Underrated Bands

[Makachop^^128]

Any one heard of I'm from Barcelona? They just came out with a new CD and letting people download it for free.

http://www.imfrombarcelona.com/?page_id=1131

[Radical Dreamer]

I've not heard of "I'm From Barcelona," but I HAVE heard of Barcelona! They're pretty great. XD

[SnoringFrog]

Kudos snoringfrog Bullet for a pretty boy is awesome.

My additions:
In the midst of lions
The great commision
Sleeping giant
Bless the fall
Burden Of A Day
Underneath the gun
Settle the sky
Corpus Christi
Crimson Armada
I See Stars
Bury your Dead

Thanks, and man, you nailed a bunch I think I forgot. Sleeping Giant (I assumed they were more well known) is amazing, blessthefall, Burden of a Day, and Corpus Christi are all pretty good (well, btf was, idk about their newer stuff), and I haven't heard enough of Underneath the Gun to remember, but I do know I have some of their music.

I See Stars and Bury Your Dead are names I recall seeing on a good number of concert posters, but I've never heard either band's music.

[Warrior4Christ]

[quote="SnoringFrog (post: 1374914)"]Lol, yes. I'd say they're very good]
Not bad, but the vocals do take a bit of getting used to.

Sundance Kids - has roots in acoustic-driven songs, but now more acoustic/rock/pop. They were underrated, but are becoming more appreciated and thus less underrated.

The Beards - songs about beards, funny stuff. "If Your Dad Doesn't Have A Beard, You've Got Two Mums".

Downhere - I only discovered them relatively recently, so I count them as underrated. Decent lyrics and vocals.

House of Heroes - already mentioned, but still not as well-known as they should.

[Kaori]

I second the following:

AP2
Grammatrain
Stavesacre
Watashi Wa
Virgin Black
Theocracy
Viva Voce

Common Yet Forbidden
Nightwish (I never seem to hear anything about them despite them being pretty unique)
Oceana (mainly the Birtheater album)

Common Yet Forbidden: I've heard of them. I have one of their songs on a compilation, and it's pretty good.

Nightwish: My impression was that they were fairly well-known, at least among people who listen to metal bands outside of the metal scene.

Oceana: one of my students introduced me to this band]
Opeth
Wintersun[/quote]

Both of those bands are great! I especially second Wintersun; Opeth is pretty well-known, I think.

The bands that come to mind for me are all metal bands, since that's what I've been listening to the most recently.

My Silent Wake- an awesome doom/death band from the UK. I think they are more under-known than under-rated, as they seem to be fairly highly regarded by people who know about them. Their music is heavy but also has an abundance of beautiful guitar melodies. Great musicality and very genuine lyrics; I really cannot praise them highly enough, because their music is amazing.

Dalit - another doom/death band. They're very good, but I have hardly ever heard their name mentioned, perhaps partly because they formed fairly recently.

Aletheian - Technical death metal. They've been around for quite a long time, so I don't know why they are so unknown. One of the best bands in the American metal scene right now, IMHO.
Virgin Black - another under-known but highly-rated band; as a Christian gothic band, they are marginalized by Christians who are wary of the gothic scene and also by people who like gothic music but are turned off by Christianity. From what I've heard, their fan base is small but fanatically devoted.

Harmony- Christian power metal from Sweden. I'm mentioning them because they're a good band and I'm somewhat familiar with them, but there are some other good Christian power metal bands out there that are equally worthy of being mentioned.

[That Dude]

Wow, it's good to see you around again Kaori!


Lets see...Some more are...

The Ataris - They had a big radio song a few years ago but haven't heard from them in a long time.

The Decemberists - Indie folk rock with a semi-victorian sound.

The River Empires - A side project of Falling Up and The Dear Hunter.

The Gloom Reaper - Essentially the same as The River Empires, just a little bit different theme.

Benny And Brian - Christian acoustic light rock (I have to rep them because it's my dads band, check out their myspace here ----> http://www.myspace.com/bennybrianmusicforjesus )

I'll post a few more later.

[TGJesusfreak]

New World Son, they're a christian band. They toured with Newsboys in their "Go" tour. Saw them live and I loved them.

I'd post some links but I think it's not allowed...

[Makachop^^128]

he Decemberists - Indie folk rock with a semi-victorian sound.

Yay! love them!

anyway heres some more
Mum- Really fun band I love them!
The battle of land and sea-they sound a bit creepy and airy but they are really good stuff kinda indie folk.
The drums-Cute band from California, its like indie eletronica.

[That Dude]

Explosions In The Sky - one of those bands that you've probably heard but didn't know about. Epic instrumental post rock, guitar based.

[That Dude]

Mono - Very simular to Explosions In The Sky, but a little more symphonic. Amazing instrumental post rock.

[the_wolfs_howl]

Some more relatively unknown bands I remembered:

Ceza (pronounced "jeh-zah") - A Turkish rapper. Even if you don't care for rap, you must hear him, because he can go crazy fast; it's unbelievable
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTWpDB2Qpgw

Lecrae - A Christian rapper who has probably the most amazing and moving lyrics of any rapper I've ever heard. He brings me to tears sometimes. Plus, he just makes God sound so cool.

Butterfly Tea - Some free music my brother found someplace They have quite a large variety of music, all instrumental. Some can be really dramatic and epic like a fantasy tome, some sound like an exciting sci-fi thriller, some sound cheerfully Japanese...great variety, and all well done.

Seventh Day Slumber - A Christian rock band that I only discovered recently and have never heard anyone other than one friend talk about. Their lyrics are fairly simple and straightforward, but their melodies are gorgeous.

Building 429 - Another Christian rock band that I never hear about; I can't even remember how I heard of it myself. They're nothing too extraordinary, but a few of their songs really stand out to me as all that's good about Christian rock.

Delain - An incredibly little-known rock band that sprung off from Within Temptation (which, I suppose, is pretty unknown outside of certain circles). They have a lovely combination of rock and string instruments, and while I don't like the main singer's voice nearly as much as the singer of Within Temptation, she's still pretty good and the songs are very good.

Nikki Leonti - A Christian hip-hop singer that I believe is from Canada. I suppose I mainly like her because of nostalgia; I've never heard anyone else mention her, and probably if I heard her for the first time now I wouldn't think much of her. But I used to adore her, and listening to her now I still kind of like her hip-hop sound mingled with the uplifting Christian words. "Every beat I feel in my heart is moving in the direction of You...."

The Afters - Another little-known Christian rock band that are very easy to listen to. They're one of the bands that aren't very overt about their Christianity, but it's there if you look close enough, and all of the songs are uplifting and enjoyable. Very nice sound.

Apocalyptica - THIS. IS. AN. AWESOME. BAND. It's like...hard rock...with cellos. Except when they feature another artist, there's no singing, just this really hardcore musical sound that I can't get enough of. Seriously, check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0t-KRApDLs

[SnoringFrog]

I love Lecrae's music; Flame is another good Christian rapper that I've discovered.

Seventh Day Slumber I've heard of and also love. I haven't gotten around to getting their old stuff yet, but I really liked Finally Awake.

I wouldn't have thought of Building 429 as underrated, but they're not really a style of music I listen to a lot. I do like a few of their songs though, and they did a decent live show when I saw them last year.

I've heard of The Afters and I think my mom has one of their CDs, but I don't know anything by them other than the songs that have made it to the radio time. Air1 used to play "Never Going Back To Ok" pretty frequently so I got tired of hearing it.

I've only heard pieces of Apocalptica's music, but I agree that they are absolutely amazing. I love cellos and violins, so finding a band like them is great since they blend the hard rock with the classical instrumentation.

[Azier the Swordsman]

You know, it's really sad, but pretty much everything in my collection is mainstream in some way. Of course, this is a side effect of not getting into music until I turned 19, so I have some ways to go before I "catch up" and branching out.

[Kaori]

Apocalyptica - THIS. IS. AN. AWESOME. BAND. It's like...hard rock...with cellos. Except when they feature another artist, there's no singing, just this really hardcore musical sound that I can't get enough of.

They are definitely unique--though if you like Apocalyptica, there's a decent chance you would also enjoy this.

[Azier the Swordsman]

I've not heard of "I'm From Barcelona," but I HAVE heard of Barcelona! They're pretty great. XD

[the_wolfs_howl]

They are definitely unique--though if you like Apocalyptica, there's a decent chance you would also enjoy this.

Oh yeah, I've long been a fan of Shostakovich. There's something deliciously raw in that particular quartet that I can't get enough of. Dissonance ftw!

One more addition to relatively-unknown artists:

Bomb Funk MC's - Finnish techno/rap! What's not to like?

[rocklobster]

Can I say Tori Amos is underrated. She's gotten some noise from critics and I really like her. She has such a beautiful voice. And she's a great pianist too!

[Kaori]

Oh yeah, I've long been a fan of Shostakovich. There's something deliciously raw in that particular quartet that I can't get enough of. Dissonance ftw!

Yeah, Shostakovich is amazing. ^^

The Echoing Green - very pleasant synth-pop.

[J.R.]

Grave Declaration.

If you're not into metal then don't bother...but if you are, this is some awesome worship metal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kriZeU4zjiY

[That Dude]

Yeah, Shostakovich is amazing. ^^

The Echoing Green - very pleasant synth-pop.

In that vein...

Fold Zandura (also synth pop)
Juggernautz (good ole' synth pop/rock)
Mortal (freakin' amazing industrial, of which the two bands above are offshoots of.)

[RainbowSounds]

The Hush Sound.

[That Dude]

The Drawing Room.
Acoustic indie rock, a side project of TFK but much better.

[Blacklight]

I don't know how well known Grave Robber is, but this is one of those bands I listened to once a long time ago and was like, "Yeah, they're okay... not my type though." and then listened to them again later and was like, "I love this!"
(This also happened with bands like Spoken, The Devil Wears Prada, and Kids in the Way too if I remember correctly.)
Grave Robber is Horror Punk/Gothic Punk, and is a Christian band.

I might also mention Kids in the Way, as I have no idea how many people have actually heard of them, but a bunch of people I know don't seem to know them.

[ScalpelFactory]

Blur is Damon Albarn's first band. Not to special with their sound. I love the Gorillaz, but they're mainstream

WOO! I seriously love Blur, I own all their albums and that stuff was totally the soundtrack of my high school years. Good times, good times.

I also think Damon Albarn's solo work is worth a listen, as well as his side project 'The Good, The Bad, and The Queen'. Actually, 80% of the man's work is 'side projects'. To Blur, I guess? o.O Anyway~

My suggestions are less 'bands' per se, and more 'musical projects'.

-Juno Reactor [did the music for the Matrix movies]
-E Nomine [German 'monumental dance', aka German and Latin liturgical vocal pieces mixed with techno/dance/house - cooler than it sounds, I promise XD]

and Blackmore's Night, a brilliant folksy band with a distinct Celtic/gypsy flavor.

[SnoringFrog]

Grave Declaration.

If you're not into metal then don't bother...but if you are, this is some awesome worship metal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kriZeU4zjiY

The Hush Sound.

Agreed with both of those.

The Drawing Room.
Acoustic indie rock, a side project of TFK but much better.

Sounds good, I'll have to look that up when I've got more time.

I don't know how well known Grave Robber is, but this is one of those bands I listened to once a long time ago and was like, "Yeah, they're okay... not my type though." and then listened to them again later and was like, "I love this!"
(This also happened with bands like Spoken, The Devil Wears Prada, and Kids in the Way too if I remember correctly.)
Grave Robber is Horror Punk/Gothic Punk, and is a Christian band.

I might also mention Kids in the Way, as I have no idea how many people have actually heard of them, but a bunch of people I know don't seem to know them.

I'll have to check out Grave Robber, and I love Kids in the Way.

Here's a couple more bands from me:
Embracing Goodbye
High Flight Society (I don't think they're too popular yet, but I love their energy)
A Hope For Home
The Rocket Summer (I may be wrong about him being underrated, but I never hear much about him and I think he does amazing work. All the writing and instrumentation is done by him, the way Aaron Gillepsie did The Almost's first CD.)

Edit:

Ceza (pronounced "jeh-zah") - A Turkish rapper. Even if you don't care for rap, you must hear him, because he can go crazy fast]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTWpDB2Qpgw[/url]

Holy crap. That was pretty awesome sounding.

[MrKrillz0r]

Braille
Mars Ill
Sev Statik
Strange Fruit Project

Everything is lyrical rap more or less, christian.
*Edit* Deepspace 5 too, which is a mix of some of the artists!

[That Dude]

Braille
Mars Ill
Sev Statik
Strange Fruit Project

Everything is lyrical rap more or less, christian.
*Edit* Deepspace 5 too, which is a mix of some of the artists!

Have you ever checked out Othello?