Metal Reviews

PTH is a muddled, random, breakdown-laden, addled and unlistenable mess of metalcore (anything withe the suffix "core" is almost gauranteed to suck ass). I don't care how technically adept someone is with their instruments; you cant put frosting on a pile of dog shit and call it cake. Music for those with severe ADD.
And, well, Slough Feg is good for insomnia, but not much else, as far as I'm concerned.

Welll...

Protest the Hero are massively energetic, fun, emotionally charged, powerful, and they're one hell of a talented band.

I dunno if I would call them the best metal band today, but they do some incredible stuff.

neurosis are pretty awesome..can't beat a band that uses all of those different elements.
I could never be objective on this one, id be too tempted to say one of my favorite bands

Behemoth have their shit pretty much together, these days. Consistent and mature.

Behemoth are consistent in the way that they are consistently boring. I'm not sure that qualifies them as being the best metal band today, though.

I have no idea, really.

Neurosis and Mastodon are onto some sweet shit lately, but I can't say with all certainty that it's the best stuff around today.

indeed, Protest The Hero are one of the most talented bands out there.

i also love Kamelot, they put out 3 great albums in a row before Ghost Opera which frankly i found a bit disappointing.

Yeah I think if this were three years ago, before I'd heard Ghost Opera, I might have added Kamelot. I only listened to Ghost Opera like... three times.

If Mastodon had better singers they'd be hella up there. I really love the trippy vibe on Crack the Skye. I wish more metal bands had that loose but still fast paced and complex thing going on that they do (like Gospel, who are awesome, but with more vocal melodies and tighter ideas.) But their singing just really doesn't work for me. Too nasal.



No, no, sure but that's not necessarily a bad thing, you're being redundant (also no) and no (I listen to them all the time!). I don't care how technically adept someone is either. I don't think I'd like them much if I had ADD because I have to focus on their albums to appreciate them, and (I assume that) focusing on music for 40 minutes would be hard if I had ADD. Slough Feg are good to fall asleep to but also if you actually listen to them, they're awesome too.

I agree: including the word "metalcore" in the same sentence as "unlistenable", "mess", "muddled" "addled", "sucks" and "ass" is redundant.

So, just what terms would you use to quantify what is "best"?
One mans best is another mans utter garbage.
Why not just state that tese bands are your mostest favorite in the whole world right now, and be done with it?

I'd define best as the bands that are better than all the other bands at making music that sounds good.



Because that takes like 10 words and best is one word.

If that is your criteria, how in the hell did you come to the conclusion that PTH is the best?

If the thread title was simply called "best?", you might have something there. As it stands,

"who is making the best metal today" is 7 words... " who is your favorite band today" is 6 words...

just saying.

Well I wasn't necessarily looking for bands; people could have mentioned general scenes like Rio did.

I still think it is nearly impossible to be objective; perfect example is the fact that you cite PTH, whilst I would probabaly say Tankard.
As for general scenes, none are what they were in the past, but if I had to pick one, it would probably be black metal / post-black, and by "today" I mean in recent years.
But then again, I listen to thrash, black and traditional / NWOBHM almost exclusively, so there's my bias. And of those the only one genre whose "nowadays" stuff that I really listen to is black, with the exception of Tankard, who haven't really changed since the 80s other than production-wise and getting tighter.

Avenged Sevenfold!

Candlemass. Buy their new album and you'll see why.

I did its fucking brilliant, album of the year for me.

i would consider them one of the most stable at least, I honestly don't see whats so bad about sticking to a formula for per se the last three albums. Bolt thrower, Dismember, and Unleashed have done it and why haven't they had tomatoes cast at them? If it works then it works, albeit a couple of new elements in any given album doesn't necessarily relegate it to being thrown to the dogs

The problem with death metal bands is that I'm never excited about hearing more stuff from them after the first two albums I listen to.

Yes, they are stable, but in the way that they're consistently boring. It's not even sticking to formula that bothers me, there are plenty of great bands that do that, but Behemoth are just so generic and clinical that they just bore me. Haven't heard much of Bolt Thrower, Dismember, or Unleashed, though.