[Music] Metal

[Gib Lover]

Oh god, I really hope you didn't just say poser unironically.

[Gib Lover]

Yeah, I was half-meme'n. Melodeath was the genre that got me into extreme metal and most of my all time favorites are melodeath. Modern melodeath is pretty bad though, with some decent albums sprinkled here and there.

OSDM is actually overall my least favorite metal to listen to, it's gotta be really good for me to enjoy it from start to finish. I am a sucker for 2nd wave BM and 2nd wave worship.

Also every few pages when melodeath comes up, we don't talk about Hypocrisy.

Hypocrisy is always overlooked in melodeath discussion even though they are IMO one of the all time greats. Pete's production skills are great and all, but his work in Hypocrisy is genre defining to me.

[Gib Lover]

That's because I don't like Hypocrisy. Never got into their stuff.

I like some old black metal like Transylvanian Hunger, but I only got into that recently. Most of the black metal that I really like is not trve at all like Liturgy.

Most death metal is just not for me, aside from some albums like Cryptopsy's None so Vile.

I like modern death well enough, just OSDM needs to be really fucking good like Altars of Madness or Bride of Insect otherwise I just get bored.

Liturgy is decent, the stigma around them is really stupid. If you like something, just listen to it.

[Deleted]

I know you don't really mean it, but I really wonder how melo-death became so bland and boring after the 90s. Insomnium is the only melo-death band I can think of off of the top of my head that was really noteworthy in the modern melo-death scene and they only had one really good album (Above a Weeping World).

Now, instead of everyone trying to copy Slaughter of the Soul, they're trying to be like Insomnium.

To share another unpopular opinion though, most oldschool death metal and classic BM is incredibly boring barring a few exceptions here and there.

Melodic death metal is far from being bland, you just need to look deeper. Underground is where it's at.

Earlier Insomnium is the best, no doubt. But there's bands like Be'lakor, Mors Principium Est, Kalmah, a little bit more known. Each with their seperate style, but all melodic death metal.

So far this year I've listened to a few awesome MDM albums.






There's more. All you got to do is dig deeper, the little gems are there

[Gib Lover]

New Be'lakor was great, agreed.

My big problem with melodeath could be said about literally any genre, but it just feels like a super "safe" style of music to make.

You just rip off Slaughter of the Soul or Follow the Reaper and you suddenly have a following. You just spice up some metalcore, throw in female vocals and you have a hit.
We'll use Kalmah as an example because you listed them. Now I LOVE Kalmah and think they are one of the best melodeath bands, but at the start they did nothing at all original. They were just doing what Bodom already did. Same with Norther (who is WAY more guilty of just being a CoB clone).

[Duilliath]

Liturgy is decent, the stigma around them is really stupid. If you like something, just listen to it.

Tbh, HHH made it really fucking difficult to remotely like Liturgy.

[Gib Lover]

Tbh, HHH made it really fucking difficult to remotely like Liturgy.

Oh yeah, he's terrible. Completely insufferable.

[Duilliath]

HHH is a dick, but none of that shows in their music, so I don't see a problem there.

Nah, but he's also being a dick about his music, which for me affects how much I like it. That said, much less interested in The Ark Work than Aesthestica.

[Deleted]

Modern melo-death is pretty bland. Be'lakor, Kalmah and Mors Principium Est are very well known bands. Be'lakor have some progressive influences though and their latest album was sort of boring, but I admit that I've only listened to it once. Kalmah and Mors Principium Est are completely unremarkable to me. Same goes for Dark Oath and Path of Destiny.

I listened to Orbit Culture's Rasen album earlier this year and it was surprisingly decent, but that too, is not strictly melodic death metal. Dethrone doesn't ring a bell so I'll give them a listen.

It's not that I'm looking in the wrong places or not digging deep enough, I just honestly think that most modern melo-death is incredibly unremarkable.

edit: I don't hear anything that really sets them apart from the rest in Dethroned's music.

HHH is a dick, but none of that shows in their music, so I don't see a problem there.

Only conclusion I can pull out from this is that perhaps you may need to look further, some different type of music.

But I'm curious now. Could you link me a few songs that you really like? Both oldies and newer ones?

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New Be'lakor was great, agreed.

My big problem with melodeath could be said about literally any genre, but it just feels like a super "safe" style of music to make.

You just rip off Slaughter of the Soul or Follow the Reaper and you suddenly have a following. You just spice up some metalcore, throw in female vocals and you have a hit.
We'll use Kalmah as an example because you listed them. Now I LOVE Kalmah and think they are one of the best melodeath bands, but at the start they did nothing at all original. They were just doing what Bodom already did. Same with Norther (who is WAY more guilty of just being a CoB clone).

It's kinda difficult for a pure melodic death metal band to become very well known though. Many bands who did become very populair took a long time to get there. Look at well known bands like Amon Amarth for instance, touring the world now.

If I'm being honest I don't know how you can say that Kalmah did what CoB did, there's a huge difference between them. I never liked CoB, or their clones. I don't like their style.

I do agree with you about metalcore and female vocals. Great example is Arch Enemy. It was doing pretty good already, but ever since The Agonist vocalist joined them, all the horny boys started listening to them. I did like their latest album, but it sure is not the best. Same can be said from Eluveitie, throw some good looking women into the mix and your popularity increases a shitton. It's lame.

[Deleted]

I'm already listening to pretty much every subgenre. Melodic death metal was only what really got me into metal when I was a teenager.

To stick with melodic death metal on your question though: For old stuff you can pretty much just take all kinds of 90s melo-death. The first three At the Gates albums, the first two In Flames albums, Dark Tranquillity's The Gallery and Projector and Amon Amarth's debut have been favorites of mine for a pretty long time. Soilwork put out their best stuff during the 2000s, they are one of the few actually good bands to emerge from the genre at the end of the 90s, going into the 2000s.

I also don't dislike most of what the big 90s melo-death bands released later on into their careers, but I listen to that stuff much much less frequently.

As far as less known melo-death goes, A Canorous Quintet is really good, especially their As Tears EP. I used to like Insomnium's Above a Weeping World a lot, but I haven't listened to it in a long time. I don't really care about the rest of their music.

That's really all I can think of off of the top my head. All the other melo-death I've heard, be it old or new, just didn't appeal to me or doesn't interest me anymore.

Most melo-death bands are doing pretty well actually, but they also adapated a far more accessible sound over the years, which plays in a role in why they became so uninteresting.

Arch Enemy also had a female vocalist for a long time, even before the girl from The Agonist joined them and Angela Gossow was a much better vocalist than her too.

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I feel like I've posted this band not too long ago, but I don't remember, so have some pretty fucking solid and bleak german death.

It appears you prefer the old school melodic death metal. I don't like them all that much. I prefer the cleaner melodies. I still remember when I first listened to Fate of Norns from AA many years ago I tried to listen to the earliest albums. I never really liked them. Same goes for DT (When Anders was still doing vocals). Guess you can say it's too 'harsh'. I can listen to it now pretty clearly, I just don't like it. Back when I first started to peak at MDM it just all sounded like noise to me.

Regarding Arch Enemy; what I tried to say was that they became more populair after they hired Alissa. Trade in an awesome, badass vocalist for a 'cute' looking vocalist attracted all the horny boys.

That Disbelief track ain't even all that bad.

You ever listened to December Flower?

[Duilliath]

Regarding Arch Enemy; what I tried to say was that they became more populair after they hired Alissa. Trade in an awesome, badass vocalist for a 'cute' looking vocalist attracted all the horny boys.

Hey, why wouldn't they? It worked the first time, didn't it?

[Deleted]

Hey, why wouldn't they? It worked the first time, didn't it?

Oh yeah, it did.

I just don't like these shortcuts to 'fame' by just having a hot vocalist or some other bandmember. Arch Enemy was already doing very good, but I know a few bands where crap liek that happened.

[Deleted]

Too much talk of obscure and mostly poor melodeath bands.

This needs a proper metal genre injection:

[Cairhiin]

Someone calling Dark Tranquility, At the Gates, and In Flames obscure. That's rather funny in its own right. Though granted I am kinda old and these bands might not be that well known nowadays. What do I know.

[Gib Lover]

Yeah, Amon Amarth, Arch Enemy, In Flames, At the Gates, In Flames, Be'Lakor, Kalmah, Children of Bodom, who's even HEARD of these guys.

It's not like I didn't just literally list some of the biggest names in metal.

Let's listen to some REAL metal like Cane Hill. They are totally not an industrial nu-metalcore band, they are R E A L metal for real metal warriors like me! m/

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Someone calling Dark Tranquility, At the Gates, and In Flames obscure. That's rather funny in its own right. Though granted I am kinda old and these bands might not be that well known nowadays. What do I know.

Don't worry, you aren't that old yet. In Flames is still Sweden's biggest rock/metal export as terrible as they are now, DT is still huge and ATG made a comeback about 5 years ago and released a decent album like 2 years ago that was met with way more critical acclaim than it needed to be.

[Cairhiin]

Don't worry, you aren't that old yet. In Flames is still Sweden's biggest rock/metal export as terrible as they are now, DT is still huge and ATG made a comeback about 5 years ago and released a decent album like 2 years ago that was met with way more critical acclaim than it needed to be.

Yeah kinda what I thought. Though as I confessed earlier I am not much of melodeath fan and I haven't listed to any of those bands (DT, IF, AG) since the 90s. When it comes down to some Swedish metal gimme Dissection any day instead. Having said that I am not really against the odd Amon Amarth or Arch Enemy either but both those bands sound rather lackluster to me nowadays.

[Deleted]

Someone calling Dark Tranquility, At the Gates, and In Flames obscure. That's rather funny in its own right. Though granted I am kinda old and these bands might not be that well known nowadays. What do I know.

I think you should read though the thread again and the context into which my post inscribes itself.
Do you actually think I called In flames (one of my all time favorite bands and a band I've met multiple times in person) obscure?
Orbit culture and Dethrone are obscure - I've heard of them, I've heard a fair few songs by them but they are obscure - ie not mainstream. Sorry?

I've seen In Flames Soilwork and At the Gates well over twenty times combined by the way and own every album they've ever put out, for what it's worth.


I'm done with this thread and that makes me sad. Metal is without a doubt my favorite genre and in a lot of ways a way of life for me - this site is just full of bellends flying the flag for it and is a microcosm for the metal community in general.

(For those unable to see the sarcasm of "proper metal" I was hinting at the nu metal revival Cane Hill represent and the perception nu metal has - especially on opinion forums like this one; but listen to more balck metal and pathetic attempts at snooty arty turn your nose up at a good time shit.)

[Gib Lover]

Lol, thinking nu-metal is bad makes us snooty black metal arty lovers.

Okay. See ya later mang, nothing of value has been lost.

[jackofwind]

(For those unable to see the sarcasm of "proper metal" I was hinting at the nu metal revival Cane Hill represent and the perception nu metal has - especially on opinion forums like this one; but listen to more balck metal and pathetic attempts at snooty arty turn your nose up at a good time shit.)

Nu metal is bad tho. I thought everyone knew that?

[Deleted]

I never said it was good.

Try again? ...

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But I suppose I should say that Korn are a better band than any black metal band. In fact I'd argue they're better then half of them put together.

Keep on writting those chuggy riffs and lyrics about winter though guys, super orginal and not at all boring or tryhard.