Like, I love thrash/death/heavy metal music, but I could mostly do without the vocals. Is there a genre of music (or specific bands) I should look for?
I’m a big fan of Arcturus, Children of Bodom, etc, but I prefer the instrumentals way more than the singing.
So, is there a specific genre for that?
Edit: Imagine Silent Night, Bodom Night but without lyrics. It’s not that I dislike the vocals; would just appreciate the track more without them. It’s like they’re just in the way of what I want to hear.
Edit 2: Thanks, everyone. I have heard of Animals as Leaders but am not super familiar with them. Will definitely check them out as well as the other recommendations.
Just to be clear; are you wanting heavy metal music that’s only instrumental? Or are you wanting heavy metal music where the vocalist doesn’t sound like a small angry demon with a cold that just got karate chopped in the throat?
For instrumental music with no vocals, try: Wide Eyes, Invent Animate (their instrumental versions), Modern Day Babylon, I Built the Sky. These aren’t quite Death Metal, but they have really complex guitar and drum pieces.
For with vocals: Sea in the Sky, Ignea, Unleash The Archers, Corelia (also has instrumental version of their 1 album)
OP might want to play around with everynoise.com.
For Wide Eyes it lists one of their genres as instrumental djent, then they offer a sample of each artist that is also tagged with that genre.
It can help explore a niche further or discover adjacent niches.
You might like some of Haken’s heavier stuff. They’re primarily prog but they go hard, too.
Try the album Vector and the album Virus.
From Virus i recommend you try the song Prosthetic
and the song Messiah complex V: Ectobius Rex
From Vector I recommend you try the song Puzzle Box
and the song Veil
Their new album Fauna is really good and has a good mix of different styles which includes heavy elements as well.
Come back if you like them I will recommend more!
🤘 Haken! 🤘
It’s also okay if you don’t like prog, i recognize it’s too different for some. lol
So you just want instrumental? Check out Buckethead.
Ok, you got my upvote because I love some Buckethead but…
this is a deep well, you and I know it. Please give OP (and me) the “death metal without the screaming” album(s), if you know the titles. I know I have heard two at least that fit this bill exactly but haven’t found them yet. I have been searching tonight but you start listening to Buckethead and there goes the time.
Power metal is more traditional metal but with clean vocals (no growls). Bands include DragonForce, Angra, Helloween, Stratovarius
There’s also progressive metal, where the emphasis is more on the intricate instrumentals, so some banda don’t do growls. It is usually less heavier than traditional metal. Bands include Dream Theatre, Liquid Tension Experiment, Symphony X, Tessaract, Haken, frost*, Porcupine Tree