Is this stuff good?

[WNxScythe]

Are any of the following bands any good?

Absurdus
Beyond Dawn
Cultus Sanguine
Daeonia
Dawn Of Dreams
Elegeion
Eterne
Fatal Embrace
Korpse
Myrkskog
Opeth
Peccatum
Solstice
Source Of Tide
Thou Shalt Suffer
Abigor
Amestigon
Angizia
Antichrisis
Autumn Clan
Battlelore
Belphegor
Beseech
Dargaard
Darkwell
Devlin
Die Verbannten Kinder Evas
Dismal Euphony
Dominion
Draconian
Einherjer
Eisheilig
Enthroned
Falkenbach
Floodland
Forlorn
Golden Dawn
Grabesmond
Graveworm
Heidenreich
Hollenthon
Ice Ages
Ilojarn
In Battle
Jack Frost
Korova
Korpiklaani
Kreuzweg Ost
Lacrimas Profundere
Mactatus
Malignant Eternal
Miasma
Morgenstern
Morgul
Myriads
Nastrond
Nightmare
Obtained Enslavement
Odhinn
Otyg
Penitent
Saltatio Mortis
Setherial
Siebenburgen
Siegfried
Sins Of Thy Beloved, The
Sirenia
Soil Bleeds Black, The
Sort Vokter
Suffer
Sunterra
Svartahrid
Thirdmoon
Trail Of Tears
Tristania
Unpure
Vintersorg
Visceral Evisceration

I'm especially looking for BM though any good metal \m/ will do... I'm too lazy to punch these all into MA so help would be appreciated . Got this list from a mp3 site (I get 50 free songs)... Emusic to be precise... if you know of good stuff on there tell me.

I'm especially wondering... is Opeth good or not? Opinions seem to be very divided over them.

 

[no country for old wainds]

Myrkskog - If I remember rightly, they were a bit Zyklon-esque with annoying drumming. Bad.

Opeth - I used to absolutely worship them, but in retrospect, they have absolutely no idea how to horizontally structure a song, and even if they did their music would be far from my cup of tea these days. It's basically a mixture of prog, Gothenburg, acoustic folk, jazz + about ten other things, all with a somewhat modern-art sense of "originality" to it. I can't bring myself to lay into them as much as the majority probably will.

Peccatum - HORRIBLE "operatic" metal band involving Insahn of Emperor, makes "Anthems..." sound under-done.

Abigor - An interesting classical-based "cosmic" BM band, exploring epic compositions founded primarily on Immortal and perhaps Emperor. One of very few bands that can get away with female clean vocals.

Belphegor - I have one song, it's pretty generic blasting BM in the vein of Immortal/Darkthrone.

Enthroned - Pretty boring Darkthrone-worship

Falkenbach - Excellent folk-influenced Viking/Pagan band, with a great deal more subtlety and spirit than the majority from that genre.

Ildjarn - Uber-minimalist naturalist BM, very inaccessible and not for everyone, but I recommend giving it a chance. His ambient stuff is good too.

Miasma - Influenced by the likes of Slayer and Therion, review here: http://www.metal-archives.com/review.php?id=1064 top one

Morgul - BM with a goth+nu-metal vibe. Not a fan.

Obtained Enslavement - Enjoyable melodic BM, not something I spin regularly though.

Setherial - I haven't heard them in a long time, but I remember I didn't like them. Possibly something of a Dissection clone.

Sins Of Thy Beloved, The - If I recall correctly, a bad goth metal band.

Sort Vokter - Superb organic naturalist BM from Ildjarn, their one release is highly recommended.

Suffer - Decent Swedish DM but it brings little new to the table (again, this is a hazy memory, haven't heard them in a while).

Trail Of Tears - Another bad Goth band.

Tristania - And again

Vintersorg - Pretentious and annoying pseudo-folk metal, avoid.

Visceral Evisceration - A fairly annoying rockish doom/trad/death band

 

[Mormagil]

Don't get any Battlelore.

 

[Necro Joe]

Solstice rule, they're epic/classic doom with really great vocals.

 

[J.]

What the hell dude. Getting into Austrian metal or something?

Opeth

I can only stomach the debut, and only on certain occasions when I need some background noise. Seriously, they are not that good.

Dargaard

Some very good darkwave from the former vocalist of Abigor.

Die Verbannten Kinder Evas

Very good classical influenced semi-darkwave from Protector of Summoning fame.

Falkenbach

Awesome stuff here, especially the debut.

Forlorn

The first EP is really good viking black metal. The Crystal Palace is nice viking-ish melodic symphonic black metal. Opus III is OK, but they got more spacey with this one.

Golden Dawn

Get The Art of Dreaming. Awesome symphonic black metal.

Hollenthon

Good stuff here. Symphonic epic folk death metal. No, I'm not kidding.

 

[R.I.P.2]

This here is a most excellent description of the sound which Miasma create:

"A huge beast lurks among the shadows of an ancient temple, yearning for blood and destruction. Its minions stand in a circle, surrounding a flame of pestilence. One by one, they sacrifice themselves, sacrifice their blood for their master. The monstrosity emerges, and its true, gargantuan size is made known, yet it is still only shadow. All cower in fear. It will devastate all in its path. It won't stop until the last spot of life is bloodily slaughtered upon its horns."

Highly recommended if monstrous shadow-gargantuans float your boat.

Avoid Sirenia and Tristinia like the plague, by the way.

 

[5thSeason]

battlelore - a goofy power metal band with a lord of the rings fetish. their most recent album "swords song" isnt half bad... its worth a download if you like cheesy power metal.

Vintersorg - personally I think vintersorg rules. check out his "cosmic genesis" album

Otyg - worth a download for sure.

 

[Birkenau]

Opeth are very good, but most people here would have been listening to them for a while so naturally they are a bit bored of them. I'm surprised you haven't heard them already.

Check out My Arms, Your Hearse or Blackwater Park.

 

[Mormagil]

I like Vintersorg, could do without some of the lyrics though.

Opeth - Orchid is alright, but even that gets boring at times (most of the time). I've never understood the whole Opeth-mania thing.

 

[MasterOLightning]

Some people love Opeth, and others hate them. The people who love them get a lot of enjoyment out of the music. You at least owe them a chance to see which camp you'll fall into. I mean, it would be pretty stupid to not listen to what might become one of your favorite bands. And if you don't like them, so what? Opeth is a band that everyone should give a listen to. If you compare your musical taste to others, you should be able to figure out whether you'll like them or not.

 

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

Visceral Evisceration is amazing.

 

[RosesofShadow]

For Opeth, yeah It kinda gets boring at time but I'm still liking it. Get Orchid, MAYH, BWP, Deliverance. I don't like the acoustic album, what the fuck is that again?

Beseech - i only like one song "Read Between the lines" which is not that good also...

Dargaard - Yup Darkwave, never been a fan of this genre, dunno if you'll like it cuz I don't

Darkwell - Gothic metal... has its moments for me in a while but tends to be boring. The vocalist is kinda pretty but her vocals is not that good...

Dismal Euphony - Melodic black metal with Female vocals... Ermm, don't waste your time with this..

Draconian - Gothic Metal. Kinda like this one, again female vocals with male grunts... But nothing special with it...

Einherjer - This band rule... Viking metal at its finest... Definitely get dragons of the North

Falkenbach - another great folk/viking metal... GoD said the descriptions

Siebenburgen - very repetitive melodic black metal with female vocals... BORING

You may want to ask this guys about Sort Vokter...

The Sins of Thy Beloved - I actually like lake of Sorrow but avoid Perpetual. Good doom/gothic metal with violin and keys...

Sirenia - I like At Sixes and Sevens. A band of Morten Veland from Tristania...

Tristania - Sirenia is greater than this band... World of Glass sucks, has its moments...

Trail of Tears - Yup I like them...

*Please note that I don't listen to gothic metal anymore, these are just my opinions.

 

[The Weaver of Dreams]

Beyond Dawn
Gothic Metal from Finland, nothing original, but definitely worth a shot, if you like to explore this style.

Daeonia
Dutch Gothic Rock, a bit Sisters Of Mercy-like.

Solstice
Excellent epic and melodic British Doom Metal with clear vocals.

Battlelore
Kind of Power Metallish band, with heavy "Lord Of The Rings"-list, with names, costumes, lyrics and all. I like them quite a bit, but I can see, why people think they are a big too much, hehe.

Draconian
Doom/Death Metal from Sweden via Napalm Records. really good stuff!

Einherjer
One of the best Viking Metal bands out there, "Dragons From The North" are one of my all-time Top 20 albums. A pity they are no more.

Falkenbach
Brilliant Viking/Pagan/Folk Metal, quite unique in its approach! Attention: If you have a keyboard allergy, stay away!

Graveworm
Kind of Black Metal with Gothic Metal influences from Italy, I like them, again quite a bit of keyboards involved.

Korpiklaani
One of the best Folk Metal bands out there, used to be Shaman (not the Brazilians). Eight people band, with accordion, flute, violin and all.

Lacrimas Profundere
Very good Gothic Rock, formerly Gothic/Doom Metal. Quite original atmosphere, one of the best German bands of this style.

Nightmare
French Power Metal with epic influence. If you look for Black Metal, definitely nothing for you, hehe. For PM, though, very good.

Obtained Enslavement
Norwegian Black Metal founded band, extremely tight and melodic, even with excellent clean vocals, "The Shepherd And The Hounds Of Hell" is heavily recommended.

Siebenburgen
Black Metal with strong Heavy Metal influence, partly with female vocals, very melodic, very good band.

Sins Of Thy Beloved, The
Gothic Metal of the Sirenia and Tristania vein, with dual vocals, very good band.

Sirenia
Tristania spin-off, by now having surpassed Tristania. Brilliant Gothic Metal with very epic and orchestral atmosphere, also with dual vocals.

Thirdmoon
Austrian band, which I think does no longer exist. Also Death/Black Metal with traditional Metal riffing incorporated. Good stuff.

Tristania
"Beyond The Veil" is maybe THE Gothic Metal release to date, great vocals (female, clean male and growls), orchestration, epic atmosphere, brilliant! Their newer stuff has gone away from that a bit, though.

Vintersorg
Used to be one of the best Folk Black Metal bands, but since has meandered into more avantgardistic regions...

Just me two (Canadian) cents...