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lord_ghengis
Still Standing After 38 Beers... hic

Joined: Mon Dec 04, 2006 8:31 pm
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Location: Australia
PostPosted: Sat Sep 14, 2013 6:44 pm 
 

^Agreed.
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~Guest 171512
Metalhead

Joined: Thu Oct 09, 2008 9:18 am
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 14, 2013 6:53 pm 
 

Opinions and all that, but 'Nightfall in Middle-Earth', 'A Night at the Opera', and 'At the Edge of Time' rank way higher than 'A Twist in the Myth' for me. :)

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Empyreal
The Final Frontier

Joined: Thu Nov 30, 2006 6:58 pm
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 14, 2013 7:00 pm 
 

Eh, I like the idea behind having music as epic and grandiose as ANATO or NIME for example, but I just think too much emphasis is placed on that 'epic' trait without looking at the songwriting or how well it's actually executed. I feel like some people, mostly those who are new to metal, take a look at something like those albums and think they are so good just because of the epic factor and how "big" the band could sound. Which is a valid opinion, and certainly many experienced metalheads love those albums, so I'm not trying to imply there's anything wrong with that. But for me BG were all about the hooky riffs and straight ahead power metal. I feel like they over-extended their reach with the later albums and didn't have the talent necessary to pull off the kind of depth and nuance they were going for. None of the later albums are bad, but ANATO and NIME just come off as biting off more than the band could chew.

At the Edge of Time always struck me as a sellout. Just pandering to what everyone wanted out of a BG album after Twist got mixed reviews.

Twist isn't that great like their old stuff, but about half of it is pretty damn killer; the other half is still perfectly listenable. The first two songs on there slay for example, as does "Fly."
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~Guest 282118
Argentinian Asado Supremacy

Joined: Sat Dec 24, 2011 2:16 pm
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 14, 2013 7:13 pm 
 

My two cents regarding the BG deal:

I can see how people would dislike/hate ANATO and ATEOT, but personally, I think that they made the whole epic/symphonic idea work with those two, more so with Edge of Time (wussy production notwithstanding). It might have been pandering to the audience, yes, but I found it to be particularly successful pandering, as it even contains a few of my all time favourite tunes from them. A Twist in the Myth..... Is just not very good, really. I don't like how simplified it is. "Simplified" and "Blind Guardian" are words which don't go well together for me.

The less I say about NIME, the better.

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lord_ghengis
Still Standing After 38 Beers... hic

Joined: Mon Dec 04, 2006 8:31 pm
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Location: Australia
PostPosted: Sat Sep 14, 2013 7:15 pm 
 

Me and Emp.seem like the same person on Edge of Time. I thought I was the only person saying negative things about it :beer:

NiME and ANATO have better songs than Twist, I'll agree witht that, but both albums are bloated and largely miss that more immediate enjoyment that the band previously excelled at.
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~Guest 171512
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 14, 2013 7:28 pm 
 

Your opinions are well-articulated and perfectly valid, Empyreal; I just happen to disagree with them. 'Nightfall in Middle-Earth' was indeed a grand undertaking for the band, but I think they pulled it off with aplomb. 'A Night at the Opera' went further in that direction, and even though I don't listen to it that much nowadays, it still boasts some really great songs. 'A Twist in the Myth' was the only time that the band seemed unsure of themselves; they'd gone so far into the epic direction that they couldn't go much further, so the thing to do was to scale it back. But instead of returning to the raw speed metal of their past, they opted for a more basic rock approach. It was an interesting experiment, and I don't consider it a failure, but it's not the sound I prefer from Blind Guardian. That said, it certainly yielded some classic songs. 'At the Edge of Time' may be seen as a 'safe' album for them, but to hell with it - I think it's great. It's got everything I love about Blind Guardian, all on one record. The 'comfortableness' of this album is both is greatest strength and weakness; I can listen to it at any time and enjoy the heck out of it, but at the same time there's no denying that they don't have the same hunger and energy they had on classics like 'Tales from the Twilight World' and 'Somewhere Far Beyond'. They don't need to. They have nothing left to prove... to me, at least. Blind Guardian is my favorite band in the world, and that's my tirade on the matter. Cheers. :)

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Eric Olthwaite

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PostPosted: Sat Sep 14, 2013 8:07 pm 
 

You guys make me sad, you're always talking about Blind Guardian's post-Thomen output. Why cares? It's shite. Let's listen to 'Damned For All Time' instead and talk about the first two albums.
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LegendMaker
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 14, 2013 8:40 pm 
 

ANationalAcrobat wrote:
You guys make me sad, you're always talking about Blind Guardian's post-Thomen output. Why cares? It's shite. Let's listen to 'Damned For All Time' instead and talk about the first two albums.

Yes! :)
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CF_Mono
Metalhead

Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2010 5:21 pm
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 14, 2013 9:06 pm 
 

droneriot wrote:
Hm, looking at my last.fm top 20, most bands have released something I don't like. Motörhead have Another Perfect Day, which is just crap...

Seriously, of all the albums that could bother you, this one does?
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t1337Dude
Metalhead

Joined: Sat May 26, 2007 5:20 am
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Location: Seattle
PostPosted: Sat Sep 14, 2013 9:14 pm 
 

Paysage D'Hiver is full of masterpieces and has never released anything deemed to be bad.

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ThrashingTheRedemer
Metal newbie

Joined: Sun Mar 02, 2008 1:50 am
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 14, 2013 9:26 pm 
 

CF_Mono wrote:
droneriot wrote:
Hm, looking at my last.fm top 20, most bands have released something I don't like. Motörhead have Another Perfect Day, which is just crap...

Seriously, of all the albums that could bother you, this one does?


Another Perfect Day has I Got Mine, Back at the Funny Farm and (if you include it as a b-side) Turn You Round Again - that's three good reasons why it's better than "just crap"

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Empyreal
The Final Frontier

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PostPosted: Sat Sep 14, 2013 9:52 pm 
 

Another Perfect Day is an amazing album. I can't say it's Motorhead's best because they have a bunch of albums equally good, but APD kills - love the riffing, the maniac leads, the power metal style choruses, etc. Great stuff and I'm glad they never made another one like it, just because it is so unique.
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Ktulu
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 14, 2013 11:55 pm 
 

I'm surprised Overkill hasn't been mentioned. Sure, there are some less-than-good 'Kill albums, but they have to be the most consistent classic thrash band. There were definitely some bad albums -- I Hear Black, From the Underground and Below, ReliXIV, Immortalis... but the past couple albums have been top-notch thrash. Compare Overkill to a BIG FOUR band... any of them...

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MikeyC
Official Greeter of Broken Hills

Joined: Wed Jun 14, 2006 5:16 am
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 12:38 am 
 

Ilwhyan wrote:
I think Anata will never release a weak album. They might never release an album anymore, either.

*sigh* I know. Not sure what's going on with them, but The Conductor's Departure was great. I can't say they're "solid," since that album is easily their best, but they've released all decent albums.

MalignantTyrant wrote:
Rotting Christ.

Yes, everything this band has done has been very good. Their newest album kicks a whole lot of Greek butt.

iamntbatman wrote:
Inquisition, for sure. Basically the only thing that sets their albums apart for me quality-wise are preferences for particular production styles. In terms of sheer songwriting, though, the band has been incredibly consistent throughout their discography. Like Bolt Thrower, this could simply be because the band has an extremely distinct yet simple and catchy riffing style that serves as a source of boundless wealth. Based on the teaser I heard, the new album sounds like it's going to be another slab of pummeling, groovy, occult black metal goodness.

I need to hear more of this band, but everything I've heard has been quite good. I'll be looking at their newest album with restrained excitement. :) Also should be getting their debut album in the mail soon. Stoked!

lord_ghengis wrote:
Esoteric are probably the only one I can go whole heartedly on with over four or five albums. Subconscious... is less brilliant, but still very good and absolutely everything else they've done is 95% worthy with three I'd consider top 10 ever releases. They've never released the same album twice and they've even undergone some major shifts in sound without losing even the slightest amount of quality and uniqueness. They're clearly the best band to ever exist for me and can do no wrong.

Haven't heard their earliest albums, and Subconscious... is less brilliant, I agree, but The Maniacal Vale and Paragon of Dissonance are fantastic albums. I know how much you love them. ;) I guess it's justified, though.

lord_ghengis wrote:
I nominate Vomitory in the same boat. They're the most consistently fun catchy high energy modernized d-beat n blasts band to ever exist and they've never put out anything deviating from their goals, but on the other hand there's no real reason to listen to anything other than Revalation Nausea and Blood Rapture.

Terrorize Brutalize Sodomize, despite the gimmicky title, is actually very decent. Listen to that one, too!
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BastardHead
Worse than Stalin

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PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 12:52 am 
 

You just knew I'd come in here and say Gargoyle, right?

Seriously, from their first album all the way to their last one and everything inbetween. Seriously, stop letting Crick, Ozzy, and I fade into the white noise and actually listen to these links. 16 albums, a bunch of EPs, and nothing falls below "very good". It's astounding.
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lord_ghengis
Still Standing After 38 Beers... hic

Joined: Mon Dec 04, 2006 8:31 pm
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 12:57 am 
 

Eh I basically only like it when they thrash out like maniacs, so I'll leave the Gargoyle worship to you weebs.
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BastardHead
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 1:01 am 
 

I literally only posted crazy thrash songs. I know how to hook people!
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Terri23
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Joined: Thu Sep 30, 2010 3:53 am
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 1:15 am 
 

Ktulu wrote:
I'm surprised Overkill hasn't been mentioned. Sure, there are some less-than-good 'Kill albums, but they have to be the most consistent classic thrash band. There were definitely some bad albums -- I Hear Black, From the Underground and Below, ReliXIV, Immortalis... but the past couple albums have been top-notch thrash. Compare Overkill to a BIG FOUR band... any of them...


This would exclude them from the discussion, going by the definitions the OP set out, and thus, why they haven't been mentioned.

I meant to add this earlier, but forgot, but Reverend Bizarre need to be added. They certainly have some critics here, but fuck them. These guys did doom as well as anyone else out there.

And Mournful Congregation too while I'm at it. Everything these guys have done turns to gold, and I don't expect that to change with the next few records they will bring out.
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Last edited by Terri23 on Sun Sep 15, 2013 1:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
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lord_ghengis
Still Standing After 38 Beers... hic

Joined: Mon Dec 04, 2006 8:31 pm
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Location: Australia
PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 1:17 am 
 

BastardHead wrote:
I literally only posted crazy thrash songs. I know how to hook people!


I know, I was just saying why you're wrong overall. Also you're guilty of false advertising.
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BastardHead
Worse than Stalin

Joined: Thu Aug 18, 2005 7:53 pm
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 1:53 am 
 

lord_ghengis wrote:
BastardHead wrote:
I literally only posted crazy thrash songs. I know how to hook people!


I know, I was just saying why you're wrong overall. Also you're guilty of false advertising.


Clearly I'm just a better potential cocaine dealer than you are.
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lord_ghengis
Still Standing After 38 Beers... hic

Joined: Mon Dec 04, 2006 8:31 pm
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Location: Australia
PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 3:22 am 
 

I'd be a fool to argue otherwise. As an aside, you should totally start dealing coke, with your stories as good as they are as a pizza delivery drive/gas station attendant, you coke dealing would have to be straight out of Saints Row.
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Punishing
Delicious Penis Connoisseur

Joined: Wed Dec 05, 2012 10:28 am
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Location: Egypt
PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 5:07 am 
 

Ktulu wrote:
I'm surprised Overkill hasn't been mentioned. Sure, there are some less-than-good 'Kill albums, but they have to be the most consistent classic thrash band. There were definitely some bad albums -- I Hear Black, From the Underground and Below, ReliXIV, Immortalis... but the past couple albums have been top-notch thrash. Compare Overkill to a BIG FOUR band... any of them...


I am mentioning them!
None of those albums you mentioned are really "bad". They are just different chapters for the band. I can always find something I like on all Overkill's albums and to me they are the most consistent of all the thrashers. Most thrash bands don't really have flawless discogs so Overkill is mentionable because even the "middle of the road" stuff was still listenable and ambitious. Never flicked the autopilot and never quite sounded watered down.
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sourlows
Metal newbie

Joined: Sun May 02, 2010 6:12 am
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 5:29 am 
 

Pagan Altar's discography is excellent. Volume One is maybe my favorite doom metal album, I just love the way it sounds through and through without trying to be too complicated. Lords of Hypocrisy and Mythical & Magical are more dynamic and epic-sounding but they too are great in their own way. They maybe still have a couple great albums to go to prove they are in league with Deceased or Manilla Road in terms of very long term consistency :P

Misery Index has been consistently good if not great. What they do is far from complex, but each album has been just different enough for me to find something to actually like about each album, in contrast to a band like Amon Amarth where it all pretty much just blurs together after the first album.

Sculptured is not a band to appeal to everyone, there are plenty of things to dislike about their music (whether it be cheese or the vocals) but if your primary interest is in very weird extreme metal, none of their albums really disappoint in that sense. I would say all of their albums are "great" within the specific criteria that they're just extremely interesting.

I really have to personally disagree with Death. I'm afraid I'm one of those nerds who frowns on TSOP. That album could have 3 songs (Painkiller, Voice of the Soul, and any one of the others) and you'd pretty much hear everything it does or attempts to do. There are so many riffs/passages on that album that could be randomly cut and pasted into the other songs and sound no better or worse. I've always found it to be one of the most boring, arbitrary and completely sterile albums I've heard outside of the worst varieties of pop. I know I'm almost totally alone on this next opinion, but I also dislike Spiritual Healing a fair bit. The riffs just aren't interesting and the songs no longer have the energy they did on Leprosy (probably my favorite Death album). It feels like everything in between the solos is just kind of there to hold it together, like some kind of transparent and tasteless glue. Strangely enough I like Symbolic and ITP, because even if they suffered from the same kind of structural redundancy, I found the music a lot more engaging.


Last edited by sourlows on Sun Sep 15, 2013 6:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
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false_icon
Metalhead

Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2005 7:52 am
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Location: France
PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 6:04 am 
 

3 bands I love the whole discography:

Nasum - even if the first albums (Inhale/Exhale and Human 2.0) are clearly better than the last ones, I really enjoy them all.

Masacre - from the "dark", oppressive sound of the early recordings to the more groovy approach of the 2000's, everything this band produced is top-notch.

Pan Thy Monium - Totally unique band. I just love all their recordings .
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Acrobat
Eric Olthwaite

Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2007 8:53 am
Posts: 8854
Location: Yorkshire
PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 6:46 am 
 

sourlows wrote:
Pagan Altar's discography is excellent. Volume One is maybe my favorite doom metal album, I just love the way it sounds through and through without trying to be too complicated. Lords of Hypocrisy and Mythical & Magical are more dynamic and epic-sounding but they too are great in their own way. They maybe still have a couple great albums to go to prove they are in league with Deceased or Manilla Road in terms of very long term consistency :P.


The fact that Terry's so old and they're just taking forever with this new album makes me think that they don't have long left. They're changing line-up every other week, too, so that's really not helping things along. I'm really doubting that this new album will be up to the quality of the first three (if it ever gets released that is!). This one is reportedly the first where they don't just have to draw from songs written in the 1980s... so there's that too. At any rate, I just can't see them doing another few albums.

Regarding Overkill, they're really not as consistent as people say they are. I find some of their later (post-Horrorscope) material to be dreadfully boring. Necroshine and Kill Box XIV struck me as particularly dull (and I've not even heard all their 1990s/2000s albums). Even the "back to classic thrash, yay! Hurray!" albums have that horrible "Nuclear Blast" sound that I hate. I don't think Ironbound's all that great, either, I mean, congratulations on being better than modern Exodus, I guess, haha.
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lord_ghengis
Still Standing After 38 Beers... hic

Joined: Mon Dec 04, 2006 8:31 pm
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Location: Australia
PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 6:51 am 
 

Don't know why I didn't jump straight to them, but Evoken, All their stuff is varying levels of great, and I think they've covered enough bases to not simply be a one album over the others band, even if Quietus does stand out over the earlier, lighter albums, and Antithesis over the heavier later ones. Atra Mors seems to be taking them into a third direction with plenty of Mournful Congregationisms, so hopefully they do a better one in that format soon too.
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Terri23
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 7:16 am 
 

ANationalAcrobat wrote:
The fact that Terry's so old and they're just taking forever with this new album makes me think that they don't have long left. They're changing line-up every other week, too, so that's really not helping things along. I'm really doubting that this new album will be up to the quality of the first three (if it ever gets released that is!). This one is reportedly the first where they don't just have to draw from songs written in the 1980s... so there's that too. At any rate, I just can't see them doing another few albums.


I'll second this. I've been following the development of this apparent new album for atleast 5 years. I really am starting to think it might not see the light of day.
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joppek
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 7:27 am 
 

MikeyC wrote:
Ilwhyan wrote:
I think Anata will never release a weak album. They might never release an album anymore, either.

*sigh* I know. Not sure what's going on with them, but The Conductor's Departure was great. I can't say they're "solid," since that album is easily their best, but they've released all decent albums.

the demos are great as well
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somefella
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 8:16 am 
 

Disagree with Death also. I love Death but their stuff is seriously overrated and while TSOP is an excellent album, it's nowhere near classic status and isn't as mindblowing or progressive as their fans would have you believe.

Bolt Thrower. These guys know how to write death metal, solid groovy tracks with no pretensions to progressiveness or technicality. Just hard-hitting groove-laden songs that put them miles ahead of the competition.

Incantation. Onward To Golgotha worship can almost be a sub-genre of music nowadays. Incantation's worst effort isn't even solid, it's excellent. Now how many bands can lay claim to something like that?
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Zerberus
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 2:52 pm 
 

It seems like a LOT of the bands people mention here are death metal or death metal-related bands. Is there a connection? Is it easier to write kick ass death metal?
One could argue that death metal doesn't rely as much on catchy choruses and epic riffs than other bands, but then again bands like Bolt Thrower show that death metal can easily have awesome, memorable riffs with a melodic edge without straying away from the genre.
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hakarl
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 3:49 pm 
 

MikeyC wrote:
Ilwhyan wrote:
I think Anata will never release a weak album. They might never release an album anymore, either.

*sigh* I know. Not sure what's going on with them, but The Conductor's Departure was great. I can't say they're "solid," since that album is easily their best, but they've released all decent albums.

My favourites are the first and last. Dreams of Death And Dismay is probably the least impressive of the four, though it's still quite great. It just lacks songs like Let the Heavens Hate or The Great Juggler. Faith, Hope, Self-Deception is cool, though. Under A Stone has The Drowning, which alone makes it slightly superior to Dreams, though perhaps Dreams is more solid overall.
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BastardHead
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 7:56 pm 
 

ANationalAcrobat wrote:
Regarding Overkill, they're really not as consistent as people say they are. I find some of their later (post-Horrorscope) material to be dreadfully boring. Necroshine and Kill Box XIV struck me as particularly dull (and I've not even heard all their 1990s/2000s albums). Even the "back to classic thrash, yay! Hurray!" albums have that horrible "Nuclear Blast" sound that I hate. I don't think Ironbound's all that great, either, I mean, congratulations on being better than modern Exodus, I guess, haha.


Anybody who says they like Overkill between 1991 and 2010 is lying. There is no room for argument.

Really though, they started off on a great run, and then just fell into a toilet for ages. I've said it time and time again, Overkill is, and always has been, a product of the times. When thrash wasn't cool anymore, they stopped doing it, and when thrash got cool again, suddenly they shit out Ironbound. Thrash wasn't great because of Overkill. Overkill was great because of thrash.
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~Guest 171512
Metalhead

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PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 8:16 pm 
 

I can't believe I forgot to mention Shadow Gallery. They've done six albums, and four of them have been fantastic. 'Legacy' has some excellent music on it, but I can't shake the feeling that it's missing something. 'Digital Ghosts' is missing something, and that thing is Mike Baker. Brian Ashland has been a godsend, but to me, Mike Baker will always be the voice of Shadow Gallery. Nevertheless, it's a strong album, and it carries on the torch well. If I may rank the albums, more or less:

1. 'Tyranny' 100%
2. 'Room V' 98%
3. 'Carved in Stone' 98%
4. 'Shadow Gallery' 98%
5. 'Legacy' 93%
6. 'Digital Ghosts' 91%

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TheLiberation
Metalhead

Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2011 12:56 pm
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Location: Poland
PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 8:22 pm 
 

I'm expecting disagreements, but my first thought:

Dream Theater. A band that constantly releases very strong, consistent albums with a fair balance of all components (heavy/light, technical/atmospheric, etc.), and doesn't try to reinvent the universe with each album but still noticeably progresses and evolves. I can kinda name my three favourite albums they've done (which are "awesome" tier), and pretty much all the rest is on a similar, strong level (except the debut which is not that mature yet but still decent).
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Zelkiiro
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Joined: Sat Apr 18, 2009 5:30 pm
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Location: Pennsylvania
PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 8:24 pm 
 

TheLiberation wrote:
I'm expecting disagreements, but my first thought:

Dream Theater. A band that constantly releases very strong, consistent albums with a fair balance of all components (heavy/light, technical/atmospheric, etc.), and doesn't try to reinvent the universe with each album but still noticeably progresses and evolves. I can kinda name my three favourite albums they've done (which are "awesome" tier), and pretty much all the rest is on a similar, strong level (except the debut which is not that mature yet but still decent).

Eeeeehhhhh...Falling Into Infinity and Train of Thought are quite forgettable, whereas Metropolis Pt. II: Scenes From a Memory just offended all my senses.

Other than that, though, they are usually pretty solid.
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Empyreal
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 8:26 pm 
 

Zelkiro just named the two I haven't actually heard all the way through, but yeah except for Metropolis Part 2 I'd say they have a very solid discography. Shame nothing can touch Images & Words though.
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BastardHead
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 8:28 pm 
 

I'm like, the anti-DT fan, because the only album of theirs I like beyond "eh, it's impressive but I can't say I like it" is Train of Thought.
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TheLiberation
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Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2011 12:56 pm
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Location: Poland
PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 8:32 pm 
 

Empyreal wrote:
Zelkiro just named the two I haven't actually heard all the way through, but yeah except for Metropolis Part 2 I'd say they have a very solid discography. Shame nothing can touch Images & Words though.

Metropolis Pt. 2 has always been my favourite and it's one of the three albums on my "if all else fails I'm gonna marry one of these" list. :( Awake and Six Degrees are close behind.
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Empyreal
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 8:33 pm 
 

Octavarium is their best after I&W for me - they really slowed down the excess and just jammed out some cool, emotive songs on that one. Nice and mellow, and quite dark at times too.
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DarthVenom
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Joined: Sun Sep 28, 2003 10:56 am
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 8:46 pm 
 

DT is one of those bands where you can pull aside five random fans and ask them their favourite and least favourite album of theirs, and probably get five unique sets of answers. I like that; keeps the conversation fresh. Though I suppose that could happen quite a bit with bands that have discographies in the double-digits.

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