I’ve been struggling with Opeth for years now, trying to reconcile their reputation with what I hear on record. My biggest issue on earlier records has been the categorization of them as “progressive metal” when I’ve felt like I’ve been hearing “melodic death metal.” Now, that might seem like I’m picking nits but, as a …
Tag: Melodic Death Metal
The Jester Race (1996) by In Flames
So this is the third album of the holy trinity of Gothenburg-style melodic death metal. It is third because it is the last to be released, a full three months after Slaughter of the Soul and slightly less than that behind The Gallery (which came out a week after the former). I can’t believe I …
The Gallery (1995) by Dark Tranquility
This is the other supposed epitome of the Ghothenburg melodic death metal scene. (Actually that’s not entirely true – there are three of them.) But I like it more than Slaughter of the Soul. It is slightly less acclaimed so I find myself just slightly out of step with the critics on this one.
Slaughter of the Soul (1995) by At the Gates
So I read that this is a great example of the Gothenburg style of melodic death metal. And that’s where we’re at in the metal world – albums getting massive critical acclaim because they are especially representative of a local scene of a metal subgenre. It’s possible that celebrating the “best” of a nice of …
Symbolic (1995) by Death
The Chainheart Machine (2000) by Soilwork
When you start getting into all the niche metal genres that have sprung up since thrash, it can get really hard to tell what is “good” or even “classic” for that given genre, simply because us music fans who are not obsessed with particular sub-genres of metal don’t have enough context. Case in point: I …
Heartwork (1993) by Carcass
This is the birth of melodic death metal in Britain, or something like that.