Metal Reviews

Dark Tranquility-Beautiful multi-layered albums, introspective and at times mildly philosophical lyrics, and of course lots of great riffs and melodies from their early albums. Character is one of my favorite metal albums and they had it up to about 2010, still unsure what to think of their last album.

Septicflesh-The band since Sumerian Daemons has released some of the best atmospheric death metal I've ever heard. Their first four albums create a picture of descending into a dank and forgotten Hellenic crypt and seeing forgotten rituals of zee gods. Their music is untouchable and I've even given some of their latest album even though its weak a spin.

Kreator-Savage thrash pure and simple though I encountered them when Enemy of god and then bought Coma of suck after that. I love this band and they introduced me to heaps of other thrash bands as a result of discovering them. Phantom Antichrist was like rediscovering Enemy of god, and is vying for my top album of 2012 against the newest Evoken.

Moonspell- Antidote was the first metal album that truly left an impact on me, I loved the gothic atmosphere from the album and the cryptic lyrics on Fernado's take from the novel inspired me to look into more bands. Wolfheart and Irreligious are all-time favorites though I don't spin them as often as I used too, even if their newest album is an abomination, their early material got me into more underground bands.

Cannibal Corpse
Definitely one of the first death metal bands I ever heard along with God dethroned, the band just brings back memories of driving to hardcore shows after spinning a CDR of their stuff of both Corpsegrinder and Barnes eras. I remember hearing the unedited version of Stripped, raped, and strangled and thinking this was the filthiest stuff I've ever heard. Say what you will about all of their shitty Corpsegrinder albums, their first three albums are classics of the genre.

Rotting Christ
I discovered these guys by checking out Darklyrics and looking for the most blasphemous sounding band names. As soon as I heard Lucifer over london and a Sign of evil existence I was hooked, this band is by far one of the best black metal bands around today having progressed quite a lot and still retained their roots and sound. I enjoy all of their material (still have to hear Theogonia).

Suffocation
Heard them late my senior year of high school the song Funeral Inception, and thought the song was the most brutal thing I've ever heard. The band is by far the best American death metal band that has ever existed, no band touches their blend of brutality and technicality. They've spawned thousands of worthless brutal death metal bands and deathcore hacks worldwide, but nothing beats Pierced from within and Effigy of the forgotten.

Blind Guardian
When my cds were stolen I only had a CDR of stuff of a mixture of Imaginations from the other side and their first two albums. I don't normally care for Europower metal, but these guys have always delivered an epic sound with some great hooks and of course passionate speed metal at least up until Imaginations. These guys are an asset to power metal.

Darkthrone
Transilvanian hunger cements why I adore black metal, and if the entire subgenre of black metal faded away I'd still adore Panzerfaust, Transilvanian Hunger, and A blaze in the northern sky. The band influenced the music even more so than Mayhem, and every black metal band in existence today owes their sound to Darkthrone. Their newer material is fucking awful though.

Slayer
Just a great band all the way through that pushed the envelope in a way the hacks in Metallica, Anthrax, and Megadeth could only dream of. Reign in blood is one of the best thrash albums from the states (yes its overrated slightly), but their first five albums I can spin on a loop regardless of mood and sing along too which I can't with many other bands. Slaytanic Wehrmacht 666

Black Sabbath
I discovered all of their non-Paranoid material far too late in life, but made up for it since it was all I listened too for a few months. Master of Reality was my lifestory when I was down and out and jobless looking for work, the riffs of Lord of this world, Children of the grave, and especially Solitude really just took me to a gloomy field far away from the heat and humidity of South Louisiana. I love that album and owe my sanity to it.

Mayhem
De mysteriis Dom Sathanas is my top black metal album of all time, and occupies the height above so many bands it helped inspire. It took me about four spins when I was fourteen to fully appreciate everything that was going on, it was a blur of speed, Attilah's demonic vocals, and that opening riff of Freezing moon just sent shockwaves through my body. I've learned to love some of the lesser adored tracks like that massive riff of Pagan fears and some of the more inventive riffs of Life eternal, Live In Leipzig as well took some time to soak in but Dead was a good vocalist for his time.

Inquisition
Where De mysteriis dom Sathanas is the looming demonic entity that is high over black metal, Inquistion's music is a the spear that goes deep into Christ's body. I remember reading the lyrics on Into the infernal regions of the ancient cult and thinking "Wow, these guys genuinely worship Satan", and though I only heard them just two years ago I now own all of their albums and their music is just pulsing, primal, and percussive as those drums are just as important as the thrash inspired riffs that just explode into intricate melodies. The band is the hardest working band in black metal, and one of the last true black metal bands among legions of hasbeens notably the Old Norwegian guard (nearly all the bands) and bands that live off of their legacy.

Absu
I've heard the band on and off since my high school days, Tara being my first major exposure and I was blown away by the speed and incredible musicianship. Proscriptor's drumming is overpowering yet still inventive, and couple that with the strong Bathory influence from The Sun of Tiphareth and the Third storm of Cythraul and I love this band. This band is a constant feature on my playlist

Graveland
Bathory's influence lives on in Darken's work even though some of his early bm stuff is patchy, Carpathian Wolves being solid even though stifled by weak production and Capricornus' awful drumming. Immortal Pride and Creed of Iron are the standard for epic black metal with nods to dying in battle, killing Christian and Muslim scum from the homeland, and of course just music to zone out too. Darken's Viking metal stuff post-Immortal Pride is also incredibly well done as well in particular Will stronger than death, which I recommend to all fans of Bathory.

Judas Priest
British Steel and Turbo were my first encounters with Judas Priest, and both cemented the band into my mind when I heard them as a child until now as I'm listening to Sin after sin. Their music along with Dio guided me into all that is heavy metal, and without encountering them it may have been a few more years before I discovered this music.

Bathory
The titletrack to Blood, fire, death is the best metal song ever written, nothing by Iron Maiden or any of the epic heavy metal bands even comes close to the majesty of that song. I traded Manilla Road's Crystal logic to obtain my copy of Hammerheart, and I love both eras. Quorthon was a passionate musician who progressed from the evil black metal of his s/t to the riff craft of Under the sign of the black mark to Viking metal. The first six Bathory albums showcase a man's journey and a musical journey you don't see anymore at all.

Virgin Steele
I've literally just discovered these guys after seeing you fools post the coverarts of Invictus more times than any album cover I recall here at ole MR . But I adore everything this band has done in their epic non hard rock material, its literally just hit after fucking hit with Virgin Steele. When I first heard House of Atreus I was mesmerized by Defei's vocals, couple those vocals with beautiful keyboard passages and at times intense song structures and these guys may very well be the best of the epic heavy metal bands. The homos in Manowar have nothing on these guys.

Savatage-I saw the video for Gutter Ballet when I was fifteen and I loved everything about it and subsequently bought Edge of thorns. The band just writes solid rock numbers, have excellent solos, and of course Oliva is a great vocalist. Zac isn't a bad vocalist either and their nineties material gets undue flack, but I love this band and don't see myself listening to any power metal if it wasn't for Edge of thorns.

Descriptions of OM make them sound so cool but never really got into their music :-(

What you said about master of reality was deep. That was a hell of a post. I second your black sabbath, darkthrone, mayhem, dark tranquility, and slayer statements.

Ditto that. But their newest, Advaitic Songs, might be gimmick-y enough to hook you. Check it out.

@Steve: Definitely check out Theogonia as soon as possible.

Will do! Maybe more instruments will make it more interesting.

Nice post Tehom (even if I don't like all the bands you mention).

If you like Ghost Brigade and Rapture so much you might want to check out Daylight Dies if you haven't already. Really awesome band!

Thanks for the recommendation. I love me some daylight dies. I've got all their stuff. The new album is great too. I'm very much into death doom. Straight up brutal death metal really does nothing for me. I like the more melodic side of things. But thanks anyway. I need to check out some more bands in the genre but idk where to go next.

I have (off the top of my head)
The old dead tree- all albums
Rapture- all albums
Ghost brigade-all albums
Doom-vs-all albums
Daylight dies- all albums
Novembers doom-all albums
I didn't count anathema and katatonia because their sound has changed but I still have most of their stuff too.

So idk who to check out next. I do like a mix of cleans and growls though. The way ghost brigade incorporates both really does it for me. And I've heard people bitch about his cleans but I like them.

ok I'll start with five bands, my five favourite bands of all time

Pantera

yes I already know what many of you will say about them, however Pantera were THE FIRST metal band I ever heard and their music made me fall in love with metal instantly, I'm not ashamed to admit I LOVE Pantera's music, the agression of Phil's vocals coupled with Dime's guitar playing always gets me and that's all there is to it

Judas Priest

In my opinion Priest are perhaps the best metal band of all time, they have produced so many of metal's very finest albums including, but not limited to, Stained Class, Sad Wings Of Destiny, Sin After Sin, Defenders Of The Faith, Painkiller and Nostradamus, their ability to have such staying power to me sees them stand alone as Metal Gods ruling over each and every person who considers themselves metal

Black Sabbath

as the godfathers of metal Sabbath are to be thanked by anyone who loves their music heavier then a ten ton weight, first with Ozzy and thenDio Sabbath showed that great riffs + dark subject matter = awesomeness

Nevertanezra

this is a band with just one demo and a full length album, but they have quickly become a favourite of mine, they are a doom/death band that has somehow managed to be extremely heavy without losing melody, it's a very difficult sound to describe, and the feeling their music generates is just as complex, the best way to explain it is to call them a black hole of doom

Megadeth

of the big four in my opinion Megadeth are easily the best, they have the best discography, are far more consistent then their counterparts and have managed to successfully return to their thrash metal roots. Killing Is My Business, Peace Sells, So Far, So Good, SO What, Rust In Peace, Countdown To Extinction, Cryptic Writing, United Abominations, Endgame and Th1rt3eN all recieve frequent attention and the only album of theirs I will not touch is risk, the aggression in their early and later years is difficult to match and the lyrics are very well thought out across most of their work, and I dare you to even attempt learning one of Dave Mustaine's face melting shreds on a guitar, no in fact I double dare you

Fuck the pantera haters bro. I still spin pantera every couple months.

I noticed Swallow The Sun isn't on your list. Their albums are all pretty solid especially The Morning Never Came, Hope and New Moon. And no matter what some people say I really enjoyed their newest one "Emarald Forest and the Blackbird". It has some pretty awesome tracks (Hate Leed the Way, Labyrinthe of London and Night Will Forgive Us )

Well, that's what I will order next. I've heard them mentioned before but never heard much talk about them good or bad so never looked into them. I'll definitely check them out. Thanks man.

from the bands you've listed I'm pretty confident you'll love Swallow The Sun. Their music fits perfectly the Melodic Death/Doom label you gave those other bands.

Totally agree. Pantera have always been a great band in my opinion. I listen to them a fair bit still.

Hell I grew up getting wasted and watching the Vulgar Videos (this is pre-DVD!).

I've even got the CFH logo tattoed on my right leg.

nice!!

Anathema

their proper doom/death material is just brilliant, an excellent example of what the style should sound like, The Silent Enigma is an instant doom classic which I really should get around to reviewing for the other forum I'm on

Mournful Congregation

these boys are from my home state of South Australia and play some of the most depressing doom I have heard, but it's a good type of depressing, if you like doom you should check them out, The Monad Of Creation is one of the most epic songs in all of metal so far as I'm concerned so that's a good starting point

Confessor

heavy, depressing, vocals aren't great but do suit their music quite well, only have the one album by these guys but it's one of my favourite albums, fine example of doom metal

Pentagram

one of the first doom bands, and when you consider they started at about the same time as Black Sabbath but are about ten times heavier then what Sabbath were doing at the time it's just astoniching, dark, heavy, soul crushing stuff

Obituary

much moodier and slower death metal then most of their contempories but I like that about them, good riffs and coherent growls (which is a big thing for me outside of funeral doom) truth be told Obituary are probably closer to doom/death then outright death metal