The first Helloween album I heard was Gambling with the Devil, which I love. Since then of course I've gone back and checked out a lot of their other stuff. Keeper of the Seven Keys and The Dark Ride are great. I think I have their whole discography, and there are a lot of albums I don't know very well yet, but I pretty much enjoy all of it.

As for Jag Panzer, I discovered them when I looked up Chris Broderick after I saw him play with Megadeth, so I guess I've spent more time on their later stuff like Casting the Stones, even though it's not as easy for me to get into. I really should listen to their early stuff more. I just put on Ample Destruction to refresh my memory and I'm really liking it. They were definitely thrashier back then. Also less polished, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. They've really changed over the years. For example, I notice on Ample Destruction the vocals remind me of Rob Halford, and on Casting the Stones they're a little more toward Bruce Dickinson. Both good sounds.



I guess I was a bit vague, but both definitions sound good to me. I like a more aggressive playing style, and I also like lyrics and melodies that explore some serious themes instead of being lighthearted all the time. As a side note, it doesn't really matter but it's "she". Hence "Maiden".

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will definitely check them out and see what I think. I'm really hoping this forum will be a good place for me to find new bands to love. Having been a metalhead for a few years, I'm realizing that I've only scratched the surface. Once you get past the big names, there's so much out there it's hard to even know where to start.

Wow, I think I'm in love with While Heaven Wept. Both tracks just completely blew me away. Must download...
I may end up a Manilla Road fan, as well. Spiral Castle was pretty good, but I loved The Deluge. Definitely have to look into their stuff from that era some more. I find the vocals a little weird, but I can get used to that. I'm working my way through the other suggestions and so far liking them all to varying degrees.

Haha okay. Well, to be fair I think the male/female ratio among MA users must be something like 1,000/1; by default, "dude" will turn out right much more often than "gal" here. More importantly, I see "Maiden" in a nickname, I automatically think Maiden, Maiden.


Both comparisons are fair to all involved, as these are three giants among metal singers right there, but I think Conklin always had a voice and an approach of his own. If anything, his range got lower (and slightly shorter) over the years and his style got a bit more restrained. On AP, he was at 150% on every single line, whereas on more recent recordings, he offers a little less raw power and a bit more contrast. Either way, the Tyrant is consistently awesome.


Glad to hear that, br... errr... sista!?

Haha. You don't have to try that hard. But yeah, it's an understandable assumption to make, and obviously my choice of the word "Maiden" on a metal forum is non-coincidental. Up the irons! \m/

Yeah. I'm thinking the exact same thing. I remember a few pages back when people recommended them to me, and I just did not like the stuff I heard. I can't really start complaining either, as that would sound extremely stupid. So I think the best thing is to just wait until it's over.

Not at all! Gamma Ray, at least the song you posted definitely sounds lighter the Virgin Steele. But if we're going with your definition of dark, then you have to mention Dark Quarterer, though that fits in with what I'd call "dark" power metal too. Brooding, foreboding, with more "serious" riffing as opposed to the fruitier melodies in, say Dragonforce.



Wuthering Heights is incredible! I've heard of them before but never listened to them, but that one song at least is impressive, indeed. I still wouldn't say they sound much like While Heaven Wept, though, same goes for Winter's Verge. It's a little difficult for me to explain, but I feel like While Heaven Wept (on Vast Oceans of Lachrymose) creates this huge epic world, similar to Romanticist paintings like Francis Danby's Opening Of The Sixth Seal.
I've been listening to Doomsword for a while now, though, great band too.

There's a chick into Manilla Road? Wtf? Is the world ending or something? Anyway, good call on that Wulfhook band, Apex, that's some quality stuff. Hope to see a full-length out of them in the not-so-distant future. And eagerly awaiting Mysterium still, although I'm trying not to get my hopes up - chances are it'll be at least good, but to be as good as the albums it's being compared to is a bit unlikely. I'm also looking forward to Solitary Sabred's next album, which supposedly is to be released next month, although they haven't spoken to me about it yet.

I think someone on here recommended Pagan's Mind to me. This band is awesome, thanks very much. Supremacy, our Kind from Enigmatic Calling is so good.

Might have been failsafe. But yeah, even I don't go near most modern prog and that band is amazing.

I wasn't aware it was an exclusive boys club. You sure make the girls welcome though!

I picked up the suggestion of Iron Savior from the first page of this thread, and I'm definitely into them. Similar bands, anyone?


I hope not, but if the world is ending and my taste in music is a part of it, I guess that's pretty metal.

http://thetrueatlanteankodex.blogspot.d ... pdate.html

This will be awesome, I dig the cover art too.

Damn, sounds good \m/

Pagan's Mind all damn day.

I also really dig Communic, Circus Maximus, Conception, Scariot, Shadow Gallery, Vanden Plas and Voyager in the realm of power/prog.

and Outworld/Manticora if they count. Slightly more straightforward.

If you like Iron Savior then give Grave Digger a try, Rheingold would be a good start. Actually there is a German power metal scene with abundance of similar sounding bands exemplified by gruff vocals and shredding galore.

That While Heaven Wept album is one of a kind, really. Just one of those things I have to sit down and give my undivided attention to.
As for Manilla Road, as I said, they have two very distinct periods, both containing some very fine music indeed.
Also, if you like Iron Savior, maybe Liege Lord will appeal to you? Speedy, face-melting 80's USPM.



YEEESSSSSS. The Golden Bough was good, but it's something I always thought showed how much potential the band had as well. Hopefully this latest will be able to keep the epic feeling while abandoning stopping it from having the same failings as the last.

Girls are more than welcome to like MR, I just feel like I'm walking in a mystical wonderland of dreams. Didn't think such a thing was possible. Cheers on having good tastes triple M, and for Iron Savior sound-a-likes, I recommend the obvious Blind Guardian, Final Prophecy's one and only demo, and Paradox's debut. Can't go wrong with the German monoliths.

Mark Shelton actually considers Manilla Road to have three eras, as he says the band really started taking off on their musical journey when Randy Foxe joined up.

Rick Fisher era: After Midnight, Invasion, Mark Of The Beast, Metal, Crystal Logic
Randy Foxe era: Open The Gates, The Deluge, Mystification, Out Of The Abyss, The Courts Of Chaos
Revival era: Atlantis Rising, Spiral Castle, Gates Of Fire, Voyager, Playground Of The Damned

I'd have to agree. MR really started thrashing it up once Randy joined. I do love the space/prog rock feel of the early Rick Fisher era though.

Hmmm, Rage's Trapped! album seems to be one of their most consistent efforts on first listen. It seems that they were trying to distance themselves from the more commercial sound present on Reflections of a Shadow (which isn't a bad album, at all). The 'Fast as a Shark' cover version just seems pointless... as would any cover of that track. Oh well, whatever.

@BaloroftheEvilEye: Agreed on the Dark Quarterer, 'The Etruscan Prophecy' in particular is one hell of fucked-up, creepy yet captivating ride. Also, glad you liked that Whuthering Heights track; that band's career is very hit-and-miss, but those guys do hit, they're unstoppable. I wish they had focused just a bit more on their outstanding epic progressive power metal side and considerably less on their folky side, but that's just me (I don't much like folky stuff).

Dark Quarterer <3
Playground got 10 times more epic for some reason, weird. I'll re-rip my cd, I guess.

What the Hell?
Continuing on Manilla Road, listening to The Courts of Chaos for the first time and this is one album really sticks out a lot, and yet is still just beautiful. I don't think anything Shelton did sounds like it. And that riff on D.O.A. around the 5:40 mark is so strange yet uplifting. Manilla Road continues to impress.

But of course!

The production of The Courts of Chaos really bothers me. The album is tinny and staticky throughout. That plagues most of their albums but the result was a lot "flatter" sounding this time around. I suppose it's mostly the electronic drums that turns me off, to be honest. It's unfortunate, because the songwriting is still top-notch. "Into the Courts of Chaos" and "The Books of Skelos" follow classic Manilla Road formulas and the latter mutates into this intense thrasher (the demonic vocals more than halfway in are perfectly fitted too).

The Courts drums sound pretty unique. Can't say I hate them-- I think they give that album even more charm. Actually, Courts' my favourite album. I just can't stand (not really-- I just find it too slow and long) the cover track DOA, so I deleted it from my harddrive rip, and skip it when I listen to the CD. I like the 1-2-3 punch of 'The Road To Chaos', 'Dig Me No Grave', and 'Into The Courts Of Chaos'.

I know it's hopeless but is there seriously nothing else out there like Solitude Aeturnus' first two? Haha, I keep going back... can't get enough.

Hey guys, check out the band 'Evil Killer' for some great melodic speed metal. They are giving away their 5 track demo over at http://evilkiller.bandcamp.com/ and I have to say that this demo has better production than some full lengths I have come across lately. Everything on this demo kicks ample amounts of ass. Hopefully a full length is in this band's future.

Enjoy
http://evilkiller.bandcamp.com/

I dig the music on that Evil Killer stuff a lot but dudes vocals kinda ruin it for me... something about them just doesn't sit right... which is a shame because the instrumentation is great.

Just came across Ranger and this track they have up off a forthcoming cassette, color me very interested
http://rangerheavymetal.bandcamp.com/track/supreme-evil

Yeah, he has some of that 'second language' accentuation going on that can make it sound kind of strange, but I like them enough.



Sounds good. Production is a little distant, but I love the riffs, and I am a sucker for gang shouts. Vocalist is definitely killer here using both evil sounding mids, and shrieking highs. Great find!

Also, Ranger is such a metal name

Not me. They're basically the perfect example of modern power/prog I don't like. All slick and boring. Conception rule super hard, though.

I've listened to the demo 3 or 4 times now and the vocals are bothering me less on subsequent listens... and honestly the instrumentation is good enough that I can deal with it haha.

I find this happening a lot myself, especially regarding speed metal, a genre that doesn't deliver to often on great singers But I almost always get used to a vocalist if the instrumentation is worth it. I hold Helloween's WOJ in an almost godly esteem, but even I will admit Kai's vocals are quite green on that one, but they just work in their amateur delivery. and without him as vocalist, it would would be strange. I find this to be true with many in the genre.

As far as modern progressive metal goes I like Outworld although they would have been much better if it wasn't for the exaggerated instrumental work the bandmembers are capable of. (Probably the most heard argument against progressive metal?) Are Conception a good example of modern progressive metal though? To me they stick between the old school stuff (Queensryche, Arch era Fates Warning) and the more famous ''true prog'' works of say, Dream Theater.

Another band that I think fits the modern progressive metal label quite well is Arch/Matheos. It's just so fun and exciting to listen to.

I have a lot of nostalgia for the first three Pagan's Mind albums...the fourth is crap though, and their most recent hasn't aged as well as I woulda liked. The new Stratovarius seems to be holding up the torch that Pagan's Mind had excellently, though.

Conception are modern in the sense that they were one of the first bands to play in the style of power/prog that became popular in the later 90s and early 00s. Lots of syncopated single-chord riffs, soaring vocals, some keyboard stuff in the background, etc. Circus Maximus would be another example of one of those bands. They're quite distinct from Queensryche and Dream Theather. Dream Theater doesn't have any of the power metal stuff usually, and focuses a lot more on instrumental prowess.

Yeah, Conception were pretty instrumental in pioneering the prototypical "modern prog/power" sound. They did it a whole lot better than many of the bands they influenced, though.

I actually can't stand Conception. I'm not even sure why. They just bore me hard.

10 years ago I think ANTITHESIS was the best "modern" prog metal band. Incredible songs, their own style that wasn't "80s", and great musicians all-around.

Nowadays I hear no one. Maybe MINDWORK but they're a CYNIC clone.

Wait, I was thinking of Antiquus. I don't like Pagan's Mind at all.

Holy shit whoops.

Because 99% pretty sure you dig Antiquus.

Hahaha yeah man pretty big difference there. I do really really like Antiquus, I recently got their latest album, In the Land of the Blind, and it's as good as their other stuff. I probably like it slightly less than their second one, it's less emotionally gripping, but they take their penchant for crazy Watchtower-style guitar insanity to the limit, so it's never boring. Definitely worth $10.

I have the exact same problem. I love a good deal of the stuff Roy Khan did with Kamelot (Karma, The Black Halo, The Fourth Legacy), and so I was curious what Conception sounded like. The music was just so incredibly boring that I couldn't listen to it.