Bands you respect/appreciate but don't particularly like?

[SomeGuyDude]

We've all got 'em. The bands that you can't say are bad, but never seem to find their way into your playlists. When you think about 'em, there's nothing you can quantify that is unlikable, and yet for whatever reason you're just never in the mood to listen. For me?

• Origin - I don't know what it is. There's nothing in any of the music that isn't done right. Tight musicianship, varied, technical without being weedly, but I never feel in the mood.
• Nile - I have no fucking idea. Like no fucking idea. They're death metal legends, and REALLY do things right by avoiding being all blood and guts. Plus Kollias is one of my drumming idols.
• Cephalic Carnage - I think I might just not be smart enough to listen to CC. Things are so all over the place I cross my eyes and just walk away.
• Fear Factory - Invented a sound, and on paper there's nothing I should dislike. Fast, rhythmic, pounding, and one of the few vocalists who can do clean singing with power instead of sounding wispy. I blame production a lot of the time, here. Mechanize was good, but all the older stuff just sounds thin and feeble.
• Meshuggah - Speaking of inventing a sound, I love the idea of Meshuggah and sometimes jam out to a track or so, but I found myself frequently in the middle of, say, "Bleed" and going "oh shit this is still playing" and switching it up.

Just off the top of my head. Who're yours?

 

[SkeletonWitch]

King Diamond / Mercyful Fate

Emperor

 

[-CC-]

I agree with Origin.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Blind Guardian, for the reasons you gave for Origin (in a power metal context), although I do like Imaginations from the Other Side.

 

[Avigrus]

Judas Priest
Voivod
Mayhem

I'll go with these as well;

Mercyful Fate / King Diamond
Meshuggah
Blind Guardian

 

[wikman]

probably all the older bands like Black sabbath, judas priest, Motörhead that have influenced many of the bands i like. but i have never got into any of them

 

[Necroraven]

Black Sabbath and Metallica.

 

[Personified Hatred]

Emperor, Venom, Deicide and Manowar.

 

[Draehl]

Pink Floyd & Led Zeppelin. They have a few good songs, but I find them overrated albeit influential.

 

[Der Morgenstern]

Incantation.

 

[Umodian]

I'll admit that some of these may full well be because I simply haven't heard enough of them but...

Kreator
Raven (I love Judas Priest)
Accept
Saxon
Anvil

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Incantation.

This too. I still get that uncomfortable feeling that I got when first listening to death metal when listening to them. Too brutal for my weakling mind.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

I think there's a pattern with "innovators" here. We all definitely respect the early guys for what they did, but it seems like we all also kinda agree that they didn't have the art as mastered as the "followers" later.

Context is a big thing. I mean, if you took all the albums out there, removed the release date stickers, and let some new metalhead sift through, do any of us still think the oldest ones would be rated the most highly? Yeah it obviously took more creativity and guts to branch into unknown territory, but it's like Henry Ford and the Model T.

OH! Okay, don't kill me for this one, but DEATH. I like 'em, and have no objections with anything Chuck recorded, but despite actually BUYING some of the reissues, I almost never listen to them.

 

[Mulver]

Emperor is very true in my case, should be down right my alley considering the fact that I like wintry black metal etc. But no. I can't listen to them on a regularly basis.

The same goes for Death. Truly, truly great DM but... I don't know. I just get tired of them very quickly.

 

[Tonka Time]

Incantation.

This for me as well.

It's like they're boring as hell, but at the same time I don't dislike what I'm hearing.

 

[Bitencourt29]

Judas Priest. I simply can't enjoy the vocals. Always tried to listen to their albums and failed. Great songs, guitar work and awful vocals which turn me down.

Motorhead. Dig a few songs but find them boring tbh.

Two legends, huge respect for them anyways.

 

[wolf]

Motorhead does have some good songs but they never vary the formula much.

Into Eternity,great musically but some of the higher piched vocals fall short for me.

 

[Spiderchrist]

Zepplin for sure. Obituary, even though I like the end complete, slowly we rot, and 2 songs on cause of death, and Dream Theater.

 

[JontRevolting]

Metallica,Black Sabbath,Judas Priest,Exodus.

 

[beast from the east]

The Project Hate MCMXCIX
Darkthrone
Mayhem
Most traditional doom bands