Korpiklaani - mixing Finnish folk with metal.
definite agreement on sir lord baltimore for proto-metal! also stuff like cream, blue cheer, wishbone ash, iron butterfly.
I agree that Dream Death were the first, but how much death metal are they really? It was quite some time ago listened to them but iirc they are more of thrash/doom or something? Very "proto"-sounding atleast. IMO Paradise Lost and Winter defined the sound. And Katatonia are obv the best.dream death were probly the first death/doom band, probably the best for that matter. stuff like asphyx and autopsy is part of that conversation too, and obviously winter and cathedral. and the godfather of all of this stuff is hellhammer of course.
Ved Buens Ende, didn't really innovate anything from scratch, but took progressive metal to a whole new level. It wasn't like Watchtower, Atheist or Cynic, it had a completely different approach
Ensiferum formed several years before Korpiklaani. For that matter, so did Finntroll.
Dream Theater
* Created a unique, classic rock influenced style of progressive metal which set a new standard for the genre and evolved it beyond the power and thrash dominated styles of previous bands. (When Dream and Day Unite, 1989; Images and Words, 1992)
Amorphis did this even earlier
"Images & Words" had a way bigger impact. It's where the band crafted it's OWN sound that has not been replicated. There were still a lot of hints to a more traditional style on "WD&DU".
Yeah, but Meshuggah was Metallica/Testament worship until 1991 (and even there, it was simply very technical Metallica worship). I don't know much about Arcturus' pre-debut career, but even the debut was significantly different from what came after.
manilla road