Heaviest tone ever?

Philly_Q

Reverend said:

Today is the day - one time home of Mastodon but more intense

I always loved that album title and the cover art.  I find it hard work to listen to, though.

stimpsonslostson

Off the top of my head... 

machinehead
Lamb of god
mastodon
cancer bats
gallows (Grey Britain especially)
Kyuss


Machine head


Mastodon


Lamb of God


Cancer Bats


Gallows


Rammstein




i also think Alter Bridge


& A7x have good tone but aren’t as heavy. 

RobDavies

octatonic said:

It largely depends on how you define 'heavy'.
Heavy as a sound is somewhat overrated if the songwriting isn't there, imho. 

Some albums worth checking out;

At The Gates: "Slaughter of the Soul"
Strapping Young Lad: "City"
Converge: "Jane Doe"
Meshuggah: "Obzen".

Slaughter Of The Soul has a crushing guitar tone, but it's very reminiscent of the sound on Entombed's Left Hand Path album. 

DLM

Reverend said:

I'm in the Midnight Mountain video. 

\m/ Fantastic tune!

JezWynd

Reverend said:

Trouble - Psalm 9
Bolt Thrower - Realms Of Chaos
Dream Death - Journey Into Mystery
Winter - Into Darkness
Godflesh - Streetcleaner
Cathedral - In Mermorian

Cheerful bunch.

earwighoney

Reverend said:

I never though of Pantera as a heavy band.

Back in the day the main reference points for heavy tones were

Trouble - Psalm 9
Bolt Thrower - Realms Of Chaos
Dream Death - Journey Into Mystery
Winter - Into Darkness
Godflesh - Streetcleaner
Cathedral - In Mermorian

then later in the 90s you had Kyuss, Karp and Floor.

I can maybe see what Rev means by Pantera.  A band I love but I've seen them to be about the groove/swing but like others have said, a heavy band is pretty much down to the appropriation of the listener. 

For recent records off the top of my head Nails and Harm's Way (both produced by Kurt Ballou) are firmly what I'd consider to be very heavy. 

Man, I remember when Dimebag was shot, I was absolutely gutted.  A mate of mine recorded me Far Beyond Driven on tape when I was about 13 and it was a huge part of my youth and I still have a lot of love for the band (Anselmo's a dick, I try to forget that...)

Dopesick

The guitar tone off 'Remission' by Mastodon has to be my favourite tar-thick heavy sound. The opening bits to 'March Of The Fire Ants' still give me tingles. A pity they've toned down the heaviness ever since.

For outrageously heavy and thick guitar tone that will put your speakers on edge, then just listen to 'Odd Fellows Rest' by Crowbar or most stuff involving Greg Anderson.

ourmaninthenorth

Quite clearly not the same as a lot of the tracks being posted ( some of 'em I managed to listen to all the way through... ) but I've always admired the vibe of this....

Corvus

edit - link fail - as you were

monquixote

earwighoney said:

I can maybe see what Rev means by Pantera.  A band I love but I've seen them to be about the groove/swing but like others have said, a heavy band is pretty much down to the appropriation of the listener.

Yeah, Pantera are quite swingy, groovy which is actually while I like them.

I was thinking specifically about the tone rather than what's being played. Stuff like Walk, or Broken where the tone is just big and mean quite apart from the notes.

Reverend

monquixote said:

earwighoney said:

I can maybe see what Rev means by Pantera.  A band I love but I've seen them to be about the groove/swing but like others have said, a heavy band is pretty much down to the appropriation of the listener.

Yeah, Pantera are quite swingy, groovy which is actually while I like them.

I was thinking specifically about the tone rather than what's being played. Stuff like Walk, or Broken where the tone is just big and mean quite apart from the notes.

I always had a problem with the harsh and trebly nature of their production. When Cowboys came out I was mostly listening to things like Autopsy, Winter, Napalm Death, Paradise Lost and so on. I was pretty much focused on finding the heaviest bands I could and Pantera were not really my thing at all. They were a great live band but I could never get into the 90s albums. I've since got into the 80s ones though. 

Philly_Q

Reverend said:

They were a great live band but I could never get into the 90s albums. I've since got into the 80s ones though. 

The ones on Metal Magic Records?  I've never heard them, they were so difficult to get hold of years ago but I guess now they're probably on YouTube.

DLM

@Philly_Q Yup! \m/

Reverend

Philly_Q said:

Reverend said:

They were a great live band but I could never get into the 90s albums. I've since got into the 80s ones though. 

The ones on Metal Magic Records?  I've never heard them, they were so difficult to get hold of years ago but I guess now they're probably on YouTube.

I've got a bootleg LP of Power Metal and the rest on MP3. 
Total Priest/Van Halen HM. 

Philly_Q

Reverend said:

Philly_Q said:

Reverend said:

They were a great live band but I could never get into the 90s albums. I've since got into the 80s ones though. 

The ones on Metal Magic Records?  I've never heard them, they were so difficult to get hold of years ago but I guess now they're probably on YouTube.

I've got a bootleg LP of Power Metal and the rest on MP3. 
Total Priest/Van Halen HM. 

And they are indeed on YouTube!  I listened to three of the four last night. 

First album's not brilliant but I enjoyed the other two.  I agree there's a sort of VH vibe, a bit of early Def Leppard, Dokken, one song sounded like Tesla (although it predates the first Tesla album).  Then Power Metal is very Priest and even a bit thrashy.  I think I like them better than the last couple of '90s Pantera albums.

TTBZ

In my mind it's hard to top post-CFH Pantera for sheer heaviness and aggression. It's that mix of the groove based riffs with that nasty guitar tone, Phil's angry vocals and the drumming style. Especially Reinventing The Steel and Trendkill.

My favourite heavy tone is Carcass - Heartwork though.

I've never found the more modern stuff like Architects, While She Sleeps etc to sound that heavy. Just doesn't have that same groove and energy behind it imo, it's all so processed and the super low tunings don't do it for me.

Grumpyrocker

TTBZ said:

My favourite heavy tone is Carcass - Heartwork though.

One of my favourites too. Ultra heavy tone, but musical. Fantastic production. The recent (ish) Full Dynamic Range Edition release of the album is absolutely wonderful.

RobDavies

monquixote said:

I've not really kept up with metal, but back in the day the reference for crushingly heavy tone was usually either Demanufacture or Far Beyond Driven.

Listened to both yesterday Demanufacture sounds very flat and over compressed by modern standards but Pantera still sounds so huge I struggle to think of anything that can top it.

Everything seems to have gone to the clicky gated tech metal sound in riffier stuff. I suppose because Pantera kept the tempo down they could use huger sounds.

Educate me oh wise metal folks.

Heard this?....

RobDavies

Sexy Djent....?

monquixote

RobDavies said:

monquixote said:

I've not really kept up with metal, but back in the day the reference for crushingly heavy tone was usually either Demanufacture or Far Beyond Driven.

Listened to both yesterday Demanufacture sounds very flat and over compressed by modern standards but Pantera still sounds so huge I struggle to think of anything that can top it.

Everything seems to have gone to the clicky gated tech metal sound in riffier stuff. I suppose because Pantera kept the tempo down they could use huger sounds.

Educate me oh wise metal folks.

Heard this?....

Yeah, I do know Meshuggah

Awesome band!