Music: The Stuff We Listen To!

[Manni]

Here, we can talk about the music and genres we listen to! If members want, they can post links to the music in question!

[Manni]

I've noticed that I like I lot of Game OSTs, instrumentals and music with strong vocals. Also don't mind J-Pop despite how brightly it's mastered and the lack of DR.

[Novaer]

Oof, no one posted since 2017? Let me fix that.

I listen to a wide range of music really, although I am still quite picky. I like a few bands that are pretty obscure, that almost no one has heard of, and there are some more mainstream bands which more people would have heard of. Here are the names of some metal bands that I quite like, in no particular order.

• Lacuna Coil - An Italian band that I've been listening to since ~2003, with their song "Swamped" which was on an advert, on the Horror Channel. I used a music recognition service to try and find out who sung it - and found nothing. It took several listens, and a lot of Googling to find them and in the end, I landed upon their Comalies album on an online music store. I purchased it and eagerly awaited 2 weeks for its arrival in the post. Once I got my hands on it, I listened to every single song and fell in love with the band, and the powerful music. It was unlike anything I had ever listened to in my life. This started me down the path for this kind of music. Although I dare say that in recent years I've not really been overly keen on their their newer music, they will always have a special place in my heart for their older stuff. Some of my favourite tracks by Lacuna Coil are: Swamped, Our Truth, Soul Inmate, I Like It, Hyperfast, Circle, 1.19, Delirium, Take Me Home, etc.
• Lindemann - Is a kind of spin off from Rammstein, it's a kind of project from what I can tell by Till Lindemann, and Peter Tägtgren (Of Hypocrisy and PAIN). It's kind of a mash up between the two bands really, and I quite like their risque songs. I mean you only need to take a look at the video's "Praise Abort", "Fish On" and the uncensored videos of "Knebel" and "Platz Eins" to get where I'm coming from there. I absolutely love Till Lindemann's vocals, which I feel suit this kind of music quite well. I quite like: Stef Auf, Skills in Pills, Gummi, Platz Eins, Knebel, Fish On, and Lady Boy.
• Rammstein - I've been listening to Rammstein music since 2004, and I wouldn't look back. I became acquainted with them with their song "Sonne" and despite almost all of their songs being in German, and me not understanding a single word of it (And promptly giggling when I looked up a translation of the lyrics) I liked what they had to offer, and I kept finding myself listening to their music, always making sure it was on my iPod/MP3 players. Favourite songs are stuff like: Sonne, Mein Land, Amerika, Ich Tu Dir Weh, Radio, Mann Gegen Mann and well... Several others. 
• Ignea - This is a very recent favourite of mine, and so far I quite like all of their music. I became acquainted to them in ~2018, with one of their best songs ever, "Alga!". They're a "DIY"/Independant (No Record Company/Self Publishing) band from Ukraine, that sing mostly in English. In my opinion they're an extremely underrated band. They are awesome to their fans as well. I've spoken to them several times and they seem like pretty chill people to be honest, and most of them are from the IT background as a day job, which I highly respect! I highly recommend checking them out, some of my favourite songs from them are Jinnslammer, Black Flame, Disenchanted, Alga, Planet War and Sputnik. I purchased their latest album and asked them if they would be willing to send me FLAC files of what I purchased. They not only did that for everyone, but gave everyone the option to grab their lossless "WAV" files too. Now that's a band that cares about their fans! 
• Nightwish - I became introduced to Nightwish in 2004 through their song 'Nemo', although that was the only song I actually knew of them, and it'd be on a UK Metal TV Programme called Scuzz (If I recall correctly). Eventually I went searching online for their albums, and found "Once" which I purchased and started listening to when I got it. Like Lacuna Coil, I liked each and every single track on there, and found myself listening to it repeatedly. However after Nightwish dropped Tarja Turunen, I've found that (In my honest and personal opinion) their music quickly declined, and I lost a lot of love for them. Listening to their older stuff, I'd find that there would be two or three songs from their older albums that I'd like but it seems to me that very much - Once was their peak. Some of my favourite songs by them are: I Wish I Had An Angel, The Siren, Dark Chest of Wonders, Moondance, Phantom of the Opera, Wishmaster, and probably one or two I can't remember right now. 
• Amananthe - This one is a bit of a guilty pleasure, I admit. I became acquainted with them around ~2014 or so. A song came on in the online radio, in Euro Truck Simulator 2, and I found it extremely catchy. It was "Drop Dead Cynical" which - honestly felt like the song was describing the me at the time. I googled up the lyrics and found Amaranthe very quickly, listened to some of their other music and like it. Saw a lot of hate from people in the "Metal Community" which kind of made me like them even more. Some of my favourite songs by them include: Nexus, Digital World, Drop Dead Cynical, Supersonic, Boomerang, Momentum, All the Way and especially Inferno.
• Cradle of Filth - A British Band that I became acquainted with in ~2005 with Nymphetamine. I also took note with their cover of Heaven 17 - Temptation; which is a song my relatives liked. Cradle of Filth - is not a band that they liked - at all. So playing their version of Temptation at full volume seemed like a massive middle finger to them in my immature and often extremely drunk 15 year old self's eyes, to my parents and everyone else. ... Yes, I was that kind of a child. Stupidly rebellious, shouting at the world because I was so sick of it shouting at me. CoF became a kind of vehicle to keep ramming the point home that I was sick of their shit, or something like that. xD Oh my, how silly. But some of my favourite songs from them include: Nymphetamine (Overdose), Temptation (Even the God Awful female vocalist in it), The 13th Caeser, Shat out of Hell, Gilded Cunt, Dirge Inferno, Byonic Man, Libertina Grimm and so on...
• System of a Down - Like Cradle of Filth, System of a Down was another one that just felt right for my edgy teenage years.  I'm not sure how I came to know SoaD, or what song opened up the doorway to them, and honestly I don't care. I remember my father sitting me down and inquiring about the music, saying that it was very politically charged - to which I was like - yeah, no shit. But he wasn't being combative, something I appreciated. He told me that it would be inadvisable to base my political opinions on the music I was listening to, and offered other perspectives, and even agreed with some of the lyrics to some of the music. He was right though, you shouldn't base your political opinions off of songs that you like. There are somethings I agree with, and disagree with it, based on my interpretation of them, but importantly - I like their music, well. I did. They haven't released anything as far as I am aware since 2005. I listen to them on occasion still though, and some of my favourite songs have to be: Chop Suey, U-Fig, Vicinity of Obscenity, BYOB, Needles, Sugar and of course - Forest.
• Nile - This is down to a "Metal Head" friend in college, who when he gave me his iPod (He didn't like Apple, and literally just said "Here, you like tech. Have this and keep it.", and of course I was just like, "...okay." They're an American band from South Carolina (If I recall correctly), and their music is heavy metal with themes, tones and lyrics that seemed to be inspired by Ancient Egyptian and Near Eastern mysticism, history, religion, etc. I've not really heard much of their music to be fair, but what I have heard, I like a lot. My favourite album is their Annihilation of the Wicked, album, with songs such as: Cast Down the Heretic, Sacrifice Unto Sebek and User-Maat-Re. 
• DevilDriver - Again, down to that generous apple hating madlad metal head from college, and this pretty much applies to their old music as well. Such as The Fury of Our Maker's Hand, album. Some of my favourite songs from this band are, End of the Line, Digging Up the Corpses, Grinfucked, Hold Back the Day and Unlucky 13. 
• Master Boot Record - A band that I became acquainted with in April of 2020, after @Peculiarity sent me a song by an unrelated band, which I also liked. Shortly after MBR appeared in my YouTube suggestions, and I actually rather quite liked it. It kind of reminds me of the very old stuff done by Luk Hash. Some of my favourite songs are: Telnet, POP3, CHKDSK.EXE and HTTP. 
• Eisbrecher - Another German band of which I hopelessly have no idea what they're even saying. xD I found this one in 2019 and quickly came to like them and their quirky videos that seem disconnected from the music, at first. I stumbled onto them after finding "Zwischen uns" which I think means "Between us" but could be wrong and couldn't be bothered using Google Translate. Any German Dreamers - feel free to correct me if I am wrong.  If I remember correctly, in most - if not all of their music videos, they wear suits/formal wear. Perhaps it's political like System of a Down - I don't know. It seems to me that's good music, and I don't really care either way. Some of my favourite songs by them are things like: Zwischen Uns, Was ist hier los?, Verrückt, Das Gesetz and Miststück 2012. 
• Last but not certainly not least for this list; Rave the Reqviem. This band seems to not like the letter "U" very much, so I am, going to write this piece from here on out by replacing it with V. See if yov can keep vp. I first became acqvainted with Rave the Reqviem back in 2019 throvgh the song "Crack the Sky" on YovTvbe, and I fvcking loved their mvsic from the offset. I can see why they have a bit of a cvlt following, to be honest. As soon as I heard one of their songs, I looked on YovTvbe for more of their mvsic and fovnd that I really liked what I was hearing! It is a very strange hybridisation of electronic - light dvbstep and a lot of metal, and it's done extremely well! So I pvrchased their albvms, and I listen to their mvsic pretty often. I don't think there's a single track that they've released yet, that I don't like. I like all of their songs, and I eagerly await to see what they come vp with next. My absolvte favovrite songs from their line vp is: Mono Heart, Skydweller, Crack the Sky, Are Yov Happy Now, Fidelio?, Heroin(e), Is Apollo Still Alive and Illvsion Shaper.

That's not to say that metal is all I listen to. Granted its the majority. There are other bands that I'm still working my way through, and I might write up about them at a later day, and if I discover any more that I really like, I will add them also. 

[Neptune]

I like every band on the list that @Temaelrin has spoken about but I'll add some of my own thoughts here.

• Nightwish: I was actually introduced to this band by a friend. I had asked them to get a H.I.M album for me, and they also gave me Nightwish's Once album because they thought I might like it. And I fucking did although Once is hands down their best album. After Tarja left though... hmm. Definitely downhill since then, but that's my opinion.
• Within Temptation: I found this one when my older sister bought the "The Silence Force" album from our local music shop. She had a little extra cash to spend and she figured 'why the fuck not'. My goodness, we fell in love with their music. I loved The Silent Force, and the proceeding albums. Not too fond of the ones that came after, but they're not too bad. Just not as good as the others.
• Two Steps From Hell and the composer Thomas Bergerson: Again, my sister introduced me to their music. Man, they sure as FUCK fill my need for epic classical music. Their music has many different tones to them, and invoke a huge variety of emotions within me. I like to put this music on in the background when I'm working, and I like to put the appropriate tone on when I'm writing a roleplay post. 

[Peculiaritree Deactivated]

Figured I may as well throw my opinions in here too. Prepare for E D G E.

• Breaking Benjamin - Very likely my favorite band of all time. BB are an alt-rock band from Pennsylvania similar in style to Red, Chevelle, and other bands of the early to mid 2000's. They are one of the very few bands where I can honestly say that I enjoy every single song they've written. If I had to pick a few favorite songs, though, I would have to go with "Evil Angel," "Failure," and "Give Me A Sign." If you want something a bit slower, I highly recommend checking out "Ashes of Eden."
• Starset - Another alt-rock band, Starset are vaguely science fiction-themed, and most of their music contains some degree of electronic influence as a result. They are most likely my second favorite band, right after BB. I find that each of their three albums has something to offer for most everyone who likes rock and/or metal. Favorite songs would probably be "Telescope," "Ricochet," and "Unbecoming."
• Mechina - Mechina, like Starset, have a sci-fi theme, but takes it up to eleven with an entire lore that is revealed through their songs. It's so extensive that there's a Wikia dedicated solely to figuring it out. Also unlike Starset, Mechina sit firmly within the realm of heavy metal, and by "heavy" I mean along the lines of "Meshuggah with an orchestra backing them and sane time signatures." Interestingly, Mechina is a virtual band like the Gorillaz, but their music is so elaborate it is nearly impossible to perform live, which isn't helped by the fact that they have no record label behind them at all. Most of their vocals are harsh growls by one of the band's 2 (!) official members; however, they often hire a female singer by the name of Mel Rose, who has a haunting, ethereal voice. Favorite songs: "The Horizon Effect," "On The Wings of Nefeli," and "Planetfall."
• Ne Obliviscaris - I didn't think mixing vaguely Eastern European folk-style violin with progressive metal would work, but hey, Ne Obliviscaris was there to prove me wrong. Despite definitely being on the heavier end of the metal scale, this Australian band's music somehow relaxes me just as well as watching Bob Ross paint. They employ a two-singer lineup, with one providing growls and screams and the other handling the comprehensible sections. I haven't listened to them as much as some of the other bands on this list, so I'll just leave one song for them: "And Plague Flowers the Kaleidoscope."
• Red Queen - Slavic model sings seductive horror-metal from the perspective of a vampire queen or something, idk. I'm pretty sure this is the only time I've gotten a fear-boner from listening to music. 'Nuff said, favorite song is probably "Insidious."
• Widek - I only discovered this independent artist in the past few months. They primarily do instrumental rock and metal, rather like Buckethead or Eric Johnson but with a more modern, somewhat-progressive style. I don't have a huge amount to say about them; go check them out for yourself. Favorite songs: "Spiral" and "Orion."
• Alestorm - Two words: Pirate. Metal. The lead singer is Scottish to the point of being nearly incomprehensible and I love it. My favorite song is fucking all of them, it's goddamn pirate metal! Protip: drink rum whilst listening.
• Belzebubs - This black metal band actually started as a webcomic, oddly enough, but the creator decided "fuck it, we're making a band," and the end result is... surprisingly good. Obviously, being black metal the songs are somewhat occult and Satanic in nature, so if you're of the more devout species of Christian you may want to skip this one, just warning ya. They poke a bit of fun at how seriously other black metal bands take themselves in their wonderfully-animated music videos, which I enjoy immensely since some of those bands get waaaaay too stuck up their own butts >.<. They only have one album out, so I'll pick two songs for them: "Cathedrals of Mourning" and "The Crowned Daughters."
• Gloryhammer - Do you like power metal? Do you like incredibly cheesy, over-the-top music? If so, comedy power metal band Gloryhammer is for you! Created by one of the members of Alestorm, Gloryhammer takes itself about as seriously as any band where the singer dresses up in bright green power armor on stage can. Without going into detail, suffice to say that any band with a song titled "The Unicorn Invasion of Dundee" can't be bad.
• Insomnium - Somewhere between doom metal and black metal. Like Ne Obliviscaris, this band's music is strangely relaxing in its own way, and I often find myself putting it on in the background when I'm working on something else. I recommend the songs "Mute Is My Sorrow," "Karelia," and "Revelation."

Phew, that's all I got. Like Tem, I do listen to music besides rock and metal, but it does make up the vast majority of my library.

Edited April 30, 2020 by Peculiaritree
oh heck how do i grammar?