I dedicated this thread mainly to discuss bands that aren't exactly "metal"- either because they sound like metal but aren't metal, or come close to metal but don't quite break through- but you still either enjoy their music.

My own preferential picks are-

AC/DC= A lot of people not into the metal scene very oft think of these guys as heavy metal, although they, in fact, are just hard rock from an age that the term was used ambiguously with heavy metal.

System of a Down= I was never quite sure whether SOAD was nu metal, alt metal, or whatever the hell they are. Still, they're very well within the borders of pseudo-metal for me, and I shamelessly enjoy them to this day.

Wolfmother= Much like Led Zeppelin, there is much debate as to whether these guys are 'heavy metal' since their sound is so traditional.

Led Zeppelin= Same situation as Wolfmother, there is no clear idea on whether they're heavy metal or not.

Blue Cheer= They've been heavy from day one, but despite this- even after listening to "What Doesn't Kill You..." thirty times in a day, I don't know if I could ever call them "heavy metal." Almost metal, and very, very bluesy, raw, pure, unadulterated hard rock, but "heavy metal"...

Tool= A band most prog hipsters flock to just to say they don't like Green Day, I've always considered them prog metal- even though their metal side has almost completely disappeared since Opiate.

I got to say Mana Mana. It's a finnish depressive rock band, who some would propably even consider metal because of the heavy guitarwork. I think it's something totally else. It's very cathartic music, not propably understood by anyone but us Finns (I might be wrong though). Though not metal, it has a heavier atmosphere than what is found in most heavy metal.

Rammstein are great - Both the epic, somewhat beautiful songs like Sonne, and the manic energetic and fist-pumping material such as the likes of Du Hast and Mein Land. Probably my favorite "pseudo-metal", and the only one I can think of at the moment. I quite enjoy System of a Down on occasion.

Also got quite a love of glam, if that counts? Particularly stuff like Ratt, Tesla, etc.

I'd say System Of A Down and Deftones because both bands incorporate/incorporated metal into their music and although Deftones have moved away from a metal sound, their songs are still sort of heavy.

i still don't understand how anyone could consider ledz to be heavy metal... maybe i'm just too young for that view point

as for more on topic: while not something i'd actively listen to, i don't mind most glam... but on the whole, i'd say i usually don't like the border cases - i either listen to stuff that's clearly metal, or stuff that clearly isn't

While I think Rammstein is 'metal enough' nowadays, I agree.

I think glam/hard rock is the closest to borderline metal I listen often. I was listening today Whitesnake's Serpens Albus (Sykes just rule!). I also listen some Poison, Warrant, Bon Jovi, Tesla, Skid Row, White Lion, Europe, etc. I also like stuff like Survivor, Journey, Robert Tepper and such. If counts, Queen.

Dir en Grey.

They have definitely evolved into something quite unique-sounding on their last 2 albums. Started out as a pop-rock/hard rock band of sort, then did some shameless nu-metal -esque stuff in the early to mid 00s - all of which I selectively have grown to liking, but it's on the last two albums that they have started to rule. Their music (on the last two albums) is pretty hard to categorize, but it has elements of progressive metal, some doominess in some songs, some deathcore, even some trad metal -sounding influence on the falsetto vocals of some songs etc., and lots of other stuff. The songs vary a lot, having interesting drumming (from metallic and straightforward to proggier stuff), powerful basslines, some excellent guitarwork and most importantly - the vocal range and ability of Kyo. That dude goes from nice growls to high-pitched screams and a variety of emotive clean vocals. The lyrics are usually very well written too, and relevant to my interests as a Japanology major.

Listen to yourself, if you think they are still a shitty nu-metal band or an off-putting visual kei band or something. So yeah, for fun's sake: The Blossoming Beelzebub (2011), compared to their early material, Yokan (1999). No line-up changes within the band since they formed, heh. Pretty interesting, in my opinion, as bands tend to mellow out as opposed to going this route - especially bands of this caliber when it comes to popularity (in their home country, they are big).

I suppose Virus (NOR) counts

Here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBmueYJ0VhA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOKQxYfCuk4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtwVQlWjBvA

Would Jethro Tull count as "almost" metal? There are a couple metal songs in their discography such as "To Cry You a Song" or "Minstrel in the Gallery", and other songs like "My God", "Cold Wind to Valhalla", or "Wind Up" have a couple riffs which could be tied to heavy metal. Anyway, they are one of my favorite bands. I own quite a few of their albums...I think my favorite they ever did was the "Benefit" album, but I also love "Songs from the Wood", "Minstrel in the Gallery" (except for the "Baker St. Muse" which, while still great, goes on for WAY too long in my book), and of course "Aqualung". The vast majority of their stuff is acoustic, but they can rock when they want to! I think I'm going to dress up as Ian Anderson this Halloween for my band's show...even though blue jeans, flannel shirt, and long, unkempt hair is pretty much how I look all the time. Anyway, some of their 80's stuff is cool too, like the "Broadsword and the Beast" album, which is a masterpiece, but I wasn't as into "Crest of a Knave" for whatever reason...maybe I just need to give it more listens?

I've always kinda struggled with what is and isn't metal, on the fringes of rock. Many bands I just assumed were metal turned out to be hard rock. Probably because my tastes just happen to surf that grey area of lite-metal, but whatever.

I love a lot of 70s rock/metal, which like was said above, was a time when hard rock was interchangable with metal. Uriah Heep is probably the big one. Love the keyboards and epic fantasy aspect.

Jess and the Ancient Ones is a fantastic one from 2012, my favourite album of the year. Retro prog/psych rock with keyboards and female vocals that probably doesn't count technically as metal (but its still in the archives). Part of the whole retro/occult rock/metal revival (Jex Thoth, Ghost, Blood Ceremony, ...), which should all be relevent to this thread.

The Devil's Blood falls in to that Occult Rock (i.e. doomier Blue Oyster Cult) category and deserve a mention here. I'd say they stray pretty deep in to doom in a lot of their songs.

I enjoy some Alice Cooper and some of the more recent stuff is actually quite heavy....like Brutal planet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA3OWll_Das

Nope, it's not.

I find I'm really liking that whole new psych/occult rock thing that's been popping up lately. Jess and the Ancient Ones has released one of the best albums of the year and I really liked Year of the Goat's EP last year. It's odd because I'm not really much a fan of the bands they take huge influence from.

To my ears Protest the Hero's Scurrilous is straight-up progressive metal with a mixture of tech-thrash and alternative elements, but since most apparently don't recognize it as metal, I'll pick them on the basis of that album.

lol.

Use this thread: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=74483

The name of the topic is better and there's no "while I think this band is metal, they're not on MA" kinda posts.