Heavy Metal Suggestions

STRYPER! I am crazy for not strongly recommending Stryper before.

A good band along the lines of maiden is Blaze. It's the solo work of the guy that replaced Bruce from 1992 to 2000 and it is pretty damn good, Bruce's solo work also deserves mention again and the recent two maiden albums are also damned good.

The Cult is a damn good band as well, I'm not sure if they are still together or not though, Matt Sorum is currently touring with Velvet Revolver and the other two faded into the background so I'm not sure if they ever plan to release a new one, if they don't check out Beyond Good and Evil.

Nightwish is metal, just because the singer is female and they use a keyboard does not disqualify them from being metal and I would go as far as comparing them to Sonata Arctica if you are looking for something similar. I liked Once. (Ghost Love Score was insane)

I would go as far as describing System Of A Down as Progressive Satire, and I find it hilarious that people say they sold out because they release a double album. Riiight. Also, for the guy that said they were getting far too political? Go back and listen to the first two albums again. Steal This Album was an abberation because the studio wanted to release another album but the band didn't want to and should not be held as the standard of SOAD.

Other bands already mentioned but worth repeating are bands like
Iced Earth
Blind Guardian
Sonata Arctica
Megadeth
Dream Theater
Edguy

Also check out Demons and Wizards. It's a side project between John Schaffer of Iced Earth and Hansi Kursch of Blind Guardian and it is something different from both bands but also similar and still sounds awesome.

Oh yeah, all members of Dream Theater have done various side projects and they all branch off into different styles and flavours so be on the look out for stuff like Transatlantic/OSI/Jelly Jam/Mullmuzzler and many others.

Before I forget, check out some Ayreon. Ayreon is a project of a guy called Arjen who writes an album and then gets people to perform it with him, he's performed with James Labrie/Bruce Dickinson/Devin Townsend and many more and the albums are really good. On that same track Tobias Sammet of Edguy did the same thing a few years ago and wrote up the epic Avantasia: The Metal Opera and that is also damned good.

I listen to all kinds of metal, and seeing as you seem mostly interested by power metal, here are some bands that are power and others that will probably do you good in expanding your horizon (that of course I didn't noticed mentioned yet)-

Virgin Steele - "Invictus" : Seriously amazing and magical power metal
Savage Circus - "Dreamland Manor" : Total Blind Guardian rip-off, and it's actually really good.
Lost Horizon - "Awakening the World" : Fucking awesome. Lyrics and music are both truly powerful and euphoric. Power metal.
Bathory - "Nordland I and II" : These CDs could be a soundtrack to life. Truly epic and amazing. Viking/folk with an epicish thrashy edge.
Skyclad - any album is a good start : Awesome, intuitive, and various, almost a kind of mix of power, folk, and perhaps a hint of 80s punk.
Cathedral - "Caravan Beyond Redemption" : Not the best in doom metal, but a great start for virgin ears.
Pentagram - "Sub-basement" : An amazing doom metal album, if you think you have the balls to handle it
Witchfinder General - "Friends of Hell" : Possibly the best old-school doom metal album ever, I recommend this highly if you're coming from NWOBHM and power metal.
(note - NO, doom metal does NOT involve screaming! It is a mix intensely heavy riffage, and what I can best describe as an almost 60's stoner rock meets southern rock)
Immortal - "At The Heart of Winter" : OK, this is black metal, but if an entry-level recommended metal albums list doesn't have this one, it makes whoever wrote it up a total fuck, wether that's fair to say or not. Besides, Immortal are legendary not only for their incredibly atmospheric, emotional, and insanely talented music; but their sense of humor is unfathomable - especially because so many people took their pictures and music videos seriously, despite the OBVIOUS mockery of the black metal scene.
Flotsam and Jetsam - "High" : People will argue this, but I feel this band is as good as straight-up thrash metal gets.
And from now on everything is power metal or related:
Brainstorm - "Unholy" or "Hungry" : Power-thrash probably describes it better, if you like Kill em' All to And Justice... Metallica, Maiden, and Priest, these are two albums you can't afford to miss.
Powermad - "Absolute Power" Again, power-thrash, but more on the thrash side than Brainstorm. Despite the heavy power influence, a lot of "underground" thrashers consider this the best thrash album, ever.
Rhapsody - "Power of the Dragonflame" : I've grown pretty tired of this band, but a whole slew of people swear they're the best band ever. Think Iron Maiden meets dragon-obsessed high fantasy meets Conan the Barbarian soundtrack.
Savatage - "The Dungeons are Calling" and "Sirens" : Brilliance.
Divinefire - "Hero" and "Glory Thy Name" : If you can get past the completely overdone christian theme, the music is fucking incredible.
I don't believe in any of it, but it's really uplifting to pretend they're singing about me.
Steel Attack - no specific album : Name = cliche; Music = amazing, intuitive, and sometimes even progressive.
Morifade - "Possesion of Power" and "Imaginarium". The only total Helloween rip-off that I'm really impressed by, even moreso than Helloween.
Helloween - "Walls of Jericho" : This is before they supposedly redefined power metal, a little thrashy and chaotic, but this is probably the best example of pure raw heavy metal you'll ever come across.
Elvenking - "Heathenreel" : Usually when someone uses the term folk metal, the first thing that comes to mind is brutal black or death metal that uses violins, panflutes, and various pagan folk melodies to set atmosphere. Well, this is exactly that, except it's done with power metal, and it's suprising really fucking good.
I could go on listing bands for hours, but looking those bands and the others mentioned in Amazon.com and checking out a site called Metal Storm (don't know the link) should get you well unto your way into heavy/power metal.
BUT. THE ONE THING YOU MUST DO!!!!!
Do yourself a BIG BIG favor and get Manowar's complete discography. At first you might not like it too much. I mean, you'll like a few songs. But you'll like them a lot. You see, nothing in existance, in any plane or dimension etc, is as phenomenal as a good Manowar song. And eventually they'll grow on you. And become your absolute favorite band. Lyrics are easily the best ever. "...rape their women as they cry!" "...if you're not into metal, you are not my friend! Heavy metal, or no metal at all! Wimps and posers, leave the hall!" "Run berserk, spreading fear and pain!" etc etc. Fucking the best music ever.
All this list boils down to is that if you don't own every Manowar CD, you don't know shit about music. It's that simple. I don't care what anyone has to say about that. (That's sarcasm, before I get flamed. But it still holds truth to an extent)

Tragically I'm going to have to disagree with you on Manowar. I always found it to be unbearably cheesy heavy metal. However, given that I have not heard of many those bands on that list, I'm not going to claim to be an expert of power metal either. Given I tend to lean to the progressive side of the coin. Savatage and Helloween are decent bands though.

LorD BaZTArD said:

Nightwish is metal, just because the singer is female and they use a keyboard does not disqualify them from being metal and I would go as far as comparing them to Sonata Arctica if you are looking for something similar. I liked Once. (Ghost Love Score was insane)

True. I found Ghost Love Score when I was searching for long songs to potentially round out a compilation I'm near completing. So now I'm sorting through their 4 most recent albums. So far I'm liking Once the best, and in the case of that album, I think it's equally symphonic as it is metal. In fact, it would probably be better at points if they'd drop the guitars entirely :P

LorD BaZTArD said:

Tragically I'm going to have to disagree with you on Manowar. I always found it to be unbearably cheesy heavy metal.

I've heard my fair share of Manowar from fanatical friends. The only memorable thing is when a song which (IIRC) is building up to a huge battle scene is interrupted by the singer saying "thanks for the kool-aid, reverend!".

Nightwish was a great experience when I first listened to Wishmaster and Oceanborn. With Once I realized they will stick to the same sounds recycled and repated ad nauseam until they fall apart.

As for Manowar, after listening to "Warriors of the World" I don't want to hear them ever again.

I'd recommend Lord Baztard's list of 'other bands', especially Iced Earth and Dream Theater. Sonata Arctica and Blind Guardian are worth a spin as well.

I see no one has mentioned WASP yet. Great band, if you don't mind some perverted themes in your songs. (Until after a certain album.) Some people call them hair metal, but I'd say they're too heavy and sometimes "evil" to be hair metal.

I'd recommend...

Iced Earth (old and new)
Testament
Demons & Wizards (1st albums better then Crimson King in my eyes)
Nevermore
Soil Work
Inflames
Arch Enemy

Manowar is either love or hate. If you understand the metaphors (yes, almost every song is a metaphor, and tends to have a deep meaning beneath it. The few others are just for fun, which is something that I see missing in modern music), and find humor in the self-parody, AND enjoy the music, you'll love them. I'm not fanatical, there not even close to my favorite artists, but yes, I exagerrate them because I do feel their "good" songs are still the best experience metal has to offer, and it did take a while for me to accept them as I do now.
As for Warriors of the World, it is their "worst" album. It's not something you listen to for instant gratificiation if you're trying to rock out, which for some reason is all people see in their music. There is no doubt that the music is extremely well composed and just as powerful as on their previous works, even if it's not always as fast and heavy.

As far as "cheese" and music is concerned, I don't think anything is cheesy at all about bands that sing about overcoming life's obstacles with a vengeance, and forming an alliance in the name of never settling for mediocrity, lies, and conformist rhetoric. To me, cheesy is when lyrics are based on pop culture, doing drugs, and bullshit love. Even more so, songs about worshipping the christian diety Satan (satan is hebrew and appears in common dialect. It translates to "adversary", nothing more or less), glorifying murder, killing babies, and etc that don't have a metaphor or meaning in the song. Anything whining about how mean and cruel society or the world is. In fact, any lyrics that are whining about anything at all is cheesy to me. I think most black metal bands are cheesy (I do love the music though), and nothing about someone who literally stabs a friend in the back, burns a church, eats someone's brains after he shot himself, and wears ridiculous face paint and clothes scares or intrigues me, they're just losers. I think thrash and death metal bands who think they're tough shit are cheesy. Any nu-metal band with a scrawny guy with dreadlocks and at least one song about drug use or child abuse is cheesy to me. Almost all pop music is cheesy to me. No, to me, folk and viking metal aren't cheesy at all. They're creating an atmosphere based on the "olde" days, and I think most of them do it well.

As for the line you're quoting, Lut, I have no idea what you're talking about. I own every full length album and a few EPs by them, and they're the band I listen to the most when I'm working out. Meaning I've heard all the albums in their entirity an extreme amounts of time. I've never heard anything like that, so you either have bands confused, misheard a lyric, or your "fanatical friends" happen to have a secret unlisted EP that noone knows about.

(edit: Just to add my opinion to other people's lists, Nightwish is way overrated, anything by Iced Earth after "Horror Show" has no spirit, though their stuff before it is amazing, Blind Guardian I won't argue but didn't list because everyone else did, and same with Sonata Arctica and Primal Fear)

Morris said:

yes, almost every song is a metaphor, and tends to have a deep meaning beneath it. The few others are just for fun

"...rape their women as they cry!" "...if you're not into metal, you are not my friend! Heavy metal, or no metal at all! Wimps and posers, leave the hall!" "Run berserk, spreading fear and pain!" etc etc.

K. Lots of fun indeed. Or are those the 'metaphor' and 'deep meaning' type ones?

Actually I find the black metal and "satanic" bands to be a lot better in the self-parody and fun departments. Not to mention the music.

Face it, 'overcoming life's obstacles with a vengeance, and forming an alliance in the name of never settling for mediocrity, lies, and conformist rhetoric' is a ton of stale cheese.

I quoted those lines in the essence of fun, as they are pretty stereotypical things for a band like Manowar to say. Thus their self-parody. Also, if you read them in their full context, you'd find that the band is about realizing that everyone is a "god" and "warrior" in their own right, you only have to allow yourself to accept that there is no fate and you can (within reason) control the world with your will. Even if they use "cheesy" lyrics and sound to spread that message, there's nothing cheesy about the message itself. Once you come to embrace the message, like it or not, it brings an undoubtable power to the music.

I don't see what you're debating with the black metal comment. You're proving my point. The music is powerful, lyrics are cheesy, and they're having fun. Some of them. I find it pretty safe to say the majority of black metal bands (and there's a lot) take the style dead seriously though. And, strangely, a lot of the better bands (Bathory, Immortal, Vintersorg, Emperor, finish the long list of bands nobody else here cares about yourself) try and spread the same exact message, the same exact way, that Manowar does. The only difference is that they parodize black metal rather than power metal.

Yes I was proving your point because it's true. What I was debating was your opinion that Manowar is not cheesy, or at least is less cheesy than black metal. IMO it's all the same game. Like I already mentioned, I consider Manowar's style and message to be just as cheesy as those of some of the black/death metal bands out there. The difference for me lies in the fact that with black/death, I don't really need to care about lyrics that I'm barely able to hear or understand.

As for the bands that take black metal seriously, I try really hard to convince myself that the bands I enjoy listening to don't do that, because if they did, that'd mean I like listening to a bunch of retards that can play instruments really well.

Gotcha. I agree they're the same game. That's why I listen to Immortal and Bathory pretty much as much as I do Manowar. What I meant was that, even at face value, Manowar is less cheesy to me than bands that take black metal dead seriously. However, I can name bands (Rhapsody, Luca Turilli, Domine, Final Chapter, etc)in power metal who are much cheesier to me than black metal bands who realize that they just play another form of music. Bands that play ridiculously stereotypical power metal and actually sing about dragons, warriors, powergods, and how heavy metal is the only way to live, and take themselves full-on seriously.
I still listen to the cheesier bands of both genres, but I find power metal easier to pretend that they're not serious. Whereas when I hear a Carpathian Forest rip-off growling "hail satan" over and over again as a chorus, in an obvious ode to the christian diety rather than the philosophical standpoint that is Satanism, I can't help but wonder why I'm listening to it.
But then I remember, I actually kind of like the cheesiness of the die-hard serious bands. But the sincere-yet-fun bands are, of course, much better.

Ah, WASP, now theres a band from way back. I was vaguely aware that they were still around but I haven't really taken any effort to hear any of it.

I can't say I'm a fan of black metal really, the screeching crap will kill interest in a band no matter how good I find the music. If you really need to counter fantasic music by slaughtering a monkey then more power to you but not for me. (As usual though, not all bands do that and there are always good bands that break the mould)

Also, I just remembered about a band I discovered after watching an AMV set to the game xenogears. It was sequel of decay by Tristania and I'd probably class it as doom metal personally. It was a nice contrast of male/female vocals to fairly moody music and worked quite well. (It fits the theme of the game so damn well it's not funny)

Belial. I don't agree with that. Once was definitely a weaker effort compared to oceanborn and wishmaster but it did take it's own direction as well. You also might want to keep an eye on nightwish in the near future too as Tarja was fired from the band a month or two ago and they are currently looking for a new vocalist. So when they get a new vocalist in they might start back to the old stuff with a new edge.

Heh, I'm aware of that, pretty funny incident too, but it hasn't really raised my expectations. I've seen a band in the same situation, they've fired their very characteristic vocalist who was with them from the beginning (13 years, 8 albums) and helped forge the band's success. That was September 2004. This summer they've released a new album, and it is considered by the fans, including me, to be the worst album in their career. So I guess ATM I'm quite the pessimist when it comes to such drastic line-up changes.

Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm not sure how they plan to replace tarja, I'm not even sure they can either, because Tarja was such a huge part in that bands style and her voice was awesome. There are quite a few talented female singers though, so I'm interested to see who they might pick.

Also, I think it depends on the listener to a degree as well. Many consider that AC/DC died with Bon Scott, While others think that Brian Johnston managed to take them higher than before. Others may say that Iced Earth doesn't work without barlow while more consider The Glorious Burden (especially Gettysburg 1863) to be a damn fine effort with a new singer. (Ripper got unfairly ripped into with Judas Priest as well IMO)

Incidentally, Barlow is singing again too. He's in the first state force police band, a band with an educational bent for primary school kids... and he's bald!

I think Iced Earth pwnt with Barlow, and I think Ripper Owens is an awesome vocalist but I don't like the better part of the newer (starting at Horror Show, still with Barlow) stuff IE has been bringing out. Schaffer just doesn't sound inspired to me anymore.

I always thought the chicks from Edenbridge and Lunatica had much nicer and more capable voices than Tarja. "Nightwish is overrated" bias aside, I'm sure they won't have any problems finding a vocalist who's just as good, if not better. There's an abundance of well-trained female opera vocalists trying to hit it big with metal. Of course it won't sound the same, and I'd only think that's a good thing for any band. Tarja had almost nothing to do with song writing, so song quality should be about the same. Most of the lyrics and vocal melodies are written by the synth player.

I like Manowar. They write good songs. They also have lyrics that are mostly hilarious, but that's a bonus and not the main draw. It's hard not to have a good time listening to them.

And I truly hope that the lyrics are sincere and not parody.

Every one keeps posting about Bruce Dickinson solo work but no one has posted any thing about Rob Halfords [Judas Priest] solo work. Resserection and Crucible are both kick ass albums. Fight is great also. But I never liked Two.

jute gyte said:

I like Manowar. They write good songs. They also have lyrics that are mostly hilarious, but that's a bonus and not the main draw. It's hard not to have a good time listening to them.

And I truly hope that the lyrics are sincere and not parody.

It's been established that the lyrics are both sincere and parody. Just because something is humorous at face value doesn't mean that it's not making a point that's taken seriously.

As for Halford, I've never listened to it. I have yet to hear the solo album of a metal vocalist that has more than a few good songs on it (Rob Rock aside), so I really haven't even bothered with Halford or Dickinson, for that matter.

Morris said:

As for Halford, I've never listened to it. I have yet to hear the solo album of a metal vocalist that has more than a few good songs on it (Rob Rock aside), so I really haven't even bothered with Halford or Dickinson, for that matter.

Both Fight and Halford have the same stlye as Painkiller. You might like them if you liked Painkiller.

As for Manowar. Some one I know is a Manowar freak. He burned me a copy of Louder Then Hell. Its a ok cd. I dont think I will ever buy any of there cds but I dont hate them.

definitely check out witchfinder general, pentagram, tank, tygers of pan tang, hell, manninya blade and even znöwhite

Thanks niguel for recapping WG and Pentagram. Two of the most rocking bands ever. BTW, new Pentagram anthology coming out soon, mostly unreleased studio tracks that sound pretty good from clips I've heard. Also, rumour is abound that WG is getting back together, but then again, what metal band has ever broke up and not have those kind of rumours spread.

Rotting Corpse said:

...same stlye as Painkiller...

Then I'll have to remember to include those albums in my next Amazon.com binge. Also, if you haven't already, check out the band Primal Fear. I only have two of their albums, but they're Painkiller to the max. And the vocalist rocks.

As far as Manowar goes, "Kings of Metal" is, more or less, unargued as a their best album. "Louder Than Hell" is, coincidently, their weakest. Owning their whole disco, I used to only find 2 or 3 songs really good on most of the albums (KoM excluded, it was my first metal purchase I made, I was 14, and got it because I thought the cover was funny. I fucking loved that album). After 6 years though, they have really grown on me, and I like pretty much all of their songs. Still not my favorite band only because they are a tad generic, even if it is on purpose.

Rotting Corpse said:

Both Fight and Halford have the same stlye as Painkiller. You might like them if you liked Painkiller.

Neither Halfor album is of the same style as Painkiller. Especially Crucible, but the first one (Resurrection) also plays up the homosexual themes way too much. It's also cheesier than the last KISS studio album.

The second was brilliant, mixing in everything from prog to acid metal.

My next nomination goes to Annihilator: Carnival Diablos. It's one of the best cd's I've ever heard, period.

pilottobombadier said:

Neither Halfor album is of the same style as Painkiller. Especially Crucible, but the first one (Resurrection) also plays up the homosexual themes way too much. It's also cheesier than the last KISS studio album.

The second was brilliant, mixing in everything from prog to acid metal.

My next nomination goes to Annihilator: Carnival Diablos. It's one of the best cd's I've ever heard, period.

His vocal style did abit. But I still say they are worth picking up. As for the homosexual themes. At least he had the balls to stand up and say it. That that had to take alot of guts on his part. So I didnt find them to be that big of a deal. But you are a diffrent person.

As for Annihilator. They fucking kick ass. C.D. is a great album.

How about Overkill? Any one a fan other then me?

Rotting Corpse said:

How about Overkill? Any one a fan other then me?

Right here dude. Still have some of their original releases in my collection.

I would also suggest Crust Metal. Kylesa is and always be a favorite of mine. They used to be DAMAD back in the day if anyone was in the scene at the time. kylesa.com

Has anyone mention Obituary yet? Or Germans famous thrash band Destruction.

How about some Coroner?

Don't tell me "crust" metal as in "crust" punk. As in kids who never shower because using water hurts the environment, and then they go make shitty bands that whine about everything and tell us how perfect the world would be if they were in charge.
Anyhow, since you brought it up, one thrash metal band that strangely reminds me of Crass is Helstar. Difference is Helstar makes logical arguments on situations they obviously looked at from more than one point of view, and of course, is metal. Check out their albums "Nosferatu" and "Distant Thunder" for a good time. James Rivera is an amazing vocalist.

edit: fixed typos.

Remember, this thread is about heavy metal suggestions. No need to deride a type you happen not to like.

First off, this is a forum. I can state my opinion as long as I'm not personally attacking anyone, which I don't think I did.
Second off, "crust" is not recognized as a genre even related to metal, it's recognized as an offshoot of punk and hardcore.
He suggested it, I think it's a bad suggestion for someone trying to get into heavy metal, so I suggest against it and gave my opinion to form a basis why I suggest against it. And then I continued to make a suggestion for Helstar, which reminds me a little bit of Crass, who is generally known as the founder of "crust" punk, but Helstar is a band your average metalhead could probably get into.

edit: "Deride"? The only thing I said about it that isn't fact is that it's "shitty". That's opinion. Everything else are definitive points of the "crust" genre.