Five bands you feel are underrated and why...

Only 5, eh? Well, here we go:

1. SAVATAGE - Self explanatory! I mean, c'mon! Trans-Siberian Orchestra took one one of their songs, the EXACT same recording, and made a multi-million operation out of it!! SAVATAGE is the best band ever!

2. ARTCH - Perhaps not so much underrated as undiscovered! I think any metalhead who've actually heard them, like them. But so many people have yet to discover this Norwegian classic metal band.

3. BRAINSTORM - When Nightwish, Stratovarius, Gamma Ray and HammerFall ruled the world, a better band was still left unnoticed by the masses. BRAINSTORM is equal amounts power and melody. Simply amazing.

4. EQUINOX - Yes, another Norwegian band, and again perhaps more unnoticed than underrated. Their brand of technical thrash should have been as huge as Annihilator, Believer and/or Overkill!

5. HAVEN - One of the few Christian metal bands that have managed to blow me away in the recent 15 years. I didn't discover them until I got internet, and can't believe that they went under my radar back then. They play my kind of power metal, and they were signed to REX!

kmorg wrote:

3. BRAINSTORM - When Nightwish, Stratovarius, Gamma Ray and HammerFall ruled the world, a better band was still left unnoticed by the masses. BRAINSTORM is equal amounts power and melody. Simply amazing.

kmorg wrote:

Only 5, eh? Well, here we go:

1. SAVATAGE - Self explanatory! I mean, c'mon! Trans-Siberian Orchestra took one one of their songs, the EXACT same recording, and made a multi-million operation out of it!! SAVATAGE is the best band ever!

When I was typing Savatage as well, I kind of figured you'd say about the same thing.

DallasBlack wrote:

metalhead777 wrote:

Also,have to say Divine Fire is extremely under rated.

Unfortunatly, a LOT of Christian bands are. Yes they are more excepted in metal circles these days, but people still think of bands calling themselves Christians as being second and third rate.

Honestly,I find them under rated because of the fact they seem like the reverse of bands like Kalmah and Children of Bodom. A melodic,symphonic death metal vibe with power metal vocals,in my opinion its really unique

I heard Divinefire and for some reason I was just kinda like 'meh' with it.

Not bad - but nothing exceptional ... so I got rid of the one I had.

I'm not a fan of that singer either though. The only album I liked him in was Wisdom Call (rare one album wonder band). I at one time liked Narnia, but later surrendered my entire Narnia collection to a friend who liked em.

MEKONG DELTA / WATCHTOWER - basically they invented the techno-thrash genre, but bands like Testament ran away with all the glory.





RISK - awesome German band with 4 amazing albums under their belt (speed metal earlier, classic heavy later).



VELVET VIPER/ZED YAGO - this is what female fronted epic heavy/power metal should sound like. If this chick had balls she would be rubbing shoulders with the likes of Dio and Halford.





DARK MILLENNIUM - way ahead of their time and equally obscure. Mindblowning stuff out of this world.



PSYCHOTIC WALTZ / SIEGES EVEN / KINGSBANE / SHADOW GALLERY - all amazing bands destined to obscurity under Dream Theater's shadow

Pagans Mind - These guys seem to always get overlooked in the Prog/Power genre. The hooks are there, the melody is there, and the musicianship is amazing. When people think of Symphony X, Dream Theater, and those almost mainstream bands. I THINK PAGANS MIND!!!

Andromeda - Prog Metal to the extreme here. Talent on top of talent with memorable hooks to die for. These guys are WAY UNDERRATED!! Have you heard of them?

Raintime - One of the best bands out there right now IMO! Their latest release Psychromatic didnt leave my cd player for weeks. If you like heavy groove/thrash melodies on top of almost power/prog elements, this band is for you...

Flaw - When Nu-Metal bands conquered the earth haha there was FLAW. Better hooks, better singer, better everything IMO. Still one of the most underrated bands ever...

Pro-Pain - They just continue to pump album after album out of some of the most consistent material out there. If you havent checked them out start NOW!!!

Great call on Pagan's Mind. One of my favorite bands bar none!

Stormspell,totally agree on both Watchtower and Psychotic Waltz!

Thrasher73 wrote:

Stormspell,totally agree on both Watchtower and Psychotic Waltz!

Both good choices.

DallasBlack wrote:

Xentrix: Never see them in anyone's favorite thrash lists but Shattered Existence and For Whose Advantage? are IMO some of the best thrash albums of all time.

Great pick DB, one of my favorites.

someone else who comes to mind. Especially their late 80s era.

CANDLEMASS!!!

Metallic Blaze wrote:

someone else who comes to mind. Especially their late 80s era.

CANDLEMASS!!!

Messiah's voice makes me wanna slam my d*ck in a drawer, I'll pass.

That first album and a couple of the newer ones are pretty damn badass though.


AWESOME call on RISK, stormspell. That's the german band that really gets passed over too much.

Grim Reaper - Not sure how I forgot to list them. 3 albums under their belt before they broke up and to me were one of the bands to really show what metal was, is and always shall be! Because of label problems that caused inner turmoil, they disbanded just before releasing their 4th album. Every member of this band was/is amazing musicians/songwriters.

Solitude Aeturnus - Been into these guys since they released their 2nd album and have been continually blown away. They just never get the recognition they deserve.

White Lion - So much more to offer than the "hair band" tag they had. It wasn't until I got the Anthology they put out that I realized there was more to them than "Wait" and "When The Children Cry". Fight To Survive is a classic IMO. I even really like Return Of The Pride.

Exciter - Every single time I play any Exciter I think to myself "why aren't these guys my all time favorite band" and "why isn't this album in my top ten faves". I even dig New Testament and I usually have no use for re-recordings. To me, Exciter is everything metal should be.

Blessed Death - Two great releases in the eighties (which just about define what I love about 80's thrash) and then twenty years later come out with Hour Of Pain. Of all the thrash bands that have re-emerged with the thrash revival it's a shame these guys haven't come forth again.

Vio-Lence - Maybe it was Sean's vocals, but I never got why these guys weren't bigger. Sean, honestly, is one of my favorite vocalists. And I really thought Oppressing The Masses was going to break them big. Oh, and Blood and Dirt is probably my favorite music dvd. Endless replay for that one.

Jetboy - I'll never get how these guys came along when they did and didn't take off.

I agree on White Lion!

Another band I always felt was underrated was:

Metallic Blaze wrote:

I agree on White Lion!

Another band I always felt was underrated was:

+1

1. Blue Oyster Cult - Words cannot even begin to describe how it irks my peehole when most documentaries I watch and books I read leave this incredible and highly influential band out of the evolution of the genre. They did so many things that helped shape metal as it is today, from the lyrical content to having a guitar hero (to me, Buck Dharma is the most underrated guitar player ever), and also, the whole idea of being a "faceless band."

2. Kix - Helped spearhead the whole glam/hair metal thing, and they did it just as well as Motley, Ratt, Dokken, etc., but for whatever reason, they never made it any bigger than they did. Gotta love the Ramones meets Aerosmith meets New York Dolls vibe they had; they wrote tight, catchy, memorable hooks that you'd be hard pressed to forget!

3. Stormwitch - Great German power metal band with atmospheric lyrics sung by a Paul Di'Anno sound-alike over twin horse-clopping guitars.

4. Exciter - Excellent vocals, drumming, guitars, and bass. As jstate was driving at: file this band under "Could Have, Should Have Been."

5. Tygers of Pan Tang - This band had all the attitude and musical chops necessary to become one of the world's biggest metal ensembles, but they dug themselves an early grave by making the biggest mistake that kills many bands; they changed their sound up much too early which resulted in an early demise.

scottmitchell74 wrote:

Great thread!


Timeless Miracle - Only one album, and it's one of my two favorite of all time. I just think they got lost in the Euro-power metal shuffle. My kid's each love them as well.

absolutely underrated. a great album! The band I think it is underrated is Keldian.

Lake Of Tears- They've been around for so long. A lot of changes over the years but I think they have released great album after great album. Their newest one I wasn't too happy about, but I really need to give it a better listen. So far its the only one I don't really like. They have changed their sound again and actually got heavier, but theres just something about the new one that doesn't grab me like all the others have.

Dommin- Pretty new band. They only have 2 albums, but their first one was self released so its pretty rare. They re-recorded some of the songs from that album for their debut album on roadrunner. The vocalist is like a younger Danzig and it even shows in the music on some songs. Just a great band all around and really nice guys as well when I met them at a HIM concert.

Gotthard- I'm really surprised they never made their way out of Sweden with having so many #1 albums. They could easily fit in with anything on the radio now and actually make the radio listenable haha. It's a real shame Steve died, he's going to be a tough front man to take over for but maybe now they will get some more exposure.

Lynam- Another band that would fit right in with whats on the radio. They had a few songs in movies here and there but nothing more than that. Shame they are kind of broken up now because I think their last album was awesome and their next could have possibly been better.

Riot- Yet another band that has been around forever but I think because of their odd album covers some people never bothered to check them out. I wouldn't blame them because they are probably the worst album covers ever, but I think if more people heard the music first things would be different. Anyone who does know them seem to have written them off since Thundersteel when they have a lot of great albums that came after that. shame.

gotthard is a great choice, although I am not sure i would think of them as underrated given the following they have. It seems only those in the US seem to be missing the magic that the band has.

exact33 wrote:

gotthard is a great choice, although I am not sure i would think of them as underrated given the following they have. It seems only those in the US seem to be missing the magic that the band has.

If no one in the US knows them then they are underrated hahaha

Phoenix Reign Drummer wrote:

exact33 wrote:

gotthard is a great choice, although I am not sure i would think of them as underrated given the following they have. It seems only those in the US seem to be missing the magic that the band has.

If no one in the US knows them then they are underrated hahaha

doh... it is a shame, to be sure.

TheDoctor'sScarf wrote:

1. Blue Oyster Cult - Words cannot even begin to describe how it irks my peehole when most documentaries I watch and books I read leave this incredible and highly influential band out of the evolution of the genre. They did so many things that helped shape metal as it is today, from the lyrical content to having a guitar hero (to me, Buck Dharma is the most underrated guitar player ever), and also, the whole idea of being a "faceless band."

Great choice and excellent explanation. I agree. They also played a HUGE role in the evolution of the heavy metal stage show. Even Kiss owes some of their stage show to BOC, as they were the big "competition" back in the day. Kiss started out opening for BOC, though years later the roles were reversed.

However BOC did see a lot of success, hit singles, platinum records, gold records, huge concert draw, a decade of recording on major labels, etc.