Yeah it really was one of their best, which was a surprise because nobody really seemed to like their previous few too much. EPM could've been written in 2005 or so - really catchy and strong.

They are a European arena band right now, but I seriously feel if Nightwish puts out another Human Nature those arena fans will flee in droves.

I could easily imagine them continuing to play arenas due to their legacy alone, if I'm being honest. Their album sales have clearly diminished compared to their commercial peak circa Anette Olzon, though this could be due in part to people mostly streaming these days. That's not the entire reason though - their singles don't hit as big anymore either. I feel like Sabaton have overtaken them in popularity (ouch).


Trve American skramz (I fucking hate that word) baby!

Eh, I'd say they are about even right now, but it could still happen. Ghost have definitely overtaken Nightwish in global popularity.

Also, there was a time where Cult of Fire was pretty popular and everyone in the BM scene were hyping them up. Somehow they failed to deliver on that hype and their popularity died down.

A lot of the bands who opened most of the metal tours in the US during the 2010’s (Blackguard, Swashbuckle, Black Fast, Holy Grail, Black Crown Initiate, etc.) seemed like they would gain some sort of momentum, even if some metal fans were beyond tired of seeing them on EVERY tour. However, many of these bands have kinda just fizzled out and you don’t hear much from them anymore.

Augury is another one. Kinda surprised they never reached the same level of success as Obscura, Beyond Creation, Revocation and other similar bands, which is a shame since I’ve always enjoyed their output. Concealed and Fragmentary Evidence were some of the best examples of modern prog/tech death.

Augury are great, but they've put out three albums in about 20 years, with a 10 year gap between their last two. They were never going to reach the level of the other bands with that sort of output

Augury also was not cut out for touring and burned out extremely fast, and a lot of those other bands just bought on to far too many tours and made people get sick of them, and usually also got fucked over by their label and/or management.

...and some prefer skramz over scremo

Black Crown Initiate is a good mention. Those guys had everything going for them and seemed poised to get huge around 2014 but could never really build off the hype of their EP.

The same seems to be true for a lot of the 2010's tech/prog death bands. Stuff like The Faceless, Rivers of Nihil, Virvum, Beyond Creation, Vale of Pnath, Alterbeast, Inferi.... I could go on and on. This stuff was all the rage just 5-6 years ago and I haven't heard anyone anywhere mention any of these names in quite some time.

BCI got robbed blind by eOne/MNRK and then the pandemic destroyed their attempt at a comeback and they couldn't catch a break, The Faceless cooked their own goose because of Michael Keene, Rivers of Nihil is doing very well these days but also largely abandoned that scene, Virvum just kinda goes at their own pace, BC lost a LOT of momentum from the pandemic, Vale of Pnath abandoned the genre but is doing well, and Alterbeast is basically done because Andrew is a fucking loser who makes everyone regret playing for him.

A lot of it was the pandemic - it would probably still be huge if a lot of bands didn't have their tours cut off. You'll probably see a bit of a resurgence, but the 2016-2019 glory days are over and most of those bands found other circles to hang in.

I don't think tech death is particularly popular these days outside of a select few bands. Archspire are probably the biggest band operating in that space these days, outside of Revocation if you count them as part of that scene. Obscura are still doing pretty well for themselves but they've kind of moved away a bit from their usual tech/prog death sound on their last album. Beyond Creation was getting a fair amount of attention a few years ago but I think they've cooled off since then.

We'll see if the new Job for a Cowboy gives it a shot in the arm, because Sun Eater was a watershed album in that genre and influenced a ton of bands, and the new one will be in that vein per the band.

JFAC still has a big following even after being on hiatus for so many years so I could certainly see new material from them breathing some new life into the tech death movement. A newer band I have my eye on is Freedom of Fear from Australia. Their last album got a lot of praise in metal publications and I think their brand of technical melodic black/death metal could catch on, it's a bit different than the Artisan Era bands that play a similar style.

I was just thinking of Job for a Cowboy for this thread. It could be since they haven't put out an album since 2014, though. I don't see a new album restoring them anywhere close to their late 2000s/early 2010s popularity, if they even make another one.

They're at least as big as they were in the MySpace era and possibly even bigger now, and the new album is actively being made.

This man speaks the truth. Marc's albums have their high points, to be fair, but no album since ZP has been consistent for me. Valley of the Damned through Ultra Beatdown was a legendary album run, and one of the best in power metal history.

Honestly, I'd say Amon Amarth fits into this thread's category, and rightly so. Talk about a fall from grace!

I thought the band's name was Blözza? My bad.

I know this thread is more about 2000s band and onwards, but there are some definite 1990's examples who've mismanaged their careers. Look at Tiamat in 1995 to 1997 and they're billed highly on big festivals. Nowadays, however, it seems like their appeal has grown more selective, shall we say.

Skeletonwitch perhaps? They were pretty damn consistent, and releasing albums pretty much every other year for a point, then they seemed to not be the same after the vocalist change, and they haven't done anything since 2018, and you don't really hear much about them at all anymore.

I'm gonna say, though I'm not sure how big they were, Summon from Michigan. They had two albums of stellar black/death (...and the Blood Runs Black and Fallen), then two members get in a fight, and the band falls off the face of the Earth and is practically forgotten.

Visigoth were the hottest new thing in the trad metal revival scene 5 years ago, but their last proper tour and release were in 2019 and there hasn't been much of a clue as to what they're doing now.

Pretty sure they're working on new shit, plus I get the sense that they're deliberately trying to not get too big because they don't want to have to deal with the pressure.

I remember Christian Mistress getting a bunch of hype about a decade ago and then never hearing anything again.. shame cause I really liked what they put out.

That applies to a lot of that classic sounding heavy metal that was pretty hyped about 10 years ago... Holy Grail, Witchcraft, Cauldron, Blood Ceremony, in solitude (though I think they split)

Also, I thought Torche was gonna be the next Mastodon

That is so lame if that's the case. The entire point of traditional metal is to get big and supplant whatever douchey buttrock is in the mainstream.

But I just figured Visigoth got killed by the pandemic. Only looking at setlist.fm I can see they're still somewhat active playing shows. Or at least whatever people will book them for, including a gig opening for Fit For An Autopsy and Killswitch Engage.

The point of traditional metal is to play traditional metal and give zero fucks about the mainstream.

I hope they'll make a huge comeback. Conqueror's Oath felt like they were on an upward trajectory.

Solstafir! The Hype is over

I dont think In Solitude counts, since they did split up - im sure that if they would return there would be a huge interest.

It was probably because they took 7 years to release another album, despite releasing a few EPs and a live album in between.

I'm not totally sure about that one. I saw them on their tour in a venue with a capacity of around 4500, it wasn't completely full, but it was definitely packed and energetic. Their musical quality might have diminished and they might not be at their peak quality, but I wouldn't say they've fallen off a cliff like most of the other bands mentioned in this topic.

Yeah, Amon Amarth hasn't been inspired for a minute, but holy fuck they're big.

Yeah and that double album wasn't that good compared to previous albums. Also most EPs were trash.

I think it was the Hero album that fucked with Bolzer's momentum - the first 3 EPs/demos were super well received, especially Aura, and there was a metric fuckton of hype over a debut full length. Then the change in style - as you said - was too polarizing for a lot of people, especially the vocals that kept getting compared to Mastodon. It wasn't what most people were expecting or hoping, and even when I saw Bolzer not long after the album came out, most people were wanting to hear the EP material. When Lese Majesty came out (I had to search it up to remember the name), I only caught wind of it because of seeing it in a random list of records that came out around the time (I don't even think it was a year-end list). Seemed like most people were in a similar boat, from my observations.

I like Cult Of Fire - the double album they put out had some great moments on it, even if it was a little more conventional and straightforward compared to Ascetic Mediation Of Death. It just took a while for that to come out. Curious how their sound will change now that they have a new vocalist and Tomas Corn retired from playing drums (so much for that 2nd Lykathea Aflame record ). But they still seem to be playing decent shows. Just wish they kept an aesthetic similar to Ascetic... as the giant snake chairs are a little bit much.

The Bolzer 'Hero' album was easily my favorite thing they did. I should revisit that.

Andromeda. I contacted them, asked about any plans for live shows or album and they said that. at the moment, their activity is at a minimum. It was either Martin or David, can't remember...

Adagio - a big hiatus. But, we got a decent album after all. (Life - 2017)

One Sent From The Golden Hall is solid.

Christian Mistress is the one that bums me out the most. I love their 3 albums and with all the hype it seemed like they're going to blow up but all their fans seemed to just drift away. I feel like they're almost too mature sounding for the type of kick ass heavy metal/hard rock that they play. They don't really have the beer drinking/hell raisin' sound and feeling that a lot of these types of bands usually have.

Well...the band essentially just stopped functioning. I really liked them, too, but it wasn't like fans turned on them or lost interest because they released a shitty album, the band just ceased all activity. I don't think they even said anything about it until a few years later when Bandcamp wrote them up and people were posting it on their Facebook page.

Two other names that come to mind are Kylesa and Windhand. With Kylesa I remember there being a lot of hyper around them, metal publications hailing them as the next Mastodon etc. but they didn't achieve even a fraction of that success and are now on hiatus. Windhand similarly got a lot of buzz but haven't released a studio album since 2018 and I don't hear much talk about them nowadays.

Scary Symmetry got on some good tours and were getting some positive attention for a little bit way back when. Haven't heard anything about them in years.

Been a while but what happened to 3 Inches of Blood?