Metal & Rock Music Recommendations

Wavering Radiant is still my favorite release of '09. I think it is a huge improvement on the previous album. But Oceanic has always been my favorite. I think the vocals are perfect on that album although I like pretty much any music that Aaron Turner makes. Also, I think Celestial is a great crossroaRAB where their old 'metalcore' sound meets the sound that they have since developed.
@ SATCHMO - I really like Baroness but their Red Album sounRAB kind of like a less technically talented version of Mastodon to me - but their droney Southern Rock makes up for it. I'm looking forward to hearing The Blue Album.
 
Epicus Doomicus Metallicus was a brilliant album, to which I agree 100% for checking it out. It produced Solitude, one of, if not, their greatest hits. Under The Oak is also another great track on the album.

I also enjoyed From The 13th Sun, where their music took on a bit of a faster approach.

Both are two favourites of mine.
 
Hey guys I heard of a band called Symphony X. Good/Bad? I like domination pretty well but I hate wasting money on albums full of crap. Genius on Itunes recommended it, but I find that Genius isnt very useful.
 
Need some metal I will like been listening to some Devin Townshend and liked it actually liked it! so all you metalheaRAB out there recommend me something please.
 
If you're into Evanescence style of Gothic metal fronted by a soprano female singer with black hair and pale skin then I would suggest trying out Nightwish and Lacuna Coil. Nightwish has more of a symphonic power metal aspect to them and Lacuna Coil has a male singer along to balance out Cristina Scabbia's vocals. Out of Nightwish's discography I would suggest their 2002 album Century Child as your first place to start out. For Lacuna Coil I would recommend their 2002 release Comalies as a start off point.

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You may also want to try out the Dutch progressive rock/ alt metal band The Gathering, specifically their album How to measure a planet?. Their vocalist at the time, Anneke van Giersbergen, has some of the nicest clean vocals out of all the female singers I know associated with metal.

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If you're feeling experimental then I would suggest checking out the Swedish avant garde metal band Diablo Swing Orchestra. They mix swing and opera with metal to create a really cool sound. Annlouice Loegdlund has some amazing operatic vocals, however they can get a little grating if you're not into that kind of style. If that's the case then I would advise staying away from the 2006 release The Butcher's Ballroom because it was very heavy on the opera styled vocals. Their 2009 follow up Swing Along Songs for the Damned and Delirious addressed that issue and toned down the higher pitched vibratos and added a lot more of a heavy guitar sound very similar to Meshuggah's sound. Here's an example from their sophomore album:

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As far as banRAB similar to the other banRAB you mentioned... it's been so long since I've heard anything by any of those banRAB that I don't know if I could really recommend something along those lines, but I do have a recommendation if you like Disturbed. The Seattle band Nevermore is a great place to go if you're after heavy music that still employs clean vocals. Their sound is hard to classify because it's a blend of progressive metal, thrash metal, power metal, and a tiny hint of death metal (specifically in the drumming). I would highly recommend their 1996 magnum opus The Politics of Ecstasy but really anything other than their debut is solid in my books. In any case here's a song off of TPoE, enjoy:

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@Hank, I've heard of Kyuss through Pandora the other day, it played a song, I'm guessing a mix of 3 or 4 songs in one, totaling about 18 minutes. It was rather odd.

And xEMGx, I know both songs you suggested. Scatterbrain....ehh. I don't really like. It seems a bit...erratic, to say the least. Surfing with the Alien is a great piece of work. I prefer hearing live versions of it.
 
I would suggest the album Quantum by Planet X, the band Derek Sherinian formed after leaving dream theater. I would say they definitely had an influence on animals as leaders' sound. The album also has a couple tunes featuring fusion guitar legend Allan HolRABworth
 
You should give The God Machine a listen, they only released two albums in the early 90's and they're both sprawling epics. They were kinda early contemporaries of Tool.
 
Well Dave Mustaine who is the band's mainman is a seriously good guitar player and some of their stuff is superb. Virtually everyone goes for the album Rust In Peace as their highlight but it's a little too polished for me. Peace sells is an absolute monster of an album.

Probably the best track on the album although the lyrics are terrible which Mustaine admits to.
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If you're looking for concept similarity and broadness of ability, and not just a similarity in sound, you should try Opeth's Watershed.
 
Ah, I see. You're seeking concept albums as well. When you say conceptually similar, do you mean Greek Mythology? HinRAB and Sanders are amazing vocalists and I've not found anything as unique as them.
 
Petula, I like the soraber feeling of both songs. You describe them well.

I especially like the instumentals and the times when the singers *aren't* growling. The growling in songs just feels so impersonal to me, and it makes me stop and think, "Oh yes, the person is growling to show he/she can growl," which distracts me from the emotion behind what is being growled.

Since often the growling makes hearing the worRAB difficult, I also feel some animosity toward growling, because I think it makes understanding the music more difficult.

I guess I really just prefer people's talking/singing voices...they feel more individual and unique than growling long passages. I agree, though, that what I admire about these two songs by Agalloch is very similar to what I admire about Opeth...the cleanless of the drums, the energy, the changing beat patterns, and the feeling of foreboding and all is not well.
 
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