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Post by GL on Oct 8, 2009 10:01:28 GMT -5
Technically, it'll be 30, since I'm still doing the limiting to five aspect, but bring them on. Time for the Death Metal choices- Death-Leprosy As the almost starting point from the genre’s switch away from an extreme form of Thrash into a new form of music, this here is pretty much as close to a guaranteed classic as you’re going to get. The starting point here is definitely in the way the riffs are handled away from the Thrash style, keeping it in the same spirit but the new arrangements work perfectly with the difference here in the vocals, about as manic as you can get and adds a sense of extremity to the situation. It was a formula that would be copied ad nauseam, but hardly ever duplicated. Coming complete with a series of utterly classic songs, from the timeless title track and the pummeling “Open Casket” to the greatest tandem of songs recorded in “Pull the Plug” and “Left to Die” and the devastating double-whammy finale of “Primitive Ways” and “Choke on It,” along with some decent moments coming from “Born Dead” and “Forgotten Past,” there’s no dull spots here. It’s one of the few albums that works as well on its own merits as well as for the historical perspective. Cannibal Corpse-Eaten Back to Life In no way is this one of my favorites from this group, but I believe it’s their most important work. From a historical stand-point, it’s right there at the forefront of the genre and manages to encompass everything that’s great about them right off the start. There’s no shortage of insanely memorable riffs (“Shredded Humans,” “Mangled,” and “Born in a Casket” stay in your head days after) a welcome mix of experimentation within the genre’s guidelines, with “Put Them to Death” putting in some punk influences, albeit minor ones, and “Buried in the Backyard” for it’s choice opening and dynamic change-ups at the finale, and frankly, there’s never been a better production job on a Death Metal album from this time-period, as the tone of the music is one that’s catchy yet brutal, the drums are thunderous but don’t take up anything more than necessary without being showy and the vocals are much, much better here than during Chris’ tenure with them. Like I said earlier, they’ve done better ones, but if I were to introduce someone to the group, I’d start them off here. Carcass-Heartwork This is one of the first instances of there being a sense of melody infused into the barbarian-style brutality that had come before in the genre, and the result is spectacular. A couple songs aren’t so great, but when this album is on very few can touch it. From its blistering opening with blistering drums and one of the best guitar tones ever set down, this one is almost immediate and doesn’t let up until the end, launching one memorable riff after another and making this feel like a complete listening experience rather than just a collection of songs as each song blends into the next one perfectly, at least from a technical stand-point, and offers up tons of memorable moments. The utterly devastating title track, “This Mortal Coil” and the punishing “Blind Bleeding the Blind” provides a perfect base of classics to balance a memorable second-tier series of efforts, from the opening combo of “Buried Dreams” and “Carnal Forge” to “Doctrinal Expletives” as well as the epic “Embodiment” being quite memorable as well. This is simply one of those perfect albums. At the Gates-Slaughter of the Soul This is one, almost like with ‘Leprosy,’ an album that stands on here just as much for its historic impact as well as the fact that the album itself is certainly worthwhile. Taking the melodic tendencies introduced in Carcass’ effort but ramping the effort up numerous times over, yet putting their own unique stamp on the affair with a move away from the guttural grunting/growling that had been prevalent throughout and replacing it with a more caustic screaming type of approach, it makes a world of difference and comes off strong nowadays despite 15 years of imitations. That said, very few have at all mastered the other elements that have made this one worthwhile, from a series of riffs that stay close to the Death Metal camp but have a sense of tightness to them that almost makes them a straight-up Thrash band, to the technical prowess each member gets and a sense of unity which makes it nearly impossible to stop listening to this one. With classic track followed by classic track, starting with “Blinded by Fear” and the relentless title track to “Under a Serpent Sun,” “Suicide Nation,” “World of Lies” and personal favorites “Nausea” and “Cold,” this one really only manages to have it’s overall brevity be it’s one downfall, which the bonus tracks on the reissue duly solve, but otherwise, another hallowed mark on the scene. Nile-Annihilation of the Wicked A controversial choice no doubt, but frankly, this was such a blast to get into that it deserves recognition regardless of what’s been said about it. From a stand-point of offering up something besides the usual blood-and-gore lyrics, this is definitely an innovation with the themes presented here, but also from a stand-point of offering up a series of songs that fit into that lyric theme and yet staying within the realm of Death Metal. And those songs are just simply devastating, with an almost-perfect amount of brutality and infusion of Egyptian imagery through the instruments and lyrics that it’s impossible to put down. With an opening consisting of “Cast Down the Heretic” by itself, this would be a top album, but when it keeps going into such songs as “Sacrifice Unto Sebek,” “The Burning Pits of the Duat,” “Chapter of Obeisance…” and “Lashed to the Slave Stick” all providing their own share of fireworks, it’s hard to find a worse core grouping of songs. Even the three all-mighty epics “User-Maat Re,” the title track and “Von Unaussprechlichen Kulten” manage to stay interesting through the course of their combined 25 minutes of time, something very few epics can do, even in the course of this genre. A breath of fresh air, and definitely one that needs to be heard.
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HNT
Grizzled HMaM Vet
Horror in General & Everything Else Moderator[/i]
Kiss my tuchis
Posts: 6,296
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Post by HNT on Oct 8, 2009 13:15:36 GMT -5
YOu chose HEartwork over Necroticism? Not me, but I guess that is just personal preference. I also would have said that their first (was it Symposium of Sickness? I forget the exact name) was their best, but I also would have listed it as a grindcore album. Are you gonna do a seperate grindcore list out of curiosity?
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Post by GL on Oct 9, 2009 10:00:03 GMT -5
Probably not, I don't have that much in the collection (if you want to know, it's just the first two Carcass and Napalm Death albums and Terrorizer's World Downfall) but I do know of a host of other bands out there in the style, but sadly don't own them presently. And, FYI, it's Reek of Putrefaction that's Carcass' first album, followed by Symphonies.
And Heartwork is definitely their best work, as I mentioned in the text. Better songs, better playing, and more influential, which is one of the few times I'll ever consider something tangential like that in these lists, as it usually means squat to me.
Time for the next group, Power Metal-
Helloween-Keeper of the Seven Keys, Parts 1 & 2 Really, you can’t go wrong with either one here, and since they are essentially two parts of the same story and both are equally as influential as the other one is and therefore, these each will count as one pick. Part 1 is a little bit more reliant on the slower stuff (“A Little Time” and “Future World” pop up here) as well as the fact that, using those two songs, the intro and outro as well as the ballad, there’s only three songs which have any kind of momentum or energy at all, from “I’m Alive,” “Twilight of the Gods” and the monstrous epic “Helloween,” tend, for me at least, to place the speedier Part 2 over its predecessor, and the fact that those up-tempo songs are a little better (“Eagle Fly Free,” “You Always Walk Alone” and “Dr. Stein” certainly attest, and the single “I Want Out” is slightly better than the remixed version of “Helloween” as it loses its impact going from 13 minutes down to five) but Part 1 wins out merely because the epic is better there, since the title track on Part 2 gets a little dull at times while I can stay into the one on Part 1, but for none of those reasons is it included here than for setting up the ground-rules of the genre and making it stand out from the Thrash crowd and giving this music its own style.
Rhapsody-Power of the Dragonflame A strange pick, but frankly, I don’t care, this is absolutely an essential album on many accounts. Namely because I’m such a huge fan of Symphonic Power Metal, which these guys have become the masters of, this album was recorded during their peak in 2002 during their run from 98-04 when no one could touch them in this style, and everything that works about them in the past is on full display here. Every single song here is pretty much played at one speed, faster than what came before, and it just hits like a battering ram with so many songs here being absolute classics in their library. Due to the heavy keyboards and the utterly thunderous drumming, not only is the music grand in scale, but in keeping with their lyrical themes it’s just as much so there as well, and then the wonderfully dexterous guitar playing and otherworldly singing makes sure to have the lyrics and riffs inside your head for days. From the wonderful title track to the full-throttle opening of “In Tenebris/Knightrider of Doom” to “When Demons Awake,” “Agony is My Name,” “Steelgods of the Last Apocalypse” and “Rise from the Sea of Flames,” this here is faster than most Thrash albums at times, the ballad “Lamento Eroico” is so good it could almost become an opera standard with the Symphonic approach showing it can work in that style, the only real slow song “The March of the Swordmaster” still showing tons of chops and the almighty epic “Gargoyles, Angels of Darkness” working better than most albums on their own, this one here is just simply spectacular.
Stratovarius-Visions A beautiful record, another one in the Symphonic vein but definitely a little bit more melodic in nature than the over-the-top excess of Rhapsody. The melodic sensibilities found in the guitars and keyboards especially makes it appear at times to come off as classy and with more purpose than just paying tribute to your influences, which a lot of bands of this style tend to do, and as a result it feels very different than what usually comes from this music. It also has to do with the fact that each of the members in the group are world-class musicians rather than fans, and the performances here definitely tend to make that classiness even more apparent than it otherwise would. With the utterly classic “Black Diamond” being considered a landmark in the genre, the just-as-good “The Kiss of Judas” “Forever Free,” “Coming Home” and “Legions” there’s a lot of great moments to come from the full-throttle attack. Again, like Rhapsody, there’s enough variation in song styles to showcase some talent, and the ballad “The Abyss in Your Eyes” coming close to the top of their other ballads, “Holy Light” is one of the greatest instrumentals they’ve ever done, and the title track is perhaps their best epic ever. A few tracks do tend to fall off here and there, but it’s bolstered by enough greatness to help tip things off a little more.
Brainstorm-Soul Temptation I just simply love this record, it’s perhaps one of the best ever recorded in the genre and is definitely one that more need to know about. Again, like Stratovarius, this one tends to merge an unexpected sense of classiness into the mix that makes the album all that much stronger, knowing when to unleash the melodies and when to let the music go for the jugular. And this, in a sense, is music that tends to fall into this style much easier than one would expect, as there’s just one highlight here after another. “Highs Without Lows” is about as powerful an opener you’re going to find, taking an accessibility to the music while not tending to sound like it was written for mass consumption, and the effects and sounds used fit in wonderfully. “Doorway to Survive” is one of the thrashier songs among this one, “The Leading” is a fine mix of the two that has more in common with the former than the latter due to again an air of accessibility to the whole song, “Fading” is a rather enjoyable song that tends to expand upon the style found in “The Leading” quite well, and “Dying Outside” is almost like an unrecorded Judas Priest song. However, the highlights here are two-fold, the devastating, utterly relentless “To The Head” which manages to make Slayer and Metallica sound like they’re not even trying to play fast music, beating them both at the Thrash stakes and outdoes them both at every turn, and the simply beautiful Trilogy of Lust, comprising of “Shiva’s Tears,” “Fornever” and the title track, as gorgeous a trilogy of songs as you’re going to come across, mixing in classy Power Metal, oriental experimentation, full-throttle thrashing, melodic moments and the most notable examples of an album-wide trend, memorable solos and choruses that are about as hard to forget as the music created within. Combined all together within one of the absolutely best production jobs ever, this one is a crime more don’t know about it.
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Post by GL on Oct 12, 2009 9:56:45 GMT -5
Sorry for the delay, I'll go two this time and round out my top picks:
Thrash Metal-
Metallica-Ride the Lightning In terms of this list, I think this one here is more important than either album it was sandwiched between and makes it here instead of either of those entirely deserving and worthwhile entries. The fact that this one also contains a better production job that just makes every instrument sound so great and better writing is what lift this one up. Frankly, an album full of this many classics is going to be hard to top, and from the first note, this one just comes in, blazes everything to the ground, takes no prisoners and leaves it all decimated, as there’s hardly ever been a better opening to an album of all time that the rager of “Fight Fire with Fire” with an acoustic intro giving way to one of the most devastating riffs recorded before the rest of the band simply races each other to the finish line, managing to get even faster before doing so. A similar tactic is tried with “Trapped Under Ice” and “Creeping Death” which again scores successfully in both accounts, though the former is more straight-forward while the latter tends to incorporate more of a progressive edge which comes from the spectacular title track and the multi-part mini-epic “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and managing to make the two styles mesh seamlessly into the album. Though, what really makes this work is the fact that there’s enough experimentation offered at such an infant stage in the genre’s development that the sheer risk of doing so is justifiably rewarded with two stand-out, undisputed classics, with “Fade to Black” becoming almost ballad-like in its opening before going full-out for one of the single greatest solos ever recorded, and the multi-instrumental “Call of Ktulu” incorporating enough energy and momentum that one hardly notices it’s obscene running time until it all crashes down at the end. By not just laying down the rule-book which its predecessor did or throwing a challenge for all to top it like what came after it, this one stands up higher due to the experimentation kept within familiar territory.
Slayer-Seasons in the Abyss With one of the greatest catalogs to chose from, this group was a hard one to do. I picked this one merely because it managed to mix in what they had been doing for years at that point, their hardcore/punk influenced brand of Thrash with a more melodic sense of writing that was more apparent than anywhere else on the previous release, and the merging of those two threads here makes for one of the single greatest release in the genre. Blazing with enough firepower to remain true to their roots (“War Ensemble” comes off as the best imitation of “Angel of Death” ever, “Blood Red” is short, to the punch, and wouldn’t be out of place on ‘Reign,’ and “Spirit in Black” goes back even further to sound like a better version of a song done off ‘Hell Awaits’) along with the full-throttle fun of “Hallowed Point” and “Temptation” while the more melodic fare comes through swimmingly on fine standouts and the devastating one-two punch of “Expendable Youth” and “Dead Skin Mask,” the latter of which would only become possible, from a music stand-point at least, had the experimentation not been tried before. More mixing of styles is apparent in “Skeletons of Society” and “Born of Fire” before we get their peak song of all time in the title track, which is one of their finest moments ever. An album that again doesn’t seem to have any weak points and is a real, flawless gem.
Sepultura-Beneath the Remains A truly essential album in showcasing that the trend wasn’t just an US one, but also in that those who were doing the copying had enough tricks up their sleeves that the teachers could also learn a thing or two. Either by design or complete accident, the earlier albums managed to mix together the Thrash metal with a primitive form of Death Metal, creating a unique style of Death/Thrash which would arguably become their signature due to the more prominent Death-like vocals and more violent riffing, both of which are on full-display here. Again, I don’t know if it’s because they intended it that way or was a result of not being able to fully mix the album the right way, there’s a fair amount of primal violence on display from the rabid title track and “Mass Hypnosis” that just makes them so catchy and memorable, while moments like “Inner Self” tend to make me believe that it was all an accident due to the fair amount of actual melody on display and shows the first true glimpse of what they could do with this style. Other great moments, including “Stronger Than Hate,” “Slaves of Pain” and “Lobotomy” have just as much firepower in them as do the classics. ‘Arise’ might be better, but the more primitive nature here makes this one a lot more fun and more worthwhile.
Overkill-ReliXIV One of my all-time favorite groups, one that is more deserving of a ‘Thrash’ tag than most of the originators at that time, and were certainly making much better music than most of their contemporaries in any case. This is their true magnum-opus, a fantastic record which has as much good times through its songwriting as it does through its incredibly devastating and infectious production job, as this is one of the best sounding records ever in the genre. The guitars are just loud, thick and boisterous, the bass is heavy and makes up most of that devastating production, and there’s hardly ever been a more thunderous drum sound, as the double-bass here just utterly pummels and adds a power to the songs that was missing from many of their previous albums. Starting with the proto-typical intro of “Within Your Eyes” containing a ton of highlights within, the stop-n-go brutality of “Love” offering the first of the stand-out drumming displays, together they form a rather great one-two punch that starts things off nicely. The more slower-paced, sludgy “Loaded Rack” is clearly the best among the trio of similarly-styled songs in “The Mark 2:14” and “Play the Ace,” and the infectious, good-times throwback in “Old School” is a fun way of ending the whole affair. The main reason why this is included, though, is the mighty middle of the album, which is as strong and powerful as any album they’ve ever done and serves as the finest trio of songs they’ve ever recorded. With the mid-paced gallop of “Bats in the Belfry,” coming complete with one of their most infectious and memorable choruses, to the rip-roaring full-throttle Thrash attack of “Pound of Flesh” sounding as energetic and forceful as when they first debuted, and the build-up intensity of “Keepers” allowing for yet another sterling example of the drumming intensity, all mix together in a three-song span to offer up a fantastic mix of Thrash that they have yet to top.
Exodus-Shovel Headed Kill Machine About as heavy as a sledgehammer and hitting with twice the intensity, this is a modern Thrash masterpiece and about as good as you’re going to get in terms of the modern era. Frankly, the backstage goings-on here with the personnel changes are inconsequential since what matters most in cases like this is the music, and this here is definitely their magnum opus in terms of full-scale Thrash attack and intensity. Sounding even more like they’re on a mission of destruction than the last album, this here is just violent, devastating and yet insanely catchy and memorable, making for no shortage of great riffs and songs. With opener “Raze” taking just ten seconds to become one of the all-time best tracks in their library due to a murderous opening riff, caustic vocals and a dedication to Thrashing, follow-up “Deathamphetamine” about as off-the-rails dangerous and over-the-top as you’re going to find in a plus-six minutes song, and the first hint of melody coming in with “Karma’s Messenger” being just a brief stop in the firestorm, starting with mid-paced “Shudder to Think” but then lashing out again in the following trio of “I An Abomination,” the epic “Altered Boy,” followed by the retro-throwback “Going, Going Gone” being just the calm before the following storm of the album’s best, most destructive and ultimately best songs, “Now Thy Death Day Come” and “.44 Magnum Opus,” the former of which still contains enough hints of melody thrown into the mid-sections that it’s a single which still retains enough fiery power to fit alongside the utter speed-demon that follows it. While going out on a whimper with the utterly unspectacular title track there’s still enough to it that it hangs in there from time to time and pretty much gives this album the legs to stand on and dominate those that follow.
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Post by GL on Oct 12, 2009 9:57:47 GMT -5
Traditional Metal-
Judas Priest-Angel of Retribution One where the best album isn’t chosen, but instead one that manages to demonstrate for everyone exactly what they have going for them and managing to not have any real bad songs on display is a real feat in and among itself, as well as the fact that there’s enough back-stage gossip surrounding this one that those alone would tend to make this one a simple choice to stake out. Besides sounding like their old retro-selves without any real changes, especially when it comes to the production on display, there’s some really fantastic moments in here that recall their old glory days. “Revolution” is certainly something that could’ve come from their early-80s arena rock period, “Judas Rising” and “Demonizer” roar forth like forgotten recordings from the ‘Painkiller’ sessions that finally got put on CD, “Angel” is about as beautiful a ballad as you’re going to hear from a band like this and certainly lives up to the high standard set by their past endeavors into the style, “Worth Fighting For” offers a big experimental change with the acoustic guitars, “Deal with the Devil” is a great hard-rocker that fits into they’re 70s catalog quite nicely, and the monstrous epic “Loch Ness” is one of the best in their history. The best song, though, is easily “Hellrider” which is quite possibly their single best track in the entire discography, mixing in a mid-to-faster pace than normal, thundering drums, outstanding vocals and a sense of dynamics that were never touched upon after their initial success, all topped off with a modern production that simply levels all who stand before it. It’s a classic, timeless track that clobbers everything they’ve done before it, and when it’s surrounded by such grace and class as what’s on display here, this is a fantastic record.
Iron Maiden-Number of the Beast One of the most impressive albums ever, a fine representative of what could happen with a little luck, a lot of talent and the assemblage of one of the greatest collections of songs ever. We all know the highlights, from the timeless “Run to the Hills” and the title track to the slower but still atmospheric “Children of the Damned” as well as the full-throttle “22 Acacia Avenue” and a fine if somewhat overlong entry in “The Prisoner” all make a great core of songs here, topped off with a fantastic production job, Bruce’s air-raid siren wailing matching so seamlessly into the proceedings that it’s impossible to think they’d never done this before and outstanding writing that allows for fantastic surprises one after another. The two shortest entries, “Invaders” and “Gangland” each have their moments here, but when it comes to the best Iron Maiden song of all-time, it’s the simply immense and unstoppable “Hallowed Be Thy Name,” with its chilling intro, blazing riffs, top-notch performances all-around and one of the most timeless solos ever committed to tape. It’s got it all, wrapped up in their distinctive style that still holds up today, and makes it an easy choice to be included.
Dio-Holy Diver While some might think this entry is really only here because of the one single (“Rainbow in the Dark” in case you were curious) there’s actually enough great material here for this to be included regardless. Besides having a fine collection of songs backed by a fantastic band that produced some great music, the fact that there’s such a timeless feel to it helps this to become not only a significant entry but also one of the single best debut albums for any project/band ever, where it again places high on that list. Besides the one song everyone knows came from here, there’s also the speedy lead-off “Stand Up and Shout” and “Don’t Talk to Strangers,” the more melodic “Straight Through the Heart” and a rousing closer in “Shame on the Night” to really bookend this one quite well, and all that’s not even mentioning the second hands-down classic in the title track in the equation, which makes this one all the more important. With stellar performances all around and a collection of songs that holds up today, this one again is an easy mark for the list.
Accept-Balls to the Wall Before I start to officially write this one, a pet peeve about this album needs to be addressed: there’s nothing sexual at all about the title track, it’s an anthem for the oppressed to rise up and strike back against greater powers. READ THE DAMN LYRICS!!!!!!! Now, with that out of the way, the real reason for this one to be here is simply the fact that, along with what Priest and Maiden were doing at a similar time, these guys came in and showed them how to do properly, which is essentially play timeless heavy metal with class. Whether it be from a writing stand-point or a production one, the fact that this one sounds so clean and polished over the more harsher, wilder previous entries manages to allow this one to retain the fire they welded with a sense of accessibility, allowing them to expand and play around a little more with their classic sound and coming up with some fantastic stuff. Without the controversy of the title, that is still one of the most spectacular tracks in the genre, with a memorable opening riff leading into a similar memorable chorus that manages to build in intensity with the addition of the backing vocals as well as the rather catchy guitars bashing away throughout. With the more openly-controversial choices of “London Leatherboys” and “Love Child” each being so shockingly similar in style and riffing, it still remains that they’re both fantastic songs, as well as the almost Thrash-like “Fight It Back” and the arena-rock style of “Losing More Than You’ve Ever Had,” which contains the second most memorable riff but does manage to outdo the others in terms of catchiness with its lyrics. With a trio of great rockers in “Head Over Heels,” “Turn Me On” and “Losers and Winners,” there’s still enough punch to last deep into the album, closing on the far more melodically-included duo of “Guardian of the Night” and their best attempt with “Winter Dreams,” all combined together into one outstanding, classy package that makes for great listening today.
Motorhead-Ace of Spades Away from the class of its luminaries on the list, this one manages to snake its way onto the list purely by being exactly the opposite, a gritty, dirty album full of classic riffs and a distinct style that makes most of the album completely infectious. Backed by a truly legendary guitar tone and some really pounding drum-work, this one is a lot more lively and loud than anything else in the category, and when it lets loose off the bat with its title track making the first barrier between Heavy Metal and Thrash, it’s going to be a fun ride there. With even more good times coming from the following few songs, including the classics “Love Me Like a Reptile,” “Shoot You in the Back” and “Live to Win,” it’s got a core of songs just as good as it’s big hitters, which also manages to include a more mid-paced gallop experienced in “The Chase is Better Than The Catch” and “Jailbait” both equaling more highlights. While a few of the others tend to follow into more typical style imitations of the others, this one doesn’t come out to the top of the list, but it still manages to hang onto a spot nonetheless.
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Post by abraxas on Dec 10, 2009 13:57:18 GMT -5
Well I listen to Metal most of all and varipus genras, though I cant stand Black Metal, for the most part, except VENOM od course, which is true Black Metal, which all the Noregian bands copied. Its too much about fashion and who can be the most Satanic, and s uaually for young pretty boys and twelve yeasr old girls who want rto piss off thier parents. Subseqently therer are only a few bands from thast particualt gentre of Metal that I like.......Sameal, Moonspell, maybe a few others.
As far as intricducing someone to my music Id pick two bands, for these two bands encapsoluate al Metal genres in just two groups.......
Opeth: The albums Deliverance and Damnation
These coulsd almist count as one album since they were released at the same exact time.Opeth is probablty the best band in the world today, no other b and can touch them musically, origianlity, or in terms of iinovasion.
For those who have never heard of this band just try to imasgine the Greatful Dead as a Death Metal band. Opeth mixes many different genres into thier music, classic 70s rock, Heavy Metal, Death Meral, Black Metal aspects, progressive Metal.
Thier songs are epic and uaually run at least 10 minute each, thier devesity coes int play here in thast unlike the shit they play on the rdio and so-called "Nu Metal" is that they dont write two line of lrycis and then just repeat the chourus over and over again for 3 minutes and cal it a song. And
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Post by abraxas on Dec 10, 2009 14:24:15 GMT -5
Well I listen to Metal most of all and various genre's, although I cant stand Black Metal, for the most part, except VENOM of course, the only true Black Metal band, which all the Norwegian bands after them copied. Its too much about fashion and who can be the most Satanic, and is usually for young pretty Goth boys and twelve year old Goth girls who want to piss off their parents. Subsequently there are only a few bands from that particular genre of Metal that I like.......Sameal, Moonspell, maybe a few others.
As far as introducing someone to my music Id pick two bands, for these two bands encapsulate all Metal genres in just two groups.......
Opeth: The albums Deliverance and Damnation
These could almost count as one album since they were released at the same exact time. Opeth is probably the best band in the world today, no other band can touch them musically, originality speaking, or in terms of innovation. Id even go as far as to say that if Opeth geared thier music toward selling records to the masses, the would be the biggest band in the world right today.
For those who have never heard of this band, try to imagine the Grateful Dead as a Death Metal band. Opeth mixes many different genres into their music, classic 70s rock, Heavy Metal, Death Metal, Black Metal aspects, progressive rock/Metal.
Their songs are epic and usually run at least 10 minutes, their diversity comes int play here in that unlike the shit they play on the radio and so-called "Nu Metal" is that they don't write two line of lyrics and then just repeat the chorus over and over again for 3 minutes and call it a song. And Id imagine that in a 15 minute long song this gets a bit tricky.
Opeth goes from Death Metal vocals and speeding guitars and blast beats to acoustic guitars and normal singing (or "clean vocals" as their called in Death Metal circles). The progressive side of the band comes in with the drastic time and tempo changes that are constantly going on in their music, as its always be the plan of Opeth to make sure that every few minutes the music changes.
Though Deliverance has a few clean vocal passage in a few songs it is basically a Death Metal album, while Damnation is a mellow album with no Death Metal type vocals on it.
FYI: The heavy album is Deliverance and the mellow album is Damnation.
THERION: THELI
This is another band that mixes various types of music into their own sound, but for Therion some of these sources fall outside of Heavy Metal.....They mix 70s rock, classical music, Death Metal, Black Metal, choirs, full orchestra, male and female lead vocals, exotic instruments.
Therion are the originators of what would become to be known as Symphonic Metal, which so many bands after them would soon copy, subsequently from this one band there are now dozens of bands doing the same style of music.
Black Sabbath: Black Sabbath
As for regular Metal you cant get any better then the inventors of the genre.
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Post by GL on Dec 11, 2009 11:11:11 GMT -5
Well, I'm 25 and I love Black Metal. It's not for Goth kids trying to piss off their parents, and a lot of it is really good. Sure, there's the Satanic lyrics but if you're going to harp on them for that, then do so with Slayer and Deicide so that you don't look like a hypocrite (not that you are in any stretch but you don't want to appear that way, blasting a genre for a specific point when others out there do the same thing that you do like and listen to). And I think Mayhem is the better choice for True Black Metal over Venom.
As for Opeth, if only they would just release full-on blasting Death Metal, I'd get into them. When they go into the clean vocals and start off with the progressive stuff, I loose interest quickly. I think Bloodbath is the far better of his projects.
Therion, I've heard the name but never had a song to judge their sound on, but I like that stuff so I'll see if I can find them.
Black Sabbath, no comment. They're not worth it.
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HNT
Grizzled HMaM Vet
Horror in General & Everything Else Moderator[/i]
Kiss my tuchis
Posts: 6,296
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Post by HNT on Dec 11, 2009 12:17:27 GMT -5
Fair enough, GL, but what do you say to those of us who don't particularly have an issue with satanism, but do have a major problem with the white supremacst bullshit that is all over black metal lyrics, and often in other languages that I do not understand. If there was a way for me to be sure that I was not supporting a bunch of racist cocksuckers every time I made a black metal purchase, I might be more interested. Probably not, because it remains overly theatrical and silly with limited actual musical appeal IMHO, but atleast it would be possible for me to consider it.
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Post by abraxas on Dec 11, 2009 12:31:55 GMT -5
Well I never said I had a problem with Satanic lyrics, but simply that bands should probably try to be more innovative, and in Black Metal most of the bands sound exactly the same. Now even Death Metal is effected by this, I will admit that many Death Metal bands also sound too much the same. But it is a little more drastic in Black Metal, in Death Metal you have maybe 50 bands that sound the same and one band that has some originality, whereas in Black Metal it more like 100 bands that sound exactly the same and one band that is original. Have you seen A Head bangers Journey? the guys in Mayhem are idiots, sorry to say. I have nothing against Satanic bands or Satanists for that matter, as I have an interest in all religions, on the other hand I find Satanists just as amusing as Christians in their nonsensical ideologies. I guess you can say I'm more in with the guys in Venom who did the whole Satanic thing with a bit of tongue and cheek, one shouldn't take these things so seriously. I think its an age thing too I use to be like that....only the most brutal stuff would do, but then you get older and begin to desire some diversity and originality in your music. I take the bands I like, if I find a good Black Metal Ill listen to it, or Death Metal band, but I'm a little picky also. In the end it should be about the music not about coming up with the most wicked sounding name to call yourself, I recommend watching Black Metal: A documentary, you can find it on youtube, it makes some good points about the mentality of these band, particularly in the beginning, and how the hype and image became more important then the music.......And unfortunately it continues to this day, you need only to look at Cradle of Filth for proof of that. Take for instance Cannibal Corpse, I love them, I bought Eaten back to life when it first came out and was floored by it, bu then they kept making the same album over and over again...now I like Six Feet Under more then them. And of course when the original singer leaves a band, thats it, I stop listening ti them. (with exception of Black Sabbath) I agree Bloodbath was a great side project thing I particularly like the albums that Peter from Hypocrisy sang on. Your gonna burn in hell for that last comment
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Post by GL on Dec 11, 2009 14:08:33 GMT -5
Fair enough, GL, but what do you say to those of us who don't particularly have an issue with satanism, but do have a major problem with the white supremacst bullshit that is all over black metal lyrics, and often in other languages that I do not understand. If there was a way for me to be sure that I was not supporting a bunch of racist cocksuckers every time I made a black metal purchase, I might be more interested. Probably not, because it remains overly theatrical and silly with limited actual musical appeal IMHO, but atleast it would be possible for me to consider it. There's actually a lot of groups out there who play Black Metal without going for that route with the lyrics. I always go with the big standby, Antestor, which are a Christian Black Metal act from Norway that came out when the genre was first started and was famously involved in many different incidents from the more traditional groups for that particular stance. They're not that bad, so it could be something just to show that you're not particularly in league with Satan. Viking/Pagan/Folk Black Metal might also be a way to go, stuff dealing with the conquests of epic warriors from long ago. Ensiferum made a spectacular record this year which blends all those together into a great album, I think they might be a good start here, as well as groups like Galar, Varg and Arkona are really good ones as well. You could also take a look at a couple of other scenes out there which focus on specific topics that aren't related to those subjects but tend to deal with more universal issues. Immortal tends to deal with winter and frozen lands, which would be a fine example, though there's a lot more out there who are like that. Perhaps the best thing to do: go into the Metal Archives and in the advanced search, separate out the Black Metal bands in a Genre search then search for stuff like Life, Grief, Nature, or similar stuff with a Lyrical search. It'll weed out the groups which tend to deal with those issues on a regular basis, then you can go into their artist page and see if they're material is worth checking out if you're interested in them. Might be a lengthy process, but if you're genuinely curious it might be an endeavor worth undertaking. Well I never said I had a problem with Satanic lyrics, but simply that bands should probably try to be more innovative, and in Black Metal most of the bands sound exactly the same. Now even Death Metal is effected by this, I will admit that many Death Metal bands also sound too much the same. But it is a little more drastic in Black Metal, in Death Metal you have maybe 50 bands that sound the same and one band that has some originality, whereas in Black Metal it more like 100 bands that sound exactly the same and one band that is original. Have you seen A Head bangers Journey? the guys in Mayhem are idiots, sorry to say. I have nothing against Satanic bands or Satanists for that matter, as I have an interest in all religions, on the other hand I find Satanists just as amusing as Christians in their nonsensical ideologies. I guess you can say I'm more in with the guys in Venom who did the whole Satanic thing with a bit of tongue and cheek, one shouldn't take these things so seriously. I think its an age thing too I use to be like that....only the most brutal stuff would do, but then you get older and begin to desire some diversity and originality in your music. I take the bands I like, if I find a good Black Metal Ill listen to it, or Death Metal band, but I'm a little picky also. In the end it should be about the music not about coming up with the most wicked sounding name to call yourself, I recommend watching Black Metal: A documentary, you can find it on youtube, it makes some good points about the mentality of these band, particularly in the beginning, and how the hype and image became more important then the music.......And unfortunately it continues to this day, you need only to look at Cradle of Filth for proof of that. Take for instance Cannibal Corpse, I love them, I bought Eaten back to life when it first came out and was floored by it, bu then they kept making the same album over and over again...now I like Six Feet Under more then them. And of course when the original singer leaves a band, thats it, I stop listening ti them. (with exception of Black Sabbath) I agree Bloodbath was a great side project thing I particularly like the albums that Peter from Hypocrisy sang on. Your gonna burn in hell for that last comment I have seen The Headbanger's Journey documentary, and while I admit that Black Metal (Mayhem, Hecate Enthroned and Gorgoroth in particular) came off looking like a bunch of idiots (though I personally blame that on Alice more than anything to do with the musicians interviewed) it seems like everything I see on the subject tends to focus on the incidents in Bergen without going into the music itself. The music is great, as a lot of the bands, sonically, are fantastic, but nothing about the music and just the church-burning. Unless that other one you mentioned is about the same thing, then I have yet to see anything come up about Black Metal which tends to take a look at what the music was about, as there's some stuff there that could do with a little better digging. Six Feet Under over Cannibal Corpse? No, never, not in a million years. CC has the better frontman (sure, Chris is more important historically, but if that mattered, I'd like Sabbath, which will be explained later, but in terms of range, expressiveness and power, George has owned Chris in everything he's done since except for the Torture Killer album he made, but even then George has him beat with the Paths of Possession project) the better musicians, the better catalog of songs, and are right now on a role with four beyond-spectacular albums (Gore Obsessed, Wretched Spawn, Kill and Evisceration Plague) while the last good album from 6FU was Commandment, even though there was issues there. Death Rituals wasn't that good (I blamed the production at the time, as it sounded really thin, but I need to get back into it as I have found they do grow on me in repeat listens) and with his obsession recently to try to keep recording cover songs hasn't really warmed me up to him. And as for Sabbath, I place no importance on when a band comes around, only for what they create and Sabbath has done nothing to impress me. They're slower than s hit, which I absolutely hate since I only listen to speed, Iommi is the only one amongst them with talent (Ozzy is just utterly dreadful as a vocalist, with no range, power, emotion or even feeling, and that applies to his solo stuff as well, Geezer was just obviously learning to play a bass and he still needs work due to the next issue I have with them, and Bill is certainly serviceable. I don't have a huge problem with him, it's mainly the other two, but still, compared to the other drummers of the time I wouldn't say he's a fantastic drummer, just a good one), the records are clangy, sloppy and just sound terrible compared to the stuff coming out at the same time (Geezer's fault here, and I have taken music appreciation classes so I know that there was the ability to produce some good-sounding records at the time) and frankly, if they didn't come out when they did, no one would even think twice about. There's no lasting impact beyond they came first, and that argument doesn't hold for me.
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Post by abraxas on Dec 11, 2009 14:55:39 GMT -5
Well then you'll like Black Metal: A documentary, they do go into depth with the scene.... No way! Chris kicks George's ass. And as far as Sabbath goes, you are out of your mind dude.
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HNT
Grizzled HMaM Vet
Horror in General & Everything Else Moderator[/i]
Kiss my tuchis
Posts: 6,296
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Post by HNT on Dec 11, 2009 16:13:42 GMT -5
And as far as Sabbath goes, you are out of your mind dude. Agreed Oh, and GL, most of that viking norse mythology bullshit is precisely the white supremacist crap that I'm talking about. Anti-Christian lyrics and satanism are totally fine by me. The embrace of Hitler, support of "true viking culture" and all of that nonsense is the part that I won't touch. Its a shame, too, because I think that bands like Emperor and Darkthrone could be listenable if they weren't known for spewing racist drivel
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Post by abraxas on Dec 12, 2009 10:55:10 GMT -5
Reminds me of when I saw the band Bolt Thrower, actually went to see another band that played before them, I came out after the concert and there were some White Power pamphlets on my car.
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Post by GL on Dec 14, 2009 10:55:50 GMT -5
Oh, and GL, most of that viking norse mythology bullshit is precisely the white supremacist crap that I'm talking about. Anti-Christian lyrics and satanism are totally fine by me. The embrace of Hitler, support of "true viking culture" and all of that nonsense is the part that I won't touch. Its a shame, too, because I think that bands like Emperor and Darkthrone could be listenable if they weren't known for spewing racist drivel How do you get racism from telling tales about vikings? Maybe it's due to the fact that a majority of the bands I don't have the lyrics handy, or maybe it's just different opinions on what determines that style, but I'm failing to make a connection between singing about guys like Eric the Red and racism. That's just not connecting to me.
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