Recommendations in Metal

Blind Guardian
The ultimate fantasy power metal band. not a duff album to their name. 'Follow The Blind' and 'Nightfall in Middle Earth' are my favourites, but So hard to choose...

Nevermore
Excellent 'thinking man's' Metal. Great lyrics, not a hint of cheese. 'Dead heart in a dead World' is my favourite disc.

Rush
Incredible band. Not metal, but if prog rock is your thing... 'A show of hands' is a great introduction.

Lost Horizon
Best singer in metal today. Silly swords and very macho, but most enjoyable.

Therion
Classical & Opera collide with metal. New double album Sirius B/Lemuria is close to perfection.

Just a few of my current favourites.
 
Iced Earth, Helloween, Hammerfall, Bathory, Intense :)D), Dragonforce, Iron Maiden, Sonata Arctica, Stormwarrior, Carcass, Rhapsody and Symphony X.
I recommend Hammerfall to new listeners. Its 'easy' to listen to.. i adored them the first time i heard it which isnt the case with alot of new audio. They root back to alot of old-skool bands in songs like 'At the end of the rainbow'. Alot of Hammerfall songs feature speeding guitar riffs similiar to the Kai era in Helloween. - Victim of Fate!
 
I discovered Hammerfall way back on their first album. I was attending a Popkom (music industry conference/trade show) in Koln (Cologne :Smug: ) and you got passes to any shows for the weekend. My mate and i went to this club show and Hammerfall were playing, having never heard of them they were a revelation... it would be nice to hear them change things a little bit now and then though as i think they've become a little samey...Sonata Arctica are a current favourite of mine and of course Iced Earth, Blind Guardian, Nevermore, Nightwish, Gamma Ray .. that'll do for now:D
 
Hi Jono and welcome :D Obviously got to see a bit of the Humanity boys this year having them support us on 3 occasions... great guys and i think they'll do well but their stuff's not really my cup of tea.
 
Ach well, they can't please everyone can you... The vocals took a bit of getting over for me, a bit too yankish but after that I found myself a firm fan of theirs... But as I say, they'd really be amazing if they pleased us all!
 
Stormwarrior... great concepts.. great music. I've only actually heard the downloads on the site atm but i must buy a CD! Similiar to the early helloween with better lyrics :D Its 'old-skool viking metal'
 
Jonoleth said:
Ach well, they can't please everyone can you... The vocals took a bit of getting over for me, a bit too yankish but after that I found myself a firm fan of theirs... But as I say, they'd really be amazing if they pleased us all!

I agree the place world would be a boring place if we all liked exactly the same thing. I just offered my opinion i don't state that it's right or wrong just my opinion (where so many people go wrong :p ) As i said really nice guys
 
Aye, nice guys indeed...

I don't think you can go wrong with some Evergrey, they blew me away at Bloodstock this year and on CD they are astounding...
 
Muppet said:
I'm especially happy to see Jon mention Rush's A Show of Hands. Always knew those Mercury Rain types had lots of taste...


Well, thanks muppet !

Gotta agree with Dave-Intense. Rush at Wembley were stunning. Tremendous show. It just shows what 30 years of touring and playing together does for a band. Totally confident, relaxed and consumate performances all round. Awesome !