My Top 10 Eclectic Metal Bands

It's true that lots of the music I listen to, while awesome, and fulfilling, isn't terribly creative. Don't get me wrong, I love listening to epic metal about swords and sorcery, but occasionally I yearn for something a little different. Fortunately, in my musical travels I've found some fascinating metal bands that aren't afraid to do things differently. And now I share them with you: the ten most eclectic metal bands in my library and what they have to bring to the genre.

10. Ayreon - Science fiction rock opera

I've already done a post on these guys. Dutch multi-instrumentalist/composer/genius Arjen Anthony Lucassen could have simply formed an awesome progressive metal band, but he was far too megalomaniacal for that. Instead he started the project Ayreon. Armed with some of the best progressive and metal vocalists and musicians out there, he set out to tell the story of an ancient race of fish-people (the Forevers) that covered their world in machines and lost their emotions in the process. With their own future looking bleak, they seeded a passing comet with engineered DNA and guided it towards the Earth, where it wiped out the dinosaurs and paved the way for human life. The Forevers sought to live vicariously through the humans and, by learning from them, rediscover emotions. Soon human civilization began repeating the Forevers' mistakes and tries to warn past humans about their doom through a process called "time telepathy". Their message is received in a dream by the blind 6th-century minstrel, Ayreon, who is cursed to become unable to communicate his message by a jealous Merlin. The scientists also try to warn an aging hippie via time telepathy, but of course he is declared insane. Ultimately humanity wipes itself out in the year 2084. The last human left alive is a colonist left alone on Mars, who uses a machine called the Dream Sequencer to relive the history of his past lives. He eventually tries to go back to the very first soul created, the Universal Migrator, which travels through the universe spreading life to other planets. The Dream Sequencer eventually runs down and fails, killing the colonist, who becomes the new Migrator. Got all that?

This epic tale is told in full rock opera style, supplemented with 70s-era synthesizers for that "space" feel. Ayreon is truly larger than life in every respect.

9. Canvas Solaris - Ph.D.-level riffs (and song titles)

Canvas Solaris is definitely a band for the brainy. They play technically complex instrumental metal that reminds me of a lengthy process of introspection, decision, and discovery. Musically, it's an odyssey from quiet synthesizers to schizophrenic riffage that can be challenging to keep up with. Their songs definitely don't all sound the same--different parts of the same songs don't even sound similar. And, of course, even brainier than their music is their song titles. Perhaps in absence of lyrics to write, the band comes up with gems like "Reticular Consciousness", "Syzygial Epiphany", "Adaptive Optics", and the classic "Dark Matter, Accretion Disk, And Interacting Binary Neutron Star In A Self-Reproducing Inflationary Universe". One has to wonder how much they care about becoming a hit if their song titles are too long to remember, much less rave about. They're pretty awesome.

8. The Black Mages - Final Fantasy

DragonForce has been called "video game metal" for their awesometastic lyrics and electronic effects, but their have nothing on these guys. The band was started by their keyboardist, Nobuo Uematsu. You know, the guy who composes the music for Final Fantasy. The band is instrumental  and plays metal arrangements of classic tunes from classic video games. Also a truly epic rendition of Sephiroth's theme from Final Fantasy VII, One-Winged Angel, for the Final Fantasy movie. Sadly they disbanded earlier this year, but you should definitely check out their fascinating and nerdy music.




7. Rhapsody of Fire - Dungeons and Dragons, a full orchestra, and Christopher Lee

Wait a second, didn't I originally contrast all this eclectic metal with stuff about swords and sorcery? And isn't that exactly what Rhapsody of Fire sings about? Yes, it's true. But unlike other (perfectly good) power metal bands that just play metal and sing about fantasy, Rhapsody of Fire takes the two to their logical conclusion and fuses them perfectly. Perhaps the only band that would be more at home in the tales it weaves is Blind Guardian. RoF takes power metal's virtuosity and adds full orchestral arrangements, truly operatic singing, and epic choirs singing in Latin. They use this bombastic style to tell Dragonlance-ready stories that span multiple albums in complexity. Oh, and they routinely bring Sir Christopher Lee on board to narrate (and occasionally sing).

6. Cynic - Jazz

Cynic is technical metal like Canvas Solaris, but they have vocals--namely a mix of death growls and auto-tuned robots. They also incorporate elements of jazz into their rambling songs. Probably one of the most brilliant bands I've heard. They have released one album in 1993 and another in 2008, and both have been hailed as some of the best progressive metal has to offer. I don't have much more to say, except check them out.






5. Apocalyptica - Cellos

You may have heard of Apocalyptica as that band that plays Metallica covers on the cello. That was how they got their start, along with covering  some other classic metal songs. Then they got a drummer and became a pretty awesome metal band in their own right. There's just something about a cello run through an amp that no guitar can match. Most of their songs are instrumental, but they regularly bring in guest vocalists to sing with them. Old or new, they're one of the most innovative acts in metal.

4. Pain of Salvation - Everything and the kitchen sink

Swedish prog metal band Pain of Salvation is pretty unique in that they truly have no distinctive "sound". All the other bands on this list have a certain style that their work falls under, but Pain of Salvation truly goes all over the map. Their last three albums have been a largely ambient/electronic concept album on the existence of God with all Latin song titles, a reflection on the human condition in an eccentric style bordering on rap metal, and a jam-filled retro-rock album that wouldn't have been out of place in the 70s. The perfect band for those tired of the ordinary.

3. Attack Attack! - Auto tune and electronica

Okay, maybe Attack Attack! isn't that creative. They are, however, hilarious. Where else will you find head-banging screamo metal and electronic dance pop in the same song? Your reaction to that video should be horror followed by stunned disbelief followed by uproarious laughter. (Especially in the last 50 seconds)



2. Unexpect - Insanity

I consider Unexpect the musical definition of insanity: the aural representation of what losing your mind must be like. Their music shifts between just about every imaginable style, tempo, key, and mood. The band members all go by XBox Live-like pseudonyms like Syriak, ChaotH, and Leïlindel and write lyrics like "Perpendicular euphoria/Burst! Feverish coloured bubbles!!!/Blotch this predictable boring mindscape". That stanza pretty much sums them up. This band is completely bonkers. Listen at your own peril.




1. van Canto - A cappella

What could be more eclectic than a metal band with no guitars, you ask? A metal band with no instruments--an a cappella hero metal band!! To be fair, they do have a real drummer--but only because no one auditioning could imitate double bass drumming without passing out. (I think they should have just gotten two "drummers" to trade off) They have the drummer and five vocalists--two to actually sing the lyrics, and three more to imitate the guitars and bass with gratuitous amounts of "rakkatakka" and "dundundundundun". They pass the voices through amps to better imitate the real instruments; the solos on their newest album sound indistinguishable from a real guitar. It's pretty impressive. Don't just take my word for it; listening is believing.