get "Considered Dead" it is my favorite as well.. Though I usually recommend TEofS to start with.

Gorguts owns.

Man, I'm just now listening to The Karelian Isthmus. It's very refreshing.
Just another band to add to my extensive dm library, even if they don't play dm anymore.

i really ought to listen to more of this sub-genre besides melodeath

Listen to regular death metal, it's the best. And death/doom is f'ing awesome.

Do people have the same problems with death/doom bands that they do with the prominent melodeath bands? I only ask this because Katatonia and Anathema (they really only had one album in the vein of death/doom, but they still get talked about all the time), and even Paradise Lost have all changed their sound considerably since the early to mid-90's. The only death/doom band that I can think of that stuck to their guns was My Dying Bride and they're kind of...eh, not really my favorite.

What are some good death/doom albums to check out? I don't think I own any.

i always thought Paradise Lost was "gothic metal"

the early stuff I didn't really like much, besides the dissonant guitar, but i love the melodic later stuff

Tales From a Thousand Lakes- Amorphis
Brave Murder Day- Katatonia
The Angel and the Dark River- My Dying Bride
Shades of God- Paradise Lost

And for a more modern flavor: The Morning Never Came- Swallow the Sun

All of these albums are pretty representative of the genre, however many of these bands exchanged their death/doom roots for a more accessible symphonic/alt/gothic rock hybrid that I find at times to be just as good if not better than the early stuff.

I wholeheartedly agree, that they're much better at their gothic/doom metal sound than they were with death/doom.

Any of you guys listen to Lykathea Aflame at all? They only released one album before changing their lineup and their name, but man that one album, Elvenefris, is really good. Their style mixes some middle eastern influences (far more seamlessly than Nile imo) and a sizable dollop of Killing Joke-esque post-punk with death metal. The result is not only astonishingly technical but it evokes emotions not common in death metal: I find a lot of their songs surprisingly bittersweet sounding for example. Oh and both the drummer and guitarist are not only very technically proficient but they are two of the most unique death metal musicians I've heard. Anyway, well worth a listen if you haven't heard them before.