TheDefiniteArticle

I'm the sort of guy who spends way too long listening to music and thus forms strong opinions about nearly everything I hear.

Tool are not a metal band. Ignore anyone who suggests Opeth, they suck. ;) No mention of Control Denied yet? Schuldiner's other band, they played quality progressive power metal. Other progressive metal bands with cleans: Communic Fates Warning Ihsahn Labyrinth Queensryche (no mention yet? For shame! Operation: Mindcrime is a classic of the genre) Threshold And harsh vocals: Shining (NOR) The Ocean (GER) Dan Swano Burst Altar Of Plagues Arcturus Code Enslaved The Meads Of Asphodel Nachtmystium Solefald Ved Buens Ende Atheist (fantastic band) The Chasm Cosmic Atrophy Edge Of Sanity Pan.Thy.Monium Pestilence (on Spheres) Portal (very weird) Also, the guy who mentioned Arsonists Get All The Girls is not your friend. Terrible, terrible, even for deathcore.

So I went kind of crazy at the weekend... best £50 I ever spent.

Omar, you might like Pensees Nocturnes - they're black metal, but heavily progressive, and strongly influenced by neoclassical (as opposed to the Cradle Of Dimmu axis of poppy symph-black). If you want some challenging listening, try their new one Ceci Est De La Musique - it's one 55-minute track that simultaneously manages to be catchy and epic.

You forgot the "YOU KIDS THESE DAYS!" and *cane shake* Probably a bit late to change that now; I'm only 17, but somehow I've become a grumpy old fart.

Have I been oblivious until now or is trad metal becoming popular again? I'm afraid you've been oblivious, there's been quite a resurgence, particularly in Sweden. Check out: Wolf Portrait In Solitude The aforementioned Hell Enforcer Grand Magus Cauldron There's loads, but those are some of the best.

Why have you said these two are 'other' metal? Both power metal bands... I'm just wondering.

Have you ever checked out Sputnik Music? I find a lot of really good stuff from a variety of genres on there; its a user review site. The new Fleshgod Apocalypse single sounds pretty awesome I think. The album's leaked - it's pretty good. I haven't read through the thread, but hopefully there's been extensive discussion on it already, but Hell's Human Remains is hands down the best trad heavy metal album of the year thus far.

You're missing all the best stuff - the stuff from the 80s, when rap had a positive message as opposed to this violent guff of today.

Well, I will say that I like the Iron Maiden album, although it's not their best. I'm not really a huge fan of metalcore, gothic or power metal so most of the other metal posted leaves me cold - Are You Dead Yet? simply comes across as a very weak album. Out of the rest, the Eminem one is pretty good (even if I prefer the cleaner sound and wit of The Eminem Show). I haven't heard Maroon 5 since I was 10, and I didn't like them back then, and Journey are flipping awful. Just my tuppence.

I haven't yet heard the Exhumed album, although I have downloaded it. I've heard good things.

So I heard the new Lock Up album today, and all I can say... holy [cabbage]. Not album of the year (especially not in a year when AUTOPSY, AUTOPSY, AUTOPSY have released an early candidate for album of the decade), but better than Pleasures Pave Sewers and about on a par with Hate Breeds Suffering. It's called Necropolis Transparent if anyone's interested.

Well, I strongly recommend the metal archives forums, and also last.fm. They're more active than the others.

Botch is mathcore, which is ultimately derived from metalcore, and heavily. It's like how one wouldn't be too far off to recommend someone Scream Bloody Gore if they asked for brutal thrash.

I run a download blog actually; I'd probably better not post it here. I'm a member of the Metal-Archives forums and an active user of last.fm's discussion boards. Yourself?

Yeah, sorry, I realised after I'd posted. I just went to the bottom one in the sticky.

I'm indifferent to Sunn O))). Just sayin'. Perhaps more OT, more excellent bands that are similar to Sunn O))) are Earth (especially on their 'Hex' album), and to a lesser extent Burning Witch (try Crippled Lucifer). You might also like some droney noise - try Mediocre Fin (hard to find, the first demo is available for legal download here), and I'd also recommend Moth In Flames. Also try some funeral doom - start with Thergothon's 'Stream From The Heavens', Skepticism's 'Stormcrowfleet' and Esoteric's 'Subconscious Dissolution Into The Continuum'.

I already know and love them; indeed, I'm looking forward to seeing them at Damnation Festival. Thanks anyway, shows it was a good rec when someone already loves a band.

I like most music to some degree, although I've yet to find any dance or dubstep that I like (and yes, I have heard Burial). I LOVE metal in most of its forms, although there are comparatively few metalcore and deathcore bands that I like, and female-fronted gothic metal leaves me cold. I also love most experimental music, and other favourite genres are jazz/blues, classical, punk/hardcore/grindcore/powerviolence, and noise/power electronics. Some of my current favourite albums: Autopsy - Mental Funeral, Macabre Eternal Satan - Court In The Act Burzum - Hvis Lyset Tar Oss, Filosofem Morbid Angel - Altars Of Madness Napalm Death - Scum, From Enslavement To Obliteration Man Is The Bastard - Mancruel Septic Death - Attention Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Piano Concerto #23 Gustav Mahler - Symphony No. 1 ('Titan') John Zorn - Naked City Sutcliffe Jugend - When Pornography Is No Longer Enough Whitehouse - Asceticists, Mummy And Daddy Merzbow - Pulse Demon Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue, [bleep]es Brew Mercyful Fate - Don't Break The Oath This list is liable to change by tomorrow.

Nice to see that people over here know their metal. I'm looking for a recommendation of some thrash with vocals like Sean Killian's on Vio-Lence's Eternal Nightmare; I found the ones on Oppressing The Masses lacklustre in comparison. I know of Immaculate's Atheist Crusade album.

Anyone who can recommend some good power electronics? I'm looking for stuff like Sutcliffe Jugend's When Pornography Is No Longer Enough, so some of the most harsh and depraved music please. I am NOT looking for normal 'electronic' music. Digital noise (like later Merzbow) is good also.

The better metalcore tends to have less metal than hardcore aggression in their sound (although I'll second BTBAM), often accompanied with some mathy influence. I'll recommend Converge very highly, especially the albums Jane Doe and No Heroes. Botch are good, although they're a bit of a brain-blitzer sometimes. There's also the crossover thrash which was originally called metalcore before the likes of KsE came along and stole the name, like Cryptic Slaughter, D.R.I., M.O.D. and S.O.D. All are highly recommended, although I'm sure it's not what you're looking for. Trap Them could be called metalcore, and are excellent - they combine death metal, hardcore and grindcore with hardcore being the predominant element in their sound. Earth Crisis are okay. Apart from that, I'll advise you stay the hell away from most of the genre.