[Theogenes]

I have to agree with you on Mehshuggah, I love their guitar work, hate the vocals. But the albums always sound very well mastered 

I was just talking to a buddy of mine the other day about how the vocalist is so one-dimensional and manages to add so little to the incredible sounds those guys make... It would be really interesting to see how they sound with a more able vocalist (with a better vocal range).

Personally, I use Protest the Hero to evaluate gear for guitar tone, texture, and the ability to maintain instrument separation during complex passages on a lot of gear, and it works pretty well. Not to mention the fact (=opinion) that they are one of the absolute best and most underrated bands in metal today. (Except the live album, which absolutely sucked). The last three studio albums have just been stupid good....

 

[Makiah S]

I was just talking to a buddy of mine the other day about how the vocalist is so one-dimensional and manages to add so little to the incredible sounds those guys make... It would be really interesting to see how they sound with a more able vocalist (with a better vocal range).

Personally, I use Protest the Hero to evaluate gear for guitar tone, texture, and the ability to maintain instrument separation during complex passages on a lot of gear, and it works pretty well. Not to mention the fact (=opinion) that they are one of the absolute best and most underrated bands in metal today. (Except the live album, which absolutely sucked). The last three studio albums have just been stupid good....

oooh Protest the Hero... I'll have to get some of that now!  I enjoyed it very much 

 

[Theogenes]

oooh Protest the Hero... I'll have to get some of that now!  I enjoyed it very much 

Awesome, man!! Let me know what you think about 'em... I think 'Fortress' is the best album to start with, but they've yet to make a bad studio album IMO. I'd skip the videos at first though, as there are a couple that are pretty emo-looking and awful. Except the one for "Underbite" (here: http://youtu.be/2HjTs-y-ZQo), which is great.

It's amazing how many just incredible bands there are out there... and it seems like we're getting some better recording quality now than we did during the days of Darkthrone and Slaughtercult, which just sounded unspeakably awful recording quality-wise. (I'd be interested to see what the dynamic range on a Slaughtercult album is... It's gotta be less than 1, seriously).

 

[Makiah S]

Awesome, man!! Let me know what you think about 'em... I think 'Fortress' is the best album to start with, but they've yet to make a bad studio album IMO. I'd skip the videos at first though, as there are a couple that are pretty emo-looking and awful. Except the one for "Underbite" (here: http://youtu.be/2HjTs-y-ZQo), which is great.

It's amazing how many just incredible bands there are out there... and it seems like we're getting some better recording quality now than we did during the days of Darkthrone and Slaughtercult, which just sounded unspeakably awful recording quality-wise. (I'd be interested to see what the dynamic range on a Slaughtercult album is... It's gotta be less than 1, seriously).

give me about 10 mins and I'll let you know what I think of Protest the Hero Fortress! 
 
Hmm not bad, I still prefer female vocals with my metal [who want's to hear guys scream? I don't] but I like teh guitar work, another band I wish would... sing less or get a female lead xD 

 

[Theogenes]

  give me about 10 mins and I'll let you know what I think of Protest the Hero Fortress! 
 
Hmm not bad, I still prefer female vocals with my metal [who want's to hear guys scream? I don't] but I like teh guitar work, another band I wish would... sing less or get a female lead xD 

 
In that case, you might like 'Scurrilous' better... Clean vocals the whole way, and their lead singer (Roddy?) can absolutely belt it out when he wants to. There's a mix of clean and death vocals on 'Volition,' but 'Scurrilous' sounds right up your ally in that case. There's a song on there with a female co-vocalist ("Hair Trigger," I think) that's pretty damned amazing. 
 
In general, while there are female metal vocalists I like... I can't really think of one offhand. Most of the ones I like do clean vocals, and the death metal vocals I've heard from females just hasn't really done much for me. Definitely willing to have my mind changed though, if you have a rock-solid suggestion!!

 

[Makiah S]

   
In that case, you might like 'Scurrilous' better... Clean vocals the whole way, and their lead singer (Roddy?) can absolutely belt it out when he wants to. There's a mix of clean and death vocals on 'Volition,' but 'Scurrilous' sounds right up your ally in that case. There's a song on there with a female co-vocalist ("Hair Trigger," I think) that's pretty damned amazing. 
 
In general, while there are female metal vocalists I like... I can't really think of one offhand. Most of the ones I like do clean vocals, and the death metal vocals I've heard from females just hasn't really done much for me. Definitely willing to have my mind changed though, if you have a rock-solid suggestion!!

I'll have to check Scurrilous out, vocal wise I like Epica, but they have a man who DEATH growls in the background from time to time, 
 
yea I like this album a lot more... shame on you lol you cost me .02 >.> 

 

[Karnoffel]

In case it hasn't been posted here already, the unmastered version of Tame Impala's Lonerism. Here's a picture comparing the waveforms of Apocalypse Dreams, IMO the best song off of this album from the CD (Top) and the Unmastered (Bottom). The difference is jarring, no more ear fatique!
 

 

[avas69]

I didn't see anybody mention There be Squabbles Ahead by Stolen Babies.  A refreshing sounding band and awesomely recorded...to me anyway.  Also, the vocalist, having seen them live twice, I could stare at her all day.

 

[MMB1]

This thread has been going on for years so I decided to wrap up things here. I went through the 23 pages to see which bands have been mentioned the most here. I just counted the times that each group has been recommended here, which of course could just mean that some bands are more popular than others, but everybody could judge by themselves. 

Anyway, so the overall winners for the moment are Metallica and Tool. The albums said here to be most audiophile are "The Black Album (Metallica)" and "Master of Puppets" from Metallica's discography and "Lateralus" and "Aenima" for Tool accordingly. The winners are followed closely by Opeth and Dream Theatre (no specific album stands out for these two). After them come Porcupine Tree and Van Halen. After them most of the other bands come up with very close results, but it's worth mentioning Pink Floyd (all albums), Dire Straits (Brothers in Arms), Rage Against The Machine (with their self-titled album), Wintersun and Guns 'n' Roses (Appetite for Destruction).

You are welcome!
 

 

[avas69]

Awesome work there sir!

 

[Theogenes]

  This thread has been going on for years so I decided to wrap up things here. I went through the 23 pages to see which bands have been mentioned the most here. I just counted the times that each group has been recommended here, which of course could just mean that some bands are more popular than others, but everybody could judge by themselves. 

Anyway, so the overall winners for the moment are Metallica and Tool. The albums said here to be most audiophile are "The Black Album (Metallica)" and "Master of Puppets" from Metallica's discography and "Lateralus" and "Aenima" for Tool accordingly. The winners are followed closely by Opeth and Dream Theatre (no specific album stands out for these two). After them come Porcupine Tree and Van Halen. After them most of the other bands come up with very close results, but it's worth mentioning Pink Floyd (all albums), Dire Straits (Brothers in Arms), Rage Against The Machine (with their self-titled album), Wintersun and Guns 'n' Roses (Appetite for Destruction).

You are welcome!
 

 
Very cool man, thank you for taking the time!

 

[NebraskaX24]

  In case it hasn't been posted here already, the unmastered version of Tame Impala's Lonerism. Here's a picture comparing the waveforms of Apocalypse Dreams, IMO the best song off of this album from the CD (Top) and the Unmastered (Bottom). The difference is jarring, no more ear fatique!
 

 
Where did you find the unmastered version? I quite like Tame Impala, but I knew their recordings were awful. 

 

[kar3nkar3n]

the whole discography of Metallica best on both portable and desktop set-up...

 

[cgib]

Big Big Train - English Electric (Parts 1 and 2)
David Maxim Micic - BILO 3.0
Haken - The Mountain
Karnivool - Sound Awake
Intervals - A Voice Within
Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused To Sing
Thank You Scientist - Maps of Non-Existent Places
 
...all sound amazing

 

[Theogenes]

Big Big Train - English Electric (Parts 1 and 2)
David Maxim Micic - BILO 3.0
Haken - The Mountain
Karnivool - Sound Awake
Intervals - A Voice Within
Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused To Sing
Thank You Scientist - Maps of Non-Existent Places

...all sound amazing

A friend set me onto Haken's "Cockroach King" from The Mountain, and holy balls is that ever a killer prog track... Can't get those vocal lines out of my head!!