(Un)Official Metal Thread

[Hellraiser]

For Kamelot I'd recomend  everything between "The Fourth Legacy" and "Ghost Opera". That was Kamelot at their peak. The albums after that (the one with Kahn and the two with the new guy) are good as well. But not as good.

[GhostMachine]

Thanks a lot for the suggestions so far.

The reason I'm asking is because I got a brand new mp3 player as an early birthday present. It holds 8GB, and also supports .txt files, some pics (I forget what formats), and avi video files as well, besides having an FM radio - my old player only held 1GB and had an FM radio, but it only held music files. This new one also has a micro SD card slot, I'm trying to put some more diverse music on it than i have on my old player. (I'm having some issues with the old player due to age, but am holding onto it anyway)

I like symphonic metal (power metal, as well), but I am not well versed in it. (I also like some gothic metal, but not black/death metal) I need to grab some more songs by Nightwish and Avantasia, and to look some more into Leaves' Eyes. 

Oh, and as far as Kamelot is concerned, I'm not a fan of their current singer at all. He seems kind of mediocre, from what I've heard so far.

[LUKIE]

@GhostMachine

 

[DFF]

On ‎13‎/‎04‎/‎2016 at 20:43, GhostMachine said:

Thanks a lot for the suggestions so far.

The reason I'm asking is because I got a brand new mp3 player as an early birthday present. It holds 8GB, and also supports .txt files, some pics (I forget what formats), and avi video files as well, besides having an FM radio - my old player only held 1GB and had an FM radio, but it only held music files. This new one also has a micro SD card slot, I'm trying to put some more diverse music on it than i have on my old player. (I'm having some issues with the old player due to age, but am holding onto it anyway)

I like symphonic metal (power metal, as well), but I am not well versed in it. (I also like some gothic metal, but not black/death metal) I need to grab some more songs by Nightwish and Avantasia, and to look some more into Leaves' Eyes. 

Oh, and as far as Kamelot is concerned, I'm not a fan of their current singer at all. He seems kind of mediocre, from what I've heard so far.

Funny you should mention Leaves' Eyes - they are currently tied up in a bit of controversy. It seems that they have fired singer Liv Kristine and replaced her with the lead singer from EnkElination. Liv has posted a bit on her fb and seems quite upset by the whole ordeal.

Avantasia - bear in mind it is a sort of touring supergroup project and has many guest musicians and vocalists (though, some feature fairly regularly). I'd recommend When Clock Hands Freeze, which features ex-Helloween frontman Michael Kiske on vocals.

Speaking of Kiske, if you enjoy that check out his era of Helloween (both Keeper of the Seven Keys albums for a start), and his current project Unisonic. The latter is more hard rock/traditional heavy metal. Their first album was meant to be okay, but I have the second one and it is pretty darn good!

Nightwish - have had three singers. They initially gained fame with Tarja over the course of their first five albums. Fans are quite divided on their favourites, but my preference is Once from that lot. They then did two albums with Annette. She has quite a different voice (much closer to pop). The albums are decent (you could probably make one great album out of the two). The current singer is Floor Jansen (formerly of the excellent After Forever, also currently sings for ReVamp). She is excellent - has the range to pull off the high notes from Tarja's era, but isn't restricted to just that style. The sole album with her is very good.

[Hellraiser]

45 minutes ago, DFF said:

Funny you should mention Leaves' Eyes - they are currently tied up in a bit of controversy. It seems that they have fired singer Liv Kristine and replaced her with the lead singer from EnkElination. Liv has posted a bit on her fb and seems quite upset by the whole ordeal.

Liv says that she didn't know about being fired until the band told her about a week ago and that when she asked if they already found a replacement she got no clear answer. Then a few days later it was announced that they have a new singer which led her to believe that they had been planning this behind her back for a while. In a statement posted on the Leaves' Eyes Facebook page the band says that the decision for Liv to leave was made by the entire band including Liv herself and that there was a mediator (a friend of Liv and keyboard player Alex) present at the band meeting where this was decided who can confirm it. They said they idea of parting ways already came up in January. They also says that they are going to post the protocol made by the mediator that day will be posted in the future.

To make this whole mess even worse someone claiming to be Liv's father (thus far nobody can confirm if he really is who he claims to be) accused the band's male vocalist and keyboard player, who is also Liv's husband, of cheating on her and that this is the real reason for the split. The reason why fans believe this and side with her is that in her statement she says that all this business with her leaving the band was going on "parallel to a huge disappointment in my private life".

 

 

[GhostMachine]

Thanks, Lukie. I'll check that out in a bit. 

Oh, I know all about the Leaves' Eyes situation. What I'm wondering is if her husband will also leave the band. If he really did cheat (though those accusations may be coming from an untrustworthy source), they fired the wrong person. (Strangely, I've yet to listen to any of her solo material, even though she's released several albums)

Nightwish is one of my favorite bands. Love their version of Phantom of The Opera. I prefer them with Tarja, but they're also quite good with Floor. Do not care for them much with Annette, and am glad she is gone. The only song I like from her era is Bye Bye Beautiful....which is actually a dig at Tarja. I'm familiar with Floor from some of her songs with Xandria and Star One.

I've been listening to quite a bit of Kamelot. And I take back when I said about the new singer being mediocre. He's just...different. But I still prefer Khan over Karevik.

Bands I've checked out so far:

Epica - I've only heard Storm the Sorrow from the actual band, but I've also heard Simone with Kamelot on "The Haunting". 

Kamelot - I've listened to several songs, but mostly with Khan, not Karevik. The only Karevik songs I've listened to are "Liar Liar" and "My Confession", but I'm going to check out "Insomnia" when I get a chance. My favorite song with Khan so far is probably "March of Mephisto". If I had the money, I'd go buy the Black Halo album right now. (And yes, i know its part two of the concept)

Amaranthe - Good band, but some of their songs the angry vocalist seems out of place. Makes no sense whatsoever on "My Amaranthine", for instance. I've got "My Amaranthine", "Digital World" and "Drop Dead Cynical" on my mp3 player right now. The only song I've heard and didn't care for was "The Nexus". Am going to check out "Hunger" and "True" eventually. 

Sirenia - listened to two songs. Not a fan. 

Two non-power/symphonic metal bands I've checked out recently and like so far:

New Years Day and September Mourning. I recommend giving both a try. I recommend "Kill or Be Killed" by NYD and "Before the Fall" by September Mourning. September Mourning is a concept group created by comic book artist Marc Silvestri, and Emily Lazar, who portrays the character (band's singer) September. NYD's singer looks somewhat like Harley Quinn at the moment (half black, half red hair) NYD also has a song out with the singer from Motionless In White, a band I don't particularly care for. 

Have yet to check out  more Avantasia beyond what I've already heard before even posting in this thread or Tursias yet.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 19, 2016 by GhostMachine

[Hellraiser]

10 minutes ago, GhostMachine said:

Thanks, Lukie. I'll check that out in a bit. 

Oh, I know all about the Leaves' Eyes situation. What I'm wondering is if her husband will also leave the band. If he really did cheat (though those accusations may be coming from an untrustworthy source), they fired the wrong person. (Strangely, I've yet to listen to any of her solo material, even though she's released several albums)

Amaranthe - Good band, but some of their songs the angry vocalist seems out of place. Makes no sense whatsoever on "My Amaranthine", for instance. I've got "My Amaranthine", "Digital World" and "Drop Dead Cynical" on my mp3 player right now. The only song I've heard and didn't care for was "The Nexus". Am going to check out "Hunger" and "True" eventually.

I don't think that he will be fired. Seems to me that he is the bandleader since he, along with one of the guitarists, have been in the band since it was founded . He calls the shots in his own band Atrocity (Leaves' Eyes basically was Liv plus whoever is in Atrocity at the moment) as well.

And if you like the Amaranthe sound and don't mind a male singer I'd recommend Dynazty to you. They started out as a Sleaze Rock band but completely changed their sound between the releases of their 2012 album "Sultans Of Sin" and their 2014 album "Renatus". They've just released their newest record "Titanic Mass" last friday.

 

[GhostMachine]

Dynazty yes. i liked both of those songs. Am going to check out their other material.

Kaledon I'll have to listen to more stuff from. The only thing I liked about "The New Kingdom" was the guitar assault from the get go. 

Also forgot to mention before that I also checked out a band called Delain, and they seem to be pretty good. Listened to "Suckerpunch" and a couple of other songs.

*edited to add* For some reason I keep getting recommendations for death metal bands like Amon Amarth and Dimmu Borgir on Youtube. i assume the DB recommendation is because I listened to Kamelot's "March of Mephisto", which Shagrath is on. But I have no clue why the AA recommendation is happening. I do not listen to or like black or death metal. I'd expect Arch Enemy to pop up as a recommendation before Amon Amarth.

Edited April 19, 2016 by GhostMachine

[Hellraiser]

Another female fronted band I like (at least their first few records) is Amberian Dawn. They are a finish Symphonic Metal band. At one point the singer and most of the original members left the band but the keyboard player carried on with new members. He seems to be the bandleader like Tuomas is the mastermind of Nightwish.

River Of Tuoni (2008) (with the old singer)

 

Fame & Gloria (2015) (with the new singer)

 

There is also Edenbridge from Austria.

Higher (2010)

Alight A New Tomorrow (2013)

Edit:

Leaves' Eyes just posted the protocol of the bandmeating where Liv's depature was finalized. It was certified by a lawyer:

 

Edited April 20, 2016 by Hellraiser

[Hellraiser]

Edit: Please ignore.

Edited April 19, 2016 by Hellraiser

[DFF]

18 hours ago, GhostMachine said:

Dynazty yes. i liked both of those songs. Am going to check out their other material.

Kaledon I'll have to listen to more stuff from. The only thing I liked about "The New Kingdom" was the guitar assault from the get go. 

Also forgot to mention before that I also checked out a band called Delain, and they seem to be pretty good. Listened to "Suckerpunch" and a couple of other songs.

*edited to add* For some reason I keep getting recommendations for death metal bands like Amon Amarth and Dimmu Borgir on Youtube. i assume the DB recommendation is because I listened to Kamelot's "March of Mephisto", which Shagrath is on. But I have no clue why the AA recommendation is happening. I do not listen to or like black or death metal. I'd expect Arch Enemy to pop up as a recommendation before Amon Amarth.

Amon Amarth are a great band! They are melodic death metal (the dm part mainly comes from the growling vocals these days). Twilight of the Thunder God would probably be the best track to check out to see if they can buck the trend for you on the dm front.

[GhostMachine]

Back when I DJ'd online, I played a couple of Amon Amarth tracks by request. But I couldn't tell you what they were if my life depended on it. The songs are on my old computer's hard drive (which I need converted to an external), and its been almost a year since I DJ'd. 

The only death metal bands I like anything by are Children of Bodom (a few covers of non-dm songs they've done), Opeth (a handful of their songs, and they also do a damn fine cover of Alice In Chains' "Would?"), and Lamb of God (ONE song: "Ghost Walking"). 

[DFF]

15 hours ago, GhostMachine said:

Back when I DJ'd online, I played a couple of Amon Amarth tracks by request. But I couldn't tell you what they were if my life depended on it. The songs are on my old computer's hard drive (which I need converted to an external), and its been almost a year since I DJ'd. 

The only death metal bands I like anything by are Children of Bodom (a few covers of non-dm songs they've done), Opeth (a handful of their songs, and they also do a damn fine cover of Alice In Chains' "Would?"), and Lamb of God (ONE song: "Ghost Walking"). 

While I like both bands, I find AA easier to listen to than CoB. I find that latter's vocals to be a bit harsh for my ears, whereas AA's vocalist has excellent diction for a growler.

[Hellraiser]

Here is the new Candlemass song, the first with Mats Leven:

Rage "Spirits Of The Night" lyricvideo:

 

Edited April 29, 2016 by Hellraiser

[MalaCloudy Black]

So Ozzy and Sharon split up, Ozzy moved out and went to a Beverly Hills hotel, and now his kids can't find him. The belief is that he's not staying at the hotel, but his kids have been unable to get in touch with him. 

[GhostMachine]

Apparently he had an affair with a hair stylist.

[Hellraiser]

2 hours ago, Cloudy said:

So Ozzy and Sharon split up, Ozzy moved out and went to a Beverly Hills hotel, and now his kids can't find him. The belief is that he's not staying at the hotel, but his kids have been unable to get in touch with him. 

He was sighted in LA and according to E!News he is sober and clean. At least that is what he says.

I'm curious as to what this means for Sabbath and his solo career. Sharen has been managing him pretty much since he left Sabbath in the 1979.

Edited May 10, 2016 by Hellraiser

[Hellraiser]

This is a 90-sec preview of the upcoming album "Masters Of Evil" by Denner/Shermann that will be out on June 24th. It is a collaboration of the two former Mercyful Fate guitarist Hank Shermann and Michael Denner. Apart from playing in Mercyful Fate together in the 80s and during the reunion in the 90s these two already collaborated in the early 2000s under the "Force Of Evil" banner with other Mercyful Fate/King Diamond musicion as well as IronFire vocalist Martin Steene. This time they have enlisted Cage and Death Dealer singer Sean Peck, former Mercyful Fate and King Diamond drummer Snowy Shaw and bassist Marc Grabowski who was part of Shermann's short-lived Thrash Metal band Demonica. If you're a fan of Mercyful Fate/King Diamond and need something to hold you over until King Diamond finally records another album I suppose this will do the trick. I enjoyed what I've heard so far.

Also here is the music video for the new Rage song "The Devil Strikes Again":

So they really weren't lying when they said they wanted to go back to the mid-90s "Black In Mind" sound. Very good!

And finally Destruction are back as well with their new album "Under Attack". This is a music video for the title track:

 

 

[Lint]

 

BABYMETAL reacts to Youtubers react to BABYMETAL...I actually think this is kinda cool

[Roster Depth Sicko No. 2]

Patrons of the Metal Thread, I am in need of your assistance.

My girlfriend, who until yesterday I believed only liked pop and pop-punk music, has revealed to me that she watched the Download highlights on Sky Arts over the past few days (we went for just the Friday so she wanted to catch bands from the other days) and has now revealed she likes Iron Maiden. After asking why she'd never listened to them before, she said she read that they were heavy metal and just wrote them off as screaming nonsense.

I need help convincing her that metal isn't just the screaming she hates but can actually make for some damn good songs, but whilst I do like some metal, I'm probably nowhere near as educated in it as a lot of you are (or maybe I am and just don't know it, which would prove the same point  )

I've got Powerslave and Number of the Beast by Maiden which I've given her to start, and I'm gonna recommend her some Black Sabbath when she's done, but after that my quiver is empty. Can you all point me in the right direction so I can make her see sense?