That Metal Thread

Listening to old school death metal at work:


Christ, the suffering and misery that I endure…

First heard this album in about December~ of 2017. Definitely has grown on me through the years. Old school brutality. They’re pretty good at avoiding what I call “the parts in death metal songs that people pretend to enjoy”. The parts where the band goes really fast and the riffs are played so fast that the notes all blend together and you can’t really headbang or dance to any of it.

I think there’s a “swag” factor to death metal. I think Obituary and Baphomet have swag. Bands like Dying Fetus - ehhhhhhh. Good stuff though. Funnily enough when looking for this song I discovered that Dying Fetus covered this song. I don’t intend to listen to the cover.
 
GemstoneEddie88 said:
First heard this album in about December~ of 2017. Definitely has grown on me through the years. Old school brutality. They’re pretty good at avoiding what I call “the parts in death metal songs that people pretend to enjoy”. The parts where the band goes really fast and the riffs are played so fast that the notes all blend together and you can’t really headbang or dance to any of it.

I think there’s a “swag” factor to death metal. I think Obituary and Baphomet have swag. Bands like Dying Fetus - ehhhhhhh. Good stuff though. Funnily enough when looking for this song I discovered that Dying Fetus covered this song. I don’t intend to listen to the cover.
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Death metal did change a lot after the subgenres separated in the mid-90s. People pursuing more specific substyles ended the creativity of the middle-ground stuff as a movement.

You'll probably like some of these if you don't know them already (USDM/regional bands):


It's harder if you're not into death-thrash, as that is the style a lot of this is in. The more "orthodox" less thrashy groups like these are my favourite by far.
 
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Great recommendations! I’ve heard a good number of and am an active fan of Morta Skuld, Rottrevore, Jungle Rot, Solstice, Monstrosity, Incubus (I’m sure many “the real Incubus” jabs and jokes have been made in this thread already, so I’ll abstain), Ripping Corpse, and Morpheus Descends. My favorite of that bunch being Morpheus Descends.

I actually do find myself partial to the death/thrash style, but I fall mostly in the old school camp with that as well (Morbid Saint and Demolition Hammer being my favorites. I love Cancer too).

I have a real love/hate relationship with most death metal. I remember in 2020 I went to my first death metal show. It was Vader. At the time, they were one of my favorite DM bands, and I loved almost all their albums. But the live show didn’t move me at all. Yes, there was headbanging and moshing, but there was something missing. I realized then that the “singalong” factor is pretty crucial to my enjoyment of shows. I still like Vader, but that show kind of opened my eyes to how much I don’t really like the super fast style of death metal.

Since then I’ve been maybe 30+ death metal shows. The two times I’ve seen Obituary has hands down been my absolute favorites of that bunch. On the shittier end, I had to suffer through Creeping Death a couple years ago, and that was horrendous. Too many “tough”, “brutal” riffs, and the mix was awful. Everything was tuned so low that it all sounded like mud. Singer sucked too.
 
Morpheus Descends is a favourite of mine too, I was shocked how true to their old style their last EP was, it's almost impossible to find stuff that sounds like that and I wish they'd write more. It has the wall of sound similar to modern caverncore, but it's not destroyed by reverb and it has a real groove (like... music should have...) that is hard to find in modern DM. The nearest to their "putrid" style from the mid 90s onwards I've found has been Ceremonium, although they're death/doom with frequent slow sections.

I guess it's just what happens when a genre becomes self-referential, all the interesting ideas are already taken, but I don't think it's just that. Digital production kills some of the atmosphere, focus on technique ruins drumming and forces the music into faster patterns than it might otherwise naturally be, which further encourages abstract choppy riffs and reduces melody (thanks, Gateways to Annihilation). If you have good songs, DM can absolutely be sloppy. Cannibal Corpse did just fine with Bob Rusay for their classic era.

One for death/thrash visibility week:

 
What are some albums by well known bands that are generally considered bad?

I was listening to Massacre recently and from what I understand, From Beyond was mostly well received. I saw it on many best-of-early-DM lists.

But then I put on Promise and I couldn't believe how bad it was. I've heard plenty of metal in my day and this is one of the rare cases where I couldn't help but laugh for most of the album. It has the average of 6% from 8 reviews at the Metal Archives. It looks like I'm not alone.

Youtube playlist
 
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DoomsdayElite said:
Coroner are releasing a new album in October, their first in 32 years.
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Just listened to it, its a good comeback:
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full album playlist (starts with intro buildup):
 

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Madison Grant said:
Just listened to it, its a good comeback:
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It is good, exceptionally so for a late reunion album, but it inspired me to go back and listen to Punishment for Decadence and No More Color. Of course those are better (the guys aren't 28 anymore) but damn. Same band very clearly, and the new stuff is coherent with their last pre-breakup stuff (that nobody liked at the time but it sounds better now), but...

It is the most Coroner record anyone now could make. I think that's the best an old band can do.
 
Hentai-Semitism said:
What are some albums by well known bands that are generally considered bad?
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Metallica - Load/Reload (but St Anger usurped them)
Morbid Angel - Illud
Cryptopsy - Unspoken King
Celtic Frost - Cold Lake
Iron Maiden - whole Blaze era though people will debate this
Judas Priest - Jugulator probably but it's got Cathedral Spires so hey, maybe Turbo
Slayer - Diabolus
Testament - maybe Demonic, I think it's good tbh
My Dying Bride – 41%
Autopsy - Shitfun probably
Opeth - I forget but they pissed everybody off at some point

A lot of bands that lived through grunge had a moment there
 
Calandrino said:
Metallica - Load/Reload (but St Anger usurped them)
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They aren't too bad if you listen to them for the first time and know what to expect. When they came out, I had the same problem I think most fans had: the sound got even more radio friendly after the black album. There was no way they'd go back to playing thrash with any edge.
Calandrino said:
Morbid Angel - Illud
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I need to revisit that album. It was obvious something was off the moment I saw the track listing. "I Am Morbid"? "Too Extreme!"? What the fuck?
Calandrino said:
Cryptopsy - Unspoken King
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Yeah, I was going to mention that. That's the deathcore one, right? There was a really good edit of that scene from Downfall...

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...where Hitler was Flo Mounier and he was really upset because nobody appreciated his musical genius. I wish I could find the clip.

Anyway, Cryptopsy is a very solid band and I'm glad this album was the only real oopsie in their discography.

Calandrino said:
Slayer - Diabolus
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Some people were calling this album nu metal and I never understood this. I like that album. They tried to do something different and (mostly) succeeded.
Calandrino said:
Testament - maybe Demonic, I think it's good tbh
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Demonic and The Gathering are easily their heaviest albums and closest to DM. I think Low was a lot more of a mixed bag. There isn't a whole lot of metal albums that are in the sweet spot between thrash and death like Beneath The Remains and Arise.
 
GemstoneEddie88 said:
Great recommendations! I’ve heard a good number of and am an active fan of Morta Skuld, Rottrevore, Jungle Rot, Solstice, Monstrosity, Incubus (I’m sure many “the real Incubus” jabs and jokes have been made in this thread already, so I’ll abstain), Ripping Corpse, and Morpheus Descends. My favorite of that bunch being Morpheus Descends.

I actually do find myself partial to the death/thrash style, but I fall mostly in the old school camp with that as well (Morbid Saint and Demolition Hammer being my favorites. I love Cancer too).

I have a real love/hate relationship with most death metal. I remember in 2020 I went to my first death metal show. It was Vader. At the time, they were one of my favorite DM bands, and I loved almost all their albums. But the live show didn’t move me at all. Yes, there was headbanging and moshing, but there was something missing. I realized then that the “singalong” factor is pretty crucial to my enjoyment of shows. I still like Vader, but that show kind of opened my eyes to how much I don’t really like the super fast style of death metal.

Since then I’ve been maybe 30+ death metal shows. The two times I’ve seen Obituary has hands down been my absolute favorites of that bunch. On the shittier end, I had to suffer through Creeping Death a couple years ago, and that was horrendous. Too many “tough”, “brutal” riffs, and the mix was awful. Everything was tuned so low that it all sounded like mud. Singer sucked too.
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Speaking of Morpheus Descends, I just picked this up.
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I have Ritual of Infinity, too, which I also like a lot. But this EP was the first material I'd ever heard from MD and I always appreciated the atmosphere.
 
Hentai-Semitism said:
What are some albums by well known bands that are generally considered bad?
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If we are speaking about Maiden, to be honest, do people consider "No Prayer for the Dying" and "Fear of the Dark" to be good albums ? Both have some good songs and No Prayer might even be an ok record but Fear ? There are three good songs out of twelve. Or is the title track just brainwashing people ?
I would assume if there would be a poll of all Maiden fans worldwide, Virtual XI most likely would be dead last.
 
I used to be a major Maiden fan, and I forget No Prayer exists sometimes
 
NKVD is a nazbol black metal industrial band (or something), its pretty weird but fun:

Paysage d'Hiver is a french ambient black metal band, fans of burzum and such will like this
 
DoomsdayElite said:
Speaking of Morpheus Descends, I just picked this up.
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I have Ritual of Infinity, too, which I also like a lot. But this EP was the first material I'd ever heard from MD and I always appreciated the atmosphere.
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That’s sick!
Squanto Airi said:
I used to be a major Maiden fan, and I forget No Prayer exists sometimes
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No Prayer I believe is pretty underrated. Fates Warning off there is a real gem, and it hardly gets mentioned. I use to be (well, I kind of still am, some bands are with you forever even you don’t listen to them much anymore) a huge Iron Maiden fan. Before I started using the KiwiFarms, there was an Iron Maiden fan forum that I was on for 14 years (if you’ve seen the Encyclopedia Metallum forums nowadays, it’s a similar group of people on there - political sperging included).

Fates Warning is probably in my top ten Iron Maiden songs. Equally unloved (IMO) is The Unbeliever from The X Factor. Iron Maiden has some bad albums, but I don’t think No Prayer and X Factor are all that bad, but also I have a taste for Iron Maiden. If someone doesn’t have a taste for Iron Maiden or they’ve only heard the classics, then No Prayer would definitely be a snooze fest for them.

I consider Virtual XI, Dance of Death, The Final Frontier, Book of Souls, and Senjutsu (just a dreadful listen) to be the only “bad” Iron Maiden albums. Steve Harris (the Iron Maiden Godhead) sounds so far up his own ass on those albums, it’s almost unbearable. NOW THAT BEING SAID, The Parchment off Senjutsu is also in my top ten Iron Maiden songs (and never played live, and probably never will be). I’m unsure if Fates Warning or The Unbeliever have ever been played live, but probably not. I know my ALL TIME FAVORITE Iron Maiden song Deja Vu has NEVER BEEN PLAYED LIVE! And probably never will be. Real shame.
 
GemstoneEddie88 said:
Virtual XI, Dance of Death, The Final Frontier, Book of Souls, and Senjutsu
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I completely agree with Virtual XI, Book of Souls and Senjutsu. The band is clearly smelling their own farts. No real excuse, neither their old age nor health problems for the last two snoozefest LP's. X Factor is one of my Top 5 Maiden albums, but Virtual XI was just not the right direction for the band and Blaze.

But Dance of Death, though being a bit of a rollercoaster in terms of quality, is still a decent LP and Final Frontier I might even consider Top 5.

If I had to say the worst Maiden LP's it would be Virtual XI, Fear of the Dark, Book of Souls, and Senjutsu.
 
Wow, it is always nice to hear what other Iron Maiden fans consider to be their best works. You can ask 100 Iron Maiden fans what their top 5 Maiden albums are, and you could get 100 different answers.

On Dance of Death, there is some interesting stuff there, I feel (like with every IM album post 7th Son) that not enough fat was trimmed; and there’s a strange sort of radio rock or AOR kind of feel to some of the songs (to my ears). At times, it feels more like a hard rock album than a metal album; which is strange for Iron Maiden because they have always been a metal band. Obviously, the title track and Paschendale are reunion Iron Maiden in peak form. Sometimes I can stomach No More Lies, Journeyman or Rainmaker, but I often find myself wishing I was listening to A Matter of Life and Death instead (if I wanted my reunion Maiden fix).

Fear of the Dark is way too long but has some of my all time favorites (Be Quick or Be Dead, Afraid to Shoot Strangers, Judas Be My Guide, title track). I do have to say, if you want make a song about the AIDS epidemic, DONT MAKE IT SOUND GAY. Fear is the Key might be the worst thing they’ve ever written.
 
Never listened to Dance of Death bc of the wreck of a cover artwork so that's the worst Maiden album in my books by default.
 
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