Bored with heavy music. (rant?)

[Nine Toes]

I guess you could call this a rant.  So, if you don't wanna hear it, please don't read any further...

I've been feeling a little bored with my CD collection lately, so I did a little digging around on MySpace (...shuddup, I don't know where else to look).  I kind of hoped to find something new and interesting.

But there is nothing.

I've listened to countless artists and bands, and I can't honestly say I've found a new favorite.  I certainly didn't find anything I would spend money on.

What really makes the whole situation worse... does everything have to be a fucking gimmick?  Or a bad ripoff?

Here's some examples of what I'm talking about:
Alestorm - "True Scottish Pirate Metal"  Are you shitting me?...
Oomph! -  Some industrial/gothic metal band from Germany.  Sounds like a really bad version of Rammstein.
Sonic Syndicate - This one really disappointed me.  I read the review on their page, about how they're "among the hottest and strongest newcomers of 2007", and I read all about their "groundbreaking killer riffs".  After listening to a few of their songs, I thought to myself, "Didn't I just hear this same shit on some other band's page?".  I was kind of interested at first because of the keyboards, but then their singer opened his mouth...  And the guitarwork seemed pretty straightforward and dull.  Nothing "groundbreaking" or "killer".
Job For A Cowboy - Very fast, intricate guitar work, but nothing catchy.  Plus, death metal's not on my list of favorites.  Gives me a headache.
Dir En Grey - Japanese metal?  Interesting, strange, but... I'm sorry... it's just kind of weird to me...
Demon Hunter - Christian heavy metal?  Isn't that a contradiction of some type?  Well, that's a stereotype (sorry 'bout that), but to me it's a match not made in heaven.

I did, however, find a few bands that weren't gimmicks, clones, or just hype:
Bury Your Dead - Decent rhythm.  Sort of catchy.  But again with the barking... I can't stand it when singers do nothing but that.
Periphery - Interesting guitar work, sounds a bit like Meshuggah at a times.  Would be a new favorite, but I don't like the singer.  He kind of sounds like he doesn't know what the hell he's doing.
Dark Tranquility - As close as I'm going to get to a new favorite.  Catchy, rhythmic... figures.  All the best heavy music comes from Sweden.  But it may be a little too somber for my liking.

EDIT:  Pressed the "save" button too soon.  Oops.

I know that musical interests differ from person to person, and maybe I'm just being to picky, but to me, it feels like there is absolutely nothing worth listening to.

A few things I've noticed about a lot of bands these days:
1. The singer - Usually the singer is what seals the deal if you already like the rest of the music.  But I haven't heard a lyricist who actually moves me.  I don't think to myself, "Whoa!  I know exactly what he was feeling when he wrote that!"  Hooks are another thing, they're not super-important, but I haven't heard a good hook that I've actually wanted to sing along to in a long time.  It doesn't feel like too many of them actually "sing" anymore either.  All I hear is barking, shrieking, whining, etc.  Bands like Symphony X, and Firewind might not be so bad if they didn't have singers who sound like they've had their nuts forcefully removed, or used to do jingles for Budweiser commercials.

2. Guitarists -  Where's a really good guitarist when you need one?  Repetetive power chord riffs, and tons of distortion/effects don't make you the next Eddie Van Halen.  A little rhythm is good too.  I heard once, a long time ago, "you know you're really good with a guitar when you stop playing the guitar, and the guitar starts playing you".  Kinda cheesy zen-talk, but I think it's true.

Alrighty, then.  I'm out of steam.  I'll just leave it at that.  Thanks for listening.

[mouthuvmine]

I say amen to Bury Your Dead. I know you said a lot of your cds aren't doing it for you right now, but who are some usual favorites of yours?

[Nine Toes]

After a look-see here:
- I've got just about every Pantera CD ever made.
- Stone Sour's first album was pretty darn good, and I've listened to it all the way through countless times.
- Rammstein.  I've got a few CDs of theirs, and I can't complain about any of their stuff.  ("Du Hast" has earned the "Macarena" status in my book, though)
- Systematic. They broke up a long time ago.
- Mushroomhead.  Their third CD didn't do anything for me.
- In Flames. I like a lot of their older stuff, such as the "Soundtrack To Your Escape" album.
- Shadows Fall.  I haven't bought anything of theirs since "The War Within".  I just kind of tuned out.

After a look on my hard-drive, some stuff I frequently listen to:
- I've got some Lamb of God.
- Children Of Bodom.
- a lot of Paul Oakenfold (I know the subject is supposed to be about heavy music, but I get into the techos and the trances too, especially when it's combined with heavy metal).
- a few Buckethead songs.
- a few songs by some band called "Mnemic".

[Nostradamus]

What you need to do is find a new genre of music.
Seems to me you might be fed up with Rock\Metal.
Then instead of seeking other Rock\Metal bands (though there are many genres of those too) maybe you should just try listening to different genre of music alltogether.
I went from Pop (when I was very young) to Punk to Metal to Hip Hop & Rap and now I'm a Raggae listener. The reason for moving between genres is being fed up of the genre and feeling I've heard all the genre had to offer.

[ThreeOhFour]

After a quick dash through my cd collection, allow me to recommend the following albums:

Vulcanus by Fear My Thoughts
City by Strapping Young Lad
Doomsday Machine by Arch Enemy (I know you said you hate barking but you also mentioned Children of Bodom)
Obsolete by Fear Factory (You said you liked the whole techno/metal combine thing so this could work for you, though it's more industrial sound stuff than techno)
Sacrament by Lamb of God (You said you had some - if you don't have this it's worth checking out at least)
The Fall of Ideals by All That Remains (Not sure of your stance on metalcore - it's worth checking out, even if you don't really dig bands like Killswitch Engage)
Leviathan by Mastodon (Ok, so it be weird, but keep listening for a while at least )

Hopefully there's a few here that you haven't checked out and like. I've recommended my favourite albums by the group - they might have other stuff you can get into.

EDIT:
Just realised I'd missed The Blackening by Machine Head. SOME people claim it's one of the best metal albums ever. Can't say I'd go that far, but it is good.

And if you want a giggle at singing, check out the song Painkiller by Judas Priest. Actually, check it out anyway. Not only is it ridiculously over the top metal, it is by a band who generally sound nothing at all like they do on this song!

Oh, and because you didn't mention them, Rust in Peace by Megadeth and Master of Puppets by Metallica, although I'm sure you've heard them.

EDIT 2:

Oh, and Self Destructive Pattern by Spineshank - kind nu metal, but not in an annoying sort of way (not to me, anyhow)

[Paper Carnival]

Indeed, many bands today are only heavy for the sake of being heavy. Based on the stuff you already like, I can't recommend anything for you. I didn't see you mentioning anything progressive, however. If you still want to try something new, here are some quick suggestions:

Adagio: Progressive Metal
Veni Domine: One of my favourite bands of all time. The clips on myspace are from their more recent stuff, which are nothing compared to their older stuff. I suggest you try and find songs from Material Sanctuary or Fall Babylon Fall somewhere.
Spiral Architect: Progressive metal with crazy weird structures and bass lines. (their myspace seems to have disappeared)
Orphaned Land: A Progressive Metal band with middle-eastern influences
Dryad's Tree: More progressive stuff...
Winds: Progressive...
Sanctifica: First album is pure Black Metal, second album is experimental Progressive Metal
Essence of Sorrow: Progressive Metal

[Oliwerko]

Actually, I like some songs from Oomph!  

I think you dont need to find new genres, just good new bands.
I havent got a very big collection of music, but it is sufficient. And I listen to a very wide variety of genres. From the metal section, I would suggest classic bands when you cant go wrong - Bathory, Immortal, Galadriel (a slovak one, hehe), some songs from Cradle of Filth - if you can overcome that funny voice in it.
I am also into EBM and 80s stuff - And One, Front 242, Klinik, Leaether Strip, Einsturzende Neubauten, Nitzer Ebb, Schnitt Acht and so on.
Oh, Louis Armstrong is king in Jazz and from rock scene I listen to Queens of the Stone Age.

So - I think changing genres is not a good solution - at least I wouldnt do that. I dont like rap, hiphop and pop. And thats it, I am not going to listen to it. I listen to what I like. But that doesnt mean I dont have a few pop songs from 80s, you know. Just continue searching for new bands, thats all.

[Gord10]

My adviced songs/albums that you probably have already been listening:
Dream Theater/ "Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory" album
Opeth/ "Damnation" album, some light tracks like "Face of Melinda","Benighted" from "Still Life" and "The Patterns In The Ivy I/II", "Harvest" from "The Blackwater Park".  (actually my favourite albums are "Morningrise" and "Orchid"; they are so touching, but it is hard to concider them as "light music").

I would love to suggest Şebnem Ferah, my favourite Turkish rock musician, but I don't know how you could supply tracks of her.

Edit:
I have almost forgot the existence of YouTube.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Wd8JPD9O3SE
http://youtube.com/watch?v=wI1yEpBVygU
http://youtube.com/watch?v=aFU3yx4l3-4

[auriond]

Dethklok is pretty much a gimmick, clone and hype all rolled into one, but it's obviously not meant to be serious, and that makes it enjoyable for me.

[nihilyst]

I really recommend the album "The Great Cold Distance" by Katatonia, and as a second, their album "Viva Emptiness". They've reduced the growl-shit or their first albums to a very small amount, so you might want to take a hear.

For example:
http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPSGS-ymseI&feature=related
http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=gLEogbdozHc&feature=related

Another band you might try is the german band Subway to Sally and their albums "Nord Nord Ost" and "Bastard".

For example:
http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=jGFPvHoWItI
http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=scLSJtTZ-5U

cheers
nihilyst

[Akatosh]

Not a real music suggestion, but there's a pretty awesome internet radio station called PureMetal.org, with the subtext of being "Hard 'n' Heavy", and they play rather awesome music. The website and moderation is in German, but the songs itself are international.

[TwinMoon]

What really makes the whole situation worse... does everything have to be a fucking gimmick?  Or a bad ripoff?

You could try allmusic.com. Look up a band you like and they usually have a bunch of other bands that they think are similar.

You might find something there, although their suggestions aren't always spot on.

[ManicMatt]

See if you like Idiot Pilot. I've been playing their second album to death lately, can't get enough of it. It's erm.. I can't describe their sound easily. And I dont know if they're heavy enough. (They do scream sometimes though)

[RetroJay]

Hey Nine toes.
I know how you feel. I felt the same way recently.
Nothing "did it for me" until one day whilst driving the TV remote my senses were given a good kick
up the ass from a band called "DRAGONFORCE" :o

The guitarists are out of this world, the drummer is a thunder god, and the vocalist is bloody good. Thats my opinion anyway.
Look on You Tube for "Through the fire and flames" the name of the first track on their album "Inhuman Rampage".
Mind you the video is a cut down version of the full 7 min 18 sec track.
Let me know what you think of em.

Jay.

[ThreeOhFour]

Heh, I refrained from mentioning them because he said he didn't like the singer from Firewind. But yes, they are shredders.

[voh]

Hrrm, I've never gotten fed up with a genre, because I listen to a multitude of them. My most used playlist is called allmusic.m3u and has Alternative Rock (indie, grunge, whatnot), Hardcore (Hardcore punk, mostly, but amongst which are some 'emo' bands which don't suck entirely), Metal, Nu-metal (yes, I seperate metal from nu-metal ), Ska, Punk, Reggae, Jazz, Game Remixes (OCremix ftw!) and a directory called "Random" where songs are I haven't and won't categorize.

This way, if I feel like metal, I just plonk that directory into winamp. But lately I've mostly been listening to Hardcore (A Wilhelm Scream, mostly, which might be interesting for a metal listener, since it's quite technical and most metal fans I know enjoy this band, even though it's hardcore punk).

I have, however, gotten the feeling lately that I needed to increase my music collection in the form of individual bands, so I asked the bartender at my regular pub if he had suggestions. I've got a 3-page list here with bands varying from indie to punk to ska to reggae to metal, and I've downloaded a couple already - there's some albums there I'm definitely going to purchase