Dark Passion Play, is my favorite by far. Definite fav track: "Master Passion Greed." Very violent song about their last lead singer. But I also love "Whoever Brings the Night." It's a song about whores with an epic guitar solo halfway through. What more could one want?

[C-zom]

I can't help you there. Power metal is an extremely weak genre and isn't even metal, it could be more accurately called fast progressive rock. Also nightwish is one of the weaker power bands I've heard.

In Flames - Melodic Death Metal
Moonshield
Jotun

Pretend you've never heard of this band. Their later stuff is absolutely atrocious and, unfortunately, extremely popular, but their old music is absolutely fantastic. They seamlessly blended acoustic melodies with the then-new Gothenburg melodic death metal scene, making what is, in my opinion, the two best melodeath records - The Jester Race and Whoracle - and a few other pretty good ones. Their guitar tone is heavy yet decipherable, the vocals are unmistakably death metal, but again, they are decipherable. These guys, along with Opeth, are the perfect bands for getting used to harsh vocals. Unfortunately, after Whoracle, they started a steady decline, going from such a fantastic sound to...this. Gone are the guitar melodies and subtlety, replaced by nü-metal power chords and obvious angst-filled lyrics.

second'd

[enragedlobster]

Power metal, you say? I'm not very well-versed in it, but here's a few bands I do know (descriptions will be shorter than usual, due to my relative lack of knowledge with regard to this genre):

Iced Earth - Power/Thrash Metal

A Question of Heaven

Dracula

Probably my second favorite power metal band, Iced Earth are amazing almost solely because of their old vocalist, Matt Barlow. That man's voice just oozes emotion when it needs to and pummels your face in when it needs to. Their reliance on Barlow's vocals really shows when you listen to the albums before and after he was in the band, which really suffer at the lack of his vocal talent.

Blind Guardian - Power Metal

Somewhere Far Beyond

The Curse of Feanor

Power metal with an awesome vocalist and nerdy concept albums (theirs being about the Silmarillion). This seems familiar.

Dragonforce - Power Metal

Valley of the Damned

Disciples of Babylon

Dragonforce are a terrible band. They weren't always, though. Their first album is one of the best power metal albums I've ever heard. Unfortunately, they ended up gobbling their own cocks and ripped themselves off more and more with each album. They suck shit now.

Symphony X - Progressive Power Metal

Sea of Lies

Inferno (Unleash the Fire)

Symphony X are extremely talented musicians. They are easily my favorite power metal band, mostly because they do power metal differently. There is a lot of prog in their music, as well. They have a few huge epics that surpass 20 minutes across numerous movements, a kind of song typically reserved for prog. They also shift time signatures and tempos regularly, most evident in Inferno, linked above.