Average Rating: 3.41 Rating Variance: 0.92 Objectivity Score: 84% (Well Balanced)
Sort by: Rating | Release Date | Rating Date | Name5.0 classicGodspeed You! Black Emperor Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas...Integrity Those Who Fear TomorrowAh Integrity's Those Who Fear Tommorrow. What's there to say that hasn't been said before? To put it simply though, this is possibly the first and, unarguably, one of the greatest examples of metalcore ever. Dwid's vocals display the most incredible range and power of his entire career, sounding like he actually believes what he preaches. The Melnick brothers' guitar work is equally impressive as is the drumming and the basslines. While it may be too long, the album is the closest thing there will ever be to a hardcore version of Slayer's Reign In Blood. While this maybe a controversial fact, this isn't; this is an album that encompasses all forms of metalcore from brooding to blood-boiling, melodic to dissonant and it lays a template of how all forms of metalcore should be played; with passion, heaviness, originality, sincerity but most of all, sheer power. Secede Bye Bye Gridlock Traffic4.5 superb7 Angels 7 Plagues Jhazmyne's LullabyThis album very much forms the bridge between hardcore and metalcore however do not let that phase you as this is possibly one of the most emotive albums you may ever listen to. It melds shredding riffs and hard, pounding drumming with beautiful acoustic pieces and the piano solo of Jhazmyne's Lullaby to create an experience that will batter and sooth you but always leave you with hope. This album should not be simply remembered as a groundbreaking moment in genre definition but as a powerful example of skill and passion that many lacklustre attempts (including Misery Signals) fail to live up to today. Agalloch The MantleBane Give BloodAbout as good as hardcore gets. Nice to hear a hardcore record that sounds massive while not relying on metal influences, actually has a great, in-your-face rhythm section and is extremely powerful, both lyrically and musically, to boot. Highly recommended.Bark Psychosis Codename: DustsuckerBe'lakor Stone's ReachBelong October LanguageBrian Eno Ambient 1: Music For AirportsCatharsis [US] PassionCatharsis/Newborn SplitCave In Until Your Heart StopsProbably one of the best technical metalcore albums of them all. The main frustration with this album though lies in its inability at certain points to be able to carry forward some of its ideas such as that fantastic space rock riff upon "Juggernaut" with Brodesky's singing soaring along with it. That is my only gripe with a brilliant album.Cynic FocusCynic Traced in AirDark Tranquillity Damage DoneDefeater TravelsDrowningman Rock And Roll Killing MachineDrudkh Autumn AuroraEdge of Sanity When All Is SaidEluvium CopiaFrom the moment you hear the opening right up until the last notes of Repose In Blue have faded away, this album envelopes you in waves of ambient bliss. Haunting pianos, horns and trumpets keeping the listener afloat in the waves of this vast sea of an album. A truly beautiful expression of feeling and natural beauty.G.I.S.M. DetestationHelmet MeantimeHelmet's Meantime. Noise rock and hardcore fused into what can only be described as distorted barrage of hard, un-melodic riffs, raw shouts and monotone singing and a rhythm section that is tighter than a duck's arsehole. Of particular note are the bass-lines that are as complex as they are earth shattering, as well as Paige Hamilton's incredible vocal performance. This album is the sound of every pent up frustration, every moment of repressed rage being released in a cathartic bloodbath. It truly is one of the best "stomp-and-go" albums ever. His Hero is Gone Monuments to ThievesHopesfall No Wings To Speak OfInsomnium Above the Weeping WorldThere's always a line in the sand between the Davids and Goliaths of the world. It's a fact that has been set in stone for many millenia to come unfortunately but on a rare occasion a Goliath can become a David. Such is the case with Insomnium, their songwriting, as proved by their sophomore effort, was lackluster and boring at best. However Above The Weeping World took not just one brave step forward but about hundred. The songwriting on this album is nothing short of superb. There are rarely moments when the album gets dull, it just simply flows from one beautiful moment to the next. While it may not be accessible as Across The Dark, this time the effort is worth taking as the melodies encased within the shell are near perfect in some places (see Mortal Share and The Killjoy). Insomnium were once called "a poor man's Opeth." Heh, yeah right.Insomnium Across the DarkThe pinnacle of Insomnium's career so far. While Above The Weeping World created songs of beauty and power, each one lacked that level of memorability. This finally remedies that problem with nearly every song being a powerhouse. Do not be mistaken, this album is not perfect, it suffers from repetitiveness in songs such as Weighed Down With Sorrow and Sevanen's vocals, despite their intensity, still suffer from being illegable at certain points. Regardless this is an album that should not be overlooked as it is a truly stunning effort.Kayo Dot Choirs of the EyeThe sound of all your dreams shattering into dust and the screaming echoes that follow.Killswitch Engage Alive or Just BreathingKiss It Goodbye She Loves Me, She Loves Me NotMeshuggah obZenMorser 10,000 Bad Guys DeadNeurosis A Sun That Never SetsOff Minor The Heat Death of the UniverseAnyone can imagine three guys in a small wooden-walled room, under a strip light drinking bourbon and producing some of the finest, most emotional music of their lives. It's such a basic image but it is the embodiment of this album and it was gives it such a sense of class, one that is head and shoulders above any of its contemporaries. Forget Calculating Infinity, this is free jazz. This is aggression. This is music.Opeth Still LifeThe one Opeth album that lives up to the hype. Better than Blackwater Park and the rest of the discog by about twenty million miles. It demonstrates everything that is great about the band and sadly its greatness proves how much of a failure its sequel was. Starkweather This Sheltering NightThe Gathering SouvenirsSouvenirs is the Gathering's most complete work. It is not as sonically confrontational as If_then_else but it is more potent in its emotional output. The ambience used along with the inherent minimalism of the songwriting and instrumentation allows for Anneke's voice to flow free in the open air. The free flowing nature, through the restraint of instruments and instruments, allows for the listener to be isolated in that open space. It creates a greater emotional impact upon the listener than any epic melodrama can. It's sombre, Cliff Martinez-esque soundscapes completely encapsulate everything that the Gathering's sound stands for; the haunting, dark beauty as the world just passes you by. A stunning piece of art.Verse AggressionWalknut Graveforests And Their ShadowsOne of the few albums I can actually say scared the shit out of me (not even Hvis Lyset Tar Oss did that). I played this in a pitch black room and it truly became a monster of an album.4.0 excellentAchilles HospiceAntimatter Planetary ConfinementBold Looking BackBrian McBride When The Detail Lost Its FreedomBurn BurnCoalesce Functioning on ImpatienceColdworld MelancholieConverge Jane DoeI have to admit that my perception of Converge will always be tarnished by the almost religious bigotry that defends this album. I remember approaching this album with quite a reserved and cold attitude due to the amount of absurd hype around it. After six listens I can say that this is an excellent piece of emotional metalcore, despite the grindcore elements sometimes smothering the emotions and Bannon's screams being on the side of whiney and weak on occasion.However it is the three last tracks that make this album. Some of the most fucked up yet beautifully twisted metalcore songs ever. They manage to emulate the realism of a rape in every horrific detail and every turgid emotion. In my opinion, this is a fantastic metalcore record despite its flaws.Cursed IDark Tranquillity HavenDark Tranquillity FictionDisfear Live the StormEdge of Sanity CrimsonEdge of Sanity Purgatory AfterglowEngineer The DregsFear Factory ObsoleteFear Factory MechanizeGarden of Shadows Heart of the CoronaGod Is An Astronaut All Is Violent, All Is BrightGodspeed You! Black Emperor F#A# (Infinity)Gospel The Moon Is a Dead WorldOne of the uncommon times I agree with the Sputnik consensus, this is an album worthy of the praise and even better it is a screamo album I actually enjoy.Helmet BettyIn Cold Blood Suicide KingDespite the inconsistencies, the raw or indeed non-existent production brings out an emotional poigancy and power that was more or less non-existent on the band's debut album. Some of the songs recorded on here are indeed some of the Melnick's and Blaze's heaviest work but it is also some of their most powerful.In Flames ColonyThe pinnacle of the old In Flames sound. Everything here is precise, balanced and crafted brilliantly. The riffs and solos alter between fast and slows tempos but, bar the bass, they never dominate the other instruments instead opting to rise ahead only when needed. It boosts the aggression of the drumming and particularly Anders Friden's volcanic roars who sounds like he is spitting lava with every syllable. Everything combines to create a beast of aggression that crushes with grandiose strides as much as it tears and rips with its speed. This is the last great In Flames album of the old sound. It was only followed by Clayman, an album that wallowed in it's own gluttony before the change to a completely different sound. It may have been the banal The Jester Race that was credited with the founding of the Melodic Death Metal genre but it was this album and possibly Whoracle that are the true examples of In Flames' sound and the ones that should be remembered.Integrity Seasons in the Size of DaysInterment Into the Crypts of BlasphemyJames Murphy ConvergenceJamiroquai High Times (Singles 1992-2006)The only record from my childhood that can still stand up today. Infectious, sarcastic, funky as hell and, in a few places, brooding, this compilation is a lot of dark fun that has great staying power. Jefre Cantu-Ledesma Love is a StreamMaths DescentMaths AscentMeshuggah Nothing [Re-release]Misery Signals Of Malice and the Magnum HeartModern Life Is War WitnessNaiad Hardcore EmotionNeurosis Times of GraceNobuo Uematsu Final Fantasy X: Original SoundtrackNovembre The BluePain Dancing with the DeadPlaying Enemy I Was Your CityPoison Idea Feel the Darknessport-royal FlaresProject X Straight Edge Revenge(Reissue)The closest thing to Powerviolence straight-edge hardcore can become. Vicious, brutal and angry with bass and low-tuned guitars intertwining with each other in tight constriction, this album will pummel you're ears into a bleeding mush. Highly recommended. Red Innocence and InstinctReflux The Illusion Of DemocracyRise And Fall Our Circle is ViciousRorschach AutopsySights and Sounds MonolithSodom Persecution ManiaSodom Tapping the VeinSodom's heaviest, best produced and overall just plain best album. The death metal element and the massiveness of the production really brought out the militaristic vicousness of their sound that no other album before or after has managed to be able to capture. To be honest they all sound rather tame in comparison.Starkweather CroatoanStrongarm The Advent of a MiracleTaken Between Two UnseensThe Hope Conspiracy Death Knows Your NameTragedy Nerve DamageTrenches The Tide Will Swallow Us Whole3.5 greatAt the Gates Slaughter of the SoulBe'lakor The Frail TideBurst Prey on LifeCable Variable Speed DriveCold Year Of The SpiderDark Tranquillity We Are The VoidFaith No More The Real ThingFarside The Monroe DoctrineRidiculous and a lot of fun. Not a totally unified effort in terms of musicality but the album is worth buying alone for the grindcore parody. Great stuff.Fear Factory ArchetypeHacride LazarusHacride's sound is... titanic. Imagine a giant's foot stomping on the world and you have a pretty good idea of Lazarus' music . The rush of the music is near instantaneous and it continues in a melodic yet mathmatical manner throughout, alternating between electric and acoustic progression. The crowning jewel though is the vocalist Samuel Bourreau who sounds like a more powerful Tomi Joutsen. Excellent workHypocrisy HypocrisyIn Cold Blood Hell on EarthIn Mourning Shrouded DivineIntegrity To Die ForIntegrity WalpürgisnachtMar De Grises Draining The WaterheartMar De Grises Streams InwardsMeshuggah Destroy Erase ImproveMeshuggah NoneMisery Signals ControllerI have always had reservations about Misery Signals so when I picked this up I had big reservations. Boy was I surprised though. Many of the previous hang ups that distanced me from this band have dissapated. The vocals have finally been sorted with the growls finally reaching the deep end of the spectrum though the clean vocals still feel a little bit too misplaced in places. Similarly every song flows seemlessly and beautifully, something that is a major step up from the first two albums. Because of this, it is the first album I willingly sat through to the end. A job very well done indeed.Neurosis The Eye of Every StormNightingale Nightfall OverturePlaying Enemy CesareanSacrilege GBG The Fifth SeasonSkillet ComatoseSkillet Comatose Comes AliveSoilwork A Predator's PortraitThe Armed These Are LightsThe Pax Cecilia Blessed Are The BondsWolfbrigade Lycanthro Punk3.0 goodBlood Has Been Shed SpiralsBurzum Hvis Lyset Tar OssCursed IICursed, the band that reverberate upon bitterness and brooding. This album is a marked improvement over its predecessor. The songs are not as inherently catchy as the songwriting of one but here it is more manageable, more nuanced. A slight breather between songs is allowed. That is not to say that it has become anymore accesible though. The guitars, bass and drums are still as dense as granite and about as penetrable too. It mocks any ideas of accesibility with the cynical twang of a low notes in Void before sticking a single, dissonant middle finger up at the listener. Accesibility to Cursed is only step closer to the mainstream and in the end they don't want that. They cast it out of their dark, rusted world, prefering to live simply as the Cursed.Edge of Sanity Crimson IIGarden of Shadows Oracle MoonHieronymus Bosch EquivokeIntegrity Humanity Is The DevilIntegrity Systems OverloadKillswitch Engage As Daylight DiesMartyrdod In ExtremisMisery Signals MirrorsMnemic The Audio Injected SoulMore Than Life Brave Enough To FailOpeth WatershedPain Cynic ParadiseRed End of SilenceSeether One Cold NightSolution.45 For Aeons PastThe Empire Shall Fall AwakenThe Great Deceiver Life Is Wasted On The LivingTragedy Tragedy2.5 averageAgalloch Ashes Against The GrainI will admit when I went into listening to this album, I was expecting black metal brilliance but I exited feeling rather blown off. This album has all the necessary components for a black metal/post-rock album of sorts with the rising and fall song structure, detuned guitars and of course, the growls but it left me feeling completely inert. Yes, some of the songs are well put together with crystal clear production and yes, the members are bloody talented but it lacks that ability to make a true emotional connection on any level with an intangible atmosphere and that is crucial for any bm album. Unfortunately it comes across as nothing more than boring. Here's hoping that the rest of their discography is much better.Apocalyptica Worlds CollideBlood Has Been Shed Novella Of UrielBurnt By the Sun Soundtrack to the Personal RevolutionDevil Sold His Soul Blessed & CursedGates Of Ishtar The Dawn of FlamesIn Flames The Jester RaceThis album may have been a genre defining moment but it means nothing in the face of its banality. It displays promise in songs such as Artifacts of the Black Rain with dual guitar riffs that rival their inspiration, Iron Maiden in terms of both speed and intensity. However it is these guitar riffs that are the downfall of this album, they unbalance everything, their speed causing them to metaphorically run away from Anders Friden's vocals as he breathlessly tries to keep up. When he does manage to finally catch up to the guitars in their game of soloing one-upmanship, they overpower his vocals with riffs that are near stretched to death across four to five songs. If one could hear the vocals that while competant, they grate due to their higher pitch. In the end it would take another album before In Flames reached the pinnacle of their old sound, the brilliant Colony. In Vain MantraInsomnium Since the Day It All Came DownLights Out Asia Eyes Like BrontideOpeth Blackwater ParkPillar Where Do We Go from HereSeether Disclaimer IISkillet CollideSoilwork Natural Born ChaosTrivium ShogunUnearth The MarchUnreal City Ephemeral Subsistence2.0 poorAmorphis Silent WatersThe best word to describe this album; lackluster. It is not so much that the band cannot play their instruments, it is more that their songwriting is trite and painfully dull. The hooks and rhythms are predictable, never rising up to catch the listener, only wallowing in their own melodrama. Tomi Jousten is perhaps the sole grace of Amorphis but even he can't save this album from its greatest flaw; it lacks a genuine, captivating atmosphere. The contrived nature of the instrumentation makes the album's melodrama feel forced, not sweeping and powerful. For an album of this genre, the power of the atmosphere is crucial so having none renders this album inert and thus a nearly complete failure. Burnt By the Sun Heart of DarknessCodeseven The RescueCold A Different Kind of PainPractically devoid of emotion even when the band tries to angst the most.Dark Tranquillity CharacterFear Before Art DamageFen The Malediction FieldsI Hear Sirens Beyond the Sea, Beneath the SkyIntegrity ClosureKillswitch Engage Killswitch Engage IIMnemic PassengerNothing Stays Gold Nothing Stays GoldPillar FireproofPlaying Enemy AccessoryPuddle Of Mudd Come CleanPurtenance Member of Immortal DamnationProof that OSDM can be derivative and boring on occasion. Avoid like the plague.Solefald Norron LivskunstThis is sad really. There are some seriously good elements. The songs themselves are well-written and Lazare's rasps are brilliant, hell even the polka elements work at points but the damn clean vocals and the excessive electronica elements drown the songs in camp and cheese. Solefald are known for the humourous take on their own music at points but they also knew restraint in their excess. Here though it's like listening to the Gestapo perform YMCA. Seriously bad.Swallow The Sun HopeThe Calm Blue Sea The Calm Blue Sea1.5 very poorA Dark Halo CatalystAdema Insomniac's DreamAvenged Sevenfold Avenged SevenfoldCold ColdCrossfade CrossfadeIn Flames Come ClaritySkillet AwakeRepeating songs from your previous albums in higher notes does not constitute songwriting. Want to hear this album? Listen to Comatose. Trivium Ascendancy1.0 awfulGrey Skies Fallen Tomorrow's In DoubtIntegrity Integrity 2000Puddle Of Mudd Life On Display
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