Essentials for someone new to metal

[MetalStudentMike]

if there were some essentials that you had to introduce to someone new to metal in general, what would be your selections for someone to check out?

 

[arg]

Dying Fetus, Suffocation

screw easing them in! kick their ass immediately!

 

[AchrisK]

Well, like what do you like now? Are you starting from zero? If so, try these:

Iron Maiden - Piece of Mind
Metallica - Kill em All

 

[no country for old wainds]

some of this stuff isn't necessarily easy to get into, but like aug i prefer to rec some of the heralded classics and landmarks straight away rather than potentially putting people off by *easing them in* with something more watered down. i wanna show what this genre's capable of.

black sabbath - first 4
pentagram - first daze here comp
judas priest - sad wings of destiny/stained class
iron maiden - s/t
angel witch - s/t
pagan altar - volume 1
manilla road - crystal logic
jag panzer - ample destruction
mercyful fate - don't break the oath
cirith ungol - king of the dead
fates warning - the spectre within
metallica - ride the lightning
slayer - first 3
destruction - infernal overkill
exodus - bonded by blood
saint vitus - s/t
trouble - psalm 9
rev. bizarre - in the rectory...
candlemass - epicus doomus metallicus
warning - watching from a distance
celtic frost - morbid tales
winter - into darkness
possessed - seven churches
autopsy - severed survival
morbid angel - altars of madness
asphyx - the rack
atheist - unquestionable presence
suffocation - effigy of the forgotten
amorphis - the karelien isthmus
demigod - slumber of sullen eyes
at the gates - the red in the sky is ours
demilich - nespithe
gorguts - obscura
sodom - in the sign of evil
bathory - under the sign of the black mark & hammerheart
beherit - drawing down the moon
burzum - hvis lyset tar oss
mayhem - de mysteriis dom sathanas
darkthrone - transilvanian hunger
immortal - pure holocaust
graveland - thousand swords
summoning - dol guldur
sacramentum - far away from the sun
aeternus - beyond the wandering moon

everyone would pick a few different things but this is a pretty representative and wide-ranging list for starters. it's hard to say where to start with it without knowing a bit about the background of the person you're recommending it to, but obviously metallica, sabbath, maiden and slayer tend to be very accessible for the layman, both in terms of finding the CDs and instantly liking them.

 

[SentinelSlain]

Mercyful Fate - Melissa
Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Metallica - Ride The Lightning
Judas Priest - Stained Class
Venom - Eine Kleine Nachtmusik

and either Celtic Frost - Morbid Tales or Demon Entrails by Hellhammer

oh and no country has posted a nice list, I've repeated some of the most easy to get into bits.

 

[MetalStudentMike]

cool thanks guys

im coming from a more general rock background, but after hanging out with my friend(who's a member here and introduced me to the board) for a while i was really starting to dig alot of metal. now im just trying to find some good stuff to pick up next time im at the shop.

 

[Krow]

Here's some bands I consider 'entry level' death metal bands...

Hypocrisy
Six Feet Under
Skinless
Mortician

(note, I'm not saying any band is particularly good or bad)

 

[Tennyson]

Kiuas for sure. If you're coming from a more general rock background check this song out, heavy metal with some blues riffs:



of if you want to just get scrotum stomped:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSjMhVNifzs&feature=PlayList&p=F2443E820FC18A32&index=0&playnext=1[/ame]

Other accessible bands that I really enjoy:

Ensiferum (Treacherous Gods, Victory Song)
Wintersun (Death and the Healing, Starchild)
Falconer (Clarion Call, Entering Eternity)
Keldian (The Last Frontier, ghost of Icarus)
Moonsorrow (Jumalten Kaupunki, Jotunheim)
Winterborn (Wildheart, Last Train to Hell)

 

[Lateralus14]

Ya I would focus on classic heavy metal, thrash metal, and trad doom for a beginner, then go into classic death (you can try some of that "entry death" like Hypocrisy or In Flames but tbh Morbid Angel and Carcass and such are pretty accessible and yet awesome). Some of these recs just wouldn't work for someone just getting into metal, I mean when the hell has anyone with no metal experience liked Demilich right off the bat as opposed to being completely disgusted by the vocal style.

 

[arg]

if you dont like this right off the bat, you suck

 

[metal_wrath]

Candlemass - Epicus Doomicus Metallicus
Venom - Black Metal
Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast
Judas Priest - Painkiller
Slayer - Reign in Blood
Solitude Aeturnus - Into the Depths of Sorrow
Possessed - Seven Churches
Mercyful Fate - Don't Break the Oath
Entombed - Left Hand Path
Death - Scream Bloody Gore
Morbid Angel - Blessed are the Sick
Darkthrone - A Blaze in the Northern Sky
In Flames - Lunar Strain
Bathory - Hammerheart
Krisiun - Bloodshed

 

[The Ozzman]

Armored Saint - Raising Fear
Sepultura - Beneath the Remains
Suffocation - Effigy of the Forgotten
Death - Symbolic
Judas Priest - Killing Machine (Hell Bent for Leather)
Iron Maiden - Somewhere in Time

 

[Manic Ferocity]

Heavy/Doom Metal:

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Black Sabbath - Master of Reality
Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath Vol. 4
Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Black Sabbath - Sabotage
Judas Priest - Sad Wings of Destiny
Judas Priest - Stained Class
Candlemass - Epicus Doomicus Metallicus
Pentagram - Relentless
Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden - Killers
Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast
Iron Maiden - Piece of Time
Iron Maiden - Powerslave
Trouble - Psalm 9
Manilla Road - Open the Gates
Manilla Road - Crystal Logic

Thrash Metal:

Metallica - Kill 'Em All
Metallica - Ride the Lightening
Metallica - Master of Puppets
Metallica - ...And Justice For All
Exodus - Bonded By Blood
Slayer - Show No Mercy
Slayer - Haunting the Chapel
Slayer - Hell Awaits
Slayer - Reign in Blood
Kreator - Pleasure to Kill
Sodom - In the Sign of Evil
Sodom - Obsessed by Cruelty
Sodom - Persecution Mania
Dark Angel - Darkness Descends
Megadeth - Killing is My Business...and Business is Good!
Megadeth - Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?
Sepultura - Beneath the Remains

Black Metal:

Venom - Welcome to Hell
Venom - Black Metal
Venom - At War With Satan
Bathory - Bathory
Bathory - The Return.....
Bathory - Under the Sign of the Black Mark
Bathory - Blood Fire Death
Mercyful Fate - Melissa
Mercyful Fate - Don't Break the Oath
Hellhammer - Apocalyptic Raids 1990 A.D.
Hellhammer - Demon Entrails
Celtic Frost - Morbid Tales/Emperor's Return
Celtic Frost - To Mega Therion
Sarcófago - INRI
Beherit - The Oath of Black Blood
Beherit - Drawing Down the Moon
Darkthrone - A Blaze in the Northern Sky
Darkthrone - Under a Funeral Moon
Darkthrone - Transilvanian Hunger
Darkthrone - Panzerfaust
Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas
Emperor - Emperor/Wrath of the Tyrant
Emperor - In the Nightside Eclipse
Enslaved - Vikingligr Veldi
Burzum - Burzum/Aske
Burzum - Det Som Engang Var
Burzum - Hvis Lyset Tar Oss
Burzum - Filosofem
Gorgoroth - Pentagram
Gorgoroth - Antichrist

Death Metal:

Possessed - Seven Churches
Death - Scream Bloody Gore
Death - Leprosy
Asphyx - The Rack
Pestilence - Consuming Impulse
Dismember - Like An Ever Flowing Stream
Entombed - Left Hand Path
Entombed - Clandestine
Deicide - Deicide
Deicide - Legion
Obituary - Slowly We Rot
Obituary - Cause of Death
Morbid Angel - Altars of Madness
Morbid Angel - Blessed Are the Sick
Morbid Angel - Covenant
Grave - Into the Grave
Immolation - Dawn of Possession
Suffocation - Human Waste
Incantation - Onward to Golgotha
Massacre - From Beyond
Morpheus Descends - Ritual of Infinity
Therion - Beyond Sanctorum
Unleashed - Where No Life Dwells
Unleashed - Shadows in the Deep

I stuck with the bare essentials but there are plenty of albums that could be added to this list, I'm sure. I left out power metal because I simply don't know enough about the genre.

 

[Walls_of_Jericho]

Power Metal:

Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys (parts 1 & 2), Walls of Jericho (although it's more thrash than power)
Gamma Ray - No World Order, Land of the Free
Edguy - Mandrake
Dragonforce - Valley of the Damned
Avantasia - The Metal Opera (parts 1 & 2)
Sonata Arctica - Winterheart's Guild
Blind Guardian - Nightfall in Middle Earth
Rhapsody - Power of the Dragonflame

These are some of the bigger names in power metal and should get you started.

 

[Manic Ferocity]

Helloween and Blind Guardian = only good bands/albums on that list.

 

[no country for old wainds]

I stuck with the bare essentials but there are plenty of albums that could be added to this list, I'm sure. I left out power metal because I simply don't know enough about the genre.

good list of some of the better known essentials as you say, but autopsy are a glaring omission. there's half a dozen swedish DM releases i'd probably add, and i'd add 'infernal overkill' to the thrash. also wtf, no immortal in the black metal?!

 

[Walls_of_Jericho]

Helloween and Blind Guardian = only good bands/albums on that list.

That's your opinion I suppose, but these are the bands/albums that drew me into power metal (except for the Rhapsody and Sonata Arctica, those I just figured would be easily accessible for someone new to metal), so that's why I rec'd them.

 

[SentinelSlain]

Gamma Ray, Rhapsody and Avantasia are good too. Edguy are kind of hit and miss imo.

 

[Ross]

Iced Earth

 

[Narissa]

haha ive got all of those cds too! literally! lol youre going to come steal them now, arent you???