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Gilliatt wrote: About Sonata Artica's singer, I often wonder if he sings or if he cries.

Well, basing 2 first albums Ecliptica and Silence I would say cres, but especially basing to the latest album Reckoning Night he is singing...

His voice and/or singing style has changed during the time in Sonata...


And yes, Stratovarius might be a very good choise if you like SA...

And also, if one is seaking a bit different metal, then maybe Apocalyptica would be good idea...
They basically play metal with cellos. Different but very good. They used to cover other bands, like Metallica, but with the album named Apocalyptica they present material of their own...

How on earth could I forget about Griffin?

It's a Heavy Metal band from Norway. One of the best heavy acts I can think of from norway in the later years. Lifeforce and No Holds Barred is their two best albums.

The reason I did not mention Malmsteen earlier is because I only enjoy a few songs. But I don't think anyone can listen to Far Beyond the Sun and not be amazed.

Good to hear Sonata Artica's singer changed his style. I only have Silence and I really gave it a serious try, but just could not stand the crying.

Grimar, you forgot Jay Jay French and Eddie Ojeda in your list of great guitarists... just kidding.

Gilliatt wrote: Good to hear Sonata Artica's singer changed his style. I only have Silence and I really gave it a serious try, but just could not stand the crying.

Well, I wold suggest Reckoning Night then, but The Winterheart's Guild is also very good. THWG falls somewhere between the Silence and Reckoning Night in the style of singing IMO

Also, I just bought one album from band called In Flames. Very good band, someway similiar to Children of Bodom.

Kipi wrote: Also, I just bought one album from band called In Flames. Very good band, someway similiar to Children of Bodom.

I think they've changed their style to a cleaner vocal on the later albums.

Fiberfar wrote:I think they've changed their style to a cleaner vocal on the later albums.

Yeah, I was wondering of wether their style wash more "harsh" earlier, since I have heard few tracks from their earlier days... but wasn't sure if it was their main style back then...

Just got the Marriage of Heaven and Hell 1 & 2 albums by Virgin Steele. I've yet to listen to the second one, but the first one was very good.

I also got the new Manowar-DVD, and holy crap, that was the most impressive thing I've ever seen. They played The Glory of Achilles from Achilles, Agony and Ecstasy in Eight Parts, and Rhino's drumming there was very much real :speech:

And playing Battle Hymn, with all the members, present and past. That was the very highlight of the DVD.

Thanks for the info Fiberfar. I will have to put that DVD on my buying list.

About In Flames, I was surprised they were not mentioned earlier. They seem to have many fans. I don't know them very much, but I have a friend who loves them. Is favorite album is Whoracle. (I am still surprised nobody has mentioned Cradle of Filth yet. Personally, I would not include them in my essentials, but I do love certain albums.)

Gilliatt wrote:Thanks for the info Fiberfar. I will have to put that DVD on my buying list.

About In Flames, I was surprised they were not mentioned earlier. They seem to have many fans. I don't know them very much, but I have a friend who loves them. Is favorite album is Whoracle. (I am still surprised nobody has mentioned Cradle of Filth yet. Personally, I would not include them in my essentials, but I do love certain albums.)

Well, I was fully introduced to the music on In Flames only recently, before I had only heard few tracks from their different albums through my friend.

ANd about Cradle of Filth... well I don't personally like them, but their music ain't that bad...

Thanks!
Added to my playlist today (I was really busy for the past days, but now the exams are almost over ):

Iron Maiden: Number Of The Beast, Somewhere In Time and Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
Megadeth: Rust In Peace
Death: Symbolic
King Diamond: Abigail, Them and The Eye

Those are great albums, I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Personally, I would have started with just one album of each band, just in case you don't like the band.

Thanks

Added today:

Slayer - Seasons In The Abyss
Overkill - Horrorscope
Metal Church - Blessing In Disguise; The Human Factor
Alice Cooper - Raise Your Fist And Yell
Symphony X - The Odyssey
Ozzy Osbourne - Tribute
Helloween - Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part I, -Part II, -The Legacy
Gamma Ray - Somewhere Out In Space

This will keep me busy for the coming time

Icaros.nl

I'm not much into metal but I couldn't resist plugging my best friend's band. I don't know they get near Leiden much, but she does seem to get everywhere. They perform in Utrecht next Saturday, in fact. They're pretty dedicated and a sight for sore eyes on stage.

What kind of metal are they playing?

I'm always interesting in hearing new bands, as some may turn out to be real jewels. So, I will at least keep that site under observation...

"Symphonic Power Metal", that's what the websites says. I wouldn't know.

www.myspace.com/icarosband - One samples, one youtube video.

It is not my type of music, but I can appreciate all the hard work and dedication that's being put into making everything work. I hear they're doing quite well for themselves. They've come a long way since the first time I saw them perform, about a year ago.

Not bad, not bad...

Even though the quality of sample wasn't the best, it still sounded interesting...

I've been listening to some streamed music from a rock-channel, and I just heard a band called Rollin' Thunder... Very good.

I couldn't find any songs by them though.

I just watched the documentary Metal: A Headbanger's Journey
A lot of bands were mentioned in it: in the film itself a diagram was shown about the development of metal subgenres, and with each subgenre a number of bands was mentioned. Besides that, on his site (Metal: A Headbangers Journey, click on 'Metal 101') Sam Dunn lists a number of albums one should listen to. Do you agree with his selections?
And while watching the film I saw a number of bands that looked interesting. Are they worth looking into them (more)? Here's the list:

Black Sabbath
Rainbow
Twisted Sister
Slipknot
Mötley Crüe
Girlschool
Doro
Kittie
Arch Enemy
Alice Cooper
Cannibal Corpse
Marilyn Manson
Ozzy Osbourne
Rage Against The Machines

Black Sabbath: i personally dont like them at all.. dull, boring metal

Rainbow: havent heard it that much, but as you like sonata etc, i dont think this is your style, but far from sure

Twisted Sister: this aint metal at all.... quite boring after a while imo

Slipknot: a few good songs, but mostly crap

Mötley Crüe: i dont listen to them

Girlschool,Doro,Kittie: no idea

Arch Enemy: well... female beauty with monster voice.. *grooowlgroowgrowl*

Alice Cooper: 80's metal imo.. got some good stuff, but nothing that i listen to

Cannibal Corpse: "RAAARGHRARGHGHRAHFHGHHRAGHG" 'nuff said

Marilyn Manson: i like some of his music.. MM himself is... weird tho

Ozzy Osbourne: i like many of the riffs, but ozzy's vocal is horrible

Rage Against The Machines: i dont like them..

thats my opinion ^^

I have not seen A Headbanger's Journey yet, but my friends who did where really impressed.

Most of the bands mentioned on your two lists are there because they were extremely popular at some point or because they were the icons of a genre. Twisted Sister was the undisputed king of metal in 1984 when they released their album Stay Hungry, but that does not mean they were extremely good (I do listen to Stay Hungry at times tough). In my teens, I loved a band call Venom (probably the creators of Black Metal), but when I listen to them now, I realize they were mediocre musicians. You have seen it often with movies, it is not because something is popular that it is necessarily good. I am sure we agree on that. If you want to become a heavy metal expert or a heavy metal historian, you have to know all these bands and listen to them, but if you just want to enjoy the music, you don't need to have all of them. Poison's song Unskinny Bop was extremely popular, but that does not mean it was good! One big problem with heavy metal is that lots of people focus more on the image of the bands than on their music. (That is why many persons don't care about Iron Maiden and why you never hear them on the radio: they don't try to be scary, they don't try to be Don Juans, they just play music.)

It is hard not to mention Black Sabbath since it was the first heavy metal band. They have a greatest hits called We Sold our Soul for Rock 'n' Roll. I do love the old Alice Cooper a lot, I mentioned Raise your Fist and Yell because it is by far his heaviest album, but I also listen very often to some of his complilations. Mötley Crüe was a hair metal icon, I have many of their albums, but honestly, I almost never listen to them anymore.

Personally, I avoid Marilyn Manson, Slipknot, Korn, Rage Against the Machine and bands like that like the plague. That does not mean you cannot like them, it is just that I don't like this style of music. Since I don't listen to them it is hard for me to judge them, but IMHO they are just people screaming and jumping on a very basic guitar riff with distortion.

We gave you a long list of suggestions, if I were you, I would go with that and then tell us your preferences so we can give other suggestions when we know the genres you like and the genres you don't like. I don't see the point of having 30 albums of a genre to realize you finally don't like that style.

Please don't see this last commentary as a suggestion not to ask questions anymore. All your questions are welcome, I love sharing my passion and I am pretty sure the others do too. And I am sure we would also all love to have your commentaries on what we recommended. That being said, I do think you are trying to go too fast; take some time to enjoy what you are discovering. I have been listening to heavy metal for over 25 years and I still have plenty to discover. (Like Tarot, Saxon, Angel Dust, Nervermore, etc. In fact, Nervermore is the next thing on my list.)