I'd say Mörk Gryning. Their debut "Tusen år har gått..." is a classic album of Dissection-influenced black metal that I don't feel they ever came close to topping on the releases that followed.

Demigod comes to mind. Granted, their discography isn't very big. But after an incredible demo and what is in my mind one of the best death metal albums of all time the band totally went off the reservation. I've never met anyone who listens to the two albums after Slumber.

But as has been mentioned, the number of bands who couldn't do much of worth after an album or two is endless.

Every time I see this band name I see "Matt Groening" (creator of The Simpsons) instead.

Hello, name is Drugsa and I like the last Demigod album. Don't care for Shadow Mechanics though.

The first one that comes to mind is Kvelertak. I was listening to their debut today and I'm still flabbergasted at the shitty neckbeard rock direction they took after releasing one of the most energetic releases ever. Fuck those guys.

1) Armageddon Holocaust. "Into Total Destruction" was pretty much one big non-stop blastbeat with some very odd guitar solos (which was AWESOME!) One of the members had a few more albums planned for his solo project (which, of course, didn't sound like Armageddon Holocaust), but the label insisted they be released under the Armageddon Holocaust moniker. So... they're not actually bad albums, I guess, but they're not really for me personally, and they're nothing like the noise-fest "Into Total Destruction" was.

2) Arch of Thorns. Similar situation actually, their first demo was extremely raw and loud, but that's what made it awesome. "Lost and Convicted" is probably one of my favorite metal songs. The debut album had "better" production, but I feel it just didn't work to the music's advantage.

3) Impending Doom (USA). Their first EP was amazing, even if some of the percussion did sound like a basketball being dribbled, but that's not the point, it was a great EP. Their debut doesn't sound that bad, either. Their later music isn't... bad, it's just... generic, and not in a "you might have heard this before, but at least we're really passionate about it" kind of way.

I'll second any mention of Ancient, Mercyless, and Aeternus. Those bands flipped the shit-switch so fast that their fingers probably got whiplash. Mörk Gryning and Sacramentum I'm kind of on the fence about. Undoubtedly, Tusen år har gått... and Far Away from the Sun are the crown jewels of their career, but I wouldn't say that either band went completely terrible after those two. Maelstrom Chaos is an excellent and weird offering from Mörk Gryning, sort like melodic black metal trying to go Voivod or even Arcturus-lite. The second Sacramentum album is nearly equal in quality level to the first. Just make sure you don't get the two-disc reissue of their second and third album Shittury Media did a few years ago. The remaster makes both nearly unlistenable. That third album of theirs is actually quite good, though barely recognizable as Sacramentum. It's more like retro-thrash before retro-thrash with a sprinkling of death metal, black metal, and melodeath seasoning. It's actually quite similar to the full-length releases from Swordmaster that happened right around the same time. Unsurprising when you consider that Nicklas Rudolfsson was a major songwriter in both bands during that time period. I still think his best stuff is contained on the first three Runemagick albums though.

I'd say Necrophobic fits this bill. 'The Nocturnal Silence' is a damn-near perfect expression of blackened death metal with lots of melody and great solos. The stuff that's followed it has been good, but it just doesn't grab me like that monumental first album does.

I'll mention Crimson Glory as well. The first two albums are timeless classics, and then the band just seems to have kind of fizzled out. I'll admit that I haven't heard 'Strange and Beautiful', but from what I've read it doesn't seem I'm missing much, and that one they did way later also appeared to be a missable affair.

Uh. So do you only listen to generic modern tech death produced by Disney? I mean if you've only listened to the 1997 remaster then I guess I can see where you're coming from, but otherwise, how come you're even alive with such shitty judgment? Your genetic lineage should have died out when your 2000th grandfather fell off a cliff, or ate a poisoned berry, or impaled himself with his own spear. How can you listen to something like this and not be awed by the heart wrenching beauty of it? I haven't even noticed any sloppy playing, or maybe I did and then forgot the next second because it's totally irrelevant.

Speaking of Disney production... Stormblåst MMV? Really? That's like saying the beauty of a meadow could be improved by adding a steamroller to it. Hey, I have an idea. Let's take a part with a keyboard as the lead instrument and add BOMBASTIC GUITARS playing a riff that wasn't meant to be in focus. Granted, I've only heard the album once or twice and that was probably over five years ago, but I'm pretty sure that's how it went and I'm not giving that piece of shit a second chance as long as there's still Nickelback material that I haven't listened to.

This. Springtime Depression is the masterpiece of the genre but Songs to Leave is quite close with this great Katatonia influence. I loved Negative Melagomania tough the shitty lyrics, I think it was a great evolution because it kept the awesome guitar melodies. But then, the band became pretty mediocre and though I enjoy some tracks they have totally lost it. The last one is dry and boring as f*ck.

I'd have to go with Cryptopsy as a prominent example. Both Blasphemy Made Flesh and None So Vile were incredible, and following them, Whisper Supremacy was good, but from there it was just a sharp decline of albums ranging from awful to mediocre at best.

Draconian. First awesome gothic-doom debut, second brilliant and a more doomie album, and a marvellous mixture of both in the EP. Then the keyboard played left the band and the magic disappeared. It was not a shitty transformation like it happened with Theatre of tragedy or Within Temptation, but they totally lost it.

Yeah I honestly don't know which one I like most out of the first two, I tend to lean towards the debut due its easier listening and the heavy as fuck opener, but SD fucking rips. NM is still pretty decent/good really, has a couple of really great songs, but I can see why some were really against it when it first came out, but to think of what followed... Yeah, the last one I listened to once, I was too kind giving it a full listen. I think I found the one before it more shameful though, since you could tell they were TRYING to get back a bit more of the NM and earlier sound with more Katatonia and BM sort of ideas after the out and out groove of Under Saturn Retrograde, but it was fucking awful, had ill fitting production and just none of the excellent riffing, drama, and manipulative emotion tugging which made their earlier stuff so good, just a dry lifeless demonstration that the magic was gone.

Glad to see I'm not alone thinking that Forgotten Tomb have dropped the ball big time. After Negative Megalomania, which, embarassing lyrics aside, I found to be rather nice if shamelessly inspired by what Shining were trying to do around the Halmstad era (but then FT has always been derivative of one band or the other), I lost interest completely, yet I've seen them consistently praised.

I have to disagree about Moerk Gryning, Sacramentum and Necrophobic - sure their debuts are their finest works, but the subsequent "decline" has been far from sharp, and more of a change in style than a loss of quality anyway.

I'm a hard-sell on tech death, to be honest.


Is this implying that the original album sounded good? Yes, a steamroller is a good parallel to draw, as it totally flattens the original's production values, with that beefy guitar tone that breathes new, sorely needed life into just about any of the older songs that aren't named "Stormblast" or "Broderskapets Ring."


Yes, let's. Let us take the new version of "Dodsferd," which accentuates the keyboard alongside the percussive intonation of the guitar during the outro. Totally kills the original and is one of the highlights of an album with quite a few.


That is demonstrably obvious..

Hammerfall
They started out with with wildly enthusiastic Teutonic metal, then just got dull, stiff and heavy handed. That coincided with Anders Johansson joining. A musician that has done fantastic things (see his work with Jonas Hellborg and Shawn Lane), but in Hammerfall he was just sloppy and lazy.

Steel Attack
The first two albums are brilliant high energy fantasy power metal (I haven't heard Predator of the Empire with the second singer). Enter third singer, Ronny Hemlin, and they decide to become "modern" and "dark". First album with him ain't too bad, but it's the start of the downwards spiral of bad, bad songwriting.

I'd throw in Edguy here too. For me, they peaked with Vain Glory Opera. Then they turned "funny", then "serious", then I wouldn't know since I don't care anymore.

Yes, there was some hate against Negative Megalomania because of the clean vocals but I like them. But the music was stilll good and the guitar melodies awesome.

Under Saturn Retrograde has some great songs like Joyless and Spectres over Venice but it contains a lot of fillers also. And dont deliver us from devil could be probably the "best of the worst" albums of this band, the general level is good and it has some interesting tracks.

The last one is a sterile attempt to go back to the roots, but it has not great melodies, it's a dry and soulless album. What a pity.

Joyless is probably the only real argument that he ever wrote a clean vocal part better than the line and a quarter in Loves Burial Ground. I admit that song is guilty pop metal pleasure of mine, despite being a full on shameless sell out.

Unpopular opinion: ENSLAVED

Their first album and EP were sooooo good - Vikinglr Veldi is easily in my top 5 all-time favourite BM albums. Then Frost was pretty decent. Then the two albums or so after that were listenable, but not so listenable I remember their names for the purposes of this post. Then they became this avant-garde modern prog conceptual art Ihsahn-esque monstrosity. booooo hiss.

I dunno if that's too unpopular; I know a fair number of people who aren't enamored with their new sound. I love most of it, though they did bork up a few times (Isa, Vertebrae and the back half of In Times).

Ruun has only Essence as a standout track and Monumension is a total bore as well. Still, Enslaved was going really strong until Mardraum (included), so at least half of their career had pretty high quality.

I don't know how anyone who enjoys black metal it's not fond of Blodhemn (or at least some songs of it). Eit Auga Til Mimir is one of the very best songs of Enslaved's discography.

All you Ruun-haters are crazy; Entroper, Path to Vanir, the title track and Tides of Chaos are amazing!

I think Blodhemn gets ignored because it's the most "normal" sounding of Enslaved's albums, even the two preceding had their dusty atmosphere and haunting synths to set them apart from their more straightforward song construction.

Emperor fits this subject pretty well, especially for those who hate their later sound.

Not so sure about that. Besides those like myself, who I know are in the minority and consider Prometheus their best, there are plenty of people who would tend to regard Anthems the highest. So it's not exactly a straight downwards trajectory. I don't even know where Equilibrium fits (their forgotten album).

Great example. The debut is an amazing slab of traditional heavy metal sprinkled with power metal. Not a single weak track and an overall excellent album. Legacy of Kings comes damn close to living up to the hype as well. I actually came to like Renegade as well even though it is clearly weaker than the first two. I also agree on Anders Johansson. I felt Hammerfall lost a lot of energy when Patrik Räfling left the band. It might be a combination of the song writing taking a turn for the worse and the drumming also becoming more uninspired. With that said Räflings drumming wasn't standing out on its own but it clearly brought another feel to HammerFall overall.



I am one of those that think their early stuff is very overrated. The only album I come back to is Prometheus which I think is one of those rare albums that successfully weaves together the lyrics and the music to make the whole much greater.

Regarding Ancient, terrible video for Liliths Embrace aside, i've always had a soft spot for The Cainian Chronicle. Its a very simple and repetitive album but it has some great melodic guitar work and a nice melancholic feel throughout. After that, the less said the better.

Aeternus - Can understand the disinterest in the last couple of albums (although i quite enjoy them myself) but Shadows Of Old and Ascension Of Terror are both killer that almost rank up there with Dark/Beyond/.....And So.
Yeah, the approach is quite different, particularly on Ascension, but they're both such dark, crushing and also atmospheric albums full of great catchy riffs.
Both albums are worthy just for Erik's drumming alone.

Love all Sacramentum's discography equally but if forced to choose, i'd probably pick The Coming Of Chaos as the one.
Tusen år har gått... is one of Mörk Gryning's weakest. Its a good album for sure, but i don't get the mass adoration it receives. The raw, thrashy vibe of Return Fire and the progressive/semi-avant approach of Maelstrom Chaos is where its at for me.

Not sure if anyone mentioned Setherial yet but they always come to mind in these type of discussions. Nord is such an incredible album in every way and everything that followed is run of the mill, also in every way.