So, I've instituted some ground rules.
1. Active bands only. If you break up, you're off the page no matter how good you were.
2. I've still got to not only be a fan of your work, but be a fan of your current work. If your most recent work was a bit of a disappointment - off the page!
3. Obviously, gotta be arguably metal.
Bal-Sagoth - a thousand hails! "True Brittannic War-Metal" is their trade, and they sound like nothing else on earth. There is no ignomity, there is Glory! There is no servitude, there is Dominance! There is no defeat, there is Victory! Victory Eternal!.
Battlelore - do you like The Lord Of The Rings? Probably not as much as these guys. The long-lost missing link between Samael and Nightwish!
Blind Guardian - I've been on the fence about this band for a while - I still think Nightfall In Middle-Earth is totally overrated - but man oh man, am I diggin' the new album. Metal on a Queen-sized scale.
Braindance - this band seems like they were made just for me - funky, moody prog metal with better-than-Pete-Steele vocals, great playing (best female guitarist EVER) and hundreds and hundreds of samples from cool sources too.
Dark Tranquillity - they put the "Goth" in "Gothenburg". I wish their singer was still using his "clean" voice, though...
Elvenking - folk, folk, folk...it's like Skyclad left in the woods for like six years. They have this really wild song called "Seasonspeech" that...you've gotta hear it.
Enslaved - one of the more experimental (psychedelic!) of the Viking/black metal bunch, this band's been growing on me slowly for a few years, but really won me over with Monumension.
Evergrey - so beautiful, it brings a tear to your eye...atmospheric, melodic, a little bit progressive, man, I get teary-eyed just writing about it. I'm gonna go listen to "Dark Waters" now.
Fatima Hill - I can't blame anyone for hating this band. They're cool musically, sort of a prog/power thing I guess, though not always fast like most of this stuff is, but that singer...imagine if Kim Goss and Big Boss had a kid. Yep, she probably scares fans away in droves, but I think she's cool. Beware - much of this site is in Japanese.
Finntroll - metal with accordions. I shit you not. This is polka metal for industrious gremlins who live underground.
Grief Of Emerald - would you like Dimmu better if they used Morbid Angel riffs? On days when I would, I listen to Grief Of Emerald.
GWAR - if Dead Alive were a broadway musical, GWAR would put on the show. If going to a concert to be sprayed with 120 gallons of "spew" doesn't appeal to you, this probably ain't your bag.
Hollenthon - crazy stuff here, orchestral metal with all sorts of weird twists, like Theli on petyote.
Hypocrisy - Mr. Prolific, Peter Tagtgren's regular band. I'm kinda iffy on that last album, but they've had way too much good stuff over the (recent) years to write 'em off.
Into Eternity - this band fucking rules...some days, I just have a tough time believing they're from the Canadian prairies. It's not exactly an area known for making great metal. They're great live, too. Get on it!
Kreator - the top of the terrible triumvurate of Teutonic thrash...this is what Germanic thrash is all about. And Violent Revolution is the ONLY "back to our roots" album I can think of that actually succeeds at that.
Lost Horizon - it's getting harder and harder for pure power metal to impress me, but this band does it.
Lullacry - imagine Sentenced with Gwen Stefani on vocals. Not only do I think that's a BRILLIANT idea (though it admittedly sounds like a dumb one at first), all three of their albums are just unbelievably fun, with the most outrageously catchy choruses, uh, ever. If this band doesn't become huge, I'll eat my bunny. Or, at least, nibble on his ears a little.
My Dying Bride - possibly the most depressing band ever. This is a good thing.
Nevermore - BEST. BAND. ON. EARTH. You read it here. Nevermore also put on the best live show I've seen - not that we get much metal 'round these parts, but damn, what a great show. Curran got a concussion, Warrel inhaled his hair and puked, Jim pranced about while Into Eternity was playing, Van screamed like a little girl for Jeff, and Jeff...well, I could barely take my eyes off the man's fingers. The most fun I've had in ages.
Old Man's Child - pretty much the solo project of a guy named Galder (formerly known as Grusom), who recently joined Dimmu Borgir, who many have accused him of ripping off for years. Even if that's the case, be proud of the guy, he's found his dream job!
Root - considered a big influence on many a dark, evil European metal band, I never heard of these guys until a couple of years ago. And I love 'em, though some of their stuff is so catchy it's hard to imagine any tr00-kvlt-types singing along to it in the shower. Beware - this site appears to be in Czech. So if you're my brother in law, check it out! Nah, he'd never listen to this stuff. His loss...
Sigh - crazy, weird, psychedelic Japanese metal...actually, all the Japanese metal I've heard is crazy, weird, and at least a little psychedelic.
Skyclad - thrash metal mixed with English folk! Well, if you're gonna mix it with folk, English folk is the stuff to do it with. You don't want to put something awful in there, like American or Canadian folk.
Slayer - I just hated these guys in high school. Love 'em now, although they haven't appreciatively changed. Guess I have. Mostly atonal thrash that used to always be about Satan - nowadays, it's about war and serial killers. Great greeting-card-for-mom stuff.
Suidakra - a cross between Amon Amarth and Skyclad? Maybe...it's heavy, but it's got lots of bagpipey galloping-off-to-war melodies. Another one of those bands I'd never even heard of until album five or so.
Summoning - I think of this band as sort of a slowed-way-down version of Bal-Sagoth, though that doesn't really do justice to them. "Runes Of Power" is the kind of brings-a-tear-to-my-eye song I'm glad I lived long enough to hear.
Symphony X - arguably the premier prog metal band today. They shamelessly aped Yngwie (zzz) for their first for albums, but found their own sound since and are a league of their own. Pure class all the way.
Devin Townsend - the Canadian mastermind behind Strapping Young Lad, Ocean Machine, Devin Townsend (duh) and any number of other projects. And ordering stuff from HevyDevy is ludicrously fast - Century Media takes 6-8 weeks, but this guy delivers within eight days! (at least, I got my CD's in eight days) CM, what the hell's wrong with you? Devin is the only good thing ever to come out of Burnaby, except maybe Deep Rising.
Type O Negative - awesome gothy metal from New York that seems serious on the surface but is hilariously close to parody on closer inspection. These guys make metal a thing of beauty. Frontman Peter Steele is one of the most interesting and amusing people in rock. Somebody get this man a book deal!
Vader - "Vader" means "father" in a few languages, but I don't know if that's what this band's name means, or if it's a Star Wars reference. Either way, Vader is probably the heaviest band worth listening to. That bass drum sound on Litany is like getting thunked in the head with a basketball.
Without Face - fascinating, Poe/Lovecraft-inspired prog metal with male and female vocals.
Zyklon - just a notch below Morbid Angel in creating the most ugly and alien music worth listening to.
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