Jump to content

Just Discovered Metal


VestonPants

Recommended Posts

Hi Folks, This might sound weird but at the age of 44, having listened mostly to punk, new wave and indie, I'm just discovering the joys of metal. :oops: I've been watching the Metal Evolution series on TV and have loved every minute. I had no idea there was so much variety and so many different genres within metal but I'm loving discovering more and more. The only problem (and its a good problem) is what to try next. I wondered if any of you could suggest a list of 10 "must hear" metal albums covering as broad a spectrum as possible. Cheers and thanks Veston

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 52
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

I'll be glad to help you out mate. I'll even include some genres which didn't get mentioned in Metal Evolution. First things first Traditional metal/NWOBHM 1. Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath No collection is complete without what is almost universally regarded as the first ever metal album. 2. Deep Purple - Fireball Less talked about then In Rock or Machine Head but in my opinion it's better balanced then those two albums. 3. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV Another foundation record that helped set up the genre though the band never considered themselves to be metal in any way. 4. Alice Cooper - Welcome To My Nightmare Alice was pretty out there, not metal strictly speaking but there is a metallic edge to the music, hugely influential on the genre 5. Judas Priest - Sad Wings Of Destiny So many great Priest albums from the seventies but this is the stand out for me. More developed then Rocka Rolla but well before they started experimenting with a more commercial sound 6. Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden Paul Di'anno brings an energy to the high tempo gallop and melody of Maiden that Bruce never quite managed to achieve. Best place to start is their very first album 7. Angel Witch - Angel Witch Another NWOBHM band who are a little more obscure. Tough to get your hands on unless you dig vinyl they're heavier then Maiden but lack a little bit of the polish 8. Saxon - Denim & Leather Could have picked one of several albums but this one was iconic and remains one of my favourite NWOBHM albums 9. Motorhead - Overkill Motorhead are another metal originator with some of the dirtiest sounding guitar tone and vocals on this list. This album in particular stands out because it is rock solid from start to finish. 10. Rainbow - Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow Early Deep Purple meets some of the most power packed vocals in metal history. Ronnie James Dio will get another mention later but this album is a masterpiece showcasing the best both had to offer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks RO. Really appreciate the recommendation. I've owned Led Zep IV for years and its a classic in any genre of music. Same with Black Sabbath. Will certainly give Angel Witch a try as they're a new name to me. To my shame, i never really listened to Saxon, even though I grew up only a few miles from their home town, Barnsley. I'll certainly give em a try. Biff Byford always seems like a good bloke when he's interviewed. thanks again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

like Anthrax and Metallica.
Which leads me perfectly into the next rundown 1. Slayer - Hell Awaits Heavier, darker, and faster then their debut. This was where Slayer really hit their stride and is by far their best album 2. Morbid Saint - Spectrum Of Death It's vicious, nasty, fast and makes you want to bang your head at a million miles an hour. This is one of the more savage thrash albums you can get your hands on and can help bridge the gap into the more extreme metal sub-genres 3. Dark Angel - Darkness Descends I tried to count the number of riffs and solos on this album once. I failed dismally. It's incredibly fast, unrelenting, and savage. But with song titles like Perish In Flames and Merciless Death that's to be expected 4. Artillery - By Inheritance Artillery have a strong sense of melody and some driving riffs. They had a different take on thrash less about savagery and more about intricacy 5. D.R.I - Crossover As the name suggests this is a cross between full on punk and metal. It's great stuff that doesn't skimp on the aggression and never takes its foot off the gas. 6. Sabbat - Dreamweaver More savage thrash but with less intense vocals. They can take some adjusting to nonetheless but the music more then makes up for that 7. Coroner - Punishment For Decadence Coroner are what's called technical thrash. Not as fast or savage as their contemporaries but focused on great musicianship. Plenty of riffs and solos with no noodling or overindulgent technicality. 8. Sepultura - Schizophrenia Sepultura are one of the closest thrash bands to death metal. Hailing from Brazil their environment forged some of the most savage thrash around...then the band fell off the rails which was very unfortunate. 9. Testament - The Legacy Chuck Billy's vocals are a rarity in a genre filled with such angst. Couple the almost melodic vocals with Alex Skolnick's guitar playing and it's a recipe for success. Testament have a style both technical and melodic but overall their discography lacks substance and beyond their first three albums there's little worth hearing. 10. Exhorder - Slaughter In The Vatican Lots of riffs, aggressive vocals, a political message. Many thrash bands have at least two of those qualities. Exhorder execute them a little differently however. There is a groove to the music which is almost rock 'n' rollish at times. They would later exploit that to from a genre I know little about called groove metal. This album though was genesis for them and it's well worth investing in.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks RO. Really appreciate the recommendation. I've owned Led Zep IV for years and its a classic in any genre of music. Same with Black Sabbath. Will certainly give Angel Witch a try as they're a new name to me. To my shame, i never really listened to Saxon, even though I grew up only a few miles from their home town, Barnsley. I'll certainly give em a try. Biff Byford always seems like a good bloke when he's interviewed. thanks again.
Happy to help mate. I'll do a breakdown of all the genres I'm familiar with but please don't get the impression that I'm an expert. I know a little about several genres but a lot about none of them.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's never too late to start listening to metal :mrgreen: The list above is very good and full of classics. Here are some of my suggestions to explore the different genres. The order doesn't really mean anything. 1. Barathrum - Legions of Perkele 2. Entrails - Tales from the Morgue 3. Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden 4. Therion - Lemuria 5. Candlemass - Epicus Doomicus Metallicus 6. Ministry - Rio Grande Blood 7. Skid Row - Skid Row 8. Neurosis - Souls at Zero 9. Equilibirum - Teris Fratyr 10. Pantera - Cowboys of Hell

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Once I've reached the limit of my knowledge I'll put up links to some threads which may be of help but they're many pages long. Anyway next is doom metal (which isn't part of Metal Evolution). Doom is the slowest sub-genre of metal and often the heaviest. It contains sub-sub-genres as well so I'll make sure to mention them as I go 1. Trouble - Psalm 9 Trouble are heavy, mid-paced, traditional doom with Ozzy-like vocals. Psalm 9 stands out for me because it's also quite catchy though I doubt that was the intention. 2. Pentagram - Day Of Reckoning Pentagram have a very Black Sabbath feel to them. They started in the seventies but for some reason didn't release anything until the eighties. Still it's worth hearing and there's a documentary on the band which is a great watch as well. 3. Candlemass - Epicus Doomicus Metallicus I personally think their debut (this album) is their best work. It's heavier and more up front then their subsequent works. That beeing said the vocals aren't as good on this record but they aren't exactly bad either. 3. Type O Negative - World Coming Down TON's metal status is often questioned. For me they are a doom/gothic metal/rock hybrid. Fellow forumite Iceni once described their guitar tone as "a satanic cicada" and while that tone isn't as obvious on this record it's still a masterpiece. Pete Stele's baritone vocals and powerful lyrics are the real stand outs here. 4. Cathedral - Forest Of Equilibrium One of the heaviest sounding albums in my collection. Cathedral's sound changed a lot over their career and the follow-up album is also quite good in a stoner-psychadelic metal kind of way. 5. My Dying Bride - Turn Loose The Swans MDB were among the pioneers of the Doom/Death style. They combine death metal stylings with the heaviness and emotion encapsulated in doom to craft some truly powerful music. 6. Anathema - The Silent Enigma Another Doom/Death pioneer. The vocals are more hateful and the melody less intricate but Anathema's use of tempo and acoustic passages better translate emotion in my opinion. 7. Ahab - The Call Of The Wretched Sea Ahab are an example of funeral doom, the slowest incarnation of the doom metal genre, so expect very long songs. They use more clean vocals then most bands in the genre and the tempo is fractionally higher. They also focus more on melody then some other bands in the genre. 8. Thergothen - Streams From The Heavens Thergothen are another funeral doom band. What makes them unique is their sound. It's totally unlike anything else, almost alien, and is a little creepy. They are also insanely slow so like all funeral doom it requires time and attention. 9. Mournful Congregation - The Monad Of Creation A little biased here since the band is from my home town. Mournful Congregation are another melodic funeral doom band. This album is their most powerful in my opinion. It's very slow, features both clean and distorted passages, retains a sense of melody and features some mesmerising lyrics as well. 10. Nevertanezra - NTNR Once more with bias. Nevertanezra are a Doom/Death band formed much more recently. They have only released one album to date. They have an almost progressive vibe to their music and showcase a sound awareness of tempo and melody to accompany their interesting lyrics. I think they have a few copies of the album left but you'd have to ask forum moderator BlutAusNerd (who is also a guitarist for the band).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tell you what Veston? RO is giving you some great recs on this thread and you would do well to try an pick up most of the thrash albums he mentions at least. I'll throw in some Death Metal recs for my part: Morbid Angel - Altars Of Madness or Blessed Are The Sick Massacre - From Beyond Obituary - Slowly We Rot Death - Scream Bloody Gore or Leprosy Entombed - Left Hand Path or Clandestine Dismember - Like An Everflowing Stream Wombbath - Internal Caustic Torments Master - self titled Vader - Back To The Blind Deicide - self titled Incantation - Onwards To Golgotha Suffocation - Effigy of the Forgotten or Pierced From Within

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Damn Macabre you beat me to it. Still no reason why I can't post my own DM rundown 1. Death - The Sound Of Perseverance Macabre covered early Death so I've got the technical death metal side of their style. This was their last album and it features some sick vocals. Coupled with incredible riffs and hooks you have one of the finest death metal albums out there 2. Atheist - Unquestionable Presence The foundation of tech-death was laid with this album. Later bands would be heavier, flashier, whatever but this is a must have for fans of impressive musicianship. 3. Bolt Thrower - Warmaster Bolt Thrower's music is mid-tempo and relentless. It's like being crushed by a tank minus the horrific pain. All they write about is war and they are masters of consistency but this album gets in because I played eenie meanie miney moe. 4. Deceased - Supernatural Addiction A metal album all about horror movies and stories? Who doesn't want that? From 'The Tell-Tale Heart' to 'The Blair Witch Project' most eras of macabre story-telling are represented here. The melody and thrashy riffs also help bridge the gap between extreme genres and those more readily accessible 5. Enforsaken - The Forever Endevor Most melodic death metal is trite, sappy, riffless, and boring. Enforsaken are not. They understand that melodies require riffs to make them memorable and this album is a prime example of that. 6. Sympathy - Anagogic Tyranny This album is like a melodic-tech-death/thrash hybrid. Excellent musicianship, punishing songs, a weird doom metal track to finish on. The only downside is how hard the record may prove to find. 7. Nile - Amongst The Catacombs Of Nephen-ka Nile don't let the fact that they are American stop them from obsessing over Egyptian mythology and musical scales. This is their debut album and it's full of everything which makes Nile one of my favourite bands minus the inconsistency within songs of later releases. 8. Kronos - Colossal Titan Strife This is an example of brutal death metal. It's more extreme, the growls are more frightening, the riffs and melodies are more intense and the pace is flat out. Kronos feature almost black metal like vocals and some memorable passages making them stand out from their contemporaries. 9. Carcass - Necroticism As the name suggests this album is all about the decomposition of human remains. Carcass pre Heartwork is phenomenal if somewhat disturbing death metal. This album is my favourite though as it was the first Carcass album I heard. 10. Gorguts - Erosion Of Sanity Gorguts got weird quick but before they did the band released this. It's an incredible showing of classic death metal which never gets old.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice to hear about another guy that started out with punk and now is giving metal chance. Anyways, you asked for recommendations on 10 albums that will show a wide variety of metal styles. Since you wrote that you where inspired by Sam Dunn's Metal Evolution, the list I have composed is of 10 albums from different genres that in one way or another has be influential on where Metal is today, so here goes. 1. Black Sabbath - Paranoid (Early Metal) 2. Iron Maiden - The Number of The Beast (New Wave of British Heavy Metal) 3. Motley Crue - Shout at the Devil (Glam Metal) 4. Metallica - Master of Puppets (Thrash Metal) 5. Death - Human (Death Metal) 6. Darkthrone - A Blaze in the Northern Sky (Black Metal) 7. Faith No More - The Real Thing (Alternative Metal) 8. Mastodon - Leviathan (Prog Metal) 9. Pantera - Vulgar Display of Power (Groove Metal) 10. Korn - Korn (Nu Metal) Please remember there are a lot more genres of metal out there, fell free to ask and I will answer as best I can. I good source for finding bands and albums that are similar is Allmusic. I have used that website to discover a lot of music.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tell you what RO - I am glad this guy didn't rock up and say he'd just discovered Uzbekistanian Folk Music or I'd have been screwed list wise!:D Darkthrone "A Blaze..." is an amazing intro to BM - good call tmik! Pantera's "Vulgar..." is one of the best records of the 90s, I'd dispute the tag of "groove metal" because for me Pantera were just a straight up fucking heavy metal band who did it with their own sound, when everyone else seemed to be toning down and going all melancholic they just raised a middle figure to the music world and went at it like a herd of bulls in a china shop! Great album to recommend though, I'd add "Far Beyond Driven" in there too as they somehow managed to take things on a step further with that record. Check out Bandcamp for new bands/music too guys. (Money goes direct to artist/label)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tell you what RO - I am glad this guy didn't rock up and say he'd just discovered Uzbekistanian Folk Music or I'd have been screwed list wise!:D Darkthrone "A Blaze..." is an amazing intro to BM - good call tmik! Pantera's "Vulgar..." is one of the best records of the 90s, I'd dispute the tag of "groove metal" because for me Pantera were just a straight up fucking heavy metal band who did it with their own sound, when everyone else seemed to be toning down and going all melancholic they just raised a middle figure to the music world and went at it like a herd of bulls in a china shop! Great album to recommend though, I'd add "Far Beyond Driven" in there too as they somehow managed to take things on a step further with that record. Check out Bandcamp for new bands/music too guys. (Money goes direct to artist/label)
Vulgar Display of Power was not classified as groove metal when it was released, but it is the template that all groove metal bands followed since. Thus I classified it as groove metal. To be honest I am not so good with the genres as I find it as I get older it all just becomes rock'n'roll to me. [emoji1]
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


  • Join Metal Forum

    joinus-home.jpg

  • Our picks

    • Whichever tier of thrash metal you consigned Sacred Reich back in the 80's/90's they still had their moments.  "Ignorance" & "Surf Nicaragura" did a great job of establishing the band, whereas "The American Way" just got a little to comfortable and accessible (the title track grates nowadays) for my ears.  A couple more records better left forgotten about and then nothing for twenty three years.  2019 alone has now seen three releases from Phil Rind and co.  A live EP, a split EP with Iron Reagan and now a full length.

      Notable addition to the ranks for the current throng of releases is former Machine Head sticksman, Dave McClean.  Love or hate Machine Head, McClean is a more than capable drummer and his presence here is felt from the off with the opening and title track kicking things off with some real gusto.  'Divide & Conquer' and 'Salvation' muddle along nicely, never quite reaching any quality that would make my balls tingle but comfortable enough.  The looming build to 'Manifest Reality' delivers a real punch when the song starts proper.  Frenzied riffs and drums with shots of lead work to hold the interest.


      There's a problem already though (I know, I am such a fucking mood hoover).  I don't like Phil's vocals.  I never had if I am being honest.  The aggression to them seems a little forced even when they are at their best on tracks like 'Manifest Reality'.  When he tries to sing it just feels weak though ('Salvation') and tracks lose real punch.  Give him a riffy number such as 'Killing Machine' and he is fine with the Reich engine (probably a poor choice of phrase) up in sixth gear.  For every thrashy riff there's a fair share of rock edged, local bar act rhythm aplenty too.

      Let's not poo-poo proceedings though, because overall I actually enjoy "Awakening".  It is stacked full of catchy riffs that are sticky on the old ears.  Whilst not as raw as perhaps the - brilliant - artwork suggests with its black and white, tattoo flash sheet style design it is enjoyable enough.  Yes, 'Death Valley' & 'Something to Believe' have no place here, saved only by Arnett and Radziwill's lead work but 'Revolution' is a fucking 80's thrash heyday throwback to the extent that if you turn the TV on during it you might catch a new episode of Cheers!

      3/5
      • Reputation Points

      • 10 replies
    • I
      • Reputation Points

      • 2 replies
    • https://www.metalforum.com/blogs/entry/52-vltimas-something-wicked-marches-in/
      • Reputation Points

      • 3 replies

    • https://www.metalforum.com/blogs/entry/48-candlemass-the-door-to-doom/
      • Reputation Points

      • 2 replies
    • Full length number 19 from overkill certainly makes a splash in the energy stakes, I mean there's some modern thrash bands that are a good two decades younger than Overkill who can only hope to achieve the levels of spunk that New Jersey's finest produce here.  That in itself is an achievement, for a band of Overkill's stature and reputation to be able to still sound relevant four decades into their career is no mean feat.  Even in the albums weaker moments it never gets redundant and the energy levels remain high.  There's a real sense of a band in a state of some renewed vigour, helped in no small part by the addition of Jason Bittner on drums.  The former Flotsam & Jetsam skinsman is nothing short of superb throughout "The Wings of War" and seems to have squeezed a little extra out of the rest of his peers.

      The album kicks of with a great build to opening track "Last Man Standing" and for the first 4 tracks of the album the Overkill crew stomp, bash and groove their way to a solid level of consistency.  The lead work is of particular note and Blitz sounds as sneery and scathing as ever.  The album is well produced and mixed too with all parts of the thrash machine audible as the five piece hammer away at your skull with the usual blend of chugging riffs and infectious anthems.  


      There are weak moments as mentioned but they are more a victim of how good the strong tracks are.  In it's own right "Distortion" is a solid enough - if not slightly varied a journey from the last offering - but it just doesn't stand up well against a "Bat Shit Crazy" or a "Head of a Pin".  As the album draws to a close you get the increasing impression that the last few tracks are rescued really by some great solos and stomping skin work which is a shame because trimming of a couple of tracks may have made this less obvious. 

      4/5
      • Reputation Points

      • 4 replies
×
×
  • Create New...