| Rage Against the Machine doesn't suck, not sure if that's supposedly the popular opinion these days or something, but I disagree if it is.
I'll toss out a couple recommendations, some of it does not necessarily fit your requirement of being angry or blues, but it's good stuff nonetheless. I hate Dragonforce (especially after it was featured in GH3 and every geek on earth is blasting Through the Fire and Flames from their car) despite loving prog and power metal, so at least we have that to go on.
Anyway, check some of these out:
Adagio - good vocals, mixes between clear and growling. Incredible guitar and keyboards as well. Has sort of a gothic feel to it, but not in a lame way. Some songs remind me of Castlevania for example. Check out the album 'Dominate'.
Kamelot - really clear and excellent vocals, a lot of softer songs mixed in. Recommend you start with the album 'The Black Halo'.
Symphony X - Just awesome.
Devin Townsend - Devin is incredible, but an aquired taste for most people. I appreciated his talent and technique from the start, but couldn't really get into his music for just listening. A couple of years later, he's one of my all-time favorites. Your milage may vary, but at least give the albums 'Synchestra' and 'Ziltoid the Omniscient' a shot. If you like it, check out his other band Strapping Young Lad.
Einherjer - angry viking metal. Some folk influence similar to Blind Guardian with these guys, but other songs are just straight black metal.
Iced Earth - Check out 'The Dark Saga' and 'Alive in Athens'. Most people prefer either Schaffer or Barlow on lead vocals, but I feel both are good in different ways. The live album I mentioned is amazing and will give you a perfect sampling of different songs to see if you like them at all.
Katatonia - good for when you're in a certain mood. The older stuff is really heavy with gutteral death metal vocals, but with the later albums they've taken a softer turn while keeping some heavy instrumentals. I like both, most people like one or the other. Check out 'Brave Murder Day' for the old style, and 'The Great Cold Distance' for the new.
Soilwork - Good angry stuff, definitely check them out for what you're looking for. Start with 'Natural Born Chaos'.
Mygrain - just recently got into these guys, more angry stuff. The name is incredibly stupid, but the music isn't bad. Reminded me of Soilwork so I've been giving it a chance lately.
Non-Metal:
Boards of Canada
Tycho
Coldplay (yeah, i fucking said it.)
Radiohead
I find it's good to have some soft music to go to when mostly all you listen to is metal. Sometimes you need to come down a bit, and then when you return to the metal it sort of regains its edge, if that makes any sense. |