You can name an almost infinite number of metal bands that have shifted their sounds to ill effect, but what bands do you think have pulled it off successfully? 3 Of my favorite bands have done so successfully. First is bathory, not only did he help invent black metal, but then wholly invented viking metal and kept his standard of quality while doing so (minus destroyer of worlds and octagon). Sigh is another, from relatively standard black metal, to 1st wave bm infused avant garde music with huge psychedelic and electronic influences, plus everything else you could think of throwing in there. The last is virgin steele, who transformed from an average hair metal ish/NWOBHM esque band to some of the best power metal ever written, fusing the riffiness of USPM with the keyboard usage and layering of euro pm.

Now would be a good time to mention Black Sabbath.

After making some of the greatest albums of all time and pioneering the genre, they reinvented themselves with Dio.

Satan's Host anyone?

Holy shit, that too!

Recording a few great trad metal records, breaking up for 13 years, then reforming as a black metal band. By the Hands of the Devil is just about as good as any black metal record out there.

Enslaved would be one. Whether or not you think the earlier albums are better or not is a matter of debate, but the past few albums have been quality music nonetheless even with the overblown prog-rock influences. Riitiir in particular is damn excellent and I'll fight anyone who disagrees.

Agree completely on this. Enslaved is one band hell of a band with a massive amount of talent.

Amorphis? Not to say their previous albums were bad, but with Tomi and company, they have become quite amazing.

I really hate what Amorphis did. But for some reason Katatonia... earlier stuff I enjoyed but I really enjoyed them much more when they did Discouraged Ones.

I enjoy Tiamat's newer material very much and that band has changed a lot over the years. Still, "Clouds" will probably always be my favorite album of theirs...

Darkthrone is an obvious choice. The black metal material is vastly superior in my opinion, but the crustier/punkier material is quite solid as well. Although, I haven't heard The Underground Resistance yet, so my opinion might change slightly.

Death. Their earlier stuff was great, but Human, man that was a peak and with an all new line up.

Kreator, Coma of souls was a change but was still great.

Autopsy. Shitfun was still a good record.

Incantation, despite line up changes they always remained solid.

Someone has to point out Pantera, so I will.

Pantera.

This is bound to cause a shitstorm, but:
Anathema
Katatonia

Their early works were very good, but in both cases it was what happened from the fourth album onward which makes these two my favourite bands ever, and both reached "masterpiece" level with their respective seventh albums.

It's not really that successful to reinvent yourself as something of much lower quality than what you were. From fine heavy metal to inferior groove metal?

Totally agree, I love everything they have done but their progression from death/doom metal to gothic heavy/rock has been one hell of a trip and I enjoyed most of their work. I seriously cant recall a single bad album by them.

Similar story with Anathema, which started as a doom/death band and now they shine as an atmospheric/progressive rock output with a sweet 70s/Pink Floydean vibe. They had a few misses [hint]2011[/hint] but they reivindicated themselves with Weather Systems which is complete and utter beauty.


There are a ton of similar stories within that breed of doom/death bands from early 90s. The Gathering (which i think are stronger now than in their early years) Paradise Lost, Tiamat (goshhhhh The Scarred People was so good) and so on.


Rotting Christ. Maybe one of the most consistent bands out there, and one of my all time favourites. Black metal, doomy stuff, gothic metal. Each album has something new to offer.


Im also adding Samael. Greatest swiss band ever, as black metal and as a industrial heavy band. Fuck the haters.

Oh, of course, I forgot about Samael. Although Solar Soul and Above were a weaker period, Passage, Eternal and Lux Mundi are absolutely fucking awesome.

autopsy, Incantation, kreator...I don't know what those bands are doing here. Sure, all changed over time, but i'd never call it a reinvention if all you're doing is tweaking and adjusting your formula as you evolve as a musician. It's not as though Sigh just woke up one morning and said "hey, let's play psychedelic music!" either...

I enjoyed Anathema's first re-invention quite a lot, and value the trilogy of albums starting with Eternity very highly, even though i don't play them much anymore. They were a kind of therapy for me in my highschool years and I think my life would have been worse without them. however, they started drifting into Radiohead-ish territory with A Fine Day to Exit and I've not really heard them recover. I keep hearing new songs that barely have any guitar in them. The talent's all there but it seems they refuse to do the kind of things which I thought made them great in the first place..

I agree with the Lamb Killer that Discouraged Ones was a great album. They continued to make interesting music for a couple more albums, although each one had some rather dull tracks. I can't find much enthusiasm for their latest records, though.

Xysma and Pyogenesis are two bands that clearly went through huge reinventions. The latter still boggles the mind a bit, going from agonising early 90s doomdeath to pop/alternative punk.

They're definitely still guitar-driven, just differently than before. Metal riffing is basically gone and now it's rather progressive/alternative rock riffs and leads. A Natural Disaster and Weather Systems are amazing albums imo, and A Fine Day to Exit and We're Here Because We're Here are both great as well, but they are far away even from what they were doing on Judgement so I can imagine it may not be everyone's cup of tea.

(it's great tea though)

Sure there wasn't much metal riffing on Judgment or Alternative 4 either, but there were a lot of melancholy leads, most of which seemed gone by the next album.

I should maybe give Weather systems a good listen sometime but my friend played it while we were on a trip some time ago and all I remember were big sad synth string arragnements P

yea I agree I like Anathema's venture out of rather boring death/doom to floydian sounds.

Pyogenesis i assumed thought they could just jump and grab some green day money or something. I just don't get what the fuck that terrible ass shit was. was so good prior to that.

No idea..it's really incomprehensible to me why a band like that wouldn't at least change their name before attempting such a drastic shift in basically everything. Did they really think their old fans would stay on for the ride? It's just bizarre. I don't think their pop records could have sold that well either. I remember some guys at Nuclear Blast being all excited about them...i guess they thought the band would make them some good money, too, but it seems like it was really a failure of astronomic proprotions. Funny what people get into their heads sometimes...

Yea it's totally shocking that no one along that entire line of people who go about releasing an album would go...wait a second... don't you think your(our) fans might fucking hate the fuck out of this?

I would like to point out SENTENCED.

From one of the earliest death metal bands in Finland, the band soon became a pioneering force in gothic metal.

For me the second album of Katatonia is unbeatable but I mostly agree with you, those bands changed completely of style and they created some great albums.

I will also add:

Rotting Christ: always reinventing themselves, the last 3 albums are awesome.

Behemoth: With the Apostasy they achieved something great.

Amorphis.

Negura Bunget: from classic symphonic/ambient black metal to something unique, exciting and innovative. Perhaps the best reinvention I have ever seen.

Elffor: from pure ambient(which was great) to atmospheric/epic black metal which is even greater.

was just about to post the same thing! A change for the better for sure

You've got to be kidding.

yeah, on the whole I would agree with Ilwhyan that it wasnt' a very successful reinvention, although Down for example still contains some songs that I enjoy. Debatable how gothic this music really is, too...

Yeah. While I'm not exactly familiar with actual goth rock, what I've heard from bands like Bauhaus or Sisters of Mercy has nothing in common with Sentenced's later sound. It's mostly hard rock with suicidal lyrics.