Try the following bands/albums to start:
Opeth - Blackwater Park OR Still Life
Therion - Lemuria/Sirius B (two separate albums released at the same time) but only if you could learn to enjoy real sopranos and tenors, which you state you do not, but try these two because its one of the most brilliant album(s) I've ever heard.
Vintersorg - Cosmic Genesis or Visions from the Spiral Generator
Borknagar - Empiricism
Wintersun - Wintersun
Persuader - Evolution Purgatory
In Flames - The Jester Race OR Whoracle OR Colony
Emperor - Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire and Demise (satanic black metal that is artful)
Blind Guardian - A Night at the Opera OR Imaginations From The Other Side OR Somewhere Far Beyond
Something I should say, just like I've mentioned countless other times - you shouldn't come into metal with "indie" scene expectations... all those things you called 'cheesy' and overdone are trademarks within the overall genre of metal. For the most part, you can learn to like it and not care about cheesiness and just call it fun. Most bands who play the real over the top music realize that alot of people feel that way, but the band themselves have to create and perform that music with a certain sense of seriousness and passion, a suspension of disbelief is almost mandatory when listening to metal. Its not like they laugh at their music afterwards, but most bands are capable of laughing at themselves.
When you hear a song where the lyrics are talking about some epic situation, just go with it and enjoy it, because pointing it out and thinking 'Who the hell does this band think they are?' just ruins your connection to what you are listening to, and whats the point of that? What I've noticed in indie music is this seeming dis-attachment between the band and the music, maybe its just a Sonic Youth thing but there seems to be a glaze of apathy over the whole genre and thats why I don't normally listen to it. Most metal bands create music with a good mind of what they really want, and you can hear that in the genre's better bands. Anyway, hope you like some stuff, I'm glad you liked Iron Maiden, their 80s albums are all quality stuff, and their most recent two (in my opinion), they're my favorite band. Blind Guardian comes a close second.
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