Hi everyone

I am a huge power metal fan, it is what I listen to mostly throughout the day. However, I would like to take a break from the superficial and immediately satisfying world of power metal and delve into deeper, more meaningful corners of metal.

To keep it short, I am looking for any kind of metal that has real meaning or emotion to it, something that I could lay down with and focus all my attention on it and be content. Music that I can take something out of after a listen, maybe a new perspective. Something I could take out of a cinyl sleeve and regard it as true art.

I am unfamiliar with most genres of metal except for Power Metal and Death Metal, so feel free to recommend me even the most seemingly obvious of bands.

Those things are all extremely subjective. Could you give any concrete examples?

I realize this, and thats why I'm not confining it to one genre of music. I felt that I could lay down and absorb Filosofem by Burzum, Mule Variations by Tom Waits, and certain classical pieces. I am just looking for music that you, personally, regard as a great piece of art. Something YOU lay down with and completely abosrb. And I want to give these pieces a try for myself.

EDIT: like right now all I've been listening to is Helloween. this needs to stop lol, I almost feel guilty and pleby listening to it as I cant see it as art no matter how hard I look at it.

Check out F#A# by Godpseed You! Black Emperor! and let me know if that fits your general idea.

So basically very atmospheric or epic music?

Bolt Thrower and Immolation are death metal bands that provide a very dense atmosphere for me. Check out Bolt Thrower (almost any album) and Immolation's Close to a World Below.

If you want very atmospheric black metal as you like Filosofem then check out Blut Aus Nord's Ultima Thulee. That is a very dense atmosphere that is wintery and very isolation inducing. One of my favorite black metal pieces.

Yes, music that promotes solitude is a great way of putting it. Music for reflection etc.

I will check out Blut Aus Nord's Ultima Thulee, thank you.

Yes, I enjoy Bolt Thrower, but I just regard it as kickass music more than anything.


And right now I'm listening to F#A# and so far this is perfect, thank you

I seem to mention this album a lot lately, but it's just that it's so fucking perfect.

Power metal ain't necesarily cheesy fantasy and that. If you don't know it already, why don't you listen to Angra's Temple of Shadows? Not only the music is amazing, the lyrics are some of the best I've ever read.

Or delve into the realms of doom and try out Skepticism's Stormcrofleet, there's a review there in the archives that describes it as a force of nature. That's exactly what that album is, it's not music, it's the sound of the Earth itself, screaming with life and might.

No problem dude! It's one of my favourite records of all time. So apocalyptic and perfectly constructed.

@garthmargengi

thank you, I will check out Stormcrofleet for sure.
Temple of Shadows is an awesome album, I love the first half of the album to death, but again, to me its just some kickass music I listen to while doing mundane things to make them seem more exciting.

So you want music with a "deep" philosophy behind it? Is that what you mean? If so, you can start from some basic early death metal by none other than Death themselves; you could start by "Human." From there you can work your way into more dissonant and obscene forms of death metal.

Death: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j8vUbMmOwM&ob=av3n

Also, Burzum could be a good point to start for black metal. You could also give Darkthrone's "A Blaze in the Northern Sky" a try.

Also, if you don't care if it's necessarily extreme metal, you can listen to some different kinds of power metal, and maybe progressive metal. Try listening to Fates Warning (one of my all-time favorites), or maybe some progressive metal that's easier to listen to, such as some of Devin Townsend's works.

I think most metal subgenres have a lot of "deep" meanings, but the above should give you a simple start on some of the more well-known artists.

Also, try Isis's 2nd & 3rd albums; they're atmospheric sludge metal and both of those albums are concept albums.
Isis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Qz8e7pgy_Y

yes thank you, I'm basically looking for anything "deeper" than the German power metal I usually listen to, whether that mean musically or lyrically. Whether that means it creates a strong atmosphere, invokes pondering thoughts, promotes certain emotions, or leaves you speechless after a particularly powerful passage. So far, most suggestions have been fantastic, thank you all!

If you liked F♯ A♯ ∞, you definitely should give their next album -- Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven! -- a shot. It's not as desolate as its predecessor, and will probably take a lot longer to absorb, considering the length. But it's fucking sorrowful in places, especially the song Sleep. Also, the final part to Antennas to Heaven is one of the most beautiful and thought-provoking pieces of music I've ever heard.

Another excellent post-rock band is Sigur Rós, who also happen to be one of my favorite bands of all time. Pretty much everything they do is deep and emotional. Their newest single, Ekki múkk, is no exception to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INWZy3-Vw80

Also worth checking out is Jónsi's solo work. It's a lot more upbeat and poppy when compared to Sigur Rós, though just as lovely.

I'm probably going to catch a lot of flak for mentioning them, as some folks around here have less than stellar opinions about them, but Alcest evokes an incredible atmosphere, and is a lot deeper than all those wannabe Darkthrone bands. They're the perfect gateway to both black metal and the shoegaze genres. Here's one of my favorite songs by them -- the title track to Les voyages de l'âme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8g9QncPOk0

I can't go without mentioning Cocteau Twins. Blue Bell Knoll and Heaven or Las Vegas are beautiful (and catchy!) albums. Here's a song from the former: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE6YAjFucdQ

Hope that helps.

maybe Porcupine Tree is sth for you. To give the child a name you could label it as Progressive Metal, however I foten feel that this may not be the correct genre description. But just let the music (btw - all of them are incredibly talented) and lyrics speak for itself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y77CN0Xrubo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hELgBUZRjHI

Also Moonsorrow, esp. the Verisäkeet album, is sth I would highly recommend. Archaic yet fantastically "deep" pagan/black metal with a twist. Not sure if your power metal ladden ears can get used to this kind of vocals but have a try:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZRXEje4Xl8

Finally I suggest trying out sth non-metal like Marillion. I personally am a fan of the Fish-era (Fish was the singer for the first four albums). His lyrics are very poetic and "deep" (in lack of a better word). Some people I know of don't like his voice that much but once you got used to it, it's perfect (imo).
The later Marillion with their new singer are also great however not as great as the Fish stuff.
Fish era songs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jL4OLoOP7mY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufUCdNXS1T4

and here's one with Hogarth (singer after Fish)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ4nCLQKHl4

edit: not to forget Devin Townsend. He has many fantastic albums but "Biomech" by his Ocean Machine project is sth I would rate as mone of my all-time fave albums:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOO0pgotV0o

Other than the Neurosis discography? Well, Inquisition provide a very ethereal atmosphere, even at their thrashier moments:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CN-K27yiVrk

I listened to this Augury album twice whilst picking thistle on a windy day in a civil war park; I have trouble thinking of more appropriate music:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrAHhZuSeSY Seriously though, the musicianship, tonality, variety and lyrics will warrant complete immersion.

I find the avant-garde band Magma quite involving, what with their great drumming and made up language: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1RK2XioUHA

Here's some syrupy-smooth funk, from the almighty Thundercat:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Osn5kyoTtI&feature=relmfu This melts me and I consider myself lucky to have stumbled upon this guy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0RWnzd_b_k
I lost about a week of my life to this Toe album. Dive right in, this is the best post/math/whatever band I've heard.

This band sounds better the louder you play them, welcome to Sleep Party People :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFUzvbkEvRk Shoegaze/dreampop haters should give this a listen as well (if it doesn't turn ya, ah well). You can actually sample most of the album on youtube, as they seem to have a music video (live ones, mind you) for each of them.

Immolation - Close To A World Below
Disembowelment - Transcendence Into The Peripheral

Two of the deepest, most hard-hitting metal albums I've ever heard. The former is calculating and sounds symphony in hell, the other is a miserable, unspeakable horror that slowly eats away at your sanity.

this any good?

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

Any atmospheric band would fit your description well, really, thus I recomend
- Agalloch (specialy the Mantle album) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmoe7wwm4HM
- Primordial (specialy the Storm Before Calm album) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1eTUEiPShg
- Wolves In The Throne Room (all albums) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZPpsZt1hrw

As someone who is not really into Power Metal for pretty much the same reason you mentioned, I have to recommend Bathory - Hammerheart and the Nordland albums. When I first heard this, I thought it sounded Power Metally but I consider it to be so much more and they have gone on to become some of my favorite albums.

http://youtu.be/mKrkXJ0-EB4
http://youtu.be/5TUXbrw4pNY

I second the Fates Warning recommendation, and recommend starting with "Awaken the Guardian". It basically is (US) Power Metal, but with a completely unique progressive twist.

For "music that promotes solitude" you might also want to try some Candlemass.

It probably would've helped to post a song from a better Hogarth-era album; Radiation is one of Marillion's worst.

Here's a couple Brave and Marbles respectively -- two albums which I think tower over anything they've done with Fish:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gAeYxvKpDA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZh17m2IBbk

right, Brave is really a great album. However Fish, for me, towers over everything from the Hogarth-stuff Just a matter of taste, I suppose

Twenty replies and no mention of The Ruins of Beverast? What is this I don't even

I can respect that. Fish's vocals just grate on the nerves sometimes, which is why I prefer Hogarth's more subdued approach.

You should go with My Dying Bride - The Angel and the Dark River
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQJUUDsfRek

Anathema - Alternative 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-55ZYpTwu1g

In the Woods... - Omnio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAkTRkc8 ... re=related

Coming from someone who views power metal as just as "artistically capable" as other metal genres, for what it's worth...

Within the realm of power/prog, try Anubis Gate's last three albums. Particularly The Detached ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5Q6iZEf ... E261A872E8 ), as it's one of the most thoughtful and immersive concept albums I've ever heard, and solid-gold proof that the genre needn't be "fluff".

Cormorant: just about anything, but enjoy this track from their first full-length: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5e-DSgWVkW4 Do check out the lyrics to all three of their releases, because Arthur is as thoughtful a lyricist as they come.

Kalisia - Cybion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0f_N6nTpmA The entire album is there. This is actually my favourite CD of all time. It's similar to The Detached in that there's quite a thoughtful sci-fi story behind the music (they even invented a whole functional language just for its usage a few times in the album). Listening to this is like watching a movie. With your ears.

Maybe some Jethro Tull will make it for you... I'm not a big fan of the band, but their instrumental track "Bourée" got me from the beginning

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2RNe2jwHE0

Also, in the most relaxed spectrum, give Forest a try

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfANIXC-3-c

lykathea aflame - elvenefris

Later Moonsorrow is incredibly immersive, especially Verisäkeet and V: Hävitetty.

Not sure if this will fit your description, however:

Fates Warning's The Spectre Within (especially the tracks ''The Apparition'' and ''Epitaph''.

Can't think of any other specific albums but as far as songs go Dream Theater's ''Learning to Live'' and Virgin Steele's ''Crown of Glory'' are songs I'd define as deep.

Check out the latest Nokturnal Mortum record, "The Voice of Steel" - it is deep, intense, meaningful yet also highly melodic and digestible Pagan Symphonic Black Metal.
You should love it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hY5Obwfq5k

Also try Munruthel - A combination of Symphonic Black Metal and Power Metal with vocals and guitars typical of both genres.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFsbyeD6zo0


Well, and if you want to stick to just clean vocals and just want to have meaningful lyrics and fine music:

Start getting into Savatage. Metal doesn't get much better than them.

Abyssmal Sorrow - Requiem For the Dying Moon
Ahab - The Hunt
Alcest - Le Secret (original recording sounds best, IMO)
Alrakis - M20
Black Lotus - Terra Hiberna
ColdWorld - A Dream of a Dead Sun
Colosseum - The River
Doom:VS - Half-Light
Fallen - Gravdans
Les Discrets - Le Mouvement Perpétuel
Lyrinx - Isolation
Slagbjørn - Oceans of Sorrow
Sun of the Blind - Cursed Universe
TotalSelfHatred - Enlightenment
Vo Skorbyah - Father Part I
Walknut - Grim Woods

A load of funeral doom and DSBM (although some are quite happy) bands that I am deeply fond of.

Let me add to that list of Doom metal the fantastic band Dark Covenant.

You should definitely give the album magni blandin ok megintir by falkenbach a spin it has some great folk sections and brilliant lyrics.

First of all, I strongly agree with the Agalloch rec (though my favorite album of their's is Marrow of the Spirit).

If you can handle them, Unexpect is also quite good, and one of the few metal bands that are still musically satisfying after I started liking Mozart. Unexpect plays Avant-Garde metal that is quite nearly perfect, utilizing glorious melodies/harmonies and just enough dissonance to give some interesting conflict. And even though they're constantly shifting time signatures and tempos, there's something amazingly consistent in their rhythm. Lyrically, they combine the humorously nonsensical with a powerful over-arching message (we've been searching for a savior for thousands of years, but became blind on the way, and the blinds are dreaming about the color of their souls). Again, they're pretty much perfect. Check out their latest album, Fables of the Sleepless Empires.

Les Discrets is Post-Metal, and very similar to Alcest. The main differences are Les Discrets doesn't use Black metal, and has a stronger atmosphere (imo). Fursy Teyssier created Les Discrets as a way to combine his visual art with music, so his album artwork complements the music nicely (on a side note, he also did the artwork for Alcest's two latest albums).

And finally, Rosetta. They're also Post-Metal, and very chaotic. They're quite interesting and have intelligently written lyrics.

EDIT: I keep coming up with new rec's, all very different and diverse. Black, Doom, Sludge (the Post-Rockish kind), Melodic Death, Post-Metal/Rock, and Avant-Garde all are good genres to delve into if you're looking for something deep. It might pay to create a more specific thread only concerned with one genre, you have a better chance of getting interesting rec's.

Thats a pretty sweet Godspeed album that Necro mentioned. I also second Agaloch's The Mantle. A lot of other sweet recommendations here, too. Since you like Tom Waits, I'm assuming your familiar with Rain Dogs and Bone Machine. If not check them out. I'd also assume you know Nick Cave, all his albums from the 1990s are amazing. You might also like Man's Gin who have that same singer/songwriter style and has a deep/philosophical vibe on some of their songs. They also have songs about the excess of life (drinking, kicking ass ect) and theres a pretty sweet murder ballad on the album, too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-paPfnX1to

The guy from Man's GIn is also responsible for the majority of the instrumental work (and the occasional vocals) in the black metal band Cobalt. The singers in the American Millitary and the lyrics reflect that, but in a more metaphorical sense than the bands that just sing about killing people. "Eater of Birds" is awesome, but their most recent album "Gin" is probably my favourite black metal album of all time (yes, even more than Filosofem.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNjwEa560bM

Also, Neurosis would be the first metal band that comes to mind when the term "deep" metal is mentioned. Not just because of their lyrics, but also because of the experimentation and depth (sorry, couldn't think of another word) of their music. They have gone through many changes throughout the years and no album sounds like the last. They have released everything from hardcore punk (in the late 80s) to crushing post apocalyptic sludge to metal that incorporates tribal/ambient/folk influences. I especially recommend their album "Souls at Zero", which I might just think is the best metal album of all time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U64kHFwKEjU

I also recommend Isis's "Panopticon" album with deals with some pretty heavy themes, and has a wonderful atmosphere ("Oceanic" is also amazing.) There is also a band called Panopticon, which deals with philosophical/political themes and has some pretty diverse music (on one album he incorporates bluegrass into black metal in a way that actually doesn't suck.) Some people may be put off by his far-left wing ideals. A related band, Skagos, is also worth checking out. Gris's music seems pretty deep, although I don't speak french so I can't account for their lyrical content. Elysian Blaze's sophomore album is also worth a listen. Finally, going to recommend Lurker of Challice. I have no idea what the lyrics are about, but the music is great and has an overall deep feel.

Deathspell Omega- Si monvmentvm reqvires, circvmspice

also seconding Ahab and My Dying Bride rec's

These are very broad terms and could touch on anything from classical, to atmospheric rock, to ambient music. I have recommendations for those, but I'll hold off on them for now and start with (what I consider to be) metal bands that might satisfy your curiosity.

First, generally speaking, if you're looking for deep music, the post-rock/metal spectrum in general might be your forté, especially when it incorporates ambient music and/or touches on astronomical concepts.

Agalloch are my favourite band and have been for almost half a decade now. They have more to do with black and folk metal, but they basically tear them down and rebuild them from the ground up again with an emphasis on melancholy--but not depression--and somehow manage to make heavy, doomy soundscapes that take you on a journey through the landscapes of summer and winter and everywhere in between without resorting to thick layering, bombast, or the general abrasiveness that metal as a genre is known for. It's not a textbook exercise in technical musicianship, but it just works. The fact that Haughm's signature rasp is not unlike a whisper does much to enhance the experience.

All of their works are phenomenal, but I'd say, start with either The Mantle or Ashes Against the Grain.

A more recently-born act that tends to fall within the controversial djent spectrum are Uneven Structure, having just released their debut, Februus, at the end of October last year. They employ heavy Meshuggah worship--polymetrics, polyrhythms, thick, massive riffs, pounding drums, etc.--even by the standards of their kin, but differ by using more melodic and evolutionary structures á la post-metal, as well as spacey ambience and guitar effects. Conceptually, they touch on the creation of life and meaning from nothing and the evolutionary process thereof, (though it could probably be interpreted in quite a few different ways), delivered through Romarin's screams, but also his cleans in equal measure, something more or less absent in Meshuggah's catalogue. The album is one hell of a journey--likely my favourite of 2011--and should, in a way, fit your desires quite nicely.

Void of Silence is a band whose idea is simple: to combine the heavy, dirging crawl of funeral doom metal with the emotive, worlds-end drones of dark ambient music. What results is a vision of a post-apocalyptic world whose surface is covered in black ice and whose grey sky only allows for the dullest obscurity of a sun behind the clouds, delivered to you through the medium of music. Fittingly, they sing of the salvation that never came, leaving humanity to destroy itself with its own greed and constant infighting. Occasionally, keyboard, acoustic passages, and distant female sopranos can be heard. The band has been through a few vocalists, the current being Brooke Johnson, famed from The Axis of Perdition. His delivery is suitable on The Grave of Civilization, but the performance by Alan Nemtheanga of Primordial on 2004's Human Antithesis arguably made it the band's opus, his high, almost-wailing voice supplementing the depressive atmosphere perfectly. If nothing else, that album is an absolute must.

All three of these are very different bands. I think they'll keep you busy though.

No. Melancholy is not what their music has. The word is so often used incredibly broadly, where "vaguely sad" and "dreamy" would be much more expressive, where even "wistful" would be an overstatement. Melancholy inmplies not only sadness, possibly moroseness, but also lethargy, weariness and pessimism. This is semantics, yes, but I think it's terrible that Agalloch's music is seriously considered melancholic. That's not to say I don't enjoy the sad, wistful atmosphere they sometimes have, especially on The White (their full-lengths are mostly boring crap though, I can only listen to them on rare occasions).

...I'll admit that "melancholy" is perhaps a strong word. Agalloch are exceedingly simple in their execution most of the time (for a metal band), but they manage to make songs that could be taken either way. Songs like "Odal," "...And the Great Cold Death of the Earth," and "Fire Above, Ice Below" could easily be listened to during the good and bad days (that is, of course, if you enjoy them enough; some people don't).

I've always loved Agalloch's The White, if you can appreciate good folk.