Metal Reviews

Back in the day Melodic DM was bands that used Death Metal vocals and extreme components together with melodic classical Metal components.

Today Melodic DM seems to imply Pop-metal bands with screamo/clean vocals (In Flames, Soilwork) or bands that use harsh vocals but with not exactly extreme music (e.g .one of my faves Dark Tranquillity). Even new stuff ala Scar Symmetry is lacking in the DM compomnent and has lots of pop components. Even stuff ala Carnal Forge or Darkane has toned down the DM components.

Yet bands that fit the melodic DM definition such as Arsis and Heaven Shall Burn or Darkest Hour are categorised as Metalcore.

Some of the bands that get called Metalcore these days have more in common with At The Gates than the bulk of bands they call Melodic DM.

So what the fuck is considered Melodic DM these days?

Or is it a purely "they have short hair so they're Metalcore and they had long hair so are Melodic DM."

I know how you feel. What is melo-death? To me the current As I Lay Dying album is the new At The Gates. The sound is comparable to Slaughter of the Soul. Everybody else sounds less extreme than As I Lay Dying. The old Swedish Death Metal sound is long gone, so it's up to bands that were influenced by that sound to reinterpret it and make it more extreme for a new generation.

Why should it be more extreme? Evolution has to go both ways for a (sub)genre to grow. Omnium Gatherum's brand of melodeath (with doom and prog rock elements) is something I find to be about the best melodic death metal I've listened to in years. Check out New World Shadows, their latest album.

Black Dahlia Murder, Arsis, hmm other bands I don't care about are all doing the same ol' melo dm sound.

When you mention a band as forgettable as this one I need to relisten to The Gallery and make sure I still like it.

Anyway, Insomnium still does the hardcoreless/metalcoreless/USAless melodeath.

Oh you. TBDM'S newer stuff sucks ass, but their first album and Nocturnal are good for what they are.

Never bothered with their earlier stuff, just the trash I've heard recently. Stopped listening to melodeath before it became a genre driven by US bands, and so was always wary of them.

I think there are definitely two different camps of the style, and my preference is obviously towards the European style- but Unhallowed by TBDM was one of the albums that got me into more extreme death metal. Hah, of course they suck ass now though, they try way too hard to emulate Dissection and At the Gates.

wut. TBDM are a lot closer to brutal death metal than those bands. I mean, of course they're influenced by them, as any band playing death metal with melody will be, but TBDM is far from a copy of either of them. Especially Dissection...

In fact, I haven't really heard any band as heavy as TBDM that plays with as much melody as they do. They're probably the heaviest band I've heard that could be classified as melodic death metal; relatively unique in that respect. Although I agree that their last two don't stand up to Nocturnal, even though on first couple listens their new one is pretty decent.

I am not comparing the greatness, just the style.

I generally dislike BDM. Always thought they were kinda a shit band yet I dug what I heard of their newest insofar as it reminded me of Arsis.