Power Metal/Folk Metal/Melo-Death Metal/Gothic/Symphonic metal/prog metal

[Eyrothath]

Hey everyone! Just wanted to create a thread for all the different sub-genres of metal out there and for all the metal bands that aren't getting any recognition.. I'm a big fan of power metal music and folk music (as of late) very underground and cliche in the U.S. you won't hear many of the Scandinavian metal bands on the radio, actually, you won't hear any.. Metalcore, Nu-Metal and Alternative metal bands seem to be the norm and yet people compare such bands that are flooding the radios with all the older 80's heavy metal bands like Metallica/Megadeth and seriously, it is all I hear about.. Fact is, there are thousands of power metal bands creating this type of music, power metal was a movement that kept metal alive in Europe when metal in the U.S. hit an all time low.. They have the biggest, best festivals with huge productions that these bands live off of, there is thousands of power metal bands and at the moment folk metal is on the rise.

I didn't see a thread on other metal genres btw, so that's why I created this thread. So a little about my music history.. As a kid I liked country music then I got into classical music and opera, my parents actually hated country music and got me out of it quickly, my dad would play things like Queensryche, The Cult, Collective Soul, Bad Company, Brother Cane, Stevie Ray Vaughn and some other things around the house, I kinda grew up liking alternative music because it was so mainstream and it was all I heard on the radio..

By the time I got into high school everyone was listening to Slipknot, Korn, Static-X and so forth, such music was on the rise, nu-metal and everyone was into it.. I decided after about a year of listening to it that I didn't like it, I discovered the melo-death metal bands in 2001 (IN FlAMES) by complete accident, I was browsing on WINMX one day when I by some sheer accident downloaded a song of theirs, gave it a listen anyways instead of deleting it.. This was during my freshmen year and after that, everything changed.. I discovered Arch Enemy, Dark Tranquility, Soilwork and tons of other bands from the Gothenburg metal scene and during these years I went to several melo-death metal concerts and then I discovered Kamelot my sophomore year, while I never saw them live, I was still a bit new to the power metal scene.. Kamelot was the first power metal band I had heard and it was another band I discovered by accident, their first song I heard from them was Karma.. I also discovered Edguy and Freedom Call (two german bands) and liked what I heard, sometimes my mother would buy me the albums and sometimes I would download them.. Anyways, onward getting a job, getting a PC, burning albums, downloading music, buying CD's by 2007ish, I had everything figured out by then.. It's the melody that I liked, I didn't care how heavy or how fast it was.. Simply put, I like music with melody since I like classical music, it was the same reason I liked melodic-death metal and symphonic black metal, I love the melody!

And it has gotten me into several, several different genres of music, I can listen to Iron Maiden/Dio now since I know those are the roots of power metal, they may not have been power metal bands or artists, but that's the influence.. Also this year alone I have seen Epica, Alestorm (who I will be seeing again), White Wizzard, Amaranthe, Into Eternity, and Paganfest which consisted of Ensiferum, Tyr, Heidevolk, Trollfest and a bunch of local bands.. At the end of the month I will see Wintersun and in September I will see Kamelot with Delain...

So many bands great bands from all over touring here, yet not a single one I hear on the radio.. (someone explain this grozit..) anyways, I love melodic metal music and this thread is for those who like the same thing!

One of my current favorite newer bands is a band from Russia known as Last Wail, which uses female death metal vocals (the best I have heard since Arch Enemy and the Agonist and Arkona) its also one of the few folk metal bands from Russia that sing in english..



And here is one of my favorite German bands that released one of the best albums this year, Suidakra, which I have been listening to their new album all summer, they feature bagpipes and crazy vocal harmonies without being overly cheesy

[Sympathy]

i too am a bigtime fan of metal and classical music. it's practically all i listen to. my favorite bands are kinda the more semi-mainstream bands (in flames, cradle of filth, galneryus [incredible power metal band], lamb of god, nightwish and many others)

as far as radio airtime goes, it's as you say, only metalcore and hard rock get airtime. i called into my local rock station and requested Laid To Rest by LoG, the dj said I'll see if we can play that for you. apparently he couldn't, i listened for an hour and it never played. i bet they play stuff like Children of Bodom in Sweden, but us Muricans aren't so lucky. therefore i don't listen to the radio much.

you mentioned you enjoyed the melodies of classical and metal music, and i feel the same way. when i hear bands on the radio (green day, shinedown, nickelback) i am completely turned off and frankly irritated by the bland, repetetive chord progressions accompanied by generic lyrics. heavy metal contains uplifting, energizing melodies and grandiose lyrics that really causes one to think of a deeper meaning to the song, one that isn't readily apparent on first listen. if you look up the lyrics to pretty much sny Cradle of Filth song, a lit of them are more like poetry than lyrics. yea, it's dark, vulgar poetry, but you won't hear Green Day saying stuff like "Biblical choirs sail beyond veiled lights, a swansong for ravens trapped flapping in night" or "your misery is worn as a veil, to hide bewitchment of the ugliest kind." lyrics like that aren't easily decipherable to the layman. it takes a little effort to extract meaning from a lot of metal songs - that's what's most appealing to me.

the melodies are the same way. like i said before, generic chord progressions can be put to good use, but a song entirely comprised of them is, frankly, crap. to me, anyway. a goos melody (perhaps harmonized) does things to my mind and body that i can't fully explain - the closest i can come to an explaination would be "it sends me on an emotional rollercoaster." i hear a melody like, for instance, the main one from MIA by A7x, and i can easily envision a grand scene, full of characters and events that move in sync with the music. these imaginary scenes can be entirely as vivid as a dream, and the events of them give me goosebumps and a surge of raw energy and emotion.

metal and classical music can be close relatives at times, perhaps even brothers. they both contain grandiose lyics and fluid melodies. it's true that classical music can be far more nuanced, involving many instruments at different volume levels and playing power, but since metal songs often contain synthesized (and perhaps comparably stunted) orchestrsl elements, the difference in the modern day is negligible. listen to nearly any Therion song and you'll hear what is basically a fully orchestrated classical song, complete with a full male and full female choir, with a couple distorted guitars overlain.

i could speak volumes of metal. i write it, i record it, i discuss it, and obviously i (nearly at all times) listen to it.

[Rusty Blade]

How dare it be so silent on a thread for metalheads! Well I've been hugely into metal for about 9 or 10 years. I always liked classic and hard rock from even earlier and all sorts of alternative stuff as well. My dad is a guitarist so I grew up listening to him play and listening to his favourite bands like Led Zeppelin, Cream, Guns & Roses, ACDC etc. so I had a fascination with guitars for a long time but when I finally heard the first ever metal song at about 8 or 9 years old, 'One' by Metallica, I knew I would be a metalhead for life. The insane solos, thick riffage and bone-breaking drums were so intense it blew me away. I started researching the genre, searching through different bands and sampling all the different subgenres. When I discovered extreme metal it was the beginning of the end. Throat-ripping growls and roars, screams so painful it hurts to listen, riffs so thick they can punch holes in walls. I loved it!

To this day I listen to various sorts of metal at least 3 hours a day, a lot more if it's a good day. Despite being a massive fan of extreme metal my favourite band is decidedly tame. A little known Finnish band called Charon. There is just something I get out of their songs that I can't find in anything else. It's indescribable really. The drums are amazing. Working with a small kit their drummer works wonders with a minimal set-up. The vocals are absolute perfection. A lot of the time I find metal singers lacking but JP's bass notes are bloody well spine-tingling. Also the way each song has this wave-like motion of soothing melodic passages rolling into huge crunching rhythms just works so damn well. And the closing song on each and every album is a highlight, unlike many bands who sort of cop out on the final song as if it's just there to fill up space.

But when I'm not chilling to some Charon I'm engrossed in some manner of violent, audible mayhem, all the way to black metal, goregrind and brutal death metal and whatever you class Annal Nathrakh as.

[Velvet_Nightmare]

Some of my favorites:

Kamelot
Demons and Wizards
Blind Guardian
Stream of Passion
Nightwish
Epica
Symphony X

One of my biggest regrets was not taking a weekend to see Kamelot in San Diego before they changed their singer. Don't get me wrong, their new guy is great, but still would've been awesome to see the first guy in person.

[дух]

None of these sub-genres do anything for me at all. I can't stand melodic crap.

[Sympathy]

i'm currently into (in no order)

Rammstein
Powerglove
Galneryus
Cradle of Filth
Megadeth
Metallica
Lamb of God
In Flames
Nghtwish
Mutiny Within

and others. a couple of Rammstein songs have been getting constant playback, Til's voice is inspiring.

[AllHopeInEclipse]

Yes, the music of my people! I've been a huge metal-head since I was 15.
Currently into:

Cradle of Filth (still playing catch up on everything after Damnation and a Day)
Dimmu Borgir
Amon Amarth
Mayhem
Burzum

If you've never listened to Mayhem's Live in Leipzig, you need to go to Youtube now and listen to the whole album. It's the most raw, brutal black metal album IMO. Its also the only album featuring Dead as the lead singer, before he killed himself. They talk a lot about it in the movie "Until the Light Takes Us".

[дух]

Those bands are very mainstream. Live in Leipzig is hardly the most raw or brutal album. Not at all. Weenie crap.

[AllHopeInEclipse]

Those bands are very mainstream. Live in Leipzig is hardly the most raw or brutal album. Not at all. Weenie crap.

Enlighten me then man.

[дух]

Enlighten me then man.

[DeathBlade/13.666]

Just curious but what the hell is folk metal? John Deathnail? Pantera, Paul, and Mesuggah? Bombs Dylan?

[дух]

It's metal that has folk music influences (Celtic, etc)

Pretty gay and weak.

[DeathBlade/13.666]

I guess next they'll have Country Metal.

[дух]

Buff metal

[AllHopeInEclipse]

Mind...blown. That was an experience lmao.

[DeathBlade/13.666]

Buff metal

Is that metal that meatheads listen to while lifting, bro?

[дух]

Is that metal that meatheads listen to while lifting, bro?

You know it. Flexing hard, sippin on kool aid, lifting. Erry day.

[Eyrothath]

It's metal that has folk music influences (Celtic, etc)

Pretty gay and weak.

You think this is gay and weak?

---------- Post added at 10:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:16 PM ----------

Just curious but what the hell is folk metal? John Deathnail? Pantera, Paul, and Mesuggah? Bombs Dylan?

Some folk metal bands here..





















---------- Post added at 10:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:29 PM ----------

I guess next they'll have Country Metal.

We've had country metal forever, Hank William 3 does metal music (basically a hillbilly doing metal music..) we also have Southern Metal which was heavily influenced by Pantera in a way.. Dimebag had a side project called Rebel Meets Rebel which was country metal..

We also have some "western" themed metal bands.. Dezperadoz being one of them..



---------- Post added at 11:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:52 PM ----------

One of my biggest regrets was not taking a weekend to see Kamelot in San Diego before they changed their singer. Don't get me wrong, their new guy is great, but still would've been awesome to see the first guy in person.

I have seen Kamelot 3 years in a row now, my first time seeing them was when Fabio from Rhapsody of Fire toured with them, he did amazing live and it was a good show, great mosh pits as well and the sound was amazing, they played in a small venue with the Agonist, Alestorm and Blackguard, so there quite a diverse enough crowed (wasn't just all power metal nerds) who don't generally mosh.. So it was a pretty badass show.. Then I saw them again with Nightwish with their new vocalist and it was okay but not great (probably due to being just a supporting act..) and then I saw them a week or so ago with Delain and Eklipse and they were about as good as the first time I saw them with Fabio..

[дух]

Yes. As a matter I do think it's gay and weak.

[DeathBlade/13.666]

No. Just no. You're either Country or your not. There ain't none of this Country Metal, Country Rock, Country Rap crap gonna pass by real Country lovers. Don't believe me, just talk to the folks that breathe, eat, and sleep Country. The only people that accept that crap is people that don't know Country.
Btw, How is this
and this Metal?

P.S.: Don't post so many damn videos. It makes the page take forever to frickin' load.

[дух]

Hank III isn't country metal. He has a metal project and a country project, but it doesn't crossover. I love outlaw country. I kinda have to being from North Carolina. Rebel Son is another really great one.

[DeathBlade/13.666]

That makes a lot more sense. And this outlaw country? Anything to do with the old school outlaws like David Allen Coe?

[дух]

Basically. Just blacklisted, hellraising, beer drinking, pill popping country. None of that "this is my town" crap but actual broken down and low income country. David Allan Coe rules.

[Eyrothath]

This was a project that Dimebag had with David Allen Coe called Rebel Meets Rebel, yes, that is David Allen Coe on vocals and Dimebag on guitar! (David Allen Coe also did guitar..)

[DeathBlade/13.666]

The hell is that crap? That ain't Country son. Even if it has a fiddle and DAC in it. So again, ain't so such thing as Country Metal to the real Country folk.