Hi, let me elaborate more than just the title and set some rules as to prevent some very obvious answers.
1. It has to be from a metal album, from a band that's on the metal archives. So no cheeky "this electronica album from a band that did black metal 30 years ago"-type stuff.
2. No interludes, intros, outros, or unmetal tracks on an otherwise metal album. So no ambient intro tracks or stuff like Samba Briza.
3. If you mention a power ballad, I would ask that you also mention a song that isn't a power ballad. I don't want the whole thread to be power ballads, that's too easy and I wanna see more clever thinking.

So what do I want?
Think about how you might describe or frame specific music to certain people who might enjoy a particular aspect or angle of some music from a metal band that they wouldn't have otherwise found. It's all about angles, really, if that makes sense. I don't mean to people who hate metal, of course, but more so people who you wouldn't really call metalheads.

Maybe you have a friend into old "sword and sorcery"-type stuff and you feel curious on if they'd like Cirith Ungol.
If you have a friend who's into Gothic Rock and cheesy horror movies, you might show them one of the more eerie Bathory tracks and emphasize its spookiness, or maybe King Diamond if you think they'd be open-minded to his vocal-style.
If someone is partial to classic rock and hard rock stuff, you might try to sell them on checking out Black Sabbath.
If you know someone who loves Prog rock, maybe you'd show them an album from Atheist or Sanctuary's "Into the Mirror Black".

So if you've ever heard a song or album and thought "y'know, I think this or that crowd might enjoy this for this or that aspect", that's what I'm looking for. I feel the need to specify this isn't for metal proseltyzing purposes or something stupid like that I just think people might have some insightful or interesting examples.

I introduced an ex girlfriend to Ghost (particularly "Dance Macabre") and she fell in love with them despite not liking other metal

My mom loves Nightwish, her introduction was "Dark Chest of Wonders"

Dragonforce, Sabaton, Wind Rose and other melodic/symphonic power metal bands have massive fanbases of primarily video gamers that generally don't listen to metal outside of that particular style

Generally the biggest hurdle non-metal fans have is with harsh vocals, but I would also extend that to "weird vocals". For example, while King Diamond and Cirith Ungol have pretty accessible music per your examples, I would never show them to a non-metal fan because of how out of the ordinary their vocal deliveries are.

Old school Iron Maiden in general. It’s simple, it’s catchy, it’s dramatic without being overwhelming, probably the most accessible a band can be while still being truly metal.

Vulgar Display of Power by Pantera ain't too bad. It's not super extreme plus has some pretty good riffs. Also mainstream as well to an extent.

Either the self titled album by After Forever or ReVamp’s Wild Card.

These albums are the epitome of symphonic metal pop songs, containing hooks and earworms galore, with just enough metal “edge” over something similar like Nightwish, occasional grunting, occasional mildly technical playing, and occasional uptempo sections.

Plus, to my ears, Floor is the finest vocalist of the symphonic metal movement bar none, and these are her best recorded performances.

My 70+ Mom likes Nightwish.

Some friends that aren't into metal have been absolutely woo'd by Devin Townsend. The combo of his insanely perfect voice and catch-y riffs/melodies along with just enough aggression gets people hooked.

Some of his more melodic songs like Funeral and Suicide, as well as the pop-ier Slow Me Down and Save Our Now are great gateway songs.

I also eased a friend who wasn't into ANY sort of hard rock/metal into the genre with Anathema's Weather Systems. Not a metal record, but it ended up making them love the back catalog and then get into some other stuff like Opeth, My Dying Bride and Baroness.

Metallica Black Album, obviously. Also, whatever has clean vocals like some Gothic bands.

Iron Maiden and Ghost have already been mentioned, but I will second them.

It really depends on what other kind of music the person likes. I'd say power metal can appeal to a lot of people who like rock, or even folk type stuff, but can't stand the growling vocals of other metal styles.

A lot of Type O could work. Growing up my dad would cringe when putting on at the gates or six feet under in the car, but would remark how type o were pretty tame and some songs reminded him of the doors (which he was a huge fan of).

I thought about this for a while, and as far as entry-level bands go, Avantasia, Kamelot, and Queensryche come to my mind. Avantasia since it's relatively soft and has many pop songs, Kamelot with their charismatic frontmen and great use of melodies, and Queensryche as they don't dabble on to gimmicks or escapist themes very often.

Ghost, Iron Maiden, and Dio are also reasonable choices to get someone into metal.

People saying power metal surprised me, it is more mellow than other extreme metal genres but is extremely gimmicky and some people could find it off-putting. I have to say nu metal like Deftones is extremely good for those people who like alternative rock, nu metal as a whole can give that crowd some good bands, Korn and System of a Down are other ones, especially their first few albums. But this doesn't do the work because those bands aren't in the archives and probably never will.

Of bands that are on the archives, I would recommend the classic ones, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, and Metallica, if that didn't hook them up it would be weird of them to like the more extreme genres. But people who listen to pop, hip hop, reggaeton, and that kind of more mainstream music would probably accept the more easygoing and radio-friendly metal songs that the classic bands have.

None, if someone is not into metal it should be illegal for them to listen to it with their unworthy ignorant ears.

/s?

It used to be that atmospheric black metal and drone were the metal genres non-metal fans loved. Not so coincidentally, post-rock, midwest emo revival, etc, were big at the time. Incredibly long songs with lots of wispy "atmosphere" was the order of the day.

Poptimism has won out since then, so nowadays, who knows? Airy-fairy atmospheric stuff with 15 minute songs is now an anachronism of the 2000s just like stereotypically 80s metal was an anachronism of the 80s in the 2000s. It seems to me like this particular period in time is the perfect time to show your friend whatever you think is good metal, without consideration for whether it has crossover appeal.

How am I supposed to proselytize now?!?!

Motorhead and Metallica.

Maiden is like nails on a chalkboard for people who don't like metal. I don't even think the Dianno stuff would fly except for maybe the song Strange World.

You'd be surprised how many people acted like I was playing Merzbow when I played any Motorhead other than Ace of Spades around them.

Maiden have a bit of a cheesy "theater" angle their sound which you may or may not like depending on your sensibilities, but they've certainly got some mass appeal. Otherwise they wouldn't be so big. So do Motorhead, although the vocals make them a hard sell to anyone who's not into at least a little 70s/80s punk.

Or at least, some of the heavier/dirtier 70's Hard Rock bands.

I think the heavy metal bands with synth / pop influences and the odd dancy kind of beat (eg Battle Beast, Beast in Black, Metalite) could appeal to fans of said synth / pop orientated genres.

I think Motorhead has a lot of appeal to anyone who likes dirty rock and roll.

Burzum's Filosofem album is an easy hit if you play it to people who are actually into music and aren't listening to Taylor Swift with some top 50 rap or whatever. After that I would suggest Opeth, Wilderun, and Ne Obliviscaris, all three combine metal with folk and classical influence which really eases people into the metal sections, its important to show them that the metal bands can actually play "normally" otherwise they only perceive it as obnoxious noise. Its also very helpful to them to have these slower sections so they can process the intensity of the metal sections better; often times after you have been exposed to it so much its easy to forget that metal is a very abrasive genre, it is a bit like spicy food in that its a-lot about building up a tolerance to it.

Generally speaking you are looking for a few qualities: very little blast beats, lots of mellow sections, good production, a good clean singer, melodic based progression, and not being insanely cheesy ala power metal. I know Filosofem goes against a lot of what I just wrote, but its a special case and only really for people with a decent taste in music already.

Theocracy, Nightwish, DragonForce, and Judas Priest are my go-to bands to introduce people to metal.

You know the one thing I love about forums is that its so easy to see a user's post history and find out exactly how deep their political brainrot is. The modern day zeitgeist is an atheist religion no different than the church of the past, I'm glad metal has enough bands like Burzum to cause a couple blood vessels in the preacher's head to pop each and every day.

For the love of God do not turn the thread into this shit I beg. Nobody gives a shit about your grandpa ass political thought, go play bingo elsewhere.

Quote mining is obnoxious as fuck yes, but what I found even more absurd was discovering the guy who was talking mad shit about classic 2nd wave bands in his Thorns glazing thread would recommend any poor soul an Opeth or Ne Obliviscaris album.

Agreed.

He's not wrong about Filosofem in a way though. For people who arent metal fans but like genres like ambient, post industrial etc, they might get a kick out of it.

My wife likes Gojiras Magma album, and she fucking hates metal, especially extreme metal.

Yet who is the person in this thread with 21+% of their posts in a single political thread arguing from one side of that debate, and immediately attacked my post because I posted a single band on their political enemies list? You can blame me for bringing up the obvious reason for their response, or you can blame the source of the problem itself. Unless of course, you swing a certain way on politics and feel the need to act in favor of "your side". Not that I am saying you do favor one side or the other, only that it might come off that way when you attack the reaction rather than the cause.

Is there a problem with suggesting Opeth or Ne Obliviscaris to people who aren't invested in metal as the title of the thread suggests?


I've had a lot of success with Filosofem on many different people, it was even one of my own entry albums into black metal. People who like post-punk or like you said ambient style stuff seem to get a real kick out of the album, even Radiohead fans and the like seemed receptive to it, I think really anyone who likes interesting music generally appreciates the album at least. Something about the static fuzz, steady beat, and echoing synths in Dunkleheit has a certain charm to it that wins over many in my experience of showing it to others.

You dumb bastard, I listen to Burzum (I'm a separate the art from the artist kind of guy in most cases). I like Filosofem. I was making fun of your ridiculous little superiority complex addendum about Taylor Swift and rap. The sentence I quoted from you was one of the funniest things I've seen here in a while.

I love that you jumped to the conclusion that "this guy doesn't like me because I'm a Nazi" though lol

Does Varg um...make vocal noises on that album?

If you were making fun of my superiority complex then why did you only highlight Burzum and force a mocking off topic image of black metal, especially when I posted three other bands within the same post. Your political biases are plain to see, and your post history confirmed what I already guessed from your response. You can play the innocent act, but its hardly convincing when a quick glance at your posts show the obvious.

If you would like some more ammo for your side, yeah I don't think people who listen to Taylor Swift and top 40 rap artists know much about music at all. I'm sure maybe 1/200 of them do, but exceptions are exceptions.

No innocent act here, I was definitely making fun of you.

Can't you guys have an internet slap fight via PM? Do it for the Children!

I'd love to, but I burned my hand in hot dog water and can't slap too well at the moment

Sure, I already said what I needed to anyways and wasn't planning on replying further.

I do favor one side, your politics are boring and I want you to shut up about yours.

My mother, who listened to me listen to Metallica, Megadeth, Iron Maiden and the like growing up didn't get into metal at all until she found progressive and symphonic types of metal. She is a classically trained singer who was good enough to tour Europe at one point, so she is very into good clean vocals. She likes stuff like Nightwish, Kamelot, etc.
I think the bands you may introduce someone to really depends on what they already listen to. For some something like Kamelot would be the right answer, for others Filosofem or Motorhead.

I hope you get some ointment for that.