Post subject: Metal albums... how did you get into them?
Today I listened to about half of "Master of Puppets" (the first metal album I've tried listening to), before I gave up. The only parts I really liked were those parts with the acoustic guitars, like at the start of the opening track.
I feel metal music in general just lack melody, which is one of the most essential elements of music imo. The closest thing I like to metal is the 'metal-pop' of Maladroit (has melody).
But I don't want give up on a genre completely, as the best taste in music is being able to like all types of music.
So... how did you get into metal? What are your thoughts on metal? What do you see in metal that accounts for the absence of melody? How can I get into metal?
It's not really that metal lacks melody, it's that it uses that melody for a different purpose than most music does. I got into metal when I was 15; if there were two albums I'd recommend starting with it would be Rust in Peace by Megadeth and The Number of the Beast by Iron Maiden. They're exciting and aggressive enough to lure you in without totally turning you away, and hopefully after you get a small taste you'll be more able to move on to the harder stuff. _________________ I love all music. It makes you feel like living. Silence is death.
I'm not a metal-head, so perhaps my favorite 'metal' albums will help ease you into the genre (not much thrash in me though)...
White Zombie-AstroCreep 2000
Refused- The Shape of Punk to Come
Tool-Aenima
I've found sludge/stoner rock to be a good gateway into heavier sounds. It usually relies much more heavily on melody and effects similar to shoegaze than more genre-bound stuff like screams, groans, double-bass, and static guitars.
A few suggestions:
*Kyuss/Queens of the Stone Age - super entry level, much closer to rock than metal, but still very heavy and very good bands. Other Josh Homme projects could go here too (Them Crooked Vultures, Eagles of Death Metal). These bands are super-melodic and rhythmic in a fairly straightforward way, I would definitely check them out.
*Harvey Milk - their earlier stuff leaned more experimental, but their albums since Special Wishes onward are more accessible and melodic. One caveat: their singer is a heavy groaner. I got used to it pretty quickly though, with all the other great stuff going on in their music. Check out Special Wishes or Life... The Best Game in Town first.
*Boris - my personal favorite metal band, though much of their discography is split between straightforward stoner, sound experiments, and drone. Good albums that veer towards melodic, heavy rock are, uh, Heavy Rocks and Akuma No Uta.
Speaking of Drone, that's also a good gateway into the heavier stuff, though from a glance it sacrifices most semblance of a melody in favor of atmosphere. It's the polar opposite of grindcore and all those fast motherfuckers: it intentionally goes at a glacial pace to build tension and explore the nuances of each sound. Gateway bands in drone are Sunn O))), Boris (Feedbacker, Flood, and Absolutego are the go-to albums here), and Earth.
When you start to blur the lines between drone and stoner, you get doom metal, which often has the steady, slow buildup of drum with the more straightforward instrumentation of stoner. Off the top of my head, a good doom band to check out would be Khanate, though their vocalist's sinister whispery-style can be off-putting to a newbie.
Lastly, listen to Baroness. They're a fairly new band that doesn't sacrifice anything for melody, though it certainly builds around it with plenty of other interesting things too. Check out the Red Album or the Blue Album.
Everything I said above is pretty advanced, though (with the exception of Kyuss, QotSA and the other Josh Homme projects, definitely check those out). For a simpler gateway into metal, it's best to go with the heavy metal classics. Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Queensryche, Mastodon, Motorhead, and lastly, Slayer.
Thanks heaps for the suggestions everyone! weedygonsalez especially!
Since jumping straight into metal probably won't do it for me, I'll just try starting with the heavy rock/metal stuff, like Queens of the Stone Age, and work my way from there.
you should listen to the other side of master of puppets. It is hard to believe a person could not like that album
i suggest listening to pantera-the great southern trendkill then the 2 that came out before it also. _________________ "I would expect something wrong with the poll if the chart favorite was not the poll winner" - naples 12-8-11
"I was hoping he was gone for good, guess it was just too much to ask" - polythene pam 05-10-12
"Nickelback > Radiohead" - bork 05-14-12
Yeah, have you tried to get into any of Sabbath's albums, Xavy? I would highly suggest their debut or Paranoid. They're full of great Ozzy-written melodies.
weedygonsalez wrote:
I've found sludge/stoner rock to be a good gateway into heavier sounds. It usually relies much more heavily on melody and effects similar to shoegaze than more genre-bound stuff like screams, groans, double-bass, and static guitars.
A few suggestions:
*Kyuss/Queens of the Stone Age - super entry level, much closer to rock than metal, but still very heavy and very good bands. Other Josh Homme projects could go here too (Them Crooked Vultures, Eagles of Death Metal). These bands are super-melodic and rhythmic in a fairly straightforward way, I would definitely check them out.
*Harvey Milk - their earlier stuff leaned more experimental, but their albums since Special Wishes onward are more accessible and melodic. One caveat: their singer is a heavy groaner. I got used to it pretty quickly though, with all the other great stuff going on in their music. Check out Special Wishes or Life... The Best Game in Town first.
*Boris - my personal favorite metal band, though much of their discography is split between straightforward stoner, sound experiments, and drone. Good albums that veer towards melodic, heavy rock are, uh, Heavy Rocks and Akuma No Uta.
Speaking of Drone, that's also a good gateway into the heavier stuff, though from a glance it sacrifices most semblance of a melody in favor of atmosphere. It's the polar opposite of grindcore and all those fast motherfuckers: it intentionally goes at a glacial pace to build tension and explore the nuances of each sound. Gateway bands in drone are Sunn O))), Boris (Feedbacker, Flood, and Absolutego are the go-to albums here), and Earth.
When you start to blur the lines between drone and stoner, you get doom metal, which often has the steady, slow buildup of drum with the more straightforward instrumentation of stoner. Off the top of my head, a good doom band to check out would be Khanate, though their vocalist's sinister whispery-style can be off-putting to a newbie.
Lastly, listen to Baroness. They're a fairly new band that doesn't sacrifice anything for melody, though it certainly builds around it with plenty of other interesting things too. Check out the Red Album or the Blue Album.
Everything I said above is pretty advanced, though (with the exception of Kyuss, QotSA and the other Josh Homme projects, definitely check those out). For a simpler gateway into metal, it's best to go with the heavy metal classics. Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Queensryche, Mastodon, Motorhead, and lastly, Slayer.
Hope this helps.
Do you listen to Electric Wizard, Weedy? If not, you should definitely check them out. With the possible exception of Burning Witch, these guys are "the heaviest metal band in the universe".
Trust me Xavygravy, I've been listening to metal since the 70's and I guarantee you that the best metal band ever is Iron Maiden. They reside alone at the pinnacle of the metal world.
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