I'm metal stupid.

[Benjamin Strange]

I've been hearing alot about some of these so called "death", "black", & "doom" metal bands lately. I can't even pronounce, much less spell, these band names, but here goes: Dimir Borgir, Cradle of Filth, Opeth, etc. What gives with these bands? I've heard it's like symphonic metal or something. What bands should I be checking out?

For the record, I like Meshuggah, but that's about as hard as I get in my listening. I think that's the only true metal band I listen to besides Pantera. I'm sure I'm missing alot. Educate me. I'm listening.

[JMX]

If you want to check out only one band, choose Opeth.

Death meets prog meets rock meets folk

Indescribable, really. Some of the greatest <B>music</b> out there today.

Get Blackwater Park as a primer, but really anything except maybe Orchid.

[Brendan]

Ion Dissonance
Misery Index
In Flames
Borknagar
Cynic
Cryptopsy
Gorguts
Dark Tranquility
At The Gates
Athiest
Fear Factory
In Flames
Morbid Angel
Origin
Tiamat
Napalm Death
Brutal Truth
Satyricon

That's about as good a primer as you're going to find. Download, listen, rock. Some old, some new, some seminal, some just good.

Enjoy.

[Wildside]

Great suggestions from everyone so far. Opeth is ridiculously good.

from a less "death" and "black" side of metal you might also want to check out some of these bands, they are usually labeled "power metal" , lots of classical sounding melodies with loads of double bass drumming and haunting epic arrangements....



Blind Guardian

Hammerfall

Gamma Ray

Nightwish (I have yet to meet any metal fan who doesn't love Nightwish, they have a female opera singer chick who is amazing)

Rhapsody

Stratovarious

[Brendan]

Originally Posted by Wildside

G
Nightwish (I have yet to meet any metal fan who doesn't love Nightwish, they have a female opera singer chick who is amazing)

And hot!

[JMX]

I don't dig them.

The classical singing (and metal) ruins it for me.

I prefer Lacuna Coil.

[odie]

Originally Posted by JMX

I don't dig them.

The classical singing (and metal) ruins it for me.

I prefer Lacuna Coil.

Ditto!!

[LeftyBassPlayer]

You have to go with Opeth they are awsome.

[Brendan]

I have no idea what you people see in Opeth, I really don't. Not even on metal terms, but period. I've listend to Blackwater Park, MorningRise, and My Arms, Your Hearse, and I still don't understand why people think they're the bees knees.

[JMX]

Wow...

Maybe watch Lamentations. If you don't get it then, maybe Reggae is more your thing...

[Brendan]

I don't know, it's just one of those things. I can't enjoy Opeth, and I've tried, but there's just nothing that appeals to me about their music. You'd think with all the music I listen to, I'd be able to find something I like, but I just can't. Says the guy with death metal, 80s synthpop, hardcore, big band, rockabily, alt rock, grindcore, ska, bluegrass, downtempo and top 40 pop on the same playlist; so I figure it's not genre bias or anything.

I just don't like them. Go figure.

[JMX]

OK, but watch the DVD, and we'll talk about this again.

[ole Jason]

They're certainly one of the best bands in 'death' metal right now but I don't really get into them either. I like it every now and then. Maybe I'm too necro for my own good but they're just too laid back for me most of the time.

You might wanna check out some proggy metal bands too...

cynic
symphony x
vitalij kubrij
spiral architect (great bassist!)
gordian knot
aghora
pagan's mind
pain of salvation
porcupine tree

[Mark Latimour]

Originally Posted by JMX

OK, but watch the DVD, and we'll talk about this again.

What do you see in the DVD that you don't get on the albums?

I love opeth (just went to their Sydney show last week), but to be honest whilst the DVD is awesome and its great to have a live playlist from them, its not significantly different from their recorded versions.

OTOH the documentary is very very cool

[Eyescream]

Emperor is good black metal.

[Stachio]

Brutal death:
Cannibal Corpse
Cryptopsy
Decapitated
Psycroptic
Spawn of Possession (great debut)

more progressive metal:
Death
Cynic
Children of Bodom (a bit cheesy at times but excellent thrashing...along the style of In Flames)
Gorguts (the height of musicianship and originality...especially Obscura)

Grindcore (sort of death sort of hardcore):
Black Dahlia Murder (best album of 2003)
Misery Index (for some reason they get compared to BDM a lot but I personally think BDM is far ahead of the game)
Carcass (I'm partial to the later stuff)
Soilent Green

Hardcore/math metal:
Ion Dissonance
Red Chord
Into the Moat
Between the Buried and Me (brilliant album)
Through the Eyes of the Dead
Ed Gein (very Dillinger-ish)
Mastodon (Remission has to be one of the loudest in your face records...very original)
Killswitch Engage (new album End of Heartache is quite good )

Lamb of God is some solid rocking too.

I'm not too big on black metal...just know the basic bands...Dimmu Borgir, Cradle, Emperor, Satyricon, Mayhem, Gorgoroth, etc.
Not my cup of tea but some high points.

I'm sure I'll regret not putting some other names up there...but that's a good start.
These past couple of years have been good to metal.

While I like Opeth...it's hard to consider them death metal...Part time death metal maybe. Deliverance is my favorite of their's at the moment.

[Matt Till]

Originally Posted by Brendan

I don't know, it's just one of those things. I can't enjoy Opeth, and I've tried, but there's just nothing that appeals to me about their music. You'd think with all the music I listen to, I'd be able to find something I like, but I just can't. Says the guy with death metal, 80s synthpop, hardcore, big band, rockabily, alt rock, grindcore, ska, bluegrass, downtempo and top 40 pop on the same playlist; so I figure it's not genre bias or anything.

I just don't like them. Go figure.

It's probably your hatred of weenie metal.


Yeah, aside from Opeth... seriously, listen to Opeth, check out Probot (Dave Grohl's metal side project). It's a nice metal "sampler" and I think he did a fairly good job capturing the musical styles of all the guest artists. Because are you talking metal in general or are you looking for black/symphonic/doom/whatever metal bands. Because if you are looking to get into metal in general, don't be afraid to listen to some old stuff. Iron Maiden, Pre and Justice for all Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Death, hmmm Black Sabbath.

I hear you on the pronouciation issue, my god it gets confusing. That's why I don't talk about metal bands to metal guys, they end up having to correct me on band names quite often. Ha, for quite a while I thought Deicide (Dee-uh-side)
were just called Decide. And that one is pretty easy.

Opeth, for example... Oh-peth or O-pith.

I need to start a thread about the band name's I can't pronounce.

[Matt Till]

Stachio pretty much covered... everything.

[dTune]

I think it's stupid to try to class metal bands nowadays. Of course, there are some that are clearly death, black, power, etc. but most of the newer bands are generally trying to combine 2 or 3 styles.

In the mid-late 90's it was still quite easy to sort the bands in the categories but not anymore. There are so many metal bands trying to make their fortune, everyone trying to find out something new...

BTW, do you consider bands like Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park and others "metal" bands?

- From "the promised land of metal" (Finland)

[Brendan]

Originally Posted by dTune

.

BTW, do you consider bands like Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park and others "metal" bands?

- From "the promised land of metal" (Finland)

Some would, but then again, some smoke crack.