The lonely musician

[Anti-antidisestablishmentarianism]

Welcome to the forum.  No heavy metal? Screaming can be quite melodious.

I've listened to some when friends play it in their cars.  But I don't divulge in it. Have any suggestions that I should listen to? No one really shares heavy metal with me because they think I wouldn't like it. 

I have a few suggestions.  I won't go to far because some of the stuff I like is literally just people screaming.  A good example of that would be Slipknot though they have a few non screamers.  Anything Metallica did in 1990 or before is good.  My favorite singer would be Serj Tankian from System of a Down. He's actually a really good singer even though his lyrics are nutty.  For classics I would recommend Black Sabbath or AC/DC.

Surely Iron Maiden should be the first port of call. Possibly some of the most harmony-literate of any heavy metal, and some excitingly palatable melodies for the most discerning of musos.

This is true. I don't even really like the genre, but I can listen to Iron Maiden.

Iron Maiden and early Metallica(...and Justice For All is packed full of awesomeness) Just about any Maiden album will do: Powerslave, Number of the Beast(my favorite Maiden though is Seventh Son of a Seventh Son)
I'm generally not into metal, just some stuff when I was younger. I'm much more into other genres like classical, jazz, some dance and electronics stuff, alternative rock, blues, alt country, opera. I did read somewhere that the personalities of classical and metal music are similar. Anyone else heard that?

I never got too big into Iron Maiden. They are pretty good, just never got around to listening to them.  But yeah And Justice for all is probably the most hardcore metallica album.