There's already a DnB/Jungle/Breakcore thread, so why not have a metal one too?
Recently I switched to listening to stuff on FLAC which was a top tier decision, pardon the YouTube links...
This has become my number one favorite album. Indonesian avant-garde black metal from 2003. Imagine Voivod and Emperor in a blender with some electronic music thrown in. Really good stuff. Even the very weird and dissonant riffs are catchy. Eat your heart out Deathspell Omega.
Crimson Glory - Transcendence from 1988
Crimson Glory's a whole other experience with great headphones and quality. Some magnificent 80s progressive power metal with my personal favorite clean vocalist of all time, Midnight. For some his vocals are a very acquired taste but I love them. Kinda like a mix between Geddy Lee and Geoff Tate.
Death - Symbolic from 1995
This is the peak of Chuck Schuldiner's career. He was not satisfied with being a trailblazer in death metal (naturally alongside bands like Possessed and Necrophagia), he consistently built on the sound with no jumps or detours. Every single album is an evolution of his sound.
Queensryche's Operation: Mindcrime from 1988. Another band quite similar to Crimson Glory. This is a concept album that's quite well written and interesting, dealing with themes like political violence and drug abuse. It is atmospheric and very dynamic. Clean guitars, choirs, synths... I think they were one of the first symphonic metal bands.
Carcass - Symphonies of Sickness from 1989
The band that launched a thousand clones and created goregrind. Easily their best. I don't usually like straight grindcore, I much prefer my punk with a side of metal (or vice versa), so this is their most appealing album to me. For one, it isn't constant blast beats. There's groove and actually interesting riffing, all things grindcore bands would rather buttchug bleach than do.
Speaking of grindcore, this is another grind band that does more than just play really fast. The guitar and drum work on here is immaculate. Rapid yet precise and interesting. The riffs are super dissonant and weird, and Jon Chang tears his throat out. You may notice some of the tracks have anime reference names (like "The Third Children" to Evangelion). Jon's a huge otaku and retro-gamer. Good taste in general. Probably a cool dude I don't know him.
I think that's enough metal. Post some of your own!
