Kguillemette | 1,547 Posted November 15, 2023 Author Share Posted November 15, 2023 #18 Sonata Arctica- San Sebastian Sonata Arctica set a tone for what power metal could be. Toni Kakko is a heavy synth driver as well as the owner of a vocal range I am very jealous of. I really enjoy the early works too where their lyrics contained lots of melodrama, which was very unique for power metal at the time. All in all, great band with extremely high highs, "San Sebastián" being tops. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed Rothchild | 9,593 Editorials Team · Posted November 15, 2023 Share Posted November 15, 2023 I'm starting to think @Kguillemette likes power metal Here's my personal fave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kguillemette | 1,547 Posted November 15, 2023 Author Share Posted November 15, 2023 @Reed Rothchild you are just figuring that out now?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNESNESCUBE64 | 554 Posted November 16, 2023 Share Posted November 16, 2023 (edited) 4 hours ago, Kguillemette said: #18 Sonata Arctica- San Sebastian Sonata Arctica set a tone for what power metal could be. Toni Kakko is a heavy synth driver as well as the owner of a vocal range I am very jealous of. I really enjoy the early works too where their lyrics contained lots of melodrama, which was very unique for power metal at the time. All in all, great band with extremely high highs, "San Sebastián" being tops. Excellent choice. I don't really like the band a ton, but San Sebastian kicks ass. @Reed Rothchild we need more people who like power metal in the world. Glad that I am not the only one here... Edited November 16, 2023 by SNESNESCUBE64 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kguillemette | 1,547 Posted November 16, 2023 Author Share Posted November 16, 2023 #17 Slayer- War Ensemble If there is some big energy, loud aggressive drumming, flashy guitars, and other things that make me want to go 150 mph through my day, I'm in. Slayer epitomized that. I love Seasons in the Abyss and "War Ensemble" still gets my blood pumping all these years after first hearing it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kguillemette | 1,547 Posted November 17, 2023 Author Share Posted November 17, 2023 #16 Borknagar- Up North Borknagar has always been great, even if just a touch below the big boys like Dimmu, Emperor, and Mayhem. Garm was fine, but when you actually feature Vortex as the lead... I mean come on. His voice is incredible. This song first came to my attention about a year ago having no idea Borknagar was even still active. It's easily been my top 5 most played since then. It's settled down a touch since then but still remains pretty heavily featured on my personal playlists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kguillemette | 1,547 Posted November 21, 2023 Author Share Posted November 21, 2023 #15 Death- Scavenger of Human Sorrow We have reached the top 15! Here we have the second best band from the Florida Death Metal scene. When I say band, I really mean the brainchild of the amazing Chuck Schuldiner. Death started out making pretty generic death metal by today's standards, though it was absolutely pioneering at the time. Never satisfied, the songwriting grew more complex and technical with every subsequent album after Scream Bloody Gore. He also seemed to have a knack for recruiting some of the absolute finest session players to help with the recording, composing, and touring of his quite insane brand of metal. His last album was his finest in my opinion, with "Scavenger" being an amazing song. It may not be the best background music for working out to, but for just listening, it is a feast for the ears with everything going on. I know I'm getting slower with updates mostly every other day right now, but I will absolutely reach this finish line! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kguillemette | 1,547 Posted November 24, 2023 Author Share Posted November 24, 2023 #14 Nightwish- Sacrament of Wilderness Now I do prefer Nightwish with Tarja over Nightwish with Floor. Not because I prefer one vocalist to the other, but more the songwriting really peaked with Tarja in my opinion. Reading about the band, it seems Tuomas Holopainen was head over heels for Tarja for basically her era's entire iteration. As the main songwriter, there were just endless love letters written to her that she constantly overlooked and otherwise rejected. Eventually she marries someone else and the tension between them reverberated throughout the band making it unsustainable. Hell, by my interpretation, "Ghost Love Score" was Tuomas relenting and mourning a relationship that never happened. Tarja and Tuomas couldn't be around each other to the point where she even traveled to concerts separate from the band,(hence the infamous "You're Fired" open letter. Petty much?) Tarja and Nightwish's divorce was inevitable, but their best music was made along the way. Once, Wishmaster, and Oceanborn are all killer albums. Century Child and Angels Fall First are very good ones. After that they get kinda "eh". Angst is quite the muse, isn't it? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kguillemette | 1,547 Posted November 25, 2023 Author Share Posted November 25, 2023 (edited) #13 Dethklok- Lost Vikings Can it be that a fictional band designed to be a parody of a typical heavy metal band could produce something on par with the best the genre has to offer? Well, yes. Especially when you manage to hire Gene Hoglan to write and perform your beats for you. The metal community as a whole embraced the shit out of Metalocalypse knowing full well they were being made fun of, because the metal community knows how to take a joke! And besides, Dethklok songs are badass! Edited December 1, 2023 by Kguillemette 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kguillemette | 1,547 Posted November 29, 2023 Author Share Posted November 29, 2023 (edited) #12 Amon Amarth- Twilight of the Thunder God You gotta love Amon Amarth. They escaped me for many years and after digging deep into their catalogue, I found remarkably consistent music. Great steady beats, harmonies, aggression, energy, and an edge all define who they are, along with subtle history or mythology lessons. When a group of fantasy geeks get together to make some death metal, we get, in my opinion, far and away the most fun MDM out there. "Twilight of the Thunder God" gets me pumped every time. I love this band. And being the remarkably consistent songwriters they are, of course we get a bonus track for the day! They haven't lost a step in their over 20 year history. Keep it up, guys! Edited December 1, 2023 by Kguillemette 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hammerfestus | 3,891 Posted November 29, 2023 Share Posted November 29, 2023 Damn you got some nice selections on this page. Sonata Arctica was a big favorite for me for a good while. Fell apart after they kicked the guitar player out. If you haven’t, look into Songs of Silence live album. Just the first 2 albums worth of material. Don’t know why spotify shows it as a 2010 release. Original lineup and in my opinion much better quality than the one from ‘06 after they’d replaced the keyboard player. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kguillemette | 1,547 Posted November 30, 2023 Author Share Posted November 30, 2023 11 hours ago, Hammerfestus said: Damn you got some nice selections on this page. Sonata Arctica was a big favorite for me for a good while. Fell apart after they kicked the guitar player out. If you haven’t, look into Songs of Silence live album. Just the first 2 albums worth of material. Don’t know why spotify shows it as a 2010 release. Original lineup and in my opinion much better quality than the one from ‘06 after they’d replaced the keyboard player. In my opinion they really fell off after those first two albums. The first one had a couple good ones on it, but Silence was awesome straight through. They never really grabbed me after those two albums. They needed that keyboard player. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kguillemette | 1,547 Posted November 30, 2023 Author Share Posted November 30, 2023 (edited) #11 Dream Theater- Learning to Live Dream Theater is a somewhat polarizing group in metal. I think it is widely agreed that individually, they are incredible at playing their instruments. After all, this was a bunch geeks at Berklee that formed the band. My opinion of them is that they are a group of collaborative artists capable of any sound, emotion, or feeling in their music. They can lay it gently, though they often lay it real thick. They can keep it simple, even though they keep things complex. Much like life, which is what "Learning to Live" is about. It's a song of perseverance, growth, and acceptance. It's what I play when life seems really tough. Oh, and Mike Portnoy is also solidly in my top 5 of metal drummers. After this we are into the top 10! I'm sure many can guess what bands will be featured given what hasn't been seen yet. Any takers? Edited December 1, 2023 by Kguillemette 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kguillemette | 1,547 Posted December 1, 2023 Author Share Posted December 1, 2023 #10 Children of Bodom- Silent Night Bodom Night First off in the top 10 we have a nostalgic pick. I dont consider this CoB's best song, but it still remains my favorite to this day. Much of the metal I had been listenening to and discovering at the point I found Children of Bodom had all been these over the top productions. You know, those 11 minute prog rocky feasts with multiple time signature changes and sounds like all a whole bunch of songs blended into one. Then I watched an early Youtube video that was going viral of a young kid covering this song on guitar. It was only 3 minutes long and it kicked my ass! Metal didn't need to be over the top with its songwriting to be good. Speed doesn't necessarily need to be a feature of the song. It can be a focus too. The simplicity within the speed of it was an inspiration for me to learn an instrument. It seemed fun to play. And it was. I learned this song surprisingly quick. Very simple lrlr double bass beat that carries almost the whole song. The main groove is super simple, and the fills are nothing to it if you can perform a double stroke. They are still doable if you can't, which I could not at the time. All in all I love this song. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed Rothchild | 9,593 Editorials Team · Posted December 1, 2023 Share Posted December 1, 2023 I clicked on this thinking CoB was due Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed Rothchild | 9,593 Editorials Team · Posted December 1, 2023 Share Posted December 1, 2023 On 11/30/2023 at 9:21 AM, Kguillemette said: After this we are into the top 10! I'm sure many can guess what bands will be featured given what hasn't been seen yet. Any takers? CoB (obviously) Blind Guardian Iced Earth Strapping Young Lad Megadeth Cynic Black metal (Emperor, Arcturus, or Immortal perhaps) Maiden Priest Mercyful Fate 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNESNESCUBE64 | 554 Posted December 1, 2023 Share Posted December 1, 2023 On 11/30/2023 at 11:21 AM, Kguillemette said: After this we are into the top 10! I'm sure many can guess what bands will be featured given what hasn't been seen yet. Any takers? There's been too much power metal to not have Helloween, Iron Savior, and Blind Gaurdian. Bonus points for Avantasia or Masterplan. In terms of what's left I kinda am guessing Judas Priest and maybe Megadeth. Dunno about the rest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kguillemette | 1,547 Posted December 1, 2023 Author Share Posted December 1, 2023 2 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said: CoB (obviously) Blind Guardian Iced Earth Strapping Young Lad Megadeth Cynic Black metal (Emperor, Arcturus, or Immortal perhaps) Maiden Priest Mercyful Fate Mercyful fate already mentioned Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed Rothchild | 9,593 Editorials Team · Posted December 1, 2023 Share Posted December 1, 2023 21 minutes ago, Kguillemette said: Mercyful fate already mentioned 9/10 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed Rothchild | 9,593 Editorials Team · Posted December 1, 2023 Share Posted December 1, 2023 1 hour ago, SNESNESCUBE64 said: Iron Savior Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DefaultGen | 5,436 Posted December 1, 2023 Share Posted December 1, 2023 3 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said: Black metal (Emperor, Arcturus, or Immortal perhaps) Poor black metal, you're all just one band now. Do people listen to Arcturus? I bought The Sham Mirrors as a kid and I love that album. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed Rothchild | 9,593 Editorials Team · Posted December 1, 2023 Share Posted December 1, 2023 21 minutes ago, DefaultGen said: Poor black metal, you're all just one band now. Do people listen to Arcturus? I bought The Sham Mirrors as a kid and I love that album. I just don't see him having room for more than one. And we've seen Vortex twice, so Arcturus seems like the favorite. He mentioned Florida metal coming up, and everything indicates that will be Cynic. Guardian is a forgone conclusion. Hard to see a list that looks like this not having Iced Earth too. SYL has to be a mortal lock. Those guys are all over this list. Priest and Maiden for obvious reasons based on his tastes. Megadeth is the only major thrash band he hasn't done. That leaves one more. Did Kg already do Dio? Will he count Scorpions? Or another Devin Townsend joint? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy_Bogomil | 815 Posted December 1, 2023 Share Posted December 1, 2023 31 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said: He mentioned Florida metal coming up.. Savatage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed Rothchild | 9,593 Editorials Team · Posted December 1, 2023 Share Posted December 1, 2023 On 11/20/2023 at 6:59 PM, Kguillemette said: Here we have the second best band from the Florida Death Metal scene 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hammerfestus | 3,891 Posted December 1, 2023 Share Posted December 1, 2023 1 hour ago, Reed Rothchild said: Spot #1 Cannibal Corpse? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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