Pick a different genre. American Melodic Death Metal = really bad hardcore.....Oh yeah all hardcore is bad. But yeah don't do melodic death, it has gotten so god damn generic and over played it is pathetic. That's my tip. Just don't do the standard shit, create your own style, and don't limit it to a bad In Flames rip off. Incorporate as many styles as you can, and if it sounds bad, weird, different, odd......Then it is probably better, as long as you're not doing that on purpose. Then it just gets to be too much.