A bit of a different opinion, but I prefer After Forever's Prison of Desire to the more heavily praised Decipher. However, the difference isn't just a minor separation for me, but day/night. If Prison of Desire symbolizes all that I ever wanted from my music listening experience, Decipher symbolizes how to make incredibly boring music that feels far too uplifting. There are moments where it sounds decent, but it always gets ruined, and I can't find myself enjoying any of it. Yet I am downright obsessed with Prison of Desire. This is quite confusing, since most seem to think if you like one you will like the other.

I have tried the most "logical" route of The Phantom Agony from Epica. It was a severe disappointment that bored for the entire expanse of the album. Simone being mezzo-soprano is perhaps part of the problem, I think while I can enjoy some mezzo, my true enjoyment comes from true soprano; her vocals weren't bad, but they were off-key and hard to appreciate. Meanwhile the instruments sounded... bored. One thing I passionately love about Prison of Desire is that every song has a great instrumental hook. The Phantom Agony felt like everything was dulled down and less audible, like Simone couldn't handle the power Floor could and they had to dampen all else to constrain to her range. It felt dumbed down, it felt like an operatic-pop album with the focus on vocals over instruments at the suffering of everything else. With Simone's questionable appearance, this becomes more clear, the album is dull symphonic metal where Simone is flaunted around like a pop-diva to the appeal of teenage boys. It butchered the Embrace the Smothers with pointless voice overs and plodding music that goes nowhere while Simone rambles nonsense. It may be a continuation, but I feel it is in name only, as the musical focus feels entirely different. I tried to get it, to see the "quality" behind the mask, and I just am finding it devoid of anything of interest. If Decipher made me pessimistic, The Phantom Agony was like nails in the coffin while a sex symbol that sounds like a lighter version of Tarja paraded around. If Prison of Desire is what I am looking for, The Phantom Agony is the opposite.

As far as I gather, Prison of Desire was far more Gothic-oriented than Decipher. Penumbra, also in the gothic metal style, had an album which gave off much of the same vibe. Yet, due to being black metal (which I find bores me) and focusing on speaking stanzas while singing terrible lyrics to repetitive music, I couldn't get into it. I am possibly the pickiest person around, I find I hate a lot more than I like.

I tried going full gothic, like Cardamon or Theatre of Tragedy, but I find the music either abrasive or to drag too much. Without symphonic elements, the music bores me apparently. Without gothic elements, the music feels too uplifting and becomes annoying. I like melancholy, but find black metal gets grating from my experiences with Borknagar and Marduk.

It doesn't help that I can't stand normal female vocals. They need to be operatic for me to enjoy them. For example, even the "best" work of Within Temptation just annoys me due to the vocalist sounding like she is constantly whining about the world. Then they turn pop and continue to whine about the world. Same with Lacuna Coil, same with Nightwish post-Tarja. Even later After Forever (and Floor Jansen's style after 2004, where she became a rocker/Evanescence clone) is disagreeable with me for this reason, the band died for me after Invisible Circles and that album only had a couple tracks I liked (Digital Deceit is a particular favorite). Prison of Desire is essentially the only album I can say "I love the sound and would want to hear more like this".

Outside of Prison of Desire and some of Invisible Circles, my biggest preference seems to be Tristania, yet another gothic/symphonic mix which suggests I like the hybrid nature. However, that style is far more hit or miss, Widow's Weeds was far too doom-oriented for my tastes besides My Lost Lenore. The black-metal esque vocals on Beyond the Veil kill much of the album, but I have a handful I like, particularly enjoying Sequel of Decay. This is also one of the best examples for what I can enjoy with clean male vocals, I can't stand high pitched vocals, meaning power metal like Sonata Arctica, Helloween, or Stratovarius is miserable to listen to. But my primary draw is World of Glass, particularly The Shining Path and Crushed Dreams, with some songs in the middle that have a decent overall sound but tend to have flaws that make them less enjoyable. If I could find something with the emotional power of World of Glass, possibly with violins used in the way they are in such songs as Wormwood, I think I could be drawn to it as well. Tristania's later albums either aren't part of the genre I like, meaning they bore me, or are extremely generic.

Sirenia, with its mostly pop-oriented singers, isn't really for me. I can get into On the Wane on At Sixes and Sevens, but find everything since boring. Ailyn is grating on my ears and Emmanuelle Zoldan is possibly my least favorite singer in the genre as she sounds like the splitting image of Barbara Streisand. I thought to try Trail of Tears, since World of Glass involved the growler, and was met with a bunch of disappointing albums ranging from boring with potential to some of the most atrocious stuff I have had the displeasure of hearing.

Nightwish, as mentioned earlier, was only good during the Tarja era. Of course, I dislike most songs on each album, only having a small handful I actually enjoy. Devil & The Deep Blue Ocean is possibly one of the best. I can't stand much of Century Child or later since Marco is your traditional power metal vocalist and thus is extremely grating, but have a soft spot for Nemo, mainly as he isn't in the song and it has a good melody. Tarja's solo albums are disappointing and rather stagnant, there is an odd song I can find decent, but nothing of real quality. Her latest work sounds like she is going towards a pop-oriented direction.

Thrash-like vocals aren't for me at all. Therion is a band I find myself unable to praise as the vocals are cringeworthy most of the time. I can get into a couple songs off Secret of the Runes, but even the best I find mediocre and therefore borderline enjoyable, not something I actively wish to hear more of.

When I listen to a band, I listen thoroughly, going through each album and trying to ensure I hear everything, including b-sides. I try to give bands every chance to win me over. I just am highly picky and dislike most of what I try. I guess my main question is if I am looking in the correct direction or if there is a better alternative. It would be a dream come true to try out a band and not hate more than half of their discography. It would be wonderful to just find another album where I can love the songs like Prison of Desire. But at this rate, I would love just a couple new songs to enjoy, as it feels more and more like there is little of quality out there and that my searching is in vain. It is hard to devote hours, spanning week after week, and yet not have a single thing to show for it. With my pickiness, I could hear a terrible song and a great song be the next on the album. Yet I haven't been able to find a new song I find even mediocre in quite a bit of time. Either I am looking incorrectly or I just am destined to hate most things. I would like to find out it is the former, find something that can give me hope at the very least, and at best be something I can obsess over like Prison of Desire.