(Part 2) Best products from r/Metal

I personally use Cubase, but it doesn't really matter which DAW you use, as all of them can do pretty much everything you want them to do. The punch you get out of your sound is based on what hardware and plug-ins you use, and more importantly, how well you are using them. DAW's just there to be a host for those things, and all the major ones handle the recording and mixing superbly. If you do a lot of MIDI stuff, then FL Studio might be the best choice, as it has the best Piano Roll input, making MIDI composition in it very simple.

Anyways, both the software and the hardware are gonna cost you quite a lot (unless you pirate). If you want good sound, there are no alternatives. For Symphonic Metal, some essential stuff is

1. If you'd prefer to obtain your MIDI from notation, then you will need a notation software. Finale and Sibelius are market leaders. Those aren't DAWs, though, so if you want some actual good sound, you'll need to export the midi files from those after composing, and load them up in the DAW, as controllers for VSTi-s. Do note that with this method you'll have to oftentimes make quite a bit of adjustments to the MIDI in the DAW as well (changing and automating the CC options, velocity settings, absolute note length, etc.). Good thing is, both Finale and Sibelius can load up VST instruments, so you can get a good approximation of how the music's gonna sound in the DAW before actually exporting the MIDIs.
   
   
2. Good amp head and effect sims. Seriously, this day and age, DI'd guitars can do at least the same, if not more, than the mic'd up ones. The good thing is, some of the best stuff is free. Really good examples are Le Pou plugins and free TSE audio stuff. As for the non-free stuff, Guitar Rig Pro, POD Farm and Amplitube are all pretty good.
   Now, a really important thing to remember here is, if you use those plugins, turn off the Cab Simulation parts. They're usually not bad, but they won't be able to match some of the Impulse Responses you can find on the web. Which brings us to,
   
   
3. IRs and a convolution loader. IRs are basically files that describe what a specific cab and microphone placement usually does to the audio signal, and convolution loader is a plug-in that will load IRs in your channel strip. There are tons of free Impulse Responses out there, but the best ones I've ever seen, Red Wirez BIGBox series, are totally worth the money. As for the loader, the best one I've seen, Le Pou's LeCab, is totally, 100% free. Though Red Wirez's MixIR is pretty good too, and you can load up BIGBox presets in it. Note that unlike the commercial amp sims, which most often advertise themselves as the complete guitar solutions and automatically load up cab sims (which you'll have to manually disable) whenever you load an amp preset, free ones almost never do. It is absolutely normal for an amp sim to sound like shit if no cab sim is loaded. Just load up some IRs through the convolution loader and see how it sounds then.
   
   
4. Some virtual drums. They make composing drum parts much easier. Right now, the best ones out there are available as expansions for Toontrack's EZDrummer and Superior Drummer. Superior Drummer can load up EZDrummer stuff, and is much more advanced, but is quite a bit more expensive (and larger). Anyway, the two best expansions for metal are Drumkit from Hell and Metal Machine. Metal!, Metalheads and the Metal Foundry expansions are all very good as well, but those two are the ones that have actually been used on the records, and sound pretty much perfect. Also note that Toontrack sells some really good MIDI drum line packs for those, and at a pretty cheap price. If you want to get started with drum programming in an easy way, you can try those.
   
   
5. Some orchestra samples. Those will cost you an arm and a leg, and then some. Some of the best stuff out there is by the EastWest/Quantum Leap group, famous for their EWQL Symphonic Orchestra sample library. Other good stuff is Vienna Symphonic Library and Garritan virtual instruments. Really, though, there's no cheap stuff in here. If you're going for a Lo-Fi feel, though, then there's actually quite a lot out there. Just google some VST keyboards and individual instruments. Many of them are actually free.
   
   
6. (Optional) Guitar VSTis. It takes some time and effort to learn how to get them to sound like actual guitars, but if a guitarist is not around and you need to do some jamming, they're irreplaceable. The best ones out there are Shreddage 2 and [Prominy V-Metal] (http://www.prominy.com/V_METAL.htm). Nothing else can really compare with those two (though EastWest's Ministry of Rock comes pretty close). For bass, some good stuff is NI's Scarbee Rickenbacker, Prominy SR5 Rock Bass, Orange Tree Samples Rick Bass and Shreddage Picked Bass (which you can buy together with Shreddage II as a bundle). All of those are DI'd samples, so as with a physical guitar, you'll need to hook them up to the amp, cab and effect sims.
   
   That's it for the software part. Those, together with the stuff that usually comes with the DAWs (some really simple mixing plug-ins, mid-grade instrument samples and synths), and some necessary hardware (another topic altogether), should be enough for composing and recording. If you're planning on mixing by yourself, well, that's a lot of additional work. You'll need to get some mixing equipment and/or plug-ins (many producers even do mixing completely inside the computer, with no external mixing equipment). So, shameless plug of /r/audioengineering, one of my favorite subreddits. You can learn a lot about mixing and mastering in there. If you're a complete beginner in mixing, I'll suggest 5 Minutes to a Better Mix series and this little, godly book.
   
   Anyways, have fun with the music.

FIRST TIMERS:

Dragonlance - Shadow of the Elder Titans (Symphonic Power, 2016, Japan)

Yeah, there’s a reason you’ve never heard of this band before. Here’s a live version of them performing just to give you an example of the “so bad it’s good” feel they give off. The singer is absolutely atrocious, and sometimes their songs feel very cookie-cutter, which is a shame because I kind of like the guitarist (except in this particular video; I think he was having an off day). This guy is to singing the way James Nguyen is to filmmaking. Also, why over $30 for this? Don’t CDs normally go for around $15? Or less?

Orationem - Trve Holy Black Metal (Black, 2017, Christian Metal Underground Records, USA)

I have a problem with the whole general appearance of this band and album. I’m not saying there can’t be Christian black metal; I believe it’s a legitimate form of black metal (I suppose that’s up to your discretion whether or not to agree, though). It’s just… Orationem has this whole underground black metal feel that I can't describe without saying “evil” “occult” and “ritualistic” (probably not as intended). The whole thing about underground black metal’s appearance and style is that it’s anti-mainstream, and tries to be something that sacrilegious for a normal person to listen to, right? Well, considering that Christianity is a religion with over a third of the world worship, the image of this metal project is so contradictory and stupid. As for the music itself…it’s not that good. To be fair, I like the production it has, as well as Thomas Eversole’s drumming and vocals, but the guitars are so sloppy, and the structures of the songs are all over the place. I’m probably not ever going to come back to this.

The Black Dahlia Murder - Nightbringers (Melodic Death, 2017, Metal Blade Records, USA)

This is the first time I’ve listened to a full album by this band, a year ago I wasn't impressed, but now that I’ve in recent times obsessed too much about Finnish melodeath and its love for keyboards and atmospherics, TBDM, a band known for a very straightforward sound, was a great change of pace. Clearly, after 16 years of practice, the band has nailed down a consistent formula they’re good at. Perhaps too many of the songs being forgettable/similar, but it wasn’t that annoying to me, and fuck it, I’m gonna give this one a pass because out of all the albums I listened to, I think I had the most fun with this one! Also, Necrolord is the best cover artist and you can’t argue against that.

The Dark Element - The Dark Element (Symphonic, 2017, Frontiers Records)

Out of all of the albums released this Friday, this was the one I was the most hyped for. I’ve been waiting patiently for a year, since it features Jani Liimatainen and Anette Olzon. For me, it didn’t disappoint. It’s a very overproduced record though; those that don’t like special effects and synths taking a vast part of the album won’t like this - but I guess if they didn’t they wouldn’t have known a thing about Nightwish or Sonata Arctica.

Vvilderness - Devour the Sun (Ambient/Acoustic/Atmospheric Post-Black, 2017, Hungary)

Vvilderness just came on to the scene recently, or so it seems to my knowledge. They don’t have a Metal-Archives page yet (though one has been submitted and is pending moderation approval) and their like count on Facebook is minuscule. But I really have to say that this was very enjoyable. I’m a sucker for the very epic, atmospheric open-minded music and Vvilderness is a perfect example of what a newcomer can contribute to the growing genre. Heck, I might even consider them for my top 10 of 2017. It’s them or Wind Rose, but I’d have to think about it…

REVISITS:

Blood Stain Child - Epsilon (Electronic Melodic Death, 2011, Pony Canyon, Japan)

Blood Stain Child’s evolution over time is akin to Wintersun’s evolution, except that Blood Stain Child actually released more than 2 albums in the same time length. This band changed from “symphonic death metal with MIDI cheesiness” to “let’s add as much trance music in here as we can also let’s get a girl to sing everything now”, leaving waves of argument and controversy debating which album was better in the wake. It’s Epsilon for me (I will admit Mystic Your Heart is not that far behind). The whole sci-fi vibe with the sheer catchiness of some of the songs just seems to work very well for me. While I like Kiki more than Sophia as a vocalist, she’s still great and holds her ground compared to her predecessor: the awkward, weird-sounding Sadew (also, Sophia can actually speak English, which believe me, was a MAJOR plus). Other notables that make their mark are Ryo (who’s harsh vocals are awesome; if only he knew how to actually speak English), Ryu (the guitarist that’s pretty much the Hizaki of death metal), and Aki (the one behind all the effects and such). Not everyone’s going to like this, but if you’re a melodeath fan that doesn’t find this appealing after the first 3 songs, I’d suggest tracking down Mystic Your Heart.

Flesh Juicer - GIGO (Deathcore, 2015, Taiwan)

Ahh yes, my first CD. Which is one hell of a weird choice for a first CD. You know how usually your first CD is something special and meaningful to you that just clicks with your personality at the time of buying it? My first CD was something I bought for ironic enjoyment because a cheesy music video featuring a pig as the protagonist exists. But I nowadays actually like it. It’s still regrettable as a first purchase, but this band is known in Taiwan for not being “just deathcore”, but also including folk and cultural influences in their rhythms and lyrical content. I certainly didn’t see it back then, but I do now, and it’s a warm welcome compared to generic breakdowns other deathcore artists have (and as such, I actually usually stay away from this genre. I think this is the only deathcore album I have ever listened to). Furthermore, some of the artwork in this album is just beautiful.

Theocracy - As the World Bleeds (Epic Progressive Power, 2011, Ulterium Records, USA)

I used to be under this impression that Christian metal could not be good if the lyrics were overly preachy, and only worked if the themes of the lyrics were not attempting to teach Bible stories or Christian morals in such a way that you might as well just go to a real church. That assumption kept with me for a long time, and even today I understand why I thought that. But then Theocracy changed and blew that out of the water. Matt Smith, the man behind Theocracy, is a musical genius. His voice is incredible, and the songs he writes are epic. And the backing musicians are amazing too, the guitars especially standing out. Yeah, the lyrics are super religious, but I could probably write an SAT-style rhetorical analysis essay on how it still works. He doesn’t just say “Jesus is my savior, you must love him” as a lot of cookie-cutter Christian bands have, but ventures even deeper and tries to make a story out of it, which is complimented generously by the epic feel that he puts in these songs. After a year of searching, I haven’t found a Christian band that does it quite like Theocracy. Power metal and progressive metal fans NEED to give this a listen. Vastly underexposed.

Wintersun - The Forest Seasons (Symphonic, 2017, Nuclear Blast, Finland)

Last WHYBLT I discussed with somebody why I disliked many parts of The Forest Seasons. I overall think it’s a good album, but quite frankly it’s got many flaws. To sum up: The first two songs are too boring for me. They have very little to no rhythm changes, the riff that the band holds on to for too long isn’t interesting anyways, and repetitiveness just doesn’t work for songs over 10 minutes without some kind of hook. The third song is interesting enough for me and I enjoy it, but I know that some people still are angry at the 14+ minute time and an overuse of symphonics. By far the best song, without debate, is the final track, Loneliness, which is probably where all the emotion the first two songs were lacking went to. Jari’s voice is still one of the best out there, and he’s still quite a memorable auteur, even if this album was more or less a cash grab for Time II. I’m still pretty mad that Kai Hahto didn’t actually play the drums this time around, though.

X Japan - Dahlia (Classical/Industrial Rock/J-rock/Power Ballad/Power Metal/Visual Kei, 1996, East West Japan, Japan)

I know that genre list next to the album is quite a mouthful, but in this album the band decided to stop their straightforward glam rock/speed metal style (which had fluctuating parameters in the first place) and go for something quite different and experimental in their final album. Nearly half of it is ballad and only one song can be considered metal. Does that NOT sound like a recipe for failure? Well, they pulled it off. And it’s not just “passable”, but it’s really, really good. As of right now, Dahlia is one of my top 10 metal albums (I know I just said it’s barely metal, but since X Japan itself is a metal band I count it). It made it very clear that X Japan would never lose their creative abilities, as each song clearly speaks from the heart and bursts with emotion. It also costs $30 since it’s Japanese and never saw a re-release, but unlike Dragonlance it’s potentially worth it just because of how clear it was that X Japan never grew weak, but died fighting (the band would break up about a year later).

EDIT: Found a better TBDM stream

Hey mate, doing a PhD on Aussie extreme metal. I'll do a write up for you when I get home :)

Edit: the promised write up.

So, there's actually quite a lot on metal in the academic sphere, but it can be hard to find. It's growing at an exponential rate too, which is exciting! My own area is musicology (with a slight ethnomusicology element) and I've done work on symphonic metal, the original Gothenburg scene and Australian extreme metal. I've published two papers, and done a few posters/conferences so far (I can give some links via PM if you'd like).

Metal studies is very multidisciplinary, with a huge range of content under different subject areas. To start with, I'd encourage you to check out the journal Metal Music Studies which is a completely legit peer-reviewed journal that covers most disciplines. You can also check out conferences like Modern Heavy Metal and there are a few others around. I'd also strongly recommend the book Global Metal Music And Culture as a recent overview of where the field has come from and where it's gotten to.

Other than that there's a variety of books worth looking into. Robert Walser's Running with the Devil and Deena Weinstein's Heavy Metal are the two main starting points. Both are really worth reading, but they're very dated. I'd also strongly recommend both Extreme Metal by Keith Kahn-Harris and Metal, Rock and Jazz by Harris Berger.

My other big recommendations are in musicology areas mostly, which might not be the most helpful to you. I recommend everything Eric Smialek has done; both his theses are great and he combines musicology with a really good perspective on metal culture in general. If you want more, I'm happy to share parts of my literature reviews for my two theses with you.

For your paper, I'd encourage you to do it. My three primers on Aussie metal I did stemmed directly from my PhD and they're be plenty of interest in an article like the one you describe. Check out the first issue of MMS published this year, they had a whole half of the journal about metal from Latin America that might give you some ideas. Don't worry about ethnomusicology methods, there are barely any ethnomusicologists in metal studies, it's nowhere near the norm for the field. There's no one disciplinary style that's expected because there's such a wide range of disciplines in the field. There's also always the option of publishing metal-focused work in subject-specific journals (I can link you a few music ones if you'd like). More than happy to talk more in detail about this.

Finally, I'd like to offer a little word of advice: be careful of assuming that there's not much that's reputable or 'gets' metal. There is a lot of mediocre stuff out there on metal that unfortunately often gets publicised (e.g. Sam Dunn, Until the Light Takes Us etc.) but don't let that colour your view of an entire field. Equally, don't assume that because a writer's cultural experience of metal differs from yours and that of your main communities (e.g. reddit, your local scene etc.) that it's wrong. I had to really get over this, as I found a lot of writing on metal didn't match my experience but I've decided to respond by a) acknowledging that my experience might not match theirs and b) writing a lot about my experience! I'm particularly interested in genre, especially in terms of making some clear, musical( or even musicological) definitons for genres and working out exactly how and why genres like metalcore and hard rock 'don't belong' according to many fans. A bit of a tanget, but something talking about imo.

I really hope that's helpful. Please do ask if you have any questions, I love talking about metal academia (and miss AveLucifer and chatting with him about some of this!) and I'm really keen to help others get into it.

>In some way however my worry remains. Are these modern incarnations more 19th century spiritualism or new age woo woo? I can respect that these beliefs tap into an anti-ascetic desire in people and a genuine practice could result. But even new age religions like Wicca and paganism are often shallow at least compared to the complexities and depth that exists in well established age old religions. I speak as an atheist with no compassion for established beliefs, but when you give a traditional system thousands of years to parse out it's theology and practice it gains a depth unknown to recent reincarnations of religious belief. This isn't anyone's fault but it doesn't help that these beliefs are represented by some the more er floaty types in the west.

Well the New Age and 19th century Spiritualism are actually modern incarnations of far more ancient phenomena. I am referring to the field of study called "Western Esotericism" which covers ancient Hermeticism, Gnostic thought, Theosophy, Alchemy, Theosophy, Kabbalah, etc all the way down to the New Age, Spiritualism, and others. The New Age and Spiritualism are in fact rooted in this phenomenon, and cannot be properly understood without it. If you're interested the book New Age Religion and Western Culture: Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular Thought is the best book on the subject, and in it the author, a highly respected and influential scholar in the field, shows how New Age ideas are actually deeply rooted in Western Esoteric ideas, and are in fact just modern incarnations of the same. As for Wicca and Paganisn you're a little closer to the mark because there isn't much evidence for it before Gerald Gardner's creation of it (that he framed as merely a public revival of a long underground Pagan system, which historical evidence has a hard time backing up). While I understand your point that "established religions" have more time to parse out and elaborate a more consistent and rooted theology and practice, it's also true that no religion started in a vacuum, and in fact most of the time new religions just work with material already existing. We can see this with Christianity, in that it's more or less an offshoot of Judaism that adopted many Pagan beliefs involving the resurrection of god, and furthermore ancient Israelite thought owes much to the religion of the Ancient Near East as well. Buddhist thought cannot be understood outside of the shramana milieu surrounding its genesis on the fifth century BCE. My point in this is that none of these religions, even in their infancy, sprang out of thin air. Thousands of years later they're accepted as fully formed religions, but in their infancy they looked a bit more like modern day Wicca in the ways that they creatively worked with already existing material in the creation of a semi-novel worldview, in the absence of thousands of years of credibility-building. And modern Wicca and Neopaganism has the entire wealth of Europe's pagan past to work with as raw material for their own worldviews, and this chain of lineage is real for them, so as a scholar I have a commitment to study how these issues of legitimacy are dealt with in the creation of a worldview that is whole-heartedly believed in.

>My question to you since you study this is where does the occult even come from? I get that it's a combination of Kabbala, Gnosticism, and western mystical beliefs, but when did it arise and who lumped this disconnected series of beliefs together in the west? The evangelical Christian revival and romantic metaphysics movement seemed to occur at the same time in America, a time when people were furiously searching for meaning but surely someone had to "put it all together" into a practice no?

This is something I'm still trying to learn the complete history of, but reading some other books on Western Esotericism could help lay the foundation. This history is a great overview of Western Esotericism as a whole, and towards the end it discusses Kabbalah and the other components of modern day Occultism. We should keep in mind that the word "Occultism" is a word used to describe a various number of interrelated traditions, so take it with a grain of salt. Its development wasn't the work of any one person or innovator, but over the decades and centuries it subtly morphed, elaborated, and acquired new directions just like the history of Western Esotericism, and all religions for that matter. As for precise details that's something I'm working on understanding myself, but the books I mentioned should help for your general inquiries.

Don't know if you have access to music research journals, and I don't anymore, but I still have a pile of references. What specifically would you like? Really you can just pick up biographies of composers, study psychology, understand how religion works, and put two and two together. Also if you hang around a bunch of composers you start to notice this tendency they have for being really strict and nasty bastards, particularly the Germans. And in music schools you can often just walk in and play "pick the composer"- they're the ones with the weird hair and eyes who behave a bit differently to the performers.

I've been taught by a bunch of composers who go back to Liszt in their tree of teachers, and one of them used to boast about having sold his soul when he was much younger. The only thing that was said in the music school about his amazing abilities was that he'd "done something very few people do anymore".

The Rite was something that just poured out of Stravinsky quite quickly when he was young, I gather it was something like an improvisation. Obviously he was using altered states of consciousness, whether he knew or not I don't know. He later decided he really didn't like it much, and called it "formless" if I remember properly.

If you'd like something specifically designed to help "sell your soul" I suggest this hypnosis course, he's a Berklee grad master jazz pianist who'll help you believe stuff like

1)you are a great musician

2)you are a master

3)playing music is effortless

4)music plays you rather than the other way around

5)that every note you play is the most beautiful sound you've ever heard.

and similar sorts of things. Here's a quote:

"False Idols

Jazz, as well as other types of music, has always been about the search for
inspiration and the inner connection. This connection has been the
treasure coveted or extolled by poets and artists throughout human history.
In the nineteen twenties and thirties, many jazz musicians sought it with
alcohol. In the forties, it was heroin, the new buzz. And what is the
attraction of heroin? You can’t think, you can only do. You can’t play too
much, you can only play what wants to come out. You accept everything
that comes out without worry or pain. So, in their own way, those players
were also searching for the ”space.” Even the great Charlie Parker felt this
need. There are stories of him arriving to a gig without his drug, not playing well, leaving the gig, copping
some heroin, coming back and playing great.

This is not a recommendation to start shooting heroin; but it illustrates that
the inner search in some form has always been prevalent in the artist. The
first time Charlie Parker did heroin must have been exquisite! But the one
great sin of all drugs is ... the feeling doesn’t last! You always have to do
more, getting less and less out of it. As you increase the dosage of
whatever you’re addicted to, be it violence or chocolate cheesecake - the
result is always sad or even tragic. Early in his life, John Coltrane found
heroin. A bit later, he used LSD. The psychedelic drugs of the sixties and
seventies gave the user a different kind of experience. You got the buzz,
but a window would also open that allowed you to go beyond physical
reality and explore other realms of consciousness (similar to the ”buzz”
illustrated on those cereal commercials). In this state, the musician could
see and hear on other levels. With heightened senses, it was possible to
milk the ecstasy of each note. But after the effects of the drug wore off, the
window always closed, making the natural state feel dry and intolerable.
Eventually, for John Coltrane, the search led to no drugs. Toward the end
of his life, his path had evolved into meditation, diet and spirituality. He ran
the gamut, but was always searching for the same state. Finally he found
what he was looking for within himself. The folly of human history is the
search for this state in things outside us. This explains all wars, all quests
for money, power, sex and other sensory experiences. The ultimate
security one seeks can only be found within.

I play music from this space. The longer I play, the deeper into the ’space’ I
go and the quieter my mind becomes. Other issues seem less important. I
focus deeper and deeper in the moment. Inspiration and ideas start to flow
through me. The execution of the music becomes automatic. I find myself
resting more and more as the music progresses. When it reaches the point
of happening by itself, I am able to play all night. In fact, I have trouble
stopping! I find that I love playing more now than when I was a kid, and the
music coming out is more than I could have hoped for!
Don’t waste your time moralizing about drugs and sex. It’s not about being
locked out of the Kingdom of Heaven. I believe that whatever force is the guiding principle of our existence, He/She wants
us to feel that good all the time. That power has provided a nectar within
our very own Selves. I capitalize ”Self because I was taught to capitalize
the name of God. That’s where I have come to believe He/She lives, in that
inner space inside me. If we would just stand still and quiet ourselves long
enough to sense that power, we would come to know an ecstasy that lasts.
We must decide that it’s more important to surrender to the space and to
love what it gives than to play well. Once that decision is made, music will
open herself to us and reveal all her secrets. We will experience waves of
joy. Then we will become beacons that can light the way for others, and our
mission will truly become important."



Its worth noting John Coltrane is considered a saint in an African American church


If you'd like to develop perfect and relative pitch I suggest the courses at http://perfectpitch.com , though David Burge is a pain and his site screams scam these courses are amazing, he drills stuff until its as deep a part of your soul as reading and writing (which are also brain-wirings and were tightly controlled by the church for a long time). These courses take your aural skills far beyond what they teach in the poshest schools nowdays, and the posher the school the more time they spend on ear training. Burge takes people up to old-school composer levels of aural skills.

References for the more controversial statements I made there are Robert Walser's Running with the Devil, and from the journals

Moore, Robin 1992. “The Decline of Improvisation in Western Art Music: an Interpretation of Change” in International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music Vol 23 No 1. Croatian Musicological Society.

Ferand, Ernst, 1961. “Improvisation in Nine Centuries of Western Music: An Anthology With a Historical Introduction” in Anthology of Music. Arno Volk Verlag.

The Schumann quote comes from Schumann, Robert; ed Henry Pleasants, 1965 in Schumann on Music. Dover, pp. 157-8.

This stuff really isn't talked about or written about, Steve Vai is one of very few who talk about it quite a bit, he's turned guitar and music into religion, and calls his 30 hour workout exercises a "path to virtuoso enlightenment", and says "its all how you think" over and over in tutes and lessons online. He's actually been given an honorary phd in music by Berklee now, you could call him Dr Vai.

I haven't looked into secret societies at all, but yes music alters consciousness and that can be used to control or change the way people think- just look at how integral it is in most (all?) religions... Some very few musicians are fully aware of the effect their music has on other peoples minds, and consciously exploit it. Here's John Mclaughlin talking about it.

But Manson was a renegade Scientologist and knew all about hypnosis and how to abusively program people, and those jerks can just go and fuck themselves- particularly the renegades.

I started back in with vinyl earlier this year - it can be a little expensive, but if you have some spare cash and need a hobby, it's definitely something to get into. I love the larger album art, but what I really respect is the technology - with everything being digital nowadays, it's pretty fucking cool that something as analog as a needle (scratching a groove and making music) is still around and relevant.

When I was younger, I had an old record player from a garage sale and used records (pop/rock like Led Zeppelin, Boston, AC/DC, etc...) were anywhere from $.25 to maybe $5 tops. With the resurgence of vinyl recently, used records are still fairly cheap (maybe $5-10, higher depending on rarity), but new records can set you back $18-40 (depending on number of pressings, colors, etc...).

I've since bought an Audio Technica LP-120, cleaned up and pruned (ditched anything too far gone) my old collection, and started my new vinyl metal collection - I love it. To be honest, I wish I stayed with it when I was younger, as I probably could have built quite a collection (especially with metal) in the time I was away from it.

Records make you appreciate full albums instead of playlists or single songs. It might get a little annoying to have to flip/change a triple LP (metal bands especially have longer songs that don't fit on a single LP anymore), but that's what makes you appreciate the whole album.

It's the perfect time to get into it - Led Zeppelin is re-releasing all their albums on remastered vinyl (and they sound incredible), modern bands do vinyl releases (usually with download cards to get digital copies), and I'm sure it will be continue to be relevant for a long time to come.

Some tips:

1. Check out record labels (Earache, Inside Out, Century Media, etc...), as they regularly do "free shipping" promotions, and you can get much better prices buying directly from the label instead of some douche bag reselling records through ebay at higher prices. Also, check out local record shops - http://www.recordshops.org/ can be helpful.
   
   
2. Don't bother with colored vinyl if you have the choice - it looks cool and all, but sometimes you wind up paying more for it, and it doesn't sound as good as black vinyl (or so they say). Picture discs are cool for display, but tend to have horrible sound quality.
   
   
3. Don't cheap out on a record player, especially with the tonearm - you want to be able to adjust how much weight you're putting on the record, so as to not ruin them.
   
   
4. Buy sleeves for your records - they stop the covers from warping, and (obviously) protect them from dirt and whatnot. Inner sleeves are also a good idea, as some records ship with paper inner sleeves that can actually scratch them.
   
   
5. Make an account on discogs.com, and use it to organize your collection/wantlist - it's probably one of the best places to get used vinyl online.

Couple choices you need to make. Do you care about isolation? Are you gonna be listening to grindcore on them during class? If so you want closed backs.

If you don't care about isolation, open or semi open backs may be preferable, as they will generally give you a better soundstage. The reasons for that and the exceptions are manifold, but it's a pretty good general statement.

You say you want over-ear? I have these and these and I recommend both. The second link, make sure you select the style (under the price) to be 250 Ohm Pro. Just an older model that didn't get the refresh the others did. nbd. Still awesome cans.

How much money do you WANT to spend on headphones? I mean, you said you could spend up to $250, but wouldn't you rather spend $30 on headphones and $220 on something else like more music or concert tickets? If you spend $250 on cans, you're gonna hold them to a standard that will result in wanting to spend even more to see how much better they are. In /r/headphones there are no survivors, only junkies with good really advice. (Mine: Don't get hard into the headphone hobby. Buy a pair that is really good and love them and use them a ton, but for fucks sake stop there.)

Or don't. Whatever. Your money.

Precious Metal - This is a collection of 25 expanded interviews conducted by Decibel on what they consider some of the greatest extreme metal albums. Really good read.

Slayer's Reign in Blood (33 1/3) - A fantastic account on the making of Reign in Blood.

I started with some ER20s but I didn't like how they had the little bit sticking out. It always felt like I would burst my ear drums if I accidentally get an elbow to the ear.

I switched to these for concerts where I'm concerned I might get catch a stray elbow. They only have 12dB reduction but it's better for my peace of mind.

I used foam ones I got from work, cut in half to reduce their effectiveness. Worked pretty good.

Bought a pair of these https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B015IQ6HI4/ref=pd_aw_sim_121_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=58PF4RVFRY0H537ZVHDM&dpPl=1&dpID=51Mve4CQjQL

The first show I went to (revenge, d666 and Watain) they worked great. Saw Primitive Man the other day and they didn't cut it. Not sure if I'm using the smaller ear fitting though. I'm at work so I can't hunt down the package and see.

Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces

I subscribe to the Decibel magazine, and I've read a little of this, mainly just the albums that interested me, but it's well written and generally a good read.

Can anybody comment on these? Specifically the sizes and how well they work. They aren't too expensive but I'd like to not have to buy a second pair if the first is too small/large. I've noticed some ringing recently (not terrible, thankfully) and I'd like to try some good earplugs.

We Wish You A Metal Xmas. Alice Cooper and Tim Ripper Owens sing Christmas carols, Stephen Pearcy does a fantastic rendition of Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer, and Testament's Chuck Billy covers Silent Night.

Not necessarily my favorite, but The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova is a great read I don't ever see mentioned. It's about a woman who's family has a connection to Vlad/Dracula somehow and how she and her father travel around Europe and go through all these historical texts and such.

https://www.amazon.com/Historian-Elizabeth-Kostova/dp/0316070637

I've been a big fan of these Sony headphones. They're reasonably priced and offer really solid sound quality. If you're on a lower budget for headphones, these are great.

Personally I'm a bigger fan of closed headphones (it leaks less sound out and so on).

But I would've gone for the Grado-Prestige-SR-60i or the Sennheiser HD448. I bet you could find them at a cheaper price somewhere else though. :)

Not a bad CD, Dio's take on "God rest ye merry gentlemen" is fucking epic, but as for the rest I personally wouldnt go out of my way to acquire this.
For those of you that would, I will not link you to Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Wish-Metal-Xmas-Headbanging-Year/dp/B001DZN5XA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1261686212&sr=8-3

I use Planet Waves ear plugs because I'm a student with little money so they're cheap and get the job done. Also because Planet Waves is the shit.

Thanks for the tips! I was looking around on YouTube and this amp was pretty good sounding from the demos. The Marshal Code series. Right now the Marshal Code 100w is the same price as the 50w so I'mma go with the 100w. I know it's overkill, but it's the same price so why not haha.


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MR7M1R4/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A2OH8CUXAUQ6XZ&psc=1

Thanks for the recommendation!

Right now I'm deciding between Sennheiser HD-280 and the Grado Prestige SR-60i.

I am SHOCKED this hasn't been said yet. Musicians literally use these to record in the studio, from Slipknot to Taylor Swift.

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-MDR7506-Professional-Diaphragm-Headphone/dp/B000AJIF4E

I have a pair and I have almost nothing bad to say about them. Great price and quality.

Black Metal at its core is about hatred. How that manifests itself is up to the band. Whether it's a hatred of the Abrahamic faiths, modern society that reveals itself through pagan or nature worship, or of humanity in general. Most of the shreddit recommended black metal albums list feature this in some way. Some points of note...

If you delve into the history of black metal do NOT start it in Norway. It's impossible to tell the story of black metal without mentioning the Norwegian scene but it did not start there. Bathory's "Under the Sign of the Black Mark" is probably the most important of the first-wave black metal albums for giving a sonic guide to how to proceed but this goes into my other point which is, despite the similarities black metal has with one another, black metal has NO sonic definition. Funeral Mist's "Salvation" sounds nothing like Mystifier's "The World is So Good That Who Made It Doesn't Live Here" which sounds nothing like Vattnet Viskar's "Sky Swallower" but it's all under the black metal umbrella. Some have differing opinions as to what constitutes a black metal band but it ultimately comes down to personal choice on the part of the band as to how they want to present themselves and that's what we are left to judge them on. This is the reason why I don't judge Deafheaven as a black metal band because they say that they are not one but do judge Liturgy as one because they say they are for example. This is not just my opinion. I interviewed Alan Averill, black metal vocalist of Primordial and Blood Revolt, who was around in the black metal tape trading days of the late 80s/early 90s who knows his shit about the history of black metal. Most of what I wrote here comes from him.

There is no one concrete philosophy about black metal other than what I mentioned above. Some good books so I've been told:

http://blackdogonline.com/music/black-metal.html <--- Black Metal: Beyond the Chaos

Black Metal: Evolution of the Cult: http://www.amazon.com/Black-Metal-Evolution-Dayal-Patterson/dp/1936239752/ref=pd_sim_b_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=11BWAB0R4N471SZ5AQ2J

Good luck. Feel free to write me if you want any clarification.

Hail Santa :)

​

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081P4HG8W

there is a chapter on NSBM in this book which is great.

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Metal-Evolution-Dayal-Patterson/dp/1936239752


NSBM is a small splinter of black metal which is one of the subgenres of heavy metal as a whole. Like others had said, discussion around this subject as been heated as of recent with the current events but NSBM has always been a small almost non existent splinter genre that gets magnified to colossal size. If you take the bands currently listed in the Metal Archives with NS, White Power, or even Nationalism as their lyrical themes it is around 100-200 bands compared to 117664 bands.

This isnt to say that concerns are not valid nor these issues are not worth talking about but this subject can get very heated with its participants.

I have these and I love them. Would buy again if I lost them.



https://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B015IQ6HI4/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501617561&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=Musicians+earplugs+etymotic&dpPl=1&dpID=51Mve4CQjQL&ref=plSrch

Not OP but I got this specific pair of Audio-Technica cans a few months ago. They're not the greatest headphones ever by any stretch but they're really good if you're on somewhat of a budget.

Get these: http://www.amazon.com/Etymotic-Research-ETYPlug-Protection-Earplugs/dp/B0044DEETC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334947959&sr=8-1

After drumming with foam plugs, these are like being reborn.

This, if you're a fan of black metal.

https://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-AT-LP120-USB-Direct-Drive-Professional-Turntable/dp/B002S1CJ2Q/ref=lp_3003611_1_3?s=aht&ie=UTF8&qid=1479702477&sr=1-3

http://www.project-audio.com/main.php?prod=essential2&cat=turntables&lang=en

Either of those would be fine. I have the former.

I personally recommend getting your ass to the library or bookstore and getting two very interesting books:

Running With the Devil: Power, Gender and Madness in Heavy Metal Music by Robert Walser

Heavy Metal: The Music and its Culture by Deena Weinstein

Both are interesting reads and Walser's in particular has a section which memorably compares a particular guitar solo to a Vivaldi violin cadenza... very interesting.

I'm not really much of a death metal person so I can't recommend you anything in the way of bands but the other people who commented sound like they know their shit. :)

Black Metal - Evolution of the Cult - Goes through from first wave to current metal and all the other niche scenes that the majority of people overlook.

as /u/whereisthemcrib said, these are the earplugs to get.

This is the book btw:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/030681806X/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525996609&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=precious+metal+decibel&dpPl=1&dpID=51Im6pNWUWL&ref=plSrch

Probably you meant Black Metal: Evolution of the Cult.

They are over your budget, but consider the Grado SR-60i or Grado SR-80i