Baraka_Guru

I'm having problems finding heavy metal I like. I know there are threads that have recommendations regarding metal, but what I want is somewhat specific, and I need your help.

My foray into intensive music listening in general began with two albums: Metallica's Metallica and Danzig's Thrall: Demonsweatlive. I first listened to these and thought, okay, I like this music. It was mine. I didn't care what others thought about it, so I listened to it over and over. Shortly thereafter, I discovered that Metallica was actually much better before they recorded Metallica, so I ate up the likes of Ride the Lightning, ...And Justice for All, and Master of Puppets, the latter of which I still maintain is their best work, followed closely by ...And Justice for All.

Much of that fed what was to come. It wasn't long before the grunge scene swept me up and I was listening to Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, and, eventually, Smashing Pumpkins (who became my favourite contemporary band up until they were dethroned by Radiohead around eight years ago).

Then Cobain committed suicide.

I wandered between various alternative acts, and I eventually discovered a band that grew on me quite quickly. It was my first return to heavy metal since listening to Metallica (which, really, was the only heavy metal I had listened to). They were a band that a couple of friends were raving about, one of whom I looked at as the most intelligent and creative guy I knew. So I took that immediately as a recommendation. The album was Blind by Corrosion of Conformity (COC), and it blew me away. Besides The Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream (which I still maintain is the band's masterpiece and one of the best rock albums of all time), there isn't another album I listened to over and over again from track one to end.

What I admire about Blind is a number of elements: the musicianship, the lyrics, the blended sounds, the intensity....there was something about it that set it apart from my view of what metal was: a genre of loud, aggressive thrashing and hoarse screaming. It was something I enjoyed immensely. It was political, it had activism and social criticism. It simply sounded good.

Deliverance arrived after a bit of a lineup change. It was good, but the band took a turn to a more straightforward sound and set of lyrics. Not quite infused with social commentary, but they were poetic enough. Fine. But that was the end of it for me as I didn't have anything else similar to this band to listen to. I put all of my attention into alternative, where I eventually landed up on Radiohead as my favourite contemporary band.

I also enjoy jazz, classical, and a few pop songs. I'm a huge Beatlemaniac, to boot. But I want more heavy metal. Please help me! There are websites good at showing you artists similar to the ones you like, but there are so many, and it's often difficult to weed through to the sound you're looking for. Answers.com describes the genre mix of Corrosion of Conformity as "Heavy metal, Sludge metal, Stoner metal, Crossover thrash," whatever the hell that means. Are there others doing anything remotely similar? Am I asking too much from the genre?



Some sample songs by Corrosion of Conformity that I really like:

Blind:

Deliverance:

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"The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. [...] In our age there is no such thing as 'keeping out of politics.' All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred, and schizophrenia. When the general atmosphere is bad, language must suffer."

—"Politics and the English Language," George Orwell

"Humankind cannot bear very much reality."

—"Burnt Norton," Four Quartets, T. S. Eliot

blahblah454

Clean my wounds was one of the first metal songs I truly fell in love with. Do you listen to any classic Black Sabbath? They were the true originators of "stoner metal".

If you like punky music and folk music, as well as this metal you should try out a band called Korpiklaani. Some of their songs drive me up the wall, but the majority of the material on their albums I absolutely love! Very original sound and a blast to listen to.

If you enjoy any power metal at all I will recommend two bands for you. Blind Guardian and Sonata Arctica. BG has some of the best lead guitar work you will ever hear in your life, but perhaps the vocals may take some getting used to. Personaly I love them, they have fantasy based lyrics and music. Sonata is just plain awesome.

Seeing as you like COC I am guessing that you like the heavy, driving guitars, but also enjoy the singing part as well, not so much screaming and growling. Personally I love the growling (if done properly *Opeth style*), but I kinda hate the screaming stuff for the most part. If you are interested in listening to any Growly stuff I can sure hook you up.

Also from what I gather you enjoy in the music you should definitely check out some more "stoner metal" style stuff, i have a friend that listens to it almost religiously and I will get his advice on some bands for you.

spectre

I'm a huge fan of thrash and groove metal. Some of what your listening to seems to be along those lines so here are a few favorites of mine. I've really been getting into Machine Head lately and that sounds pretty close to what you listed.

A few that seem to be along the same lines:








There's a few good ones to start.

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"Arrogance and ignorance go hand in hand." ~ Metallica

blahblah454

Oh spectre!! You didn't just recommend Suicide Messiah did you? *hangs head in shame*

BLS is an awesome band to check out though, just stick with the older stuff. Its like the more popular Zakk Wylde gets the shittier his writing becomes.

spectre

Yeah, yeah, I know. Granted, lyrically, he's been slipping a lot but he's still awesome.

__________________
"Arrogance and ignorance go hand in hand." ~ Metallica

mrklixx

A couple of suggestions right off the top of my head:

Disturbed

Stricken - Prayer - Voices -
System of a Down <----You can't get much more "political, activism and social criticism" than these guys.

BYOB - Sugar - Toxicity -

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Baraka_Guru

Cool! Thanks for the recommendations, guys. I'll certainly have to check these out.

I think the key to my tastes lies in sludge metal, which is a blend of doom metal, hardcore punk, with hints of southern rock. I don't know. If the Answers.com entry for COC is accurate, they are possibly a unique blend of genres that hasn't been replicated much. I think much of what I like is the driving grind mixed with--I don't know what to call it...hooks that have a bit of swing to it?

COC songs have some subtle rhythmic nuances that I like. Much of the metal I've sampled was too straightahead and thrashy. They are bands who like to show their speed and aggressiveness when what I'm after has a bit of melody and rhythmic qualities that lure me in. Note the changes and hooks....they're not always trying to fill the bars with furious palm-muted strums and crazy-fast licks. The songs deliver and wide soundscape that displays their ability to make music that is heavy, intelligent, and complex all rolled into one beautiful package.

I will see if I can find this in any of your recommendations. I guess what I'm looking for is more metal crossover--punk, southern rock, metal, maybe?


EDIT:
Had a quick listen to all your links.... I need to listen to them more, but at first glance, Black Label Society and System of a Down sound promising. Also a couple of maybes: Disturbed and Stone Sour.

As for the others, I listened to Megadeth back in the "Symphony of Destruction" days but grew tired of their sound, and the rest sounded too thrashy and straightahead for what I'm looking for. I'll give them more of a listen to be sure, but I'm being a bit picky. I'm not that into the big hardcore metal sound that a lot of people like. As my OP explains, I'm looking for specific sounds.

Thanks again, guys.

I would probably like Sabbath a lot; I haven't listen to many of their songs. I'm also going to check out sHEAVY and Nebula in terms of stoner metal. It's likely the closest to what I'm looking for. That and sludge.

__________________
"The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. [...] In our age there is no such thing as 'keeping out of politics.' All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred, and schizophrenia. When the general atmosphere is bad, language must suffer."

—"Politics and the English Language," George Orwell

"Humankind cannot bear very much reality."

—"Burnt Norton," Four Quartets, T. S. Eliot

Anxst

Not quite Metal, truly, but you might want to give Coheed and Cambria a listen. They're kind of crossover, and have some of the things you've described. I will let you know their lead singer has a lot of Rush-like qualities in his singing, so if Geddy drives you berserk you night not dig em.

All their albums are currently telling this gigantic epic story, too, which is pretty cool. They're writing a set of comic books that described the story fully, as some of the lyrics are pretty cryptic as to exactly what's going on.

Still, give em a listen.

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SSJTWIZTA

though not quite metal i always recommend municipal waste. They're quite excellent.

Here ya go, give em a try.






excellence.

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First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the communists and I did not speak out because I was not a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for me And there was no one left to speak out for me.
-Pastor Martin Niemoller

Baraka_Guru

Not quite there....

Coheed and Cambria was good, but the Rushlike voice does put me off. Meh.

Municipal Waste is a bit too straightahead thrash.

BUT, I have a hint. I found these guys--Venomin James--on CDBaby by listening to samples of bands that were recommended for those who like Corrosion of Conformity:

• Venomin James, "Bullet Juice":

  YouTube - Venomin James "Bullet Juice"...

• Venomin James, "Feed the Flames":

  YouTube - Venomin James "Feed the...

Have a good listen. This is along the lines of what I'm looking for. What would you call this? They're self-described as "metallic doom rock with southern and stoner rock influences." Who else is like this?

I think these are the elements I like:

• Stoner rock/metal
• Southern rock/metal
• Doom metal
• Riff-laden

I'm not sure what pure doom metal would be like, but I might not be into it on its own. I don't really know; I'm still figuring things out here.

__________________
"The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. [...] In our age there is no such thing as 'keeping out of politics.' All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred, and schizophrenia. When the general atmosphere is bad, language must suffer."

—"Politics and the English Language," George Orwell

"Humankind cannot bear very much reality."

—"Burnt Norton," Four Quartets, T. S. Eliot

ironpham

I was going to suggest System of a Down myself.

Forest is probably my favorite of theirs:
Also, I know they aren't really heavy metal, but I would suggest Muse as well.

Hysteria: Time is Running Out: Darkshines: New Born:

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MSD

I'll page my brother to this thread. He'll write a fucking essay for you on metal. For now, I'm too drunk to make a good effort. Help me out and tell me what you think of Dreamtheater.
If you're complaining about that, you must have missed the part where he suggested Stone Sour in a metal thread (even if it is a metal thread that includes the Smashing Pumpkins.)
November's Doom or My Dying Bride.

Zodijackyl

MW are classic thrash style but with a new edge, if I was not poor and without a car, I would have made the 2+ hour journey to see them with ATG+DH tonight

C&C are absolutely terrible, don't listen to them, they are nothing metal-like, other than they bad influences on lighter progressive bands (the non metal influences).

I will give my advise on metal tomorrow, as I am also too drunk to write a reasonable recommendation (10-20+ bands), but I will give you my very best, which is a respectably sizable recommendation at least, when I am sober.

A few basic recommendations without thinking

"The big four"
Metallica
Megadeth
Anthrax
Slayer

Other thrash giants
Kreator
Destruction
Sodom
Testament
Overkill

For intensity and musicianship, I recommend Death's "Symbolic" and "The Sound Of Perseverance" for a start

optik_nerve

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Type O Negative. They have a heavy sludge feel to them but still awesome vocals. Some songs can be pretty thrash/heavy metal. Check out the albums October Rust and Life is Killing Me.

Redjake

System of a Down is mainstream now, but they are one of the few bands that remained "WTF HEAVY!!!!!!!!!!!" while going mainstream. That band just keeps getting better and better. I highly recommend them. Definitely check out all of their albums.

Their biggest hits:
Sugar
Toxicity
Chop Suey
Aerials
Lonely Day
B.Y.O.B.
Hypnotize

If you like any of those, check out the rest. Good stuff!

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BurntToast

Have you tried Pandora?

Put in a group or a song that you like and it spits back out stuff that resembles it. I have found a lot of new (to me) music because of that site.

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Baraka_Guru

More recommendations for me to check out, thanks guys. I downloaded four tracks of Venomin James' off of their Myspace page; I'll be loading them up on my iPod for repeated listening to see if they sink in. But they really are on the track towards what I like.

I will keep listening to these recommendations to see if I can find more.