Favorite U.S. metal bands?

Fans and Musicians who can't read/understand German but want to contribute to this page - here's your sacred place!

Here you can also find the official SNAKEPIT forum entries...

Beitragvon Dustin » 23. August 2004, 19:57

Okay metal heads - I have a few minutes to spare so I figured I throw out this thread for you metal brothers over the pond.

I find it interesting that many U.S. metal fans prefer the European metal bands, and vise vera. B)

So, who are your top U.S. metal bands? and why?

Any that used to be your favorites, but have gone down hill recently? :D

\m/
Dustin

NP: Nocturnal Rites - New World Messiah
<a href='http://www.katagory5.com' target='_blank'><img src='http://katagory5.com/web/images/stories//hymnsbanner1.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' /></a>
Dustin
Haarsprayrocker
 
 
BeitrÀge: 83
Registriert: 14. August 2004, 02:32


Beitragvon Michael@SacredMetal » 23. August 2004, 20:13

Hey Dustin!

Yes, that's quite a phenomenon. I don't know if this proverb exists in English, but here in Germany we say "the prophet doesn't count in his own country", if you know what I mean... ;)

Concerning your question - that's a really tough one! I know and love SOO many US Metal bands that I really can't name each and every one. But of course names like Omen, Helstar, Vicious Rumors, Heir Apparent, Deadly Blessing, Sanctuary, Shok Paris and many more.

All those bands doesn't exist anymore or are relesing records that don't kick ass anymore, but the best US Metal Band that is still alive and breathing is Jag Panzer - because they have the best singer in the whole, wide world in their ranks and they write ass-kicking METAL songs with power and melody.

The good thing is that there are many, many bands over there in the US that still play this kind of Metal - Katagory V with their debut is of course one example for this great "anti trendy music". Carry on, Dustin, and hammer out a classic!!!

Michael
For all the words unspoken, for all the deeds undone,
for all our shattered dreams, for all the songs unsung,
for all the lines unwritten and all our broken hearts,
for all our wounds still bleeding and all our kingdoms come.
Benutzeravatar
Michael@SacredMetal
M e r c y f u l F a t e
 
 
BeitrÀge: 12509
Registriert: 6. Januar 2004, 16:45
Wohnort: Osnabrueck


Beitragvon Prof » 24. August 2004, 00:11

Oh man - name my US metal faves? I mean - do you have a couple of hours to spare? :P
I agree with Michael, though, for us it's a bit puzzling why Americans love the Euro-stuff so much, whereas European metalheads tend to hold US metal in much higher regard. Although... are you familiar with, for instance, the British band ShadowKeep? They are as US metal as they come and produced two truly awesome full-lengths plus a great self-financed mini-CD. For me, they're right up there with the likes of Helstar, Watchtower, Heir Apparent, Leatherwolf, Warlord and Sanctuary.
As for me, there's some bands I lost faith in along the way (Queensryche after 'Promised land', Metallica after 'And justice for all'), there's some I never even really liked (Megadeth being one example). But there's so much good stuff around if you dig a bit deeper, so for me it's always been a question of concentrating on the glass half full, you know :) There's Jag Panzer, Born Of Fire, Ignitor (new band with an amazing female singer), Talamasca, Defyance, Visionary, Ravensthorn, Metal Church, Zero Hour, Power Of Omens, the criminally underrated Ion Vein, the reformed Attacker and Tyrant's Reign, and there's yourself, of course :D
Here in The Netherlands we've seen a couple of amazing releases in the progressive-power category over the last year or so: Symmetry's 'A soul's roadmap' (excellent concept album with a rather dark fantasy slant), the debut CD by Sun Caged, plus the unexpected joy of another band kicking off with a great first one: Silent Edge. It's called 'The eyes of the shadow' and has the added value of some neo-classical elements. What all these bands have in common is the excellent production (despite the Symmetry-CD being a self-financed deal) and a great vocalist.
So, there's tons of stuff to (re)discover! In America, it seems to me, bands hardly seem to be aware of eachother or tend to be very focused locally. Which is understandable, given that it's a big country. But it all seems so fractured at times and I often wonder where all these great US underground power and progressive metal bands come from. I mean, if there's so little communication, it just seems weird that those particular styles still thrive, against all media odds.
Do you have some sort of 'metal network' that extends beyond the border of your own state or is it very much a local/regional affair (apart from the Sacred Metal Board, that is)?
Prof
Traveller
 
 
BeitrÀge: 11845
Registriert: 19. April 2004, 16:28


Beitragvon DarkCherub » 24. August 2004, 02:05

Alright, first of all let me get one thing straight here. We're talking about bands that hail from the US, not bands that play in the US metal vein, right? ;)

Bleh, I was in the process of composing a list for you guys but I got too tired to finish it. I'll get back to you tomorrow...sorry about that :\
DarkCherub
Villain-EP-Original-Besitzer
 
 
BeitrÀge: 903
Registriert: 12. MĂ€rz 2004, 00:03
Wohnort: Karlsruhe


Beitragvon Dustin » 24. August 2004, 20:16

MichaelKohsiek hat geschrieben: Hey Dustin!

Yes, that's quite a phenomenon. I don't know if this proverb exists in English, but here in Germany we say "the prophet doesn't count in his own country", if you know what I mean... ;)

Concerning your question - that's a really tough one! I know and love SOO many US Metal bands that I really can't name each and every one. But of course names like Omen, Helstar, Vicious Rumors, Heir Apparent, Deadly Blessing, Sanctuary, Shok Paris and many more.

All those bands doesn't exist anymore or are relesing records that don't kick ass anymore, but the best US Metal Band that is still alive and breathing is Jag Panzer - because they have the best singer in the whole, wide world in their ranks and they write ass-kicking METAL songs with power and melody.

The good thing is that there are many, many bands over there in the US that still play this kind of Metal - Katagory V with their debut is of course one example for this great "anti trendy music". Carry on, Dustin, and hammer out a classic!!!

Michael

LOL! :lol: that proverb is more true than you think!

You have good list there! Here are some thoughts on some you've listed!

Omen - Excellent band, and a big influence for us. THey were great guys to play & drink with, especially Andy... he's CRAZY! :o I recently heard Kevin (vocals) has run into some serious health problems, I certainly hope he pulls through okay.

Helstar - it's no doubt they are a huge influcen as well... you can hear it. Me, Curtis & Matt were weend on there albums. Distant Star is a classic!!

Vicious Rumors - again... HUGE influence! My only regret is that I never got to see them live while Carl was alive. He was and still is one of my all-time favorite singers in metal. Ihear they have a new album coming out soon? Hopefully it sounds better than Sadistic Symphony... that was slight disapointment. Good to see Mr. O'connell returning onvocals, he's awsome!

Heir Apparent - I know many of the European metal fans prefer their earlier album, but One Small Voice is still an album that get's regular play... and brings back many memories of my youth.

Deadly Blessing - ...I'm not familair with this band belive it or not! :unsure:

Sanctuary - oh yeah, many memories listening to these guys back in the day. Nevermore is great, but still not as amazing as Sanctuary.

Shok Paris - Concrete Killers is a classic album of theirs... it's unforunate they called it quits so soon in their career. Have you seen Vic Hix recently? The man has gotten HUGE! Still a great vocalist, and another favorite of mine.

Jag Panzer - Absolutly agree here! The band get's beter and better with each album! Nice chaps (even though Mark blew me off when he came to town... the bastage! :P ) I'll have you know that Harry is "The Tyrant" by night and on stage... but he is "the poindexter" by day! LOL! I wear my JP shirts with pride, any chance I get, and at any local metal gigs I attend. ;)

No worries Michael... Katagory V will always be against the trends...and are very anti-Nu metal. We defaintly hope the new album will be a classic!

\m/
Dustin
<a href='http://www.katagory5.com' target='_blank'><img src='http://katagory5.com/web/images/stories//hymnsbanner1.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' /></a>
Dustin
Haarsprayrocker
 
 
BeitrÀge: 83
Registriert: 14. August 2004, 02:32


Beitragvon Dustin » 24. August 2004, 20:19

the professor hat geschrieben: Oh man - name my US metal faves? I mean - do you have a couple of hours to spare? :P

damn.. I have to get back to work and have some responses for you sir! :lol:

Excellent list! I'll have to get back to you on this when I get a chance later, you got some interesting bands listed that I defaintly want to talk about! :o

... I still need to get over to Michaels thread on the Euro-metal bands too! B)

\m/
Dustin
<a href='http://www.katagory5.com' target='_blank'><img src='http://katagory5.com/web/images/stories//hymnsbanner1.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' /></a>
Dustin
Haarsprayrocker
 
 
BeitrÀge: 83
Registriert: 14. August 2004, 02:32


Beitragvon Maniac » 24. August 2004, 23:50

Fuck, I should not have looked into this sub forum... Well, I'm not that kinda guy listening to US stuff exclusively, I prefer a hell lot of NWoBHM though, and there's a bunch of other european bands anyway, but there are so fucking much bands from the US I like, wow, which should I name? I totally agree wich Michaels statement, I love those bands, maybe I should add stuff like Savatage (earlier), Liege Lord or the first three Slayer records? I mean it's a load of bands, that are not sounding very similar.
If I had to mention some more obscure bands for me it would be Hellhound, because I love their way of speeding up melodic tunes with skullcrushing twin guitar leads. And the singer is unique as hell!
One band, that is more familar with the die hard collectors is Madd Hatter, damn, this ones not only rare, it's fucking amazing! For me it's one of the best gems combining worth and quality!
<a href='http://www.metalband.org' target='_blank'>Metal Band Website Verzeichnis</a>
Maniac
KuttentrÀger
 
 
BeitrÀge: 540
Registriert: 15. MĂ€rz 2004, 16:44
Wohnort: Itzehoe


Beitragvon DarkCherub » 26. August 2004, 15:50

Sorry it took me so long to come up with a reasonable long reply to this thread but I wasn't home for the last 2 days.

As a sidenote I'd like to state that I'm not particular good at assigning bands to their home countries.
For me the music is all that counts and I usually couldn't care less where a band's from ;)

Alright so here we go (in no particular order):

-Power Of Omens: Awesome prog metal band that combines everything I hold dear...complexity, great melodies and a fairly (yet a bit too hight pitched) good singer. One of my all time favorites

-Sanctuary and Nevermore: Sanctuary were godlike but I do enjoy Nevermore as well...at least their older releases like Dreaming Neon Black. Enemies Of Reality was a bit of a let down though.

-Iced Earth: Ok ok this one's a bit cliche laden and I can't stand their newest release but CDs like Burnt Offerings, at least for me, are real masterpieces and it goes without saying that I consider Dante's Inferno one of the best Powermetal songs ever made.

-Shadow Gallery: World's best Prog Metal band, period ;)

-Symphony X: Well, what can I say? Another awesome prog band and one of my all time favorites. All of their CDs are simply amazing and a must have for every prog fan out there!

-Digital Ruin: I think they're from the states as well, aren't they? Anyhow, great prog band ;)

-Glass Hammer: Prog Rock at it's best.

-Ion Vein: I love their latest release! Absolutely outstanding!

-Zero Hour

-plus some more bands I can't think of right now or don't know where they're from ;)
DarkCherub
Villain-EP-Original-Besitzer
 
 
BeitrÀge: 903
Registriert: 12. MĂ€rz 2004, 00:03
Wohnort: Karlsruhe


Beitragvon Dustin » 30. August 2004, 18:33

okay... I would have gotten to this sooner... but I got married this last week and it's been crazy! So now that things have finaly settled down, I can come back over and chat it up with you fine metal heads! B)

<!--QuoteBegin-The Professor+--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (The Professor)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Oh man - name my US metal faves? I mean - do you have a couple of hours to spare? 
I agree with Michael, though, for us it's a bit puzzling why Americans love the Euro-stuff so much, whereas European metalheads tend to hold US metal in much higher regard. Although... are you familiar with, for instance, the British band ShadowKeep? They are as US metal as they come and produced two truly awesome full-lengths plus a great self-financed mini-CD. For me, they're right up there with the likes of Helstar, Watchtower, Heir Apparent, Leatherwolf, Warlord and Sanctuary.
As for me, there's some bands I lost faith in along the way (Queensryche after 'Promised land', Metallica after 'And justice for all'), there's some I never even really liked (Megadeth being one example). But there's so much good stuff around if you dig a bit deeper, so for me it's always been a question of concentrating on the glass half full, you know  There's Jag Panzer, Born Of Fire, Ignitor (new band with an amazing female singer), Talamasca, Defyance, Visionary, Ravensthorn, Metal Church, Zero Hour, Power Of Omens, the criminally underrated Ion Vein, the reformed Attacker and Tyrant's Reign, and there's yourself, of course 
Here in The Netherlands we've seen a couple of amazing releases in the progressive-power category over the last year or so: Symmetry's 'A soul's roadmap' (excellent concept album with a rather dark fantasy slant), the debut CD by Sun Caged, plus the unexpected joy of another band kicking off with a great first one: Silent Edge. It's called 'The eyes of the shadow' and has the added value of some neo-classical elements. What all these bands have in common is the excellent production (despite the Symmetry-CD being a self-financed deal) and a great vocalist.[/quote]

Okay Professor, it's your turn! (..and DarkCherub!)

The good:

Shadowkeep - Oh yes, I'm very familiar with this band; their last album
is really good! I believe I've meet one of the band members (the former
singer I think) at progpower USA two years ago. It's true; they do have
a US metal sound, which is pretty cool considering they are a British
band.

Watchtower - A lot of their sound came across in our last album, these
guys blew my mind when I first heard them back when "Control &
Resistance" was released. The only other band I've heard that has come
close to them is Spiral Architect. I sure wish Watchtower would kick out
the new album they've been promising the last two years... I guess
Spastic Ink will do for now.

Leatherwolf - the triple Axe attack!!!! Their first two albums are
hands-down the best the band recorded and are absolute classics. "Street
Ready" was pretty good as well, but you could see they were taking a
turn towards a more rock-oriented style for radio airplay. Should be
interesting to hear Jeff Martin (racer X) on vocals now.

Warlord - I had "Deliver Us" on cassette for years, and I nearly wore
it out from overplaying it, which at the time, made me nervous because
it was such a rare album to find in the early 90's since it was out of
print. The last album they did with Jocham (Hammerfall) on vocals wasn't
too bad, but old warlord had a certain magic in the music that can't be
recreated.

The bad:

Metallica - ...how the mighty have fallen. I don't even pay attention to
this band anymore.

Queensryche - What happened to these guys!? They were amazing! With the
recent interviews with Geoff stating "they were never really metal" and
other silly remarks, has made it hared for me to listen to their older
albums... It's very depressing. And now they are recording Operation
Mindcrime:Part II? Hmmmm... I am VERY skeptical about this. They will
have to get a time machine and see why their "metal" material was so
much better to ensure the next mindcrime is a winner.

The others:

Born of Fire, Ignitor, Ravensthorn, Tyrants Reign, Talamasca - not
familiar with these bands... But I'm going to be looking into them now!

Defyance - a pretty good band with Lance King (Pyramaze, Ex-Balance of
Power) on vocals. The production reminds me a lot of Lance's other
projects. Very cool band indeed!

Visionary - are we talking about THE visionary? The metal brothers from
my hometown?! Man, I LOVED these guys; especially there last album
(although it was very different from their first one). When their debut
album came out, they were our hero's when we were all in other metal
bands here. We run into Steve Yates (guitarist) every once in a while,
he's awesome to hang with. The biggest disappointment is that Visionary is
no more... And they have no plans of ever reforming due to so many
personal issues among the band members and because everyone wants to
take the band in several different directions. Very sad, as they are
still one of the best metal bands to come out of Utah.

Metal Church - ohhhh... Start, start the fire! Bring down the HAMMER!
Just saw these guys live a month ago with their new singer... They sound
brilliant live! I still need to get their new album. Believe it or not,
I enjoyed the Mike Howe material best, "Human Factor" is still my
favorite album from these guys.

Power of Omens - very underrated technical progressive metal band. Very
nice guys, and former labels mates of ours! I certainly hope it doesn't
take another 4 years for them to release their next album.

Zero Hour - not only am I a huge fan of this band, but I'm good friends
with the Tipton brothers. It's funny, I will be flying out to the Bay
Area for my honeymoon in a week, and will probably be meeting up with
them when I arrive, assuming they are going to Nightwish as well. I
have some pretty cool stories about these guys.... And I can't wait for
their new album to come out, it's taken forever, and it's almost ready
to be released!

Ion Vein - I know these guys as well... Their guitarist Chris is a real
treat to hang out with. Again...I have some funny stories here. Their
last album was a huge improvement for these guys, and I can't understand
why they can't secure a solid label in the North American territories.
Neil Kernon, another friend, did a great job working with these guys as
well.

Symmetry - I've heard a song from theses guys on an internet radio
station a while back... Haven't got their album(s) yet. Very cool stuff!

Sun Caged - mind blowing stuff!!!! I thought Lemur Voice was good, but
Marcel has proven that he is a force to be reckoned with once again with
Sun Caged.

Silent Edge - I still need to check them out.

<!--QuoteBegin-The Professor+--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (The Professor)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->So, there's tons of stuff to (re)discover! In America, it seems to me, bands hardly seem to be aware of eachother or tend to be very focused locally. Which is understandable, given that it's a big country. But it all seems so fractured at times and I often wonder where all these great US underground power and progressive metal bands come from. I mean, if there's so little communication, it just seems weird that those particular styles still thrive, against all media odds.[/quote]

Yeah, this is often the case, but I feel that I am a little different
(well, outside of the rest of my band) as I am a huge metal fan and
collector myself and really don't think of myself as a musician, just a
metal fan who likes playing metal music! I try to listen to as much
metal music as possible, locally and internationally. In fact I help run
<a href='http://www.utahmetal.com' target='_blank'>UtahMetal.com</a>
where I do monthly articles and reviews on local bands in our scene and
as well as national metal acts in helping spread the word of true heavy
metal to the local metal fans here at home, which is still very small. I think
that there is a scale in which most bands in the U.S. interact, the more
popular ones are aware of each other and good friends most of the time
from playing shows/tours/festivals together. The smaller,
unsigned/independent bands are the same way, but there are SO many metal
acts in the U.S. and there are so many miles and states between
each band... It's hard for everyone to know each other or know of each
others existence sometimes unless they are making some serious waves
with their music in the underground.

<!--QuoteBegin-The Professor+--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (The Professor)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Do you have some sort of 'metal network' that extends beyond the border of your own state or is it very much a local/regional affair (apart from the Sacred Metal Board, that is)?[/quote]

There is a small network amongst friends and other bands regionally, but
we also know many bands across the country that we try to network with,
most of them are on the west coast in California, Colorado, Arizona,
Texas and such. I post on a few other forums, most of tham at UltimateMetal.com (where our band's forum is located) as well as a few others, which many other bands post on, so there is some networking there. I personally try to stay in contact with many bands we are friends with or have played shows with in the U.S., as well as stay incontact with our fans. To be quite honest, we are very UN-popular in our home state of Utah (no one likes us here at home because we don?t sound like NU-Metal), but our album sales have been fairly decent everywhere else in the U.S. .... It is very strange. But, a majority of our sales & fans are located in Germany! So again, like this thread states, it's amazing how many European (or more specifically German) metal fans enjoy American metal bands more than American's themselves! :P

\m/
Dustin
<a href='http://www.katagory5.com' target='_blank'><img src='http://katagory5.com/web/images/stories//hymnsbanner1.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' /></a>
Dustin
Haarsprayrocker
 
 
BeitrÀge: 83
Registriert: 14. August 2004, 02:32


Beitragvon DarkCherub » 30. August 2004, 18:52

Dustin hat geschrieben: okay... I would have gotten to this sooner... but I got married this last week and it's been crazy!

Let me be the first to congratulate you on that man :)
DarkCherub
Villain-EP-Original-Besitzer
 
 
BeitrÀge: 903
Registriert: 12. MĂ€rz 2004, 00:03
Wohnort: Karlsruhe


Beitragvon Michael@SacredMetal » 30. August 2004, 18:55

Wow, Dustin, that was a hell of a posting - I really enjoyed reading it and it's good to know that there are still Metal musicians in the US who enjoy listening to METAL!!!

And now everybody:

Thumbs up for DUSTIN!! :-)

Michael

P.S.: Oh, and CONGRATS to your marriage! The beginning of the end, ha ha...
For all the words unspoken, for all the deeds undone,
for all our shattered dreams, for all the songs unsung,
for all the lines unwritten and all our broken hearts,
for all our wounds still bleeding and all our kingdoms come.
Benutzeravatar
Michael@SacredMetal
M e r c y f u l F a t e
 
 
BeitrÀge: 12509
Registriert: 6. Januar 2004, 16:45
Wohnort: Osnabrueck


Beitragvon Prof » 31. August 2004, 09:51

@ Dustin:
First off: congratulations to the newly-wedded - live long and prosper!
Secondly: your metal maniacs' megaposting deserves The Sacred Metal Board Award. And: kudos to anyone outside of Europe who knows his Lemur Voice records, that is pretty amazing! Saw the band play live in their day, too bad they went their separate ways. The singer put James LaBrie to shame :)
Good to hear, also, that your metal networking contacts extend beyond the local scene and that you're putting in your bit to defend the cause.

P.S.
I was disappointed to learn of John Malufka's departure from Ion Vein. His melodic leads will be missed, not to mention his solos, they had something very melancholy about them. Would you happen to know if he has retired from playing altogether or is he perhaps considering a new project?
Prof
Traveller
 
 
BeitrÀge: 11845
Registriert: 19. April 2004, 16:28


Beitragvon Dustin » 2. September 2004, 14:56

ahhh... thank you all for the warm round of congratulations. :D

I married the prefect woman... a metal fan just like myself! And she's hot as well, which is a plus! :lol:

We'll be flying out tommorow to the Bay Area (San Francisco), to see Nightwish live... and then the next day, we'll be driving out to see my good freind Henry's band, Imagika! ... Not sure if any of you hear have heard of them or not, they had an album come out a few years ago on Massacre called ...And So it Burns. Very excellent Bay Area thrash metal band!

@The Professor
Yes, Gregor was an excellent vocalist... he was another reason why Lemur Voice sound so good. I still need to track down a copy of their Divided album, which is very hard to come by these days, especailly in the states. Know where I can find it?

\m/
Dustin

NP: Nocturnal Rites - New World Messiah
<a href='http://www.katagory5.com' target='_blank'><img src='http://katagory5.com/web/images/stories//hymnsbanner1.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' /></a>
Dustin
Haarsprayrocker
 
 
BeitrÀge: 83
Registriert: 14. August 2004, 02:32



ZurĂŒck zu English speaking SACRED METAL-Forum

Wer ist online?

Mitglieder in diesem Forum: 0 Mitglieder und 17 GĂ€ste