Recommend me some straightforward metal bands

I've recently taken quite a liking to Judas Priest and I'm looking for more bands that play metal. Metal metal. Most preferrably with clean vocals (no screaming or growling). What would you recommend for a Priest fan?

Well, when I think straight up metal, I think Slough Feg.

What other bands do you have?

you definitely need Manilla Road.

edited 11th Oct '10 8:23:05 PM by TheSanityAssassin

Well, I started off listening to Glam Metal for its catchy melodies and clean vocals, and the upbeat subject matter was a welcome change from the doom-and-gloom of most other metal genres. Like I said, strong melodies and clean vocals...

What bands do you know?

Doesn't get more Metal than Black Sabbath, Dio, and Priest. To me, those three are the best starting place.

Iron Maiden is a good one.

Holy shit, it took six replies for someone to recommend Maiden to a Priest fan who wants to get into more metal. For shame.

Seconding Maiden, Sabbath and Dio. You might also want to check out Blind Guardian. Technically, they're power metal, but the execution of their style sometimes makes them more akin to traditional metal or softer thrash metal.

Motorhead's a good one, too, for straight-up metal. Early Metallica, too. They might be a thrash metal band during those albums, but apart from Ride The Lightning (which was amazing thrash metal), they're better compared to other straight-up metal bands.

Candlemass is worth checking out if you like Sabbath, but more more Priestly vocals. Down are at the other end of the Sabbath spectrum; they're as if Black Sabbath were formed in the 90s extreme metal scene, but still as bluesy as ever.

I assumed that Iron Maiden would be checked by default.

Since Candlemass have been mentioned, I might as well throw in some other trad/epic doom bands: try Solitude Aeturnus, Trouble, Pentagram, Solstice, Count Raven, Pagan Altar, and Witchfinder General.

It would probably be really good if we could get an answer to this —

What bands do you know?

— so that it's easier to recommend stuff.

EDIT: Just noticed this:

and the upbeat subject matter was a welcome change from the doom-and-gloom of most other metal genres.

Doom metal is pretty much all about doom-and-gloom (it's even in the name), so Candlemass and my doom recommendations might not be what you're looking for.

edited 13th Oct '10 4:06:29 AM by Lordnecronus

One word: Hammerfall.

Along with many of the bands that have already been mentioned - for any fan of Priest I'd highly recommend Iced Earth. They're a tad heavier than most modern power metal bands, having much more of a classic metal feel. Tim "Ripper" Owens actually sang for both Priest and Iced Earth (although many Iced Earth fans prefer Matt Barlow while agreeing that Owens is an amazing vocalist).

Also check out Jorn's tribute to Dio. I'm especially fond of his cover of Rainbow's classic "Kill the King".

edited 13th Oct '10 9:10:35 AM by Nonapod

Well, I just listened to all of Priest's studio albums (except for Demolition; according to Youtube it doesn't exist) and my favorites were Defenders of the Faith, Turbo, Ram It Down, and Painkiller. A lot of my favorite rock and metal songs happen to fall in the mid-to-late 80s for some reason...