I listened to all of these on Tidal.
I'm not as experienced with the lo fi metal as I mentioned previously so I really can't say as to how it compares to other bands and albums but as for the few songs I played it sounded thin and hollow but nothing sounded sibilant. The channels appeared to have been squished together and weren't fully wide like you'd find on other tracks so I don't think that's from the headphones. You can hear everything pretty clearly though as far as all of the instruments. Everything has it's own place in the track.
Using the guide over at, "
http://www.head-fi.org/t/715478/headphones-for-metal-music-ultimate-solution":
I'll say that these fit the bill perfect for "Death". The bass is punchy but I do use a bass boost of 6dB @ 50hz with my Jotenheim. It didn't really make a massive difference but the bass drum did kick just a little bit deeper and lingered slightly longer which added to the symphony hall sound that most of the songs on the album had. To my ears it didn't sound dark nor bright.. Then again I have a difficult time hearing dark sound because to me the HD650's were very dark yet people compare the HD650's to the Elear which I don't find dark at all but not as bright as the Grado so idk.
On their newer stuff on the "Prometheus" album the lo fi turns into mid fi. It's still not as high def sounding as some metal sounds. On the song "The Eruption" the squeals (@ 2m14s) stand out like they are supposed to with tons of dynamics. You can hear each individual piece of the drum kit very clearly and has it's own spot in the sound space. Slower picking at around 3:20ish really makes you feel dynamics again. That is one thing that this headphone really stands out on. When a song isolates a certain sound or instrument it really stands out like it's supposed to. Guitars are clearly identifiable as well. Pretty much everything is clear as a whistle in the scope and if you want to take a part of your brain and focus on any specific instrument you can easily do this.
I'm only going to focus on In Flames since I'm much more familiar with their library.
"Cloud Connected" - As I mentioned above everything is clear and detailed although this song sounds slightly veiled once the guitars start up and it gets into the first verse. Then again I get this with almost all headphones with In Flames. The wide surround sounding parts of the chorus stand out from the mix but still sound like they have a veil even though some parts of the guitar sounds clearer.. I'm sure it's just that mix.
Letting Tidal shuffle their Top Tracks, it pops up with "Pinball Map" and this song (on a different album) is clear as a whistle and everything is unveiled. You can hear the drums and cymbals, both guitars in isolated wide mode, vocals in the center and echoed pointing away from the center outward. The bass guitar must be playing the same melody as the guitars because it doesn't stand out much in the track.
Needless to say at the end of all this wall of text hopefully it makes sense that these are very detailed and high clarity cans with lots of potential for metal without being sibilant or harsh. They punch every instrument (although sometimes better than others) without being fatiguing to my ears.
Looking at some of my fav tracks in my own playlist for metal:
'Beyond The Sixth Seal''s album, "The Resurrection of Everything Tough" is kind of my go to album for testing warmth. There is a slight milkiness to the entire sound they have and the guitars are very warm and smooth and if they sound muddy the headphones are too warm and muddy. To my ears they sound just slightly thick but in the right way. My fav tracks are, "My Terrifyinig Ally", "I Die At 35", and "Nothing To Prove".
"High Velocity Impact Spatter" - Cannibal Corpse -- I love newer CC but I'm skimming lightly in some of the crazier metal types. This song is extremely punchy and crazy but the headphones keep up like they aren't even trying to. Every instrument punches extremely hard through the mix but I guess that's the entire point.
"Two Weeks" - All That Remains -- In my personal opinion the intro to this song has the best recorded metal snares I've ever heard. They are THE test to my ears for mid range and the Elear passes the text very well.
"The Void" - Whitechapel -- Man the intro to this song is unsettling at how deep it goes with the drums and doom sound it has.
"Earthrise" - Haken -- I love it when metal bands take a swing at slower and milder stuff. This is a very layered song with lots of hidden detail and instruments. This song is delicious.
And a few other songs I've noticed this.. acoustic guitars sound extremely good on these cans. I guess it's because an acoustic guitar tends to be a percussion instrument by nature so it tends to punch well with these cans. Another thing I've noticed is acoustics in metal sounds amazing as well. It punches through the mix which it would normally get lost. A few examples are, "Her Alone - Amorphis" and "The Grand Conjuration - Opeth".
Hopefully tho those who read all this will find it useful. For those who don't I apologize for the wall of text.
![IMG_20220330_134246213[1].jpg](https://cdn.head-fi.org/a/11732807.jpg)
