Metal Reviews

Insomnium, great melodeath!

Agreed, I like their melancholic touch.
Also a band no one has mentioned, Detonation, one of my favorites. Check out the first two albums. No keyboards, an overall melancholic and full of despair atmosphere. I would rate their albums above 90 easily.

Shit, I was about 2 mention this. Awesome fucking band.

Yes! Fucking best modern melodeath act out there. As far as classics go you need to hear The Red in the Sky is Ours from At the Gates. The rest of the recommendations in here are all good as well especially Arsis. Also kalmah really is just a better version of children of bodom. Back in my melodeath days I remember being blown away by Swamplord, check that album out first.

Interesting that some of you don't seem to divide melodic death metal or melodeath (mainly the gothenburg school of things) and melodic <insert pause> death metal. For instance there's no way I would consider Arsis and At the Gates in the same group.

i would. splitting hairs like that is why metal has way too many subdivisions and subgenres.

Wintersun is so damn good but they are hardly melodeath. But you should still check them out...really. Their self-titled might be my favorite metal record.

Also check out Arsis and The Black Dahlia Murder. I was actually underwhelmed by Arsis because everyone says they're so damn good that they didn't live up to my expectations (not enough hooks in my opinion), but they're still really good...

Actually, I think Arsis and At The Gates are very similar. If not in sound, in spirit at least.

Well ok, Arsis are more technical melodeth, but yeah inventing more subgenres for this sort of thing gets a bit anal.

I agree with the point you make, but disagree with the example, and the example is the reason this is relevant to the thread. I wouldn't consider Dismember a "melodeath" band, but they play death metal that is melodic. But then I'm pretty sure most of us can agree on that.

Well, if Dismember are 'melodic' death, so are Entombed and Grave, and I wouldn't call them melodic at all. Swedish Death Metal?

I would consider Dismember, Entombed and Grave to be early Swedish death, most people would probably throw the "old school" moniker to them too. But putting them into the same category as CoB, Norther, and The Black Dahlia Murder is just insulting.

.:c:.

yeah, Dismember are melodic in the same sense that 99% of death metal has melody.

And that's why it's a silly label. If you don't have melody, then you aren't really making music anymore, or you're making the next St. Anger.

I thought melodeath was to death metal what AOR was to hard rock... Am I wrong?

Generally speaking, this is true. But the term 'Melodic' Death Metal itself is pretty silly. Even beat your face in brutal Death Metal like Suffocation has melody in it.

Yes but its all about the main ingredient. Suffo definitely has an almost strange sense of 'playful' melody running through their music, but the main draw is the brutality no doubt (and those damn cool solos). On the other hand, I wouldn't listen to In Flames for a brutal feeling, it would be for the pop melodies.

Almost all death metal is technical, brutal and has some sort of melody running through it. It gets labeled by whatever it takes to the extreme. I think suffo is actually a really good example. Its technical, has plenty of odd melody and is brutal, but it gets labeled as brutal death because that is what the whole purpose is.

Callenish Circle- My Passion Your Pain
In Flames- Clayman
Arch Enemy- Black Earth, Wages of Sin, Rise of the Tyrant etc.
Nightrage
The Haunted (not really melodeath but the band has some good melodeath musicians)- Made Me Do It.

That should get the ball rolling.

Dunno if it really fits in here but Edge of Sanity's Crimson II is an awesome album! Also, Skyfire's Spectral ought to be listened by every melodeath lover.

The first Crimson album is something everyone should be listening to!

.:c:.