'Convince me this band is good' challenge

[Bruticus]

So, we all have a few bands we wish we'd like, but don't actually enjoy listening to. Some bands are generally heralded as absolute giants, and they fit the description of a band you'd like, but for some reason you never got hooked on them.
Here's a list of such bands for me:
- Monstrosity
- Cryptopsy
- Dismember
- Dark Tranquility
- Dissection

Give me ONE album, I'll listen to it seriously for a week and honestly try to get into it and give you my genuine (hopefully !) opinion with an open mind.

If you're interested, do the same and list some bands still obscure to you today that some members can point you in the right direction.

 

[Phylactery]

Monstrosity:
Not an absolute favourite of mine, but Imperial Doom, Millennium and even In Dark Purity are all varying levels of good. I'd focus on Imperial Doom as that's their best imo. Just a well composed vicious slab of death metal. Much better than Cannibal Corpse.

Dark Tranquillity
The Gallery was my first metal album and "Punish My Heaven" was one of my first song obsessions so a lot of nostalgia for this band. Skydancer, Of Chaos and Eternal Night, The Gallery and their demo material is all good imo.

Dissection
The Somberlain is great and Storm of the Light's Bane is good. I'd say try the following songs: "Black Horizons", "The Somberlain", "Night's Blood", "Unhallowed" and "Soul Reaper".

For me, it's Vader. Outisde of their Necrolust demo, I've never really been able to get into them.

 

[Allfader]

For me, it's Vader. Outisde of their Necrolust demo, I've never really been able to get into them.

Their best material is easily found in 2 albums: Litany and Welcome to the Morbid Reich. Both are pretty energetic death metal albums, combining semimelodic riffing, catchy structures and stellar performances, especially on drums. There's an abundance of riffs and different approaches that work very, very well.

Some bands I haven't been able to appreciate are:

Moonsorrow
Ayreon
Porcupine Tree (despite some stellar drum work, I can't like the band in general terms)
Ulcerate (despite being a huge fan of stuff like Immolation, Incantation, Portal, DsO and the like)

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

Their best material is easily found in 2 albums:

De Profundis is their best album man.

 

[jimmy101]

With Cryptopsy, give None So Vile a proper bash. If you aren't liking it after the first or second listen then they probably aren't the band for you.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

Cryptopsy- None So Vile

Dismember- Like an Ever Flowing Stream

Dissection- Storm of the Lights Bane

 

[Allfader]

De Profundis is their best album man.

I like it, but I think Litany represents better the whole band's sound and it's more likeable at first, thus, I consider it better as a starting point.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

None So Vile is just a great album. Very clean and open production, on par with something like Reign in Blood in the realm of extreme metal, the songs are all compact and riff-dense, but there are some very clear melodic undertones that drive them rather than the usual scale-wank tech-death.

Can confirm that Monstrosity, Dissection, and Dark Tranquility suck dick though.

 

[CiG]

De Profundis is their best album man.

2nded. If you're trying to narrow Vader's best material down to two albums and one of those albums isn't De Profundis, you're fucking up.

 

[The Ozzman]

I've only heard 3 Vader albums and the only one I even remotely enjoyed was Litany. I'll have to check out De Profundis because otherwise I don't get the hype with that band.

 

[Bruticus]

Same with Vader. I couldn't hum a single riff from them to save my life, although that would really suck if my life ended that way, some guy holding a gun to my head begging me to sing a Vader tune...

Yeahhhh, Imperial Doom... I want to love it, and I do appreciate it, on paper all the ingredients are there but... meh. Alright I'm set for a trip up to Québec then. Cryptopsy it is. Will give it a proper go, won't give an opinion until I reach a level significantly different from my current superficial understanding of them.

 

[Bruticus]

Their best material is easily found in 2 albums: Litany and Welcome to the Morbid Reich. Both are pretty energetic death metal albums, combining semimelodic riffing, catchy structures and stellar performances, especially on drums. There's an abundance of riffs and different approaches that work very, very well.

Some bands I haven't been able to appreciate are:

Moonsorrow
Ayreon
Porcupine Tree (despite some stellar drum work, I can't like the band in general terms)
Ulcerate (despite being a huge fan of stuff like Immolation, Incantation, Portal, DsO and the like)

Listen to Everything is Fire. They'll sound like they wander off with their composition, because there's that sort of atmospheric hardcore thing going on, but the memorable moments do keep the listener hooked. There's real intensity in their buildups and an abstract raw power to their song-writing. And they're one of the rare bands that bring sth significantly fresh to the genre.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Someone convince me that Cloven Hoof and Savage Grace are any good.

 

[no country for old wainds]

to me savage grace are basically omen with less manilla road influence/more energy, which should appeal to you in theory *shrug*

 

[CiG]

I've only heard 3 Vader albums and the only one I even remotely enjoyed was Litany. I'll have to check out De Profundis because otherwise I don't get the hype with that band.

Definitely check out De Profundis. I also have a soft spot for the Morbid Reich demo but I know you don't like demos much.

Listen to Everything is Fire. They'll sound like they wander off with their composition, because there's that sort of atmospheric hardcore thing going on, but the memorable moments do keep the listener hooked. There's real intensity in their buildups and an abstract raw power to their song-writing. And they're one of the rare bands that bring sth significantly fresh to the genre.

Their formula is Immolation + atmospheric sludge metal, don't lick their balls too hard they're not that original. Decent band though.

 

[Allfader]

Their formula is Immolation + atmospheric sludge metal, don't lick their balls too hard they're not that original. Decent band though.

There's a Definitive CF's Monotheist + Gorguts/Portal infuence on The Destroyers of All too. It's all correctly done, but it doesn't feel really that good. Even Triptykon delivers far better on that atmosphere.

The drumming is probably their most overrated aspect. The guy can play for sure, but it's nothing really different from the myriad of extreme drummers out there. I'm far more impressed with Mikko Aspa's drumming on DsO, for example.

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

they sound closer to newer Gorguts and i'd say they're actually one of the originators of that sound as far as death metal goes. Very good band.

 

[CiG]

Never could get much into Portal.

 

[Bruticus]

Their formula is Immolation + atmospheric sludge metal, don't lick their balls too hard they're not that original. Decent band though.

No no, I'm no fanboy. Like a few bands out there, their music is flashes of brilliance drowned in an ocean of very forgettable stuff, hence the huge praise on one hand and then on the other end the eye-brow raising. I just appreciate any material that transcends the basic codes of death metal because that's the essence of death metal isn't it, being anti-music and pushing the boundaries of music. I'd much rather listen to an Ulcerate record and discover new facets than listen to a well-executed but formulaic death metal band, which sounds obvious but it isn't the case for everyone. Lots of people just prefer the tight but typical stuff.

And I see what you mean with your description there, but I think that's just inaccurate. There isn't that much Immolation in them, there's a vague resemblance at best imo.

 

[EspaDa]

Never could get much into Portal.

Just like me. I dont understand that band at all. On the other hand, Altarage is like a more enjoyable iteration of Portal, which I listen to from time to time.