How do I get into metal?

[Jello]

10 minutes ago, Gokuma said:

The question is how do you get metal into YOU.

Liquid mercury and a syringe seems like the easiest way.

 

Or fall on a piece of rebar.

Edited April 4, 2021 by Jello

[smeghammer]

17 hours ago, Marn said:

ahem

 

 

RONNIE JAMES DIO (capitals obligatory BTW...). A metal god if there ever was one.

 

Fucking AWESOME voice! Pretty much anything he did turned to gold (Rising, Heaven and Hell, Holy Diver...). I had the honour of seeing him live both fronting his own band and fronting Heaven and Hell (basically Black Sabbath) before he sadly passed away. If anyone asks for an example of classic heavy rock/metal I would always say either Dio or Maiden (very different but equally excellent).

 

Oh, and the Pick of Destiny is also a fun film with Jack Black in his Tenacious D guise.

 

(Apologies, I may be a bit drunk right now, but FUCK I love me the metal!)

 

 

[Jello]

I originally started liking DIO semi-sarcastically just because Holy Diver has such ridiculous lyrics. But it's actually a really good song, and DIO had a great voice. I need to listen to them more, I don't have a lot of exposure, but yeah, they could most definitely rock.

[Rytrik]

Metal Meytal

 

[smeghammer]

1 hour ago, Jello said:

just because Holy Diver has such ridiculous lyrics

 

Rainbows and dragons and magic... Oh, completely nuts lyrics. That pretty much held true for all his stuff, though I don't really know his Elf period at all. He unironically had this at one point in his live set - the infamous Denzil the Dragon:

 

https://everyrecordtellsastory.com/2012/04/12/first-gig-dio-and-denzil-the-dragon-at-the-hammersmith-odeon-may-1986/

[Sergeant_Mark_IV]

I seriously do not recommend you to go listening to random songs by random bands. These songs will escape from your mind with the same easiness as you found them.

Metal is better appreciated when you turn it into a full hobby that can make you really feel like you are a part of it, and consequently, it will raise your general artistic perception, understandment, and capabilities.
For this, you must fully study it, the sub-genres, the bands, and it's history. It's really worth your time.

I'm going to make a guide for you. Instead of giving you random songs, I will give you important and influential albums to listen. Listen to them while you are working out, cleaning your house, or your way to work. But listen to them entirely. Having a general knowledge in metal will also help you to find what sub-genre you indentify with more, and help you to find more music like it.

You mentioned you know a few songs by Metallica, which is an amazing entry-level band, so let's start from there. You can look back and study 70's metal, but I'm not personally a big fan of it, and you pretty much can skip it.


THE 80's
The fabulous mainstream peak of metal

You should start with the Big Four.
 

Metallica:

 

Megadeth:

Anthrax:

 

Nuclear Assault (it's not part of the "Big Four", but it's just as good, TBH should be called Big Five):

 

These are 80's classics that everyone should know:

Dio:

 

Motorhead:

 

Ozzy Osbourne:

 

Iron Maiden:

 

Judas Priest:

 

Also take a look at the first days of power metal. Pretty uplifting stuff:

Helloween (Early):

 

Blind Guardian:

 

[Sergeant_Mark_IV]

80's continuation:

On the most extreme side you had the beginning of Death metal

DEATH:

Sodom:

 

The 90s

The 90s is my favorite decade, it was probably the most inovative decade for metal, it had an explosion of new styles and experimentation. So much new stuff to try, feels like being a kid alone in a candy store.

Grunge Metal is probably the most iconic sub-genre of the decade:

Soundgarden:
 

 

Alice in Chains:
 

Crossover metal:

Pantera: (You will probably recognize half of Doom's soundtrack from this album)
 

Sepultura:
 

It was also the rise of Industrial Metal

Nine Inch Nails (did you know the song Wish was the first metal song to win a Grammy after half a decade of monopoly by Metallica?)

Rob Zombie:

Rammstein:
 

KMFDM:

Power metal was evolving into Melodic Metal

Late Helloween:

And also the mix with death metal that spawned stuff such as Children of Bodom:

And "Goth Metal" with stuff like Type O Negative

 

Edited April 4, 2021 by Sergeant_Mark_IV

[Sergeant_Mark_IV]

And if you are into rap, you should check Nu-Metal:

Rage Against the Machine:

Linkin Park:

 

Korn:

 

 

Slipknot:

 

 

System of a Down:

[Sergeant_Mark_IV]

In the 2000s we saw a great volume of excelent melodic/power metal albums 

Nightwish:

 

 

Angra:

 

 

Hammerfall:

 

 

 

Sonata Arctica:

 

 

And extreme metal:

Sodom:

 

 

Opeth:

 

 

Morbid Angel:

 

 

[Agent Slacker]

I agree with the idea of starting from the beginning to understand metal.

Its influences range from the psychedelic and garage rock music of the 60's to the idea of wanting to make scary music in the late 60's to early 70's
 

(These catchy riffs were pretty heavy for the time)
 

 

I actually remember reading Ozzy's biography years ago. He said that Black Sabbath just wanted to make scary music because people were paying money to be scared.

Also, before going any further, I did decide to make this quick little playlist that has music that was ripped off heavily influenced DOOM and DOOM II's soundtrack, most of which is hard rock/ heavy metal from the 90's.

 

[ketmar]

On 4/3/2021 at 11:32 PM, Willow said:

Do you have any recommendations?

Atheist. Pestilence.

[hybridial]

12 hours ago, Sergeant_Mark_IV said:

You mentioned you know a few songs by Metallica, which is an amazing entry-level band, so let's start from there. You can look back and study 70's metal, but I'm not personally a big fan of it, and you pretty much can skip it.

 

I highlight this because I would say that for many of the bands you listed, even in Blind Guardian's case where I would recommend someone start from Imagination From the Other Side and move forward because it's a better representation of what they became and is much better than any of their earlier albums, you can skip them. I mean you can just skip Metallica altogether because only their first few albums are any good at all and I would even say not that good. I find thrash kind of dull and always have. But I pretty much focus 100% on metal as far as music goes, and I listen to it a lot. 

 

I just say this because whilst later on I did go listen to some older stuff and liked some of it (Iron Maiden's 80s albums, Judas Priest mid 80s-Painkiller, Grim Reaper, Tarot), it's absolutely not how I got into metal, I got into it in the early 00s first hearing Nightwish. It was before Once came out, I remember Once being the first metal CD (and possibly first CD but can't quite remember) I ever bought.* And that happened because I liked epic classical music and hearing that mixed with metal was interesting enough for me to really explore it. The majority of the time ever since then I followed bands generally of the period, there were exceptions like Iced Earth where I do think their early work (91 up until 2003 I think) was better than what they did later, and I guess power and progressive metal were what I focused on. I would say Kamelot's 00s work was some of the best of that period for me. 

 

But that said, random songs, wouldn't be what I'd recommend. I would recommend finding a song that definitely perks interest, get the album it's on, listen to the album, if that works, get more by the band, and look at similar bands and just work from there. And don't feel there's any kind of problem if any of the classic stuff people constantly recommend doesn't really work for you, Metal is a lot of things, and it's always growing in character and variety.

 

* Actually I meant to say here the first CD I bought that was newly released. I remember now that I got Over the Hills & Far Away, because 10th Man Down was the song I heard that made me really interested, and then got Oceanborn and Wishmaster, then Once came out, I think that was the order. 

 

 

Edited April 5, 2021 by hybridial

[jazzmaster9]

I would start with entry level bands. Since you've already started listening to Metallica, Start from there.

Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer. Then maybe mix in some Judas Priest and Iron Maiden if start vibing with that late 70s early 80s style.

 

Master of Puppets by Metallica

Reign in Blood by Slayer

Killing Machine by Judas Priest

Powerslave by Iron Maiden

 

Those are very good entry level metal bands that have that edge but aren't TOO extreme. then Branch out from there. You can either explore more Extreme bands if you lean more on Thrash or more Melodic bands if you lean more on the Operatic/Melodic Style.

 

on A personal note, Metallica is how it all began for me. My first Album was Kill 'em All and they are still very much part of my music life.

Edited April 5, 2021 by jazzmaster9

[[McD] James]

4 hours ago, hybridial said:

I highlight this because I would say that for many of the bands you listed, even in Blind Guardian's case where I would recommend someone start from Imagination From the Other Side and move forward because it's a better representation of what they became and is much better than any of their earlier albums, you can skip them.

 

Blind Guardian's first album, Battalions of Fear is easily one of their best albums if not their best overall, and most definitely should not be skipped. 

[ax34]

My first metal band was Ария - it's kind of Russian Iron Maiden.

I recommend you to begin with less heavy and more melodic metal bands like Iron Maiden, Sonata Arctica, Stratovarius, Edguy.

[Rudolph]

I get so confused with music genres. Do Rammstein and KMFDM really count as metal? I was under the impression that they were industrial.

 

Also, does Led Zeppelin count as metal?

[SPIN]

I would recommend to start of course with black sabbath and kill em all by Metallica its the album that got me started then I would check out some death metal 

 

[Megalyth]

Branching out to find new stuff is pretty convenient these days using the MIGHTY POWER OF ALGORITHMS.

 

I'm not overly familiar with internet radio apps, but I would imagine that most of them have a feature similar to Spotify. When you open a new account, you can select from a list of bands that you enjoy, and it will compile playlists based on your selections.

 

Sometimes I'll just go to YouTube and search for something like "deathcore 2021" and find a curated playlist of newer music. When I hear something that grabs my attention, I search up more music from that particular band.

[SilverMiner]

Does this count as metal?

 

[hybridial]

2 hours ago, [McD]James said:

Blind Guardian's first album, Battalions of Fear is easily one of their best albums if not their best overall, and most definitely should not be skipped. 

 

I don't dislike it, but to be honest I find the production on all their albums prior to Imagination to be an issue. I was just really making a more general point about what will work for some won't work for others though; you clearly don't care for Pantera but they are a band that would get brought up a lot in a thread like this. Blind Guardian went from dirty sounding speed metal to a much more elaborate power metal style with much cleaner production, there's a fair bit of difference and they are far more known for the latter nowadays. I would say when discussing what someone should try first without making any other judgements, I think Imagination, Night at the Opera or Nightfall in Middle Earth would make more sense to recommend for someone's initial experience with the band, but I guess that just makes the most sense to my mindset. 

[Gokuma]

On 4/4/2021 at 5:12 PM, Jello said:

Liquid mercury and a syringe seems like the easiest way.

 

Or fall on a piece of rebar.

 

I meant metaphorically in a less horrible way.   I'm not THAT bad.

 

On 4/4/2021 at 7:17 PM, smeghammer said:

 

Rainbows and dragons and magic... Oh, completely nuts lyrics. That pretty much held true for all his stuff, though I don't really know his Elf period at all. He unironically had this at one point in his live set - the infamous Denzil the Dragon:

 

https://everyrecordtellsastory.com/2012/04/12/first-gig-dio-and-denzil-the-dragon-at-the-hammersmith-odeon-may-1986/

Songs like Judas Priest - Metal Gods have some ridiculous stuff that Metalocalypse/Dethklok may have got some ideas from.

Edited April 6, 2021 by Gokuma

[Kontra Kommando]

The first ever metal album I bought was Vulgar Display of Power, by Pantera. I got into metal on my own, but discovered a lot of bands from hanging out with my friends 20 years ago, who also liked metal.

[Kontra Kommando]

2 minutes ago, Kontra Kommando said:

The first ever metal album I bought was Vulgar Display of Power, by Pantera. I got into metal on my own, but discovered a lot of bands from hanging out with my friends 20 years ago, who also liked metal.

 

Ha, I've been waiting 20 years to say that! Back when I was a neophyte to metal, 20 years ago was the 1980s, and if you were into metal since then, you were definitely a legit metal head.

[Fort Escapades]

I will give you some more obscure stuff.

 

Spoiler

 

 

Spoiler

One of my favorite bands here.  You can find them on Spotify...you will hardly find anything on youtube.  This video is heavily censored.

 

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

Spoiler

This one has a boring minute or so long intro.

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

Spoiler

Giving you the live version of this song because it's so much better than the studio version almost entirely because of how they end it during this performance.  Also, since you mentioned Metallica...you may notice that the bassist in this video is Robert Trujillo of Metallica.  He used to play for these guys.

 

 

Spoiler

This band, Yob, is a very interesting act.  VERY slow, very atmospheric...but this song is amazing to me.  it picks up a lot at the 8:58 mark.  The vocals in this band make me think about what a moth might sound like if moths could sing.

 

 

If you enjoyed any of this, let me know and I'll show you more.

[Agent Slacker]

On 4/5/2021 at 10:57 AM, Rudolph said:

I get so confused with music genres. Do Rammstein and KMFDM really count as metal? I was under the impression that they were industrial.

 

Also, does Led Zeppelin count as metal?

 

KMFDM and Rammstein are industrial, which is more or less hard rock meets electronic music. A lot of their production focuses on electronic beats and instruments combined with guitars and a hard rock sensibility with edgy lyrics and stage presence.

 

Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones are probably best categorized as blues rock because a lot of their influences were blues musicians like Blind Willie Johnson and Muddy Waters.

Rock music in general was heavily influenced by blues and R&B.

[Maximum Matt]

10 hours ago, Kontra Kommando said:

The first ever metal album I bought was Vulgar Display of Power, by Pantera. 

This dude got some taste.

[ketmar]

2 hours ago, Agent Slacker said:

Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones are probably best categorized as blues rock because a lot of their influences were blues musicians like Blind Willie Johnson and Muddy Waters.

and i think Uriah Heep started the whole speed/power metal with some of their albums. still rocks metals!

[Rudolph]

6 hours ago, Agent Slacker said:

 

KMFDM and Rammstein are industrial, which is more or less hard rock meets electronic music. A lot of their production focuses on electronic beats and instruments combined with guitars and a hard rock sensibility with edgy lyrics and stage presence.

 

Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones are probably best categorized as blues rock because a lot of their influences were blues musicians like Blind Willie Johnson and Muddy Waters.

Rock music in general was heavily influenced by blues and R&B.

Thanks. I guess I really know nothing. :P

[Gokuma]

The first music CD I ever bought was White Zombie - Astrocreep 2000.   It's the pinnacle of their work and better than anything Rob Zombie has done after.

 

For heavier Judas Priest check out songs like Nightcrawler.

 

Driving today I was listening to Motorhead, a live 25 years album, and then put in Danzig II: Lucifuge after.

[Vic Vos]

Patrician-tier: