Guess I could give Maiden a second chance, yeah ... And there's something about Deep Purple I never really liked. I could never find out what exactly, but they never got anything more than a weak head shake from me. =/

I love Maiden to death these days, but it took me forever to get into them. I gave em like 5 trys until there music clicked with me.

I have to agree with Krelian on Deep Purple here, specifically their record In Rock. I also recommend Pentagram's First Daze Here record, which is a compilation of their seventies singles that were out of print for the longest time.

I've always liked both Maiden and Deep Purple, so I have no problem recommending both of them, either.

I support the Maiden movement, but i've never really heard any Deep Purple, save for Smoke on the Water, so i'll just leave my recomendations with Maiden for now.

If you end up liking Maiden, i suggest you check out Helloween Pre 1995. They have a very Maidenesque sound to them with their 2nd through 5th album. Their first album is very grungy, and hard edge. Anything after 1995, when Andi Deris joined the band as lead singer is almost a mixture of both sounds. They're an interesting group, and i suggest you at least check out Keeper of the Seven Keys Parts I and II.

I've tried to get Niki to listen to Helloween and Gamma Ray forever, it just doesn't look like it's gonna happen. =/

Is this Diss? ._.

And while this would be true for Gamma Ray, I don't think I listened to Helloween since I was like 15.

Sho is homie! If you didn't dig on Gamma Ray, maybe some old-school Helloween would be more your style. Like Walls od Jericho and stuff has a much more raw sound that you might enjoy.

Could be. You know, the thing is I actually used to listen to Black Sabbath, Judas Priest or even Accept, Ozzy solo, Motorhead an all the kind, in my mid teen years.

At that time, my step sister gave me her whole hard rock cassettes collection from when she was herself a teen, and so I was suddenly loaded with literally hours and hours of music.

The only things I got from it were total worship for early Alice Cooper, Rainbow, the Am I Evil song by Metallica and, granted, a general taste for metal. But all the rest? Well, I guess it kinda canceled itself from having so much to listen to at an early age.

Thus why I'm even more surprised at how great some of this stuff is now that I listen to it something like 10 years after. And also thus why I'm open to (re)listen to basically anything.

Sounds like it's time for another try at Helloween and Gamma Ray then. =D Also, I forget how you felt about Death. Yay/nay?

Even Gamma Ray? Oh well if I have to ... ;_;

And no I don't think I even listened to Death, but then again I never liked Death Metal much, and that is based on much more recent experiences. =p

I admit it didn't live up to Blackwater Park expectations, but Ghost of Perdition has to be one of my favorite songs in the band's library, and Harlequin Forest and The Grand Conjuration aren't too shabby. It's still a step up from Deliverance, in my opinion.

Has anybody been keeping up with Iced Earth since Glorious Burden? They've been quiet for a while now, but I don't know any specifics about the lineup or what problems they've had.

Iced Earth has been dead to me since the first time I tried listening through the Glorious Burden. That band's soul left with Matt Barlow as far as I'm concerned. Ripper Owens is too horrible for me to get over.

As far as Death goes Niki, you should give them a listen for the guitar alone. Chuck was INCREDIBLE.

Okay then ~

By the way, Lent had to warn me about the new Rhapsody like 2 weeks after it was released! How come nobody mentioned it in here?

Pretty good album btw. Really sounded like they were covering themselves, but it has that fresh Rhapsody thing, so it's all good. Oh yeah they changed their name to Rhapsody of Fire too, for some copyright reasons.

And as much as I liked that album, I almost equally disliked Luca Turilli's 2 latest efforts. Seriously, wtf Luca? ;_;

I rather liked Luca's latest solo album. Does this mean i'll like Rhapsody?

I've been trying to expand my musical gene pool, and after Mercenary, and Luca Turilli were officially accepted into my music circle, i've been on the prowl again for new bands to check out.

I think it's important to announce that The Project MCMXCIX have announced they're going to be releasing a new album imminently.

Also, has anyone heard anything about Wintersun's Time or Pain of Salvation's Scarsick? They both seem to be total vapourware as far as metal albums go :(

Well, Turilli is Rhapsody's guitarist, if you didnt know, so yeah I guess there are chances. And I like Turilli's older albums, just not his latest 2 solo works.

And about Wintersun, well, as much as I liked the first album, I will always feel it's a big shame he splitted from Ensiferum, as both bands became less than old Ensiferum was.

Wankery? Are you sure you aren't thinking of Dream Theater? :p Anyway, I can see what you're saying somewhat, but I think that My Arms, Your Hearse is a lot more tight, songwriting wise, and that may have something to do with why it's my favorite Opeth album. And the long, meandering song format was much more prevalent on Morningrise, which I don't enjoy nearly as much as their later stuff. Regardless, I think Opeth have some pretty valid material, and are underrated by the hardcore metalheads. Which I'd like to consider myself, despite liking Opeth. That being said, I guess I'm really into prog, so that may have something to do with it. :|

Hehe, thank you. I say, don't ask a question if if you don't want to hear the answer.

That explains everything... ;)
Agreed with your assessment of Opeth, my experience is similar. And yes, Amorphis (though not really comparable) is way better.

Eh?
Walls of Jericho is indeed awesome, but I don't think he likes power/speed metal. Then again he DOES like Priest... hmmm.

I'd recommend Sir Lord Baltimore, a 70's band that sounds nearly as heavy as Sabbath. Also, Dio's stuff, and Saxon, Jag Panzer, Angel Witch, Accept, Running Wild, Metal Church... can't really go wrong with those.

I don't understand. Gamma Ray is pretty much recycling of Walls of Jericho. It rules, of course, but I can't imagine liking one and not the other...

Now it's my turn to say eh?

I hear glaring similarities between Pre '95 Helloween and Iron Maiden. If he's a purist, i can easily see him not liking Helloween in the Andi Deris era, but Maiden, i think is a pretty good indicator that Helloween in the early days is a good direction him.

But that's just me.

Eh, it sounds different to me. Gamma Ray has made a career of recycling their own sound over and over, but old-school Helloween just has a different feel to it. It's a little more basic and raw, for lack of a better term I haven't used yet.

Death really doesn't have much in common with death metal, unless you count their early years which has the old-school death metal vibe. Starting from Human on, they developed a more 'progressive' sound to them. Chuck really grew as musician following those. Definitely check them out.

Go listen to Gamma Ray, niki. -_-

Well, my thoughts aren't going to be very appreciative.

The Agony Scene:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y24..._scene__04.jpg
Enough said.

Unearth: Never really listened to 'em

Bleeding Through, isn't as good as everyone makes them out to be.
They're a lackluster fashioncore band aiding to what is killing 'the scene'.
Don't believe me?
http://mclub.te.net.ua/images/art/artist_2525.jpg

Everytime I Die, however, I do enjoy these guys, because home IS where you hang yourself.

All in all, most hardcore bands, are completely gay. I don't care how 'good' they are. To be honest, they are doing what hair metal did to metal in the 80s, which is putting the final nail in the coffin that is hardcore. It's no longer about the music, it's no longer about the emotions, it's not longer about hardcore.

It's fashioncore, it's about who dresses the faggiest, who can ninja dance the best, and who's better dressed than everone else.

To be honest, I think hardcore needs to go back to the 90s again. When bands actually rocked.

Converge is one of the few hardcore bands, who are STILL hardcore, haven't slowed down, and to be honest, they are pretty much the pinnacle of hardcore (despite what Iwata may say) with a million imitators.
http://www.reflectionsrecords.com/re...nverge_big.jpg
Plus they're four of the ugliest men ever with some of the best lyrics (and quite possibly music) that I've ever heard.

I just now got into Nightwish, I remember the first time I heard them I hated them. I've really been going towards a more gothic/symphonic sound recently. Anyway was looking for some new symphonic bands to listen to, and thought I'd try Nightwish again. I don't really like their male vocalist much, but I'm getting used to him.

I think that title (four ugliest men ever) is actually reserved for Bachman-Turner Overdrive.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0...CLZZZZZZZ_.jpg