Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives :: View topic - Bands whose first album is their best

They went downhill from there, at least for the next batch of albums. Haven't heard their newer stuff except for a couple of songs here and there...seems alright actually.

Rotting Christ for sure, Thy Mighty Contract has all their best riffs and songs, same as Varathron's His Majesty At The Swamp. Both bands went downhill after that.

Epicus Doomicus Metallicus by Candlemass. Almost everything else they've released has been similarly excellent, but there's something about Epicus that makes it rise above even albums like Nightfall.

Someone said Bloodbath. Wtf? NMF easily rapes that album. Eaten alone or Pete alone rapes RTC.

I hate the production on Don't Break the Oath. Great songwriting still, but the guitars give me a headache. And when you throw King's falsetto on top of that, it becomes unlistenable. Melissa has the stellar songwriting, and a nice thick warmness to it. And I love me some nice thick warmness.

Kveldulfr wrote:

Someone said Bloodbath. Wtf? NMF easily rapes that album. Eaten alone or Pete alone rapes RTC.

The highlights of Nightmares are "Outnumbering The Day", "Eaten", and "The Ascension", versus at least twice that number on RtC, in "Mass Strangulation", "Buried By The Dead", "The Soulcollector", "Trail Of Insects", "Like Fire", and "Cry My Name". Factor in Akerfeldt's much more unique vocals and the much less generic production, and Resurrection easily wins the day

Strange, I Think the strongest songs in NMF are Cancer of The Soul, Brave New Hell, Soul Evisceration, Eaten, Outnumbering the Day and Year of the Cadaver Race.

About the vocals, I think Pete recorded one of the most ferocious performances in death metal, ever.

Mercyful Fate. How can anyone not love Melissa? Beats the second album because that was more or less a compilation, albeit an awesome one.

Kveldulfr wrote:

He was good, but I prefer the unique sound of Akerfeldt more.

I find Akerfeldt's vocals to be extremely generic, atleast Peter mixes his vocals up, Mikeal is totally monotone.

I will second the person who said Dimmu. I do enjoy their more commercial albums like Sorte Diaboli, but that first album is hard for them to top, especially since they don't even play "real" Black Metal these days.

Exodus - Bonded by Blood

Folkemon_ wrote:

I find Akerfeldt's vocals to be extremely generic, atleast Peter mixes his vocals up, Mikeal is totally monotone.

He doesn't use as much range as Pete does, but Pete's general growl tone is still much more standard than Akerfeldt's; I can actually distinguish his growling from the rest of glut out there in DM.

Slayer, Morbid Angel, Mayhem, blink-182.

Not sure if anyone posted this one yet, but Rotting Christ. Anything after Thy Mighty Contract is quite poor in comparison. Also, Destruction - Infernal Overkill. Or Passage To Arcturo and Sentence of Death if we're counting EP's.

Non Serviam had a horrible production and weak songs. Dead Poem was plain boring and the change in style didn't excite me at all. It was all down hill from there. But that's just my personal feelings. Thy Mighty Contract was their best work in my eyes. They didn't sound like anyone else back then, unlike their later work.

Not sure if anyone posted this one yet, but Rotting Christ. Anything after Thy Mighty Contract is quite poor in comparison. Also, Destruction - Infernal Overkill. Or Passage To Arcturo and Sentence of Death if we're counting EP's.

Darkthrone is a useless choice for this thread; it doesn't say anything at all about the band, just your genre preferences.

Author:	Tron_79 [ Tue Jan 29, 2013 1:48 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
Sacramentum - Far Away From The Sun - ignoring their EP, this album was by far their best. They had some good riffs in their later albums, but gone was the combination of great guitar work and the dark atmosphere of Far Away From The Sun. Dimmu Borgir - EDT is close and more refined than For all Tid, but i enjoy the rawness and the almost mid-tempo style of early Dimmu..plus the atmosphere is good as well without relying too much on keyboards Necrophobic - THe Nocturnal Silence - can't quite put a finger on why i like this one over their others, but its such a dark album and perhaps its cause Strokirk only does vocals on this album Others i'd consider their first the best: Nocturnus - The Key Ahab - Call of THe Wretched Sea Extol - Burial Limbonic Art - Moon in the Scorpio

Author:	Smalley [ Tue Jan 29, 2013 9:08 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
Liquid_Braino wrote: They went downhill from there, at least for the next batch of albums. Haven't heard their newer stuff except for a couple of songs here and there...seems alright actually. Listen to "The Gathering"... NOW. As for the OP's question, I'd have to say Bloodbath is one of those bands for me; RtC was just such a metal album, so unbelievably crunchy, gory, and groovy... I mean, Nightmares was a very good record as well, but with more duds and fewer highlights then Resurrection, and then TFM had good energy, but that's it; pretty much completely forgettable songwriting all-around, basically.

Author:	Dark_Gnat [ Tue Jan 29, 2013 10:50 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
Darkthrone I'll second Exodus. I also think Sadus never topped Illusions/Chemical Exposure in terms of sheer intensity.

Author:	TheUglySoldier [ Tue Jan 29, 2013 10:54 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
Anthrax's "Fistful Of Metal" definitely destroys all their other albums, which is saying something because they've put out some great stuff. There is just something ferocious and occasionally demented about that album - they were still goofy thrash, but more urgent than they later became.

Author:	Kveldulfr [ Wed Jan 30, 2013 1:35 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
Someone said Incantation. I think Mortal Throne of Nazarene is even better than Onward to Golgotha. Someone said Bloodbath. Wtf? NMF easily rapes that album. Eaten alone or Pete alone rapes RTC. Darkthrone? I think they accomplished way more playing black metal than death metal. Under a Funeral Moon or Transilvanian, one of those is their best. Dark Tranquillity might work too, I like both Skydancer and The Gallery the same. Emperor's ITNE is their best album hands down.

Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives https://forum.metal-archives.com/

Bands whose first album is their best https://forum.metal-archives.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=96278	Page 3 of 6

Author:	waiguoren [ Wed Jan 30, 2013 1:43 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
Rotting Christ for sure, Thy Mighty Contract has all their best riffs and songs, same as Varathron's His Majesty At The Swamp. Both bands went downhill after that.

Author:	Kveldulfr [ Wed Jan 30, 2013 1:47 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
waiguoren wrote: Rotting Christ for sure, Thy Mighty Contract has all their best riffs and songs, same as Varathron's His Majesty At The Swamp. Both bands went downhill after that. Rotting Christ released at least 3 fine albums after that: Non Serviam, Triarchy and Theogonia. About Varathron, Walpurgisnacht is as good as His Majesty. Also try their latest Stygian Forces of Scorn, it's the best black metal album coming out of Greece in decades, just on par with their first releases IMO.

Author:	Ancient_Mariner [ Wed Jan 30, 2013 2:45 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
Subrick wrote: Epicus Doomicus Metallicus by Candlemass. Almost everything else they've released has been similarly excellent, but there's something about Epicus that makes it rise above even albums like Nightfall. Yep. I've yet to find that albums equal in doom metal. For me its the vocals. Messiah/Lowe can't come close to the feeling on that album.

Author:	Smalley [ Wed Jan 30, 2013 5:39 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
Kveldulfr wrote: Someone said Bloodbath. Wtf? NMF easily rapes that album. Eaten alone or Pete alone rapes RTC. The highlights of Nightmares are "Outnumbering The Day", "Eaten", and "The Ascension", versus at least twice that number on RtC, in "Mass Strangulation", "Buried By The Dead", "The Soulcollector", "Trail Of Insects", "Like Fire", and "Cry My Name". Factor in Akerfeldt's much more unique vocals and the much less generic production, and Resurrection easily wins the day

Author:	Tornado [ Wed Jan 30, 2013 6:23 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
TheMizwaOfMuzzyTah wrote: I hate the production on Don't Break the Oath. Great songwriting still, but the guitars give me a headache. And when you throw King's falsetto on top of that, it becomes unlistenable. Melissa has the stellar songwriting, and a nice thick warmness to it. And I love me some nice thick warmness. Two of my favourite albums, but I'd have to go with Don't Beak the Oath as my fave. When I first heard it, many years ago, I was slightly disappointed as I loved all the acoustic passages on Melissa and DBTO didn't contain any, apart from a few notes at the beginning of Come to the Sabbath and To One Far Away. But over time I began to love it more and more. The solos are out of this world. A couple of slightly weaker tracks in Welcome Princes of Hell and To One Far Away, but then Melissa had Black Funeral, which to me was weaker than the rest. I reckon they should have replaced BF with Burning the Cross or Return of the Vampire. Actually, those 2 tracks would have fitted perfectly on the Nuns Have No Fun EP. Never mind! Anyhoo, totally agree with the debuts from Testament and Exodus (although both bands released great follow ups). And Flotsam and Jetsam released probably their best album with Doomsday for the Deceiver (again, follow up was great). Also, I think the Big Four all released better sophomore albums. Perhaps Nasty Savage? They released a handful of cracking albums, but their debut is truly fantastic!

Author:	Kveldulfr [ Wed Jan 30, 2013 8:49 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
Smalley wrote: Kveldulfr wrote: Someone said Bloodbath. Wtf? NMF easily rapes that album. Eaten alone or Pete alone rapes RTC. The highlights of Nightmares are "Outnumbering The Day", "Eaten", and "The Ascension", versus at least twice that number on RtC, in "Mass Strangulation", "Buried By The Dead", "The Soulcollector", "Trail Of Insects", "Like Fire", and "Cry My Name". Factor in Akerfeldt's much more unique vocals and the much less generic production, and Resurrection easily wins the day Strange, I Think the strongest songs in NMF are Cancer of The Soul, Brave New Hell, Soul Evisceration, Eaten, Outnumbering the Day and Year of the Cadaver Race. About the vocals, I think Pete recorded one of the most ferocious performances in death metal, ever.

Author:	Rild [ Wed Jan 30, 2013 8:57 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
Darkthrone is a useless choice for this thread; it doesn't say anything at all about the band, just your genre preferences.

Author:	Oxenkiller [ Wed Jan 30, 2013 9:12 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
I agree about Sadus. That first album (whichever title you call it by) was sheer unbridled agression, energy and speed. I think Sadus did what a lot of other thrash and death bands did with their subsequent albums- sacrifice intensity in favor of more technical riffs, arrangements, and so on. But the overall feeling and intensity was lost in the process .

Author:	Smalley [ Wed Jan 30, 2013 9:56 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
Kveldulfr wrote: Strange, I Think the strongest songs in NMF are Cancer of The Soul, Brave New Hell, Soul Evisceration, Eaten, Outnumbering the Day and Year of the Cadaver Race. About the vocals, I think Pete recorded one of the most ferocious performances in death metal, ever. He was good, but I prefer the unique sound of Akerfeldt more.

Author:	~Guest 152346 [ Sun Feb 03, 2013 9:59 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
Exodus - Bonded by Blood Testament - The Legacy Atheist - Piece of Time Morbid Angel - Altars of Madness Terrorizer - World Downfall Grave - Into the Grave Aura Noir - Black Thrash Attack Vulcano - Bloody Vengeance Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas Gospel of the Horns - A Call to Arms Vomitor - Bleeding the Priest To name some

Author:	Empyreal [ Mon Feb 11, 2013 6:17 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
Except it is better. Better songwriting, more original sound, etc. Clandestine is awesome.

Author:	Terri23 [ Thu Jan 31, 2013 2:53 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
inhumanist wrote: Mercyful Fate. How can anyone not love Melissa? Beats the second album because that was more or less a compilation, albeit an awesome one. Mind explaining this? I've never heard DBtO described as a compilation before. Not being critical, I'm just interested to hear your opinion. On the topic at hand, I was discussing this subject with a few of the members here a few months back. I put forward the idea that most bands debuts are the best, as this discussion and the amount of lists written up seem to indicate. My theory is that the time between the band forming and the band recording their first album is often quite a few, if not many, years. This gives the band time to perfect their material. After this initial period, the band is then often contracted to release a follow up, which is often recorded and released within 2 years of the debut. This is often a much shorter period of time than what the band initially had. Add on to that the fact the band would often be touring for much of that time - especially the case with professional full time bands - and the results are often rushed, and not as well executed as what they should be. This ruthless existance does, so to speak, sort the men from the boys though. The bands that are unable to release quality follow ups often fall by the wayside and make way for the more talented (or perhaps just luckier) bands. NWOBHM and thrash, the two genres I'm most well versed in, are littered with examples of bands being unable to create solid follow ups beyond their debut records. An easier discussion would be to invert this discussion, and name bands that actually improved beyond their debut.

Author:	Folkemon_ [ Thu Jan 31, 2013 11:50 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
Smalley wrote: Kveldulfr wrote: Strange, I Think the strongest songs in NMF are Cancer of The Soul, Brave New Hell, Soul Evisceration, Eaten, Outnumbering the Day and Year of the Cadaver Race. About the vocals, I think Pete recorded one of the most ferocious performances in death metal, ever. He was good, but I prefer the unique sound of Akerfeldt more. I find Akerfeldt's vocals to be extremely generic, atleast Peter mixes his vocals up, Mikeal is totally monotone.

Author:	Von Jugel [ Thu Jan 31, 2013 11:51 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
Pantera

Author:	Lord_Jotun [ Fri Feb 01, 2013 5:23 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
Von Jugel wrote: Pantera Which one, though?

Author:	Misfit74 [ Fri Feb 01, 2013 4:45 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
Von Jugel wrote: Pantera ^confused^

Author:	Smalley [ Fri Feb 01, 2013 4:49 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
Folkemon_ wrote: I find Akerfeldt's vocals to be extremely generic, atleast Peter mixes his vocals up, Mikeal is totally monotone. He doesn't use as much range as Pete does, but Pete's general growl tone is still much more standard than Akerfeldt's; I can actually distinguish his growling from the rest of glut out there in DM.

Author:	Don Karlos [ Fri Feb 01, 2013 4:57 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
2 bands come to my mind first are Pagan's mind, after excellent Celestial entrance they kept repeating same formula and while releases after that are good, and im listening them often, they are not reaching same "classic" - level. Almost identical case is Cloudscape, classic first, then fading into the more mediocre/generic level, but still including some excellent songs. Edit: i was shocked when i found out that Celestial entrance is Pagan's minds second full-length, my bad

Author:	~Guest 183305 [ Fri Feb 01, 2013 9:44 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
I will second the person who said Dimmu. I do enjoy their more commercial albums like Sorte Diaboli, but that first album is hard for them to top, especially since they don't even play "real" Black Metal these days.

Author:	Zushakon [ Sun Feb 03, 2013 6:35 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
ACM wrote: I will second the person who said Dimmu. I do enjoy their more commercial albums like Sorte Diaboli, but that first album is hard for them to top, especially since they don't even play "real" Black Metal these days. I still was holding onto a small thread of hope for them until they released Abrahadabra and I saw their new music videos. All hope lost...all hope lost...

Author:	TheEerieTomb [ Sun Feb 03, 2013 7:29 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
NARAKU666 wrote: Spoiler: show 'Stigmata' is their second album, though. 'Black Earth' was the debut. And come to think of it, I do love the rawness and riffs on 'Black Earth', but the songwriting on 'Stigmata' is stellar.

Author:	TrooperEd [ Sun Feb 03, 2013 11:06 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
Van Halen Death Sarcofago Angel Witch Don't Break The Oath >> Melissa

Author:	Misfit74 [ Mon Feb 04, 2013 1:16 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
lackofcomprehension wrote: Exodus - Bonded by Blood Ah, good call there~! I might add: Deathrow - Riders Of Doom. My favorite, anyway. That said, I'm not super familiar with their entire discography.

Author:	MalignantTyrant [ Mon Feb 04, 2013 8:22 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
Smalley wrote: Folkemon_ wrote: I find Akerfeldt's vocals to be extremely generic, atleast Peter mixes his vocals up, Mikeal is totally monotone. He doesn't use as much range as Pete does, but Pete's general growl tone is still much more standard than Akerfeldt's; I can actually distinguish his growling from the rest of glut out there in DM. He has a point. On RTC and Unblessing the Purity Akerfeldt sounded like Satan bellowing through my speakers. Who would you be more afraid of? The unholy lord of darkness himself? Or some ferocious, cannibalistic beast? I guess it's more subjective than that.

Author:	demigod93 [ Mon Feb 04, 2013 2:38 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
Slayer, Morbid Angel, Mayhem, blink-182.

Author:	Misfit74 [ Mon Feb 04, 2013 8:10 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
demigod93 wrote: Slayer, Morbid Angel, Mayhem, blink-182. You really like Show No Mercy the best from Slayer? I'd easily put two or three albums ahead of that one. Certainly, Reign In Blood is hands down their best album for me, personally.

Author:	Unorthodox [ Tue Feb 05, 2013 1:00 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
The Berzerker- The Berzerker. This is their debut after releasing various demos, and holy shit it's still just as good as when I heard it 9 years ago. Extremely chaotic, rapidly delivered vocal lines, short and sweet songs... everything about it is awesome and nothing after it remotely carried a candle to it.

Author:	adrenalin [ Sat Feb 09, 2013 6:08 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
Not sure if anyone posted this one yet, but Rotting Christ. Anything after Thy Mighty Contract is quite poor in comparison. Also, Destruction - Infernal Overkill. Or Passage To Arcturo and Sentence of Death if we're counting EP's.

Author:	MalignantTyrant [ Sat Feb 09, 2013 8:44 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
adrenalin wrote: Not sure if anyone posted this one yet, but Rotting Christ. Anything after Thy Mighty Contract is quite poor in comparison. Also, Destruction - Infernal Overkill. Or Passage To Arcturo and Sentence of Death if we're counting EP's. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Surely you jest

Author:	adrenalin [ Sat Feb 09, 2013 9:05 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
Non Serviam had a horrible production and weak songs. Dead Poem was plain boring and the change in style didn't excite me at all. It was all down hill from there. But that's just my personal feelings. Thy Mighty Contract was their best work in my eyes. They didn't sound like anyone else back then, unlike their later work.

Author:	MalignantTyrant [ Sat Feb 09, 2013 9:15 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Bands whose first album is their best
adrenalin wrote: Non Serviam had a horrible production and weak songs. Dead Poem was plain boring and the change in style didn't excite me at all. It was all down hill from there. But that's just my personal feelings. Thy Mighty Contract was their best work in my eyes. They didn't sound like anyone else back then, unlike their later work. ....what the hell are you?