I'm from France, 43 years old.
I began listening to "metal" (hard rock at the time), with Scorpions, Twisted sister, Dokken, Bon Jovi so this was soft metal I'd say for years (other : Motley crue, Cinderella, Def Leppard, Ozzy Osbourne, Helloween, Quiet Riot, Manowar, King Diamond, Malmsteen, Dio, Iron Maiden, Guns n roses, Metallica ...).
In 1990 I bought the first Deicide album, and I listened to it so many times, it was like a confirmation of my taste, that "hard rock" could evolve into unthinkable things ... Later I got into Autopsy, Bolt thrower, Cannibal Corpse. Comfortable with heavy and death metal, I wouldn't have thought some other metal movements were building strength.
Then Black metal came to me. First I heard the most melodic, Cradle of Filth, Dissection, Emperor, then the brutal ones Marduk, Enslaved. These bands really brought some emotions I barely found before and the mix of either the synth and extreme vocals or the military drumw and screamed vocals were amazing.
Soon after, the other metal genres, Dark, Doom interested me also (I never could get into thrash, no idea why, stuck between heavy metal and extreme I guess, but I liked some Overkill albums).
In 1996 Theatre of Tragedy released "Velvet darkness they fear". I had always associated metal with male vocals, so much I wouldn't have thought of the idea of an operatic female voice with such an important place in a band. That is an album I'll never forget, the dark/romantic emotions, complex musicality, I loved all that.
In the 1990s I had the chance to be part of a group of friends that liked metal. We went to lots of gigs these years (Marduk, Cannibal corpse, Cardle of Filth, After forever, Moonspell, Soilwork), but around 2000 everything stopped. No more metal concert in the 200 kilometers around me ...
Now I'm more into melodic heavy (60%), with some black or dark and not so much death - I think because having known the legendary period of Cannibal corpse/Autopsy/Carcass/Bolt thrower nothing seems new or good enough.
A note on "female fronted" heavy, I'm very critic of the huge number of bad releases in this genre, and I can't bear people talking to me about Evanescence - these guys never did metal, I wouldn't even say they did gothic music. I litened to Nightwish for years, until they recruited Marco Hietala, and as of Once it became an unoriginal commercial mess with the same song structure over and over. I also don't like Epica, as an old fan of After Forver I find it bland and a failed attempt at keeping the AF greatness - Simone has a technical voice but no emotion comes from it.
I'll list a list of bands I love with generic genres :
Heavy metal : King diamond / Marcyful fate, Running wild, Malmsteen, Rhapsody, Helloween (old), Doro / Warlock, Metalium, Kamelot (Silverthorn), Manowar, Pathfinder, Therion.
Female metal : Nightwish (until Once), Amberian dawn, Visions of Atlantis, Dreams of sanity, Leave's eyes, Sirenia (since Ailyn), Operatika (amazing guitarist), Coronatus, Diabulus in musica, Amaranthe.
Extreme metal : Mithotyn, Cradle of Filth (not much the albums from Thornography), Mortician, Vordven, Windir, Troll, Abigail williams, Abyssos, Bal Sagoth, Diabolical, Death, the Agonist
The bands that really left a mark are : Malmsteen, Theatre of Tragedy, Cradle of Filth, Marduk, Cannibal corpse, Autopsy, After forever, Nightwish (old), Motley crue, Doro, Running Wild.
This year, I liked : Diabolical, Autopsy, Leave's eyes, Revamp, Sirenia.
Special mention to French bands : Penumbra, Your shapeless beauty and Wildpath.
I began listening to "metal" (hard rock at the time), with Scorpions, Twisted sister, Dokken, Bon Jovi so this was soft metal I'd say for years (other : Motley crue, Cinderella, Def Leppard, Ozzy Osbourne, Helloween, Quiet Riot, Manowar, King Diamond, Malmsteen, Dio, Iron Maiden, Guns n roses, Metallica ...).
In 1990 I bought the first Deicide album, and I listened to it so many times, it was like a confirmation of my taste, that "hard rock" could evolve into unthinkable things ... Later I got into Autopsy, Bolt thrower, Cannibal Corpse. Comfortable with heavy and death metal, I wouldn't have thought some other metal movements were building strength.
Then Black metal came to me. First I heard the most melodic, Cradle of Filth, Dissection, Emperor, then the brutal ones Marduk, Enslaved. These bands really brought some emotions I barely found before and the mix of either the synth and extreme vocals or the military drumw and screamed vocals were amazing.
Soon after, the other metal genres, Dark, Doom interested me also (I never could get into thrash, no idea why, stuck between heavy metal and extreme I guess, but I liked some Overkill albums).
In 1996 Theatre of Tragedy released "Velvet darkness they fear". I had always associated metal with male vocals, so much I wouldn't have thought of the idea of an operatic female voice with such an important place in a band. That is an album I'll never forget, the dark/romantic emotions, complex musicality, I loved all that.
In the 1990s I had the chance to be part of a group of friends that liked metal. We went to lots of gigs these years (Marduk, Cannibal corpse, Cardle of Filth, After forever, Moonspell, Soilwork), but around 2000 everything stopped. No more metal concert in the 200 kilometers around me ...
Now I'm more into melodic heavy (60%), with some black or dark and not so much death - I think because having known the legendary period of Cannibal corpse/Autopsy/Carcass/Bolt thrower nothing seems new or good enough.
A note on "female fronted" heavy, I'm very critic of the huge number of bad releases in this genre, and I can't bear people talking to me about Evanescence - these guys never did metal, I wouldn't even say they did gothic music. I litened to Nightwish for years, until they recruited Marco Hietala, and as of Once it became an unoriginal commercial mess with the same song structure over and over. I also don't like Epica, as an old fan of After Forver I find it bland and a failed attempt at keeping the AF greatness - Simone has a technical voice but no emotion comes from it.
I'll list a list of bands I love with generic genres :
Heavy metal : King diamond / Marcyful fate, Running wild, Malmsteen, Rhapsody, Helloween (old), Doro / Warlock, Metalium, Kamelot (Silverthorn), Manowar, Pathfinder, Therion.
Female metal : Nightwish (until Once), Amberian dawn, Visions of Atlantis, Dreams of sanity, Leave's eyes, Sirenia (since Ailyn), Operatika (amazing guitarist), Coronatus, Diabulus in musica, Amaranthe.
Extreme metal : Mithotyn, Cradle of Filth (not much the albums from Thornography), Mortician, Vordven, Windir, Troll, Abigail williams, Abyssos, Bal Sagoth, Diabolical, Death, the Agonist
The bands that really left a mark are : Malmsteen, Theatre of Tragedy, Cradle of Filth, Marduk, Cannibal corpse, Autopsy, After forever, Nightwish (old), Motley crue, Doro, Running Wild.
This year, I liked : Diabolical, Autopsy, Leave's eyes, Revamp, Sirenia.
Special mention to French bands : Penumbra, Your shapeless beauty and Wildpath.
