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Pure ****ing Metal
06.01.06, 19:52:31
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Post #1 (permalink) |
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We haven't had a general thread for discussing metal in awhile, so I figured I'd make one up.
Extreme metal is really difficult music for a lot of people to get into because the harsh vocal style tends to put a lot of people off. However, in terms of pure expressionism you can't really get any more direct for some of the most intense emotions, and a lot of fans of the styles have compared the vocals to the harshness of winters in the Nordic countries, from whence originates an overwhelming number of amazing bands. I'm typing up this list of styles and guides as a brief sampler for anyone who's interested in getting into this music.
Thrash Metal
Probably the oldest style of extreme metal in existence, this is where a lot of people got into the music in the first place. The foundations for virtually everything that happened afterwards can be found in a core set of albums that make up essential listening for every dedicated metalhead.
Essential starting points:
Metallica, Master of Puppets (1986)
Megadeth, Rust in Peace (1990)
Slayer, Seasons in the Abyss (1990)
Further listening
Metallica, Ride the Lightning (1984)
Slayer, Reign in Blood (1986)
Anthrax, Among the Living (1987)
Sepultura, Chaos AD (1993)
Death Metal
Characterized by the trademark death grunt often referred to by fans as "cookie monster vocals," death metal originated almost entirely in Florida, although it quickly spread to Europe. Bands like Death, Morbid Angel, and Deicide were responsible for much of the original sound of the music, but subsequent groups, and indeed later Death as well, took the original template and exploded it in countless different ways.
(I have to confess I haven't explored early death metal very fully yet, so you'd best look elsewhere for recommendations for starting points there).
Progressive Death Metal
Largely a product of Scandinavia, this subgenre mixes the original death metal template with the sound of progressive rock groups from the '70s (Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Genesis, etc.). Many groups even go so far as to incorporate Mellotrons into their work.
Tiamat, Wildhoney (1994)
Edge of Sanity, Crimson (1996)
Opeth, My Arms, Your Hearse (1998)
Opeth, Blackwater Park (2001)
Commentary
Wildhoney was an experiment by the band, and there’s very little about the second half of the album that qualifies as metal at all. I couldn’t recommend just a single Opeth release, so you get two. Crimson is a 40-minute, single-track album; its sequel, Crimson II, a 43-minute track, is also quite good, although the record company asked the group’s mastermind Dan Swanö to break it up, so it appears in nine or forty-four tracks on some releases.
Technical Death Metal
This music is focused almost entirely on precision and instrumental skill, with tempo and meter signature changes likely to occur at the rate of once every few measures. Many bands in the style incorporate a sizable amount of jazz into their work. There is a bit of overlap here with Brutal Death Metal.
Atheist, Elements (1993)
Cynic, Focus (1993)
Death, The Sound of Perseverance (1998)
Necrophagist, Onset of Putrefaction (1999, remastered 2003)
Commentary
Necrophagist could just as easily be categorized as Brutal Death Metal. Atheist, Cynic, and probably Death could just as easily be categorized as Progressive Death Metal.
Brutal Death Metal
Exactly what the name implies. There is quite a bit of overlap with Technical Death Metal here.
Cryptopsy, Blasphemy Made Flesh (1994)
Decapitated, Winds of Creation (2000)
Behemoth, Demigod (2004)
Nile, Annihilation of the Wicked (2005)
Commentary
Decapitated and Cryptopsy could just as easily be categorized as Technical Death Metal.
Black Metal
Black metal grew out of the works of darker metal artists like Slayer, Celtic Frost, and Venom (who coined the term with their second album title). Despite the obvious influence from these groups, Bathory is often regarded as being the first true black metal group; the characteristic rasp of its sole member Quorthon has been imitated by virtually every black metal vocalist to follow.
Essential starting points
Bathory, From the Sign of the Black Mark (1987)
Burzum, Filosofem (1996)
Immortal, Sons of Northern Darkness (2002)
Commentary
Burzum is only Black Metal at all for the first four tracks of the album; after that it goes into an ambient excursion which is quite compelling, but has very little to do with metal at all. Practically any Immortal album, particularly the later ones, is a good starting point (At the Heart of Winter is also highly recommended); I’ve just chosen what happens to be my personal favourite.
Black metal arguably spawned even more subgenres than death metal did. Again, I shall list a few.
Viking Metal
After releasing a trio of groundbreakingly influential black metal albums, Bathory chose to branch out and explore the history of Scandinavia. Strong influence is taken from native folk songs, and lyrics nearly always deal with pagan or historical themes. There is quite a bit of overlap with Folk Metal, which I may explore later, as well.
Bathory, Blood on Ice (originally recorded in 1989, not released until 1996)
Vintersorg, Ödermarkens Son (1999)
Moonsorrow, Kivenkantaja (2003)
Falkenbach, Ok Nefna Tyvar Ty (2003)
Enslaved, Isa (2004)
Wintersun, Wintersun (2004)
Commentary
Vintersorg and Falkenbach could just as easily be categorized as examples of Folk Metal. Wintersun incorporates quite a bit of prog and power metal influence into its sound, and could probably be categorized as symphonic BM as well.
Avant-garde Black Metal
Takes the templates found in black metal records and completely explodes them. You never know what you're going to get here, and indeed some of these records barely qualify as black metal at all. This is one of my personal favourite styles.
Arcturus, La Masquerade Infernale (1997)
Ulver, Themes from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1998)
Solefald, Neonism (1999)
Mayhem, Grand Declaration of War (2000)
Lux Occulta, The Mother and the Enemy (2001)
Sigh, Imaginary Sonicscape (2001)
Ephel Duath, The Painter's Palette (2003)
Commentary
Arcturus and Ulver really have very little to do with black metal anymore; Garm employs almost entirely a truly operatic vocal style. Ephel Duath incorporates prog-rock and free jazz into their style, even going so far as to feature a trumpet player. Grand Declaration of War is quite divisive among fans, and along with the Lux Occulta album is probably the least accessible album of the bunch, but I find both to be quite rewarding.
Symphonic Black Metal
Perhaps the most accessible starting point in black metal, symphonic black metal combines traditional black metal instrumentation with lavish instrumentation often (as suggested by the name) going so far as to incorporate actual orchestras. Critics have derided symphonic black metal for not being "trve" metal, but they can suck it.
Emperor, Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk (1997)
Borknagar, The Archaic Course (1998)
Tristania, Beyond the Veil (1999)
Lux Occulta, My Guardian Anger (1999)
Hollenthon, With Vilest of Worms to Dwell (2001)
Dimmu Borgir, Death Cult Armageddon (2003)
Astarte, Sirens (2004)
Commentary
As with the avant-garde BM selections, the items listed here are all over the map. Emperor, despite heavy influences from classical music (the album was recorded in the memorial hall of Edvard Grieg), still manages to be very much an old-school black metal release. Borknagar borders on being Viking Metal (their other album with ICS Vortex, Quintessence, is also very highly recommended). Lux Occulta borders on being progressive metal in this release. Hollenthon and Dimmu Borgir go so far as to incorporate actual orchestras. Tristania is perhaps better categorized as gothic metal, but nonetheless there are plenty of black metal elements to it; it is particularly interesting for featuring some quite effective female black metal vocals. These can also be heard on Astarte, which, apart from a male session drummer, is comprised entirely of women.
Doom Metal
A primarily American style, and one which has gained a significant amount of exposure over the last several years. Characterized by lengthy, slow, sometimes repetitive songs strongly influenced by Black Sabbath.
Katatonia, Dance of December Souls (1993)
Burning Witch, Crippled Lucifer: Seven Psalms for Our Lord of Light (1998)
Green Carnation, Light of Day, Day of Darkness (2000)
Sunn O))), Black1 (2005)
Commentary
There is quite a large variety of stylistic range covered here, from the black metal-influenced drone doom of Sunn O))) to the death-doom hybrid of Katatonia to the progressive doom of Green Carnation (another single-track album, this one spanning sixty minutes). I couldn’t be arsed to give each of them their own subgenre. Green Carnation and Burning Witch are probably the most highly recommended on this list.
Sludge Metal
A subset of doom metal, although paradoxially, some bands that are characterized as sludge are not particularly slow.
Neurosis, Souls at Zero (1992)
Cult of Luna, Cult of Luna (2000)
Isis, Oceanic (2002)
Mastodon, Leviathan (2004)
Commentary
Neurosis strongly influenced a large number of bands that followed, including Cult of Luna, Isis, and Pelican. Mastodon is a difficult group to categorize, since they moved from math metal in their early days to a somewhat sludgier sound later on.
Math Metal
Similar to technical death metal in that meter signatures and tempi are likely to change at a moment’s notice. One band, the Dillinger Escape Plan, reportedly choose time signatures with the aid of dice. Many bands, especially Meshuggah, also incorporate quite a bit of influence from progressive rock.
Lethargy, It’s Hard to Write with a Little Hand (1996)
The Dillinger Escape Plan with Mike Patton, Irony Is a Dead Scene (2002)
Between the Buried and Me, Alaska (2005)
Meshuggah, Catch 33 (2005)
Commentary
Irony is a Dead Scene is probably the best starting point here (as well as in the DEP’s discography) because Mike Patton’s vocals are so outrageously inventive. Meshuggah could arguably be classed as progressive or technical death metal as well, but Jens Kidman’s vocals are difficult to classify. Catch 33, at any rate, represents approximately forty-seven minutes of continuous music divided into thirteen movements.
More to come later. |
Last edited by The Man : 06.03.06 at 02:25:52.
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I got into Metal a few months ago and it’s consumed me since. I’ve been mostly listening to Power and Prog metal and slowly working into Doom metal that isn’t Katatonia. Death and Black I’m starting to get into as well. You forgot Finntroll under Viking, but they only have maybe 10 good songs and Anthrax should be an essential starting point for Thrash. I don’t know if Death’s last album should be the starting point for them or Death metal itself, I found their early work much better.
I’ve been listening to – !T.O.OH!, Amom Amarth, Anthrax, Atheist, Cynic, Death, Dream Theater, Emperor, Finntroll, Immolation, In The Woods…, Iron Maiden, Katatonia, Manowar, Nile, Opeth, Rhapsody, Running Wild, Sigh, Slayer, Sonata Arctica, Summoning and Symphony X.
I need recommendations, although there are a lot of bands I’m aware of I need to look into when I have the time. |
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I'm honestly not familiar with Finntroll's entire discography, so I didn't really feel comfortable mentioning any of their stuff. I kind of prefer Moonsorrow (which shares a keyboard player with Finntroll) to Finntroll, just because it's so much more unbelievably epic.
And like I said, I'm not that familiar with early death metal, which is why I didn't list Death's early work. Haven't actually gotten around to getting it yet.
Of the bands you mentioned, I have quite a bit by Summoning, but I need to really sit down and give it a proper listen. Need to check several of the others out, especially Amon Amarth.
I'd add a recommendation for Lux Occulta's My Guardian Anger to the stuff I put up above - don't know why it slipped my mind. Guess it's more symphonic black than any other style I listed. A difficult album, but well worth it.
Of the bands I listed, I'd say Enslaved (Mardraum is also a fantastic album, albeit a bit impenetrable at first), Necrophagist, Arcturus, Edge of Sanity, Borknagar, Green Carnation, Moonsorrow and Hollenthon should be your top priorities. But then again, that's mostly what I've been listening to the last several days, so y'no. |
Last edited by The Man : 06.02.06 at 02:30:49.
Reason: added a couple of bands to the "top priorities" list
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| This thread needs more Meshuggah. |
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| Wow. What an in-depth look at metal. I used to be more into it a few years ago (with the guidance of a Finnish buddy living in England), but sadly it's faded for a variety of other things. This thread really sparked my interest though, so I expect I'll be taking a look these suggestions soon enough. |
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I'll try to write something about old school deathmetal.
Deathmetal all started with Possessed, who took Thrashmetal to a more extreme level. Seven Chruches is an absolute essential release for some extreme metal history. Death went a little further in the extreme thrash sound and basically the deathmetal sound was born. Also, early deathmetal can be divided in the two most important groups at the time, Florida Deathmetal and Swedish (Stockholm ) Deathmetal. The Swedish sound is very typical ( very crunchy guitar sound ) and differs a lot from the usual thrashy Florida sound.
Here are some outstanding Stockholm Deathmetal releases:
Entombed - Left Hand Path
Dismember - Like An Everflowing Stream
Unleashed - Where No Life Dwells
Carnage - Dark Recollections
Bloodbath - Ressurection Throug Carnage
And some essential Florida Deathmetal releases:
Morbid Angel - Altars Of Madness
Death - Leprosy
Deicide - Legion
Malevolent Creation - The Ten Commandments
Obituary - Cause Of Death |
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Quote:
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Quoth Cesium:
This thread needs more Meshuggah.
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Meshuggah was in the "more to come later" category. I would say that I and Catch 33 are their most essential releases, but I'd be hard pressed to categorize them at all. Wikipedia says they're "technical post-thrash," for what that's worth.
Glad to have re-sparked your interest, Abel.
And cheers for the old-school death metal information, SR. I’ll have to check some of that stuff out myself.
Add also Tristania's Beyond the Veil to my list of Symphonic Black Metal; I forgot to list it myself. Although it’s kind of a crossover with Gothic Metal, one style I’m not as acquainted with as I’d like to be, as well. |
Last edited by The Man : 06.02.06 at 02:28:59.
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Hey thanks everyone for the recommendations! I've been looking for some starting points into Metal and this is really helpful. I'll keep you posted on first impressions on what I get to hear.
I have a question actually. I'm a huge fan of Motorhead and have heard them referred to countless times as being in the Metal genre. Where would you classify them as being?
I honestly never really thought of them as Metal. But then I tend to get lost in genres, I like what i like you know? |
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