America's greatest metal artists

[zabu of nΩd]

I was hoping this wouldn't boil down to a discussion of influence, since influence doens't exactly equal creativity or songwriting skill. But I guess the latter two are pretty hard to argue without pointing out specific songs/passages from a band, and going "look at the dynamics/melodic hooks/rhythmic diversity/experimentation/etc. in this part", and then comparing them to other bands, and somehow coming to a consensus on which took more creativity.

I think a band like Clutch, Down, or Type O Negative would rank pretty high in the creativity area, but of course their influence is pretty negligible. It would surprise me if anyone could call those bands "not great" without going solely by influence.

 

[ShredHeadJHJ]

Don't kid yourself man, Down belongs nowhere near that fucking list.

Pantera weren't the gr8est (OMG) but they are in our top 10 metal bands like it or not. I agree that they did do some wack ghetto metal head shit at times, but they also did some good stuff when they weren't cheesing out with Phil's bad-boy lyrics.

Dream Theater are another definite for the list, like them or not.

 

[zabu of nΩd]

Don't kid yourself man, Down belongs nowhere near that fucking list.

You might sound more convincing here if you actually gave a reason for this instead of just saying "nuh-uh" like everyone else. Personally I haven't heard any better bands in this genre besides maybe Pantera, who I'm fairly sure were more distinguishable for their groundbreaking style than for their songwriting, which was pretty hit-and-miss.

 

[ShredHeadJHJ]

There are just so many more better bands that come from here that have been around longer, have more albums, & have a more definitive sound for their respectable genre. They're just not a good cornerstone of the American Metal sound.

You can like them, fine by me, but I'm not seeing them on anyone else's lists.

 

[ashes of the wake]

lamb of god
slayer


depends also if you like the classic stuff aswell like megadeth or the top 10 in this day

 

[zabu of nΩd]

There are just so many more better bands that come from here that have been around longer, have more albums, & have a more definitive sound for their respectable genre. They're just not a good cornerstone of the American Metal sound.

You can like them, fine by me, but I'm not seeing them on anyone else's lists.

If you noticed, there's practically zero non-extreme metal on anyone's list; so I have reason to suspect that their disclusion has more to do with how narrow people's tastes are here than with how good Down actually is. I'm not saying Down should be on the list, but I'm definitely not hearing any similar bands mentioned either.

 

[Vilden]

Dio, Dream Theater, Pentagram, Fates Warning, Metallica, Megadeth, Manowar, Jag Panzer, etc. are all so extreme.
It has more to do with that Down is not worthy being on the list imo.

 

[zabu of nΩd]

Fine, how about "a clear minority" as opposed to "practically zero"?

At any rate: Southern and blues-based metal is still grossly under-represented here (i.e. I'm pretty much the only one who's brought any into the discussion).

 

[skeptik]

Southern and blues-based (aside from that directly stemming from Black Sabbath) Metal is not something that really interests me at all.

 

[cookiecutter]

Fine, how about "a clear minority" as opposed to "practically zero"?

As far as I know, America was a clear minority in terms of good metal until thrash and death came around.

At any rate: Southern and blues-based metal is still grossly under-represented here (i.e. I'm pretty much the only one who's brought any into the discussion).

This is relatively small and irrelevant genre that most people here don't care for.

 

[ShredHeadJHJ]

Dio, Dream Theater, Pentagram, Fates Warning, Metallica, Megadeth, Manowar, Jag Panzer, etc. are all so extreme.

OMG I KNOW RITE! Whenever I hear Dream Theater I want to bash my head on the cement they're so fucking br00tal! Last Dio show I attended 3 guys got killed in the pit from moshing!