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Looking for melodic instrumental metal bands!
Little disclaimer: I posted this on reddit too!
I love melodic music and often prefer instrumental bands. So far I only know Demetori. (Don't judge it by the anime pictures if you're not into that.) They make covers of music from a game series, so it's bound to be melodic. And they're really good! Here's another great one from them. They make some lighter stuff, too.
Another example: The Black Mages. Again, they make video game covers. But Nobuo Uematsu is a member of the band, so they're awesome too!
One more example is Akira Yamaoka, but his style is more like rock.
Are there any melodic but instrumental bands out there? Progressive style is always a bonus.
I'm not sure, but would Nightwish or maybe Wintersun be close to what you are looking for?
I know Nightwish (I'm a Finn myself, after all :D). I've never really listened to them, though. I think Ghost Love Score might change that! That symphony orchesta is awesome!
Looks like Wintersun is Finnish too. I like what I'm hearing! Really like their style. Also, long songs are always a plus in my book! Could I interest you to Inter Arma's song The Cavern.
Embarrassing to admit, that despite being a Finn myself, I've listened very little to Finnish artists.
I don't mind songs with singing, but I'm indeed looking for instrumental bands specifically. Vocals are fine, like a choir, but not a lead singer.
Ah, I see. :) The Inter Arma song sounds really interesting.
Oh yeah, The Cavern is quite the adventure :D
l respect your tastes in music, but still, you may be missing out a bit since there's just so much great (Finnish) metal where the vocals fit right in and don't distract at all. See it as another instrument, almost. What do you not like about lead vocals? (just wondering!)
I never said I don't like lead vocals. Sorry for the misunderstanding. Some of my favourite musicians have clear vocals, like The Voidz, Whitey, King Gizzard and ISON. It's just that currently I'm searching for instrumental bands.
Like you said that there are bands where the vocals are like another instrument is exactly what I like too! Do you know Holy Fuck? They have a very interesting style, and they have a vocal style I really like. Here's an example of how their vocals are part of the music, instead of sitting on top of and drowning everything else. It's also a very pretty song!
Edit: And it's not like I'm trying to avoid Finnish musicians. The way I discover music rarely leads to Finnish bands.....
Ohhhhh. Right, never mind then :p
I'm liking The Algorithm! A very unique sound! Metal combined with electronic sounds, and it's instrumental ♥
Digging through their Bandcamp, I think I found a new great band, I love their sound!
Thank you so much!
Now that I've been listening to The Algorithm more, I had to come back and thank you again. This band is really good!
Perhaps not quite as melodic as you're looking for, but I really rate Russian Circles. Long, slowly paced tracks that they really take time to build up into a climax. It's excellent stuff.
I'm honestly not sure what you're looking for; it seems like you're looking specifically for more rock and metal style music, right? Well, if you love Japanese composers, you should really be looking at Motoi Sakuraba. He's practically the master of modern progressive rock. Specifically, I would look at his work in the late 90s, his specially-arranged albums (special shout-out to his albums for Valkyrie Profile, Shining the Holy Ark, and Beyond the Beyond), and his more modern independent albums (After All... is just plain wonderful).
Sorry, I guess I worded that weird.
But they don't have to be Japanese composers (though I'm listening to After All now, I'm really liking this!). I just seem to enjoy Japanese music a lot. But Western bands are perfectly fine!
Thank you for the recommendations. I'll dig into Motoi Sakuraba's music more!
Edit: Oh man, he's one of the composers for Souls games!
Edit2: Ooh, he made the whole OST for the first Dark Souls.
Tiluland is a Finnish duo that only released one album. If you're at all into over-the-top power metal you'll love it.
Insomnium is another great one although a lot of their instrumentals are acoustic and they're not an exclusively instrumental band.
Tiluland sounds awesome! I take it that power metal is often quite melodic?
Yes, absolutely.
What kind of Metal? I mean I know some good melodic death metal bands, and there is a pretty good death/thrashmetal/chiptune band called Master Boot Record that released an album of videogame covers recently called Warez (available on bandcamp).
Ok listened through some of the examples and I am drawing a blank tbh - my only real suggestion left is Master Boot Record. https://youtu.be/VxCt6y1TflE
Here's their entire album Interrupt Request https://youtu.be/rvYqjBYuq-4
If you want it, remember to buy the album
Actually I know and love Master Boot Record!
I think I've bought most of their releases and I have downloaded WAREZ as well. My current favourite album of theirs is Internet Protocol. FTP and IRC are great pieces!
Edit: I just realised I didn't have the Virtuaverse soundtrack, so I bought it!
David Maxim Micic!
It's mostly instrumental, mostly progressive instrumental metal. Similar to Plini, but significantly more prog + it's got some interesting Balkan influences (especially on the album Bilo 2.0). Bit weird, but that's why I love it.
DiAmorte - The Red Opera
One of my favorite metal albums. Metal + Opera singers. It is beautiful and haunting.
Edit: A good intro that gives a vibe of the album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJ3y9d8lFIY
Sounds very interesting! Is there a better way to access the whole album, than Youtube videos?
I use Google Play Music, which has it. Not sure about other services. Found the bandcamp page as well:
https://diamorte.bandcamp.com/releases
Maybe Equipoise? They are not instrumental, but they are the best part of the songs. The bass and the piano are killer in this.
Uh, you might want to put "metal" in your question. (I see this is tagged as metal, but it's easy to overlook.)
Oops, totally forgot that! Is there a way to edit the title after posting?
Edit: Fixed a typo.
I gotcha. Edited.
Thank you!
Thanks you so much for the suggestions everyone! ♥
Now I have lot of new music to check out!
I haven't really followed metal for the last 20 years. So, this is probably way off the mark, since they're not instrumental and do have vocals, and you've probably heard of them before, but Dream Theatre are the best metal band I've been introduced to in a long time.
Even if their songs aren't solely instrumental they are melodic and progressive, though, which is what I like about them.
I've listened to Images and Words many times! I like them too! And yeah, the vocals especially are very melodic. The singer has a great voice!
Buckethead
Been ages since I got into that particular subgenre, but I remember enjoying Sargasso Sea by Scale the Summit.