After ending up listening too many cookie cutter metal albums lately I just thought it would be interesting to hear if there's any great metal bands or/and albums you guys consider particularly creative and unconventional, anything but cliche-ridden and same old. I would think this kind of stuff is very niche and difficult to come by unless you know beforehand where or what to look for.

Oh boy oh boy, I really like this! *Long Post Ahead*

Let me start with a few suggestions of bands/albums that I consider quite original and certainly not "cookie cutter". You might know some of these, obviously, and others maybe you won't! Let's kick the obvious ones out first... I mean the big ones, the unholy trinity of being wacky:

Primus - Frizzle Fry
Primus - Sailing The Seas Of Cheese
System Of A Down - Mezmerize
System Of A Down - Toxicity
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Flying Microtonal Banana
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Nonagon Infinity

Yeah, ok.. Maybe everyone knows Primus, SOAD and KGLW. But did everyone actually give 'em a listen? Those three bands are immensely popular yet you certainly can't call them cookie cutter or boring. Being original, experimental and different is their entire schtick and they succeed at it. I'd say anyone should start there.

Then for the less obvious stuff. I'll just give the genre for each and do my best to give a lot of different styles so everyone may find something they'll enjoy (in any case, none of the following are boring or by the number and you don't have to take it from me, just go and listen. You wanted originality, take it!):

- - - - - -

Zeal & Ardor - Devil Is Fine (Black + Alternative)

Beyond - Quantum Bummer (Progressive + Thrash)

Devin Townsend - Ziltoid The Omnisicent (Progressive + Industrial)

KEN Mode - Mennonite (Noise + Hardcore)

Mutoid Man - Mutants (Sludge + Alternative + Progressive + Hardcore)

Polyphia - Remember That You Will Die (Djent + Alternative + Instrumental)

Children - Hard Times Hanging At The End Of The World (Progressive + Thrash)

Infectious Grooves - The Plague That Makes Your Body Move... It's The Infectious Grooves (Alternative + Funk Rock)

Imperial Triumphant - Vile Luxury (Avantgarde + Jazz + Technical Death)

Horn Of The Rhino - Summoning Deliverance (Sludge + Doom + Death)

Tomahawk - Anonymous (Alternative + Experimental Rock)

Torche - Harmonicraft (Sludge + Stoner + Hardcore)

Prong - Beg To Differ (Groove Thrash + Industrial + Crossover)

Cynic - Focus (Progressive + Death)

Sarmat - Determined To Strike (Avantgarde + Jazz + Technical Death)

Alien Weaponry - Tū (Groove Thrash)

Dirty Shirt - Freak Show (Alternative + Crossover + Folk)

Babymetal - Babymetal (Melodic Death + J-Pop + Alternative) yes.. I did that.

Scars On Broadway - Dictator (Alternative + Hard Rock) ..from SOAD to SOB.

Shrüm - Red Devils And Purple Ringers (Sludge)

Voice Of Baceprot - Retas (Alternative + Nu + Funk Rock)

White Ward - Futility Report (Black + Post-Metal + Jazz)

- - - - - -

Ok.. I think I'll stop there for now, 28 is good. That would be a sick idea for a list though hahaha. I'm sure you'll find at least one band or album you'll like in there right? Those bands just don't do things like the others... Sometimes it works, sometimes it pisses people off

Have Fun!!!!!!

Just in case Guib's recommendations weren't enough, here are some more:

Arkheth - 12 Winter Moons Comes The Witches Brew (Avant-garde / psychedelic black metal)

Urfaust - Ritual Music For The True Clochard (black metal with great vocals and atmosphere)

La Torture Des Ténèbres - Civilization Is The Tomb Of Our Noble Gods (Black metal / noise)

Albino Slug - Albino Slug (Doomish avant-garde metal)

Ved Buens Ende - Written In Waters (the forefathers of avant-garde bm)

Darklord - Symphony Satanikka (mix of Brutal Death and Symphonic Black which somehow works really well)

Phlebotomized - Immense, Intense, Suspense (Progressive / slightly avant-garde death metal with violins)

Dark Tribe - In Jeraspunta - Die Rückkehr Der Tollwütigen Bestie (unhinged black metal with demented vocals)

Arizmenda - Stillbirth In The Temple Of Venus (psychedelic black metal)

Painkiller - Guts Of A Virgin (avant-garde / grind, a slightly more atmospheric Naked City)

Graal - Sigullum Naturae (incredibly unique avant-garde metal)

Kaatayra - Inpariquipê (mix of brazilian folk and black metal)

Rotting Sky - Sedation (black metal / noise)

Timeghoul - 1992-1994 Discography (incredibly forward thinking progressive dm)

Chryst - PhantasmaChronica (very unique avant-garde bm)

Carnival In Coal - Fear Not (over the top avant-garde metal)

Direwolf - Beyond The Lands Of Human Existence (progressive and strangely technical black metal, very unique)

O.L.D. - The Musical Dimension Of Sleastak (avant-garde / industrial metal)

Those are some great creative bands, thanks!

I'll add some easy picks to the list:

Voivod - Any album. Voivod has always been very, very creative and think outside the box kind of band.

Sigh - Again, any album. Sigh was probably the first ever avant garde black metal band I ever heard, and they blew my mind. Imaginary Sonicscape was my introduction to the band.

Oranssi Pazuzu - This is a kinda no-brainer, pretty popular band.

Unexpect - In A Flesh Aquarium. I don't personally enjoy this band at all, but they are very unique and very extreme.

Lye By Mistake - Arrangements For Fulminating Vective. This is some progressive mathcore, very chaotic and surprisingly fun stuff.

Spastic Ink - Ink Complete. Progressive instrumental fusion metal. Anything with Ron Jarzombek is always creative and out there, the man has his very own and unique way of playing guitar.

Sadist - Tribe. This album is full of twists and turns. It's labeled "technical death metal", but the execution is anything but conventional: at times it sounds like any other death metal album, then suddenly the atmosphere changes completely and all the cheesy synths kick in. I think Tribe is amazingly fun and unique album.

I adore Soen. I find them pretty unconventional, creative and I believe they are underestimated

Some more choices:

Ne Obliviscaris - Amazing extreme progressive metal with soaring growls, beautiful cleans, and amazing violins!
Between The Buried And Me - Progressive metal with a hint of metalcore, my favorites being Colors and Parallax II
Vola - Progressive metal, heavy djenty guitars combined with beautiful vocals, each album are quite different and enjoyable!

I think classic of Caina are very creative.

Hello, my name is Juan Torres and I am from Zaragoza, Spain. In 2007, at the age of 16, he had reached the mental state of supreme elevation of consciousness that Aleister Crowley perfectly describes in his book The Psychology of Hash. I had already learned a self-taught way of dancing following the rhythms of the drums (cymbals and snare with one foot, and with the other and the hand the low notes, all when it is a powerful riff or with a groove), I also do the hit snare with a banging hit while softer hits with low notes. So dancing in natural ecstasy gave me ideas that I transmitted by mail and in person to a handful of groups just with two or three notes, I had an idea and I could finish the riff with my mental timing and big feeling (variations on pumpumpa, papapum piii for example)



The next albums have been made with that ideas.



All releases of Beneath the massacre since Maree Noiree singing all the music to the guitar

All releases of Meshuggah since Obzen singing all the music to the guitar

All releases of Emmure since Goodbye to the Gallows (e-mails)

Bedlam in Goliath of the mars Volga (e mails)

Discography of Animal Collective explaining sounds and the rhytms of the melodías (e-mails)

Cast the First Stone de Ion Dissonance (singing to the guitar)

Sedition of Hour of Penance (singuing to the guitar)

Parallax of Between the buried and me (singing to the guitar)

Mechanize, Fear Campaign, Powershifter y Metallic división from Mechanize of Fear Factory) (Twitter)

Interesting topic, but I'll veer slightly off of if it by indiscriminately dumping stuff that I simply believe to be creative. Some might not be that original, that niche or obscure, or that great (but I do like most of them a lot).

Maudlin Of The Well - Bath
Fleshvessel - Yearning: Promethean Fates Sealed
Naked City - Self-titled album, Torture Garden
MIRAR - Mare
Drumcorps
Æthĕrĭa Conscĭentĭa - The Blossoming
Unaussprechlichen Kulten - Häxan Sabaoth
Crotchduster - Big Fat Box Of Shit
Ashenspire - Speak Not Of The Laudanum Quandary
Oranssi Pazuzu - Mestarin Kynsi
Fabricant - Drudge To The Thicket
Pan.thy.monium - Khaooohs And Kon-Fus-Ion
Blotted Science - The Animation Of Entomology
Malokarpatan - Vertumnus Caesar
Lunar Chamber - Shambhallic Vibrations
VoidCeremony - Threads Of Unknowing
Esoctrilihum - Eternity Of Shaog
Ouroboros - Glorification Of A Myth
Demilich
Trepalium
Doldrum - The Knocking, Or The Story Of The Sound That Preceded Their Disappearance
Akercocke - Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone
Yoth Iria - As The Flame Withers
Brüte - Anxietatem
The Physics House Band - Death Sequence
Guthrie Govan - Erotic Cakes
Pageninetynine - Document #8
Botanist
Chat Pile
Vampillia
Kaatayra
Jaldaboath
Surgikill
Brute - Essence Of Tyranny

And now for some more bands in the range of better known to very popular. I believe these bands to be, for the most part, strongly creative in one way or another. Most of the time this boils down to cultivating their strong sound or even kickstarting a wholeass genre. List is far from exhaustive, just those that come to mind the soonest:

Portal, Imperial Triumphant, A Forest Of Stars, Akhlys, Blut Aus Nord, Thy Catafalque Night Verses, Pain Of Salvation, Death, Xanthochroid, The Faceless, Krallice, Sear Bliss, Taake, An Abstract Illusion, Rivers Of Nihil, Ulcerate, Arcturus, Sigh, Sulphur Aeon, Ne Obliviscaris, Devin Townsend and Strapping Young Lad, Swans, Wilderun, Opeth, Cult Of Luna, Deathspell Omega, Dream Theater, Ayreon, Necrophagist, Gorguts, Obscura, First Fragment, Gojira, Leprous, Nevermore, Coroner, Voivod, Zeal & Ardor, Nekrogoblikon, Mr. Bungle, The Mars Volta, Mastodon, Tool, Meshuggah, Converge, Blood Incantation, Igorrr, Clown Core, etc., etc..

Do you often listen to instrumental metal? Vocal metal can get a bit tiring, right? But even instrumental metal can be quite repetitive overall. How about instrumental metalcore and post-metal? With hints of other genres and styles? Now that sounds more intriguing.

So, I can confidently recommend one up-and-coming band. They don’t have an album yet, but they’ve released two singles, and it looks like a third one is on the way. This Finnish band is called EXISTENTIAL DEAD https://open.spotify.com/artist/4opOi3QA5WjEdBJACOWK76

Where do I see the creativity here? First, the tracks are well-structured with no repetitive riffs throughout. Each song has a sense of progression and doesn’t follow a single template. Sure, each track has an intro, a main section with breakdowns and dissonances, but every time it’s mixed in a unique way. Add to this some unconventional instrument combinations. A synth intro for metalcore? Absolutely, why not?

For a DIY project, it’s really impressive, and it’s another point in favor of this band’s creativity.

Written by Metal Diogenes on 19.03.2024 at 18:32

After ending up listening too many cookie cutter metal albums lately I just thought it would be interesting to hear if there's any great metal bands or/and albums you guys consider particularly creative and unconventional, anything but cliche-ridden and same old. I would think this kind of stuff is very niche and difficult to come by unless you know beforehand where or what to look for.

I think you can push "creative" to some really crazy places. So, I think I'll focus on bands that are creative but somewhat accessible...

Arturus, and Solefald were a big part of my introduction to the more creative side of metal.

Thy Catafalque were a band I discovered during quarantine in 2020, that have stuck with me.

Sigh are probably the most enduring metal's "avant garde" for me.

Another band I got to know during the lockdown was Oranssi Pazuzu.

I think there's something notable about the brutality of Mantar.

Most recently, I'm enjoying Crippling Alcoholism.