There are extreme amounts of quality new metal music out there these days. The problem is usually not where to find it, but almost rather where to filter out all the saturated stuff. When being new to metal music, it can be hard to know where to go. Some bands can run massive ad campaigns, and other might just be popular because they’ve been around for a long time.
I’ve been spending a lot of my life hunting down new metal music, and I’m still doing. Finding a really awesome band from nowhere is one of the coolest things about being a music nerd. This is my list of the 10 best places to find new metal music.
About the author
I’m Stefan Nordström, an aspiring musician and content creator. This is one of the ways I promote Soliloquium, my progressive death/doom metal band. If you’re searching for new music in the style, it would be awesome if you listened to my stuff on:
Metal Archives
Metal Archives is a massive database for metal music. Browsing the reviews, forums and musician profiles can lead to plenty of cool music discoveries. Another brilliant function is the “similar artists” function, based on votes from the users. My band Soliloquium is showing up on profiles as cool as Daylight Dies, October Tide and Rapture. Promotion aside, it’s a gold mine for finding metal bands similarly styled to your favorites.
Last.fm
Last.fm is a true paradise for music nerds. If the crazy amount of cool statistics isn’t enough, try browsing the “similar artists” function or the “Music” option in the top menu. I’ve found so many cool bands this way, and I’m still making my way through the recommendations at times.
YouTube
YouTube is a massive content database, including underground music. I’ve found a lot of new metal music on the platform, and it’s also the place I’ve been most successful promoting my own underground metal. Similar videos can turn up some pretty awesome stuff, not to mention that there are a lot of good playlists out there for genres, styles, periods.. you name it!
Rateyourmusic
Rateyourmusic is another paradise for the music and statistic nerds. The genre charts and year charts for music have seemingly endless options and data. I’ve been working my way through genres like death metal, death/doom metal and atmospheric black metal for a long time without losing steam. Not to mention that the year charts are a great way to find fresh music in many different styles.
Bandcamp
Bandcamp has incredible amounts of underground music, especially metal. Browsing the best selling albums or new releases in a certain style is bound to result in some good finds. It’s also a good way to support the bands, since the digital downloads and merchandise options pay a lot better than streaming services. If you’re an artist trying to make it on Bandcamp, read my full guide on Bandcamp music promotion.
Spotify
I’m not a fan of Spotify, but like on Last.fm, there’s a pretty cool generated similar artists function. Another good thing is the many playlists, especially the ones made by users.
Facebook groups
Facebook groups for metal or metal sub-genres can really remove the legwork completely when it comes to finding new metal music. There’s a lot of people out there (like me!) promoting the hell out of their underground metal bands, so the content overload can be massive. However, if you’re looking for those smaller bands, those self-promotion posts can be exactly what you’re looking for.
Angrymetalguy
I don’t read that many review sites, but if one is my go-to it’s Angrymetalguy. It’s not only because they gave my death/doom metal band Soliloquium a great review and pushed the “Contemplations” album a lot. I do feel that the reviews go in depth, and Angrymetalguy really takes on many different styles of metal music.
I’ve found quite a lot of unknown bands on the site while browsing reviews, especially the many albums of the month breakdowns. The one I’m linking to got me Ashbringer, a really good atmospheric black metal band. Highly recommended!
Discogs
If you’re into collecting physical CD’s and/or vinyls, Discogs is place! The functionality is similar to Rateyourmusic, but with a focus on selling and trading physical music. Since metalheads usually like physical formats, there is a lot of metal music on the site. As I’m not into physical formats, it doesn’t do it as much for me as Rateyourmusic, but it’s certainly interesting to surf into the profiles for “Contemplations” and “Spawn of Misanthropy” to see how many Discogs users that actually own my music.
Festival lineups and opening bands
A great way of finding new metal music for me has been festival lineups and opening bands. This is especially true in the beginning, when opening bands can go out there and stun you, simply because you don’t know that many metal bands yet. I still find a vast amount of good, unknown bands every time I go to a bigger festival. Even if you don’t find them doing the pre-gig research, encountering a band while playing live can be really cool too!
Right here!
“Wut?!”, you mercilessly ask. The content right here on deathdoom.com is largely based around providing music recommendations. My purpose is to promote my band Soliloquium, but if you’re looking for music in metal or rock sub-genres you could be in luck. Start by seeing if some of these massive guides could be for you:
Doom metal genre guide ->
10 essential death/doom metal albums ->
50 best melodic death metal bands ->
50 best Swedish death metal bands ->
30 best progressive metal bands ->
0 Comments