Good Metal Songs/Bands

[im just 2 good]

What are some good hard rock/metal songs/bands that you would recommend? I prefer 80's hard rock/metal but I like some new stuff too like Disturbed and Slipknot. I listen to big name bands like Metallica, Maiden, Priest, Megadeth, Guns 'N Roses, Slayer, Anthrax, Dio, Pantera, etc. but I want to expand my music library. I also like Buckethead, Joe Satriani, and stuff like that.

[The JoZ]

What are some good hard rock/metal songs/bands that you would recommend? I prefer 80's hard rock/metal but I like some new stuff too like Disturbed and Slipknot. I listen to big name bands like Metallica, Maiden, Priest, Megadeth, Guns 'N Roses, Slayer, Anthrax, Dio, Pantera, etc. but I want to expand my music library. I also like Buckethead, Joe Satriani, and stuff like that.

First off you're going to have a bunch of people come in and bitch at you for listing Disturbed and Slipknot; In fact, go ahead and ignore anything Civil Disobedient says right now.

That being said, some good metal bands to check out if you want to expand include:

At the Gates
In Flames
Dark Tranquility
Soilwork
Dream Theater
Unearth
All That Remains

The first four are European bands that are pioneers of the melodic death metal sound, music that's heavy but also melodic, as the name implies.

The latter three are American bands, ranging from the progressive to the more mainstream.

Check out songs by all of these bands to get only a small taste of what other metal bands can offer.

[Flip-Hkd]

I would recommend Children Of Bodom.

[Tequila Sunrise]

I'll second Bodom as well. Always have been a favorite of mine and are one of the few metal bands I still listen to consistently. Heres a few tracks to get you started: Silient Night Bodom Night, Warheart, Hate Crew Deathroll, Bodom Beach Terror. Somebody Put Something In My Drink...really can't go wrong anywhere with these guys.

Also Black Label Society is another I'd recommend, a few tracks to get you going: Suffering Overdue, Fire It Up, Stoned and Drunk.

Oh since you like Judas Priest I'll also recommend Manowar. A few good tunes: Battle Hymn, Thor, Blood of the Kings. \m/

[Spiner202]

Manowar is EPIC!!! I second them.

Most of the reccomendations from those guys have harsher vocals, so I'll try to give a lot of clean vocal reccomendations.

For Thrash, try Exodus, Heathen, Artillery, Annihilator, Violence, Bonded By Blood, and Gama Bomb.

The first 5 are 80's thrash and are more traditional. Violence has a messed up singer but all of those bands are good. The second two are new wave thrash bands and are pretty good, but not as good as the 80's stuff.

For some Power Metal (Maiden, Manowar), try out: HammerFall, Helloween, Gamma Ray, Blind Guardian, Edguy, Avantasia.

Those guys are all fairly traditional Power Metal. Helloween and Gamma Ray are more based around speed, and Edguy's later work is more hard rock, but those bands are all excellent starting points.

[Cytosine]

You should try Opeth for something more progressive (especially if you like Dream Theater, whom The JoZ recommended). For a thrashier band, go for Lamb of God. Based on the current bands you listen to, especially Pantera, I think you'd like them.

[Vermillion]

Definitly try Bodom and DT. And Arch Enemy are another to try out as well. Some songs to try are Enemy Within, Ravenous, Dead Eyes See No Future, Rise Of The Tyrant, Nemesis and The Immortal

[MetalheadSiege]

If you're willing to give Prog/Math Metal a try I recommend Meshuggah! They have been hit & miss over their last few albums, but the last release obZen was my pick for best album of 2008. The drummer will have you drop your jaw at his precision (stand out track: Bleed.)

[Flip-Hkd]

I wouldn't recommend Meshuggah for starting off, nor Opeth. Not till you get into metal more, then Opeth will really make a lot more sense and you will be able to fully appreciate them.

Imo, Meshuggah requires a certain taste.

[Two Angels And A Dream]

Ok the stuff people have posted (for the most part) is heavy, way heavier than the majority of stuff you listen to.

So for Rocky/Metal stuff try out these bands. Most people here would claim they're tame but if you like Disturbed then most of these should fit your taste:

Allele
Atomship (Highly Recommend)
Black Stone Cherry (Highly Recommend)
Chevelle
Cold
Drowning Pool
DoubleDrive
The Exies
Faktion
Finger Eleven
Godsmack
Motograter
Pain
Puddle of Mudd
Revis
Saliva
Sevendust (Highly Recommend)
Socialburn
Staind
Stone Sour
Taproot
40 Below Summer

[Forgotten]

Try some of these bands for mainstream, but not generic mainstream:

Breaking Benjamin
Three Days Grace
Seether
Rev Theory (Light It Up, Hell Yeah)
Black Tide (Shockwave, Light From Above)
Trapt
System of a Down

Prog that no one has listed yet:
Symphony X (Eve of Seduction, Set the World On Fire, Paradise Lost)

For heavier stuff go for bands other people have recommended (Like Arch Enemy and All That Remains), but also try:

Lamb of God (Laid to Rest, Set to Fail, Now You've Got Something To Die For, Ruin)

Machine Head (Halo, Aesthetics of Hate, Slanderous, Supercharger, A Thousand Lies)

Born of Osiris (Bow Down, Abstract Art, The Takeover, Bracelegs, Rosecrance)

As Blood Runs Black (My Fears Have Become Phobias, Hester Prynn, Before the Break of Dawn, Legends Never Die)

And for a sound that ranges from funk to metal and is all about comedy look up:

Psychostick (Beer is Good, ABCDeath, Prozac Milkshake, Scrotal Torment, Hokey F*ckin' Pokey, Jingle Bell Metal, Orgasm=Love, anything by them)

[The JoZ]

Try some of these bands for mainstream, but not generic mainstream:

Breaking Benjamin
Three Days Grace
Seether
Rev Theory (Light It Up, Hell Yeah)
Black Tide (Shockwave, Light From Above)
Trapt
System of a Down

Zero of these bands, except arguably Black Tide, are metal.

However, Breaking Benjamin is downright awesome, their new album certainly has some heavier tendencies, and I heartily recommend them anyway.

"Diary of Jane", "Breath", "Evil Angel", "Until the End" and "Had Enough" are great songs to check out here.

The rest are all hard rock bands really

Prog that no one has listed yet:
Symphony X (Eve of Seduction, Set the World On Fire, Paradise Lost)

For heavier stuff go for bands other people have recommended (Like Arch Enemy and All That Remains), but also try:

Lamb of God (Laid to Rest, Set to Fail, Now You've Got Something To Die For, Ruin)

For LOG, add in also Hourglass, Walk With Me in Hell, Redneck, Black Label.

As Blood Runs Black (My Fears Have Become Phobias, Hester Prynn, Before the Break of Dawn, Legends Never Die)

Mentioning ABRB reminds me that they are on tour with Bleeding Through, who nobody has mentioned yet.

"On Wings of Lead", "Love Lost in a Hail of Gunfire", "Declaration", "Death Anxiety" are some great tracks of theirs to check out.

[Civil Disobedient]

First off you're going to have a bunch of people come in and bitch at you for listing Disturbed and Slipknot; In fact, go ahead and ignore anything Civil Disobedient says right now.Shut up. The guy is asking for our help and is willing to expand his horizons, I wouldn't bitch at anyone for listening to **** bands if they were willing to branch out.

To the OP, you may be interested in listening to some Metalcore at first: bands like Killswitch Engage, Caliban, Heaven Shall Burn etc. Check them out on last.fm and follow the recommendations and similar bands from there.

[The_virus]

Check them out on last.fm and follow the recommendations and similar bands from there.

Finding bands this way is much better. There are some great suggestions here, but plugging in bands you listen to already and following links on sites like Last.fm are a good strategy too. Some bands are unique, so there's no real musical links that will hit the nail on the head. Most of the time, you'll find other relevant bands to your musical taste.

I also agree that Opeth is better understood once you listen to other, more focused metal.

[xxSlipknotxx]

Shut up. The guy is asking for our help and is willing to expand his horizons, I wouldn't bitch at anyone for listening to **** bands if they were willing to branch out.

To the OP, you may be interested in listening to some Metalcore at first: bands like Killswitch Engage, Caliban, Heaven Shall Burn etc. Check them out on last.fm and follow the recommendations and similar bands from there.

Man, is it that time of the month already? Just accept you are the only person here that listens to terrible music but still have that holier-than-thou mentality :wink:

Can't forget As I Lay Dying or Reign of Kindo. About the only metalcore I can think of off the top of my head

[Dan]

How could you say that CD listens to terrible music, and then go ahead and criticise him for being 'holier-than-thou'?

[xxSlipknotxx]

The same way I can congratulate you on your comprehension skills

[Dan]

I understood perfectly what you said, it's just incredibly hypocritical to label someone as overly-judgemental and holier-than-thou when you go ahead and criticise him straight after for his music choice, which, for the record, isn't half bad.

Oh and I'd like to just point out that you're listening to Slipknot while 'commenting' on his musical decisions.

See what I did there?

[xxSlipknotxx]

1) At least its not Radiohead. Talk about an average band that doesn't deserve half the kids slobbering all over their nuts.

2) You really don't get it. The best option is to stop now before you cry to your wet nurse.

[Flip-Hkd]

his music choice, which, for the record, isn't half bad.

Only an opinion.

only person here that listens to terrible music

Just an opinion.


There is no standard which you can judge music good or bad, therefore both of you=wrong. Quit arguing.

[Civil Disobedient]

You confused the poor guy by quoting me.

Agreed that Opeth is generally a winner for anyone on the mainstream periphery of metal to get into better stuff. "Blackwater Park" was my first foray into death-ish metal.

[Flip-Hkd]

It's funny you say that because it was mine too, the track that is. Somebody here ont he boards had an ASCII saying "Blackwater Park" then I went on limewire, and so it began.

[The Crowing]

1) At least its not Radiohead. Talk about an average band that doesn't deserve half the kids slobbering all over their nuts.

You don't comprehend music very well, do you?

Also, Blackwater Park was my first Opeth/deathmetal album. Still don't like the genre as a whole that much, but I love that album to death.

[xxSlipknotxx]

****, haven't listened to Opeth in years. I'll third that rec, great stuff

And I lack musical comprehension because Radiohead blows? How hard is it to see?

Only an opinion.



Just an opinion.


There is no standard which you can judge music good or bad, therefore both of you=wrong. Quit arguing.

****, CD understood what I was saying, and everyone starts hopping on the wambulance. Its like raging in on a coversation far away from you. And sheesh, don't you have any other arguments than music is only an opinion?

[TheGreatOne]

What are some good hard rock/metal songs/bands that you would recommend? I prefer 80's hard rock/metal but I like some new stuff too like Disturbed and Slipknot. I listen to big name bands like Metallica, Maiden, Priest, Megadeth, Guns 'N Roses, Slayer, Anthrax, Dio, Pantera, etc. but I want to expand my music library. I also like Buckethead, Joe Satriani, and stuff like that.

I think you'd enjoy a band called UFO, try their live album "Strangers in the Night", some say it's the best live album ever made. Also have you got anything by Down? If you don't know them you'll recognise the vocals straight away being a Pantera fan...

[One Of Light]

I find it particularly interesting to read post chains like this... personally I agree that Radiohead blows, but this is a Metal thread isn't it?
Amon Amarth... Sonata-Arctica... both good metal bands. To me, earlier Avenged Sevenfold was good metal, now they've kinda dipped into the mainstream hard rock market just a bit, same as Atreyu...
Progressive Metal like Dream Theater is nice...
and if you like a punk/poppier mix try Coheed and Cambria - they have a 4 record-long story arch going, including their singer's side project "The Prize Fighter Inferno"
it might intrigue you.
I still love Disturbed myself as well... even if you might not consider them metal, even if you never did.

[Dan]

You cannot say that Radiohead 'blows' when they've done so much artistically. Even if you don't like their style, they at least deserve respect.

[xxSlipknotxx]

You cannot say that Radiohead 'blows' when they've done so much artistically. Even if you don't like their style, they at least deserve respect.

Radiohead blo...lets try it again

Radiohead BLOWS. Hmmm, wasn't so hard to say. I mean for the band thats supposed to engineer the next musical revolution (they aren't), they aren't very good

[The Eye in the Sky!]

I gotta agree there. I have Kid_A and OK Computer and while they have a few songs I'll listen to, I find them incredibly overrated just from the amounts of people that call them the greatest band ever.

[RedVengeanceIII]

5 greatest songs ever:

1) the Power by Manowar
2) South of Heaven by Slayer
3) Revelations by Iron Maiden
4) Megadeth's Symphony of Destruction
5) I Stand Alone by Godsmack

OK, I admit, the main reason I include that last one is because Prince of Persia: Warrior Within is my absolute favorite video game of all time.

[Civil Disobedient]

Radiohead blowsSonata-Arcticagood metalAtreyuHoly ****ing lol.