What Rock/Metal bands would you recommend?

A whole discography ruined by that asshat

I can’t listen to it anymore.

So now it’s just Daysend, Kamelot, and Primal Fear

These days, I have to separate the art from the artist when it comes to music and film. Otherwise, I would probably have to stop paying attention to both.

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Manowar
Doro
Adrenaline mob
Powerwolf
Grave digger
Steel panther
Warrant
Helloween
Indochine
Satan's satyrs
Pagan

i listen their metal music everyday
i owe no one explanations

I will add some to the list:

Dark Tranquility
Amorphis
Be'Lakor
Agalloch
Moonsorrow
Insomnium
Omnium Gatherum
Wintersun
Katatonia
Ensiferum

Rock:
Fields of the Nephilim
Poets of the Fall
Steven Wilson

Metal:
Blut Aus Nord
Devin Townsend
Type O Negative

Bands that are a little of both:
Porcupine Tree
Riverside
Voyager

Devy!

Possibly my favorite Canadian.
He has 2(!) albums coming out next week. Crazy, eh?

Just behind Rush for me! What are your favorite Devy records?

I like Ocean Machine, Ziltoid, and Sky Blue. Transcendence also awesome. That said, I like most of what he does, and own a fair amount of his stuff on vinyl.

Katatonia is one of my favs!
Also:
My Dying Bride
Paradise Lost
Emperor (going to see them live in 2022, can't wait)
Ihsahn
Angra
Almah
André Matos
Shaman
Darkthrone

Let me recommend brazilian Edu Falaschi's new album VERA CRUZ:

The best of 2021 imo.

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"Some people just doesn't understand the dangers of indiscriminate surveillance."

This guy! Arktis is a fantastic record. I frequently listen to it while I am exercising.

I also like all of his records, but my favorites are Infinity, Terria - the first one I listened to - and Epicloud.
I hope you get to see him live if you haven't already because his shows are so much fun. They might as well be part metal show, part stand-up comedy because he has such a zany, self-deprecating sense of humor.

I caught the Ziltoid II tour with Animals as Leaders. I wasn't over the moon for that record, so i wish i had caught him on a different tour, but it was still awesome.

Love that album. "Until I Too Dissolve" is always on my playlist.

This is still an absolute favorite song



God bless Australia

This thread is as good as any, I guess.


In no particular order...


Reclamation Part 1 & 2



If I had to choose, I prefer part 1, but both are stellar. For this progressive black metal band to drop not one but two fantastic full lengths in one year is impressive. This band combines thoughtful music passages with beautiful vocal harmonies with savage black metal vocals peppered through out.







Part 2 is the more aggressive of the pair, and also includes a feature vocal from Borknagar's Lars Nedland.






Phantoma



Canadian power metal project Unleash the Archers unleashed their latest concept record, with the premise this time being centered around Phantoma, a newly awakened sentient AI with an overwhelming desire to become human. Twin guitar leads and absolutely killer vocals from Brittany Slayes are the draw here.






Kinship



Bombastic and complex, with soaring clean vocals and crushing harsh vox, all centered around the guitar wizardry of another duo of fretboard magicians. It's not just flash here, though. Song after song of complex and beautiful metal cascade over your ears for the entire run time. One has to be in the mood for an intense journey, but when the fancy strikes you, this is a spectacular release from Denmark's Iotunn. Check out this 14 minute opus that opens the record!





Air Not Meant for Us



Melodic death metal from...Connecticut? Hey, these guys are pretty much my neighbors! Doomy and rich, with some piano mixed in for good measure. I hadn't heard of these guys before, but this record took me by surprise earlier this year and has stayed with me ever since. Not a perfect record, but a damned fine slab from an up and coming band.




And last, but most certainly not least...


Negative Spaces



Back around Halloween, if you ad asked me who Poppy was, I would have just raised an eyebrow. If you told me she used to do those weird performance art videos on YouTube, in which she played a little Illuminati robot girl, set to David lynch style sound effects and music, I would have vaguely recalled maybe seeing a couple of those videos a decade or so ago. If you then told me she was about to release a record that would not only be in contention for my metal Album of the year, but somehow also be almost a shoo-in for my pop album of the year, I would have laughed in your face.

Also, here we are, and Poppy's Negative Spaces is in pretty much constant rotation wherever I happen to be at any given time during the day. With influences including but not limited to Nine Inch Nails, Bring me the Horizon, Garbage, Avril Levine, Lights, Knocked Loose (!!!), Hole, a film noir jazz interlude and yes, even the Poppy-bot glitching out during another interlude, this is an album that defies categorization. Including a couple of short interludes, this record has 15 tracks on it, and there isn't a weak joint to be found. Poppy slides in an out of disparate genres like a chameleon, crafting everything from face melting extreme metal that is almost completely unhinged, to slick, candy filled bops and everything in between. 90s grunge-rock, spacey dream rock, Core, techy industrial...

The odd thing is that there isn't anything innovative here - that's not the aim of this record. Instead, this album is full of a bunch of fresh but familiar music that is drenched in what-does-this-remind-me of nostalgia, is all expertly crafted and performed, and is wrapped in super slick and punchy production. This is all quite intentional, and now that I have explored some of her previous records, quite different from previous records in her catalog. I heard a single or two back when this first released, bought the album, and then did a proper first listen in a dark room with headphones on. When the last track was ending, I was almost in tears, as the final track is a melancholy closer with a crispy vocal and massive, spacey production. I felt conflicting emotions: I was joyful that I found a record that moved me in so many different ways, while being both hauntingly familiar and constantly surprising at the same time, and I was also wistful that I was only going to have the chance to hear this record for the first time once, and it was about to end.

New music so rarely moves me these days, as I become more jaded and harder to surprise in my middle age. When something like this comes along, I am not going to waste time questioning whether or not the music is worth the emotion - I am just going to go with it.

If I had to choose one of the above titles as my AOTY - a spot I was almost certain with would be taken by Amiensus until Negative Spaces dropped - I would most certainly put Poppy up there and the undisputed and most fun record of the year. Is it overwrought and overproduced? Probably. But man, I just can't stop hitting play...

Aw, no Ulcerate, Sedai?

I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet. I did consider the new Blood Incantation, but didn't get to spend enough time with it to really dig in.

Adding a couple titles to my list as I try to catch up on stuff that I missed, or didn't get enough time with:


Absolute Elsewhere



Killer record. Again, sort of post-genre metal, that sort of throws brutal death metal passages in with Pink Floyd and Tangerine Dream era Kraut rock. Writing that out, it sounds terrible, but these guys make it work, and what a fun record this is. Worth a listen just to see how they blend the genres together.



From Zero



After a seven year layoff due to the tragic death of Chester Bennington, the band that no one thought would ever come back...is back. It certainly raised at least one of my eyebrows when I first heard they were cutting a new record, as to me, Chester has always been a crucial component of the band's sound. Alas, after sitting around for seven years writing new music, Mike Shinoda discovered that no matter how he approached writing, Linkin Park songs were coming out, so he decided something had to be done.

In more recent years, he had been hanging out with his friend Emily Armstrong, and they had jammed a few Linkin Park tunes, and it quickly became clear that not only was her voice a good fit, there was a creative spark, as well. Shinoda figured it was now or never, and he pulled the rest of the band in to talk about getting back to work. After all, none of them were getting any younger. Emily brings a fresh sound to the band, while maintaining the semi-harsh top-of-the-register vocal that is a signature of the band's sound. I think it would have been a mistake to go for a male Chester clone, so this was a wise move for a new vocalist.

For the most part, everyone was on board, save Drummer Rob Bourdin, who just didn't feel right not seeing Chester up front. Totally understandable, and he wishes the band the best going forward.

It seems the gambit has paid off, because after spending a few months with the record, I can say it might just be my favorite LP record of the bunch. Past releases have always had 3-4 tracks that I just didn't care for, even on their most seminal releases. This latest record is their most hard rock centered of their career, with just sprinklings of the rap-metal that used to be a major part of their sound. It's strong collection of well done songs, even if there is really nothing new or innovative here.

An excellent return to form for the band, and from what I can see, the album has been doing really well.


And as @StuSmallz mentioned, this should probably be included in the list:


Cutting the Throat of God



I have a few more listens in, and yes, this is top tier material for 2024. Honestly, I hadn't much cared for this band's previous releases, and they were a bit too far into dissonant/brutal sounds for my taste, but they have shifted gears here in a direction I enjoy. While they still utilize angular, sharp riffs, they have embraced a more melodic approach overall, and it all comes together with layers of spacey and cinematic atmosphere, while still featuring brutal vocals and some punishing drum work.

I doubt I will attempt anything from their back catalog, but if they continue in the direction they are heading with this record, i will make sure to check in on future releases down the road. Clearly a talented bunch of musicians, they have realigned their style in an interesting and creative way.


* Just a quick note: I am digging the sort of retro production on the harsh vox both here and on Blood Incantation that harken back to the glory days of Dan Swano and Edge of Sanity's Crimson II.

If you’re into the heavier stuff like Slipknot and Slayer, check out Lamb of God, Gojira, and Mastodon

Mastodon is my favorite of the bunch there. Gojira has some great records, as well. I never liked Slayer, even when back when they were still putting records out. They don't understand musical keys/theory, and they just sort of make noise. Also: Kerry King is a goon. I have trouble taking Slipknot seriously, but they have some good tunes.

For heavy stuff, I tend to prefer melodic death and black metal, mostly out of Sweden/Finland. I will say that this year, American black metal acts released some great stuff, also. See: Amiensus