Esoteric stuff...Altmer's recs.

[Tarvos]

Let's make this thread about bands nobody else listens to (and that aren't just female fronted cumdumpster goth metal bands aka the stuff Retsu listens to. No offense, I love you, Retsu, <3 Vibeke Stene <3).

What I mean is bands like... here's just a couple.

Neurosis

experimental metal band from Oakland. Have put out a solid fuckload of albums (and no, I haven't listened to all of them yet, they're a new acquaintance for me). Borne out of hardcore punk, gone completely massively weird, heavy, atmospheric, groovy, plain Neurosis. These guys are innovators in a scene that has now become oversaturated (Isis, Pelican, Russian Circles etc etc).

Recommended album: Through Silver In Blood (1996). This is a classic album of the 90s for anyone into metal, punk, rock, or good music.

God is an Astronaut

Instrumental post-rock of the highest order. No bad flaws, no meandering, just good musicianship. I love that their songs often don't exceed five minutes (whereas bands like Explosions in the Sky just become wank).

Recommended album: All Is Violent, All Is Bright (2005)

Arcturus

Now disbanded avant-garde metal that isn't pretentious enough to scare me off. Garm of Ulver sings on it too, which is a HUGE GODDAMN PLUS. Love Garm. Absolutely brilliant shit.

Recommended album: The Sham Mirrors (2003 I believe)

Agalloch

Folk black doom metal? I don't know, but moody, atmospheric, and still rough like black metal ought to be. It's got the perfect atmosphere for winter. Completely in love with these fuckers, they've released some innovative shit (not just a Ulver retread).

Recommended album: Pale Folklore (1999), Ashes Against the Grain (2005)

Cynic

Progressive metal with musicianship to rival Dream Theater, androgynous robot metal vocals and death growls, more time signatures in a song than there are countries on the earth, songwriting of the highest order; this is musicianship and technical widdly woo skill at its best, without being overbearing. Recently reunited and released their comeback album, Traced in Air to huge acclaim. My top album for 2008.

Recommended albums: Focus (1993), Traced in Air (2008)

go ahead and recommend other stuff here

 

[foreign contaminant]

by 'no one has heard of them,' do you mean here at tcod or just in general? i can't accurately reply to this thread, but i guess it's okay if i spread a good word for some of my favorite bands.

television

these guys are my favorites. they are a punk band, but moreso in spirit than in what people recognize as the punk "style." they convinced the owner of cbgb to book more than just country music, and then it became what it is now. they play pretty straightforward rock music, but somehow it manages to be something more. i guess it stems from tom verlaine's solos; without a lot of what the liner notes claimed were popular in rock in the mid-'70s - les pauls, distortion, pedals, "exaggerated" lyrics - tom verlaine managed to create something remarkably similar and yet alien at the same time.

recommended album: marquee moon, definitely. they released two more albums, adventure and a self-titled, that i haven't gotten a hold of yet. they also released two live albums if you're interested in those.

the avalanches

they're a dance music group like daft punk, but these guys throw together sounds from several eras to make theirs work. you might hear pan flutes, multitracked vocals and synthesizers all within four minutes, and yet the song will still sound like it was placed together coherently.

recommended album: their only one, since i left you. they're still together, but they haven't said if they want to follow it up. it's fantastic and i like almost every track. (if you're going to download it, though, be sure you get the australian version. when the avalanches released since i left you in america, they had to slightly remix it because they couldn't clear samples. the band spent two years digging up those samples, so i can see how that can be agonizing.)

death from above 1979

a strange band indeed. there were only two members in the band, but it never sounded like it. within 40 minutes these guys managed to create a great mix of disco and punk (and metal? i'm not sure, but my metalhead friend thinks these guys sound kind of similar to his favorite bands). it's a shame they broke up, because i haven't heard many albums that were as satisfying as theirs.

recommended album: you're a woman, i'm a machine. dfa79 broke up in november 2006; the bassist left and formed a decent techno group, while the drummer is apparently a roots rocker now or something. in any case, their current projects sound nothing like dfa79, and it makes me wonder how they got along.

 

[Tarvos]

by 'no one has heard of them,' do you mean here at tcod or just in general? i can't accurately reply to this thread, but i guess it's okay if i spread a good word for some of my favorite bands.

here at tcod, but I doubt any of these bands bar Neurosis are very well known outside their respective circles either.

 

[Tarvos]

Pain of Salvation

I don't care what people say about prog metal. The fact that every band tries to be Dream Theater. These guys don't, and they are as fucking prog as it gets. Hideously complex songs, a barrage of different styles, a vocalist worthy of the mantle of Mike Patton (some real FNM inspired stuff here), concept albums about God, war, environmentalism, relationships, and the dysfunctionality of society and the influence on individuals. If Slipknot is kiddie metal, then this is metal for grown ups. This is for the literate. This is for people that enjoy music and intelligence in their metal.

Oh, and also one of the most emotional bands on the planet. Undertow, Trace of Blood, In The Flesh, their lyrics are ridiculously awesome and personal as well as being a mirror of society. Don't think I've seen many bands with better lyrics.

Recommended album: All, but Remedy Lane (2002) is the best starting point.