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Nightgaunt
I'll Swallow Your Soul

Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2004 9:50 pm
Posts: 2922
PostPosted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 7:39 pm 
 

Recommendation threads are like cheap cigars. That is to say, they stink up the general vicinity, their content is often inauthentic, they have a tendency to be habit-forming, and they may ultimately even stunt your growth. Still, it is not my place to forbid them to you entirely. However, in the interest of increased (or decreased, for some) livability, I and my compatriots will be treating recommendation threads more strictly than we had prior. As such, if you would like to create such a thread, there are a few things it would serve you well to be aware of.

***Firstly, realize that some ways of starting a rec thread are apt to lead to far more fruitful, useful exchanges than are others. It is always best to be as specific as possible, and to narrow down your target zone to the best of your ability. One might do this in any number of ways, such as by stipulating certain restrictions or qualifiers on recommendations. For example, you might request suggestions of bands that belong to (or just sound like they belong to) particular sounds or movements (ex: early 90s Swedish death metal), suggestions of bands that employ specific techniques (ex: 'classique' acoustic passages, technical and showy soloing, 'belching' vocals, jazz-inspired drumwork, etc.) or composition styles (ex: 10-minute-plus, 1.5 melody black metal pieces; 3-minute-minus, fullspeed, 1.5 notes actually on-key deathgrind, etc.), bands with high or low production values (again, be specific as to what you mean), and so forth. Combine these 'filters' for best results. For example, "Give me bands that have the old Stockholm sound with technical soloing, no keyboards to speak of, and a nice thick guitar tone" is a good request, whilst "i want lsiten many nice keyboard melodys now, help me pls thnx" is not. You can and should further bolster your topic by giving examples of bands (relevant to what you're looking for) that you do and do not like, and why. Conversely, simply spitting out "I want bands like X, Y, and Z" is not apt to do you a lot of good. What follows are some real examples from past threads of the "dos and don'ts" of rec-threadom (negative examples have had the usernames altered).

This is an example of the RIGHT way to start a recommendation thread:

metal_inquisition wrote:
So... I've been in a metal slump of sorts, and I need some help. The only problem is that I'm having difficulties narrowing my search to one specific type of trad. metal. I've been listening to Tokyo Blade, Satan, Cloven Hoof, some Raven, Angel Witch, and Iron Maiden for quite some time now, but most NWOBHM bands fail to grab my attention. Elixer, Vardis, Jaguar, Demon, Avenger, Blitzkrieg, Diamond Head, and Legend just don't do anything for me (Yes, there's probably something wrong with me). I guess you could say I'm really into more melodic bands and all the twin guitar harmony leads, but I just can't seem to find many more bands employing these styles.

And on the other hand, I'm seriously into two great German bands: Sinner and Gravestone. Although the sounds aren't too comparable, I just can't seem to get enough of "Fast Decision" or "Creating a Monster."
Again, two melodic bands with twin leads that would make most power metal bands shit themselves. People recommend Stormwitch almost all the time, but they just don't get me hooked.

It could be that I'm just too picky, have inner ear damage, or a combination of the two, but after a couple years on the board I felt like maybe I could get a tip or two.

Just for the hell of it, here's a list of some more of my favorites: (List followed)


These are examples of the WRONG way to start a recommendation thread:

User_A wrote:
im looking for some very deep dark epic metal bands, bands in which would make a drug trip much more intense


User_B wrote:
Hi guys!

Could you recommend some Crust bands? By the way, is Crust considered a metal genre or not?

Thanks!


(Thread topic: melodic black metal)
User_C wrote:
The title says what I'm requesting here. Bands similar to ArthemesiA, I suppose. Thank you!


User_D wrote:
can tell me someone some epic death metal bands?


(Thread title: 'recommend me stuff like...')
User_E wrote:
arsis


User_F wrote:
what thrash metal bands would you recommend to someone who really likes heathen?


***Likewise, there are right (read: helpful, informative, possessed of depth) ways and wrong (read: lists) ways to reply to a recommendation thread. Your input should be genuinely useful, well-considered, and of course accurate. Lists of names tend to be vague, innaccurate, and useless to all but the most green of inquirers (and if said inquirers are truly so green, they'd be best off doing a little exploration on their own, anyway). If you're going to post in a rec thread, put some effort into it. Maybe, just maybe, everyone will get what they need.

Here are examples of the RIGHT way to reply to recommendation threads:

(Thread about French BM)
mornox wrote:
A newer french band I've come to appreciate is Svest. Imagine current Deathspell Omega being warped with Belketre. Demo's are closer to early Vlad Tepes and aren't nearly as interesting as their debut Urfaust.

Aside from that Deathspell Omega and Blut aus Nord are the most obvious choices. Belenos' demo's (mostly re-issued) and debut are not to be missed and Nehemah came out with the amazing 'Light of a Dead Star', and have since released two more albums which aren't nearly as impressive though still good.

As for the LLN, my personal favourite releases so far are:
Mütiilation: Everything up to and including 'Remains...' with 'Satanist Styrken' being the best starting point. It has some of their best songs with their best production job to date, as well as great drumming.
The split with Vlad Tepes and Belketre 'March to the Black Holocaust' is mandatory, as well as Belketre's 'Ambre Zuerkl Vuordrevarvtre'. Belketre has in my eyes the perfect black metal production and some of the mosta amazing songwriting, wedded to super-tight playing skills and extreme intensity. Vlad Tepes produced some pretty good stuff towards the end of their career besides 'March...'; these being the split with Torgeist, and the demo's 'Dans Notre Chute' and 'La Morte Lune'. Black Murder is good too and their collected discography will soon see a proper release.

Merrimack's debut, Celestia's first mCD 'A Cave full of Bats' and Epheles' 'l'Hombre de la Croix' are also very worthy.


(Thread about 'Atmospheric Metal')
Nargodath wrote:
Otyg: raw, very traditional Swedish folk metal. Unlike many other bands that label themselves as such, there's no trace of Iron Maiden or power metal here: just slightly blackened, attitude-filled renditions of Swedish folk material. The first two demos are especially good.

Skyforger: Fairly atmospheric, and definitely posessing testicles. Again, non-wimpy folk metal.

Isengard: Why the bloody fuck hasn't anyone mentioned Isengard? They would seem to be masters at this.


(Same thread as above)
Perdition666 wrote:
Other bands to check out:

Depresy - pretty gooddark, melodic death metal from Slovakia. Not the heaviest thing in the world, but I don't think they're wimpy either. Fairly unique sound too... start with their older stuff first

Dark Lunacy - dark/melodic death from Italy - the older stuff uses a fair amount of strings and stuff. A fairly different band too... if I didn't know where they came from, I'd assume they were from Eastern Europe, due to the atmosphere they tend to convey

Mighty D. "The Last Rise" - terrible band name, but they're a pretty good atmospheric death metal. Not really brutal, but not wimpy either. Tempo wise it is usually mid-tempo, with a few doomy parts. Nice use of female vocals too.

If you like Root, make sure to check out Cales and Equirhodont. Cales is Blackie's band, and sounds very similar to Root's "Kargaras", except better. Avoid their 3rd album like the plague (its gay goth crap), but the first 2 are quite good. Equirhodont is a project of Big Boss, no idea what to pigeon-hole it as, but its pretty good at any rate. Also check out the Czech band Beltaine, they're not too far removed from Cales, and they're quite enjoyable pagan/atmospheric stuff... mostly deep sung vocals with some growls.

Hieronymus Bosch from Russia is another band to check out. I'm really not sure whether to pigeon-hole them as tech. death or atmospheric death. Pretty good stuff at any rate.

Some other bands to possibly check out include: Thalarion, The Howling, Lunatic Gods (can only vouch for their 4th album being ok), Crown of Autumn (may be too wimpy though.. well, if you like older Suidakra, check 'em out), Arcane Sun (not sure if they're doom/death or atmospheric death though, damn borderline bands).

I was tempted on recommending Aurora (Denmark) and Pandemonium (Sweden), but they kinda border on melodeath as opposed to real death metal. I found them both rather atmospheric and good, at any rate.


These are examples of the WRONG way to reply to a rec thread:

(Thread about 'symphonic metal')
Poster_A wrote:
power metal all the way

avantasia
blind guardian
freedom call
helloween
falconer
edguy (older)
gamma ray
sonata arctica
hammerfall
etc


(Thread about 'Oldschool black metal')
Poster_B wrote:
well there are many bands...but ill name it only few

sargeist, horna, koldbrann, 1349, abigail(japan), abazagorath, absu, blodsrit, countess,crebain, dark funeral, dub buk, dunkelgrafen, grenjar, forest(russia), hate forest, hirilorn, ildjarn, immortal, inferno(czh), krieg, krohm, kvist, maniac butcher, marduk, mor dagor, morrigan(ger), nachtfalke, nargaroth, nagelfar, nhavaah, nehemah, nahash, orkrist, ondskapt, stiny plamenu, summon, swartsyn(swe), torgeist, trelldom
, trollech, tsjuder, ungod, urgehal, von, vondur, zorn...and many other....but these are the ones that i know i like them....maybe u will too... good luck


If a thread is filled to repletion with pointless list-type replies, it may be locked. If the request itself is vague/general/obvious/tired/etc., it may be locked. If a thread even seems like it might turn out poor, it may be locked. If you do little but make poor rec threads, you may be disciplined. If you do little but kill rec threads that may have been of some use, you may be disciplined. So on and so forth. Note the implication here is that poor starts are apt to be a thread's death sentence.

Other general considerations:

Naturally, if you want your contribution to have any value at all, you should ensure that you have fully read and understood the initial request, the replies to it that preceded yours, and the initial poster's reaction to said replies, if applicable. The primary purpose of this is to avoid redundancy and/or time wasted on an avenue which is of no interest to the initial poster. Unfortunately, this is one of the most often ignored of all these common sense principles--the number of times which I and others have witnessed posts naming bands that the initial poster mentioned as being applicable (or not) at the very outset is quite shameful. If you are caught doing this repeatedly, you may be removed from the premises.

If you are looking for ideas on new bands to listen to, but are either brand new to the scene/style, or you simply aren't picky and will take anything even remotely within your current listening appetites, the best thing you can do is simply to use the Encyclopaedia's advanced search function, available from the front page. This handy feature will spit out lists far in excess of what any human poster could provide you with, from which you may pick and choose at your own discretion. If you are a newbie, this sheer volume may be bewildering--even intimidating--but exploring the vast genre of metal on your own in early stages is the best way to develop your own individual tastes, and to experience much of what the genre has to offer. Start off walking on crutches, and you'll be hobbled for life.

Unless you have a truly accurate recommendation to give, don't post in this or that recommendation thread. This seems simple enough, but some of what I've seen makes me wonder...in any case, spitting out bands that are only marginally or tangentially suited to what the OP was looking for, simply so you have something to say, does not help anyone, least of all the OP. Another thing to be aware of is the OP's level of experience (yes, this will require you to engage your brain, horror of horrors). While the particulars of a given user's tastes and experience are generally apt to be definitely known to you only to the degree that said user has provided them in the initial post, you can avoid making useless replies by applying a bit of common sense. For example, if the OP is requesting "fast-paced, highly melodic metal from the early 80s with fist-pumping choruses and ball-breaking vocals like X, Y, and Z"--and you yourself have never heard of X, Y, or Z--don't go replying "Iron Maiden, dude. Great band." This is analogous to replying to a request for suggestions on exotic Italian pasta dishes with "Spaghetti and meatballs, dude. Great dish." See what I mean?

Finally, if you can tell that a rec thread is apt to be soon-locked just by looking at it, then safest to ignore it.

Until version 2.0, which may or may not have features that more directly address topics pertaining to band recommendations and sounds-like-suggestions, we all have to live with recommendation topics. These guidelines, if respected, may in the meantime make the difference between their number being a pestilence and merely being a harmless, ineffectual, and occasionally even edifying facet of forum life. The examples I gave above are generally representative of extremes; keep this in mind when posting.

If you've skipped all the way to the bottom thinking "mang, i doesn't want to read all dat shit", I strongly suggest that you tough it out and read up. 'Twould be in your best interest.

Thank you for your comprehension.
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