France has some good stuff too.

Pretty sure these guys don't do anything but rock out 24/7
Seem to always be putting out something new.


Another French band that I like.


New one man band from Portugal

Well, I'm an idiot and can't figure out how to embed vids.....but this thread is AWESOME! Thanks Smudge.

Rings of Saturn are worth any metalhead's time.....they're simply one of the best current bands out there. Brutal, technical, tight, beautiful. Love em.

The kings of Swedish melodic death, Amon Amarth, are ALWAYS in my playlist as well.

Other bands I'm currently digging: Purulence, old school Witchery & Entombed, Lorna Shore, Carnifex, Conjonctive, and Kanonenfieber.

Infant Annihilator is another good one.

quote:

Originally posted by mutedblade:
Smudge; I thought I was the only one that listens to Eskimo Callboy. Everything about them is awesome. Love cranking up their stuff at red lights to see what kind of reaction I can get out of people. Hilarity usually ensues.

Those guys are a hoot. Totally off the wall and doing their own thing. Some of their most recent stuff sounds a bit stale, though. Pump It and We Got The Moves aren't really doing it for me.

quote:

Originally posted by akcopnfbks:
Infant Annihilator is another good one.

Dickie Allen is a pioneer. Without him, you don't have guys like Will Ramos. I have to be honest, though, as much as I respect his technique, I have a hard time getting past the band name. Supposedly it's a reference to the Catholic Church. I don't know. I'll probably dive in at some point.

Also, I listened to nothing but Amon Amarth for about a month this past summer. Viking metal!

quote:

Originally posted by powermad:
France has some good stuff too.

Speaking of French bands, these guys need to be mentioned.


I played this in the truck for my son one day last year and the look he gave me about a minute into it was priceless



There's a project called Bearthooth I got introduced to about a year ago, it's more "post hardcore" punk sensibilities kinda stuff. All the studio stuff is done by one guy, Caleb Shomo. Drums, guitar, bass, all of it. He has a live band for touring. I love this guy's work. He's a recovering alcoholic as well, and a lot of his lyrics have to do with recovery. Here's a couple great tracks.

Thanks for making this thread

Most of these bands I have on a playlist.

With Eskimo Callboy they have "real " music too. Not just party songs.

Currently playing:
Amity Affliction
Blind Witness
Pro-Pain
Parkway Drive
The Ghost Inside

Just also paid $150 per ticket for Iron Maiden in November. Be my 16th time seeing them

I'll contribute with a not-so-time-tested recommendation of not a band or album, but a theme. I occasionally indulge in hardcore-influenced bands. I really don't care for true hardcore, but I find these groups quite enjoyable, and others may as well. BTK is easily my favorite of these, so much so that I have physical copies of their stuff. Actually the only one I don't have a physical copy of is Pissed Regardless.

Band - Album
BTK - Condamne and Visceres
Get the Shot - Infinite Punishment
Pissed Regardless - Imperial Cult
Harm's Way - Rust
River Black - River Black

BTK is probably the heaviest and least punk-infused, but I think they still fit into the hardcore category better than anywhere else. They are just a guitar and drums too, which is impressive. Very full, competent sound from only two instruments and a vocalist.

I didn't see any Bloodywood mentioned, so here is one of their tunes:



They're kinda growing on me.

It's been a minute since I've tossed some tracks in here. Let's get ridiculous.

The Exiled Martyr. These guys are out of Arizona, which kind of surprises me. Don't see a lot of heavy stuff come out of there that I've ever noticed. Melodic, technical, and fast. These guys are good. Their lead guitarist is fantastic. Their vocalist is nuts.



Instrumental playthrough of Promethean. Behold, musicianship.


I had a long drive today, and queued up a band I ran across last fall called Carcosa. They have a whole album out that's pretty good, and I listened to it on the way down top Olympia. This track opens strong, but it's that breakdown that starts at 1:09 that hooked me on my first listen.



And then I started their EP on the way back. When I determined that all of the songs on the EP were used on the album, I skipped it and listened to random tracks... which led me to Enterprise Earth. I cannot believe I've never given these guys a shot before. I guess I thought the name would indicate it to be some sort of eco warrior bullshit. Wrong. Holy shit. I got a minute or two of The Failsafe Fallacy and decided I needed to give an entire album a shot, which happened to be The Chosen. It opens with this track. That guitar tone at 1:10 is great, sounds kinda hollow to me. Not too much clip or saturation, a perfect blend of both with a weird high mid thing going on.

First track off that album.


The second track off the album. Damn this track pounds. So fresh.


I listened to most of the album and every track held some sort of surprise. Be it a jazzy, syncopated drum fill in the middle of a brutal breakdown, or a chord progression resolving in a way that caught me off guard, a breakdown with a measure or two long pause followed by the whole band blasting out 64ths, a solo that rips and drips off the fretboard, it's so syrupy, a song changing in mood from aggressive to pensive, to sad, to enraged. Their vocalist is amazing. High, tight clipping fry vocals, rapid-fire belching formants in staccato passages, roaring mids. I'm an instant fan.

Bloodywood is very different. Thanks for posting that, I'll have to dig into some of their stuff. I dig the tribal, ethnic world music type stuff. That definitely qualifies for that and defies further categorization. Wow.

Mark posted Alien Weaponry a few weeks ago, and sent me a text and asked if I'd heard of them. I sent him back a screenshot of their playlist in my phone app.

In that tribal/cultural roots kind of vein, The Hu has been posted in the Lounge a few times over the recent years. They're interesting for sure. Mongolian metal with throat singing.



A band I have NOT seen posted yet that does that whole thing better than The Hu, in my opinion, is Tennger Cavalry. These guys rock harder for sure. Makes The Hu feel like soft rock, comparatively.

Check out this drum intro.

Love some Howard Jones





And some Lamb of God

LoG used to be a go-to for me. I still hold them in high regard, but hardly listen anymore; they are undeniably badass. I have not listened to anything after Sturm Und Drang though. Seems to me that Wrath was perhaps their last unfuckable-with album; Resolution and Sturm didn't have quite the total-album re-playability, but had a some standout tracks nonetheless.

I think I’d say they qualify as a modern classic. I was going to go see them when they played a show here last year; but then “vaccine” mandates, so I didn’t. That was a bummer.

Now that things are changing, I need to see who’s coming out this way and see some live music. I think the last heavy music show I went to was Rainfest back in 2013. I need to post about that show later.

quote:

Originally posted by 06wrb:
Love some Howard Jones

Agreed. Killswitch isn't anywhere near the same without him. I bailed on them after trying out their first post-Jones album.

However, I've been a little disappointed with the stuff from his new band, Light the Torch. Howard's vocals are still great... It's just missing something.

I'll have to keep an eye on Sion, to see how that compares. (Even though I think Jared Dynes is annoying... Though that may just be due to his cringey Youtube persona.)

quote:

Originally posted by KSGM:
LoG used to be a go-to for me. I still hold them in high regard, but hardly listen anymore; they are undeniably badass. I have not listened to anything after Sturm Und Drang though. Seems to me that Wrath was perhaps their last unfuckable-with album; Resolution and Sturm didn't have quite the total-album re-playability, but had a some standout tracks nonetheless.

I agree about Resolution and Sturm; they can't compare to something like Sacrament. But their newest self-titled album from 2020 is a return to form, and I think quite possibly their best album. You owe it to yourself to check it out.

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
I think I’d say they qualify as a modern classic. I was going to go see them when they played a show here last year; but then “vaccine” mandates, so I didn’t. That was a bummer.

I saw Lamb of God last year, at a show with Trivium, and it was one of the best concerts I've been to. Randy just eats up the stage with his energy.

In Flames was supposed to play too, but being Swedish they were forced to drop out due to COVID-related travel restrictions. That was a bummer, since I'd love to see them in concert too, but still an awesome concert overall.

Boy Hits Car. Their self-titled 2001 album kicks butt. They have a unique sound; quality too. Some may recognize I'm a Cloud.

Thread revival.

A lot of y'all might like Voyager. I can't vouch for their entire discography, nor do I own physical copies of any albums, but I have the following songs on a CD, and they get a lot of regular play.

Meaning of I
Hyperventilating
Seasons of Age
Ghost Mile
Ascension

Good timing on the bump just found the band Sleeping Giant yesterday.

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
In that tribal/cultural roots kind of vein, The Hu has been posted in the Lounge a few times over the recent years. They're interesting for sure. Mongolian metal with throat singing.

They're coming to N Houston this summer as part of a multi-band show (Buzzfest, for those in the Houston area).

Pretty sure that song had been posted here before. Enjoyable.

quote:

Good timing on the bump just found the band Sleeping Giant yesterday.

I am a Christian. I have a hard time reconciling my love of music that has typically quite anti-Christian themes; but I have yet to encounter a wholesome band with an aggressive metal playing style that I can really appreciate. I hope I can grow the heck up eventually but, for now, for me, if the metal ain't evil, the metal ain't good. I believe that music is God's gift to us; music is Godly; metal music is the best music; metal music is Godly, which is ironic, considering the pervasive themes are quite unGodly indeed.

As I write this comment, I am listening to The Mantis by Yoth Iria, a band formed by former members of Rotting Christ. Believe me when I say neither band thinks too highly of our Lord. But damn if it ain't an awesome tune!

EDIT: Reflecting on my comment, after the initial posting, I realized it merited some clarification. I have, as recently as yesterday, recommended bands that fall into the metal genre, that do not rely on sinister themes. That being acknowledged, I suppose the metal doesn't have to be evil to be good. The boiled down version of my initial ramblings is that I have yet to encounter an outwardly Christian metal band, with an aggressive style, that clicks with me. Maybe it's due to the fact that Christianity, at it's core, is quite benevolent and ultimately forgiving in nature; it may not be possible to make truly Christian music in the metal style that I prefer.