Discouraged with heavy metal....
 

I joined this forums a while ago, and while its an incredible resource for finding new musical areas, and a well of knowledge procured from people who have done much more research than me, there is a massive problem. I can't find any heavy metal worth listening to. Where there is great guitar playing, the song is butchered by a spastic drummer with no concept of rhythm and/or a mindless gorilla trying to strip his vocal chords by screaming nonsense into a mic as loud as possible.

Before anyone flames me, which I may well deserve, this is only my opinion. I am ignorant of heavy metal for the most part, so my real question is, does textbook (or the definition by popular consensus) heavy metal always have the annoying screaming in it? Are there bands that focus more on the actual guitars or have decent vocals? Is there a particular sub-genre of metal for heathens like me who aren't cool enough for real metal?

Thanks in advance, sorry if I offended anyone.

You might really like Opeth. They do have cookie monster vocals in parts, but proper singing elsewhere. Plus, the cookie monstering (for want of a better term) is done well enough. All the instrumental work is excellent.

Oh, and as for in general, metal isn't by rule of thumb something with "annoying screaming" in it. Certain subgenres of metal characteristically contain screaming. Others are completely free from it.

Opeth is actually one of my favorite bands. :D

I sort of like the acoustic work they did on Blackwater Park more than anything else by them. I may as well mention that I love good acoustic guitar songs as well, especially stuff like Opeth.

I'm well aware that not all metal has the screaming in it, I just seem to be having trouble finding it, and not for lack of seeking either. Thanks for the helpful reply.

Listen to Porcupine Tree. Heavy in places, ambient in others and technical in others. Also try:

SACRILEGE-TURN BACK TRILOBITE
AMPLIFIER-S/T

I will come back with plenty more.

Wow. That was dead on.

Porcupine tree anyhow, the other two I'm having a little difficulty finding. Thanks for the advice, reaping the benefits of someone else's labor is a little lame on my part, but I really do appreciate the wonderful advice I've been getting.

Sacrilege started life a crust band in the mid 80's but their last album was really cool heavy ambient metal with long instrumental passages. It is hard to find. I will give you a helping hand finding it ;). Amplifier's debut came out in 2004. I don't really hear them being mentioned a lot which is a shame as they approached metal with a progressive attitude but still remained heavy without sacrificing melody.

The official AMPLIFIER website.

try metallica

Hey man.. there is a marked difference between the genres of "heavy metal" and those that have screaming, double bass and blast beats, and non standard time signatures.

heavy metal would encompass any music with driving, four over four drum beats, soaring, strictly melodic vocals, and rock-esque guitar licks. this music is more similar to classic rock than what most people nowadays would consider metal, at least from a younger musician's perspective.


my advice to you to end all your problems would be to visit pandora dotcom and type in a band that you like.


see what magic ensues!

There are some sections on MASTER OF PUPPETS that deserve a mention (usually involving Cliff Burton), but they are not the be all and end all of metal and their reputation has taken a massive battering the past few years. As an intro to what Leasing is looking for, they are not the best example.

To Leasing. If you can find it, I would like to hear your opinions on the album DIMENSION : HATROSS by VOIVOD. It is over 20 years old but was so far ahead of the game musically.

It is a lot more melodic but try listening to the band KINGS X and specifically the album GRETCHEN GOES TO NEBRASKA. A very underated album full of great hooks and harmonies.

you could try

iron maiden (although this calls for heave metal. some of there stuff is more soft but they are metal)

metallica is a good choice(guitar rifs and all)

ozzy osbourne (old stuff not crappy new stuff)

rob zombie (its rock but its still worth listening to.)

Try some post-metal like Isis, Pelican, or Neurosis and start with listening to Pelican's song "City Of Labels"

You might also like Dream Theater, check them out...great guitarists and the guy always sings with clean prog vocals

some Great Metal Bands huh..
well I think I can help
try Vanden Plas- awesomeband with terrific vocals.
Pagans Mind is good too
Symphony X
Icarus Witch
Circus Maximus
Beautiful Sin --excellent female vocalist
Communic
Ghost Machinery
Then again you cant go wrong with some old school Metal either :Testament , Metal church , Anthrax, Suicidal tendencies, Death angel, Savatage, & Ozzy

Overload! Lots of things to look into here, I may need a little time to produce any kind of response about what I think about the music you so kindly suggested for me. Many thanks for the helpful advice.

I might also add, while I am generally ignorant of music, I don't live in a cave.....I have heard of Ozzy, Metallica, Iron Maiden, and Rob Zombie. :D

I know you said you hate bands with a screamer, but you've just gotta give Death a try. Guitar playing and composition will make you cream your pants.

Other bands to check out;
White Zombie (When Rob Zombie didn't suck)
Dream Evil
Corrosion of Conformity
Arcturus (Symphonic metal mostly)
Lacuna Coil (More nu-metal than Heavy metal, but still worth checking out)
Anthrax

Still looking in to most of the previous suggestions, and I usually need to hear music more than once to get a definitive opinion of it one way or the other.


To JackHammer:

Kings X was also fairly good, but somehow wasn't very exciting. Ironically, the album of theirs I managed to get a hold of ended up not being the one suggested, but I'm still looking.

I have a little trouble believing Voivod made that album over 20 years ago.....I am not especially educated in the history of music or the evolution of particular genres, but I think even I can accurately gauge that they were WAY way ahead of their time. I'm not through with the album yet, and I can't say it appeals to me greatly, but its certainly unique. I pick something new up from a track every time I hear it, certain little subtleties that seem to get lost if you aren't listening carefully (the tempo seems to alternate almost sporadically on some tracks, and sometimes there is no sense of connection between what the drummer/guitarists/vocalist are doing). Their song titles are also a little bizarre, except for Batman, which was my favorite track thus far, more so for humor value than anything else.



To Clownbaby:

I did not find the City of Labels by Pelican, but I did find an album called City of Echoes, which I am now listening to, and predict I will like very much.

I've heard Dream Theater in the past, but never really got into them. Giving them a second listen since I already had a few of their albums.



To Damijsa:

Vanden Plas, wow. Great stuff, amassing as much of it as I can find, though the lead singer's accent is a bit comical at times.

Pagan mind is also very promising, its rare I like music upon first hearing it, but the first song I heard of theirs was exceptional.

Symphony X, also seems very promising, but thats as far as I've gotten with your suggestions so far. Thanks for the incredible advice.

The bands you recommended seem to have similar elements/styles, is that a particular genre?


To Voice_of_the_Soul12,13,01:

I'll check out Death, and I should correct myself again, I don't dislike all screaming. It depends on how its done really, but I'm less prone to that kind of singing.

Lacuna Coil is also one of my favorite bands, though thats mostly due to Scabbia's vocal work, and not the horrible guitar playing they have.

I'm also familiar with White Zombie, but to be honest, heathen that I am, I preferred Rob Zombie to most of it.





To no one in particular:

A friend of mine suggested Yngwie Malmsteen, and to be honest I wasn't all that impressed. I liked a few of his songs, but the quality of the tracks were always horrible and fuzzy. It could just be my stupidity on being unable to find decent copies of those songs though. I've never been a huge fan of solo guitarists though, and while I do like a few songs from that crowd (Vai, Satriani, Batio, Beck, Johnson, etc), it usually seems a little too fast or complex for my taste. Its like the overcompensation in some of the compositions goes a little over the top, and while I can appreciate how technically demanding playing like that is, I prefer someone who is more melodic while capable of playing quickly, but doesn't overdo it and also has a good sense of creativity.

I hope you keep posting Leasing. You have listen to reccomendations and posted some interesting anaylsis on what you have heard. You could be an asset to these forums. Keep it up!

John Petrucci FTW!

Yep, it's City of Echoes. If you like that, I'd check out their older stuff, particularly The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw. I've recommended it in the post-rock thread too. Most Pelican fans thought City of Echoes was a disappointment compared to previous efforts, and so did I.


My brother doesn't like those vocals and I'm getting him into Death now. I'd start with their last album.


Indeed. I like some stoner rock - and to throw off any misconceptions, no you do not have to be high to enjoy it. I imagine it helps though.

PT is incredible! There best in my opinion is Fear of a Blanket and my personal favorite Voyage 34.

You should also delve into symphonic metal and give that a try...

Some suggestions of symphonic metal bands were mentioned earlier but here are a few more
NightWish
Within Temptation
Katatonia
Leaves' eyes
Xandria

I would point you towards either of Angra's two best albums, Holy Land and Temple of Shadows.

Here's a really neat track from the latter of those two albums. If you find yourself wondering how their vocalist can completely change his style in the blink of an eye, it's because Kai Hansen is guesting on this track.

(youtube.com)/watch?v=sm-4LVcjuQI

Sorry about the breaks, I can't post URLs 'til 15 posts.

Kai Hansen once of Helloween? God they were fúcking terrible. Always a good idea not to provide links on your first post too!

I recommend Symphony X, Iced Earth, or Blind Guardian. Symphony X is a great Progressive Metal band while Iced Earth and Blind Guardian are great Power Metal bands.

Listen to Angizia.

I remember trying to get into Helloween for 5 minutes back in my youth when I had no taste.
They just seemed totally directionless to me. One minute they wanted to be a thrash band , the next a prog band , then write novelty songs , then be an Iron Maiden tribute band.
There didn't seem to be any progression , just random jumping from one thing to another , and they wern't very good at any of them.

All thrash metal tbh.
It's rare you'd find a vocalist thats difficult to listen to.
I recommend SLLLAAYYYYERRRR

iron maiden
judas priest
dragonforce
black sabbath
anthrax
megadeth

non of these scream

With the exception of Megadeth i'm afraid they have all had tracks with screaming. I don't like Dragonforce, I have never made it past the minute mark on their tracks.

A whole minute??????????

Wow thats dedication, I barely made it to 5 seconds

Im fúcking hard I am! Don't mess with the force!

Geroge Lucas is proud.... *sniffles* and so am I.

lol anthrax doesn't scream? riiiight

There's a band called The Sword that is pretty good - "swampy" guitars and no screaming cookie monster vocals. The album is called "Age of Winters".

Two more suggestions

Astral Doors - Pretty much a traditional Heavy Metal band out of Sweden with a singer that reminds most people of Dio.

Sonata Arctica - A Finnish Power Metal band, that could also be considered a Progressive Metal band (especially there later stuff).

Listen to Baroness...no screaming, it's more of a yell or holler and the guitar work and instrumentals of the band are great...I'd probably put them as a sludge metal band but I see lots of different metal genres in their music.