Favourite bands? Options

[Dr Strum]

What are your top five favourite bands? Preferably of all time, but if you're the type that likes whatever you listen to, your top five of the moment is fine too. A reason or favourite song would also be great.

1: Anathema (Best Song: A Dying Wish, Best Album: Serenades)
2: Social Distortion (Best Song: Prison Bound, Best Album: White Light, White Heat, White Trash)
3: Bad Religion (Best Song: Shattered Faith/I Want to Conquer The World, Best Album: The Process of Belief)
4: Avenged Sevenfold (Best Song: Second Heartbeat, Best Album: Waking the Fallen)
5: Anti-Flag (Best Song: Post-War Breakout, Best Album: The Terror State)

IT'S CHANGED, LOOK AT MY MOST RECENT POST THIS IS MOSTLY HERE FOR REFERENCE

[P.P.A.]

• H.E.R.R.
  Neoclassical (and classy indeed) instrumentals accompanied by speech song, the emphasis on either “speech” or “song” swaying back and forth. Despite being a Dutch/British group, their lyrics are mostly English, and often themed after empires fallen or eras bygone—usually each album devotes itself to a certain such topic. This also reflects in the sound of a track: sometimes more elevated and majestic, sometimes tending towards marches or more archaic motifs.
  XII CAESARS (of which The Eagle Standard is my favourite track) for example sings of different Roman Emperors, and Winter of Constantinople's topic should be obvious. Alas, these often reveal the band's one big flaw: their pronunciation of Latin words is horrible. That this is the worst criticism I can muster speaks for their quality, though!
  Another good song, though its vocals are a bit more arrhythmic, is First Prince In Some Lower Court. (And Liberating Spirit, a collaboration with since-dissolved Von Thronstahl, is nothing short of amazing!)
  
• Ianva
  Describing Ianva's style is difficult; neither could I fit them into any genre known to me. This Italian group's work perhaps resembles best old film music, with powerful vocals, and a certain grandiosity to them. Their two vocalists—both blessed with splendid voices—put a lot of emotion into the songs, which is further reminiscent of music around the turn of the century.
  I can only suggest listening into their excellent album Italia Ultimo Atto to get an impression of their rare, classy style.
  
• Radiodervish
  …is another Italian group, though their singer is an Arab. This reflects their music too: their soothing and beautiful pieces mix Western/Italian, Near Eastern, and Persian elements; the lyrics are similarly sometimes Italian, sometimes English, sometimes Arabic. Soft violins sing alongside Nabil Salameh's gentle voice, carried, rather than driven, by subtle melodies.
  Beyond the Sea and Ave Maria are lovely (and lovely indeed) examples of their work, as is the album in search of Simurgh (Layla e majnun would be a good place to start).
  
• Triarii
  A master of Martial Industrial and Neoclassical. His works are bombastic, awe-inducing—grand marches set to the sounds of war, majestic melodies commandeering blaring wind instruments and pounding drums. Triarii's works create an atmosphere of magnificent—almost oppressive—grandeur, they are threatening, overwhelming! That their æsthetics reference more often than not fascism and World War II is thus quite appropriate.
  His album Muse in Arms is a masterpiece, though also of note is Three Hours, a collaboration with Ordo Rosario Equilibrio. The instrumentals here are a little more subdued, but the latter artist's moody vocals add an entirely different flavour of sombreness.

The following ones I cannot quite praise as outstanding yet, but expect them to cement their status in the near future:

• Rose Rovine e Amanti
  The third Italian on this list. I find it hard to say anything about him though; his style has changed a fair bit over the years (compare the early Aachen[I] to [i]Ave Maria), and while altogether good and still improving, I still find his songs a bit hit-and-miss. He shines in collaborations though, such as in Madre di Salvezza with…
  
• Spreu & Weizen
  Spreu & Weizen excels at Martial Industrial/Neoclassical. Appropriate to their Catholic/Christian militarist motif, their pieces have a sense of ominousness to them, sometimes exalted, sometimes oppressive. Marching rhythms couple themselves with instrumentals tending towards bombast; just as often, chants or samples take the forefront, and the instrumentals create a looming atmosphere around them. Deus Lo Vult is exemplary of all this. On the other hand, songs like Lady in White or Gesänge Zur Nacht showcase a softer, more sensual side of theirs. My appreciation varies still from song to song, but their talent is obvious, and I eagerly await their next releases.
  
• Strydwolf
  A Dutch neofolk group, who have formed relatively recently, and who have been releasing albums at quite a pace. Initially, this came at the price of originality—their melodies were unexciting, their lyrics generic, and the best songs (Van uit een nieuwe wereld, Night Cometh On) were those on which they collaborated with others, who were entirely to credit for any innovative sparks. But since then they have improved significantly, and seem to be finding their own style marked by great instrumentals (acoustic guitar, accordions, drums) and strong rhythms. This is very noticeable in their two most recent songs: Ontwaakt! and Zwarte lage Vlakten The assorted use of Dutch, German, Frisian, and English lends variety to the vocals.

Archetypical and musts for their genres:

• Darkwood and Forseti
  Finest Neofolk, though probably uninteresting if you cannot understand the poetic German lyrics—all they are accompanied by is a well-tuned and melodic acoustic guitar, rarely a violin. Verlorenes Heer and Eismahd are great examples, respectively.
  
• Wappenbund
  Martial Industrial par excellence. If I wanted to show someone what the genre sounds like, I would send them one of Wappenbund's exemplary works. Distorted samples, an impenetrable blend between clanging noise and harsh drums or synthetic organs, and where not directly the sounds, then definitely the atmosphere of gritty, industrial warfare—Heimat, Empor, or Die Fahne Hoch all embody the genre perfectly.