Melodic Death Metal

  • Burden of Grief – Follow the Flames (2010)

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    When we first got this promo album all tracks where garbled up with the bonus CD of the limited edition version that contains 8 cover tracks. While listening to this promo, we would get one song from the actual “Follow the Flames” album and the next one would be a totally random cover song, making this band seem bipolar or something like that. Now that we have arranged them correctly, we hear that Burden of Grief plays a very mean Melodic Death Metal, and that the cover CD is VERY different from what this band is actually capable off.

    There are countless of Melodic Death Metal bands these days and it’s hard to find good new bands that will stick together for the long run and make decent music in the process. This is where Burden of Grief comes in, the band has released 4 albums in a span of ten years and seem to be constant enough to not be going anywhere anytime soon.

  • Allegaeon – Fragments of Form and Function (2010)

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    Over the last few years we have noticed that the metal scene in the United States is finally deviating from the ‘commercially safe’ crap and it’s finally producing some kick ass bands like Allegaeon that makes you double check to see if they are indeed from the US. Hailing from Colorado, Allegaeon comes to take the US Melodic Death Metal crown in a heart beat.

    Some people might say that there are still some fashion-core remains in this band’s music, and at some points they have some Black Dahlia Murder influences, but we see the bigger picture: a band trying to sound different than most American bands these days. Notice we say different and not original, since bands in Europe have been doing proper Melodic/Technical Death Metal for years and nobody seems to consider this a feat anymore.

  • Divinity – The Singularity (2010)

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    There are countless European bands that play great Melodic Death Metal with hints of Progressive, Thrash and even Modern Metal elements, but there aren’t many that can pull it off on this side of the pond. Canadian Divinity is one of the few that can make this claim on North America and it’s ready to kick-ass at a world wide level.

    The band originally self-released ‘The Singularity” late in 2009 and has gotten rave reviews from almost everywhere we can see, and this comes as no surprise since this release is top-notch and puts many others to shame. While we personally would categorize Divinity as a Modern Metal band, there are so many genres fuse together that it would be completely unfair to rule them out based on their ‘primary’ style.

  • Society's Plague - The Human, The Canvas (2010)

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    With a very ‘commercial friendly’ sound, today we get Society’s Plague. Hailing from the USA, this band plays a mean mixture of Melodic/Progressive Death Metal with Metalcore influence. Setting aside our ‘differences of opinion’ with Metalcore bands, Society’s Plague is actually one hell of a band that will blow you away since the first song on their debut full-length release “The Human, The Canvas”.

    This American band has some Swedish Melodic DM influences in their sound and we love it. When most kids these days are focusing on creating songs with breakdowns every 30 seconds, Society’s Plague focuses more on crafting dual guitar melodies like almost no other new-coming band. The bands guitarists combine both skill and great songwriting skills on this album, making the band have a very dynamic and diverse sound.

  • Posthuman – Rise from Ruins (2010)

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    Being huge fans of Melodic Death Metal bands we always love when we receive an album of this genre. Posthuman recently sent us their latest release titles “Rise from Ruins” featuring 10 songs and around 45 minutes of very interesting and creative Melodic Death Metal music.

    Featuring a very complex sound, the band is out to make a name for themselves in the very crowded Melodic Death Metal scene. Combining the traditional MDM elements with some Electronic/’futuristic keyboards’ hints and even some Progressive Metal elements, Posthuman has a very unique sound that will surely turn heads of quite a few people.

  • Solution .45 – For Aeons Past (2010)

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    After being kicked out of Scar Symmetry, Christian Älvestam didn’t get mad, he got even. Putting together Solution .45, a band that features musicians that are involved (or have been involved) with tons and tons of other bands, most notably: Jani Stefanović guitarist from Miseration (Christian’s other project) and Rolf "Stuka" Pilve on drums also from Miseration and Essence Of Sorrow.

    You will get a complete feeling of Déjà vu when you start listening to “For Aeons Past” since it sounds almost identical to what Scar Symmetry used to sound when Christian was in the band. We don’t say that cloning your old band is a bad thing, but I think that Solution .45 has gone a bit too far in this department. However, we loved Scar Symmetry with Christian, therefore we love Solution .45

  • Destinity – XI Reasons To See (2010)

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    The ever changing French band Destiny is back with a very complex and multi-faceted album that will surely be enjoyed by fans of different styles of Metal music. “XI Reasons To See” feature a wide variety of tracks that feature a healthy combination of Melodic Death Metal, Trash Metal and Modern Death Metal.

    Some people might argue that this release has too much stuff going on to be fully appreciated, but we believe that one you give this album a few listens you will start to appreciate all the layering that Destiny has done. With a strong Melodic DM and Trash foundation we greatly enjoy this release.

  • Woe Of Tyrants – Threnody (2010)

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    In the vein of Black Dahlia Murder and such bands today we have Woe Of Tyrants, an American band that has great potential. “Threnody” is the band’s 3rd full-length album, and starts very similar to whatever bands like BDM sound like, but the album takes a monster transformation with the sixth song called “Bloodsmear” into a brilliant Melodic Death Metal band that sounds like few others.

    As the first five songs where passing, we were about to chalk up this release to another BDM sounding band that does not offer much in terms of innovation, but boy we where wrong. The first songs feature furious Death Metal with some slightly impressive technical aspects, but then the music gets very melodic with the use of lush keyboards, brilliant rhythmical parts and blasting solos.

  • Orwell – Endeavors (2009)

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    Out of the countless new bands playing Melodic Death Metal is not hard to identify which ones are worth listening to and which ones are just products of trendsters trying to make a quick buck. Orwell from Wisconsin is one of the few that are worth listening to. The band combines the old Swedish Melodic DM sound with some Trash influences and bits of the more modern Metalcore sound.

    Delivering one crushing tracks after another one; “Endeavors” is a very powerful second release from this young American band that hopefully dethrones most of the current trendy Metalcore bands that the kiddies seem to enjoy so much. With its strong Swedish influences, Orwell demanded immediate attention from us, and will surely do the same for the rest of the listeners.

  • Stigma - Concerto For The Undead (2010)

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    If you usually judge a book by its cover, you will image that Stigma plays Punk or something in that vicinity. But once you start listening to this album you will be blown away with a Melodic Death Metal sound that will hook you since the first riff. The band does a great job at mixing Melodic DM with harsher elements, making their sound very dynamic and fresh.

    “Concerto For The Undead” features great artwork that reminded us of the Tales From The Crypt comic books, and as you can see in the band’s promo pictures, it’s one of their clear influences. We love when bands use horror movies as an influence since it’s one of our passions, and they could make for very interesting lyrics.

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