I want to hear your Non-metal Recommendations
Mods, don’t shoot me. I’ve been into heavy music ever since I was gifted my first CD player. Zia Record Exchange was my second home, where I discovered bands like Celtic Frost, Nevermore, Cryptopsy, Emperor, and Impaled. Heavy metal is an art form with influences drawn from across all music. An example I can think of is “A Forest” by The Cure, which has been covered by artists like Carpathian Forest.
Mainly, I want to hear what everyone has been into outside the realm of heavy music. I wanted to ask because 1: I know how obsessive this community can be, not just over metal, but over music as a whole and 2: I suspect there's unique connections that can be made in musical taste within the metal community. I'll give you one: The album above is Aventine by Agnes Obel. Beautiful and haunting, it has an atmosphere that I think many of you would enjoy.
EDIT: So many incredible recommendations! I can’t respond to everyone, but know that this has become quite the catalog of great music, from classic and chart topping to obscure and avante garde. I can see a lot of overlap between heavy metal the myriad of styles presented here.