Ah Fifth Angel, not a bad discovery, I'm impressed. This is an excellent record, the follow up isn't as good, but still listenable. If I might make a recommendation, you seem to be very into what would make up the sound of white collar US Power Metal, or USPM. Please check out Crimson Glory's debut and sophomore, and Fates Warning from Spectre Within, to No Exit (Not that Night on Brocken is bad, but it's pretty much them aping Maiden and sounding a bit uninspired as a result) as well as Slauter Xstroyes' Winter Kill. They laid the foundation to what would become Progressive Metal in the 90's. To explain the difference between White and Blue collar USPM, let me put it this way. White Collar USPM is basically Hamlet, shakesperian in execution, finesse and expert musicianship taking more of a front seat to speed and outright power, of which blue collar has in spades. As for song examples, listen to Fates Warning's The Apparition (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3TImZgT5jA) and Omen's Ruby Eyes (Of the Serpent) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7obB2q-O4M). White Collar, you could say, borrows more from Progressive Rock, while Blue Collar stays rooted upon the catchy foundations and power of NWOBHM.

Let me know if you're interested in more bands, and even though blue collar USPM is more simplistic, it shouldn't be discredited just because.

Man, can't even remember the last time I listened to Legend's album. I was well pleased with the discovery I made with them back in the day. It's one album I'll have to give a listen to soon.

As of late I got a bit hooked up on Cathedral again. Forest of Equilibrium and The Garden of Unearthly Delights still remain as my two favourite albums of theirs but The Ethereal Mirror and The Carnival Bizarre are also worth noting!

What I'd like to do soon is discover some underground material again. I did well with that years back but then completely lost track of doing that.

Over 200 huindred songs is awesome. Which one should a person listen to first?

Did you see that it finally got officially rereleased earlier this year? Vinyl versions come with a bonus CD called Before the Fjords with a few demos and 2 unreleased songs. As far as I'm aware all the CD versions of that also have them but I'm not sure.

I listened to Crimson Glory's debut and it's an amazing album for sure. Very well written songs with satisfying solos and excellent melodies. For the most part, it sounded very much like Fifth Angel in relation to James Byrd's guitar playing and lyrical themes. Great White Collar USPM. I'll be sure to check out more in the future. I haven't gotten around to hearing Transcendence yet, but based off the reviews it seems to be just as good as the first album, if not better. I checked out a couple of the other bands you mentioned also and they're pretty good too, I could definitely hear NWOBHM influence in some of them such as Omen.

I can tell I definitely lean more towards White Collar USPM, as it has more of my style which is technical proficiency and cleaner, less grittier sounds. Blue Collar is definitely worth hearing as well though. Omen, (which I can tell is probably Blue Collar) definitely caught my attention a few times.

For some other bands I've gotten into lately, there's Riot (Or Riot V, whatever you want to call it). I loved their early albums like Rock City and Fire Down Under due to their classic rock influence which is most notable being that they were released in the late 70s and early 80s. Later albums such as Thundersteel were really good as well when they started picking up their speed a bit. There's also Attacker, Virgin Steele, and Chastain, which were also USPM including Riot. I couldn't quite get into Jag Panzer for some reason though, despite them having Joey Tafolla in their most essential album, who was a neoclassical shredder who had an excellent debut as a solo artist (even though he kinda copied Tony MacAlpine and Vinnie Moore's styles in their entirety).

For NWOBHM, I heard alot of Cloven Hoof, in which I think the Russ North age was the band's finest hour. I also heard Bleak House's "Rainbow Warrior", Grim Reaper's "See You in Hell," and Jaguar's "Axe Crazy," which were good songs coming from hardly successful bands unfortunately.

There were also some other bands such as Jack Starr's Burning Starr, who are really obscure. But you claim to be an 80s metal encyclopedia, so I'm sure you've heard of them.

Other than that, there's neoclassical shredders like Ethan Brosh, Dave Sharman who I now listen too frequently as well.

So that's basically a little overview of my playlist right now. Riot is becoming one of my favorites to be honest.

Riot's 70's output is a bit iffy for me, I mean, I like hardrocky metal, but their output from then sounds too... american, so to speak. It's got that feel good dumb american post hippie 70's vibe that puts me off for the most part, I mean to be frank off the debut and Narita the only songs that save em for me are the excellent Warrior, Overdrive, Narita, and probably Road Racin'. Fire Down Under however, really sheds the bullshit, plus the production job was the best out of the Speranza period, beautifully overdriven guitars in that one. Not to fond of the Forester era but welp, you're not missing much IMO. Of course I'm pretty sure you've noticed, they hit their stride with Thundersteel and the following record. Speaking of white collar uspm, please do check out Heir Apparent. I'm very fond of their first record and even though the singer they got afterwards was better technically speaking, the first one has better moments, in songs such as Keeper of the Reign. Attacker's pretty decent for the first two records, but I'm sure you've noticed the weird vocals, I'd say get used to weird vocals because you're gonna keep digging up bands with strange vocalists. Speaking of weird vocals, I'm sure you might've seen the post but I've got to reiterate, Manilla Road is worth a listen. Once they start heading into heavier territory after Metal, they straddle the line between blue and white collar USPM, mostly due to the fact that Mark Shelton (RIP) was a well read individual, whose lyrical subjects concern much of mythology, and the atmosphere the Road brought with their albums is of notice. Never been too fond of Virgin Steele and Jack Starr's stuff, but from speaking with friends, they actually hit their stride around the 90's(!!) with that double album they did. As for Jag Panzer, eh, don't sweat it, took me awhile to get into Ample Destruction when I first got it. It DID grow onto me though, my tip is to treat the first two songs as a Harry Conklin performance, since basically he's ruling the roost here musically speaking, and the first two tunes are a little pedestrian riffwise, except it picks up on Warfare by the solo. Once Symphony of Terror starts, you're good. Chastain is mostly good, except sometimes I wish he'd play faster songs, tempowise.

I can't say you might super dig the following NWOBHM bands, but I believe every power metal dude should listen to some filth on the other side of the spectrum. If you can't tolerate Venom at all, then I can at least recommend Blood Money. They're like Venom, if they only played fast songs, did lines of coke before playing, and had an actual singer. Both their releases are decent, though Red Raw and Bleeding is the shorter, more concise record. Battlescarred is also good but the longer songs wear thin due to the fact that they're a little monotonous, the good songs are an improvement over what they did in RRaB, those are the title track, Wolfboat, and Caligula off the top of my head. Trojan also comes to mind, though they're a lot less monotonous. Excellent speed metal on their only record, but the production might grate your ears, sounds like someone cranked an old fender amp and decided to put an overdrive on top of the already brittle tone, sounds hot as shit on the leads though. The next incarnation of that band was called Talion, and eh, not as good, but still worth a listen. To be honest, what makes the filthier side of NWOBHM appealing is mostly the energy and absolute I don't give a fuck attitude borrowed from punk. You can see it in Jaguar's Axe Crazy a lot, Peppard hides his leads through a wall of reverb, if you listen closely, you'll find out he's... uh, not that good. Still, that raw attitude is what makes it so addicting, check out their debut, Power Games. Searing rhythm tone like Savage's Let it Loose, basically Venom but cleaner. Avoid the sophomore, it's AOR trash. Grim Reaper to be honest, gets better in each successive album, See you in Hell is the standout in the first record along with Dead on Arrival, but they shoot their load too damn early. Fear no Evil and Rock you to Hell go in a little harder. Getting off my main point here, grit and filth is important, you gotta remember, this is still heavy metal, spawn of the death fuzz and doom saying of Sabbath and the pounding sounds and urgent speed of Priest. You can polish a broadsword but it's still going to be used to hack motherfuckers to bits.

My favourite metal bands are Limp Bizkit and Papa Roach!

Happy new year metal hell! Put some Venom on and celebrate with gusto!

Boy now that's bait I haven't seen in a decade or more. 2/10, no effort but a few points for nostalgia.

Grindcore/Powerviolence anyone?

Sean Reinert and Reed Mullin died last week. Focus was such a crazy good album to me when I was like 17 and I pobably heard it because someone in this old thread told me to.

evening folks! figured I stop by and say hi its been awhile since I last posted. so last year I managed to see both Amon Amarth and King Diamond in Chicago, two bands off my bucket list. in September for my birthday I am seeing Rammstein In Chicago.

recent Cds I've acquired:

Rotting Christ-The Heretic

Metallica-Kill Them All (yes I know im late to the game)

Rammstein-Deutschland

1349-The Infernal Pathway

Tyr-Hel

hope everyone is doing good.

Reinert was so young two... I still can't believe he passed... The cause of death still seems to be unknown two...

Human and Focus were and still are such important albums to me. May he rest in peace!

On recent news, I saw High on Fire and Power Trip in late 2019, and while High on Fire's set was a little disapointing because of the sound, Power Trip fuckin' blew my mind! Not only do these guys have a great live presence, but their newest album Nightmare Logic is absolutely killer, and the sound for their set was amazing!

On other recent news, I've actually managed to get my hands on what seems to be an early edition of Bolt Thrower's album Realms of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness. The thing is, I see these albums going for pretty high prices on eBay. I've seen it go for $50 and more, and I got my copy for somewhere between $5 and $10. So I'm still wondering how that happened and if it's actually the real deal. But it seems to be the real thing, so I'm quite happy!

Dude Reed Mullin was one of my favorite crossover drummers, I fucking love COC's Animosity, one of the most essential 80's crossover records. A fucking shame he died so young

Power Trip is a pretty decent band, and I can understand why a lot of people dig them, but to me their sound feels also-ran. Can't quite put my finger on it but I feel like I've already heard it before. Doesn't stop them from being very good live though, I'd love to catch them around where I live.

Fuck yes dude I love that album so much, best soundtrack to 40k, bar none. The guitars, bass, vocals, drums, christ man fucking everything is perfect on that record.

Quite depressed due to drug problems and life generally going nowhere and finally getting someone who hates my music, though I think his opinions are bullshit and I'm pretty sure the dude only commented just because he disliked the politics of a post I made, but it still stings. Nevertheless, I gotta move on, just because one asshole who is "experienced in going to a lotta metal shows and 'loves' oldschool death and black metal more than modern shit hates my more traditional sounding metal doesn't mean I'm gonna stop writing music period.

Still though, damn you just got Kill 'em All? Fuckin hell dude I remember when I got that CD back in 2007. The absolute rush that record gave me really cemented my love for metal and from there on it was digging for more cool and obscure shit. Now look at me 13 years later, kind of a loser but I'll be damned if I didn't say I didn't enjoy being a metalhead all this time. Rotting Christ is awesome, I love their first two records, how's that one btw? Also how was Amon Amarth? I've heard Johan Hegg's vocals are shot to shit due to his untrained screaming and bellowing doing a number on his throat. King Diamond must've been fucking awesome dude, I hope he played some Fate songs as well, would've been awesome to listen to Come to the Sabbath, Curse of the Pharaohs, Into the Coven, or of course, Evil along with some of his more well known solo work like Welcome Home and Abigail.

Yeah, I can see what you mean here. Their music is a modern take on more traditionnal thrash metal and hardcore music, and these sounds are quite assumed and pretty much upfront in their music, but it's genuinely original and still sounds pretty fresh to me. I recommand giving Nightmare Logic a few more spins, that's what worked for me. But of course, you might not end up liking them as much as I do regardless, but I still think they are bringing a new interesting spin on an old genre.

Ah! I agree! I love Bolt Thrower so much, but Realm of Chaos is among my top three of the band, and quite easily one of my favorite albums of all time. It also has a special place in my heart because it was released in 1989, the year I was born!

WOOHOO METAL HELL WOOHOO

Can't believe Lost-Thought posted in here he is a true veteran! Good to see you're doing your music man.

Good to see 'ol BAHAMUT and HEAVENDUFF too :)

As long as we all remember this thread we can keep coming back haha. I forgot to check for a while but stoked that theres still posts. What other thread on the internet has even lasted 15 years? I've been going back through my downloads and definitely owe a lot of recommendations to this place. MUCH LOVE

I think I'm seeing Carcass soon! Heading to Perth Australia. I live in Perth, Australia btw :D. Any radical metal bands from your city? We had a crazy grind band called RUPTURE from Perth they are pretty infamous.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61yjdCxvPbg

Tarot, these guys are an awesome 80s heavy metal band from my city. theres also Demlich and Turmion katilot.

Hi everyone

Also Happy 50th Birthday to Black Sabbath's first album.

I just joined Newgrounds and this looks like a good club for me. I love black metal, death metal, prog, doom, stoner and some nu-metal.

I actually have a question. I'm looking for more prog metal right now, specifically something that can rival Coheed and Cambria in terms of style. My criteria are that the vocalist doesn't use vibrato constantly, there's no egypt-themed interludes, clean vocals only*, creative instrumentation, they make concept albums, and they at least try for catchy choruses.

I know that really narrows it down but there should still be a ton of artists that fit the criteria. If you know any, I'll be really grateful.

*I can handle growls but it's comparatively really easy to find.

Sup bro!

Yeah! Back when Newgrounds was a major force to reckon with, this place was very active and I pesonnally got to know a shit ton of good bands through the guys and gals from the Metal Hell!

Well, I'm from Montreal so yeah! Gorguts, Cryptopsy, Beyond Creation, Neuraxis, Anonymus and more. We have two big metal scenes here in the Province of Quebec. The death metal scene based in Montreal, and the black metal scene based in Quebec City.

Yeah! I mentionned that on my FB and on Metal Archives forum, but forgot to say something about it here. It's crazy to think that the first metal album was released 50 years ago! And it's still a unique and enjoyable album regardless of it's importance to pioneering metal. It's a great album on it's own :)

I don't know what to recommand that would be similar to Coheed and Cambria. To me they were always more of a weird prog-rock/post-hardcore band than a metal band, and that's just not a genre that speaks to me all that much. But if you're looking for progressive metal, there's always Symphony X. They had that egyptian kind of feeling on some instance on V - The New Mythology Suite, but it's far less present on The Odyssey or The Divine Wings of Tragedy. Solid albums! Later in their career they released Paradise Lost, which might fit the bill.

You most likely already know about Dream Theater. Otherwise Images and Words is still one of my all time favorit prog albums. The band Fates Warning was always more than solid. Jim Matheos worked on other worthwile projects, namely OSI (which I love) and Arch/Matheos.

If you never listened to Blotted Science, I can't recommand them enough! They're completely instrumental, but they are worth it, trust me! Their 2007 album The Machinations of Dementia is a template of madly well writen tech/progressive metal that's all about structure and that doesn't sacrifice songwriting to favor technical prowess. Ron Jarzombek, their guitarist, is still most likely one of the best guitarists in metal now and of all time, although this guy always disappears for ages after releasing solid albums. Oh! And Alex Webster from Cannibal Corpse played with Blotted Science!

Anyone else here see what's happening with Stoned Meadow of Doom?

if there's one metal genre that truly gets me, it's depressive suicidal black metal

yes. i'm a little upset by it :(

Yeah, that douchebag Clint shot himself in the foot real hard. Crazy stuff! But seeing how he replies to bands asking him to take down their music from his channel, I think he truly deserves it.

wait... what exactly did he do?

one of my own songs. death thrash

Too bad he's not actually taking anything down. He's only making the videos private so he can make them public after everything "blows over".

https://mfknzine.com/2020/02/17/stoned-meadow-of-doom-youtube-channel-outed-for-racist-comments-by-metal-community-alternative-channels-to-switch-to/

wow. what a cunt. i don't listen to much stoner metal. i'm more of a black metal and brutal death metal guy, but that's just unfortunate that he's like that

Sorry for the late response.

I'm already familiar with Symphony X. They're somewhat grandfathered in for me since I've known about them for so long. They're pretty good, especially later on.

Yep, Dream Theater was a big one for me for a long time. I'm not as sure about their newer stuff unfortunately.

I'll definitely give Fates Warning another shot and check out OSI and Arch/Matheos.

As for Blotted Science, I'm usually not into instrumental stuff at all but I'll give them a try because you make a good case for them. Thanks a lot for all the recs!