Melodic Death Metal

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    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

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    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.

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    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.

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    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.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    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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    Dark Tranquillity – We Are The Void (2010)

    Dark Tranquillity in it’s almost 20 years lifespan has managed to create some of the most iconic Melodic Death Metal albums of all times. The band has also paved the way to the hundreds of clones that try to play Melodic DM with the famed Gothenburg sound but fail miserably at. With “We Are The Void” they present us their latest offering in their career and it’s a solid but somewhat empty album.

    The band has always been pushing the boundaries of the genre in every release they have produced. Since the early days they have been bending musical boundaries, and in the last decade they have been probably the only true Gothenburg Melodic DM band left.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Marionette – Enemies (2010)

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    We usually get quite a few bands that claim to play Melodic Death Metal, but fail miserably to deliver an engaging and entertaining album. Marionette is an example of a band that DOES deliver, and their album “Enemies” is one of the best Melodic DM albums we have received in quite a while.

    “Enemies” starts off very aggressively and all over the place, so we immediately expected the album to suck. However after the first 60 seconds, all this changes and you can hear the quality of the bands music, and it hooks you into listening to the whole album.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Faust – From Glory To Infinity (2009)

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    Faust is an Italian band that has been around since 1992, and this is made very clear based on the skills of most of the band members. The music is very well played, but lacks a bit on the composition department (more on that later).

    I’m a big fan of Melodic Death Metal, and it’s very rare in these days to find a good band that is not going all Metalcore on us. Alongside Ethereal Collapse, Faust is one of the best bands in the genre I’ve heard this year, since the melodic aspect is brilliant.

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    Swallow The Sun – New Moon (2009)

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    “New Moon” is one of the albums that I have been looking forward since the beginning of the year. The title name by it self was about to just make me discard it all along, since I’m a Twilight saga hater (and I have read the first 2 books). But bearing the title, Swallow The Sun, shows how much they have matured as a band, and how their style is getting shaped into a more Melodic Death Metal than Doom Metal genre.

    The Black Metal influences that some of the band’s members have (Mikko plays with Alghazanth and he and Aleksi have Empyrean Bane, a Melodic BM band), making this album the most aggressive the band has ever released. But they haven’t lost their Doomier aspect either, since they still feature their ‘older’ sound.

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    The Few Against Many – Sot (2009)

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    The Few Against Many is one of the many bands that Christian Ãlvestam lends his pipes to, he also contributes on rhythm guitar on this release. This band from Sweden plays a very different Melodic Death Metal than most bands, but different is not always good.

    “Sot” is a very short album (only 36 minutes), and it features a 8 songs that are very diverse in nature. This diversity I think is also the main problem of this album since all songs sound very disconnected like they were just thrown together to make a quick release.

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