Controversial opinions on metal

[Krigloch the Furious]

Is it me or does fueled by fire have some seriously boring solos.
The dudes can shred, it'd just not good.

And Borknagar has never impressed me a whole lot. Even though I have 4 of their albums.

 

[Kara-Shehr]

Universal is a terrible album but their self titled is pretty good. That's about the extent of my familiarity with Borknagar.

 

[matt schrauben]

Urd kicked ass. The Olden Domain and Epic are also great albums by them.

 

[KafkaX]

I also liked Empiricism.

That was the first album that introduced me to them.

 

[Krow]

Always thought they were painfully boring.

So yeah, pretty much every metal album (with some exceptions of corpse) longer than 45 minutes, especially those reaching over an hour, are just too long and usually padded with filler.

 

[Eligos]

Quintessence and Empiricism are dope.

Anything before that is overshadowed by Vintersorg's earlier stuff for me.

Anything after is wanky and contrived.

So yeah, pretty much every metal album (with some exceptions of corpse) longer than 45 minutes, especially those reaching over an hour, are just too long and usually padded with filler.

I think a lot of bands don't vary their material enough to warrant more than 45 minutes of listening. It's one thing if you're an Aaron Turner type and crank out riffs from the fringe like it's nothing, but if you're pounding me with the same thrashy riff for an hour, fuck that shit.

 

[Carpe Mortem]

I can handle awhile of an album doing pretty much exactly the same thing over and over.... as long as it's layered. Even a slight shift in ambiance is enough if I like the initial hook. But if it's literally the same damn thing over and over it really is just filler.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

only live in liepzig is real

graveland is better than all those norwegians, though enslaved is definitely right there.

and satyricon is and has always been irrelevant

Re Mayhem: Thank you.

Re Graveland: I wouldn't go that far, but their best records are at least in the same domain as the Norwegian bands' best records.

Re Satyricon: They're first three albums are legit, even if Nemisis Devina is the Black Album of black metal. Everything after that is garbage.

Always thought they were painfully boring.

So yeah, pretty much every metal album (with some exceptions of corpse) longer than 45 minutes, especially those reaching over an hour, are just too long and usually padded with filler.

I mostly agree with that, especially with extreme metal. But there are numerous exceptions.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

On the topic of Graveland, Thousand Swords isn't even one of Graveland's top 5 records.

 

[romanticism]

Oh lord have mercy

 

[J.]

Its not my favorite, but it is a very important release for both graveland and black metal.

Personally, i believe following the voice of blood is his finest hour. Fire chariot of destruction and memory & destiny are up there as well. Ive never been in love with the early stuff

 

[romanticism]

1. Celtic Winter
2. Thousand Swords
3. Carpathian Wolves
4. Following The Voice Of Blood
5. Memory And Destiny (the recent re-recording is very nice!)

After that, I actually don't care for any others I've heard, but I haven't heard like half of his post-FTVOB albums.

Also, any Graveland fan needs to be frequently incorporating Lord Wind into their rotation. I would actually put Atlantean Monument above any Graveland album.

 

[J.]

the M&D rerecording is phenomenal. ive never been been able to fully appreciate celtic winter or carpathian wolves.

fire chariot of destruction is a great record, and one that fans of the older albums appreciate.

agreed about lord wind. atlantean monment and ales stenar are some of the best work darken has ever done.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

Its not my favorite, but it is a very important release for both graveland and black metal.

Personally, i believe following the voice of blood is his finest hour. Fire chariot of destruction and memory & destiny are up there as well. Ive never been in love with the early stuff

You'll get no disagreement from me there. It's probably his most innovative record and the style of guitar playing he took up for it is really awesome. However, the production is really crappy and the guitar tone is super weak. It's also got a few duds like Black Metal War and the intro and outro which are well below his usual high standard.

Basically, FtVoB is not as innovative but is far superior with regards to production and songwriting.

1. Celtic Winter
2. Thousand Swords
3. Carpathian Wolves
4. Following The Voice Of Blood
5. Memory And Destiny (the recent re-recording is very nice!)

After that, I actually don't care for any others I've heard, but I haven't heard like half of his post-FTVOB albums.

Also, any Graveland fan needs to be frequently incorporating Lord Wind into their rotation. I would actually put Atlantean Monument above any Graveland album.

1. Following the Voice of Blood
2. Immortal Pride
3. Memory and Destiny
4. The Celtic Winter
5. Carpathian Wolves
6. Creed of Iron
7. Thousand Swords

You could probably talk me into swapping in with Creed of Iron, but it's too flawed to touch the others which are all stellar from start to finish.

Haven't given Lord Wind much of a chance. Gave one of their recent records a listen and it didn't click. Probably need to give it a few more spins.

 

[romanticism]

You should probably go for the newest one first. It has a little more textural variety than Atlantean Monument, which is probably just my favorite because it's what I was listening to for a while before trying any of the others.

I initially saw your post and thought you were probably implying that stuff like Fire Chariot Of Destruction was better than Thousand Swords. I would say definitely swap Creed Of Iron with it, and then I could potentially forgive you, as the other four we both listed are indeed stellar, and I've only ever listened to Immortal Pride once or twice.

 

[J.]

1. FtVoB
2. M&D
3. FCoD
4. Creed of Iron
5. Immortal Pride
6. Thousand Swords

 

[crimsonfloyd]

You should probably go for the newest one first. It has a little more textural variety than Atlantean Monument, which is probably just my favorite because it's what I was listening to for a while before trying any of the others.

I initially saw your post and thought you were probably implying that stuff like Fire Chariot Of Destruction was better than Thousand Swords. I would say definitely swap Creed Of Iron with it, and then I could potentially forgive you, as the other four we both listed are indeed stellar, and I've only ever listened to Immortal Pride once or twice.

Re Lord Wind: Yeah I think that's the one I have. I'll have to give it a few listens.

After Memory and Destiny Graveland has been pretty hit and miss. There's a lot of just so-so records that don't warrant more than 5-6 listens. The first two songs on Fire Chariot... are nothing short of brilliant, but it loses steam after that. Will Stronger than Death is probably his most consistent record of the last decade (not counting the M&D rerecording, which is amazing).

 

[J.]

the new one is pretty good, and brings more lord wind into the graveland sound, with alruna being a regular contributor. its not stellar, but its good. and after spears of heaven, he could only go up.

i still say fcod is his best post m&d album. its like he found his balls again, sped everything up and wrote some epic tunes. "prayer for my ancestors" is my fave from the album. i like will stronger than death, with songs like apocalypto and victoria divina. its definitely stronger than fire of awakening and dawn of iron blades.

 

[V.V.V.V.V.]

Fire Chariot of Destruction is most certainly one of the best Graveland albums ever. Amazing production, lots of subtlety to the songwriting and riffcraft, great nods to "epicness" here and there. Awesome stuff. I love "Creator and Destroyer", "Dance of Axes and Swords" and "Motherland" as well. Great album.

 

[dwellerINTHEdark]

Man everyone seems to love Graveland. It's been a while since I tried some tracks but I remember not being impressed. I'll check out FTVoB next.
Anybody like Woodtemple at all? I hear them often compared to Graveland. I liked what I heard.