Alex Stjernfeldt drives the monster that is Novarupta and on this, the first full length album for this project-collective effort, we’re treated to an array of great vocalists who lend their own darkness to what is actually quite an uplifting album. Much of what we have here consists of varying…
O quality melodeath, where art thou? A valid question in my estimation, as outside of well known subgenre firebrands such as Insomnium, Be’lakor, and Dark Tranquility (who, in case you aren’t aware, have been around for a considerable amount of time), there’s been little new and exciting in the world…
Soilwork have long been one the most consistent acts in melodic death metal. Although they’ve rarely received the same amount of critical recognition as formative bands like In Flames, Dark Tranquility or At the Gates, they’ve nevertheless managed to put together a catalogue of records whose overall quality rivals any…
Progressive death metal is known for painting with an epic and broad brushstroke. This can create fantastic albums and bloated messes both; there needs to be a clear direction and purpose to the scale. Otherwise, the music runs together and nothing of much worth is achieved. Luckily, the Australian Kaerulean have an intricate concept behind their Metempsychosis, a concept which lends the album some much needed cohesion. Spanning influences like Opeth, Between the Buried and Me and more operatic sounds like Dark Tranquillity, the death metal on this album is intricate, synth heavy and concept heavy. If you like ever-shifting time signatures, intricately written guitar leads and complex orchestration head on down below!
I’m lazy so I’ll copy paste this from last week:
So we’re doing a two-part series on picking the podcast’s official albums of the year 2016. We start with the blog’s list of 400+ albums that are worth consideration this year, whittle it down to 86 albums we care about, and then start cutting them. The objective is to get to a ranked list of 10 items and an overall list of 20 albums. We got down to about 45 last week until the cuts really start to hurt. This week we go down to 20, then to 10. This was real fun to do, so I hope you all enjoy too! The lists will be posted below.
Crest Hill’s Bada Brew isn’t a huge venue, but its intimate nature allows audiences to connect with bands. Dark Tranquillity, now on their eleventh full-length album, have been leading the way alongside other Gothenburg bands in the melodic death metal scene. Atoma comes with a different mindset, but is the…
Dark Tranquillity have been a longstanding figure in the melodic death metal community, having released solid record after solid record. With the release of Atoma, the band took to the road with Finnish melodic death/doom band Swallow the Sun, fellow Swedes Enforcer who play it old school as a power/thrash…
So we’re doing a two-part series on picking the podcast’s official albums of the year 2016. We start with the blog’s list of 400+ albums that are worth consideration this year, whittle it down to 86 albums we care about, and then start cutting them. The objective is to get to a ranked list of 10 items and an overall list of 20 albums. We get down to about 45 this week until the cuts really start to hurt. This was real fun to do, so I hope you all enjoy too! The lists will be posted below.
Avid followers of the podcast might have noticed me mention Starkill. They’re one of the few American acts holding down the fort of good old melodic death metal. They’re about to release their third album, Shadow Sleep on Thursday, and you can listen to it in full right now! If you like synths, melodies and big choruses, click play right now.
How does a band keep their sound consistent yet fresh after 20+ years of active releases? Especially when the sound is something relatively limited and simple. In Flames clearly don’t have the right answer. Their fellow townmates, Dark Tranquillity, just might. Over the years, the Gothenburg outlet has remained relatively consistent in tone and even though they’ve gone through three distinct eras, they maintained a common thread through them all. While not every Dark Tranquillity album was an instant hit, especially a couple of their more recent ones, somehow with their 11th release Atoma they have rediscovered their spark. Both a return to form and a push forward, this album shows that this particular brand of Swedish melodeath still has more to offer.
