Hi,

Despite having been into all sorts of metal for years, I've only recently began to realize my lack of old-school pure heavy metal. The only problem is that a lot of these bands have two qualities which I don't generally enjoy: 1) Happy, right, upbeat, major-key or pentatonic melodies, and 2) Simple power chord riffing.

So really, I am looking for pure heavy metal bands which are much darker in tone and/or more complex in structure. I have enjoyed Powerslave and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son by Iron Maiden, and Sad Wings of Destiny and Painkiller by Judas Priest. I also really enjoy old-school doom like Trouble, and especially Black Sabbath, but that's not really what I'm looking for.

Music I listen to is mostly death metal of the brutal doomy variety ala Dead Congregation, Incantation, Disciples of Mockery etc, and black metal of all sorts, but I don't think that would really apply.

Thanks in advance.

Check out Tyrant's "Legions of the Dead", which is like the epitome, the very definition of heavy metal.

... then move unto "Too Late to Pray" and be utterly destroyed. Traditional metal doesn't get much "heavier" than that and it's certainly dark, moody, etc, if you want to look at it that way. Iron Maiden? Judas Priest? Trouble? No, not even close to the broading heaviness displayed by "Too Late to Pray"...

Fuck! Gotta listen to it now.


You'd probably, or should enjoy Omen's first three too!

Death SS - In Death of Steve Sylvester is a fantastic dark 80s metal album. Highly recommended.

Which one? The American one, I'm assuming?

Ah, yes. Battle Cry, Warning of Danger, and The Curse are all excellent examples of classic USPM.
http://www.myspace.com/omenofficial

Assuming you found the page for Tyrant too, lol ... always annoying getting to that one. I should just remember they're always the last Tyrant (US) band listed.

Liege Lord is definitely worth looking into also. If you don't dig the shrieky vocals on the first two album, vocalist Joe Comeau sang on "Master Control" and has a much thicker/aggressive voice. He kind of sounds like Bruce Dickinson at times.

Black Knight's (Can) Araigathor is a masterpiece of dark fucking heavy metal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0VIVTQDnTY

However, while good songs like “Warlord’s Wrath” and “Fire in Your Eyes” make up the meat & potatoes of the album, it’s thanks mostly to a few totally fantastic tracks that I rate it so highly. The first of these is the incomparable “Aaraigathor”, which differs significantly from the other songs on the album both by being slower and more doom-like than any others, and by featuring bassist Glenn “The Hammer” Hoffman on vocals. And Jesus Christ copulating on a cracker, what a performance he puts on! I’m not quite sure what the song is about (Google searches haven’t helped me figure out even what the title means), but it seems to be about some guy losing touch with reality (“got this feelin’, reality’s just a dream!”) and going insane, and that’s exactly what Hoffman sounds like. His mid-range voice is powerful and just tears out of his throat as he half-screams, half-sings out the words. There’s just such powerful emotion and, dare I say, evil in his voice that a good comparison might be Glen May from Tyrant minus the falsetto stuff. You remember May’s awesome, visceral performance on “Sacrifice” from Tyrant’s first album? That’s what this is like, but I’m having a hard time deciding which is better. Yes, Hoffman is that awesome on Aaraigathor, with his really evil cackling and the confession at the end (“I think I’m insane…so insane”) turning into a maniacal scream…yeah, he really steals the show. The guitars are much more “open” sounding than on the other songs, with individual notes and chords being held out, with short breaks of silence here and there where no instrument at all is playing; it’s very effective at reflecting the atmosphere of the song. There’s an instrumental bit in the middle with some dual-guitar leads, which then picks up momentarily for a guitar solo, but it slows right back down again for Hoffman’s return. The atmosphere of this song is just incredible, easily rivaling anything Tyrant did (not that I’m knocking Tyrant, but rather trying to convey just how good this song is). Unfortunately it’s really the only song on the album that goes for that utterly evil atmosphere, but holy shit does it work. It’s all the more amazing considering Hoffman’s vocal performance was apparently done in just one take, with no overdubbing or anything, so we’re basically hearing him live…Lori Wilde’s quite good in her own right too, but I can’t help but wonder what Black Knight would’ve been like if The Hammer had been on vocal duties full time.

Definitely check out Tyrant.
Other than that, some French bands:
- High Power's s/t album. Some less dark songs, such as 'Casse Toi' and 'Alcool', though they still have something of a darker edge. Some dark songs, like 'Ode à la vie', and, finally 'Offrande Charnelle', which is just really evil.
- Blaspheme's 'Désir De Vampyr'. Consistently dark, with good and often catchy riffs. Somewhat doomy at times, sometimes closer to NWOBHM, always great.

Unfortunately, all of the more complex and darker bands I know are USPM.

You could try Soulfallen, Dark Death/Black Metal. Their album World Expiration has a really dark feel.

Thanks, but I'm looking for metal of the old-school, pre-thrash variety.

The obvious answers would be Candlemass (first album) and Mercyful Fate (first two albums), but you probably know those already.

Give a shot to Mezarkabul's Unspoken. It's brilliant as fuck, and I think it totally fits your request