# Favorite metal recommendations - Metalbros unite!!!



## Nao Gam (Jul 12, 2018)

-)Death metal

Be'lakor (australian melodeath, listen to countless skies -the song- this is what melodeath should sound like)
Insomnium
Amon amarth (duh)
Swallow the sun (all the Horrors plus New moon)
Dark lunacy (italians, serenity & dolls are good)
In mourning (the art of a mourning kind)
Novembers doom (first albums are doom, later death, Paul has the clearest growl in the world, The dead leaf echo is great, so are Leaving this & Buried)
Draconian

-)Black metal (Not really a fan but there's 4 bands of 4 different sub genres I like)
Carach angren - symphonic black from the netherlands, gorgeous riffs vocals n lyrical stories, saw them live too)
The summoning - folk black
Antropophobia - one man band instrumental atmospheric black
Caladan brood - epic black

-) Doom metal
My dying bride (pretty famous, santuario di sangue is beautiful)
The foreshadowing (italians, amazing doom)

-) Post metal
Rosetta (best)
Cult of luna (production quality is a little rotten but nice grooves)

I also love more mainstream stuff like apocalyptica, rammstein & slipknot & maybe opeth & cradle of filth but anyway

I'll also pull a shameless plug for a friend (if you're into djent, I'm not but their sound is solid tho slightly overprocessed) Mask of Prospero


I'd love to hear your input/recommendations


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## Lassi Tani (Jul 12, 2018)

I don't listen to or follow much metal bands except symphonic metal bands, like Nightwish; Planet Hell is one of my fav, and also Wishmaster.


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## J-M (Jul 12, 2018)

Animals As Leaders (to admire the band member's skills), Dream Theater and Symphony X for all those who enjoy prog metal. Periphery (poppy vocals and awesome riffs), Monuments (crushing riffs and heavy vocals), Tesseract (moody and calm).


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## Jeremy Spencer (Jul 13, 2018)

I'm always amused at all the sub-genre Metal (Black, Doom, Post, Viking, Grindcore, Brutal, Star Wars, etc). It's all the same, no? The music features Cookie Monster on lead vocals, screaming lyrics that can't even be understood. Ok, all that being said, I'm a fan of Children of Bodom and Nevermore. 

Also a prog/symphonic fan. Rush is my all time favourite, but there are so many good ones. I recently got into Sabaton (Sweden) and Trivium (USA), they are excellent.


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## J-M (Jul 13, 2018)

Wolfie2112 said:


> I'm always amused at all the sub-genre Metal (Black, Doom, Post, Viking, Grindcore, Brutal, Star Wars, etc). It's all the same, no? The music features Cookie Monster on lead vocals, screaming lyrics that can't even be understood. Ok, all that being said, I'm a fan of Children of Bodom and Nevermore.
> 
> Also a prog/symphonic fan. Rush is my all time favourite, but there are so many good ones. I recently got into Sabaton (Sweden) and Trivium (USA), they are excellent.



Careful now...metal fans are easily disturbed by such words. :D Nevermore, good choice, how could I forget?! And COB, their older material was amazing.


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## Kas (Jul 13, 2018)

Well, since I'm old school prog metal fan who is not really into harsh vocals let me suggest two great prog bands with mostly clean vocals. Haken and Leprous. I believe they'll tour the US later this year, if anyone there is interested.


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## Jimmy Hellfire (Jul 13, 2018)

I used to be very into Metal. Nowadays, not so much, I find it very silly and fake.

Recently I listened to Metallicas Black Album. It's a masterpiece. I can't believe that after 27 years and all the posturing, still no band ever managed to write a song that's heavier than "Sad But True".

I also listened to Annihilator - Set The World On Fire. Fun album with some great guitar work.

I'm familiar with the aforementioned Haken and their album "Affinity". Quite interesting, it has a wonderful Vince DiCola type of vibe to it. But as most of these "progressive" bands, it all tends to sound a bit cold.


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## J-M (Jul 13, 2018)

Jimmy Hellfire said:


> I used to be very into Metal. Nowadays, not so much, I find it very silly and fake.
> 
> Recently I listened to Metallicas Black Album. It's a masterpiece. I can't believe that after 27 years and all the posturing, still no band ever managed to write a song that's heavier than "Sad But True".
> 
> ...



I kinda feel the same as you, I used to be a die-hard metal head, but got tired of the community (I blame Ultimate guitar) and let's face it: metal is the same as any genre - lots of bands, but only a few are worth listening to. And while were at it, one of my favorites is Devin Townsend. Listen to Addicted and thank me later.


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## astrocreep (Jul 13, 2018)

Defininately Devin Townsend. I can see why Addicted might be more accessible than some albums, but it's not one of my favourite.... they are all good though.


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## Jimmy Hellfire (Jul 13, 2018)

Devin is too out there for me, gives me a headache. A lot of times it sounds like some weird practical joke.

Dude was also responsible for one of the best Metal songs of all time though - Strapping Young Lad's "Detox".


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## Jeremy Spencer (Jul 13, 2018)

Jimmy Hellfire said:


> I also listened to Annihilator - Set The World On Fire. Fun album with some great guitar work.



Ahhhh yes, gold ol' Jeff Waters. Alice in Hell!


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## Mike Fox (Jul 13, 2018)

Wolfie2112 said:


> I'm always amused at all the sub-genre Metal (Black, Doom, Post, Viking, Grindcore, Brutal, Star Wars, etc). It's all the same, no? The music features Cookie Monster on lead vocals, screaming lyrics that can't even be understood. Ok, all that being said, I'm a fan of Children of Bodom and Nevermore.
> 
> Also a prog/symphonic fan. Rush is my all time favourite, but there are so many good ones. I recently got into Sabaton (Sweden) and Trivium (USA), they are excellent.


Definitely not the same (that's like saying Megadeath and Metallica are the same).

There is certainly a stereotypical platform that so many cookie cutter metal bands have chosen to adopt (for whatever reason), but the good bands know how to deviate from the herd.

Unfortunately, there are more bands that like to mimic, than there are that like to create something new (It's like that with every genre of music though.)

...Djent has gotten out of control.


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## gtrwll (Jul 13, 2018)

Hear hear. I too have gotten old lately, and not many new metal bands spark any of the enthusiasm I used to have for metal. The latest Shinedown album was nice, great to hear them diversifying their music. Alter Bridge anyone? Great alternative metal band, The Last Hero was a good album and I think they're about to release a new record.

And to say all metal genres are the same is pretty much as accurate as saying all classical music is the same


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## Jeremy Spencer (Jul 13, 2018)

I don't think anyone is saying all metal genres are the same (believe me, I'm a huge metal head). I just think it's funny how the sub genres start splitting hairs, most notably "Death Metal". I mean, the actual band "Death" started the whole Cookie Monster genre (for lack of a better term) in California back in the 80's....there's now countless sub genres that sprouted up over the years.


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## Mike Fox (Jul 13, 2018)

Wolfie2112 said:


> I don't think anyone is saying all metal genres are the same (believe me, I'm a huge metal head). I just think it's funny how the sub genres start splitting hairs, most notably "Death Metal". I mean, the actual band "Death" started the whole Cookie Monster genre (for lack of a better term) in California back in the 80's....there's now countless sub genres that sprouted up over the years.


Hairs had to be split, because there were notable differences within the genre. Dumb analogy, but It's like dog breeds. Look at all the different types of terriers.


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## Mike Fox (Jul 13, 2018)

Here's one of my favorite "metal" bands...



Snot released their debut album, "Get Some", in '97. They were heavy, but also had a certain groove to them. They were a mix of metal, punk, and funk. Unfortunately, their singer, Lynn Strait, died in a car accident shortly after the album's release. His dog, Dobbs (seen on the album cover), also died in the car accident.

I got to meet Lynn once, and he was honestly one of the nicest dudes I had ever met. He treated me like more of a friend than a fan.


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## MartinH. (Jul 13, 2018)

I have long phases where I don't listen to metal at all anymore, but recently I've been getting into another black metal phase and discovered these guys a few days ago:




The polish black metal scene seems to have a few gems that I never heard of before. These guys seem interesting too, but I haven't heard much of them yet (and they're maybe ever so slightly overdoing it with the skulls and bones on their outfits...): 




I don't like the live sound of either, they sound better on the albums. But I thought maybe the non-black-metal-fans can at least get a chuckle out of these outfits. 

I have a hard time putting into words why I like one band and another doesn't interest me. So I totally understand if every band in the genre sounds the same to people who don't like this kind of stuff. 


Is there anyone here who _makes _black metal with virtual instruments?


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## Wake (Jul 13, 2018)

Portal and Svartidauði have tickled my imagination in recent years.



Special mention to The Great Discord as a guilty pleasure.


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## Henu (Jul 14, 2018)

MartinH. said:


> Is there anyone here who _makes _black metal with virtual instruments?



Can you define what qualifies as "making"? A ton of bands use all sorts of VI's, but guitar is something which is very rarely used as a virtual instrument.


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## enyawg (Jul 14, 2018)

Black Sabbath and Judas Priest forever. No one can touch’m.

BTW JP’s 2018 release Firepower is a modern masterpiece (and no Cookie Monster vocals!).


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## MartinH. (Jul 14, 2018)

Wake said:


> Portal and Svartidauði have tickled my imagination in recent years.


Portal's video is brilliant! Seems inspired by Jan Svankmajer. Music is a bit too close to death metal for me. Svartidaudi have great atmosphere and sound, but it's slightly too chaotic for me. Worth looking at for inspiration though!



Wake said:


> Special mention to The Great Discord as a guilty pleasure.


Music started very promising, but I can't deal with the singer. x]

Thanks for the recommendations!



EpicDude said:


> There is a band called Hecate Enthroned, one of their videos is considered one of the most ridiculous of all time (because it is) but the song is actually pretty good. I remade their song using only *virtual instruments* 5 years ago, when I didn't know anything about mixing and mastering.
> 
> Here's my remake and their video.


Very nice! I listened first to your version while watching the video muted. Your version has a believable black metal sound to it and the virtualness of the guitars doesn't jump out too hard at me, though I do hear some of the issues I'm trying to solve myself here and there. Compared to the original, their guitar sounds seem to have a "smoother attack". I'll need to experiment with that aspect and see if I find a solution for my own mockups.
Also I see you have not found a substitute for the vocals either. Any ideas what kind of instruments could fill out that part of the frequency spectrum and overall sound aesthetic? I find instrumental black metal is often "missing something".
I experimented with routing Requiem Light through distortion effects, but didn't get any good results.



Henu said:


> Can you define what qualifies as "making"? A ton of bands use all sorts of VI's, but guitar is something which is very rarely used as a virtual instrument.


Since (for good reasons) they are so rarely used, my interest in virtual guitar setups in this genre is pretty big. These and substitutes for the trademark vocal style would be especially interesting to me. Drums and bass seem easier to do (or at least I'm ignorant enough to not notice the issues with them as much). I even have bought the "Kvlt Drums" plugin, though I ended up not using it, because it sounds _too _raw for what I want to do.
I do have a real guitar, but every single time I tried to seriously play things like this I've ended up injuring myself and I don't think it's a technique issue. I seem to just not be cut out for it because I have some joint issues. When I did a bit of research, it seems to be relatively common for Guitarrists in those extreme genres to struggle with chronic pain issues and I don't want that shit.


P.s.: I'm aware of voices of rage, but don't think it'd fit black metal: 
https://soundiron.com/products/voices-of-rage


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## Henu (Jul 14, 2018)

I actually made a gibberish Kontakt patch from some vocal tracks a couple of years ago to use it as a vocal demo placeholder, which worked quite ok or horribly depending on the rhythms. :D A bit later, I found out there actually IS already a product doing quite the same (VoR), yet the style wasn't what I was really looking for. Nowadays I tend to just scream gibberish/ cookbook/ newspaper myself on top of the demos quickly as it's even faster that way.

KVLT drums are fun, but technically just a gimmick and a joke more than an actual drum kit- you'll get way better results with e.g. SD3. I have them too, and I think I've used them maybe once. The best part of the set is definitely the brutaltruth-esque logo, though. :D
I used to sample (and still do) my own kits for years which I also recommend, especially when layering with more professionally done drum kit VST's. I actually still do it every now and then, if I really like the individual sounds we're about to record in the sessions.

For what it comes to guitars, my friends use Shreddage a lot in their demos and it is actually somehow convincing even for a guitarist like me. But the "injuring yourself while playing extreme metal guitar" is complete and utter myth. I've been playing metal guitar since the turn of the 90's and know literally tens of professional extreme metal guitarists and no-one has ever even joked about having any sorts of problems with any sort of pain. Your joint problems seem to be the problem for you personally, but it's still rather uncommon though. I hope you can get rid of those, because playing metal guitar is awesome!


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## c t (Jul 14, 2018)

Patiently waiting for royalty checks from all the 'djent' bands...


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## MartinH. (Jul 14, 2018)

Henu said:


> For what it comes to guitars, my friends use Shreddage a lot in their demos and it is actually somehow convincing even for a guitarist like me.


I have shreddage II, are there any versions of shreddage that are more well-suited for shredding 16th notes on chords? I find that to be the biggest problem. Or are they all more or less the same articulations, just with a different "guitar tone"?
And also I've found an issue with the tremolo articulation: when I play higher notes the scripting sometimes decides to play them on frets that have no actual samples for the that articulation, even though on a higher string there would be a sample for that pitch. It's annoying as hell because the notes just drop out then. Setting fret- and string- preferences seems to partly work, but only partly. I haven't tried the 1-midi-channel-per-string mode with tremolo articulations yet. That should probably work now that I think of it. 




Henu said:


> KVLT drums are fun, but technically just a gimmick and a joke more than an actual drum kit- you'll get way better results with e.g. SD3.


I've used the free "Drummica" kit for a while and I think now I'm using the "Garage Kit" from Studio Drummer (whatever version was in komplete 10), but I'm not 100% sure, I was experimenting with different kits a few days ago. Either sound fine to me. 




Henu said:


> But the "injuring yourself while playing extreme metal guitar" is complete and utter myth. I've been playing metal guitar since the turn of the 90's and know literally tens of professional extreme metal guitarists and no-one has ever even joked about having any sorts of problems with any sort of pain.


Ah, cool. Must just be me then :-/. I'm glad you and your friends are ok!


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## Divico (Jul 14, 2018)

Add Dark Tranquility to your list. Great Melodic Death from Sweden. Mix of Clean and screamed/growled vocals.

Eluveitie: Great folk/melo death metal mix. 

Some fun stuff:


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## J-M (Jul 14, 2018)

gtrwll said:


> Hear hear. I too have gotten old lately, and not many new metal bands spark any of the enthusiasm I used to have for metal. The latest Shinedown album was nice, great to hear them diversifying their music. Alter Bridge anyone? Great alternative metal band, The Last Hero was a good album and I think they're about to release a new record.
> 
> And to say all metal genres are the same is pretty much as accurate as saying all classical music is the same



Myles Kennedy's voice is just awesome.


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## Jeremy Spencer (Jul 14, 2018)

But if you guys are lumping Myles Kennedy, Alter Bridge (Creed) and Shinedown into the Metal category, I'd love to hear what "sub-genre" you think they fall into. That's why all the labelling is bogus. Metal is Metal, period.


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## Emmanuel Rousseau (Jul 14, 2018)

Back in the days, I used to be a huge fan of bands like Opeth, Katatonia, Pain of Salvation, Porcupine Tree (more a prog rock band, but had a big fanbase in the metal community)... 

But these days I'm afraid the metalhead in me is dead and burried. The only band I just can't stop loving is Type O Negative, one of my all times favourites  But not really a metal band either.


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## Henu (Jul 14, 2018)

Jimmy Hellfire said:


> I used to be very into Metal. Nowadays, not so much, I find it very silly and fake.





gtrwll said:


> Hear hear. I too have gotten old lately, and not many new metal bands spark any of the enthusiasm I used to have for metal.





MartinH. said:


> I have long phases where I don't listen to metal at all anymore...





whitewasteland said:


> But these days I'm afraid the metalhead in me is dead and burried.



MANOWAR DOES NOT APPROVE THIS.


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## Emmanuel Rousseau (Jul 14, 2018)

@Henu : If you're not metal, you're not my friend ! ©


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## Henu (Jul 14, 2018)

THIS! 

In all seriousness, I've been into (extreme) metal since the early 90's so my views might be a bit biased, haha!


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## visiblenoise (Oct 7, 2019)

I'm enjoying Dysrhythmia right now: 

I couldn't get into a lot of their older stuff because they seemed to have kinda wimpy production, but I think the guitarist's and bassist's involvement in Gorguts has changed them for the better


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## c t (Oct 10, 2019)

oh yes



slightly more going on than shinedown creed shenanigans.


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## synkrotron (Oct 12, 2019)

Meshuggah






I'll get me coat...


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## synkrotron (Oct 12, 2019)

whitewasteland said:


> Porcupine Tree



Missing PT


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## gtrwll (Oct 12, 2019)

Actually, I've been listening to a lot of Periphery lately. Their latest album is freakin' good! Especially Reptile, that's the best song I've heard in ages.


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## Thomas Kallweit (Oct 12, 2019)

I'm so glad they have something new out:






WALTARI - Postrock (Official Video) I Rodeostar Records


Subscribe to Rodeostar Youtube channel: http://bit.ly/2d6PlTN Order and stream




invidio.us


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## MWMelis (Oct 12, 2019)

Any other Russian Circles fans here? They are the heavy equivalent to Hammock in the instrumental-only vein. But some of their songs are equally beautiful. This is my favourite.


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## Shredoverdrive (Oct 13, 2019)

Revocation are the best current metal act in my opinion.
Trials are a very underrated but alas defunct one.


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## kociol21 (Dec 30, 2019)

gtrwll said:


> Actually, I've been listening to a lot of Periphery lately. Their latest album is freakin' good! Especially Reptile, that's the best song I've heard in ages.



Old comment but whatever. Exactly same with me. I love progressive stuff but more like Dream Theater, Ayreon, Neal Morse Band, Devin Townsend etc. I tried couple times to listen to Periphery but it just didn't click wit me whatsoever, always got bored after 3-4 tracks. 

However PIV is just CRAZY good and Reptile wins "song of the year" for me. Such an awesome album. I still get bored with their earlier works though, I double-checked


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## Kas (Dec 30, 2019)

kociol21 said:


> Old comment but whatever. Exactly same with me. I love progressive stuff but more like Dream Theater, Ayreon, Neal Morse Band, Devin Townsend etc.



Since this kind of progressive metal is your cup of tea, may I suggest Horizon's End and our latest album Skeleton Keys. This came out 2 months ago and you might find it interesting.


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## kociol21 (Dec 30, 2019)

Kas said:


> Since this kind of progressive metal is your cup of tea, may I suggest Horizon's End and our latest album Skeleton Keys. This came out 2 months ago and you might find it interesting.



So I listened to it. Wanna my honest opinion? I expected worse and it turned out pretty professional stuff. Great musicianship overall from every member, often there is a case when guitarist are good but section is underwhelming or keyboardist is lacking or most often everything goes great until mediocre vocalist shows up. Not this time, everyone knows his craft well and vocalist is also skilled and on point. Compositions are well thought out, there is no boring part, keyboards provide interesting sound design (although they are maybe slightly too loud in a mix). Overall it's piece of really good music for what I think is unknown band.

What I dislike has nothing to do with quality of music and everything to do with my personal taste. There are fragments that sound kinda like what Threshold used to do (end of Land of Decay for example) and I like it very much. But more often it falls into this neoclassical/power territory that I used to listen years ago but somehow grown to dislike it eventually, stuff like Helloween, Rhapsody (in the chorus of Forming Fantasies vocalists sounds like Fabio Lione), elements of early Nightwish, maybe Yngwie Malmsteen stuff and echos of Masterplan. There is great unexpected 'reggae' part in Dreamer's Hands that is super fun but it is quickly followed with this very melodic double kick driven gallopade and this happens almost every time I start to think "wow, this part is awesome" nope, here come Helloween again  Dream Theater maybe but if so than mostly from their When Dream and Day Unite album but that stuff was 30 years ago 

But as I said, that's just my thing. I don't know if you are familiar with band Myrath. They released great album Shehili this year which I also can't listen for same reasons, to many power metal stuff in there (although in their case it's mostly Camelot-like stuff). And even world class bands can be similar, Symphony X I can't listen for same reason and hard to argue that they are absolutely world leaders in this stuff.

Overall it's a big yes from me, I'm sure I will listen to this in the future and I'll just pretend that I don't hear the parts I'm not a fan of


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## Kas (Dec 30, 2019)

Wow, such a great analysis, much obliged. Since I'm the keyboard player and main composer, I have to admit that everything you said was spot on! I love Threshold but I also love Rhapsody and Symphony X and even Myrath! And one of my favorites Dream Theater albums is When Dream and Day Unite !! It' s really what they say, different strokes for different folks. Nevertheless I really appreciate that you took the time to listen to it. Thank you and I wish you a happy new year:emoji_fireworks:


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## plague (Dec 31, 2019)

melodic black /death


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## MartinH. (Dec 31, 2019)

I stumbled over this one a couple weeks ago and was wondering if there are any bands making instrumental (!!!) albums in this style?


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## KEM (Dec 31, 2019)




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## Henu (Jan 1, 2020)

Ok, you are in dire need of some actual metal.

Take a dose of this twice a day and please report if the symptoms won't go away.


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## Zero&One (Jan 1, 2020)

Queued up for ease of pure metal greatness


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## Morning Coffee (Jan 1, 2020)

Queensryche.

Their Empire and Operation Mindcrime albums are greatness, in my, humble, heavy metal, opinion.


Queensryche - Best I Can (Official Video)


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## MartinH. (Jan 1, 2020)

For Blackmetal I'm quite liking this Album recently:


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## Uncle Peter (Jan 19, 2020)

Check out the Metallica 'What if series' by youtuber 'State of Mercury.' Some of them are great! Introduce yourself to them with Sandman... Justice styleee.. \m/
(you have to be familiar with most of the albums to appreciate the styles)


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## ProfoundSilence (Jan 19, 2020)

2nd movement (4:57)

that's some real klvt shit



incase you want a less 1st wave BM production XD


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## Royosho (Jan 19, 2020)

old - black sabbath, iron maiden, dio, judas priest, motorhead
new - unleash the archers, avenged sevenfold, jinger
more - dream theater, sabaton, pantera
acoustic - apocalyptica, rodrigo and gabriela
industrialish - ramstein, strapping young lad


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## Aphanasis (Jan 20, 2020)

Since you asked...

Top of my list this past year:







Random selection from my favourite band ever:


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## KEM (Jan 20, 2020)

Aphanasis said:


> Since you asked...
> 
> Top of my list this past year:
> 
> ...




Mad respect for posting Periphery, saw them last year with my friends, amazing band, Misha is actually the reason I started using Cubase


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## Nova (Jan 20, 2020)

Long time metal head that can't listen to a lot of today's metal, but there's one band I don't get tired of. I don't know what genre you would call it...danish rockabillly metal maybe. If you've never heard a metal band with boogie woogie piano and a sax, here's Volbeat.


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## ghostnote (Jan 20, 2020)

I'm not anymore into metal. There're countless great classics out there however. Megadeth, Pantera, Dream Theater and Atreyu will always end up on my playlists. I admire them for their expression, melodies and workmanship. Today I look at all those other bands and I just can't get bothered to listen to them, knowing that I'll get dissapointed.


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## ghostnote (Jan 20, 2020)

MrLinssi said:


> Myles Kennedy's voice is just awesome.


Slash and Myles Kennedy is on my playlist all the time. Not Metal, but great rock! Great vocals and drive, perfect for driving.




To be honest there're also great prog bands out there who still carry the old charme, but with modern takes:


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## kessel (Jan 20, 2020)

Wolfie2112 said:


> I'm always amused at all the sub-genre Metal (Black, Doom, Post, Viking, Grindcore, Brutal, Star Wars, etc). It's all the same, no? The music features Cookie Monster on lead vocals, screaming lyrics that can't even be understood. Ok, all that being said, I'm a fan of Children of Bodom and Nevermore.
> 
> Also a prog/symphonic fan. Rush is my all time favourite, but there are so many good ones. I recently got into Sabaton (Sweden) and Trivium (USA), they are excellent.



It's like any other genre, it depends on how much of a concrete type of music you listen to and how deep you dive into it. But that sentence would equivalent as to say classical music is all the same, just a bunch of strings and classic instruments mixed all together, so why call this baroque and that romantic or just soundtrack music, it's all just violins, isn't it?

If you're not into a concrete genre you cannot hear the differences between the different subgenera but if you are into it and listen to a lot of bands the differences are very clear and you will see how Suffocation do not sound like Emperor or Judas Priest or Paradise Lost or Veil of Maya or Mötley Crüe... to just name a few examples.

I used to listen to a lot of metal in the past myself and rarely listen to it these days but I don't think it is childish or fake or anything like that, there are a lot of talented musicians in that genre that aren't dumb nor fake, but for me it just got boring, because even music with guitars and traditional instruments kind of got boring in general.

It is very hard to find interesting compositions that sound fresh these days so I guess I just took a different pace and started to add "new sounds" or new ways to mix traditional and new sounds in music in an interesting way.

Metal fans, like many other music genres fans, have a tendency to become very conservative and narrow the possibilities of artists and start saying this or that band is not true metal. The positive effect is that if you like that music you know where to look after bands you might like but the negative one is that it kills a lot of creativity or just pushes away bands that might be talented but don't match their expectations of true metal to 100% anymore.

At the end if you get bored with this style, what most people do the sooner or the later, that limitations can end up killing the whole genre and convert it into a niche for a very small public that will surely feel very good about being true to the genre but honestly, keeping it from advancing into more interesting ideas.

Anyways, I think metal is one of the genres that has survived this the best and that's actually because of those many subgenres that keep this style moving forward even when slower than maybe other music styles.


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## Henu (Jan 20, 2020)

kessel said:


> *concrete* type of music



This word actually reminded me of one new band which completely blew me off the chair: "Concrete Winds". 
A Finnish ex-death metal band ("Vorum") which wasn't bad at all, but as I'm way more into BM myself, Concrete Winds was much more appealing to me. A hint of Altars of Madness combined with some serious Australian bestiality and a pinch of good old fago sounding like it was done by Katharsis? Yes, please!


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## ghostnote (Jan 20, 2020)

kessel said:


> Metal fans, like many other music genres fans, have a tendency to become very conservative and narrow the possibilities of artists and start saying this or that band is not true metal.



That's the culprit. A person who is truly into music doesn't care if it's classical, rock, pop, metal, etc. as long as it has a certain value. Melodical, harmonical, tonewise instrumental/vocal, rythm, etc. Nowadays Metal just needs to be gritty and sometimes technically hard to master. Pheriphery for example are incredible when it comes to technicality, but they are not bringing anything that grabs my ears attention.

That said I was never a fan of modern metal, even of the Nu Metal Movement years ago. Maybe I am a conservative in this regard too, who knows, but there're still great bands around like Evergrey who are delivering original but great music.



Maybe we are just spoiled by the great songwriting and talent from all the old groups that somehow can't be recreated nowadays.


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## MartinH. (Mar 16, 2020)

I didn't know where to post this, but I hope it brightens someone's day:


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## visiblenoise (Mar 16, 2020)

MartinH. said:


> I didn't know where to post this, but I hope it brightens someone's day:



That was a bit much for me, but I was intrigued so I looked at her profile and found out she recorded for the metal choir thing in the next Doom!


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## MartinH. (Mar 16, 2020)

visiblenoise said:


> That was a bit much for me, but I was intrigued so I looked at her profile and found out she recorded for the metal choir thing in the next Doom!




Oh, cool! I hadn't seen that yet!


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## Shagal (Mar 17, 2020)

Nao Gam said:


> -)Death metal
> 
> Be'lakor (australian melodeath, listen to countless skies -the song- this is what melodeath should sound like)
> Insomnium
> ...



That's a pretty solid list!
From what you mentioned, this could be one for you:


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## Eric_k (Sep 27, 2020)

Since my background is not orchestral music, but metal, I will share some of my early year favorites =)


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## Ivan M. (Sep 27, 2020)




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## tf-drone (Sep 27, 2020)

Hi,

my votes go to:
- Biomechanical: Eight moons, Empires of the world
- Communic: Waves of visual decay
- Guilt Machine
- Isis: Oceanic, Panopticon, Absence of truth, Wavering radiant
- Mastodon: Crack the skye
- Meshuggah: I, Catch 33
- Metallica: Master of puppets, Black album, S&M
- Porcupine Tree: Metanoia, In Absentia, Deadwing
- Star One: Live on earth


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## MartinH. (Sep 27, 2020)

tf-drone said:


> - Porcupine Tree: Metanoia, In Absentia, Deadwing



I didn't know they count as metal. Maybe you'll like this one too:


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## b_elliott (Sep 27, 2020)

Porcupine Tree for me are prog rock. Whatever, they are a great band. 

Coverge out of Massachusetts is my fav metal group. 

TBH I only this year learned of this group through an online Berklee Music College lecture on the metal masterpiece Jane Doe. I thought Berklee were jazzers, turned out I was so wrong. One heck of a group. This song is a collaboration they did post-Jane Doe with another US group Ghengis Tron.


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## b_elliott (Sep 27, 2020)

Another one while I think of it. 
Eons ago when Metallica was touring the US via bus, one of the members was asked what they listened to inside the bus. His answer surprised me: King's X, Gretchen Goes to Nebraska. 
I bought the record after that. 
To me it sounded like Rush, with Beatles vocals but a heavier metal vibe. 
Still listen to this one.


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## John Longley (Sep 29, 2020)

The last metal record I actually LOVED, was Meshuggah- Nothing. It's the only one in their catalog I truly enjoy, and I think it is special. The fusion legato leads, amazing syncopated riffs-- magic. 

I also enjoyed Opeth-Heritage, but you can't even call that metal anymore. Everything else I love in metal is ancient history.


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## Trash Panda (Sep 29, 2020)

My top list that I still listen to these days are:

Opeth
Ice Nine Kills
Avenged Sevenfold
Dope
Motionless in White
Nothingface


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## Ha'Vi (Sep 29, 2020)

A few of my favourites at the moment:


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## tf-drone (Sep 29, 2020)

Hi,



MartinH. said:


> I didn't know they count as metal.


I count PT's 'In Absentia' and 'Deadwing' as metal. And yes, the other albums are Prog



MartinH. said:


> Maybe you'll like this one too: Indukti -S.U.S.A.R


No, the violin makes my teeth ache.


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## Akat1 (Feb 11, 2021)

Abysmal production. But the emotions buried deep within the riffing is phenomenal.


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## KEM (Feb 11, 2021)




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## Gil (Feb 11, 2021)

Hello,
Many very interesting bands here, I love and seen on stage Metallica, Queensrÿche, Dream Theater... But here's one that doesn't appear here (if I read correctly): Dimmu Borgir: I find the inclusion of orchestra with the band very interesting (orchestrations are done by Gaute Storaas, a jazz bass player).




Enjoy,
Gil.


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## Akat1 (Feb 11, 2021)

So Shadow of Intent is Dimmu+Cattle Decapitation+Black Tongue dipped in a deathcore candy shell.
Not bad at all. Im just so many years past my death metal days, I find it hard to get excited about it. These guys are good though.


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## KEM (Feb 11, 2021)

Akat1 said:


> So Shadow of Intent is Dimmu+Cattle Decapitation+Black Tongue dipped in a deathcore candy shell.
> Not bad at all. Im just so many years past my death metal days, I find it hard to get excited about it. These guys are good though.



My friend got me into them, SOI’s guitarist is doing all of the production and engineering work on his band so he got me to check em out and as soon as I heard that song I was hooked.


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## Trash Panda (Feb 11, 2021)

Those videos were very interesting. Not a fan of the guy’s growling, but the music and singing was on point. Almost like a less poppy version of Nightwish.


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## AlexRuger (Feb 11, 2021)

Oh man, yeah, was a huge metal head growing up. Like a lot of others, I don't really listen to much anymore, but I'll always have room for Meshuggah, Between The Buried And Me, and The Contortionist on just about any playlist. 

The Metallica show with Michael Kamen's orchestrations is a classic. That's honestly one of the first things that sparked my interest in the orchestra. I remember one of my local radio stations growing up had "mandatory Metallica" every night at 10pm where they played three of their songs, and I'd stay up every night waiting for "No Leaf Clover," because it only appeared on that album and my mom wouldn't let me buy it because of the name, S&M  Whenever it came on (rarely), I completely lost my mind.

And I fucking love Slipknot. Iowa and The Subliminal Verses are just *chef's kiss* so sludgy and grimey and angry, I love it. The production on the latter album is _insane. _I love that they tuned the drums to all be just about the exact same pitch. It gives drum fills this incessant quality. 

Plus, I'm pretty sure the whole album wasn't recorded to a click track, which is somehow perfect -- they just let themselves get faster when the music needs to be. It's a nice counterpart to the ultra-tight djent and whatnot that's around right now -- which I absolutely love, it's just nice to hear something totally in the other direction.


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## KEM (Feb 11, 2021)

AlexRuger said:


> Oh man, yeah, was a huge metal head growing up. Like a lot of others, I don't really listen to much anymore, but I'll always have room for Meshuggah, Between The Buried And Me, and The Contortionist on just about any playlist.
> 
> The Metallica show with Michael Kamen's orchestrations is a classic. That's honestly one of the first things that sparked my interest in the orchestra. I remember one of my local radio stations growing up had "mandatory Metallica" every night at 10pm where they played three of their songs, and I'd stay up every night waiting for "No Leaf Clover," because it only appeared on that album and my mom wouldn't let me buy it because of the name, S&M  Whenever it came on (rarely), I completely lost my mind.
> 
> ...



So basically what you’re saying is that metal is life haha


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## Dietz (Feb 12, 2021)

Lizzard, a melodic metal trio from France, just released an impressive album (produced and mixed by my German friend and colleague Peter Junge):

-> https://lizzard.fr/


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## Crowe (Feb 12, 2021)

Yousei Teikoku (Fairy Empire) forevaaaaaah


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## AlexRuger (Feb 12, 2021)

KEM said:


> So basically what you’re saying is that metal is life haha


Haha, nah. I hardly listen to metal nowadays. But when I do, I fucking love it.


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## jamie8 (Feb 12, 2021)

Jimmy Hellfire said:


> Devin is too out there for me, gives me a headache. A lot of times it sounds like some weird practical joke.
> 
> Dude was also responsible for one of the best Metal songs of all time though - Strapping Young Lad's "Detox".


Funny , used to play with Dev, great guy amazing talent, great sense of humour,
Thats me doing the keys on bad devil , also did terria as well , Awsome time and some of the best talent out there.


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## Jimmy Hellfire (Feb 12, 2021)

jamie8 said:


> did terria as well


I have that record! Shit, where did the years go?


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## jamie8 (Feb 12, 2021)

Jimmy Hellfire said:


> I have that record! Shit, where did the years go?


Dont know, i got older lol 56 now,still love the heavy stuff , mostly symphonic stuff now.


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## widescreen (Feb 14, 2021)

jamie8 said:


> Funny , used to play with Dev, great guy amazing talent, great sense of humour,
> Thats me doing the keys on bad devil , also did terria as well , Awsome time and some of the best talent out there.


One of my biggest wishes would be to work so closely with Dev like you did. But I'm not worthy, my skills would not suffice.

I can imagine how great that time must have been. Deep Peace from Terria is one of my all-time-favourites.

You could not be more right, I think the same about Devin. Whenever I have time I follow one of the greatest musical genii of our time. If it is live, on YT or on Twitch (damn cool sessions there with insights you don't get often). His book is also tremendous.

He's so versatile, from Black Metal over Symphonic, almost Disney-like stuff to Country/Singer-Songwriter, Ambient what a bandwidth!

And always not taking himself too seriously. I never knew that I had a gap in my musical taste, but that guy filled a giant one. Nearly every mood can be covered by some of his songs.


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## JoelS (Feb 14, 2021)

It's funny that this thread surfaced right while I'm listening to a band I'd never heard of before but am immediately very impressed by. If you like late 80s - early 90s thrash, there's a lot to enjoy on Angelus Apatrida's eponymous new album. Their technical skills are top notch, the production is powerful and clear, and the songs have a lot of energy. They do not stray far from their influences, which is either a blessing or criticism... or maybe both. Go to that bygone era and take 60% Testament, 20% Slayer, 10% Pantera, and trace amounts of Megadeth, Motorhead and Maiden (Iron) and that's pretty much the sound. But everything is so well done that it is not diminished by derivation.


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## Shredoverdrive (Feb 14, 2021)

Dietz said:


> Lizzard, a melodic metal trio from France, just released an impressive album (produced and mixed by my German friend and colleague Peter Junge):
> 
> -> https://lizzard.fr/



Good stuff indeed!


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## Shredoverdrive (Feb 14, 2021)

JoelS said:


> It's funny that this thread surfaced right while I'm listening to a band I'd never heard of before but am immediately very impressed by. If you like late 80s - early 90s thrash, there's a lot to enjoy on Angelus Apatrida's eponymous new album. Their technical skills are top notch, the production is powerful and clear, and the songs have a lot of energy. They do not stray far from their influences, which is either a blessing or criticism... or maybe both. Go to that bygone era and take 60% Testament, 20% Slayer, 10% Pantera, and trace amounts of Megadeth, Motorhead and Maiden (Iron) and that's pretty much the sound. But everything is so well done that it is not diminished by derivation.



Cult album already for me. Rare are the good thrash albums nowadays.


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## jamie8 (Feb 14, 2021)

widescreen said:


> One of my biggest wishes would be to work so closely with Dev like you did. But I'm not worthy, my skills would not suffice.
> 
> I can imagine how great that time must have been. Deep Peace from Terria is one of my all-time-favourites.
> 
> ...


I started working with Dev when he was young in strapping doing some editing i think it was the first strapping album,and then a bit later on .live work , i replaced a fellow named dave genn, i then started playing on infinity terria etc and all the live stuff , he was and still is very kind and a really down to earth person ,i havnt seen him in years but i have very good memories of our time,I remember taking golf clubs and some apples and pears and plums we had growing in my back yard and seeing how far we could hit them” fruit golf “ lol helped to relax us after studio time lol! Probably pissed my neighbours off but hey it was fun!


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## jamie8 (Feb 14, 2021)

I think i still have the pro tools masters from terria as well lol all the back ups😎🤘


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## MartinH. (Mar 3, 2021)

I'm at the point again where I want to listen to music, but everything that I try annoys me. Recently I was listening almost exclusively to Homeworld soundtracks, but I'm starting to get sick of those too. The album that eventually didn't make me want to turn it off again right away was this:


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## from_theashes (Sep 8, 2021)

Nobody here listening to Architects?!?
They re-recorded some of their latest songs with an orchestra at Abby Road. Pure awesomeness:


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## kessel (Sep 8, 2021)




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## KEM (Sep 8, 2021)

from_theashes said:


> Nobody here listening to Architects?!?
> They re-recorded some of their latest songs with an orchestra at Abby Road. Pure awesomeness:




I love Architects!! Naysayer is my favorite song by them


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## b_elliott (Sep 8, 2021)

from_theashes said:


> Nobody here listening to Architects?!?
> They re-recorded some of their latest songs with an orchestra at Abby Road. Pure awesomeness:



Architects: New to me. Video 1, the orchestra is about 15dB louder than the vox. This is unsettling as vocals are too quiet to make out his lyrics. Video 2 waaaaaaaaaay better. 

Metal vox done right:
(ya he scream-sings, but from what I hear he says he's broken)


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## babylonwaves (Sep 8, 2021)

from_theashes said:


> Nobody here listening to Architects?!?


@from_theashes 
Architects? anytime. so great )


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## dunamisstudio (Sep 8, 2021)

Some bands I've been listening to this year:
Memphis May Fire
Spiritbox
Trivium
Andy James
Crystal Lake
Light The Torch
Termina
Sion (Jared Dines/Howard Jones)
Circle of Dust
As I Lay Dying


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## JoelS (Sep 8, 2021)

Lots of great recommendations in this thread! I would be remiss, though, if it went unremarked upon that Iron Maiden dropped a new album. They are old. Very, very old. Their style is old, their approach is old. They practically invented a genre. These primordial metallurgists are master artisans.




When I first heard this song, I thought it sounded like someone averaged out every Iron Maiden song ever and this was the result. Then I kept listening to it, again and again. Appropriate to the name, instead of feeling recycled it is timeless. It is Iron Maiden Iron Maidening as only they can. Riffs gallop. Bruce Dickinson's pipes sound clean and clear, and any weathering from age only seasons his performance. "Hell on Earth" is pretty amazing, too. It is always a pleasure to listen to people who really, really know what they are doing.

What a time to (still) be alive with Helloween and Iron Maiden both releasing new albums in the year 2021.


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## jamie8 (Sep 8, 2021)

this is what I've been up to lately, we are a symphonic metal band out of vancouver


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## from_theashes (Sep 8, 2021)

KEM said:


> I love Architects!! Naysayer is my favorite song by them


Hard to pick a fav… but I think it’s „Castles In The Air“. Although my favorite album as a whole is „Holy Hell“… this is just the best sounding/produced metal album to date.


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## KEM (Sep 9, 2021)

from_theashes said:


> Hard to pick a fav… but I think it’s „Castles In The Air“. Although my favorite album as a whole is „Holy Hell“… this is just the best sounding/produced metal album to date.



If we’re talking best sounding/produced metal album I’m going Sempiternal every time!!


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## from_theashes (Sep 9, 2021)

KEM said:


> If we’re talking best sounding/produced metal album I’m going Sempiternal every time!!


I think on this level it’s more a personal preference… nothing to say against Sempiternal. Great (sounding) album. For me everything where Nolly Getgood is involved is hard to beat (soundwise).


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## KEM (Sep 9, 2021)

from_theashes said:


> I think on this level it’s more a personal preference… nothing to say against Sempiternal. Great (sounding) album. For me everything where Nolly Getgood is involved is hard to beat (soundwise).



Nolly is an incredible mixing engineer as well as an incredible musician overall, I’m a massive Periphery fan so I’ve been a big Nolly fan from the beginning. Lately I’ve been really liking Buster Odeholm’s mixes, Vildhjarta just put out two new songs recently and the way he was able to get the guitars and bass to blend together into one giant low end punch is next level, never heard anything like it!!


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## from_theashes (Sep 9, 2021)

KEM said:


> Nolly is an incredible mixing engineer as well as an incredible musician overall, I’m a massive Periphery fan so I’ve been a big Nolly fan from the beginning. Lately I’ve been really liking Buster Odeholm’s mixes, Vildhjarta just put out two new songs recently and the way he was able to get the guitars and bass to blend together into one giant low end punch is next level, never heard anything like it!!


Haven’t checked them out for a while (I mean… last album was around 2013). .. but will do that. Saw them at Euroblast 2012 and they were awesome.


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## bosone (Sep 9, 2021)

Dont' know if they were already posted:

- Ayreon: if you like prog rock/metal in a wide sense. The Human Equation is simply perfect (La Brie is singing some parts and sometimes it seems to listen to a dream theater song). the sci-fi concept behind all his albums is fantastic. I strongly suggest 01011001 and The Dream Sequencer.

- Sabaton. being into metal since 20 years i am surprised i never listened to this band until last year.

- Bathory - old school viking metal! Hammerheart and Blood on ice are masterpieces

- the early Rhapsody: Legendary tales and symphony of enchanted lands as landmark of "fantasy" metal

*- Nanowar of Steel*: if you want to laugh hard with their lyrics and listen to some really GOOD metal songs, in every possible genre imaginable. they are something like "parody metal" at the hihest level.
E.G.
this the best power metal song of the last years:




if you didn't listened to norwegian reggeton and valhalleluja in the last years and you are into metal, you are probably living on Mars!


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## M. vDiva Fabbiani (Sep 9, 2021)

from_theashes said:


> Nobody here listening to Architects?!?
> They re-recorded some of their latest songs with an orchestra at Abby Road. Pure awesomeness:



Absolutely fantastic!!


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## Henu (Sep 9, 2021)

bosone said:


> - Bathory - old school viking metal! Hammerheart and Bloon on ice are masterpieces


Blood!

And yes, Bathory is absolutely_ fantastic_. Not only musically, but also in storytelling.


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## Scamper (Sep 9, 2021)

Love the recommendations above - lots of new music I didn't know.

Just gonna mention *Starship Velociraptor by Jonathan Young* from earlier this year.
It's somewhat fun, electronic and pretty progressive space metal. I think it's just a solid album with bunch of catchy tracks and good variety.


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## b_elliott (Sep 9, 2021)

KEN Mode's _Venerable_ (2011 -- old school?). Would have remained as yet another completely unknown band from Winnipeg; however, that was turned upside down when one of Metallica's own mentioned this record got played while travelling between gigs.


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## b_elliott (Sep 9, 2021)

'noher exceptional album: King's X _Gretchen Goes to Nebraska_ as recommended by Billy Sheehan (Steve Vai, Mr. Big) a sort of the Beatles meets Rush power trio:


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## gedlig (Sep 9, 2021)

Ooh, I like this thread. To it I'll add (without repeating other people I hope) Vildhjarta, Humanity's Last Breath, Dir en Grey, Nocturnal Bloodlust, Orbit Culture, Blind Guardian, Avantasia


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## KEM (Sep 9, 2021)

gedlig said:


> Ooh, I like this thread. To it I'll add (without repeating other people I hope) Vildhjarta, Humanity's Last Breath, Dir en Grey, Nocturnal Bloodlust, Orbit Culture, Blind Guardian, Avantasia



I’ve mentioned Vildhjarta and HLB but they need to be mentioned even more, I really want to see them get bigger


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## KEM (Sep 10, 2021)

Is it wrong of me to recommend myself?? Because if it is then I don’t want to be right…


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## KEM (Sep 16, 2021)

New Vildhjarta, I don’t need to say anything else


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## YahmezTV (Sep 16, 2021)

Anything by Between The Buried And Me…but especially the song “whitewalls” from the album colours.


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## Celestial Aeon (Sep 19, 2021)

I'm a long time progressive metal / djent head, here is one of my playlists I've been lately listening to a lot, focusing on atmospheric progressive metal:



The Contortionist, TesseracT, Astronoid, Monuments, Skyharbor, Aviations, Earthside...


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## KEM (Sep 19, 2021)

Celestial Aeon said:


> I'm a long time progressive metal / djent head, here is one of my playlists I've been lately listening to a lot, focusing on atmospheric progressive metal:
> 
> 
> 
> The Contortionist, TesseracT, Astronoid, Monuments, Skyharbor, Aviations, Earthside...




I’m seeing Polyphia tomorrow!! 

Well I guess it’s today at this point, but you know what I mean


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## Celestial Aeon (Sep 19, 2021)

KEM said:


> I’m seeing Polyphia tomorrow!!
> 
> Well I guess it’s today at this point, but you know what I mean


Oh man, enjoy!!


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## PeterKorcek (Sep 19, 2021)

Me and my boy are currently on *SABATON *frenzy


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## plague (Sep 30, 2021)

New Haiduk album - Diabolica


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## KEM (Oct 13, 2021)

New Vildhjarta album on Friday I can't wait, get ready for world ending THALL!!


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## from_theashes (Jan 8, 2022)

Played guitar in a Prog-Metalcore-Band myself for several years and we also played „Euroblast“-festival in cologne 2012 with Monuments, Tesseract, Vildhjarta and more. This was a fun time 








Eleonore - Katharsis


from the Album »Hourglass« (2012) Recording, Mixing, Mastering, Production by Hendrik Kröger (metalmixer.de)




soundcloud.app.goo.gl


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## KEM (Jan 8, 2022)

from_theashes said:


> Played guitar in a Prog-Metalcore-Band myself for several years and we also played „Euroblast“-festival in cologne 2012 with Monuments, Tesseract, Vildhjarta and more. This was a fun time
> 
> 
> 
> ...



You played with Vildhjarta?! Dude that’s sick!!


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## from_theashes (Jan 8, 2022)

KEM said:


> You played with Vildhjarta?! Dude that’s sick!!


I mean… not on the same day… but on the same festival, yes^^
Nice dudes, like all the bands and guys in the crowd there. Really peaceful festival with a great energy. And guitar-tech-nerds all over the place xD


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