Top 10 melodeath albums 1990-2010

[A88]

Let's revive this forum a bit...

01. Carcass - Heartwork (1993)
02. At The Gates - Slaughter of the Soul (1995)
03. In Flames - The Jester Race (1996)
04. In Flames - Colony (1999)
05. In Flames - Clayman (2000)
06. Opeth - Blackwater Park (2001)
07. Soilwork - A Predator's Portrait (2001)
08. Arch Enemy - Wages of Sin (2001)
09. Dark Tranquillity - Damage Done (2002)
10. Scar Symmetry - Pitch Black Progress (2006)

Write down your favorites.

 

[drawntoblack]

1. Insomnium - Above the Weeping World.

Thats it, melodeath (and metal in general for that matter, IMHO) cant possibly get any better than this. Awesome melodies and riffs, insanely well composed, nice mix of classic and more modern melodeath, perfect guitar tone and overall production. I cant praise this album enough.

2. In Flames - The Jester Race
3. Insomnium - Since the Day It All Came Down
4. Gates of Ishtar - The Dawn of Flames
5. At The Gates - Terminal Spirit Decease
6. Dark Tranquillity - Fiction (could've as easily been Damage Done or Character)
7. Solution .45 - For Aeons Past
8. Before the Dawn - My Darkness (the album that got me into the genre)
9. Mercenary - The Hours That Remain
10. Gardenian - Sindustries

Last 9 are always prone to change, since it depends on my mood and ability to remember certain bands at the given moment

Btw @A88, listing Opeth in essential melodeath albums is cheating

 

[A88]

Btw @A88, listing Opeth in essential melodeath albums is cheating

Sorry, just had to do it.

But it is death metal, and it is quite melodic. Growls, cleans, harmonies, death metal, acoustic stuff = melodeath.

Interesting choices. Solution .45 is...unexpected one. Btw "Since the Day It All Came Down" is a great album (but I just couldn't kick SS or Soilwork out of the list).

 

[drawntoblack]

Out of all the metal albums I've heard in the last 3 years or so (we are talking about newer releases), there isnt an album that I've listened to more than For Aeons Past. It just clicked with me so well that I felt compelled to list it. I remember that we talked about it, and I was surprised that you didnt like it, since you are into SS. It got excellent reviews basicaly everywhere But music is subjective, so no arguments there.

To be completely honest here, Since the Day It All Came Down is probably Insomnium's best work. I am well aware of that, but for some reason when I want to listen to Insomnium, I always put ATWW in the playlist first. Has something to do with the atmopshere of the album, the feel. Its hard to describe. Objectively, Since... is much better. Plus I doubt that there is a melodeath album with more acoustic guitars

 

[A88]

Well, both ATWW and STDIACD (you gotta love this names) are great albums. Insomnium is the best finnish melodeath band IMO. Not the standard "power metal wannabe "hate you-fuck you"-let's throw in a boring keyboard solo" thing Finns do these days.

Before the Dawn and EToS are not bad either, but they have a lot more fillers per album.

(btw there is a good South African melodeath band with a name similar to Before the Dawn, but I just can't remember it... They have official video on YT, nice singing, few good riffs...)

As for Solution. 45, it just feels to modern and happy sounding to me. Not that I think it's a bad album, but I don't like it that much. (it beats SS's DMD in every cathegory).

 

[drawntoblack]

Yeah, thats true about BTD and EToS, but I like them nonetheless. They are very atmospheric. Before the Dawn actually parted ways recently with the drummer and bass player (also the dude who did those clean vocals), since the band plans to switch to full-on melodeath for the next album. I liked their gothic side as well, but this cant be bad news

At least Dark Matter Dimensions is better than The Unseen Empire

 

[DE4life]

Black Veil Brides - We Stitch These Wounds
In Flames - A Sense of Purpose
In Flames - Soundtrack To Your Escape
Soilwork - Stabbing The Drama
Funeral For a Friend - Seven Ways to Scream Your Name
Bullet for my Valentine - The Poison
As I Lay Dying - An Ocean Between Us
Soilwork - Iowa
From Autumn to Ashes - Too Bad You're Beautiful
Avenged Sevenfold - Sounding the Seventh Trumpet
Chimaira - The Impossibility of Reason

The best melodeath has to offer

 

[A88]

Oh, you're becoming predictable my friend.

Soilwork - Iowa

Shitknot?

 

[DE4life]

Nah man ... Soilwork's rare album where they covered every song on Slipknot's Iowa ...

 

[TheGreatJester]

Not counting In Flames albums cause those are obvious and only top 5 for me. Thinking of 10 albums would be hard.

1. Dark Tranquillity - Character
2. Noumena - Anatomy of Life
3. Amorphis - Tales From The Thousand Lakes
4. Disarmonia Mundi - Mind Tricks
5. Soilwork - Natural Born Chaos

 

[DE4life]

My actual list really wouldn't be that diverse, because I don't think many other bands in the melodeath genre have come close to what the original bands created

In Flames - TJR
In Flames - Whoracle
ATG - Slaughter of the Soul
ATG - With Fear I Kiss The Burning Darkness/Terminal Spirit Disease
Carcass - Heartwork
Dark Tranquillity - The Gallery
Dark Tranquillity - Damage Done
Soilwork - A Predator's Portrait
Mercenary - 11 Dreams (admittedly contentious... I have seen this band referred to as melodeath though and I love the album)
Arch Enemy - Wages of Sin

Honourable mentions to Skyfire, Blinded Colony, Nightrage, Disarmonia Mundi, Solution .45 & Insomnium.

Also, the only reason Colony, Clayman and Natural Born Chaos are not in the list is because I don't really consider them melodic death metal. They're more just melodic metal or straight heavy metal to me. You can only really point to the vocals as being 'death' like and they're not traditional death metal vocals, closer to black metal if anything.

 

[A88]

For me the Clayman is the ultimate melodeath album. It is normal that ATG, Carcass etc sounded more raw, angry, evil, more "metal"...but Clayman is polished, catchy, genre defining momement, after which everything has gonne downhill.

You can only really point to the vocals as being 'death' like and they're not traditional death metal vocals, closer to black metal if anything.

Well, when you think of it... The whole melodeath genre is closer to black metal than to traditional death metal. All the acoustic stuff, early riffs, even melody, higher pitched vocals.

 

[DE4life]

I dunno... TJR and Clayman sound like they're from different genres. I don't think you can say they fall under the same bracket, so if TJR is melodeath, Clayman can't really be the same.

To me Clayman is just melodic metal with harsh vocals. It's my favourite album ever, though, and truth be told I don't give a fuck about its genre

 

[A88]

Soooo.... You love Clay-man? Does Krofius knows?

 

[DE4life]

My love spreads far and wide... Krofi knows this, he'll have to deal with it

But yeah, in regards to vocals, they are closer to black metal than death metal in the melodeath genre in general not many melodic death metal bands with lower growled vocals... Insomnium being the awesome exception to that rule, and less awesome early Arch Enemy.

 

[A88]

Insomnium....awesome

Two words that always belong in the same sentence.

Speaking of Arch Enemy... Does anybody like the new album? Personally, I think it is terrible, uninspiring pice of shit, but hey, that's just me.

 

[drawntoblack]

Not really. I like some of the guitar melodies, but the overproduced/distorted vocals make it impossible for me to listen through more than 3 songs in a row. For that sole reason I prefer their older stuff. Johan was not technical growler at all (just like Anders in the early days), but at least he sounded natural and had that old school Swedish death metal raspiness in his voice which I like.

 

[WithMyMind]

Nightrage-Sweet Vengeance
In Flames-Whoracle
In Flames-Colony
Nightrage-Descent Into Chaos
In Flames-Clayman
Nightrage-Wearing A Martyr's Crown
Arch Enemy-The Root of All Evil
Dark Tranquillity-Haven
Fear My Thoughts-The Great Collapse
The Crown-Crowned in Terror

Since this is an In Flames forum, i didnt put The Jester's Race on my list because I find the level of the vocals too low for the music. I can never hear Anders vocals that good over the music, which is a shame because if it was mixed better i would probably enjoy it.

 

[krofius]

Can't decide which order so I'll post 10 albums I consider very good, excluding IF albums since they are obvious ones.

Children Of Bodom - Hatebreeder
Wintersun - Wintersun
Amon Amarth - With Oden On Our Side
Soilwork - A Predator's Portrait
Sacrilege - Lost In The Beauty You Slay
Kalmah - They Will Return
Neaera - Armamentarium
Scar Symmetry - Pitch Black Progress
Children Of Bodom - Follow The Reaper
Hypocrisy - A Taste Of Extreme Divinity

 

[DE4life]

Speaking of Arch Enemy... Does anybody like the new album? Personally, I think it is terrible, uninspiring pice of shit, but hey, that's just me.

They lost their way some time after 2003. Anthems of rebellion was the last album of theirs I really enjoyed... they've got Dark Tranquillity syndrome of writing the same sounding shit over and over again.

And yes that's kind of a dig at DT... I hated We Are The Void