Rate the song above you on the Moh's Scale of Rock and Metal Hardness

Now that was flippin cool. I've had my eye on that album for a while now. I give it 8.

Mad Gone World - Overkill

I don't think there's been any Overkill in this thread yet.

Aha, classic Thrash Metal right here, and it's one of their better albums, to boot. Hells yeah. That's an 8, or more accurately, an 8.5. Nice choice.

Possessed - "The Exorcist": Can you believe this came out in 1985?! Or that the guitar player in this band was also in Primus?! I can, since I've liked these guys for a while now, but still, DAMN! Anywhoo, classic Death Metal / Thrash Metal stuff, from the band that (some people) say invented Death Metal, though it's a little more complicated than that...

10 - Simple, rancid mayhem. Straddles the border of very primitive black metal at moments. Those refrain riffs before the chorus are particularly devastating.

Grotesque - Submit to Death

Definitely a hard 9- the odd slower parts bring it down somewhat. Love that one march-like section in the middle, and the kinda groovy, chugging outro section. More interesting Death Metal / Black Metal hybrid stuff here, I like it...

Siouxsie and the Banshees - "Monitor": Here's some Goth Rock / Post-Punk stuff- Have one of their more aggressive songs in that vein (the stuff on their first album is definitely harder, but it's Punk Rock rather then the aforementioned genres)...

Seven. Definetly harder punk, but not thrash enough for anything higher. Let's lighten up the mood- Lit's My Own Worst Enemy. Here is is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc5iTNVEOAg

A 5.

If You Want Blood (You've Got It) - AC/DC

I kind of grew up with Acca Dacca. So it's always been hard for me to conceptualize them as a metal band. Let's see what rating this one gets (probably some of the most screaming you ever hear from Bon).

edited 9th Jan '15 6:16:40 AM by Alucard

A hard 5 - I think AC/DC had a certain edge to them that put them at the higher end of that level, but their adherence to tradional hard rock musical ideas kept them from going into a 6 most of the time. I've heard a few exception to that, though. In fact, I'll go ahead and post one:

AC/DC - This Means War

I haven't listened to that much of their catalogue due their Strictly Formula nature, so I found out about this song through one of those internet lists, which described this as 'one of their fastest, most intense songs'.

edited 9th Jan '15 10:43:07 AM by djbj

Hard 6, borderline 7- a little faster than most of their tunes, and it's got a nice guitar tone. I've always classified AC/DC as a Proto-Metal band myself- heavy enough to be Metal, but still obviously Blues-based and such... Regardless, I'm a fan of the band.

Ministry - "Burning Inside": Have some pulverizing Industrial Metal from one of the genre's founding bands (this one came out in '89, after all). There's some Epic Riff action on this one, IMO...

Hard 9.5. And, this one is clicking with me....

Usually I try to break up the thread I created with a hard rocker or a ballad, but today, let's try this.

The Misfits - Last Caress

I'd give it a 6. It sounds closer to The Ramones than of Misfits songs I've heard and has a rollicking almost 50s rock n roll feel that makes it less hard than some of their other songs. The lyrics, on the other hand...

I'll follow some punk with it's nemesis, progressive rock:

Yes - Tempus Fugit

I'd say that one's a straight 5. One of the better ones from the underrated ''Drama". Some very interesting guitar and keyboard interaction on this one, and the guitar lines are fairly hard-hitting, but not quite crunchy enough to really be heavy per se... Still, solid tune.

Thyrfing - "Mjolner": Have some Folky Viking Metal, by one of the better bands doing that particular sound, IMO. Not one of their heaviest songs, but damn good, especially the guitar solos.

I'd say it's a 7. There is a definite contrast between the heavier metal elements including the Harsh Vocals and the melodic folk elements. That contrast puts it at this level.

Side note: I don't understand why Harsh Vocals are so widely used in the Folk Metal genre. Since folk music is heavily based on vocal melodies I'd think they'd want to use clean singing to bring that element out. This song at least does that a few points.

X - Soul Kitchen

A bit of a curiosity: a female-fronted punk rock cover of a Doors' song. To me, this sounds like a precursor to the slicker style of punk that became popular in the 90s.

I'd say this one's a 6. Good choice here, though I'm not entirely sure why you'd say it sounds like a 90s Pop Punk precursor, it has distinct Psychedelic Rock, Country and Rockabilly influences that I can detect- incidentally, X is one of my favorite first-wave Punk Rock bands... Classic early LA Punk, from before Hardcore Punk took over completely (not that I dislike Hardcore or anything).

Anyways...

The Stranglers - "Bitching": On the subject of unconventional first-wave Punk Rock (and also heavily influenced by The Doors to boot!), have a tune by this bunch of English misanthropes...

Ok, I probably made a bit of leap making that statement, I guess the guitar sound and overall approach reminded me of Green Day for some reason.

I give that song a 4. It sounds like if Lemmy sang for a New Wave band.

Fleetwood Mac - The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown)

Someone put in on the actual page as an example for Level 6, but it seems more like a 4 or 5 to me. Level 6 is where I'd put the Judas Priest cover.

edited 10th Jan '15 6:34:00 PM by djbj

I'd say the Priest version is a soft 7 myself, but whatever. It's a borderline case, for sure. Anyways, this is a low 5- if all of it was as hard as the harder parts, it'd be a notably higher 5. Classic song, anyways, and very much Blues Rock- the Priest cover makes it hard to imagine how Bluesy the original is- it sounds pretty much like a Priest song...

Anyways, have some (admittedly commercial) Black Metal:

Dimmu Borgir - "Mourning Palace": This one's from Enthrone Darkness Triumphant, which is still my favorite album of theirs, though Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia and Death Cult Armageddon are up there too. Pretty haunting keyboard stuff here, and there are a bunch of good riffs and cool dynamic changeups here and there... And yeah, I'm well aware of the fact that DB are (relatively) commercial, by Black Metal standards, anyways. I still think they're alright, though they're not my favorite BM band by any means....

A good 8. Something about the words "commercial" and "black metal" being used together seems oxymoronic to me...

Cross of Thorns - Black Sabbath

I'd like to say this is one of the better Tony Martin-era songs from Sabbath, but I don't think I've heard enough of his material to make that call.

I'd say the soft, heavy and melodic parts of the song balance out to level 6. I hadn't heard any Tony Martin-era songs yet, and this one sounds like a mix between a Dio-era song and AOR.

Oasis - Hey Now

edited 14th Jan '15 3:06:30 PM by djbj

That's a hard 6- mostly due to the monstrous, abrasive guitar attack. I've always loved how Oasis were able to write fairly poppy, catchy songs and then give them this huge, noisy guitar attack on top of it- and make it work, too.

Front242 - "Religion": Have some more Industrial, this time in a more EBM vein. Fuck Up Evil (the actual title has a bunch of numbers in place of the first word, but the numbers spell that if you turn them into letters) is probly their hardest-hitting album, and this song's perhaps the most abrasive on the whole record. Also the most layered and complex album they ever did, too. I'm a big fan of it, myself.

I'd say a 6. I'm not very good at placing industrial music, but it seems pretty hard-hitting.

Going To Brazil - Motörhead

Have some rock'n'roll!

A solid 6, IMO. This song demonstrates Motorhead's fun, rollickin' side as opposed to their more intense and aggressive side.

Exodus (Band) - Piranha

As I've further explored the world of thrash metal (and other harder forms of metal), I've found that the vocalist tends to be the make-it-or-break-it factor for me liking a band. For instance, I like this song's riffs, but I find the yelping vocals kind of annoying. Then again, I originally didn't like Dave Mustaine's voice and I eventually warmed up to that.

edited 15th Jan '15 1:09:58 PM by djbj

Hard 8. Classic Thrash Metal by one of the greats of the genre- well, for their first few records anyways. Though some of the new ones are good, too. For me, vocals are kinda of secondary concern when the music is as forceful and riffy as this. Heavy and awesome.

Soundgarden - "Outshined": One of their first big hits, and it's powered by a big, Sabbath-y riff, besides! One of the few Grunge bands (alongside Alice in Chains, Skin Yard, Blood Circus, Gruntruck, Tad and L7) who could actually be called Metal, IMO.

A solid 6. That's actually one of the relatively less intense, more accessible songs from that album, so I can see why it was the one to become a hit.

Van Halen - House of Pain

I'd give it an 7.5ish. Somewhere in that range. It's definitely pretty rough and the guitar/drums are pretty in your face, but it's not the heaviest I've heard.

Zeromancer - Idiot Music

Hard to say because of the Linkin Park-esque kind of distortion (yeah it's there but I'm not calling it Nu-Metal, relax), but I'd say a 7.5 or a low 8. Very industrial.

Have we ever had any Pantera here? It's time. Pantera - Cemetery Gates

edited 26th Jan '15 12:14:50 PM by ZestierThanThou

About 3 times, I'd guess. Anyway, I give it a 6.

Lack Of Comprehension - Death