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New to metal and looking for music


Midnight643

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Hey everyone Midnight here. I’m pretty new to metal and I’m looking for some metal that’s got the same beat, rhythm, and over all feel as metal, but without the harsh vocals, I love metal bands that use clean vocals primarily, like Phedora and The Raven Age, but I can’t find any other bands like them. So if any of you know of any, I’d love to hear back, and I am open to try pretty much anything new (music wise).

Thanks a bunch.

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3 hours ago, Midnight643 said:

Hey everyone Midnight here. I’m pretty new to metal and I’m looking for some metal that’s got the same beat, rhythm, and over all feel as metal, but without the harsh vocals, I love metal bands that use clean vocals primarily, like Phedora and The Raven Age, but I can’t find any other bands like them. So if any of you know of any, I’d love to hear back, and I am open to try pretty much anything new (music wise).

Thanks a bunch.

 

Katatonia, Nightwish, Helloween, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, Iced Earth, Lacuna Coil, Candlemass, To/Die/For, Charon, Type O Negative, Sirenia, Sonata Arctica, Blind Guardian, Judas Priest, Firewind, Within Temptation, Rhapsody, Rhapsody of Fire, Luca Turilli's Rhapsody, Turilli/Lione Rhapsody...

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Solitude Aeturnus, Angel Witch, Saxon, Dio, Persuader, Mercyful Fate/King Diamond, Queensryche, Fates Warning, Gamma Ray, Jag Panzer, Rainbow, Crimson Glory, Sanctuary, Nevermore,

 

From there you could branch into some bands which primarily use clean vocals with the odd section of harsh vocals like Orphaned Land, Bathory's Nordlands albums, and Devin Townsend. Could also look into bands like Artillery, Carnivore, Holy Terror, and Ritual Carnage whose vocals aren't exactly harsh but aren't really clean either. Overkill is another band in that vein.

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Oh dear, we can't help you with those genres. melodic metalcore is not metal, I presume you mean nu-metal as I've not heard of 'alternative' metal. Since you mentioned melody I wager you would enjoy power metal however. With that in mind here are 10 albums I think might appeal to you

10. Persuader - Evolution Purgatory

This is a heavier album. Still featuring the hallmarks of power metal but with a good deal more punch to it. The vocals are a little harder then is common sounding like an angrier Hansi Kursch

9. Overkill - Horrorscope

Overkill were one of the groovier thrash metal bands, a good deal more mid-tempo then was common. Bobby Blitz'vocals are hit or miss for many but the music on display is of a high standard.

8. Steel Attack - Diabolic Symphony

This is another example of power metal's heavier side. Dripping with dark atmosphere and with a healthy dose of aggression without losing it's power metalness.

7. Orphaned Land - Mabool

This is me taking a punt. Orphaned Land are a progressively minded folk/death metal band. Lots of clean vocals, lots of melody, a good deal of middle-eastern influence in the instrumentation. On top of that they promote a very positive message about uniting the three main religions of the region to create a better world.

6. Holy Terror - Mind Wars

Holy Terror are a speed metal band. The vocals aren't always great but the songs are blisteringly fast and tend to be melodic. Lots to enjoy here.

5. Demons & Wizards - Demons & Wizards

Featuring Jon Schaffer of Iced Earth on guitar and Hansi Kursch of Blind Guardian on vocals this is what you'd call a power metal supergroup. The sound on display is like a hybrid of the two bands and it is glorious. Meloidc, dark at times, with magnificent vocals and memorable songs.

4. Mercyful Fate - Melissa

This is an example of the first wave of Black Metal. Often melodic, the band touch on many sinister themes, and King Diamond's haunting vocals add an extra layer of intrigue.

3. Iron Maiden - Powerslave

Iron Maiden really don't need an introduction. They are one of the biggest traditional metal bands on the planet. They regularly play sold out arena shows. This is a fantastic album. High tempo, high energy, melodic with catchy choruses and Bruce Dickinson's air raid siren like vocals on full display.

2. Judas Priest - Stained Class

Another staple of the traditional metal scene. Priest are a truly impressive band and have been for a long period of time. Stained Class is a masterpiece - it's varied, energetic, memorable, and Rob Halford showcases the mind blowing range in his vocals.

1. Crimson Glory - Transcendance

This is among the most melodic, impressive, and memorable progressive/power metal albums out there. The vocals are great as is the songwriting. Everything about this is top class.

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Ok, yup, I’m liking the crimson glory and holy terror. I love their more old school feel to them, and their fast paced beat, I know I’ve been very unclear with my likings so far, and I apologize for that, so to clarify, I’ll list off my three favourite songs to gage off of.

3. Phedora - one breath away

I like how the melody is nice like good ol’ rock n roll, while still being heavy at the same time. And I love this type of vocals

2. The Raven Age - fleur de Lis 

I’m really dig it’s fast paced beat to it and it’s major sound in the chorus and how it flips back to minor in the verses (I think I used the correct terminology). And this is more a side note, but I love how at one point, it slows right down to just vocals and one guitar doing harmony and another doing melody

1. The Raven Age - Betrayal of the mind

This, I just, it’s just so perfect for my taste in music. I just genuinely love every part of it. The ideal picture of a perfect song to me.

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Well I'll be honest with you. I'm going to completely ignore those and just throw more melodic bands at you from a variety of metal sub-genres. No offence but the bands you've mentioned are frankly boring. Here's another 10 albums though:

10: Blind Guardian - Nightfall In Middle Earth

Hansi Kursch is a phenomenal vocalist and Blind Guardian are among the more successful power metal bands. Tolkien inspired lyrics abound here and the band play a melodic and energetic style that is incredibly fun.

9. Testament - The New Order

Testament is a thrash metal band that was very melodic early on. Alex Skolnik's leads are phenomenal here as well. The vocals may not be to your liking though.

8. Fates Warning - Awaken the Guardian

Another progressive/power metal album. This is extremely melodic, well written, well played, and while the vocals aren't the most consistent in the world it's still a lot of fun to hear.

7. Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys pt.1

These guys are energetic, up-tempo power metal with very catchy choruses. Honestly either of the Seven Keys albums are worth looking at for the same reason.

6. Nevermore - Dreaming Neon Black

This is a darker power metal album. Often heavy and with a slightly dischordant feel. This is something pretty unique.

5. Saxon - Strong Arm of the Law

Saxon started at the same time as Iron Maiden playing in the traditional metal wave known as NWOBHM or New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Expect energy, melody, lots to like about this.

4. Queensryche - Operation: Mindcrime

This is one of the best concept albums metal has to offer. Progressive metal is rarely better then this.

3. Bathory - Nordland I

Once again it's time to take a punt. Bathory started out as a first wave black metal band before pretty much inventing the viking metal sub-genre. At this point they were returning to that style. Quorthon's vocals were average early on but here they are fantastic. Every about this is triumphant, memorable, honestly there aren't words for this.

2. My Dying Bride - The Angel and the Dark River

Another punt, these guys write crushingly heavy doom/death metal. Their sound is melodic even though it's heavy. There are few harsh vocals here although the cleans aren't exactly world class.

1. Sanctuary - Refuge Denied

Energetic, catchy, well played and with soaring vocals. Yep it's the eighties again and another traditional/power metal band. Warrel Dane would later become the frontman for Nevermore and his vocals are very different with that band.

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I'm not familiar with the bands/genres you've mentioned, but maybe you'll like these(?):

Dream Theater - Images and Words

Annihilator - Set the World on Fire

I also second Queensryche Operation Mindcrime and you might want to check out Empire, too. Candlemass, Blind Guardian, Mercyful Fate, Helloween are all great suggestions.

Sorry I can't be of much help, most of what I was going to recommend has already been mentioned. 

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Well i'm quite the opposite, i like my vocals screechy and rough so i don't know if my advice is worth something but i'll give a shot. Some of the mentioned band feature harsh vocals mixed with clean vocals. They might be good stepping stones for discovering more extreme metal for a lack of better words. If you get the chance leave some feedback on the bands that you've checked out. Curious to see if you discovered something you like.

 

- Scar the Martyr - They only released one album but has some nice melodic songs on it. It was Joey Jordison's comeback after he left Slipknot. The band is still active under a new name VIMIC but only released a few singles so far.

- Skillet - People always give them shit because of their christian background. But their music isn't half bad if you are into more melodic metal stuff i guess. I've seen them twice at a festival and was impressed how tight they were live.

-Tremonti - i literally heard one song of theirs but judging by your description this might be for you.

- Iced Earth - Quite a heavy sound but plenty of clean vocals so could be something you.

- Spiritus Mortis - This probably qualifies as doom metal but Sami Albert Hynninen has some of the coolest clean vocals i've heard in a long time.

- In Flames - I would skip the first 5 albums since they are typical early 90's melodeath metal, but their newer albums are probably more up your alley.

- Soilwork - Once again the newer stuff could be something for you, the earlier stuff is just like with In Flames straight up melodeath.

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The phrase "heavy metal music" was coined by William Burroughs, in 1962, to describe the preferred tastes of "the heavy metal people on Uranus" ... I think the book was called Soft Machine ... which is also the name for a progressive rock band from the 70s (that's worth checking out). The concept was strongly associated with "drug culture" in its early years, that is to say before 1975, when Judas Priest decided to create a unique image for themselves, with various paraphernalia from sadomasochism (the studs and the leather and all that malarky) and a way sharper focus on the guitar shredding. They were the first to describe themselves as a heavy metal band ... a label that Black Sabbath has vehemently denied for their own work all along ... even though it's customary to name them as the founders of the genre and the first "real metal band". 

Inspired by Burroughs, the band Killing Floor released an album (in 69 or 70, I don't remember) called "Out Of Uranus". Knowing that obscure beatnick language connection will make it easier to see the pattern all along the way. When beatnicks said "heavy" they meant something very serious, or profound, either way something that had a heavy impact on you. Like drugs. However that may be, "drug culture" peaked between 1968-73, and has been in decline ever since, so that's hardly even relevant anymore. Nowadays, people mean only the sound (and some of the image) when they talk about what is and what isn't "metal" ... but for those who can remember the old times, there will always be the "brown acid and pink amphetamine" connection. 

Liking melody might mean that one of the real classics, "Rising" by Rainbow, could be of interest. 

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Ok, wow this has helped me so much, I’ve found 5 new bands I like. Orphaned land, persuader, sanctuary, solitude aeternus and holy terror. 

Thank you all sooo much, you’ve been a great help, and I have a much better of what heavy metal is now.

so once again, thanks a bunch.

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19 hours ago, Midnight643 said:

Ok, wow this has helped me so much, I’ve found 5 new bands I like. Orphaned land, persuader, sanctuary, solitude aeternus and holy terror. 

Thank you all sooo much, you’ve been a great help, and I have a much better of what heavy metal is now.

so once again, thanks a bunch.

Metal is a stunningly diverse genre and can be tough to navigate for those just discovering it. We have threads stuck to the top of most sub-genre dedicated forums here. You might enjoy exploring some of those, particularly in the progressive metal, power metal, and thrash metal forums.

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1 hour ago, VolcanicSlut said:

A rough vocal really matches the rough guitar sound.
There. Now you understand metal.

Psst we're trying not to make the kid feel like we're talking down to him. We all have our likes and dislikes right? It took me ten years to move from being able to tolerate harsh vocals in small doses to not being bothered by them at all and while six or seven years have passed since then I still remember what it was like. Felt stupid reaching out and asking for recommendations back then.

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On 7/22/2019 at 10:55 PM, VolcanicSlut said:

A rough vocal really matches the rough guitar sound.
There. Now you understand metal.

On the other hand, the sharp contrast between harsh sound and clean vocals can also produce a more extreme sound if done correctly.

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Most progressive metal has clean vocals so you should probably focus on that. Symphony X, Dream Theater, Blind Guardian, etc. Also some djent bands like Periphery, Tesseract or Textures. Not a fan of clean vocals in djent myself, but you might like it. Isis's album In the Absence of Truth also has clean vocals, and later Neurosis albums. Clutch, Helmet and Corrosion of Conformity have clean vocals and are great too. If you're into Sabbath type stuff I'd go with Electric Wizard.

As far as melodic metalcore goes, I like Thrice, Twelve Tribes, Haste the Day, the first two Of Mice & Men albums, etc. There are an asston of mediocre bands in that genre though. Good luck.

Sent from my Galaxy S8+ (SM-G955U) using Tapatalk

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On 7/12/2019 at 4:04 AM, MaxFaust said:

The phrase "heavy metal music" was coined by William Burroughs, in 1962, to describe the preferred tastes of "the heavy metal people on Uranus" ... I think the book was called Soft Machine ... which is also the name for a progressive rock band from the 70s (that's worth checking out). The concept was strongly associated with "drug culture" in its early years, that is to say before 1975, when Judas Priest decided to create a unique image for themselves, with various paraphernalia from sadomasochism (the studs and the leather and all that malarky) and a way sharper focus on the guitar shredding. They were the first to describe themselves as a heavy metal band ... a label that Black Sabbath has vehemently denied for their own work all along ... even though it's customary to name them as the founders of the genre and the first "real metal band". 

Inspired by Burroughs, the band Killing Floor released an album (in 69 or 70, I don't remember) called "Out Of Uranus". Knowing that obscure beatnick language connection will make it easier to see the pattern all along the way. When beatnicks said "heavy" they meant something very serious, or profound, either way something that had a heavy impact on you. Like drugs. However that may be, "drug culture" peaked between 1968-73, and has been in decline ever since, so that's hardly even relevant anymore. Nowadays, people mean only the sound (and some of the image) when they talk about what is and what isn't "metal" ... but for those who can remember the old times, there will always be the "brown acid and pink amphetamine" connection. 

Liking melody might mean that one of the real classics, "Rising" by Rainbow, could be of interest. 

Starting off with Burroughs and ending with Rainbow just made my day! Hahaha!

Does anyone else enjoy the fact that the name and look of this Artform both came from gay men? Take that, homophobe Metalheads!

The Soft Machine is an awesome book - if you can handle odd literature.

Killer band, too.

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On 7/10/2019 at 9:32 PM, Midnight643 said:

Hey everyone Midnight here. I’m pretty new to metal and I’m looking for some metal that’s got the same beat, rhythm, and over all feel as metal, but without the harsh vocals, I love metal bands that use clean vocals primarily, like Phedora and The Raven Age, but I can’t find any other bands like them. So if any of you know of any, I’d love to hear back, and I am open to try pretty much anything new (music wise).

Thanks a bunch.

Hey, Midnight!  You've made a fantastic choice getting into metal.  If you're looking mainly for clean, melodic vocals, you're best off checking out power metal and/or traditional heavy metal.  And even within those parameters, there are some differences.  Do you prefer higher, more operatic vocals?  If so, power metal is the best way to go.  A lot of traditional metal bands have that vocal style as well, but it can also have bands who employ the use of melodic vocals but they're a bit more gritty.  For example, one traditional-style metal band called Accept has melodic vocals, and they're operatic at times, but the singer also has a gruff voice that can be raspy at times.  So it all just depends on what you're looking for.  I'm a huge fan of Accept, so I'd certainly recommend them.  Raven, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Deep Purple and U.D.O. are all good choices.  If you'd be more into power metal, DragonForce, Cellador, Helloween, Gamma Ray, Steel Attack, Freedom Call, Angra, and Rhapsody of Fire would be a few that come to mind.  Rock on!!

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