I’ve had a fun time over the last few months getting into metal music and its subgenres. I feel pretty basic in that my favorites remain Black Sabbath, Metallica and Iron Maiden. In my exploration I’ve learned that I tend to gravitate towards New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal / British Heavy Metal stuff. In fact, I found this Spotify playlist called Dad Metal that is absolutely up my alley and I have been shuffling through it a ton.

Unfortunately, I still can’t handle much screaming or harsh vocals beyond what’s in some Mastodon, Opeth, and Gojira records. Even some Pantera gets to be too much for me. I know that I don’t have to like everything and everyone’s tastes are different, but I feel like by avoiding all harsh vocals and screaming, I will miss out on a huge subsection of stuff. So I’m looking to get some suggestions on music that might help ease me into it. Maybe some albums that don’t have harsh vocals on every single track? Or even vocals that are harsh but you’re still able to parse out what the lyrics are?

Additionally, I’m interested in discovering some more recent bands and music that will help me add to my already growing list of Metal that I like. Some of my favorite records that were released this year are:

Fauna - Haken

First Sighting - Blood Star ^^ these folks are a local band too! So I’m extra proud that they’re putting out cool stuff.

The Conquest of Time - Century

And, obligatorily, Metallica’s new record has been getting a ton of playtime from me: 72 Seasons

So, I’m looking for some new music recommendations along a similar vein to what I already know I enjoy. I’m also hoping to get some introductory avenues into harsher stuff, to try and get into that.

Looking forward to discovering new music with you all!