Recommend me some quality Metal

Books, comics, TV, music
1242

Yeesh, @Thraeg, what a list(s)! I feel remarkably narrow in my metal preferences. :)

It’s been pretty much all symphonic metal for me lately. I’ve listened to Nightwish for years, but never really looked deeper to what people are getting up to over there in the Nordic countries. But then I discovered Delain (opening at a Nightwish concert) and that led to Amaranthe, We Are the Catalyst, The Murder of My Sweet, and more. It’s pretty much all I’ve listened to for the last few months (aside from the occasional Metallica or KMFDM break). Most of it is older, not new in 2016, but it’s new to me!


Delain - April Rain


Amaranthe - Drop Dead Cynical


We Are the Catalyst - Delusion


The Murder of My Sweet - Unbreakable


Nightwish - Elan

It’s not a coincidence that all those bands have strong female vocal leads, and most of the songs have fairly heavy classical and/or electronica influences. I’ve found my tastes drifting toward the cleaner vocals and more melodic music over the years. Far cry from my Vengeance Rising fanboy days.

1243

I just listened through Jomsviking and was disappointed. So then I listened to Twilight of the Thunder God. It’s not even close! TotTG is like ear candy for me, and Jomsviking was like, “when is this going to get started?”

1244

Heh, this was the first full year I’ve had a music streaming subscription, so I’ve definitely taken advantage of the chance to queue up anything that sounded even somewhat interesting, rather than sticking to stuff I already knew I would like. It’s been a lot of fun, and I’ve found some great stuff I never would have chanced otherwise. Not sure if I’ll keep it up indefinitely or go into some deeper dives now that I have a better idea of what’s out there and what I like. Anyway, that’s some good symphonic metal there.

Let’s wrap this up!

The “See, I don’t like everything” award for critically acclaimed albums that didn’t do anything for me. But maybe you’ll have better luck:

  • Dillinger Escape Plan - Dissociation
  • Cult of Luna and Julie Christmas - Mariner
  • Nails - You Will Never Be One of Us
  • Oathbreaker - Rheia
  • Alcest - Kodama
  • Sumac - What One Becomes
  • Martyrdod - List
  • Hammers of Misfortune - Dead Revolution
  • Mantar - Ode to the Flame
  • Gojira - Magma
  • Obscura - Akroasis
  • Abbath - Abbath
  • Darkthrone - Arctic Thunder

As I alluded to, everything I posted so far is an album that I’ve listened to a couple of times, enjoyed, and would happily put on again. But for a subset of them, I can muster not just positivity, but outright enthusiasm. These are what come to my mind as helping define what a great year 2016 was for metal (despite its myriad other failings). So here they are gathered to round out my top 30:

30. XII Boar - Beyond the Valley of the Triclops
29. Inquisition - Bloodshed Across the Empyrean Altar Beyond the Celestial Zenith
28. Fallujah - Dreamless
27. Dark Tranquility - Atoma
26. Sabaton - The Last Stand
25. Netherbird - Pillars of the Sky
24. Insomnium - Winter’s Gate
23. Dunedain - Pandemonium
22. Trees of Eternity - Hour of the Nightingale
21. Mesarthim - - .- -​.​.​. .​.​. . -. -​.​-​. .
20. SubRosa - For This We Fought The Battle of Ages
19. Astronoid - Air
18. Inter Arma - Paradise Gallows
17. Witherscape - The Northern Sanctuary
16. Sojourner - Empires of Ash
15. Oranssi Pazuzu - Värähtelijä 
14. Wo Fat - Midnight Cometh
13. Haken - Affinity
12. In the Woods… - Pure
11. Vektor - Cygnus Terminal

And finally, my top 10:

#10: Myrath - Legacy

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#9: Khemmis - Hunted

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#8: Hyperion - Seraphical Euphony

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#7: Omnium Gatherum - Grey Heavens

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#6: Anciients - Voice of the Void

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#5: Mithras - On Strange Loops

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#4: Thrawsunblat - Metacthonia

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#3: Chthe’ilist - Le Dernier Crepuscule

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#2: Saor - Guardians

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#1: Dark Forest - Beyond the Veil

It was fun putting this together. Sorry for overdoing the “some” in the thread title, but hopefully at least a small portion of the deluge clicks with everyone who’s looking for new metal to enjoy.

1245

I meant to post these a few days ago for you, but here you go. Some PTH and Periphery to check out:

Protest the Hero (might be a little too much on the hard rock spectrum for you, but amazing technical ability)

Periphery (Band whom is synonymous with ‘djent’)

I love both bands, but will not be offended if you don’t like them. :)

1246

Haven’t checked any of your other links yet, but I am really digging on this one!

1247

Ah I see what you did there, I was wondering why Saor wasn’t in any of your previous lists… ;)

Here are my 10 favourite albums from 2016 in vague numerical order:

  1. Vektor - Terminal Redux
  2. Agatus - The Eternalist
  3. Deathspell Omega - The Synarchy of Molten Bones
  4. Inquisition - Bloodshed Across the Empyrean Altar Beyond the Celestial Zenith
  5. Anaal Nathrakh - The Whole of the Law
  6. Khemmis - Hunted
  7. Blood Incantation – Starspawn
  8. Ulcerate - Shrines of Paralysis
  9. Gorguts - Pleiades’ Dust
  10. Mithras - On Strange Loops
1248

Thanks for the recommendations, @Vesper. Those tracks are at least intriguing enough that I’ll go check out the full albums.

@Giles_Habibula glad to hear that!

@Profanicus: That’s an eminently respectable list there. I need to listen to Agatus and DSO again, but I really liked all the other albums on it.

Since this is a gaming forum, let’s have some fun with…

…Bonus Day: Metal References and Crossovers


Chthe’ilist - Tales of the Majora Mythos, Part 1


Myrath - The Unburnt


Whispered - Boomer Kuwanger


Far Beyond - Unrelenting Force

1249

Where have these guys been all my life?
Based on my past purchases (I guess?), Amazon recommended this album to me, free streaming on Prime, so I bit. And this is some really good shit right here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1cdW-ba8Yw

1250

Definitely digging that, @Giles_Habibula! It’s a little “stonier” than what I normally go for, but the overt Britishness of it is really tickling something in my brain in a nice way :)

1251

All of their albums are good. I keep thinking I’ll burn out on their music but it hasn’t happened yet. I’d love to see them live.

1252

Missed this last year but rectifying now. It’s awesome!

Reminiscent of old favourite Windir, before Valfar’s unfortunate passing.

1253

As usual, January is a chance to sift through other peoples’ top lists for all the stuff I missed (hence why I put my own list together before starting). So here’s…

Addendum #1: The Best Stuff From 2016 That I Missed the First Time Around.

First, hat tips to @Zephyr, @Profanicus, and @ArmandoPenblade for the mentions of Fates Warning, Agatus, and Mega Colossus, all of which I’ve listened to several times in the past couple of weeks and really like.


Borknagar - Winter Thrice

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King Goat - Conduit

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Far Beyond - A Frozen Flame of Ice

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Vredehammer - Violator

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Old Graves - Long Shadows

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Evergrey - The Storm Within

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Enbound - The Blackened Heart

1254

Man I love you tabbed Evergrey. If I ever get the chance to write my metal of 2016 list, Evergrey will certainly be on it.

1255

My whole year is pretty much sifting through people’s top lists from the previous year. ;)

I’ve been listening to King Goat as well this week, great doom album!

1256

God the King Goat is outstanding. This was the number of views for me too

6,666 views

it’s a sign ;)

1257

Evergrey seems to have fallen off my radar as well. I really enjoyed their early albums and this song with Floor was pretty good. I haven’t kept up with Nightwish since she joined, but liked her work with Arjen Lucassen.

Three weeks until 70k Tons of Metal and starting to get excited. Seeing Amorphis, Jeff Loomis with Arch Enemy and maybe cornering Alex Skolnick in a bar are going to be my priorities aside from enjoying a real vacation.

1258

You lucky SOB! You’re actually going on 70K Tons of Metal??? AHHHHHHH LET ME BE YOU

1259

Benefits of turning 40 this year and wanting to do something fun. Going to have to step it up next year for SO’s 40th.

1260

Shit yeah! I just saw a movie and had sushi for my 30th, so it sounds like I’ve got a decade to save up enough to do better! :-D

1261

Had a great time at a concert last night here in Milwaukee. Bands were '68, In Hearts Wake, Protest the Hero (my main reason for going) and August Burns Red.

I had never heard '68 before - a talented (especially the drummer) 2 man punk rock duo. The guitarist/vocalist used a loop pedal to flesh out the sound. Impressed with musicianship but didn’t like the vocals.

In Hearts Wake I like a lot. A metal core band out of Australia that does the dual harsh/clean vocal things. I think they have a lot of potential. I’m going to give them some listens on Spotify.

Protest the Hero was amazing, and lead guitarist Luke Hoskin was unreal to watch. The way his fingers just move around the fretboard amazes me. The technical difficulty means they don’t move around much but I am super impressed with their ability to play this stuff live:

August Burns Red put on a good show, playing the entirety of their “Messengers” album. They aren’t my favorite band but it was a good time. Here’s another clip:

Overall a fun show. I’m always going to get balcony seats from now on. I love sitting and enjoying music and avoiding the mass of people on the main floor. Part of being a 41 year old metalhead. 😊