#if you're a random person here's a song rec from their last album for you

[a9saga]

the gazette - daku // no idea what this song's about but it sounds really sexy

#yeah i spent 0 minutes thinking of what to post in the last week but i have been enjoying this a lot lately #i watched the premiere of bb25 last night and dickens kept honking his really loud screechy rubber chicken #so i hid the chicken and gave him his stinky (cow hoof) but then he kept dropping and throwing around his stinky really loudly and stinkily #he's just not a good guy to watch live tv with #i hope the white kid who wants to be a lawyer is evicted #im glad cory was dragged to the nether region #so is he not in the house? is cory not in fact in the house? where do you keep him? someone has to feed him #ive been awake since 5-6 am again #i got a post suggested on my dash of a bunch of random people some of which were decked in visual kei #most of them i did not recognize and neither did op supposedly #and at the bottom op tagged someone and mentioned that they've only heard like one gazette song and they don't know who they are #but they're so hot they keep looking at pictures of them and i was like... oohhhhhhh this makes nothing but sense #i feel like the only people i see talk about the gazette or its members are huge fans or so they seem #but i guess i also understand that if their big fans are obsessed with their looks then like.. random ppl.. #will also just find them really attractive. its the random person to vkei fangirl pipeline #if you're a random person here's a song rec from their last album for you #the gazette #song rec #j rock #tbt #visual kei #shut up kaily #Youtube

[explosionshark]

do u have any metal bands/songs recs?? ive been wanting to get into metal but idk where to start

the ONLY thing that makes this tough is that there are legitimately so many different subgenres and sounds within metal that it's hard to pick some stuff any random person might like. i usually ask folks a bit about what music they DO like before i offer up some recs. but okay - i'lll suggest a couple of my faves from across the board - see if anything sticks

(this got really long so i put it under a cut)

"the number of the beast" by iron maiden (heavy metal) - CLASSIC. maiden are def my all-time fave from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal scene of the 80s. this song typifies everything that makes them such a good band. a strong narrative in the lyrics, KILLER riffs, steve harris' galloping bass playing, bruce dickinson's acrobatic vocal style.

"clayman" by in flames (melodic death metal) - life changing shit for me. melo-death was my first love. the combination of harsh vocals with catchy choruses and really strong guitar harmonies opened a lot of doors for me. this was my jumping off into other styles of metal. i still really love it.

"electric crown" by testament (thrash metal) - slayer and metallica might be the biggest thrash bands in the world, but testament has always been my favorite. really good riffs, great shredding flourishes and solos from alex skolnick and a typically killer vocal performance from chuck billy. tbh this album is divisive among the fanbase for being less thrash and more heavy metal than their usual fare, but that's part of what i like about it. testament are a band not afraid to try stuff out or evolve - it's why they've stayed consistently good while their contemporaries have floundered in their 30 - 40 year careers.

"snap your fingers, snap your neck" by prong (groove metal) - groove is absolute 90s shit. incredible hook, pissed off lyrics, a rhythm you can really headbang to. great for blasting in the car on a drive to or from work.

"apocalypse" by lacuna coil (gothic metal) - i'm biased with these guys. cristina scabbia was a formative crush. their last two albums have been great, but their breakout record was comalies (2002) which cemented their style - dramatic, sweeping instrumentals paired with clean female vocals and a harsher male vocal counterpart. REALLY fun, catchy stuff to listen to, but still with a bit of edge.

"so you die" by bloodbath (death metal) - this is just a nasty, gross death metal song in the classic swedish style. killer buzzsaw guitars, low death growl vocals, a rhythm section that just won't quit. i heard this on a metal compilation CD i got for free at my local record store when i was like 14. literally reshaped my brain.

"matriarch" by unleash the archers (power metal) - POWER METAL. the real nerdy shit (affectionate). this isn't my favorite subgenre, but there's some great musicianship and many talented bands in this arena. you get a lot of fast, complicated guitar parts and soaring, higher pitched vocals. lyrical themes are usually fantasy or sci-fi themed, so often not as dark as some of the other subgenres.

"wretched abyss" by noctule (black metal) - okay, black metal is a big complicated mess. this is the subgenre where i'd say you have to be most careful of running into fascists (they have a whole subgenre of their own - national socialist black metal (NSBM). there's a whole history around this stuff that ties into that but that's another essay and you're here for tunes. black metal means lots of fast tremolo picking and blast beats on the drums, usually with higher pitched screaming vocals. noctule is a recent band, the side project of serena cherry (more on her in a minute). all the songs on this record are skyrim themed. fun!

"listen to someone" by svalbard (blackgaze) - another serena cherry band. this is a style that's fairly new - the combination of black metal elements and shoegaze. typically you get a lot of really pretty atmospheric wall of sound stuff punctuated by harsh bursts of black metal (or vice versa). great if you like songs with a lot of build up.

"they fear us" by ithaca (metalcore) - okay so metalcore is kind of a convoluted term because it can be applied to lots of bands with a variation of sounds, but what it literally comes from is the intersection of metal and hardcore. typically i'd say you can expect a combination of harsh and clean vocals, chuggy guitars, and hopefully a good breakdown.

"woodbine" by windhand (doom / stoner metal) - BIG FUCK OFF RIFF HELL YES. doom tends to be a littler slower than i like - firmly mid tempo, songs on the longer side, and big BIG riffs like this. it's a stlye that plays well with others, you'll see it blending with other subgenres fairly often. this song rips. this whole album tbh. i love windhand.

"invasion" by haken (progressive metal) - like when shit is really technical and trippy but not super into harsh vocals? check out prog! there's lots of stuff in weird time signatures and there's plenty of other subgenres prog bleeds into but i'm trying to keep things simple.

"death to the holy" by zeal and ardor (progressive? blues? black metal?) - there's really no one else in league with this project. inspired by crossing delta blues with different metal styles. tbh most of this list is me trying to present a big, vast subgenre and give an example so you can find out what you like but this shit is singular and it just rules. check it out.

"rotoscope" by spiritbox (prog / metalcore / nu metal) - big spiritbox fan tbh. i've followed the members of this band through a bunch of projects, but that's neither here nor there. this song has a really strong nu metal influence, though i'd say this band usually keeps things in the "djent" progressive metalcore scene. GREAT grooves though and a really fun riff. killer vocals. one of my fave songs of the year.

"the end to a brief moment of lasting intimacy" by seeyouspacecowboy (screamo/mathcore) - yeah i know the subgenres are getting sillier and sillier. idk what to tell you. the "math" in mathcore refers to when bands fuck around with time signatures in a way that generally produces a lot of chaotic sounds (though tbh you don't get a ton of that in this song - check out the bands carbomb, or frontierers for better examples). BUT what we lack in math here, you get back with some great emo hooks and sick instrumentals.

"alkaline" by sleep token (??? idk. prog. who cares) - these guys are fun. anonymous little collective - they perform in masks and stuff, their identities are a big mystery. there's a fun, goofy mythos to the whole band you can dig into if you're curious. mostly, i put them here bc they fuck hard. vessel has a great voice, the riffs are catchy and heavy, but there's a strong pop sensibility to it all. great stuff, if you're looking for something a little less extreme to help you get into the genre.

"无双" by black kirin (folk metal) - so what you've GOTTA know about folk metal is that it can actually sound like a lot of different things. the thing that puts the "folk" in folk metal is the use of traditional instruments from the native culture of the band. black kirin is a chinese band that uses traditional chinese instruments combined with a black metal style. european folk metal bands tend to go in harder on the power metal style + flutes and hurdy-gurdy or what the fuck ever. latin american folk metal sees... well, also a lot of flutes. there are some SICK mongolian folk metal bands (the hu, tengger cavalry) which utilize tuvan throat singing to really cool effect. you gotta shop around to see what's interesting for you.

i could literally keep going and going. there are SO many cool metal bands out there all over the world, making all kinds of sick music in different styles. tbh, that's one of my favorite things about metal - it's a big, big tent.

look, it's not a perfect community - there are problems with elitism, gatekeeping, the fact that the US and European metal scenes are very white male dominated. BUT - this is the shit that saved my life. it's something i've loved for years and years, it's enabled some of the deepest connections i've ever had with people. it keeps me going. for me, getting into metal was a truly empowering and fulfilling experience and many, many people i've met in the scene feel the same way.

try these songs out! feel free to come back and let me know what you like! i'll offer more recs, if you ever need them

#replies #i need a music tag i don't hate #metal #i left off SO many subgenres #and SO MANY BANDS I LOVE. I'M SO SORRY CARCASS.