Good metal?

[twilight]

Hey guys.

I've been trying to expand my musical horizons and now it's got to the point where the only genre I haven't really touched on is metal.

And suggestions for good metal bands or songs I should look into?

I'm mainly looking for bands who's songs actually have a melody underneath all the noise.

Any help would be much appreciated.

-Twi

[P-Man]

Avoid most of the modern American metal bands. They just rip off the Swedish sound of the mid 90s, and they don't do it very well. A good rule of thumb is if their debut album was after 1995 and they have thier shirt on sale at Hot Topic than they suck.

Iron Maiden is a good place to start for "classic" metal, although many people can't tolerate the vocal style that Dickenson and others made popular at the time. Then again, some people love it. I'd suggest Piece of Mind as a good album to purchase.

Morbid Angel is an interesting American death metal band. A majority of their songs fall into the "play really fast and chaotic" category, but then they'll surprise you with an orginal and interesting composition. I'm a huge fan of the album Domination, but if you're going to check out individual songs instead of full albums I suggest "God of Emptiness" or "Blessed are the Sick" from their earlier albums.

In Flames are my favorite of the mid 90s "melodic death metal" bands. Whoracle is a fantastic album, and Jester Race is pretty good too. If you want to hear something kind of different, I'd suggest buying the album "Soundtrack to Your Espace". I can best describe it as pop-death metal.

There you go. That's three suggestions. I'm sure someone else will chime in with more.

[TinMan]

Here are some of my favorite bands that have a fair amount of melody to their music:

Early Metallica (Ride the Lightning thru the S/T)
Killswitch Engage
Lacuna Coil
Trivium

Other than that, I don't focus overly on "melody over the noise", well, cause I don't view it as noise. I will back In Flames though, those dudes are badass, but I have to say that about 90% of Death and Black metal suck ass. Not musically, but vocally.

[JeffreyWKramer]

You may appreciate Blue Oyster Cult (not gonna try to figure how to do the umlaats and such), or Metallica through the Black Album. I'd also recommend Def Leppard's second album, HIGH AND DRY. At that point in their careers, they looked ready to become the next big thing in metal. Instead they became a disappointing power-pop band.

[zombie]

My favourite metal albums of 2006: Katatonia's (http://www.myspace.com/katatonia) The Great Cold Distance and Gojira's (http://www.myspace.com/gojira) From Mars To Sirius. Check out both of those for some good metal.

[twilight]

Avoid most of the modern American metal bands. They just rip off the Swedish sound of the mid 90s, and they don't do it very well. A good rule of thumb is if their debut album was after 1995 and they have thier shirt on sale at Hot Topic than they suck.

Thought as much.
A lot of bands seem to fall into the "let's name ourselves after a random phrase from the bible and then play as loud and fast as we can" category.

[DonC]

Melodic metal I dig:

Iron Maiden (the gods of melodic metal)
Queensrÿche
Savatage (if you've heard Trans-Siberian Orchestra, these are a lot of the same dudes)
Iced Earth
Helloween
Stryper (if you can handle their message)

[twilight]

Stryper (if you can handle their message)

What's the message?

[Crimson Avenger]

What's the message?

Christian.

[twilight]

Christian.

Ah.
Well as long as it's not being forced down my throat I don't mind.

[Jonathan Bogart]

For a metal beginner, especially if you're already familiar with a wide variety of music, I'd start with the originals: Black Sabbath, who were as groundbreaking a musical act as has ever existed. I've been listening to their original brilliant five-album run, and I generally never feel the need to listen to anything more uptempo.

But to get into the beginnings of speed metal, Judas Priest is as good a place as any, with their high-octane update of motorcycle-rock (a la Steppenwolf, Hawkwind, Motorhead). And of course early Metallica is absolutely essential.

[Adam Crocker]

I never thought I'd see you doling out reccommendations in a heavy metal thread.

[Jonathan Bogart]

I never thought I'd see you doling out reccommendations in a heavy metal thread.
Yeah, well, that tapped me out.

[bert]

Classic Metal Albums you can't go wrong with, that really meet your criteria of "melodic" :

Helloween "Keeper of the 7 Keys Part I" http://www.google.com/musicl?lid=1DxcetJrFOO&aid=AYrcea986dE

Dokken "Under Lock and Key" (with "Hunter" "In My Dreams" "It's not Love" http://www.google.com/musicl?lid=E33Ecfut7CJ&aid=-QQnN3FHWZG
(although you could just go w/ any single album, or the greatest hits. . Dokken was known for thier melodies)

Judas Priest "Screaming for Vengeance" (w/ "Electric Eye" and "You've got antother thing Comin") http://www.google.com/musicl?lid=Pq0Dx4voAYO&aid=R4gbI0hoOWK
or 'Turbo" (w/ "Private Property", "Turbo Lover" and "Parental Guidance"
http://www.google.com/musicl?lid=QkSuWEoSHmI&aid=R4gbI0hoOWK

Britny Fox "Britny Fox" -- the first album (with the classics "Girlschool" and "Long Way to Love" http://www.wcafe.com/britny/

Circus of Power "Circus of Power" (a little heavier, but still great) http://www.google.com/musicl?lid=HX17IcDRHOL&aid=k-2S6AHOX5C

KISS "Destroyer" -- easily their best, and most melodic album. huge hits on this one too ("Detroit Rock City" "Beth" "God of Thunder" "Shout it out Loud") http://www.google.com/musicl?lid=4eLq_2M13pE&aid=JtALVO_AMgJ

oh yeah. . and Metallica "Master of Puppets". . . amazing, amazing album.

[howyadoin]

Lots of good stuff recommended already. My additions, then:

Monster Magnet
Drain Sth
Type O Negative
Fu Manchu
Nashville Pussy
Pantera
Faith No More
White Zombie
Slayer (the new one is particularly good)
Corrosion of Conformity
Eagles of Death Metal
Queens of the Stone Age
Probot

[kmeyers]

Lots of good stuff recommended already. My additions, then:

Monster Magnet
Drain Sth
Type O Negative
Fu Manchu
Nashville Pussy
Pantera
Faith No More
White Zombie
Slayer (the new one is particularly good)
Corrosion of Conformity
Eagles of Death Metal
Queens of the Stone Age
Probot
Dear God, yes! PANTERA is fucking insane. Best ever. Dimebag Darryl was ridiculously good. Their best albums were Cowboys From Hell, Vulgar Display of Power, and Far Beyond Driven.

White Zombie and Corrosion of Conformity I totally agree with you as well.

I don't really see Faith No More as Metal though.(or Stryper, and BOC, either)
others:

Metallica
Megadeth
Slayer
Motorhead
Black Sabbath
Iron Maiden
Judas Priest

[twilight]

Queens of the Stone Age

I've got Songs For The Deaf but I never really thought of it as metal.

[Eliot Johnson]

these aren't so much melodic (new Mastodon CD ain't bad along those lines), but they're pretty much the best metal you can get:

Converge (these guys do have some melody)
Ed Gein
Sunn o)))

[Phrozen]

I happen to like Blind Guardian (A Night at the Opera & A twist in the Myth), Iron Maiden (Powerslave, A Matter of Life & Death, Piece of Mind) and Dream Theater (All of the albums)

[Wild Card]

Accept
Anthrax
Krokus
Rail
Queensryche (Empire is their best album)
Girlschool
Rock Goddess
Helix
Y&T
Quiet Riot
Deep Purple
Armored Saint
Megadeth
Metallica (Master of Puppets is their greatest album)
AC/DC
Dirty Looks (they sound a lot like AC/DC)
Dio
Warlock (Their lead singer Doro Pesch also done some solo work)
Kick Axe
W.A.S.P

As for the more "pop/Hair Band/lighter side" of Metal you might want to try:
Ratt
Van Halen (DLR Era)
Dokken
Kiss
Motley Crue
Rainbow
L.A. Guns
Faster Pussycat
Ted Nugent
White Snake
Great White
Led Zeplin
Aerosmith (mostly their 70's and some early 80's stuff)
Tesla

If you don't mind "Christan Metal" you might want to try:
Barren Cross
Bloodgood
Eternal Decision
Spoken

And for something different you might want to try these Japanese groups:
Animetal (They turn old school Anime themes into metal songs)
X Japan
Dir en grey

[P-Man]

I didn't mention Sabbath because they go beyond metal and are required listening for rock music in general. However, in case you aren't familiar with the awesomeness that is Black Sabbath, you should check them out. I think Master of Reality and Paranoid are the best Ozzy albums, and either album from the Dio era is a good choice.

I'm going to join in on suggesting Pantera as well. "Floods" from the album The Great Southern Trendkill is a song that's often overlooked, but man is it awesome.

[twilight]

Haven't been near the computer much today but I just had a listen to some Killswitch Engage and I thought it was pretty good.

Some other stuff I listened to today,recomended by real life friends:

Sky Eats Airplane
Bullet For My Valentine
Yob

I've also been hearing good things about Isis and Opeth.
Anybody got oppinions about those two?

[Fish Sauce]

No matter how good the melody is, I can't seem to get past the singing if it happens to be the yelling sort of thing.

With that in mind, bands I like include Metallica, Iron Maiden and Dragonforce.

Number of the Beast is a great album, in my opinion.

[zombie]

I've also been hearing good things about Isis and Opeth.
Anybody got oppinions about those two?

Both are fantastic. I haven't listened to Opeth in a while, but every Isis album from Oceanic on has been some excellent stuff. Good live band too. I've heard them described as post-metal, because they have a real droney way of playing long, atmospheric songs.

[zombie]

Converge (these guys do have some melody)

In a similar vein, Botch, Dillinger Escape Plan, and Between The Buried And Me are just as good, if not better. Especially BTBAM if you want some Queen-influenced technical metal.

[twilight]

Especially BTBAM if you want some Queen-influenced technical metal.

That sounds like something I'd want to listen to.

[twilight]

That sounds like something I'd want to listen to.

Listening to Selkies:The Endless Obsession right now.
It's got some great guitar work.

[Gargus]

Ok I have listening to metal for all of 30 years, I grew up on it. But I also grew up on classic rock, soul songs of the 70's, patsy cline, bb king, jazz, james brown and alot more. So I like alot and think it gives me a good appreciation of music. I just dont like rap or new country.

Ill give you a wide range of metal so if you dont like the first two dont think all the rest will be the same thing. I always like to introduce people to metal thats not well known or played on the radio. Some of this isnt true metal but it falls into the catagorie of it, just wanted to give you a big spectrum to play with.

If you want more suggestions from a certain one send me a pm on here.

Children of bodom - Kissing the shadows
Children of bodom - Hate me

Danzig - Do you wear the mark
Danzig - Snakes of christ

Demons and wizards - Beneath these waves
Demons and wizards - Terror train

Exodus - Scar spangled banner
Exodus - Impact is immenent

Fear factory - Slave labor

Gwar - Sadam a gogo
Gwar - Gor gor

Iron maiden - Can I play with madness
Iron maiden - Hallowed be thy name

Kittie - Into the darkness
Kittie - Brackish

Megadeth - Die dead enough
Megadeth - Hangar 18

Motorhead - Killers

Otep - Battle ready
Otep - Blood pig

Overkill - Nice day for a funeral
Overkill - Birth of tension

Pantera - Revolution if my name
Pantera - Heresy

Perfect circle - Passive
Perfect circle - Hollow

Queensryche - Breaking the silence
Queensryche - I dont believe in love

Ramones - The kkk took my baby away
Ramones - I wanna be sedated

Rob zombie - Dr wolfenstein
Rob zombie - Girl on fire

Sacred reich - Free
Sacred reich - One nation

Scatterbrain - Dont call me dude
Scatterbrain - Im with stupid

Scorpions - Hit between the eyes
Scorpions - Love or leave em

Sepultura - Refuse resist
Sepultura - The hunt

Sex pistols - God save the queen
Sex pistols - Holiday in the sun

Slayer - Seasons in the abyss
Slayer - Spill the blood

Slipknot - Duality

Soundgarden - Burden in my hand

Staind - A flat

Static x - Destroy all

Stone temple pilots - Interstate love song
Stone temple pilots - Big empty

Suicidal tendencies - War inside my head
Suicidal tendencies - Send me your money

System of a down - Violent pornography

Testament - Souls of black

Tool - Sober
Tool - Stink fist
Tool - Rosetta stoned

Wrathchild america - Day of thunder
Wrathchild america - No deposit no return

[Phrozen]

As for songs:

Blind Guardian- The Edge, Another Stranger Me, The Bard's Song, Mordred's Song, Mirror Mirror, Born in a Mourning Hall, The Punishment Divine, Majesty

Iced Earth- The Hunter, Waterloo, Vengence is Mine, Written on the Walls, Wolf, Dracula, Travel in Stygian, Desert Rain, Melancholy

Demons & Wizards- Terror Train, Gallows Pole, Blood on My Hands, Fiddler on the Green

Megadeth- Hangar 18, Tornado of Souls, Angry Again, Trust

Iron Maiden- Prowler, Aces High, Hallowed Be Thy Name, Rainmaker, Wildest Dreams, The Prisoner, Flash of the Blade, Transylvania, Phantom of the Opera, Run to the Hills, Big Orra (Losfer Words)

Motorhead- Ace of Spades, Killed by Death, Don't Believe a Word, R.A.M.O.N.E.S

Probot- Have a Cigar (Pink Floyd cover), Red War, Shake Your Blood

Judas Priest- Hellion/Electric Eye, Breaking the Law, Another Thing Coming, Living after Midnight, Diamonds & Rust (the acoustic VH1 Classic version is great), Judas is Rising, Exciter, The Green Manalishi

Van Halen- Atomic Punk, Cradle will Rock, Panama, Hot for Teacher, Pretty Woman (cover)

Black Sabbath- Paranoid, The Wizard, Snowblind, Sweetleaf, Black Sabbath

Ozzy (by himself)- Mr. Crowley, Perry Mason, Back on Earth, Crazy Train

Pantera- Cemetary Gates, Revolution is My Name, Cast a Shadow, Cowboys from Hell, Planet Caravan (Sabbath cover)

[Deathstroke]

SAVATAGE
Queensryche
Doro Pesch
W.A.S.P.
Blind Guardian
Edguy
Helloween
Judas Priest
Black Sabbath
Dio
Fates Warning
Metal Church
Iron Maiden
Iced Earth
Tesla
Nightwish
Symphony X

[G. Wayne]

Fear Factory - Demanufacture

Ministry- The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste
Psalm 69
Rio Grande Blood

White Zombie / Rob Zombie- Pretty much anything. Zombie's solo material gets progressively less electro/industrial metal from his work on Astrocreep 2000, but it's still good stuff.

If you can tolerate all German lyrics, I highly recommend any Rammstein for metal with melody.

[TheLazy]

I've also been hearing good things about Isis and Opeth.
Anybody got oppinions about those two?


I'm not really big on Isis, I don't know why, but Im not. Opeth are the shizzle though, get Ghost reveries their latest album, it will suprise you at what music can do.

As for the first post, the best way I can do this is to write out my Metal playlist, which is all essential listening IMO.

Korn - Freak On a Leash
- A.D.I.D.A.S.
- Right Now
Rage Against the Machine - Killing in the Name Of
- Bombtrack
- Guerilla Radio
Pantera - Walk
- 5 Mintures Alone
Machine Head - Davidian
- Imperium
Meshuggah - New Millenium Cyanide Christ
- Future Breed Machine
Avenged Sevenfold - Unholy Confession
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
- Iron Man
Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Train
- Over the Mountain
-Mr. Crowley
Trivium - Pull Harder on the Strings (Of Your Martyr)
- Blinding Tears Will Break the Skies
- Dying In Your Arms
Bullet for my Valentine - Hand of Blood
- The Poison
Megadeth - Skin O' my Teeth
- Hanger 18
- Holy War ...The Punishment Due
- In my Darkest Hour
In Flames - Pinball Map
- Take This Life
- My Sweet Shadow
Slayer - War Ensemble
- Reign in Blood
- Angel of Death
- God Hates us All
- Cult
- Alter of Blood
Killswitch Engage - Rose of Sharyn
- World Ablaze
- This is Absolution
Iron Maiden - The Trooper
- Wicker Man
- Can I Play With Madness
- Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter
- Flight of Icarus
- Run to the Hills
DragonForce - Operation Ground and Pound
Arch Enemy - Enter Machine
Dream Theater - Pull me Under
- Glass prison
- Strange Deja vu
Chimaira - Cleansation
Children of Bodom - In Your face
- Touch Like and Angel of Death
Led Zepplin (the inventors of metal, depending on which side of the sabbath/zep arguement you take) - Communication Breakdown
- Stairway to Heaven
- Kashmir
At the Gates - Slaughter of Souls
Black Dahlia Murder - Apex
Dillinger Escape Plan - 43% Burn
Crowar - Planets Collide
- Dream Weaver
Coheed and Cambria - Ten Speed (of Gods Blood and Burial)


I haven't mentioned Metallica or Mastodon above because you have to get everything by Metallica from Kill Em All to the Black Album. A few of the songs off of St Anger are good, but not essential. And Mastodon are the modern day Metallica, with a little bit of Tool in there. Get everything that they've done, its pure gold.

So thats Metallica's -
Kill Em all
Ride The Lightning
Master of Pupets (THE metal album)
...And Justice for All
Metallica (selftitled called the Back Album because, well its black)

And for Mastodon -
Remission
Levethian
Blood Mountain

There's a good mixture of melody and rawness in there. Trust me, you don't want everything to have a strong melody because it becomes hard to differentiate between bands and songs. Each band has their own strong point and I'd think you'd appreciate to give it all a listen and try to find your niche. I haven't included much Death or Black Metal because I really don't dig the satan thing, so it gets really repetative. But there are some good ones out there that aren't quite to my taste, but are skilled. Atheist and Death are notable bands. The former having a Jazzy style of loose and complex arrangements, whilst the latter having a very striking brute force to their sound.

I haven't included any 80's hair metal either because for me it starts and ends with Guns'n'Roses, the rest is just ....well not very good.

The bands that have made major impacts on the genre are -

Led Zepplin
Black Sabbath
Motorhead
Judas Priest
Iron Maiden
Van Halen
Metallica
Slayer
Motley Cru
Guns'n'Roses
Pantera
Rage Against the Machine
Korn
and I expect a high profile for Mastodon.

I don't think that's all of it, but there's a good place to get started and try and find what strikes you. Some of its catchy, some heavy, some progressive, some melodic, some old, some new, some borrowed, some blue, ect

[G. Wayne]

...
Meshuggah - New Millenium Cyanide Christ
- Future Breed Machine
...

I understand what you're trying to do and all, but bringing up Meshuggah when someone is looking for melodic metal just strikes me as, ahdunno, funny almost. Not knocking the band or anything, mind you. Rational Gaze (among others) is an awesome song.

[TheLazy]

I understand what you're trying to do and all, but bringing up Meshuggah when someone is looking for melodic metal just strikes me as, ahdunno, funny almost. Not knocking the band or anything, mind you. Rational Gaze (among others) is an awesome song.

*Gets Scissors* chop chop



There's a good mixture of melody and rawness in there. Trust me, you don't want everything to have a strong melody because it becomes hard to differentiate between bands and songs. Each band has their own strong point and I'd think you'd appreciate to give it all a listen and try to find your niche.

[G. Wayne]

Took me a moment to realize "scissors" wasn't the name of Meshuggah material, (as in get "scissors" fast) but that aside, I did say I understood what you were doing with the mixture of bands. Still strikes me as a little amusing.

I've had a long day at work, so sue me. :p

[E. Spears]

Lots of good stuff already mentioned here. Here's some picks of mine - -

It Dies Today - The Catiff Choir and Sirens

Mastodon - Remission and Blood Mountain

Lamb of God - Ashes of the Wake and Sacrament

Darkest Hour - Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation and So Sedated So Secure

All That Remains - The Fall of Ideals

Unearth - III: In The Eyes of Fire

Gojira - From Mars to Sirius

August Burns Red - Looks Fragile After All and Thrillseeker

I think these bands have a pretty good mix of melodic and abrasive sounds.

There's lots of other good stuff, too, but those are some of my favorites at the moment.

[Phrozen]

You should never ever listen to Korn. If you listen to Korn you are simply not a music fan.

[Adam Crocker]

Ramones - The kkk took my baby away
Ramones - I wanna be sedated

Sex pistols - God save the queen
Sex pistols - Holiday in the sun

The Ramones and the Pistols are metal?

(Granted I could see that for the Pistols' with Steve Jones' thick guitar sound. Less so for the Ramones.)

[Jonathan Bogart]

Trust me, you don't want everything to have a strong melody because it becomes hard to differentiate between bands and songs.
How to put this politely ... what do you think melody is?

[elheffe]

The Ramones and the Pistols are metal?

(Granted I could see that for the Pistols' with Steve Jones' thick guitar sound. Less so for the Ramones.)

There's been a quite a few bands that have been named on this thread that make me go "huh? They're considered metal?"

[twilight]

You should never ever listen to Korn. If you listen to Korn you are simply not a music fan.

I abhor Korn.

[Gargus]

The Ramones and the Pistols are metal?

(Granted I could see that for the Pistols' with Steve Jones' thick guitar sound. Less so for the Ramones.)

They qualify as punk I know. But my point was just that I wanted to give a broad range of stuff in or around the metal genre. I didnt want to just give like death metal and thats it. Said he wanted to expand his horizons some so I was just giving alot of different options is all.

[Adam Crocker]

They qualify as punk I know. But my point was just that I wanted to give a broad range of stuff in or around that genre. I didnt want to just give like death metal and thats it. Said he wanted to expand his horizons some so I was just giving alot of different options is all.

I see. It just seemed odd to drop two punk bands into the middle of a metal thread.

Personally if I was going for where metal and punk intersected I would have started with the Stooges, whose music was both proto punk and proto-metal (at least insofar as Motorhead, speed metal, and stoner metal are concerned) and moved onto 80s hardcore like Black Flag to punk metal like Agnostic Front, Sick of It All, and Suicidal Tendencies. Probably throw in Zen Arcade Husker Du as well which always struck me as having a metallic edge.

(And then there's the New York Dolls for the roots of hair metal...and to further demonstrate it's inadequacies. And..oooooo the Dictators! Punk meets 70s hard rock meets MAD magazine.)

[TheLazy]

Took me a moment to realize "scissors" wasn't the name of Meshuggah material, (as in get "scissors" fast) but that aside, I did say I understood what you were doing with the mixture of bands. Still strikes me as a little amusing.

I've had a long day at work, so sue me. :p

:D I just had to mention them, its metal to the balls, has to be done.:D


You should never ever listen to Korn. If you listen to Korn you are simply not a music fan.

Voltaire says: "No!"


How to put this politely ... what do you think melody is?

Is this sarcasm? Or a sleeper insult? I don't get the point of 'How to put this politely'

'To me' a melody is a phrase of music written to a rhythm on the treble notes of a scale. That is a rhythm that is opposed in pitch to the bassline (although the rhythm pattern may be the same). Straight outa the book;)

To give an example of a melodic phrase, then lets look at Converge or Meshuggah. There's not really much melody there as far as using the treble strings, or not that I can hear. it's mostly barre chords and muted bass strings, which creates a bruteness to it, for lack of a better word. Where as band like In Flames or Bullet for my Valentine often have two guitars playing entirely different parts to create both a bass rhythm and a melodic rhythm, creating what 'I think melody is'.

The exception to this rule would be where a bassline is used to create a melody, and the best example I can think of right now is Blink 182 Stay Together For the Kids, which uses bass strings (on a guitar that is)for the intro riff, that is IMO quite melodic. I don't really know how to explain this, but it happens. Genreall rule of thumb tho is as above.

[Adam Crocker]

'To me' a melody is a phrase of music written to a rhythm on the treble notes of a scale. That is a rhythm that is opposed in pitch to the bassline (although the rhythm pattern may be the same). Straight outa the book;)

To give an example of a melodic phrase, then lets look at Converge or Meshuggah. There's not really much melody there as far as using the treble strings, or not that I can hear. it's mostly barre chords and muted bass strings, which creates a bruteness to it, for lack of a better word. Where as band like In Flames or Bullet for my Valentine often have two guitars playing entirely different parts to create both a bass rhythm and a melodic rhythm, creating what 'I think melody is'.

The exception to this rule would be where a bassline is used to create a melody, and the best example I can think of right now is Blink 182 Stay Together For the Kids, which uses bass strings (on a guitar that is)for the intro riff, that is IMO quite melodic. I don't really know how to explain this, but it happens. Genreall rule of thumb tho is as above.

So how does strong melody cause bands and songs to blur together? Because the way you described things, it sounds as though it does the opposite.

[Jonathan Bogart]

So how does strong melody cause bands and songs to blur together? Because the way you described things, it sounds as though it does the opposite.
Exactly.

A melody, at the most basic definition, is a series of notes (or clusters of notes, i.e. chords) in relationship to each other. Strong melodies are both memorable and distinctive, so songs with strong melodies are easily distinguishable from one another. Melodies can be played on any instrument, at any range, and they aren't the same thing as riffs, which seems to be what TheLazy is thinking of. Generally, when people talk about the melody of a song, they're talking about the vocal line (or that of the most prominent solo instrument), not the instrumentation, which can always be different.

[TheLazy]

Exactly.

A melody, at the most basic definition, is a series of notes (or clusters of notes, i.e. chords) in relationship to each other. Strong melodies are both memorable and distinctive, so songs with strong melodies are easily distinguishable from one another. Melodies can be played on any instrument, at any range, and they aren't the same thing as riffs, which seems to be what TheLazy is thinking of. Generally, when people talk about the melody of a song, they're talking about the vocal line (or that of the most prominent solo instrument), not the instrumentation, which can always be different.

I know it can be played on any instrument, I was thinking of a guitar when i was writing the example. Notice i said treble notes, and not strings though. I know you can have a vocal melody, hell you can have a melody on anything above the middle C methinks. Again resorting to an example, because Im not very good at explaining things, if you've never given metal much attention and you start listening to Bullet, KsE, Ax7, they all sound the same at at first, they all carry the same melodic traits, whilst each having a diffrent progression of notes. At the risk of sounding racist Im just gunnna say it. if I heard two German guys speaking German, then to be honest I'd think they sound too similar to tell the difference. They each have different Phonemic qualities to their accents, but I couldn't tell. Same if you're listening to two melodic metal bands. So if I heard a German and a Czech and a Danish guy speak it'd be easier to hear the properies of their vocal pattern.

I'm getting lost in myself now.:confused:

[Jonathan Bogart]

Not to drag this too far off-topic, but why do you think melody is confined to the treble clef? Bass lines are melodies too. Any musical statement contains melody. Your point remains obscure to me.

[TheLazy]

Not to drag this too far off-topic, but why do you think melody is confined to the treble clef? Bass lines are melodies too. Any musical statement contains melody. Your point remains obscure to me.

yeah I know what im trying to say and I can't be arsed trying to explain it anymore so it doesn't matter.

[Arrjay]

Dear God, yes! PANTERA is fucking insane.

Agreed with the Pantera love here good sir.

You gotta check out Anal Cunt if you ever can.

They're an hilarious speed-metal band created by a bunch of guys who hang out with Phil Anselmo. Or used to hang out with Phil Anselmo.

In any event they are fucking great.

Also, Mastodon.

[E. Spears]

Also, Mastodon.

Always Mastodon. I love everything about Blood Mountain, and the same goes for Leviathan and Remission. I heard a bit of their EP that was released (I think) before Remission recently, it's just completely insane. Probably the heaviest thing they've ever put out.

[Gargus]

Agreed with the Pantera love here good sir.

You gotta check out Anal Cunt if you ever can.

They're an hilarious speed-metal band created by a bunch of guys who hang out with Phil Anselmo. Or used to hang out with Phil Anselmo.

In any event they are fucking great.

Also, Mastodon.

Haha I thought that was funny, you masked a certain bad word, yet left the F word wide out in the open.

Oh and what in the hell is that avatar from? I know it from somewhere but Im not sure.

Oh and speaking of mastodon, what are some other good songs by them? Only one I have is aqua dementia.

[twilight]

Oh and what in the hell is that avatar from? I know it from somewhere but Im not sure.

The Young Ones.

[Arrjay]

The Young Ones.

Yes. The illustrious Vyvien from The Young Ones.

[TheLazy]

Oh and speaking of mastodon, what are some other good songs by them? Only one I have is aqua dementia.

Blade catcher
Crystal Skull
Hand of Stone
Circle Cysquatch
March of the Fire Ants (best song IMO)
Iron Tusk
Blood and Thunder (their big hit)

thats it off of the top of my head:)

[PanzerMega]

I've always found these to be good heavy metal primer CDs:

Megadeth: Countdown to Extinction
In Flames: Clayman
Carcass: Swansong
Children of Bodom: Hatebreeder
Arch Enemy: Wages of Sin
Shadows Fall: The Art of Balance

They're all reasonably easy to find. I also recommend anything from Amorphis, Quo Vadis, Beyond The Embrace, Opeth....


On a side note, I saw In Flames live last night and they were shit. What happened to them?

[I Must Break U]

If someone has mentioned them already i am sorry to repeat but DragonForce. They are a really good metal band. Even though their 10 minute songs sound like they belong in a rocky montage. The power chords are amazing! I recommend them.

[666MasterOfPuppets]

Classic Metal Albums you can't go wrong with, that really meet your criteria of "melodic" :

oh yeah. . and Metallica "Master of Puppets". . . amazing, amazing album.

Oh yeah... My favorite Metal album EVER.

My recommendations?

Black Sabbath
Iron Maiden
Metallica
Judas Priest
Motorhead
Iced Earth
Manowar
Stratovarius
Hammerfall
Therion

I'd suggest to avoid Linkin' Crap (I mean, Park), Limp Biscuit and the like, but since you want to explore new music... Don't say I didn't warn you. :D

[666MasterOfPuppets]

Dear God, yes! PANTERA is fucking insane. Best ever. Dimebag Darryl was ridiculously good. Their best albums were Cowboys From Hell, Vulgar Display of Power, and Far Beyond Driven.

White Zombie and Corrosion of Conformity I totally agree with you as well.

I don't really see Faith No More as Metal though.(or Stryper, and BOC, either)
others:

Metallica
Megadeth
Slayer
Motorhead
Black Sabbath
Iron Maiden
Judas Priest


I'm particularly fond of The Great Southern Trendkill.

Yes, Pantera and Slayer are also recommended.

[666MasterOfPuppets]

these aren't so much melodic (new Mastodon CD ain't bad along those lines), but they're pretty much the best metal you can get:

Converge (these guys do have some melody)
Ed Gein
Sunn o)))

SunnO))) is insane. In a good way. I just got their Black One album, and I liked it very much.

Warning: They're nothing like my previous recommendations. If you really want to see the latest in Metal genres, check this one out.

[666MasterOfPuppets]

I'm going to join in on suggesting Pantera as well. "Floods" from the album The Great Southern Trendkill is a song that's often overlooked, but man is it awesome.

I freakin' love that song.

And Wild Card, yes. Metallica's Master Of Puppets is their greatest album. Too bad I couldn't go to the concerts they did this year, in which they played the whole album.

[666MasterOfPuppets]

I've also been hearing good things about Isis and Opeth.
Anybody got oppinions about those two?

I don't like Opeth, personally. I've heard several songs from them, and I didn't like them. It's their style. It doesn't match my preferences.

[Leslie Lee III]

Mastodon is so brutal my face hurts.

They sound like the result of Satan telling Josh Homme he needed to be WAY more metal if he wanted to get into hell's demonic hierchy.