In case you've just stumbled across this post for the first time, start reading from bottom-up as thats what they taught me in computer science for 4 years.
So from now on, the latest update is on your face. So m2l2 :D
And yes, no bias, but Amon Amarth was the best band ever until Dark Tranquillity came into my life which has fallen to I N S O M N I U M. And so if you haven't heard any of 'em yet after all my advertising (also called persuading) in gtalk/facebook, mebbe its time you did that. I've been listening at least one of them almost everyday for the last eight months and I'm still awestruck by everything from vocals to guitars to the drumming.
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Update13: HELL YEAH! The beautiful number 13 turns out to be a good one for this post!
I've got my dose of melodic death metal for the month alright..!! \m/ <(0.0)> \m/
Last week has been a great one for melodic death/folk metal. Two outstanding albums have made their presence felt in the web. Dark Tranquillity's We Are The Void and Eluveitie's Everything Remains As It Never Was. I've been waiting for these high profile releases ever since they put up a few of their songs in MySpace last year, more so for Eluveitie because this album is MUCH harsher, much more METAL than the last. Not that any of the folk instruments have lost their importance, just that some of the songs have a lot more melodic death metal elements.
The songs I recommend from DT's latest are 'The Fatalist', 'In My Absence', 'The Grandest Accusation', 'At the point of ignition', 'Her Silent Language' and 'Iridium'. This actually makes up more than half the album! Its not as brilliant as The Gallery or Fiction, but its still great to listen to. Keep in mind, DT has been making music for more than 15 years and the quality of the band hasn't diminished like most other bands that tend to go mainstream in order to attract the metal core fans. Examples of the latter sell-outs would be In Flames, CoB, Metallica...
DT is still MELODIC DEATH METAL, with almost the same lineup that it had 15 years back. We Are The Void has definitely stood up to the literal meaning 'Without DT, Melodic Death Metal does indeed have a void..'
Now coming to my highly anticipated release! Eluveitie! The magical folk music mixed with metal, like a metalchemist!
Their first video 'Thousandfold' was just out of the world. I find it better than their very famous Inis Mona!
They've put up their album in MySpace for the next one week for all their fans to find out what their latest album is about.
Clearly, that shows their confidence in having made an album that exceeds fans expectations. The album is just mindblowing, from start to finish. You can check out their songs (for the next one week) at this link. Its been just over 2 days since they put up all the songs of this album on MySpace and the number of plays has crossed 100,000! Isn't that insane?!
Its a breath-taking album, I think I'll just order it once it releases here. This band doesn't fail to impress. They visited IIT-G a week back! And guess what I heard, BSB is headlining India's Rockfest, an event that was headlined last year by one of the greatest bands of all time 'Iron Maiden'. Just when I thought my country was going towards becoming a metal hub, this gay shit happens. All the girls (how the hell did you end up reading this anyway?!), if you're in India, go have a ball, and this Valentine's Day, Quit Playing Games With My Heart....
Update12: Boy o' boy, have I got some awesome updates lined up this time or what?! Lets start with yet another Finnish band, which stormed into the doom metal scene in 2003. Its a band that is supported by Insomnium when on tour (how sad.. Insomnium so very much deserve to be the main show). Anyways, it took me a while to start liking their music, but now, I'm really into them. The band is Swallow the Sun aka StS. I've just started to explore their stuff and I find a stark resemblance to the pattern I experienced with Insomnium. It takes a while to appreciate certain tracks, so give 'em a few listens before judging. And since this is a doom band, the tempo is generally slow, but the melodies are great. Aleksi Munter, the StS keyboardist features in many epic tracks of Insomnium's last 2 albums and does a great job in providing the doom atmosphere. The tracks I recommend are Don't Fall Asleep (very powerful song, you just wanna listen to it over and over again!), Hope (the reason they are so popular in USA), Falling World (this one has clean vocals throughout), These Lowlands (melodiously melancholic), Out of this gloomy light (godlevel), Swallow, Doomed to Walk the Earth.
And their live performances are a treat. 5 musicians headbanging synchronously is always great to watch \m/ So go ahead and swallow the sun, at least musically!
The next band is also Finnish. Its a melodic death metal band called Mors Principium Est. I've just heard a few tracks of theirs and two of them stand out for me. Pure and Pressure. Check it out, very unique stuff!
2010 is gonna be off to a great start. Eluveitie, Dark Tranquillity and Kalmah are slated to release their latest albums, so there's a lot of melodious music to look forward to. Eluveitie released a video of Thousandfold, one of the tracks from their new album 'Everything remains as it never was'. Its just brilliant. Do check this one out if you thought Inis Mona was eargasmic! Another track that was played live recently is (Do)minion. I didn't quite like it initially, but after a couple of relistens, I can't wait to hear the studio version of it, it does seem to be a cracker of an album!
So I'll stop here.. hope you enjoy some of the stuff I've recommended (p.s comment section feels lonely)! Adios \m/O.O\m/
Update11: Finland seems to be a magical place for melodious metal music. Eternal Tears of Sorrow is the band in the limelight of this update. Music is very melodious with a lot of keyboard elements mixed with beautiful guitar work. The songs I recommend are Autumn's Grief , Prophetian, Aeon, The Last one for Life, Angel Heart: Raven Heart, Blood of Faith stains my hand and Aurora Borealis.
Hmm, I don't have much to say really. These are some of the songs I really enjoyed. Check them out :-)
Update10: This update is all about Insomnium. If you don't like Insomnium, just close this tab right now, add this blog link to those that you must never go to and add that to your gtalk status.
There are so many adjectives (positive) in the English language that this band are to be associated with, but since I didn't fare too well in the GRE, I won't show off my ignorance. Their fourth album 'Across the dark' has been the talk of the metal world in Europe. Though I've had their discography for almost a year, somehow, for no scientifically plausible reason, have I managed to not realize the beauty in some of their lesser known compositions. May be, I was blinded by the sheer talent that this quartet have, or may be DotA was responsible. Either way, this update is to spread the joy of listening to such tracks.
The Bereavement, Nocturne, Day it all came down, Death walked the Earth, At the gates of sleep, The Killjoy are a few of their masterpieces.
Its just nerve racking that some slutty female singers or gay male 'singers?' command all the attention in iTunes, while some of these Scandinavian bands, signed to not-very-known-labels are not even listed in the searches. The music tastes of people might vary, but to have such over whelming responses to such artistes is just a disgrace. It goes to show how most of the world is brainwashed in different aspects. Anyways, if you've read so far and liked some of the suggestions, there is a link called 'Comment' at the end of the post.
Update9: So I return after a long layoff. May be the recession had something to do with it! [haha what a sad joke :D] In less than a month, Insomnium's latest album 'Across the Dark' releases. As usual, a leaked version is out on the net and being the pirate that I am, I downloaded it. The first time I heard it, I felt that not much had changed in their music apart from adding clean vocals to a few of their songs. And then, I heard 'Weighted down with sorrow'. I was dumbstruck in awe of how one could make such sorrowful music seem heavenly. This has to be the best song that I have ever heard in my life. Pure magic. The vocals take a backseat and the melancholic mood is evident the whole song. And this is just the leaked out version..! In case you haven't checked it yet after all the advertising in the last few weeks [I get paid a few bucks for this..], then hell with you, close this window and jump out of yours :P
You can listen to the entire album on Youtube or get the leaked out shit at rapidshare, etc etc.
I checked out some of the pro-reviews on this album and was quite disheartened to see some experts say that Insomnium hasn't developed a bit on the music, and that it is the same stuff as in the last 3 albums. I might be their fanboy and hence applaud every bit of music they create, but then everyone is gonna have their own views. What Insomnium have created works for me =)
Update8: I never thought I was gonna eat my own words :-( Amon Amarth which has been one of my most favorite bands for almost a year finally loses its position to Dark Tranquillity. DT is one of the pioneers of the melodic death metal genre that I crave for. In spite of mentioning it earlier, I had to make a new update for them coz only when you listen to the entire discography of a band, you get to know how imba they are.
Their music is just orgasmic to the ears as some folks in you tube put it :-)
The tracks that should form your playlist for the next month (!) are Wonders at your feet , Lethe , Terminus,
Haven, Mundane and the magic, Focus Shift, Misery's Crown, Hedon, Punish my heaven, Lady in Black, Monochromatic Stains. I could go on and on, but I don't like spoon feeding :P
And oh yeah, you should check out the lyrics coz its worth reading.. and growling along with ;)
Its time for me to headbang to these tracks.. adios.
So, go on, hear 'em and spread the word! Music for life ^_^
Update 7: Its heartening to finally see some comments for this post :-) This update will definitely change your current playlist for the next week. Guaren-damn-teed!! Even if you're someone who hates metal, the stuff I've mentioned in this update will mesmerise you. The music is completely different from any of the other bands mentioned earlier. The band comprises a mammoth 8 member group and uses at least 6 different instruments. The genre is not really melodic death metal, rather its Folk Metal. Its a swiss band called 'Eluveitie'. Their best tracks till now are Inis Mona , Of Fire Wind and wisdom, Gray Sublime Archon, Your Gaulish War, Andro, Uis Eluveitie and this amazing instrumental called Anagantios. The first four are just terrific masterpieces and will blow you away. I guess adding you tube links will help the lazy bums, so I'll try to do that from now on.
Update 6: Its been a long time since the last update! After some 20 GB of melodic metal downloads and a lot of listening to different bands, I finally took time out to check out many songs by one of the pioneers of this genre, Dark Tranquility. They simply own. So many classic tracks and so many albums, this band is a must-hear for those who crave for melodeath. Some of the omfg-this-is-so-wow tracks are Punish my heaven, Lethe, Gallery, Terminus, Wonders at your feet, Focus Shift, Misery's Crown... let me stop here :P This band is just super duper amazing. Vocals are extremely good and the music is very very different.
Okay, I'm waiting. Hear 'em and temme how it was :-D! Njoi \m/ F
For more info on the best tracks by them, you can check out this facebook link
Update 5: It seems beautiful melodeath songs are a rarity. In spite of searching a lot, I don't have much to include in this update :-( I'm yet to check out old albums of In Flames (which I hear is EPIC). After so many new discoveries in the last few weeks, I got carried away and started comparing Kalmah and Insomnium to Amon Amarth. Now, that I've managed to abosrb most of their songs, I can surely say that Amon Amarth is the best damn Melodic death metal band I've heard of :-D
Some of the bands that failed to impress me are Ensiferum, Norther, Arsis and Sonic Syndicate though I checked out only a limited number of thier songs.
In case you wanna do some research in this genre, you could start here :P
A melodic death metal experts view
and
Ob Wiki :P
Update 4: Okay, a few more songs from the above bands :D Check out 'Drawn to Black' by Insomnium. A very catchy intro with some superb melody elements throughout the song. 'Moon of my nights' by Kalmah is another brilliant song. Its right up there with 'Heroes to us'. Awesum beats, really nice melody and as usual godlike guitar. Very addictive :P Also, 'At the gates of sleep' by Insomnium. Just open the lyrics and listen to it. An amazing song.
I've just started exploring one of the little old melo death bands, 'Dark Tranquility'. You should check out 'Lethe' and 'Focus Shift' by them. Really awesome stuff for any melo death fan.
Update 3: The last few days, I've been listening to the song 'The Elder' by Insomnium like crazy and it seems I still can't get enough of it! Its got a beautiful intro, pretty similar to Mother Earth by Within temptations, but then once the drumming starts you just get hooked to it. Superb transitions from normal voice to growls with some brilliant guitar work. I'd rate this song right there with 'Fate of Norns' ! Its just beautiful :-) Spare 3 mins and check it out in youtube :-D
Update 2: Insomnium has some fantastic melo death tracks. Right now, I'm downloading their stuff, so I'll update their best stuff soon ;-) For a start, check out 'Mortal Share' and 'The Elder' , they've got some awesome riffs. 'The Elder' is something I've heard like 30 times in a span of 24 hours... you get the picture right..?!
Okay, I've heard quite a number of their tracks now. 'Daugher of the Moon' is a must-listen! I suggest you open a window with the lyrics of this song, coz its a beautiful poetic one!! The music is really melodious with the death growl elements intact. Makes for a fantastic song, one of Insomnium's very best. The other songs I've listened to are 'In the grooves of death' , ' Drawn to black' and ' At the gates of sleep'. All of them are really good and pretty long. The beauty of this band is the amazing peotic lyrics in most songs :D . So go check 'em out.
Update 1: My latest OMFG discovery is the Finnish band 'Kalmah', which means 'To the death'! Their music is so refreshing and melodious with some of the absolute best guitar magic you can hear. The track 'The Blind Leader' is totally addictive after you listen to it a few times. The start sounds a lot like Metallica and then the real song unfolds. The solo from 2:30 to 3:10 is IMHO the BEST ever (at least from what I've heard). I really don't understand why this isn't rated on par with the legendary solo's in 'Stairway to heaven', 'One, 'November Rain', 'Fade to Black', etc. You don't find many Scandinavian bands in the top metal bands list, which is so sad for their potential. This genre called 'Melodic Death' metal, originally called Gotenburg Metal, originated in Sweden. Most of the top bands in this genre are from the Scandinavian side. The other songs by Kalmah such as ''Heroes to us' and 'Hades' are freaking god-level as well. For those who don't like the growling in death metal, you could actually listen to all these songs, as the music dominates for almost 70% of the song and has a keyboard touch to it. So, what are you waiting for..? Go ahead and feel the Kalmah experience.
And yeah.. a site thats caught my attention is http://www.tastekid.com/ , its a pretty amazing site when you wanna explore stuff similar to what you like, for books, music and movies.
I'd really appreciate it if you leave comments on what you liked/disliked ^_^
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So here's the list :-) Njoi!
1)Dark Tranquillity (mentioned earlier)
The tracks that should form your playlist for the next month (!) are Wonders at your feet , Lethe , Terminus,
Haven, Mundane and the magic, Focus Shift, Misery's Crown, Hedon, Punish my heaven, Lady in Black, Monochromatic Stains. I could go on and on, but I don't like spoon feeding :P
And oh yeah, you should check out the lyrics coz its worth reading.. and growling along with ;)
Its time for me to headbang to these tracks.. adios.
So, go on, hear 'em and spread the word! Music for life ^_^
Update 7: Its heartening to finally see some comments for this post :-) This update will definitely change your current playlist for the next week. Guaren-damn-teed!! Even if you're someone who hates metal, the stuff I've mentioned in this update will mesmerise you. The music is completely different from any of the other bands mentioned earlier. The band comprises a mammoth 8 member group and uses at least 6 different instruments. The genre is not really melodic death metal, rather its Folk Metal. Its a swiss band called 'Eluveitie'. Their best tracks till now are Inis Mona , Of Fire Wind and wisdom, Gray Sublime Archon, Your Gaulish War, Andro, Uis Eluveitie and this amazing instrumental called Anagantios. The first four are just terrific masterpieces and will blow you away. I guess adding you tube links will help the lazy bums, so I'll try to do that from now on.
Update 6: Its been a long time since the last update! After some 20 GB of melodic metal downloads and a lot of listening to different bands, I finally took time out to check out many songs by one of the pioneers of this genre, Dark Tranquility. They simply own. So many classic tracks and so many albums, this band is a must-hear for those who crave for melodeath. Some of the omfg-this-is-so-wow tracks are Punish my heaven, Lethe, Gallery, Terminus, Wonders at your feet, Focus Shift, Misery's Crown... let me stop here :P This band is just super duper amazing. Vocals are extremely good and the music is very very different.
Okay, I'm waiting. Hear 'em and temme how it was :-D! Njoi \m/ F
For more info on the best tracks by them, you can check out this facebook link
Update 5: It seems beautiful melodeath songs are a rarity. In spite of searching a lot, I don't have much to include in this update :-( I'm yet to check out old albums of In Flames (which I hear is EPIC). After so many new discoveries in the last few weeks, I got carried away and started comparing Kalmah and Insomnium to Amon Amarth. Now, that I've managed to abosrb most of their songs, I can surely say that Amon Amarth is the best damn Melodic death metal band I've heard of :-D
Some of the bands that failed to impress me are Ensiferum, Norther, Arsis and Sonic Syndicate though I checked out only a limited number of thier songs.
In case you wanna do some research in this genre, you could start here :P
A melodic death metal experts view
and
Ob Wiki :P
Update 4: Okay, a few more songs from the above bands :D Check out 'Drawn to Black' by Insomnium. A very catchy intro with some superb melody elements throughout the song. 'Moon of my nights' by Kalmah is another brilliant song. Its right up there with 'Heroes to us'. Awesum beats, really nice melody and as usual godlike guitar. Very addictive :P Also, 'At the gates of sleep' by Insomnium. Just open the lyrics and listen to it. An amazing song.
I've just started exploring one of the little old melo death bands, 'Dark Tranquility'. You should check out 'Lethe' and 'Focus Shift' by them. Really awesome stuff for any melo death fan.
Update 3: The last few days, I've been listening to the song 'The Elder' by Insomnium like crazy and it seems I still can't get enough of it! Its got a beautiful intro, pretty similar to Mother Earth by Within temptations, but then once the drumming starts you just get hooked to it. Superb transitions from normal voice to growls with some brilliant guitar work. I'd rate this song right there with 'Fate of Norns' ! Its just beautiful :-) Spare 3 mins and check it out in youtube :-D
Update 2: Insomnium has some fantastic melo death tracks. Right now, I'm downloading their stuff, so I'll update their best stuff soon ;-) For a start, check out 'Mortal Share' and 'The Elder' , they've got some awesome riffs. 'The Elder' is something I've heard like 30 times in a span of 24 hours... you get the picture right..?!
Okay, I've heard quite a number of their tracks now. 'Daugher of the Moon' is a must-listen! I suggest you open a window with the lyrics of this song, coz its a beautiful poetic one!! The music is really melodious with the death growl elements intact. Makes for a fantastic song, one of Insomnium's very best. The other songs I've listened to are 'In the grooves of death' , ' Drawn to black' and ' At the gates of sleep'. All of them are really good and pretty long. The beauty of this band is the amazing peotic lyrics in most songs :D . So go check 'em out.
Update 1: My latest OMFG discovery is the Finnish band 'Kalmah', which means 'To the death'! Their music is so refreshing and melodious with some of the absolute best guitar magic you can hear. The track 'The Blind Leader' is totally addictive after you listen to it a few times. The start sounds a lot like Metallica and then the real song unfolds. The solo from 2:30 to 3:10 is IMHO the BEST ever (at least from what I've heard). I really don't understand why this isn't rated on par with the legendary solo's in 'Stairway to heaven', 'One, 'November Rain', 'Fade to Black', etc. You don't find many Scandinavian bands in the top metal bands list, which is so sad for their potential. This genre called 'Melodic Death' metal, originally called Gotenburg Metal, originated in Sweden. Most of the top bands in this genre are from the Scandinavian side. The other songs by Kalmah such as ''Heroes to us' and 'Hades' are freaking god-level as well. For those who don't like the growling in death metal, you could actually listen to all these songs, as the music dominates for almost 70% of the song and has a keyboard touch to it. So, what are you waiting for..? Go ahead and feel the Kalmah experience.
And yeah.. a site thats caught my attention is http://www.tastekid.com/ , its a pretty amazing site when you wanna explore stuff similar to what you like, for books, music and movies.
I'd really appreciate it if you leave comments on what you liked/disliked ^_^
_____________________________________________________________________________________
So here's the list :-) Njoi!
1)Dark Tranquillity (mentioned earlier)
2)Amon Amarth - Simply the best music I've ever heard in my life
(Best songs :- Fate of Norns, Arson, Cry of the black birds, Victorious March, ...And soon the world shall cease to be, Runes to my memory, Death by fire, Under the Northern Star)
(Best songs :- Fate of Norns, Arson, Cry of the black birds, Victorious March, ...And soon the world shall cease to be, Runes to my memory, Death by fire, Under the Northern Star)
3)Insomnium (mentioned earlier)
4)In Flames (Check out My Sweet Shadow, Only for the weak, Swim, Episode666, Come Clarity, Alias)
4)In Flames (Check out My Sweet Shadow, Only for the weak, Swim, Episode666, Come Clarity, Alias)
5)Eluveitie (mentioned earlier)
6)Kalmah - Amazing band with very original n different stuff, just started to hear them
(Recommendations :- Heroes To Us (WOW), Hades(unbelievable music start), The Blind Leader (has one of the best solo's), My Nation (Keyboard special), Outremer (Sexy Intro), The Black Waltz, They Will Return, Dance of the Water, The Groan of Wind)
7)Children of Bodom - A band that started off with a bang and now fallen with some horrible albums of late
(Favorite songs :- Everytime I die, In Your Face, Angels don't kill, Trashed Lost.. , Tie my knot(forgot exact name)
Other good bands
(Recommendations :- Heroes To Us (WOW), Hades(unbelievable music start), The Blind Leader (has one of the best solo's), My Nation (Keyboard special), Outremer (Sexy Intro), The Black Waltz, They Will Return, Dance of the Water, The Groan of Wind)
7)Children of Bodom - A band that started off with a bang and now fallen with some horrible albums of late
(Favorite songs :- Everytime I die, In Your Face, Angels don't kill, Trashed Lost.. , Tie my knot(forgot exact name)
Other good bands
-Norther
-Scar Symmetry
-Soilwork
-Winter Sun (Death and the healing is a superb track)
-Nightrage
I'll keep editing this post with nice songs/bands. So till then \m/ ^_^ \m/
-Scar Symmetry
-Soilwork
-Winter Sun (Death and the healing is a superb track)
-Nightrage
I'll keep editing this post with nice songs/bands. So till then \m/ ^_^ \m/
