The Heavy Stuff

[Wildling]

Death metal predominantly uses growls, peppered with other harsh vocalisations, if it's almost all shrieking, you're probably listening to black metal or something with a black metal influence. No apologies necessary, while I know many metal heads get uppity about this stuff, I'm really the opposite of that.

As for the harsh vocals, I've come to love them as the most fitting vocal expression of such harsh, aggressive, evil sounding music.

Well, I was close .

I tend to be quite varied in my musical listening (even from song to song). The Mrs. tells me I'm the only person she's ever met who can, in the course of three or four songs, go from quiet Eric Clapton to the most aggressive Ministry to ZZ Top to The Cranberries.

But most of the heavier stuff I listen to is 80's thrash like Testament, Metallica, Megadeth or the more technical stuff, like the operatic female fronted bands (Nightwish, Epica), or more prog wizard metal bands, like Fairyland.

Though I will eagerly admit a fondness for Alestorm. ARRR!!! PIRATE METAL FOREVER MATEYS!!!!

[Ananda]

wizard metal bands

That's a genre? How awesome. What makes it wizard?

[Wildling]

wizard metal bands

That's a genre? How awesome. What makes it wizard?

Mostly the lyrical content. Lots of dragons and swords and fantasy stuff in general. I don't know if it's an "official" name for it or not, but it's what a buddy of mine called it.

[Sorus]

I've always called it fantasy metal.

Got a fair amount in my collection.

[jelerak]

Wilding...if you're into female fronted bands, check out Huntress, Holyhell and Hale(not Ale)storm.

Pirate metal cracks me up. I had Alestorm on one evening and my 13 year old son came in the room and asked me what as it that I was listening to. I told him pirate metal. He told me to never listen to that again...cracked me up.

[Wildling]

Halestorm I've listened to. The other two I'll have to check out.

And yeah, Alestorm makes me laugh. Mostly because, to me, the vocalist actually sounds like a pirate. Lends it a bit more authenticity somehow. Even though I'm sure real pirates never used downtuned electric guitars.

[Vraith]

I've always called it fantasy metal.

Got a fair amount in my collection.

Heh...I think almost anyone who likes metal for any period of time has at least one song they love and/or one band/disc in their collections that qualifies...whether they knew it before reading this thread or not.

The Mrs. tells me I'm the only person she's ever met who can, in the course of three or four songs, go from quiet Eric Clapton to the most aggressive Ministry to ZZ Top to The Cranberries.

Heh...that's cool. I think you'd quite enjoy my spotify playlist.

[Sorus]

Heh...I think almost anyone who likes metal for any period of time has at least one song they love and/or one band/disc in their collections that qualifies...whether they knew it before reading this thread or not.

That's probably true, but there was a point in time where I was going out of my way to collect any Eternal Champion-themed music.

From stuff people have heard of (Blue Öyster Cult!) to Blind Guardian, Domine, Dark Moor (the bonus track edition that had to be imported from Japan, back in the days before ordering stuff online was as easy as it is now), Cirith Ungol, Doomsword, Diamond Head... and probably half a dozen more. Not much that I will inflict on anyone here, unless there's interest.

[Cambo]

Sorus: Is it heavy? Then you are welcome to post it here. I've heard of a couple of those, Blind Guardian are particularly well known among metalheads I hang with.

Then there's Caladan Brood, a Malazan-themed atmospheric black metal band. Whodathunkit?

Caladan Brood- Book of the Fallen

[Vraith]

Diamond Head...

Hee...completely forgot about Diamond Head. I still have "Lightning..." in my boxes of old vinyl. Must have been reissued in digital at some point. I should go look.

Somewhat akin to both Diamond Head and your thematic collection...I once created a 120min mix cassette [heh...cassettes!] of songs with the word "evil" in the title.

[Sorus]

Then there's Caladan Brood, a Malazan-themed atmospheric black metal band. Whodathunkit?

Caladan Brood- Book of the Fallen

That is awesome.

[Ananda]

Solar Fake: The Shield, Here I Stand, Your Hell Is Here

You converted my husband. He has gotten some album of theirs now.

[TheFallen]

I feel too old for this thread - well, till I recognised some of the bands that Ananda posted in her alleged electronica collection. Big Joy Division fan here, plus early Cure (up to and including the Faith album). Kinda fond of Bauhaus too... Bela Lugosi's Dead. Heh.

Here are a few oldies but goodies for general consumption, in case you guys don't know these.

Killing Joke - War Dance (1980)

Killing Joke - Requiem (1980)

The Birthday Party - Release The Bats (1981)

Godsmack - I Stand Alone (2002)

A propos of nothing, but only because you guys may not know them, I simply have to draw your attention to The Cramps. Death Metal they are absolutely not - in fact they defy description. The best genre I've heard them described as is "Psychobilly" and the best review of them I ever read stated "The Cramps won't pound and you wont pogo... instead they'll throb and you'll ooze". Gotta love 'em. Here are links to four absolute classic Cramps tracks.

The Cramps - Human Fly

The Cramps - TV Set

The Cramps - I Was A Teenage Werewolf

The Cramps - Sunglasses After Dark

You just can't beat Lux Interior on vocals and Poison Ivy on lead guitar... the album to look out for is Songs The Lord Taught Us, released all the way back in 1980. Pure genius.



I'll leave my love of the Dead Kennedys to another thread.

[Ananda]

I feel too old for this thread - well, till I recognised some of the bands that Ananda posted in her alleged electronica collection. Big Joy Division fan here, plus early Cure (up to and including the Faith album). Kinda fond of Bauhaus too... Bela Lugosi's Dead. Heh.

ha! it wasn't an electronica collection, it was all kinds of music from goth, industrial, ebm, post-industrial, et cetera. Nice that you like those, too. Did you watch the film that was out a few years back about Ian Curtis? Control was the name, I think. Was pretty good.

I remember the first time I realised I was getting old. I was in a goth club dancing and a bauhaus song came on and I saw all these kids come on the floor and start dancing. I realised that they were just born or just a couple of years old when the song came out.

I still love the music from my youth, but I've also kept up with the current music evolution in my preferred genres as well. So many people get stuck in music from their time. It is funny.

[Sorus]

Solar Fake: The Shield, Here I Stand, Your Hell Is Here

You converted my husband. He has gotten some album of theirs now.

Yay! Probably Broken Grid?

[Cambo]

From some perspectives, I'm too young for this thread. Death metal's been a thing since at least the mid 80s- Posessed's seminal album Seven Churches was released in 1985, and Possessed and Death had demos kicking around since well before then. As a genre, death metal is so old that it has an "old school" sound, defined in opposition to whatever "modern" death metal is considered to sound like. Interestingly, "old school death metal" nowadays is more easily related to what could more correctly be considered second-wave death metal bands. Bands like Incantation and Immolation, who brought an emphasis on a truly crushing and evil atmosphere, while pioneers such as Possessed, Death, Morbid Angel, Obituary, etc, were much more influenced by thrash and indeed could be seen as a more extreme version of thrash metal.

Compare the below tracks:

Death- Scream Bloody Gore

Incantation- Demonic Incarnate

You can definitely see how one grew from the other, but also how the Incantation track has strayed from the thrashy roots of the genre and become it's own deep, dark, heavy, atmospheric slab of Satanic, evil goodness.

Sorry. I freaking love Incantation.

[Sorus]

I've never bought into the concept of being too old or too young for a genre or band.

[Ananda]

Solar Fake: The Shield, Here I Stand, Your Hell Is Here

You converted my husband. He has gotten some album of theirs now.

Yay! Probably Broken Grid?

you are right!

[Wildling]

I've never bought into the concept of being too old or too young for a genre or band.

Agreed.

Though, I will add that age will play a part in shaping your personal tastes. For example, I was about 20 years old when Nirvana and the whole grunge thing hit big time. To this day that's one of the major styles that I lean toward.

[Wildling]

I've always called it fantasy metal.

Got a fair amount in my collection.

I've just found out that the majority of bands I call Wizard Metal are, in fact, considered Power Metal. Though I personally think Wizard Metal is a far more descriptive term.