Oh God, someone help me. When I first heard "Touch in the Night," I howled betrayal from the rooftops, but now...now I can't go half an hour without listening to it. What am I doing with my life? What even is my life? WHAT AM I FIGHTING FOOOORRRRAAAGGGHHHH?!

Thanks Zelkiiro, now I can't get that song out of my head.

And, guys, is the Blind Guardian's new album hype real?

The new Blind Guardian is quite solid. Very reminiscent of Imaginations, though not quite that high-quality. "At the Edge of Time" is really the only weak tune, whereas "The Holy Grail" is probably in my Top 10 of favorite Blind Guardian tunes. It's also a grower, so don't expect to have your mind blown upon first listen.

Nah, I liked it instantly. It's easily their best album in 20 years...and I really liked (the song) "At the Edge of Time," so your mileage may vary - it's probably my favorite song on the album. I'm not one of those people who loves everything they do, and I loved their new one.

Definitely wouldn't say the new BG is their best in 20 years. I probably like it better than their last two, so perhaps their best in 13 years, though I wouldn't put it *that* much higher than their last two. It has some great songs and some good songs and a couple of crap songs ("The Ninth Wave", "Miracle Machine") which is about par for the course; I'd say every single one of their albums has been along those lines. There's always at least one song I don't like (actually, AtEoT didn't have any, but it didn't have any truly great songs either), so while BtRM might be a slight step up, I'd really just say it's another typical BG album, which is to say it's very good but not amazing.

"The Ninth Wave" and "Miracle Machine" are great to me. I didn't like anything they did after Imaginations as much as I do this one - it gets back to what I wanted to hear from the band all along.

Are there any current vocalists who can do classic Eric Adams : specifically the screams (The chorus of The Power, Power of Thy Sword, various places in Blood of the Kings, Wheels of Fire, Hail and Kill, Black Wind, Fire and Steel , that cringeworthy yet completely awesome bit in Spirit Horse....).

His screams had a certain rough raspy powerful quality and quite different from lot of the banshees...It was like Ian Gillian updated for metal, rather than the falsetto so common amongst others...

Well, uh..... Most wailers in metal don't really use falsetto. Just because it sounds clean doesn't mean they're trying to be King Diamond

But to answer to your query, the one that comes immediately to mind is Urban Breed, who has a generally rough yet melodic set of pipes. I think that the last minute or so of this song is a pretty good showcase of what you're looking for:

I don't think this needed its own thread, and I guess this belongs here in this thread.

Black Sabbath's Headless Cross FINALLY clicked with me for the first time just now. It's always been one of only three Sabbath albums I've actively DISLIKED (the others being Technical Ecstasy and Seventh Star, which means, yes, I thought it was the worst of the Tony Martin era, and yes, even worse than Forbidden, which I never thought was that bad anyway). Before, I could only get into the title track and Devil and Daughter. But I didn't think as highly as I could've of the title track, because it reuses the Heaven and Hell bassline. Also I made another discovery today, one of the riffs of Devil and Daughter sounds like the Children of the Grave riff. I wonder why NOBODY ever brings either of those things up? Anyway, I actually enjoyed all the songs on it this time. The first good sign was that I actually didn't mind the opening keys to When Death Calls. I've always thought they sounded DISGUSTINGLY like the opening keys to Whitesnake's Here I Go Again. But I didn't mind them this time. And I was able to appreciate the rest of the song because of that. And the other songs too. I noticed a lot of good riffs that I hadn't before, and I noticed some nice guitar leads that I haven't noticed before.

One thing that must be noted, even though I always liked all the other Tony Martin era albums to some extent, and REALLY liked Cross Purposes, I've never liked Tony Martin himself as a singer. But this listen of Headless Cross, I FINALLY enjoyed his performance! Though I must admit it still seemed awkward listening to him and knowing this was Black Sabbath. He's talented, but he lacks any "roughness" for a lack of a better word, that is usually enjoyed by pretty much any metal band that isn't "flower metal." I've never been able to understand anyone who would listen to Heaven and Hell and exclaim, "This isn't Black Sabbath!" And even though I finally enjoyed Headless Cross, I can completely understand someone saying that about this album.

The obvious answer is David DeFeis, but I'm sure you already knew that (and "current" is perhaps a bit of a misnomer).

For lesser known, newer vocalists that have that raspy sort of quality, the guy from Crusader's 'Onward into Battle' is pretty good; a bit more gruff, but he fits the bill well enough. That's the only guy I can really think of, since Adams isn't terribly often imitated and restricting it to modern stuff makes it even less often. But check that out.

I bet Nils K Rue could do a mean Eric Adams impression.

@DoomMetalAlchemist: cool to know Headless Cross clicked with you. Great album. I very much disagree about what you said regarding Martin though. Guy doesn't sound squeaky clean by a mile (that only applies to his higher, piercing wails), and has in fact plenty of texture to his voice.

If you look for male demonic screamers seek no further:
Sean Peck: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43YGAzRR3Dw
Kelly Carpenter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfQL1aFQ9pg
Yannis Papadopoulos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj1dCJxkKc4
Jan Thore Grefstad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZD-zLBTCQQ
Tim Aymar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAHaOzgWsmc
Jürgen Volk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DWaTFtldLw
Herbie Langhans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3m99nfBUHg

This guy is more rock oriented but still - Nathan James: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqsKLGHUJq8

And as somebody already said do not underestimate clean singers (they can also use raw power) - a lot of them are even somewhere in between clean and raspy sound. See Daniel Heiman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcZAj1MPpeo

Guys. Guys. Can we talk about Black Magic please? I had a feeling ever since I scoped the cover that I needed this, but it was pricey. Finally got my copy yesterday, gave it a spin coming into work this morning. God DAMN that is a hot little piece of heavy metal. It's way more nuanced than I expected, at least in the first half. Around the second half (The Ritual moving forward) their style seems to change a bit. They slow down quite a bit, working in this real grimey atmosphere that reminds me of Midnight covering Autopsy. It's an odd, abrupt switch but they make it work. Don't get me wrong, by the way, they don't completely abandon the trad sound. If you've heard it I think you'll know what I mean. Please tell me some of you have heard it...

edit: "All of the tracks on side B (songs 6-9) were taken from the band's 2010 demo Reap of Evil." Oh. Well that makes sense.

Not current, but check out "Reign Of Terror" by Wild Dogs, those high shrieks fucking rule.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln8K0WNWZZ0

Just got my copy of Sword and Sorcery Heavy Metal last night. It's so damn cool to hear some new Cauldron Born stuff. Homie from Temple of Blood killlllls it on the vocals. This is in no way a criticism, but did anyone else notice there is a recurring vocal line/delivery in Crom, Count the Dead that sounds just like Nightmare from Fate? It was driving me crazy until I placed it. I'm sure a complete coincidence, and a happy one in my book.

Obviously I need more time to digest the material. That's a dense EP! I loved hearing Calling From the Crystal Tower. I know it's an old demo jam but it might as well have been a brand new track for me.

Edit: We should hook them up with a newer band photo. That dude's see-through shirt kills me every time.

Why SOOO many people dislike Forbidden? It's as Doom as you can get!

I love it, very, very much. It's greater than any album between 1981 and 1994; and maybe 13.... because OH YES, Ozzy again with Iommi after more than 30 years. But I don't like Ozzy since, well, 30 years ago.

And I also haven't heard any Tony Martin's stuff away from Sabbath, but Forbbiden is much better than the other four albums.

The little scores for Forbidden gives me an idea it's best to avoid that one.

Black Sabbath's Forbidden is, without any exageration whatsoever, the worse album I ever bought. So fucking awful that it was embarassing for the band.

Shit like this is the reason why, a few years later, I embraced filsharing with a clear conscience.

I have never understood the hate for Forbidden, it's on par with Cross Purposes just a thinner production job. I always thought that eventually people could come around and start praising it. I haven't listened to it in years but I can still recall the chorus to "Shaking Off the Chains" and "I Won't Cry For You".

I've always been VERY confused about the all the vitriol towards Forbidden, especially by people who are otherwise pretty much Tony Martin fanboys. Is it great? No. Is it bad? Also no. A pretty decent album if you ask me. Got some pretty good riffs on it.

Worst album you bought? Can't imagine what else you bought.

I mean, I listen to The Illusion Of Power (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifwvsYKuYRw), and it's the doomiest song BS did in over 20 fricking years.

So the new Enforcer is excellent. They're on a roll.

Agreed. People are so turned off my Ernie C/Ice-T's involvement and the production that they dismiss any of its good qualities.

It's a dull, dull album. Outside of 'Kiss of Death', which is pretty good, but not up to the quality of the highlights on previous Martin-era albums. It's a shame they had to end on that low note.

Yes, it's such a shame they broke up forever after that album.

BROKE UP FOREVER.

NEVER CAME BACK.

.....so, I'm assuming you guys aren't into The Devil You Know?

That album has like 5 good ideas and a whole lot of "Uhhhh....uhhhh...shit...uhhh....HERE....this will work!"

Can't agree. I love how heavy and dense it is, and it has plenty of highlights; speedy Eating the Cannibals, the riff onslaught of Bible Black, the thundering monstrosity that is Breaking Into Heaven..... Sure, it's gloomy and mostly very slow, but they make it work.

Yeah, TDYK is awesome. Way better than 13 anyway, even if you don't like it!

Disagree entirely. the only two songs I like on The Devil You Know, despite me being enough of a fan of doom metal to have the genre in my screen name, are the up tempo ones: Eating the Cannibals and Neverwhere. I like three songs from 13 to a similar degree: God is Dead, Loner, and Zeitgeist. Still, I think the lesser songs from 13, which are decent but not that great, are better than the lesser songs from The Devil You Know, which are flat out boring. And there are less of them on 13 than on The Devil You Know (not counting the bonus disc).

I think the disappointment I experienced from first listening to The Devil You Know will forever ONLY be rivaled by the disappointed I experienced from first hearing St. Anger. Not that The Devil You Know is anywhere near as bad as St. Anger, but my expectations for The Devil You Know were over the moon, as I have always been a big fan of Heaven and Hell, Mob Rules, and Dehumanizer. But The Devil You Know sucked.

I'm not always in the mood for TDYK, but I like all the songs on there. Dio sounds great in his lower register and it's a great album to work out to with those heavy, crushing rhythms. Not the best Sabbath ever did but I've always enjoyed it.

The Devil You Know is alright, it could have been a lot better. Like Dehumanizer I feel that it needed a bit more light and shade rather than just shade (which was a real strength of the Dio era). A few faster tracks wouldn't hurt, either, and importantly they should have let Vinnie contribute his own parts.

"Dio sounds great..." I disagree there. He sounded fine, but he lacked the passion and angry "growls" (not in the death metal sense) that he sometimes used throughout his career, and abundance in Dehumanizer. If you don't know what I'm talking about, basically the "Look out!" part at the end of Children of the Sea (yes I know that's not on Dehumanizer, but that's the first example that popped to mind). If he used those kinds of vocals, it could have been a lot better. And I know he could still do it, as he did it on David Rock Feinstein's song Metal Will Never Die.

Acrobat brings up a good point about the drumming. It was really f*cking boring, and that probably contributed to the weakness of the album. From what I understand the drum parts were written on a drum machine without Vinnie's input, and then Vinnie was just instructed to play what they had on the drum machine. Big mistake.

Also I found Iommi's riffs boring.

Reminds me I need to revisit The Devil You Know soon again. From what I remember I never liked that album too much. On the other hand, I didn't like Dehumanizer when I got into it and appreciate it a lot more once I revisited it so who knows what I'll think of the album this time.

The Devil You Know was fantastic. Although....it really wasn't immediate at all. I remember being disappointed when I first got the album. The new songs they wrote for the Dio Years comp were brilliant. I had high hopes for that album. After a bit of time, it started to sink in. Some of the songs are just devastating in the best possible way. Follow the Tears, Bible Black, Double the Pain, Eating the Cannibals, all awesome tracks. 13 doesn't compare to The Devil You Know.

I don't think it is better than Dehumanizer though. Dio never sounded as good as he did after that album and Strange Highways.

You reminded me on another point about why The Devil You Know was such a disappointment to me. I also really liked the new songs for The Dio Years, so I was fully expecting they still had it in them.

As for The Devil You Know being a grower... I listened to the full album every day for like the first fucking MONTH I owned it... and a few times since in the following years... and I still could never get into beyond the two up tempo tracks.

You know how many listens it took me to get into Never Say Die? TWO. On the first I hated it, on the second I really liked it.

Then you probably just have a crappy taste, man

As for the Dio thing; he doesn't sound as sharp in TDYK, of course, but his voice there has a warm, booming quality that I found hard to resist. I remember someone in these forums saying that he sounded like an aging, yet powerful sorcerer, and I gotta concur. You know Saruman? Yeah, sorta like that.

I admit, even though I have absolutely no understanding of all the hate Forbidden gets from Tony Martin fanboys, I DO completely understand why Never Say Die gets all the hate it does. However, if you judge it for what it IS, rather than expecting heavy doom and gloom, it really is a good album.

And you know what I've always wondered about Sabbath and metal fans? This seems like as good a place as any to bring this up. Everybody calls Metallica sellouts for the black album and/or Load. A lot of people called Megadeth selliouts for Countdown to Extinction and/or Risk. And even though the vast majority of metal fans hate Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die, I have NEVER ONCE seen anyone accusing Sabbath of selling out because of one or both of these albums. Why? Is it because they failed commercially? If the exact same albums were released except they went to number 1 on the charts, would people THEN call Sabbath sellouts for those albums?