[Music] Heavy Metal Mania

Thread is Youtube heavy.

The past two weeks I have taken for the most part, a 2 week break off of TL.net under the premise of studying for AP tests. Seeing as how Blizzard released StarCraft 2 Beta for Mac the second day after I requested the ban, I obviously didn't get as much studying done as I probably should have

However, over the past 2 weeks, I did notice that I was listening to some fuckin' heavy metal again. As a lot of you probably know I listen to quite a bit of metal (and other stuff too), and I also happen to be bored by 90% of the metal I listen to. Metal just happens to be far too bland most of the times.

As an example, my music library around a year or two ago was around 40ish GB of v0/v2 MP3, and now it's down to 20ish GB, of which 3-4GB is anime soundtrack.

That said, though most metal bands bore me, there are plenty of bands that I absolutely love, and probably will always love. The bands whose music never seems to get old at all. Most of what I ended up listening to was divided between Megadeth, Overkill, Malevolent Creation, Loudness, Death, Stratovarius, Racer X, and Nomeansno (not quite metal but whateva). So I decided to write up a bit on these bands since I think some of them don't get the goddamn credit that they deserve.

Before anything else, I'll just say that I listen to and love metal for riffs, and not really much else. Some bands are just damn impressive with the 'much else' though.

MEGADETH otherwise known as the best band in the universe.
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This is the best metal album in the world and if you disagree you are a douchecanoe.

I love Megadeth. I love everything about Megadeth (Except probably Risk), and just about everything Megadeth has put out has been absolute gold in my eyes. I spent the most time just relistening to almost all of the Megadeth albums all the way from Killing is my Business to Endgame.

Everything from the riffs to the solos to the vocals to the drumming. Everything is just absolutely perfect.
+ Show Spoiler +

There is too much good Megadeth for me to do Megadeth justice so I'll just pick some decent songs that probably don't get the credit they deserve along with some alltime classics.

Don't believe me?

Just listen, just listen.

Don't listen to this and you'll wake up dead for sure

Riffs Riffs Riffs

Intro is to die for

All the riffs in the world

This is what Megadeth is

New stuff ain't half bad

Why is this music so good?

Megadeth's sound is surprisingly consistent despite the numerous lineup changes, though there are obvious differences when they transition to the 90s with Rust in Peace and Marty Friedman where the solos get much more melodical, and then start to slow down in Countdown to Extinction/Youthanasia. As long as Mustaine can continue to pump out his riffs I don't think I will ever stop listening and headbanging.

When it comes to Megadeth, what I find is that in most albums, two of the best tracks on the album lead and end the albums (in the case of an instrumental, the 2nd song). Just about every album follows this formula.

With Peace Sells, you start off with instant classic Wake Up Dead and end with the thrilling My Last Words.
With Rust in Peace, you start off with HOLLLLYYYY WARS, and end off with Rust in Peace... Polaris which has some of the best riffs in Megadeth's career.
With Youthanasia, you start off with the thrasher Reckoning Day, and the end with the epic VICTORY.

... You get the picture right?

Overkill
Overkill is just purely amazing. Start off the career with some speed/thrash metal and Blitz's soaring vocals, transition into a groovy thrash, then go right back to straight up thrash. I think I listened to every single Overkill song over these 2 weeks and the only album I found disappointing was WFO (which sucked).

Overkill's riffs are sometimes very simple, but they are just so easy to love and so catchy I can't help myself. Blitz's vocals are really quite unique for the genre of metal he is in, and DD Verni's bass is truly one of the most remarkable parts of the music.

So unlike Megadeth which stayed decently consistent, Overkill has had some remarkable (and awesome) changes in its lifespan of over 20 years.

+ Show Spoiler +

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZaHmHCkqsg
Start off with some high speed thrash metal with simple, yet satisfying riffs that are perfect for headbanging. Nothing overly technical and boring like some of those other bands out there. Straight up metal.

Obligatory song.

HOLY FUCK WHAT HAPPENED WHERE DID THIS AWESOME SOUND COME FROM?
Yeah, that's Horrorscope, my favorite Overkill album of all time. Sound completely changed to this heavy, 'groovy' thrash metal. Still those riffs and the bass.

THERE ISN'T EVEN A SOLO WHY IS IT SO GOOD? Riffs riffssssss

Here is that strong bass in the background. Necroshine is probably true groove metal, but it's done so well unlike what Pantera turned it into. Haunting intro + awesome guitars + Blitz = sick

The title is absolute terrible, but I think the correct way to describe the song is 'badass'.

here is a new song.

Fuck yeah, that was Overkill

Malevolent Creation
Malevolent Creation is one of those Death metal bands that doesn't get enough credit probably because they didn't break many barriers like Death with their later progressive stuff. However, these guys know how to make good death metal. A lot of their stuff has a hint (or a large hint) of thrash metal in it, which may be why I love them so much.

+ Show Spoiler +

Yeah, it's pretty much just death metal. Like all death metal there are a bunch of tremolo picked riffs, but for some reason this song just sounds so good to me.

Much like the other before it.

Intro riff is really badass and then it turns into the normal death metal, except it's really really fast.

OK I bet you're kinda bored now, but hey the best album is up next :D

Intro riff says it all. Heavy riffing into more heavy riffing into more heavy riffing. Something about this song is just so catchy :D

Probably one of the heaviest songs they have ever done. The meh quality of youtube doesn't quite do it justice, but it is quite the formidable song.

Malevolent Creation is a hit or miss whatever. I never like reviewing death metal because people never understand it

Loudness
Japanese heavy metal. I think it's like one of the most successful Japanese metal bands or something. All I know is that they have quite a few simple and satisfying songs.

To be truly honest, what keeps me listening to the band is just the guitar. Akira is some kind of goddamn virtuoso with his tapping and licks.

+ Show Spoiler [Loudness] +

Unfortunately, youtube doesn't have that many Loudness songs on it

The song that started it all.

One of the weirdest and most awesome solos ever. Rest of the song is quite meh.

I really like the riffs in this song, and the song is really heavy for some reason (well the entire album is). Really wet and heavy distortion makes this song sound so much better. Oh and the solo is really awesome too.

I only have a few albums (since they are so damn hard to find), but if you find any, check them out imo. Really awesome guitarist and some nice riffs here and there.

Death

Death doesn't quite need much of an introduction. It's death metal, and Chuck is amazing.

+ Show Spoiler [Death] +

Tell me you don't love that riff in the beginning?

Death going kinda prog, and the riffs are still top notch. Great headbanging material or whatever.

This song just feels really creepy to me for some reason. The intro followed by the heavy intro riff scares me.

PULL THE PLUGGGGG

Stratovarius
POWER metal

not GAY metal (I'M LOOKING AT YOU SONATA ARCTICA AND RHAPSODY)

Mad respect to Strato for recording the best power metal album of all time.
+ Show Spoiler [Stratovarius] +

Just go down the playlist and listen to:
Will the Sun Rise, Speed of Light, Stratosphere, and Night Time Eclipse

Now tell me you don't love this band.

You can't.

The riffs in the album are top notch, and the soloing is done very well as well. The drumming isn't completely boring like most Power metal, and the music isn't completely saturated with keyboards and keytars and awesome stuff that other power metal bands overuse to make their music sound terrible.

Probably one of the most popular Strato songs. Easy to see why with the classic keyboard opening and the solo.

However I prefer the opener, which I feel has a better feel to it. I actually like the drumming, and the entire song somehow just fits. No furious riffing or anything, but the song still sounds really good. Odd

Racer X
Paul Gilbert doesn't get the FUCKING CREDIT HE DESERVES. The man is a god of guitar, but people are too far in Steve Vai's and Joe Satriani's pants to notice Paul Gilbert.

+ Show Spoiler [Racer X] +

The riffs, the 'solo', the entire song. Good technical music that anybody can appreciate and love.

Like the most obvious and well known Racer X song and for good reason. The solos are just so good and the main riff is just so catchy. They are also in space suits. Isn't that cool?

VIKINGS AND KING KONG. Really the song cannot be matched.

Simple, satisfying song with a very nice solo in the middle.

Nomeansno
They aren't even metal but I have been listening to them for a while now, and I have to say that they are the most interesting band I have ever had the pleasure of listening to. They get away with odd technical stuff that I usually hate.

+ Show Spoiler [Nomeansno] +

What else do you need in a song? The lyrics are just so catchy, and the song is just so... just listen.

I love how bass heavy the song is, and I love the intro riffs. It gets repeated, but the song just works.

This is probably the closest to metal they will ever get. Again the bass is sooooo heavy and it is just so good. I love that bass.

You gotta have a big dick to write a song like this

What is this I don't even

hahahahaha wow.

Couldn't find studio so settle for this. I like how the song goes.

As you can probably see, I don't know why I like it, but it's just so weird and so awesome.

anyways that's it. Hope you found something to listen to, but given that it's pretty much all metal it isn't very eclectic.

[Music] Heavy Metal Mania

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