Your Personal Top 10 Artists / Bands
Apr 30, 2017 19:17:12 GMT -5
Post by goatwolf on Apr 30, 2017 19:17:12 GMT -5
This a fun thread. Really tough question though. I'm not sure about my very favorite bands, because that changes a lot, but I'll list some of the bands that have been most influential to my taste. I'll go in chronological order I suppose, since I dare not try to come up with a ranking based on preference.
I don't consider my musical background to be tremendously deep; I've spent most of my time messing around with different flavors of metal, and while there are plenty of groups, songs, and albums I love across all sorts of genres, talking about metal is the only place where I don't feel out of my depth.
Iron Maiden - Discovered them around 8th grade. I'd heard the name before, but when I heard the galloping thunder of The Trooper, I knew this band was something special. Not a huge fan of their post-Brave New World output, but hot damn... Piece of Mind, Powerslave, and Somewhere in Time are some of the best albums laid to record. Steve Harris had me listening for the bass guitar for the first time, and realizing just how powerful of a compositional tool a good bassline can be.
Slayer - The first 'extreme' metal I heard was when a friend and I bought a copy of 'South of Heaven' at the tender age of about 13 or so. Although it was almost painfully heavy at the time, that's probably the album that set my down the path to being a full-blown metalhead. Show No Mercy is probably my favorite album of theirs; I love the rawness and the standard tuning, but Slayer will always have a special place for me.
Burzum - I first heard of Burzum because of that particular incident, as I'm sure many have. In early high school, I listened to the song War, and I enjoyed it at the time. In doing so, I heard my first black metal. I tried exploring the genre a bit more, but I didn't really know where to find out more at the time, and what I did find was simply too raw for my tender young ears.
I encountered the prison albums some time later, and in doing so, exposed myself for the first time to what I would come to know as dungeon synth. I really enjoyed the spooky and somber atmosphere, and it kind of reminded me of video game music.
Later on, after I had gotten into black metal, I delved into his pre-prison output, and enjoyed it all. I particularly fell in love with Hvis Lyset Tar Oss, and Filosofem. To this day, if I'm having trouble sleeping, either of those albums is a go-to to entrance me into a slumber. I've listened to the post-prison stuff, but while not bad, it just doesn't have that same spellbinding magic that those earlier albums had.
Skeletonwitch - The band I own the most merch for, and the band I've seen the most live. They've got a fantastic energy, and their live performances are second to none in my book. and I love their particular brand of thrash metal that is so utterly corrupted by the influence of black metal.
Upon first getting into them, I realized I loved the blackened edge their music possessed, and that led me to actively seek out and enjoy black metal.
Taake - After becoming possessed of the notion that I wanted to get into black metal, listening to Doedskvad made really me understand the genre. Riding through a backcountry road at night, listening to the album, the idea of 'atmosphere' really sank in for me. From here on out, I was hooked. Pretty much all their output is excellent.
Immortal - A black metal band that doesn't pollute their music with politics or bigoted ideological bullshit? Sign me up. I love their aesthetic, they have just the right amount of *wink*wink* tongue in cheek hamminess without compromising the integrity of the music by being altogether gimmicky. Their videos are a perfect example of what I mean. Abbath is a great frontman and I'm a huge fan of his vocals. Even though I've never had the opportunity to see Immortal live, i've seen Abbath twice, and he lives up to expectations.
I love the transportative aspect of their lyrics, and the whole idea of the 'frozen realms of Blashyrkh' as a lyrical and thematic working space. I'm sure you dungeon synth afficionados can understand where I'm coming from there, even if the music isn't your cup of tea.
As far as I'm concerned, Immortal has never put out anything close to what I would call a bad album, and At the Heart of Winter is a top-5 album of all time in my book. That album is immensely powerful, and I was able to use it to get my friend who hadn't listened to BM before to become a black metal fan.
Darkthrone - The 'Unholy Trinity' of albums are paragons of the black metal genre. From the stark black and white album covers, to the raw, hypnotic sounds of the music, these albums really signify black metal at its purest to me. Also, who doesn't love Fenriz and Nocturno Culto?
Motörhead - I liked Motorhead before from a casual standpoint, but it was only after I had gotten into black metal that I looked back, to Bathory, to Venom, and all the way back to Lemmy and the gang. My appreciation for Motörhead grew when I realized that chronologically, they're pretty much the grandfather of all extreme metal. Lemmy's iconic gravelly voice would inspire the next generations of bands like Venom, Metallica, and Slayer, as metal got darker and heavier. On top of that, Motörhead's music has withstood the tests of time, and despite a fair bit of genre experimentation, Motörhead hasn't really put out any sub-par albums.
Summoning - They really pushed me towards the direction of dungeon music. The combination of keyboards and black metal, along with the Tolkien-inspired themes opened my mind a lot toward this kind of music. Khazad Dum is one of my very favorite songs.
Wardruna - I lied earlier. I have one non-metal band that I feel deserves special mention, though one that arguably has some roots in the black metal tradition. This music is simply incredible. I've heard nothing like this before, and very few songs like it since. I started with the second album, Yggdrasil before finding my way back to the first album. I find listening to Yggdrassil to be a powerful spiritual experience. It's transportative and it harkens to ancient pagan rituals.
Listening to this album on a camping trip really solidified its place for me, and awakened a spirituality within me, where previously I had no spiritual or religious inclinations. I have been saving the third album, Ragnarok, to be listened to on a similar trip. I want to experience the full impact of hearing it for the first time in the 'right' atmosphere, so I've been actively avoiding listening to it or any of the songs on the album, though I do own my copy already.
Honorable mentions: Bathory, Judas Priest, Sabaton, Amon Amarth, Midnight, Sargeist
I don't consider my musical background to be tremendously deep; I've spent most of my time messing around with different flavors of metal, and while there are plenty of groups, songs, and albums I love across all sorts of genres, talking about metal is the only place where I don't feel out of my depth.
Iron Maiden - Discovered them around 8th grade. I'd heard the name before, but when I heard the galloping thunder of The Trooper, I knew this band was something special. Not a huge fan of their post-Brave New World output, but hot damn... Piece of Mind, Powerslave, and Somewhere in Time are some of the best albums laid to record. Steve Harris had me listening for the bass guitar for the first time, and realizing just how powerful of a compositional tool a good bassline can be.
Slayer - The first 'extreme' metal I heard was when a friend and I bought a copy of 'South of Heaven' at the tender age of about 13 or so. Although it was almost painfully heavy at the time, that's probably the album that set my down the path to being a full-blown metalhead. Show No Mercy is probably my favorite album of theirs; I love the rawness and the standard tuning, but Slayer will always have a special place for me.
Burzum - I first heard of Burzum because of that particular incident, as I'm sure many have. In early high school, I listened to the song War, and I enjoyed it at the time. In doing so, I heard my first black metal. I tried exploring the genre a bit more, but I didn't really know where to find out more at the time, and what I did find was simply too raw for my tender young ears.
I encountered the prison albums some time later, and in doing so, exposed myself for the first time to what I would come to know as dungeon synth. I really enjoyed the spooky and somber atmosphere, and it kind of reminded me of video game music.
Later on, after I had gotten into black metal, I delved into his pre-prison output, and enjoyed it all. I particularly fell in love with Hvis Lyset Tar Oss, and Filosofem. To this day, if I'm having trouble sleeping, either of those albums is a go-to to entrance me into a slumber. I've listened to the post-prison stuff, but while not bad, it just doesn't have that same spellbinding magic that those earlier albums had.
Skeletonwitch - The band I own the most merch for, and the band I've seen the most live. They've got a fantastic energy, and their live performances are second to none in my book. and I love their particular brand of thrash metal that is so utterly corrupted by the influence of black metal.
Upon first getting into them, I realized I loved the blackened edge their music possessed, and that led me to actively seek out and enjoy black metal.
Taake - After becoming possessed of the notion that I wanted to get into black metal, listening to Doedskvad made really me understand the genre. Riding through a backcountry road at night, listening to the album, the idea of 'atmosphere' really sank in for me. From here on out, I was hooked. Pretty much all their output is excellent.
Immortal - A black metal band that doesn't pollute their music with politics or bigoted ideological bullshit? Sign me up. I love their aesthetic, they have just the right amount of *wink*wink* tongue in cheek hamminess without compromising the integrity of the music by being altogether gimmicky. Their videos are a perfect example of what I mean. Abbath is a great frontman and I'm a huge fan of his vocals. Even though I've never had the opportunity to see Immortal live, i've seen Abbath twice, and he lives up to expectations.
I love the transportative aspect of their lyrics, and the whole idea of the 'frozen realms of Blashyrkh' as a lyrical and thematic working space. I'm sure you dungeon synth afficionados can understand where I'm coming from there, even if the music isn't your cup of tea.
As far as I'm concerned, Immortal has never put out anything close to what I would call a bad album, and At the Heart of Winter is a top-5 album of all time in my book. That album is immensely powerful, and I was able to use it to get my friend who hadn't listened to BM before to become a black metal fan.
Darkthrone - The 'Unholy Trinity' of albums are paragons of the black metal genre. From the stark black and white album covers, to the raw, hypnotic sounds of the music, these albums really signify black metal at its purest to me. Also, who doesn't love Fenriz and Nocturno Culto?
Motörhead - I liked Motorhead before from a casual standpoint, but it was only after I had gotten into black metal that I looked back, to Bathory, to Venom, and all the way back to Lemmy and the gang. My appreciation for Motörhead grew when I realized that chronologically, they're pretty much the grandfather of all extreme metal. Lemmy's iconic gravelly voice would inspire the next generations of bands like Venom, Metallica, and Slayer, as metal got darker and heavier. On top of that, Motörhead's music has withstood the tests of time, and despite a fair bit of genre experimentation, Motörhead hasn't really put out any sub-par albums.
Summoning - They really pushed me towards the direction of dungeon music. The combination of keyboards and black metal, along with the Tolkien-inspired themes opened my mind a lot toward this kind of music. Khazad Dum is one of my very favorite songs.
Wardruna - I lied earlier. I have one non-metal band that I feel deserves special mention, though one that arguably has some roots in the black metal tradition. This music is simply incredible. I've heard nothing like this before, and very few songs like it since. I started with the second album, Yggdrasil before finding my way back to the first album. I find listening to Yggdrassil to be a powerful spiritual experience. It's transportative and it harkens to ancient pagan rituals.
Listening to this album on a camping trip really solidified its place for me, and awakened a spirituality within me, where previously I had no spiritual or religious inclinations. I have been saving the third album, Ragnarok, to be listened to on a similar trip. I want to experience the full impact of hearing it for the first time in the 'right' atmosphere, so I've been actively avoiding listening to it or any of the songs on the album, though I do own my copy already.
Honorable mentions: Bathory, Judas Priest, Sabaton, Amon Amarth, Midnight, Sargeist