I hope you realize you sound like a boomer, I’ve literally heard my boomer mother make the same argument about different bands I listen to. If we were having this conversation a couple decades, I would expect to hear something like “Goddamn kids with their hip hop, saggy pants, and loud music”
If i sound like a bommers for not understanding how anyone can like noise as music so be it. I listen to all kind of music. Even Mongolian throat singing is somewhat melodic while metal sounds to me like noise.
I’d be happy to listen to anything you’d recommend If you got something that’s got at least some melodies, not someone screaming at the mic while another is hitting the drum like a maniac with some electric guitar backing it or vice versa.
not someone screaming at the mic while another is hitting the drum like a maniac with some electric guitar backing it or vice versa.
This can happen… and still have melody. It’s up to you and your likes. There’s a LOT of metal out there. But it seems that the heavy metal with screaming is what bothers you here… I don’t think I’m a good arbiter of “Metal” (I’m stupid heavy into EDM more than metal)… so please take my recommendation as the biased set that it is. I will also out that I’m not into the screaming scene either, the limits of my screaming tastes should show in the list I think. Here’s some options you might not have seen before.
Iced Earth - Melancholy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjZxiHWPrZ4
This song was probably one of the earliest metal song that got me into metal. It’s relatively light and more geared towards story telling. Prior to this I was more geared for heavy rock. Lots of bands kind of followed Iced Earth IMO… So if you like this, you can find a boatload of operatic/symphonic/story metals (Nightwish comes to mind immediately - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNg2Dh6gPkw, lesser known Ignea as well… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KOXbzMRQHs).
Jinjer - Pisces: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQNtGoM3FVU (If you’re truly allergic to screaming then skip this… but I think this is a prime example of screaming done well.)
Polyphia - Playing God: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5NoQg8LdDk (this might not seem metal… but the band is absolutely anchored in metal. There’s a lot of range in modern metal.)
Polyphia - Ego Death: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JNmz17gnMw
If Vocals in general are not you jam, here’s an extremely technical band… widely considered the best at their art at the moment.
On that note, a lot of weird pop stuff has kicked into metal over the years. Some of which has completely intrigued me personally. Especially with the asian overseas bands.
Babymetal - Metal Kingdom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALznpaBWUTo (Babymetal is nearly completely produced, but the singer herself is really good. The backing band they use sometimes “Kami Band” is really good as well. But they aren’t always on stage together. I think just about their whole library is bangers.)
Poppy - Concrete: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwoGhpYdebQ (No idea what the fuck made this happen. But it’s been an odd trip seeing stuff like this come out over the past decade. But I think this song in specifically is an awesome mesh of pop/metal as much as that might be a hot take. Pretty sure most of the rest of her music isn’t “great” but the point stands.)
Other overseas stuff…
Ningen Isu - Heartless Scat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbI79e5iZKs (Chucking this in because I just remembered them while making this list… Almost want to call it geriatric metal at some point… but I actually have a large spot in my heart for it. No idea why.)
There’s tons of Nu Metal stuff… You’ve probably heard of Disturbed, KoRn, Slipknot, etc… So I’ll try not to make a list of just the common stuff but keep in mind that the “hits” you’ve likely heard from these bands are just a very small sub-sample of their works… but each of those bands have their good songs and bad songs.
Rammstein - : They’ve been killing the nu-metal scene since effectively day one. They’ve been relevant for a long time. Till Lindemann is something special. He has crammed so much story into all of their songs if you want to look deeper than just raw lyrics. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeQM1c-XCDc if I had to give up just one video) you definitely heard of Du Hast, but probably nothing else from them. Till does some stuff on the side that’s pretty good.
Many of the well known bands also produced tons of Ballad-ish songs that doesn’t outright sound “Metal”… but Metallica is 100% a metal band. It’s part of metal culture to a large extent.
Metallica - Nothing else matters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az-2Q-H7LXI
Then of course the “old school” metals… Very few are known for “screaming”.
Black Sabbath
Iron Maiden
Megadeth
Slayer
Pantera
Metallica
etc…
We even have bad ass game soundtrack music at this point…
I dunno… I’m sure some other metal-heads could give you more. I just threw this together as a sample of what I have in my lists. I’m also the weirdo that listens to EDM, Rock, Pop… and even weirder shit like “Vocaloid”. My current library is nearly 40k tracks…
I hope you realize you sound like a boomer, I’ve literally heard my boomer mother make the same argument about different bands I listen to. If we were having this conversation a couple decades, I would expect to hear something like “Goddamn kids with their hip hop, saggy pants, and loud music”
If i sound like a bommers for not understanding how anyone can like noise as music so be it. I listen to all kind of music. Even Mongolian throat singing is somewhat melodic while metal sounds to me like noise.
You’ve never listened to metal then.
I’d be happy to listen to anything you’d recommend If you got something that’s got at least some melodies, not someone screaming at the mic while another is hitting the drum like a maniac with some electric guitar backing it or vice versa.
This can happen… and still have melody. It’s up to you and your likes. There’s a LOT of metal out there. But it seems that the heavy metal with screaming is what bothers you here… I don’t think I’m a good arbiter of “Metal” (I’m stupid heavy into EDM more than metal)… so please take my recommendation as the biased set that it is. I will also out that I’m not into the screaming scene either, the limits of my screaming tastes should show in the list I think. Here’s some options you might not have seen before.
Iced Earth - Melancholy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjZxiHWPrZ4
This song was probably one of the earliest metal song that got me into metal. It’s relatively light and more geared towards story telling. Prior to this I was more geared for heavy rock. Lots of bands kind of followed Iced Earth IMO… So if you like this, you can find a boatload of operatic/symphonic/story metals (Nightwish comes to mind immediately - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNg2Dh6gPkw, lesser known Ignea as well… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KOXbzMRQHs).
SpiritBox - Blessed Be: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yht0WDdzGJM
SpiritBox - Rule of Nines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1Bzo6SdS3c (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVDXTFeGYwc if you want to see her do it in one take, she’s got some talent.)
SpiritBox has been my most recent jam. Warning though… there’s some screaming here. I find it well done and tasteful. Some of their other songs are a bit much for me but often the music itself conveys well with it.
Jinjer - Pisces: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQNtGoM3FVU (If you’re truly allergic to screaming then skip this… but I think this is a prime example of screaming done well.)
Polyphia - Playing God: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5NoQg8LdDk (this might not seem metal… but the band is absolutely anchored in metal. There’s a lot of range in modern metal.)
Polyphia - Ego Death: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JNmz17gnMw If Vocals in general are not you jam, here’s an extremely technical band… widely considered the best at their art at the moment.
Chevelle - Self destructor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhPn5EPGN4c (For a more Alt Metal)
Tool - Schism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MM62wjLrgmA (Probably the single definition of Alt Metal.)
Dream Theater - Metropolis pt.2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRbHMSrK-bw
On that note, a lot of weird pop stuff has kicked into metal over the years. Some of which has completely intrigued me personally. Especially with the asian overseas bands.
Babymetal - Metal Kingdom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALznpaBWUTo (Babymetal is nearly completely produced, but the singer herself is really good. The backing band they use sometimes “Kami Band” is really good as well. But they aren’t always on stage together. I think just about their whole library is bangers.)
Band-Maid - Thriller: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uds7g3M-4lQ&pp=ygUPcG9wIG1ldGFsIGphcGFu (More from Japan… more produced… but still really good listens.)
Poppy - Concrete: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwoGhpYdebQ (No idea what the fuck made this happen. But it’s been an odd trip seeing stuff like this come out over the past decade. But I think this song in specifically is an awesome mesh of pop/metal as much as that might be a hot take. Pretty sure most of the rest of her music isn’t “great” but the point stands.)
Wagakki Band - Homura: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ponTbDDMYjw (sometime even many metal-heads probably never heard… I’ve fallen down some weird rabbit holes).
Other overseas stuff…
Ningen Isu - Heartless Scat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbI79e5iZKs (Chucking this in because I just remembered them while making this list… Almost want to call it geriatric metal at some point… but I actually have a large spot in my heart for it. No idea why.)
There’s tons of Nu Metal stuff… You’ve probably heard of Disturbed, KoRn, Slipknot, etc… So I’ll try not to make a list of just the common stuff but keep in mind that the “hits” you’ve likely heard from these bands are just a very small sub-sample of their works… but each of those bands have their good songs and bad songs.
Rammstein - : They’ve been killing the nu-metal scene since effectively day one. They’ve been relevant for a long time. Till Lindemann is something special. He has crammed so much story into all of their songs if you want to look deeper than just raw lyrics. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeQM1c-XCDc if I had to give up just one video) you definitely heard of Du Hast, but probably nothing else from them. Till does some stuff on the side that’s pretty good.
Lacuna Coil - Heaven’s a Lie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wfRHPsRGkk
Lacuna Coil - Spellbound: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_VS2B48c24
I personally find this band underrated quite often… They flew under a lot of radars.
Many of the well known bands also produced tons of Ballad-ish songs that doesn’t outright sound “Metal”… but Metallica is 100% a metal band. It’s part of metal culture to a large extent.
Metallica - Nothing else matters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az-2Q-H7LXI
Then of course the “old school” metals… Very few are known for “screaming”.
Black Sabbath
Iron Maiden
Megadeth
Slayer
Pantera
Metallica
etc…
We even have bad ass game soundtrack music at this point…
Mick Gordon - Doom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a9E3n_VZRQ
I dunno… I’m sure some other metal-heads could give you more. I just threw this together as a sample of what I have in my lists. I’m also the weirdo that listens to EDM, Rock, Pop… and even weirder shit like “Vocaloid”. My current library is nearly 40k tracks…