Underground bands are only underground to those that stay within the mainstream of commercial music. Those that like to stray off the beaten path are more likely to be familiar with "out of the ordinary" bands that really are "underground" to the mass majority of music listeners. Then again, being both "music lovers" and "audiophiles", i would hope that those frequenting this site might be slightly more familiar with a wide variety of music and lesser known bands / musical projects. After all, we buy the gear to listen to music, so we obviously should be actively seeking out new and different music to listen to, right ???
Having said that, the first "band" that popped into my head was
Foetus", as in a child in the womb. This "band" is really Jim Thirwell playing all of the instruments and changes its' name on a regular basis. He has released albums under the band names of "Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel", "Philip & his Foetus Vibrations", "Foetus Uber Frisco", "Foetus Art Terrorism", etc... As the name implies, Thirwell is into tortured, abrasive, industrial grade art and his music reflects those twisted ideas. While those that are into such things may already be familiar with him, others may recognize the name of his girlfriend ( don't know if they are still together since the last time that i talked to them ), who was better known as Lydia Lunch.
The second band that came to mind is a band known as
Skyclad. Their records ( 10+ ) are VERY hard to find in the USA but can be ordered directly. After "The Flying Dutchman" turned me onto who was in this band after a post i made over at AA, i was lucky enough to stumble across a used copy of "Irrational Anthems". I have since been able to dig up several of their discs and enjoy them all. This band is a highly opinionated bunch that plays a rather unique blend of highly Celtic influenced music with their own version of "metal" ( for lack of a better term ) thrown on top of that. One of the things that sets them apart from most "metal" bands is the fact that they have a member that is female AND she plays the violin on a regular basis. They also have lyrics that are mostly story based that actually try to get a point across. The original singer / songwriter ( Martin Walkier, previously of "Sabbat" ) has recently left the band, but the band is supposedly pressing onwards.
Another band that offers a "twist" to the hard rock / metal theme is
Nightwish. While i only have one disc from them, which is entitled "Wishmaster", it is good enough to make mention of here for several reasons. First of all, the band can all play VERY well and have an excellent sense of timing and structure and play what i would term "progressive metal". While this in itself sets them apart from the majority of "metal" bands out there, the major difference is in the fact that they use a female vocalist that has a beautiful voice and sings in a near "Operatic" style and the songs are presented as stories. The recording is very "sharp" sounding and may come across as a little too "digital" at some points if you've got a bright or analytical sounding system, but it does offer a great amount of impact on some tunes.
There's three for ya : ) Sean
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