[Nacher]

Captainzoli : It's also important to find out what styles of dark metal are your cup of tea. The field of dark metal is almost as diverse as everything falling under term "electronic music" in example. Ie. most 90s black metal albums are very, very raw in production and simple, and for someone searching for melodic or symphonic sound, those may be a total overkill. Then again, if you're looking for the coldest and the most evil atmosphere metal can musically represent, the melodic, symphonic acts with good production just won't do the trick. Darkangel's list is a great starting point. Just remember to try out a lot of different bands to find out what suits you best.


Enverxis : Elend - The Umbersum is impossible to find. It's been out of print for several years, and now as Sony BMG owns the remains of Music for Nations, it's most likely never going to be released again. I even checked this from Prophecy Prods, and they said that Elend has no chance to release Umbersum, as Sony BMG owns the rights and has no interest to do a new print of it. Shape of Despair - Angels of Distress is a bit hard to find, but it's still available. In example, finnish metal netstore (www.firebox.fi) has one copy @ 12.50e. They do ship outside Finland as well, but I don't know how much it will cost extra. You might want to mail and ask them. Imo the album would be worth it, as it's the best melodic/funeral doom metal album ever created. It's like romantic era classical music gone dark metal.

Btw, is it only me who thinks that Sony BMG is the antichrist of music, which eventually will destroy the whole essence of music? Man I hate that label...

 

[Enverxis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by eyeteeth Who else has a list?

I do to some extent, these are releases I recommend, grouped but no real order though, handpicked out of my ~200 Dark Metal CDs + current wishlist

Doom Metal
---
Disembowelment - Transcendance into the Peripheral
Draconian - Arcane Rain Fell
Elegeion - The Last Moment
The 3rd and the Mortal - Tears Laid in Earth
Virgin Black - Sombre Romantic, Elegant and Dying
Shape of Despair - Angel of Distress, Illusion's Play

Prog/Avant Dark Metal
---
Maudlin of the Well - Bath, Leaving Your Body Map
Opeth - Morningrise, MAYH, Still Life
Atrox - Contentum, Terrestrials, Orgasm
Madder Mortem - Deadlands, Desiderata
Ram-Zet - Escape, Intra
Naamah - Resensement
Moonlight - Inermis, Floe, Candra, Yaishi

Gothic Metal
---
The Gathering - Mandylion, Nighttime Birds, How to Measure a Planet?
Tristania - Widows Weeds, Beyond the Veil, World of Glass
Theatre of Tragedy - Velvet Darkness they Fear, Aegis
Trail of Tears - A New Dimension of Might
Flowing Tears - Jade
Artrosis - W Imie Nocy, Posrod Kwiatow I Cieni

Death Metal
---
Augury - Concealed
Dylath-Leen - Insecure
Distorted - Memorial

Dark Music
---
Elend - Winds Devouring Men, Sunwar the Dead
Dark Sanctuary - L'etre las l'enfers du miroir, Les Memoires Blessees
Autumn Tears - Eclipse
Dargaard - The Dissolution of Eternity, Rise and Fall
Dead Can Dance - Spleen and Ideal, Serpent's Egg, Aion, Realm of Dying Sun

Folk Metal
---
Lumsk - Troll

Black Metal
---
Opera IX - Call of the Wood, Sacro Culto, The Black Opera

Symphonic Metal
---
Therion - Theli, Vovin, Deggial, Secret of the Runes, Lemuria
After Forever - Decipher
Epica - The Phantom Agony

I'm still exploring myself, as you can see Black Metal isn't really an area i'm into although I know quite a bit about it having read all of the 5 Darkest Desires threads, Haven't really seen many Death Metal fanatics in this thread before either besides the usual Nile, Deicide etc etc

A fairly varied list, there's alot of mellow stuff as well as some rather extreme and heavy music, give or take really.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nacher Enverxis : Elend - The Umbersum is impossible to find. It's been out of print for several years, and now as Sony BMG owns the remains of Music for Nations, it's most likely never going to be released again. I even checked this from Prophecy Prods, and they said that Elend has no chance to release Umbersum, as Sony BMG owns the rights and has no interest to do a new print of it. Shape of Despair - Angels of Distress is a bit hard to find, but it's still available. In example, finnish metal netstore (www.firebox.fi) has one copy @ 12.50e. They do ship outside Finland as well, but I don't know how much it will cost extra. You might want to mail and ask them. Imo the album would be worth it, as it's the best melodic/funeral doom metal album ever created. It's like romantic era classical music gone dark metal. Btw, is it only me who thinks that Sony BMG is the antichrist of music, which eventually will destroy the whole essence of music? Man I hate that label...

Yeah I saw it there, there's a place on ebay that has it for ~$20 USD shipped so that looks to be the best option, i'll leave it as a last resort. And yeah screw Sony BMG, although they're not the only ones are they.
I will get a copy of The Umbersun, eventually

 

[ShaftedTwice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by eyeteeth Of the various metal genres it seems I like 'Black Metal' (proper) more than the others here. This is a good overview essay to get a handle on what 'Black Metal' is. Many bands mix genres and influences and aren't clear cut in where they belong. I've edited out the historical and political parts of the essay as personally I don't find them important and it may cross the line here at headfi. Go to the link if need be. Suffice to say you needn't be a fine person to be a fine musician. [size=x-large]Black Metal: A Brief Guide[/size]

Ooh, thanks a lot for that, helps me to get started a lot!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enverxis The easiest way would be to tell us what you listen to already (metal or not), and then from there we can sort of draw you in by recommending metal with x influences that you already are familar with etc.

I'll list as many as I can so it will be easier, but try to stick with categories as well, it's a lot easier on me..

Thrash/Speed
Metallica
Megadeth
Testament
Motorhead
Judas Priest
Iced Earth
Metal Church
Pantera
Black Sabbath
Blind Guardian
Children of Bodom
Dragonforce
Helloween
Rhapsody
Stratovarius

Death Metal
Children of Bodom
Dark Tranquility
Kalmah

Power Metal (favorite)
Angra
Blind Guardian
Dark Moor
Dio
Dragonforce
Helloween
Kamelot
Nightwish
Power Quest
Rhapsody
Sonata Arctica
Stratovarius

Progressive Metal (also favorite)
Adagio
Black Mages
Blind Guardian
Circus Maximus
Dream Theater
Evergrey
Fate's Warning
Liquid Tension Experiment
Pain of Salvation
Symphony X
Vanden Plas

...and so many heavy metal bands its hard to list..

 

[DarkAngel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nacher Captainzoli : Enverxis : Elend - The Umbersum is impossible to find. It's been out of print for several years, and now as Sony BMG owns the remains of Music for Nations, it's most likely never going to be released again. I even checked this from Prophecy Prods, and they said that Elend has no chance to release Umbersum, as Sony BMG owns the rights and has no interest to do a new print of it. Shape of Despair - Angels of Distress is a bit hard to find, but it's still available. In example, finnish metal netstore (www.firebox.fi) has one copy @ 12.50e.

I never could really get into Elend...........pretty Avante Guard stuff for the average person compared to more basic universal progressive dark music like Virgin Black or new Enslaved material. I am pretty sure I had Umbersun CD at one point but can't remember if I kept it or sold it......not much play time.

Hails to Sx2!
More fresh blood to keep the dark flames burning.........

 

[Enverxis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkAngel I never could really get into Elend...........pretty Avante Guard stuff for the average person compared to more basic universal progressive dark music like Virgin Black or new Enslaved material. I am pretty sure I had Umbersun CD at one point but can't remember if I kept it or sold it......not much play time. Hails to Sx2! More fresh blood to keep the dark flames burning.........

If you've still got it I'll buy it off you.

 

[Enverxis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShaftedTwice I'll list as many as I can so it will be easier, but try to stick with categories as well, it's a lot easier on me..

Well from that list you should be able to handle anything we throw at you (although you might fine Doom Metal too slow), just for a bit of clarification Kalmah and Children of Bodom are Power Metal bands with Harsh Vocals, but if you like those and Dark Tranquility, then I suggest head right for In Flames which is another "Gothenburg Melodic Death Metal" band (blends Power with death vocals, drumming)

To see if you like black metal i'd probably have a look at Emperor if you like them then you'll be right with the rest of the stuff.

Interesting in your Thrash/Speed list you don't have Nevermore, not my cup of tea but a band you may like

And yes the Power/Progressive Metal, well that leaves some room for alot of the stuff I listen to despite sonic differences, will get onto that in a bit

Traditional Doom Metal has a bit in common with some heavy metal, in that case I recommend, if you already don't have them, trying the earlier Black Sabbath albums, and perhaps some Candlemass, Reverend Bizzare and perhaps Electric Wizard (which is more Traditional/Stoner Doom).

Power Metal wise, we do talk about some Power Metal in here a bit, if you like Nightwish, I recommend grabbing anything you can find by After Forever as they have the best female operatic singer in Metal in Floor Jansen and some great guitar work, earliest releases are less Power Metal and more Symphonic Gothic Metal similar to the first Nightwish album but of much better quality, they also have a male "grunter" vocalist, Decipher and Remagine are probably the best albums to get from them, as it gives you an idea of both sounds, Decipher is the better album but Remagine does really rock.

A must have for the female-vocal metal stuff is The Gathering - Mandylion, this is the key Female Vocal Dark Metal album, has the best female vocals i've ever heard in metal and is a very solid CD, atmospheric but heavy too.

Good to see that you've got alot of the male vocal Progressive Metal bands in there, I can't really stand those "higher octave" vocals of James LaBrie and the like myself, so I stick to the Avantegarde Metal/Darker Progressive Metal stuff.

Must have that most people will recommend checking out is Opeth a band that i've only recently gotten into, but some very worthwhile releases, latest album Ghost Reveries is probably most newbie-friendly and has alot of the atypical Prog Rock elements mixed with their heavy style, but their real masterpieces are the first four albums, IMO.

My favourite albums ever (so far) are Maudlin of the Well - Bath and Leaving Your Body Map, which you can buy for only $8 each, free shipping from Dark Symphonies, they blend prog death/sludge-doom/jazz/atmospheric rock and some very nice acoustic guitar work into some thing that they called "Astral Metal", not the most technical release ever, but the band itself was conceptually amazing.

Other of these style bands that will have you going "wow, I never knew metal like this existed" would be Virgin Black, Atrox, Madder Mortem and Ram-Zet who cover various extremes of Avantegarde styled Metal and sound not even remotely close to eachother.

You should also give a CD I recently picked up a shot, I think I got it for about $13 USD from Galy Records, Canada, called Augury - Concealed which blends Brutal Death Metal with progressive metal and if you enjoy that I'd say you'd be right to check out stuff like Nile, Deicide etc

Therion is another band that you should get a kick out of as well, best work probably lies in Theli and Lemuria, Vovin, Secret of the Runes and Deggial are also very good, and that reminds me i've got to order their Live DVD (4 DVD, 2 CD) Boxed Set.

That should get you started anyhow, that way you've covered alot of ground and can sort of work out what styles you like best (the more the merrier) and should have a fun and perhaps challenging time

 

[Nacher]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enverxis Well from that list you should be able to handle anything we throw at you (although you might fine Doom Metal too slow), just for a bit of clarification Kalmah and Children of Bodom are Power Metal bands with Harsh Vocals.

No they aren't. They are melodic death metal (or simply melodeath), though arguing about genres is as useless as it gets

. There are tons of finnish/swedish bands sharing that sound, and they are almost always categorized as melodeath in Finland.

 

[Enverxis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nacher No they aren't. They are melodic death metal (or simply melodeath), though arguing about genres is as useless as it gets . There are tons of finnish/swedish bands sharing that sound, and they are almost always categorized as melodeath in Finland.

I actually meant to delete that in place of the next line, but I can definantly hear the "Cheese" in those bands

 

[Nacher]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enverxis Well from that list you should be able to handle anything we throw at you (although you might fine Doom Metal too slow), just for a bit of clarification Kalmah and Children of Bodom are Power Metal bands with Harsh Vocals.

No they aren't. They are melodic death metal (or simply melodeath), though arguing about genres is as useless as it gets

. There are tons of finnish/swedish bands sharing that sound, and they are almost always categorized as melodeath in Finland.

It's kind of strange that Sentenced never gets mentioned in those "starter kits". At least in Finland Sentenced, Stratovarius, Amorphis and Nightwish were mostly responsible for getting tons of people into listening metal. For me, Sentenced - Down is a real classic. It sounds quite different from any modern dark metal acts. I even have seen the band classified as goth metal, which is as wrong as calling Rage Against the Machine nu-metal. Both created their our sound way before the aftermentioned genres even existed as we know them. The albums to get from Sentenced are Down and Frozen. Earlier are closer to oldschool death metal and new ones are somewhat medicore.

Check out the "Noose" video at http://www.sentenced.org/v3/download...nced_noose.avi

 

[Enverxis]

double post? or did you repeat that to show how serious you were

I havent actually checked out Sentenced, might do that after I get some sleep.

 

[Nacher]

What. This edit function is really whacked. Sorry

 

[diogenes]

Quote:

Originally Posted by eyeteeth Found & ordered a Weltanschauung Cd. Weltanschauung... is probably used to voice a loathsome view of racial superiority or some other stupidity. I'm sure that if the lyrics were decipherable by ear I would not be able to put aside the content and play this music. Hypocritical?

Well, you might be able to make out some of the lyrics if you purchased the English version and assuming that in the other case you are not fluent with the other language it was recorded in.

That said and having the other disks you mentioned by NM, Lunar Poetry is the best (IMHO), i.e., less formulaic than Weltanschauung and more varied than the other disks.

 

[eyeteeth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShaftedTwice Ooh, thanks a lot for that, helps me to get started a lot!

I wouldn't want to see you ShaftedThrice!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nacher "starter kits"

Heh, I like that starter kit.


My list would be pared down to the bare basics with one choice of a band that represents the general style. Bathory's 'Under the Sign of the Black Mark' (1986) the third and last of the evolutionary series that would be black metal, before Bathory shifted to viking on the fourth album. 1991, Burzum but which of the first four albums which were not recorded in chronological order but had songs gathered and divided up later to make four albums? 1991's A Blaze in the Northern Sky by Darkthrone would be the first of three but again which of the three would I choose? I'm going to have to listen to these seven albums and decide for myself. 1994 has Mayhem's De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas which is always cited. I think it's a little overrated actually because the praise is so very high. But still it is representative and good. Very iconoclastic, a real refusal to conform. 1994 also has Emperor's In the Nightside Eclipse which isn't purely Black Metal but is close enough and is my favorite vocal performance in classic era post 80's metal. I'm still thrilled by the vocal timing of Into The Infinity Of Thoughts during:
Under the Moon, under the trees.
Into the Infinity of Darkness,
beyond the light of a new day,
into the frozen nature chilly,
beyond the warmth of the dying Sun.
Hear the whispering of the wind,
the Shadows calling...

Maybe I'm nuts!

I alway consider Tristania's Beyond The Veil as a perfect example of how what was raw, violent, monochrome, dissonant gets transformed and elevated into a much more sophisticated sound. I don't know who started it (My Dying Bride with violin?) but fearsome vocals can mix with opera singers and work well. Usually refered to as a 'Beauty & the Beast' style because of the contrast between the male and female vocals but I think it's more of a highly sexualized contrast with the male vocal being uber-masculine. Strangely enough I'm in the midst of watching a bunch of Akira Kurosawa films and when those super macho samurai bark dialogue at eachother in Japanese it does sound rather similar.

Quote:

Originally Posted by diogenes Well, you might be able to make out some of the lyrics if you purchased the English version and assuming that in the other case you are not some fluent with the other language it was recorded in. That said and having the other disks you mentioned by NM, Lunar Poetry is the best (IMHO),, i.e., less formulaic that Weltanschauung and more varied than the other disks.

I don't know if it's the english or not. That Goat Horns is a let down has me fully prepared for a downward spiral of unworth in their discography but that's OK, I need to hear for myself. Yeah, Lunar Poetry really has some very superb melodies.

 

[DarkAngel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enverxis If you've still got it I'll buy it off you.

Looking at my Elend CDs, only have two now both digipaks:
-wind devouring men
-weeping night

I did have more at one time as Nacher was continuosly promoting them here for many years, sold my original purchases then got caught up in buying later Cds.......I would let you have Umbersun if I still had it

 

[DarkAngel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by diogenes That said and having the other disks you mentioned by NM, Lunar Poetry is the best (IMHO),, i.e., less formulaic that Weltanschauung and more varied than the other disks.

Yes Nokturnal Mortem another group very high on top 50 list, represents the "slavic" pagan metal surge that came out of the motherland after eastern europe opened up and east/west gremany united etc

I agree that LUNAR POETRY is the masterwork, also recently similar sounding early work has been released in albums like:
-twilightfall

My NM collection is pretty complete:
Nokturnal Mortem-Mirovozzrenie
Nokturnal Mortem-Twilightfall
Nokturnal Mortem-Return of Vampire Lord
Nokturnal Mortem-Taste of Victory
Nokturnal Mortem-Nechrist
Nokturnal Mortem- Blasphemous Fire
Nokturnal Mortem-Lunar Poetry
Nokturnal Mortem-Goat Horns