Not depressing metal?

Join The Community Discord Server!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

Power metal because dragons suck

What you're looking for is glam metal.

Easy. Motörhead.

Lifelover because they love life

blind guardian. They just write about hobbits and dragons lmao.

Transcendence by Devin Townsend is a really nice positive album

Alestorm on loop.

Children of Bodom - Hatebreeder. 

The lyrics are dumb but the sound of the entire album is....  I dunno- upbeat? I can't not smile when I listen to it... maybe it's just the nostalgia factor for me, but this was the first thing that popped into my head. 

Oh- and Steel Attack.

I think PORTAL are not depressing. Frightening, perhaps. Anxiety-inducing, maybe. But they don't bring anyone down.

Battle Beast might fill that niche if you're into power metal. They're just a bunch of happy goofballs, with surprisingly catchy and fun songs. I'm only familiar with their more recent albums but I love all 3 of them.

Also, Noora is a goddamn queen.

Ensiferum! Mostly about adventures, heroes, drinking, having fun. Edit: Korpiklaani has a bunch of fun catchy bops too.

Opal In Sky!!!

Dream Theater!

Municipal waste and insanity alert

Tankard's music is mostly just about beer sucking - sucking on beer.

Andrew W.K.

That's literally his bit.

His song 'Babalon' if great.

fucking, idk, 90% of power metal? maybe

Electric Callboy and Babymetal

Devin Townsend

GOJIRAAA

Killswitch Engage

Helloween

Lykathea Aflame - Elvenefris(only released one album). They have a song titled “land where sympathy is air” lol can’t get any more positive than that

Their sound is like old Cryptopsy with major chords and bubbly forest fairy synths

What's even the point then?

Elvenking - Pagan Purity

I don’t know a happier song

most kinds of thrash are really uplifting

Mastodon - Blood Mountain

Deafheaven is like fun mid 2000’s emo music with black metal vocals and blast beats. Lot of major key riffage.

Maybe Pizza Death? If their stuff is about bummers, it's at least pizza themed.

I got you fam. check out high spirits, very positive

The new Alcest album is summery but not at all cheesy. A lot of “happy” metal ends up being horrendously cheesy but this is real good.

Amon Amarth might the most uplifting melodic death metal band out there

Opal in Sky

The Surface - Beartooth. It actually does talk about life sucking, but also about trying to fight it

Manilla Road

Primus and carnivore

Municipal Waste

Devin Townsend’s Empath

If you can stand it being in german, Die Apokalyptischen Reiter

Maybe some Samael

The early sHeavy albums until they did a record called DISFIGURINE, which was so damn heavy!

Alestorm. Super over the top

Lawnmower deth

Lovebites. Specifically, their song Rising, but they have plenty of others, too.

Torche always had a bright and sunny feel to me.

Power metal. You're looking for power metal. Well, most of it anyway. Some of my personal favourites include Sabaton, Elvenking, Twilight Force, Wind Rose, Moonlight Haze, and other similar bands. All of them do have more sad songs, but those are also generally the ballads and easily avoidable if you don't want to listen to them.

Songs I recommend starting with for each band:

The Last Stand - Sabaton

Devil Dogs - Sabaton

Pagan Revolution - Elvenking

Ask A Silly Question - Elvenking

Gates of Glory - Twilight Force

Hydra - Twilight Force

Fallen Timbers - Wind Rose

Drunken Dwarves - Wind Rose

Till The End - Moonlight Haze

Horror & Thunder - Moonlight Haze

Grymheart - Hellish Hunt

Powerglove. It’s hard to get depressed about video game tunes.

Buckethead also has some material that borders on rock/metal that is really great. The album Inbred Mountain has plenty of tasty riffs in there.

In Flames! One of the OG melodic death metal bands, I've always found their music, particularly Reroute to Remain (2002) through Sounds of a Playground Fading (2011) to be pretty uplifting. Foregone (2024) is my favorite since the '90s, although lyrically it's very death-centric, if that's 'depressing' to you.

Katatonia

I mean, you basically want traditional or preferably power metal. It's my natural medication for depression and shit. Hard to be in a bad mood with that

Nemophila

Opal In Sky

The Crown , very up beat thrash/death

Bloodbath

Catchiest Death Metal I've ever heard

surprise you're dead. song about vampires.

Glamtera

Killswitch Engage is 99% uplifting

Brojob

I think it depends on what type of aggression you’d feel is depressing. If you get into the more thrashy stuff, power metal, or even the “classic” stuff like ‘70-‘90 metal (without a sub genre) a lot of that would fit the bill! Definitely a lot of stuff out there that you could crank to 11 and beat someone’s ass to. And that’s a pretty positive vibe ya know? Like you’re on fire and unstoppable!

Some stuff, like doom or sludge or whatever, can definitely have a depressing vibe!

If you’re not an aggressive person at all, I’d look into the “classic” (or even NWOBHM) shit like Maiden, Priest, etc.

Do you feel happy when you’re being aggressive and wasting someone or nailing a certain situation at your job, winning a race, flexing your abilities? Thrash bro. And some classic stuff. Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, Priest (again), Maiden (again), etc.

These are awesome starting points, but eventually, even the more “depressing” and “negative” sounding stuff would be more positive sounding…since you’ll get used to more sounds/chord progressions/etc falling into the “positivity” you’re seeking.

So, kinda weird, but like Nocturnus has an album called “The Key”. And it sounded really dark to me like 5 years ago. Now it’s positive, and the kind of ass-kicking music I look for.

It’s all an acquired taste. So I’d definitely recommend those cliche bands for a reason if you’re new. They’re the standard entry-level sound for a reason

Twisted Sister - “Wake Up (The Sleeping Giant)”

Power metal. Cheesy, catchy, uplifting. Sometimes funny.

King Gizz metal stuff, Plini, Chon, Polyphia, Cynic, Tomb Mold new album

Angra

Hmm. I guess you could listen to some of the 80s metal about partying. Some of it is good, some of it isn't. Granted, a lot of the party metal to me is a tad depressing but I don't think it was intended that way is the point.

I love power metal

You need some power metal my dude. Start off with some Hammerfall - Legacy of Kings is a good one. Then maybe some Edguy - I'd start with either Space Police or Rocket Ride, either is good.

If you still aren't feeling uplifted, check out Unisonic.

You know I’m coming up with absolutely nothing. It’s not that non-depressing metal doesn’t exist, but I’m realizing that I don’t listen to it 😝! I know a few good non-lyrical metal like some songs off the Doom soundtracks and Animals as Leaders. I also know of songs with hopeful/uplifting lyrics, but they are usually from a perspective of desperation.

Theocracy

The only Christian metal band I actually like.

Windrose, that Dwarven power metal band. Or most power metal really.

Helloween - Rise and Fall. A surprisingly upbeat song.

Ensiferum. Pretty up beat and melodic and mostly about war victory and other viking shit. Their concerts are like a huge happy party. And they are pretty amazing live. I recomend checking out this live version of Treacherous Gods.

https://youtu.be/2jFnwhjojdc?si=i3oYhgq-TkTR-lMh

Turisas ("Turisas, you can count on us!")

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhgsqSBHA6M

Andrew W.K.'s "I Get Wet"

Mega Colossus and Hell Fire are fun as hell

If you're interested in Prog Death Metal I'd highly recommend Tomb Mold's most recent album, The Enduring Spirit. Quite musically uplifting.

Pirate metal “Aye hilarious shit”

Austrian death machine.

Hate Eternal. Their entire discography.

Dying fetus but only the songs about killing babies.

Volbeat

Jag Panzer- Ample Destruction. Do yourself a favor and listen to this classic.

Bolt thrower

You never mentioned dick sucking has to be excluded, so you can listen to Diamond Eyes by Deftones.

80% of the album is about sex and most of it isn't sad, besides the title track and Risk.

anything power metal.

that or some Texas Hippie Coalition

I mean Opeth is Depressing but it’s not about anything you listed

Floor! I don’t know the lyrics - never really closeolistened to them and not a native speaker - but the music will leave you in a good mood 

Korpiklaani & Trollfest just want to drink and party

Attacker, Agent Steel, Jag Panzer, Omen, Savage Grace, Grim Reaper, Saxon, Visigoth even Iron Maiden (80's) from the more famous ones.

Power metal

opal in sky

Freedom Call. Nearly every their songs filled with positivity.

By Fire and Sword!

Nightwish

Opal in sky, they make a ton of heavy music about being positive

Power metal then. Listen to Rhapsody of Fire and start a journey into fantasy with dragons and magic

Animals as leaders

No vocalist, no depressing lyrics...

I'm a dog and I love socks

avatar, they're just fun

Forgotten Woods - As the Wolves Gather

If you don't mind MetalCore try out Electric Callboy - Ratatat And I would say any insomnium song any Amon Amarth song and any dawn of disease song

The Contortonist's first 2 albums, ExoPlanet and Holomovement.

Try Nanowar of Steel. Start with Norwegian Reggaeton, Valhallelujah or Winterstorm In The Night.

Infant Annihilator

Eliminator - Ancient Light
Riot City
Warrior's Path

All extremely good NWOTHM albums

Most Power Metal I think. Beast in Black are fun

Psychostick

You shook me all night long

Dirty deeds done dirt cheap 

Metal health 

We are the road crew

The chase is better then the catch