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.

  • mushroomstormtrooper@lemmy.world
    5·
    3 hours ago

    Animals as Leaders, Thessa, Pomegranate Tiger, Myth of I, and Fractalize are great ones.

    Stoort Neer and Vildjharta both have some really good instrumental albums.

    Gore., Monolord, '68, and The Damned Things are all a little less heavy than what you might be looking for, but they are all great and have mostly clean vocals.

    Polyphia and Chon are also both incredible but probably fall a little closer to something other than Metal.

  • KammicRelief@lemmy.world
    4·
    4 hours ago

    Katatonia… Devin Townsend… Hangman’s Chair… Pallbearer

    I guess these aren’t really death metal. But they all crush, IMHO.

    (I ain’t got much else… I’ve grown to love the growl!)

  • LordGimp@lemm.ee
    6·
    5 hours ago

    So there’s a lot of ways you can go with this. You can definitely find instrumentals of death metal bands, but you can also try something new.

    Haggard is one of the best in symphonic metal, and while there’s still a stitch singer, imo they’re MUCH easier to understand.

    Native Howl has slayer played by some country boys on banjo and guitar. They also do a bunch of their own stuff that sounds pretty wild. “Thrash grass” is one of their better albums and pretty accurately describes their flavor of fusion (thrash metal played in the style of bluegrass)

    Older Arch Emeny stuff is also quite good, and having a pretty lady growling at me is a novel experience. Angela gossow also shows up in metalocalypse so that’s instant bonus points

    Dethklok does pretty well at straddling the line between melodic/symphonic/death metal, and if you like the metal without Nathan explosion you can check out Brandon Small’s other stuff where he isn’t growling like a cartoon character.

    Last but certainly not least is The Lord Weird Slough Feg. Exquisite technical metal wrapped up in an 80s/90s power metal package. I simp for Slough Feg wherever I can because it’s EXCELLENT metal that doesn’t get nearly enough recognition

  • Jtee@lemmy.world
    4·
    5 hours ago

    I was the same when I first started listening to bodom. Just give it time and you’ll like the vocals just as much :)

    You can find instrumentals in the meantime, absolutely. (Or even fan covers on YouTube and the like)

    • Jtee@lemmy.world
      1·
      5 hours ago

      You can try some middle bands like Norma Jean. They have some harder songs but also other songs where the vocalist sings more than yells

  • Meron35@lemmy.world
    13·
    7 hours ago

    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

    • Admiral Patrick@dubvee.orgOPEnglish
      1·
      6 hours ago

      First one is def interesting, but a little too chip tune for my taste (still cool though). Definitely liking the second one. Will check out some more of them. Thanks.

  • Passerby6497@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    5 hours ago

    I felt the same way as you initially when I got into the genre, but Between the Buried and Me made me develop and appreciation for growling vocals. They’ve got a lot of really intricate and technical guitar work, which is what made me keep listening.

    For (mostly) entirely instrumental track, animals as leaders is good, and I absolutely love Polyphia (they play at different times signatures for an interesting sound), and Power Glove is amazing if you like metal covers of video game music.

    As for genres, look into symphonic and progressive metal bands, they might be more your style.

  • Mac@mander.xyzEnglish
    22·
    11 hours ago

    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

    • Masta_Chief@lemmy.world
      2·
      5 hours ago

      Haken (pronounced “hay-kin”) is fucking awesome. They have a pretty wide range of sound too so most people who like metal I think would enjoy their songs.

  • ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de
    42·
    14 hours ago

    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?

  • PineRune@lemmy.world
    26·
    14 hours ago

    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)