I'm Listening to Metal Because of American Idol

Megan and I just came back from an American Idol Finale party thrown by our friends Adam, Jana, and Nolan. It was nice for us to spend a few Paige-free hours out of the home together, although we ended up hanging with some other babies.
By the way, Paige was asleep, so she would have missed out anyway. It did make our babysitter's job ridiculously easy.

Anyway, we were really impressed by our hosts' home. The house was located on a 1.3 acre lot which allowed room for a large external two-garage structure that included a rec room, office, future bathroom and a covered front deck where they put the grill. Adam called it his "man house." I just called it "the house behind the house." There was still enough yard left behind that structure for a grassy area that had plenty of room for standard backyard activities (soccer nets, volleyball nets etc...)

As for the American Idol show itself, well, I've been following it more via blog than actual telecast. Working nights didn't allow me to catch every episode. The show didn't really reflect my music taste anyway, but Megan wanted me to share the experience and follow along with her.

Despite my cynicism, I got a little caught up in this episode. The season finale attracted a lot of guest performances from big name acts (a mix of has-beens and current pop stars) and I found myself getting excited over seeing Bryan Adams and George Michael. I am a child of the 1980's after all.

Anyway, all this mainstream talk has me aching for some counter-culture so here's some metal:

mp3: "Get It Off" by Disfear

Yes, I'm listening to metal. Yes, that's Swedish metal. Before I go on, I'd like to note that I know very little about metal. Previously, most metal sounded too droning and weighty for me. I knew the genre had roots in both psychedelia and prog rock, which was cool and all, but that was never enough for me to get into it.

For some reason, this band stood out for me. The production was very bright and clear and the music was so energetic, it seemed to leap out of the speakers. The speed and brevity reminded me more of punk. I'm sure there are many other metal acts that sound like this, but I haven't heard them. Any other suggestions?