The Death Metal thread

[BastardofYoung]

Originally Posted by Janszoon

Hey BastardofYoung, I'm really enjoying None So Vile. Thanks for the recommendation! I also got Whisper Supremacy which is pretty great too.

No problem. Glad ya like it.

None So Vile is great... if you like that one you should also get "Blasphemy Made Flesh"
Blasphemy Made Flesh by Cryptopsy : Reviews and Ratings - Rate Your Music

It was the album before, also with original vocalist Lord Worm. Not as essential as "None So Vile", but a great peice of work that hinted at it anyways.

"Whisper Supremacy" is a good album, the first to not feature Lord Worm on vocals, so it gets some flack, but it is better than most of what came after.

Last album though "The Unspoken King" is one of the most hated releases, when they went to the Deathcore side. That is a controversial one, haha.

[Janszoon]

Originally Posted by LoathsomePete

So what's the general consensus on melodic death metal?

I'm pretty neutral about it, though I'll admit I haven't listened to a ton of it. I guess I'd rather see death metal splinter off in more experimental directions than in more conventional directions so it's not something that particularly interests me.

[Metal Connoisseur]

Originally Posted by Unknown Soldier

Personally, I`d say the average death metalhead probably wouldn`t be that impressed with the melodic version, as its basically a weakening of their beloved sound! As for an entry point into extreme metal, melodic death metal I`d say was a great starting point.

Ah but I think the genre has so much more to offer than just gateway bands. If anything, the genre's sound is an advancement upon the death metal formula. Also, lyrically, you think one would eventually tire of constantly listening to depictions of the walls being painted with anal blood through the eyes of a deranged mass murderer. That is an overstatement of course, but eventually the novelty of ultraviolence and death-obsessed lyrics wears thin.

I think melodic death metal gets a bad rap from traditional death metal fans because of how the seminal melodeath bands progressed with their respective sounds throughout their careers. In Flames, Dark Tranquility, Amorphis, Children of Bodom, and Soilwork all have had their fair share of hate because of not sticking with their original sounds. Outside of a few lesser known bands like Kalmah and Insomnium the genre really isn't known for consistency which I suppose is why it's so divisive amongst death metal fans.

[LoathsomePete]

Originally Posted by Metal Connoisseur

Ah but I think the genre has so much more to offer than just gateway bands. If anything, the genre's sound is an advancement upon the death metal formula. Also, lyrically, you think one would eventually tire of constantly listening to depictions of the walls being painted with anal blood through the eyes of a deranged mass murderer. That is an overstatement of course, but eventually the novelty of ultraviolence and death-obsessed lyrics wears thin.

I think melodic death metal gets a bad rap from traditional death metal fans because of how the seminal melodeath bands progressed with their respective sounds throughout their careers. In Flames, Dark Tranquility, Amorphis, Children of Bodom, and Soilwork all have had their fair share of hate because of not sticking with their original sounds. Outside of a few lesser known bands like Kalmah and Insomnium the genre really isn't known for consistency which I suppose is why it's so divisive amongst death metal fans.

That's generally how I view melodic death metal as well, especially when it comes to the dislike from traditional death metal fans. Not that it's entirely unwarranted, I haven't particularly cared for any of the In Flames albums since Colony (1999). Dark Tranquility has really moved toward that position with We Are the Void (2010), and Soilwork have pretty much abandoned it altogether for a more thrash metal sound. At least Hypocrisy is still proving that you can be just as heavy as traditional death metal while still being melodic. Plus as you said there's Kalmah and Insomnium, as well as bands like Be'lakor, Torchbearer, and In Mourning.

[Howard the Duck]

Dark Tranquility is way too "sweet" for me, at least on We Are the Void, anyway.

[BastardofYoung]

I liked DT at one point, saw them open for Opeth once as well.. thought they sounded alright, but had no stage presence.

I like a few of their songs though.

Overall, the whole melo-death scene does little for me.. some have been alright.. Carcass and Unanimated I enjoy.. but that is about all i can name off the top of my head I can go back to and still enjoy.

[hip hop bunny hop]

Melodic Death Metal seems, generally, to just be hard rock with some metal aesthetics. The songs are predictable, and while that doesn't mean they can't be enjoyable and a few bands can't master it, the genre seems wear thin awfully quickly. Death metal is redundant, but I can go from Immolation to Suffocation to Deicide and hear something quite different - In Flames to Dark Tranquility? Not so much.

[Metal Connoisseur]

Originally Posted by hip hop bunny hop

Melodic Death Metal seems, generally, to just be hard rock with some metal aesthetics. The songs are predictable, and while that doesn't mean they can't be enjoyable and a few bands can't master it, the genre seems wear thin awfully quickly. Death metal is redundant, but I can go from Immolation to Suffocation to Deicide and hear something quite different - In Flames to Dark Tranquility? Not so much.

We can agree to disagree. I just think melodeath is so much more forward thinking than its older cousin unless I can get some recommendations to change my mind...always in the mood for new music.

Also, to whoever posted that Cryptopsy link earlier, I liked what I heard and downloaded the album like Janszoon and also like what I heard there. Based off that album listen, it seems like "brutal" death metal does more for me than what I heard from Obituary off of Slowly We Rot which is an essential of the genre, correct?

[Unknown Soldier]

Outside of the most popular bands Death and Morbid Angel etc and some of the other early classics by Possessed and Obituary etc there are a lot of death metal bands here that I don`t know anything about. So I was thinking, maybe the author of this thread you know who you are BOY Could feature 10 or 12 essential albums in the death metal genre that have to be heard by people like me!

[The Batlord]

Originally Posted by LoathsomePete

So what's the general consensus on melodic death metal? From any region, but first lets talk about the Gothenburg scene in the mid to late '90's. It was really Carcass' '94 album Heartwork that kick started the genre, but it's really hard to narrow down exactly when the fracture started. It seems like the subgenre really divides fans of death metal, some think it a nice advancement of the genre, taking on new forms to remain fresh, and others think it goes against the entire ethos of the genre.

If there's one thing that can be said about it, it's that it really does allow a good entry point for metal listeners to get into extreme metal, so it does have that one advantage that a lot of other sub genres cannot claim ownership of.

I dig In Flames and Children of Bodom. Other than that I'm not really all that educated in it. At the Gates, though? Slaughter of the Soul is ****ing brilliant! Death metal, melodic death metal, thrash, whatever, that is one of my all time favorite albums. Terminal Spirit Disease is also pretty epic.