I haven't heard Fen. I have heard Void of Silence. They are great, but they are most definitely an extreme metal band, so I'm not expanding my horizons at all by listening to them.
Gay vibes? lol I'm straight, and let's just say that I'm not one of those guys that doesn't get any chicks. I just dislike girly lyrics for some reason, and the lack of girly lyrics is just one of the things I like about extreme metal.
So liking girly lyrics makes you macho? I take it you subscribe to the Ben Affleck idea of masculinity. uke:
Seconded. Especially "Within The Realm Of A Dying Sun" might be a good starting point. Also Lisa Gerrard's "The Mirror Pool". Since Lisa usually sings just sounds and not real lyrics, there's no need to worry about "girly" lyrics. 70s prog with "no-girly-lyrics": Nektar - "Journey To The Centre Of The Eye" Another two albums (both released in the 90s) I'd like to recommend, which are a bit difficult to classify (not prog, but not simple rock/pop either) are: Kari Bremnes - "Løsrivelse" The lyrics of this album are poems in prose by Edvard Munch, according to which he painted some of his most famous paintings. (You might have heard of "The Scream".) Some songs might qualify as upbeat, but check the samples of "Syk pike" ("Sick Girl" - it's about Munch's sister when she was dying), "Skrik" ("Scream"), "Madonna", "Aske" ("Ashes"), "Sjalusi" ("Jealousy"), "Melankoli" ("Melancholy") and "Angst". As far as the mood of the songs is concerned you might also like at least the first and the last song ("Sangen om fyret ved Tornehamn" and "Sangen om ka ho Anna drømte om") from this album. Actually, the lyrics of the entire album tell a rather sad story, but judging by the criteria concerning the music you stated in your first post, I don't think you'll like all the songs. (Well, maybe you don't even like the two I mentioned.) Lill Lindfors - "Ett liv" The lyrics are poems by the Finnish poet Edith Södergran (who led a rather short and not very happy life). I'm not sure you'll like all the songs, but try the samples of "Månen" ("The Moon"), "Mitt liv, min död och mitt öde" ("My Life, My Death And My Fate"), "Kyrkogårdsfantasi" ("Cemetary Fantasy"), "Jag sag ett träd..." ("I Saw A Tree...") and "Ankomst till Hades" ("Arrival In Hades"). np: Ava Inferi - "Pulse Of The Earth"
I think stuff like Dead Can Dance and Elend would fit your criteria perfectly. Somebody mentioned Swans; DEFINITELY check them out. Also, Tangerine Dream. You might also want to get into some of the more difficult dark ambient stuff at some point. For instance, Lustmord. I don't think you'd really like Lustmord until you've gotten really used to ambient music in general. Maybe something like Raison d'etre would be a better place to start. Also, there's plenty of very dark classical music you could appreciate. I can't be fucked to list any right now.
Harmaa (not sure what to consider them exactly but they have some particularly dark material) Sleepytime Gorilla Museum (prog-rock/metal with elements of dark folk and RIO) Earth (drone-rock or whatever you want to call it) Scott Walker (Most likely not up your ally but his album, The Drift is creepy as hell)
This rule is probably why you don't have a very broad musical spectrum. If you don't like the lyrics just enjoy the music, at least.
It is part of the reason. But generally non-metal doesn't appeal to me musically as well. But it is kind of strange that it seems that almost all non metal has girly lyrics.
Well I don't have any non-metal reccomendations, but one metal band you might want to check out is Evergrey. They're a really awesome prog/power metal band, and with a very dark atmosphere to their songs. If you do check them out, I'd reccomend to start off with the album Recreation Day.
Not really. There are also many bands that don't sing in English ; what you don't understand, won't offend you, I think. Hell, there are some acts that sing in complete gibberish and manage to write compelling music. I'm not recommending anything, just saying.You've got a lot of stuff to sift through already.
Probably not your cup of tea due to the the dislike for blues or jazz stuff, but Portishead are gloomy. All the time. [ame]http://youtube.com/watch?v=Vg1jyL3cr60[/ame]
