Choosing what to listen to

[Fourka]

How would you describe the music you like to listen to most? Is it aggresive, calm, melodic, dark, clean vocals, brutal vocals, keyboard based, sad, happy, slow etc...?

Do you tend to choose bands to be your favorites because they might have those specific characteristics you like or do you choose specific songs that manage in a powerful way and with a great combination to pass through all of your body/soul system and stick to these individual ones while leaving the band and the rest of the album aside?

And what would be the band(s) that has the most songs that you think could even be written for you?

 

[no country for old wainds]

• Complex composition (not to be confused with technical proficiency), not a circular structure
• Beautiful minor key melodies - harmonies
• No filler or pretentious noodling - must have direction and purpose
• A balance of chaos and coherence
• No gimmicks
• Well-executed ideology
• Romanticism
• Innovation
• An atmosphere that can disconnect me, open me up and caress my emotions
• Varied drumming. Varied pace.

I might add more.

 

[Caelum Adustum]

- Good drumming
- Good, non bland riffs
- A nice mixture of brutality and melody
- Vocals that are not whiny or not "hardcore-ish"
- Good lyrics
- Good artwork (I'm sorry but it seriously pisses me off when a good album has bad artwork)

 

[Raumien]

Thrash!

 

[BulletRider]

-brutal vocals
-if clean vox, very few of them or they are all clean vox that are good...no whiny stuff
-ORIGINAL sounding riffs
-really deep double bass kick
-melody (think Kataklysm's guitars)

 

[Aida_Melodica]

I tend to like more melodic or more thrashy bands in comparison to the death and gore and dark and obscure stuff. I don't like the music to be overstuffed with keyboards and effects, but I do like thickly layered music that blends a vast host of elements together. Blind Guardian are a great example of what I like, but as for a band whose songs could be written for me, I'd pick Metallica as I grew up and related to them and it was like having this band who always told me "you're not alone" when I listened to their songs. Some of Blind Guardian's songs are like that also, but they're more of the fantasy writers, and I love the way fantasy can make your mind and soul drift away and your body melt into a natural high.

 

[Life Sucks]

I guess brutal and angry, often combined with musical technicality or complexity to some extent. I am also often in the mood for music that is more depressive and gloomy, as opposed to angry. I hardly listen to any happy music, except for a few power metal bands (which are happy in terms of the instrumentation only and not the lyrics), and what appeals to me about them is the majestic feel to their music.

 

[Spirit In Black]

- brutal, technical, yet memorable riffs
- varied drumming, no continous blast beats
- lyrics and ideology aren't too important but if the lyrics are good it is a plus
- a unique sound is always good

 

[dill_the_devil]

I like a mix of brutal and clean vocals - I don't like whiney emo vocals much, nor do I like burp-a-long brutal death metal vocals. By the same token, I like a mix of really heavy and fast passages mixed with slower, more chugging riffs, occasionally broken up by melodic or even acoustic interludes. However, I hate when a band throws an ill-adivsed and badly paced acoustic interlude into their songs, because it ruins the momentum of the track. Keyboards are cool as long as they're used to add atmosphere rather than in a CoF 'circus-of-horrors' kind of way, and influences from other styles of music than metal are to be welcomed too, classical particularly.

 

[[0hr]Sunlapse]

i can't describe this. its not individual parts or specific descriptions of the music. sometimes it seems random as to what strikes me. i guess the best for me just has feeling to it, rediculously broad, i know (since feeling in music is quite subjective), but i can't really put it better. I tend not to put limitations on what "better" music is, (complexity, brutal or more upbeat, etc...)

 

[Fenrir13]

Basic aggression for starters.
Powerful drum sound with tight drumming
Good riffs; and I like guitar solos, too.
I prefer harsh vocals overall; be it the death metal growl or the black metal rasp; but there are some singers that can pull off clean vox really, really well.
As for melody vs. brutality; it depends on my mood; I can switch it up rather quickly. I do like stuff I can pump my fist to(the 80s metalhead in me coming out. )

 

[Fourka]

SunlapseVertigo, I am in the same situation as you are. Once I tried to describe the music I like to somebody and I realised that I couldn't cause it actually depends on the feeling of each specific song. There are those songs that blow you away but they might be however they are. No similar characteristics between two individual songs for example.

Sure I love songs with some melody in an instance but yet a song without melody could make me to "stare to another world" just because the combination of each instrument, the way it is played, the way the vocals are, and/or the lyrics etc are "passing through my weak point".

 

[[0hr]Sunlapse]

Sure I love songs with some melody in an instance but yet a song without melody could make me to "stare to another world" just because the combination of each instrument, the way it is played, the way the vocals are, and/or the lyrics etc are "passing through my weak point".

exactly.... and the "weak point" just can't be pigeonholed or pinpointed.

 

[Esteban]

Hard to describe... I prefer so-called melodic bands... that's pretty much it, I'll just listen to everything I can and see if it catches my attention