So this may be a little bit controversial (and believe you me, this is not the most controversial release I have planned), due to their lack of popularity with the kvltists, but this is one of my favourite albums. Although I'm a little less enamored with it than I was when I first heard it, I believe that's due to the amount I've listened to it dulling its effect on me. Don't let the 'metalcore' tag put you off.
This part of the death metal series is focused on the progressive elements of death metal - although I have attempted to keep the core of this being death metal as opposed to proggy shit (had to get that one in to piss off JohnRCC).
Well, this is one of the most influential progressive metal albums of all time. Although it took them 15 years to record a follow-up which fell a bit short (Traced In Air), this is itself very good. The synthesized cleans that would take greater prevalence later may annoy some, but to me, they don't detract from the sheer brilliance present in some of the songs here.
If you have not heard Mithras yet, then do yourself a favor and start now. This is some of the very best Avant-Garde Technical Death Metal on the planet. Mithras are a band that makes heavy use of repetition and dissonance to create a dark atmosphere, but unlike Ulcerate, they play a much more old-school sounding form of Death Metal. You can hear the early Immolation and Morbid Angel in each track. The riffs, while heard a lot in each song, sound incredible and are very complex and unique. I also love how each guitar solo feels GIGANTIC: they are the highlights of every single song as they soar over the riffs. The vocals are refreshingly old-school, and the production is perfect: every instrument and note is clear, but it's not too clean. It really is, for me anyway, a perfect album, except for perhaps the few filler tracks of ambient noise and orchestration that kind of break the oppressive, space-y evil of every song. This album is a must have for fans of forward thinking, progressive Death Metal.
Heaven forbid I stray from the CITA norm for too long - this is one of the few technical death metal albums I really like, possibly due to the fact that it's more than simply shredding upon shredding upon other forms of fretboard wankery.
Opeth are a band who certainly know how to divide a fanbase. There are people such as myself, who listen to it because they like the progressive nature. Then there are people such as Joe, who listen to it because they enjoy the death metal nature. I for one love the band, and here's my favourite album of theirs.
Like Timeghoul (death metal band who released two demos which are now cult legend)? Then you'll like this. Straight from the same vein, this in modern terms is halfway between Immolation and Portal, but a long stretch from either one of the two. They are said to be releasing a new album this year, but the last few years have proven this album to have the same pattern as the new Wintersun.
Fuck Opeth, this is how progressive death metal is done. A true masterpiece, yet hideously underrated - this exerts a grip on one's attention from start to finish, and even its 22 minute opener (untitled, like all the other tracks) never gets boring.
This is Gorguts' best album, provided you like having your mind fucked by some crazy time signatures and odd yet catchy melodies. Although some may come to this album via the Necrophagist-worship band of the same name, the two are incomparable - the album reigns supreme.
The much-awaited new Atheist album received mixed reviews on release, as any comeback album inevitably will, but to me, it's nearly as good as the classic 'Unquestionable Presence'. It still has awful lyrics ('Faux King Christ' is a word play that could be expected of an 11 year old), but the music is spectacular.
Well, didn't this one piss off the metal purists. I'm guessing, of course - I wasn't born back then, but I can easily imagine many being annoyed by heavy influence from outside genres, and little death metal influence. It's not Atheist's best, but it's a good album.
Atheist's 'Unquestionable Presence' was a landmark in metal, death metal, and just extreme music generally. It, along with Nocturnus' 'The Key', essentially defined the progressive death genre that was to come into vogue in the late 90s, yet doesn't suffer from 'Opeth syndrome' - that is, long meandering songs that ultimately go nowhere. Straight to the point.
The last Death album I'll be posting for now, 'Human' is the album that progressive-era Death fans usually point to as Death's defining album. To be honest, it's not hard to see why. R.I.P. Chuck Schuldiner.
Yet another fantastic Death album (although, to my mind, they all are); 'Spiritual Healing' moves even further into the progressive realm, and this is to Schuldiner's eternal credit - that he could pioneer one genre, then create works pushing the boundaries of that genre when others were just catching up.
Death's sophomore album, and the advent of the progressive stylings that would come to the fore in later albums, something which has always divided both Death fans and metal fans in general. Another classic.
I'm probably going to be clearing out the shed today, as it were: I've got 7 or 8 albums already uploaded to post. This is Akercocke's most recent (last?) album, and it is awesome. A perfect combination of black, death and progressive metal elements.
This is Opeth's best album. It shows the seeds of their later progressive tendencies, but not in the overblown proportions that they would be found later on, often to the detriment of the listenability. Contains the monumental 'Demon Of The Fall'.
Although opinions on Opeth within the extreme metal community are divided to say the least, I personally feel them to be entertaining in moderation, and this is one of their better albums. It could do to be a bit shorter, but it's a good listen.
This was the album that projected The Chasm (from Mexico) onto the international death metal scene. Showing the beginnings of progressive tendencies, as opposed to the doomy death of their first two albums, and indeed their work under the moniker Cenotaph, this is great.
