Metal Reviews

Well, after I saw Milan's post (I think it was) about a Kalmah album (The Black Waltz) in the "now playing" thread, I pondered if I should go back and give Melodic DM another chance. I got very sick of it after hearing the new Insomnium which was compelled with a lot of clean vocals and the heavy atmosphere was taken away by such mainstream ideas and consciousness. However, I did remember that Kalmah had a lot in them. They had the extreme heaviness, the very tight and well-produced atmosphere, the grand melodious proportions and altogether a sound I dare to say an equal or better sound to say: the latest Insomnium. In my eyes, Insomnium has ran out of ideas and does not have that brooding doom in them anymore. Kalmah on the other hand, very much so has that monochromatic riffage and more importantly rounded by the sheer heaviness of their sound. So which one would you prefer listening to on a day starving for some melodious excellence?

First of all, you should definitely give melodic death metal another chance. It's still an oversaturated genre but there are some truly excellent bands out there, Insomnium and Kalmah being two examples. Garden of Shadows and In Mourning are two bands you need to check out, you won't be disappointed.
Whether I'd pick Kalmah over Insomnium or vice versa, I couldn't say. They play a different kind of melodeath in my opinion and they're both great at what they do. I'm more familiar with Kalmah than I am with Insomnium though so logically Kalmah has a bigger chance of ending up on my playlist but it has nothing to do with one being better than the other.

The point of the question at the end was poised as to which band you would prefer more and you have obviously stated that Kalmah is your pick just because you know their music more. As for the other bands mentioned, I know them. I also have albums by them, and yes, they are indeed a rarity in the Melodic DM genre. I also love bands like Ablaze in Hatred and Daylight Dies which are a combination of Doom and Death (as you probably already know).

I personally prefer Insomnium though I do enjoy both. I think their melancholic approach to melody suits my tastes a little more than the energetic style of Kalmah. At the same time I also find Insomnium just heavier, so yeah there is that as well.

Be'lakor is better.

I'm going to give them another try. They weren't impressive at all three years ago. Although I doubt they will reach the brilliance of Insomnium nor Kalmah.

Their new album is really good.

Both bands were pretty good, the melodeath style is just something I haven't found very interesting for a long time. Sentenced's North From Here remains the best melodic death album I've heard from Finland, or in fact, anywhere.

Be'lakor is ok, but obviously lacks the Finland aspect as a point of comparison. And for some reason I think the Finnish bands do have a distinguishable sound.