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Metalunderground.com's Best of 2007 Awards Announced
Band Photo: Lamb of God (?)
Looking back, 2007 was an interesting year in metal. The year started off great for tours - here in the US and seemingly everywhere from the news we reported all year - and continued to offer strong showings throughout the entire year. However, we lost quite a number of brothers in metal in 2007. Despite that fact and the fact that there were few truly big releases in 2007, it still seemed to be a good year for metal as a whole - a year in which the underground got to shine through just a little more than usual.
That said, let's reflect on some of the things that made 2007 such a good year for heavy metal by announcing the Metalunderground.com staff picks from 2006. As in previous years, I've polled the entire staff here at Metalunderground.com about their favorite albums and performances of last year.
Here are the Metalunderground.com staff picks for the following categories: Best Metal Album of 2007, Best Metal DVD of 2007, Best Metal Newcomer of 2007, Best Live Act of 2007, and Most Anticipated Release for 2008.
Best Metal Album of 2007
The lack of "big" releases by the well-established or popular rising acts made this year the hardest yet to determine a clear winner, much less predict one ahead of time. Without the big releases from bands such as Slayer, Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage and others, extreme metal shined brighter than ever with some powerful releases. In the end, the one band who came out on top of the staff poll was:
Dark Tranquillity's "Fiction"
Very close runners up included Pig Destroyer's "Phantom Limb," Behold...the Arctopus' "Skullgrid," and Megadeth's "United Abominations." Extreme releases such as Dimmu Borgir's "In Sorti Diaboli" (voted "Most Anticipated Release of 2007" in 2006), Nile's "Ithyphallic" and Behemoth's "The Apostasy" also received multiple nods, as did their more mainstream counterparts Machine Head's "The Blackening" and Between The Buried and Me's "Colors." Any metalhead can look at that list and know that extreme metal is alive and well!
Best Metal DVD of 2007
In its second year, the category of "Best Metal DVD" was still difficult to vote on. Not everyone on staff had votes for their favorite metal DVDs because we don't all have the time or desire to watch music DVDs nearly as much as listening to music, which can be done while doing other things or even working. Among all of the nominations, only one stood out with multiple nods:
Led Zeppelin's "Mothership"
While considered to be hard rock by today's standards, these forefathers of metal made some of the biggest news of the year by playing their first reunion show in years. And they were smart enough to release a two-disc collection of their best songs spanning all eight of the band's classic studio albums and a special edition that also included a DVD of "The Song Remains The Same." The DVD, now for the first time, contains all 14 songs from the original 1973 concert in newly remixed and remastered 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound, and boasts more than 40 minutes of added bonus material.
Best Metal Newcomer of 2007
Bands eligible for "Best Metal Newcomer of 2007" included bands who have released their first full length album or released their first album on a somewhat major metal label, or even have no formal release at all. This is a tough category to get consensus on, since we all have different tastes in metal and will hear of only relatively few new bands each year. However, when a new band with veteran musicians forms and make waves like these guys have, it makes the voting much easier. The clear winner was:
Divine Heresy
If you thought the OTHER new band with veteran musicians was going to be announced as the winner, HellYeah did receive a nomination but didn't even come close to these guys. The only other band who had more than one nomination was Five Finger Death punch, who received quite a bit of recognition in 2007 as well.
We're happy to spread the word of the underground, so I'll list all of the nominations for this category at the end of this article.
Best Live Act of 2007
"Best Live Act" is typically a fairly competitive category since it is not restricted to releases from this year, only performances. As the votes tallied up, one thing was certain: those bands with big releases last year, were still kicking ass live. Touring behind last year's album voted by our staff as "Best Metal Album of 2006" was this year's winner:
Lamb of God
This should come as no surprise to anyone who has witnessed this band live. Lamb of God has put on a killer, super-intense show each of the half dozen times I've seen them perform, and this year's Off-fest date in Baltimore had to have been the best yet. The competition wasn't even close, but runners up with multiple nominations included Slayer, Soilwork and Napalm Death.
Most Anticipated Release of 2008
Like the "Best Metal Newcomer" category, the "Most Anticipated Release" category generates a wide variety of responses due to differing tastes and not actually knowing all of the releases coming out next year. Still, there was quite a bit of consensus on a couple of forerunners in this category and the Most Anticipated Release of 2008 by a landslide turned out to be:
Meshuggah's "obZen"
Interestingly enough, Metallica's upcoming album had the most nominations, but almost all were at the bottom of the individuals' lists, showing perhaps a cautious optimism toward the metal legends' new material. There was also some slight consensus on anticipation of new albums from Opeth and Slayer. Another year has gone by and no one even registered a vote for "Chinese Democracy" this time - probably because the category did specify a 2008 release!
In Conclusion...
Looking back, 2007 was a great year for live performances. Metalcore's dominance of the scene has lessened substantially. The genre has certainly not died, but the stifling competition has thinned its ranks and you don't see a metalcore band on every tour package any more. Instead, I saw (personally) quite a number of tours with more than one extreme metal band, each with their own significantly different style - usually representing black metal, death metal, thrash or some combination thereof.
With more releases from big bands such as Metallica, Testament and Slayer (questionably) slated for next year, it should be interesting to see the effect on the metal underground once again.
Finally, here is the entire list of nominations for the "Best Metal Newcomer" category in 2007, provided simply because these nominations should make good leads for you, our readers, to discover some new bands:
Alcest
Anterior
Beatallica
Behold...The Arctopus
Blotted Science
Brown Brigade
Centralia
Cthonic
Direwolf
Eluveitie
Five Finger Death Punch
Gutworm
Hellyeah
Karnivool
Lordi
Mutiny
Pyromesh
Sanctity
Slowmotion Apocalypse
Suspyre
Tarja Turunen (ex-Nightwish)
The Showdown
The Sword
Unholy
No doubt there are others worth checking out, but these were our staff picks, limited to five bands per person.
Fewer big releases for 2007 results in less clear winners and more controversial picks. I am quite happy with the results of this year's poll, but I expect many of you will have differing opinions. Feel free to share them in the comments.
Here's to an even better 2008! \m/
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159 Comments on "Metalunderground.com's Best of 2007 Awards"
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Founder, owner & programmer
First of all, there were a lot of good releases in 2007. I had the toughest time picking my top 5 than any other year and the only one that shared votes with anyone else was Dimmu Borgir's CD. One thing I realized when making the decisions though is that two big releases that I had high expectations of just didn't do it for me: Machine Head's "The Blackening" and Chimaira's "Resurrection." Both are good, but I didn't enjoy them as much as I'd hoped, find them both a bit overhyped, and neither made the cut for me. And I'd even consider them some of my favorite bands...
On the In Flames for most anticipated - they were nominated, but only by one person. There were a lot more bands nominated for each category that I can't take the time to mention, so I only focus on the ones that get nominated by more than one person, which shows a little consistency at least.
Writer/Reviewer
I happened to like The Blackening Tomo, It was in my top 10 but not my top 5, which is what counts.
Incidently, I'm Playing "Halo" as of this post(!) Best clean metal chorus I've heard this year. Devin Townsend himself couldn't do it better...
Dimmu, Pigdestroyer, Behemoth, Dillinger Escape Plan and Behold the Arctopus were my picks for best of the year....Nile was a close runner up.
Now Playing: Machinehead - "Halo"
Supporter
My vote for best album wouldve turned out as King of the Grey Islands (Candlemass), Fiction (Dark Tranquillity), Ithyphilliac (Nile), The Blackening (Machine Head), and Victory Songs (Ensiferum)
My most anticipated release would have to be whatever Immortal is planning as it is probably just a rumor but hopefully not, and then obZen
Yall should have a category for band of the year or somethin like that
Supporter
I heard Beatallica on The Edge when I lived in Meford Or and told them for the sake of the Devil never to play that again! I thought it was awful! I think Dimmu Borgir In sorte is my pick for best 07 release. I rang in the new year in 07 with Enthrone Darkness triampant. Cthonic was my favorite find of the year.
Reviewer
in sorti diaboli by dimmu borgir
ithyphalliac by nile
hell destroyer by cage
the apostasy by behemoth
killing peace by onslaught
most anticipated release of 08 is judas priest's nostradamus
chthonic and 3 inches of blood and skeletonwitch were my favorite finds of the year
that's my list...now playing: artillery - fear of tomorrow
I agree with most of these but i think Behemoth or Cannibal Corpse sould have gotten best live performance. Lamb of God was awsome but i feel they didint bring the intesity that CC or Behemoth brought to their show. People say that CC has lost all "kickassness" on stage. The metal blade anniversery tour was the best thing i have ever beared witness too. Until Wacken with Iron Maiden my money is on CC!
Senior Reviewer
There's a lot of great bands in the 2007 newcomer list I suggest if you're looking for an adventure that's a great place to start.
I'd have to say one really over looked album has been (which in my mind blows away Dimmu Borgir) Mayhem's "Ordo Ad Chao". A great album from a band riding of a legacy and an EP. Oh and to stephen, "Systematic Chaos" was no. 5 on my list.
Writer, Reviewer
Hey, I forgot all about Ordo Ab Chao! Whoops hahah. That WAS a good album! Completely skipped my mind :(
Dream Theatre are great. But 2007 had too many better releases for them to make the grade. Same deal with "The Blackening"- it was excellent, but there was better. Hard luck, hahah. Nile and Ensiferum were 6th and 7th on my list. Neither Candlemass or Dark Tranquility came close to my top 5.
While "Fear of a Blank Planet" may be album of the year, Between the Buried and Me's "Colors" (dare I say that this album blew away Dream Theater's new album as far as Prog Metal albums go) was the best metal album for me in 2007. Dillinger Escape Plan, Behold the Arctopus, and Machine Head would be right behind though.
to monkey Sponge- I have yet to see cannibal Corpse live, so i can't really say anything to that, But I saw both LoG and Behemoth at Ozzfest on the same day. With a 60 minute set, an insane light show, louder music, more fans, and two Mosh pits hundreds of feet wide, LoG certaintly won out for me over Behemoth. Perhaps it was unfair that they opened up for the concert, but Behemoth, in my mind, was not even a consideration for best live performance. Howeverr, since seeing them live, i was quite impressed musically, and I'm starting to become a fan, and I would'nt mind seeing them again actually. I've only seen LoG live twice, and I watched the Kiladelphia DVD, and they are definetly the best show I've seen honestly since Alice Cooper, and HE was the sh**. Maybe I just need to go to a venue where it's primarily Behemoth fans, but so far I'm agreeing with the award.
Now Playing: Nile- "Cast Down the Heretic"
"Colors" is definitely my disc of the year, followed by The Apostosy, Phantom Limb and Dillingers new CD. For cheesiest CD i have ever heard in my life i would have to go with Dream Theaters new release. I haven't even heard Skullgrid yet for some reason. Can someone tell me how it compares to Behold...'s other stuff and if its worth buying?
Member
The best thing i heard that came out of 2007 is probably Rosetta's Wake/Lift. Pelican's City of Echoes was good too, but i liked wake/lift better. I'm sure there is something else i liked last year a lot, but i cant think of it now, wake/lift was good. And yeah i hated the new dream theater CD, i like dream theater though, i really like octavarium.
Oh yeah Intronaut's new album was pretty sweet too, come sleep a really underground band came out with something, Divine Heresy, and Thy will be done's new one were good too. And i think yakuza , and big buisiness had something.
Senior Reviewer
fearthedje - It's probably Behold's best work, more of the same really except by "more of the same" I mean "more technically jaw-dropping flawless avant-guarde madness". I'm the biggest tech/prog fan you'll find but "Colors" didn't sit with me, I've never liked BTBAM and I doubt a metalcore band will ever sway me to do so.
I've never really thought of BTBAM as a strictly metalcore band (beside their self titled cd). I mean they obviously have the influences of hardcore and metal, but the musicianship besides the occasional breakdown was always a bit on the prog metal side. The singing on the other hand I can easily leave or take and does really fall into the style of metalcore, so I can understand where you come from with that angle. I checked out a few of the songs that Behold... had on their myspace page and I'm digging the new stuff. Have you heard Colin Marston's other band Indricothere?
Writer/Reviewer
Porcupine Tree's Fear of a Blank Planet is probably my favorite album of the year too Psythe but I kept it out of the running--
It has some "metal" moments (the drum-blast tantrum in "Anesthetise" for one) but I just couldnt have Porcupine Tree running against Behold the Arctopus and Pig Destoyer. Just didn't feel right.
Know how you feel though, I'm still playing it too. Best piece of modern prog in ages.
Now Playing: Rammstein - "Feuer Frei!"
Now Playing
Member
OMFG!! NO mention of Exodus!! common you people just want thrash to die. Exodus' new album was amazing Thrash album. Except for its title track, that sucked so much and it made the album so underated cause its 10 min of crap. But f***.. atleaste mention Exodus!
Writer, Reviewer
Yeah, I was questioning myself when I put FOABP in my list (at the top, as it happens, hahah). But then, it was in the list of 2007 releases, so I took what feeble justification I could and went with it :P
Stephen- Bill Hicks is easily my favourite comedian, that man is hilarious, witty, angry, spiteful, and has some of the best drug and religion theories/philosophies I have ever heard! And then he saves himself with d*** jokes hahah :P
Now Playing: Hedpe - "Mirrorballin"
Im surprised that Nightwish's Dark Passion Play didn't get a mention. Sure, Tarja had pipes, amazing singer and Anette won't ever replace her, but since they had to make a replacement, they made the right choice. I LOVED DPP though. And Fiction by DT is one of my favorites this year, but I think I would have to say that Victory Songs by Ensiferum is my favorite. BTBAM is in my top 5, and to me, Colors is a brilliant album. And for new bands, I would say my favorite is Daath.
The fact that people considered "FOABP" in their metal album of the year list is awesome. I mean yeah they are not metal but they dig into a lot of different styles and genre's (something that countless bands lack) which is awesome.
Aside from PT for a moment, I'm glad to see so many people talking great things about BTBAM and "Colors". When I picked that album up I listened to the album all the way through twice and was speechless. As far as people calling them metalcore sure they have some metalcore elements, but there is so much more than that to them. Most metalcore and hardcore bands I can't stand to listen too, but these guys just have so much more.
Now Playing: "'Blood And Thunder" by Mastodon
Member
i wouldnt vote MH for best album. sure it was kickass,sure it was heavy, but too overyhyped for somthing that was good but not THAT special. strange how 2007 came and went so fast, but it was a good year for metal, with carcass and ATG reuniting to play Wacken and whatnot.
Wow, seriously talk about picking the most mainstream bands. There are plenty of bands in the UNDERGROUND (hey, I almost forgot that this website was called metalundergound.com, but then apparently so did a lot of people), that deserved attention moreso than these ones (Meshuggah I agree with though). I mean suggesting Machine Head as being a winner? Machine Head arn't even metal any more and even when they were...well...over rated springs to mind, don't get me wrong, I like Machine Head, but they are NOT the most accomplised metal band, nor are Lamb of God, Chimaira et al.
Mayhem, Blut Aus Nord, Anaal Nathrakh, The Ocean, Arkhon Infaustus, Primordial (to name a few) and a number of other truly talented metal bands have released albums this year, or played live gigs that have obliterated the competition; but it seems people only really look as far as they can reach and give the awards to the more popular bands or the ones at the forefront of the mainstream metal scene.
It's dissapointing, and as much as I enjoy listening to the bands that have won the awards, they are NOT the best nor most deserving by any stretch of the imagination. Ah well.
BTBAM - Colors
Dillinger Escape Plan - Ire Works
Behold... The Arctopus - Skullgrid
High On Fire - Death Is This Communion
Skeletonwitch - Beyond the Permafrost
Those were my favorites of 2007. I have yet to hear Fiction, but I'll check it out
Now Playing: Between the Buried and Me - White Walls
Top 5 of the year in my opinion
Devildriver - The Last Kind Words
3 Inches Of Blood - Fire Up The Blades
Skeletonwitch - Beyond The Permafrost
Nile - Ithyphallic
Behemoth - The Apostasy
And BTBAM's "colours" was the absolute worst piece of sh** excuse for music I've ever heard, just thought some of you might like to know.
I think for top five albums we are leaving a few out. None of the nominees are bad, but I think they were some better albums released that are less well-known by some people. Here are a few nominess I think should be for best album
Wolves in the Throne Room-Diadem of 12 Stars
Symphony X- Paradise Lost
Evile- Enter the Grave
3 Inches of Blood- Fire up the Blades
Municipal Waste- The Art of Partying
Best Newcomer:
Evile
Most anticipated album
Wintersun-Time
Wow everyone buy PE forgot about Municipal Waste!
My top 5 world be:
Municipal Waste-The Art of Partying
Machine Head- The Blackening
Arch Enemy- Rise Of The Tyrant
Arsonists Get All The Girls- Game of Life
Dimmu Borgir- In Sorte Diaboli
These albums have rocked my socks this year.
Supporter
36,
I think that Nightwish's Dark Passion Play doesn't deserve any mentions. Some tracks are outstanding (The Poet and The Pendulum, Master Passion Greed, 7 Days to the Wolves), but they doesn't make up for the horrible ones (Bye Bye Beautiful, Cadence of her Last Breath, For the Heart I Once had). Oh, and Amaranth is probably the second biggest piece of overrated garbage I've heard in 2007... The others songs are fine and the new singer is better than I've expected, thought...
Writer/Reviewer
I'm a melodeath fan too Tomo.
Been blasting the hell out of Fiction lately.
I like Jrizzle and Agnostic Priests lists. Between the two of them they have half of my top 10 and their albums that weren't on my top 10 in their lists are still strong choices for their genres.
Good call gentlemen.
Now Playing: Porcupine Tree - "Wedding Nails"
Yes, they do. Sorry to disappoint, and I used to be a huge fan of them. Nocturnal sounds the same as Miasma, and they both sound exactly the same as Unhallowed. The only difference is the quality of the recordings, but to me every single song on those discs just run together, besides a few notable tracks and cool intros on Unhallowed and Miasma I cannot tell the difference between any of their songs.
Senior Reviewer
They're just another band ripping off At The Gates to me. Except with metalcore nuances. To the man with the long name above - good call on Primordial, maybe if I'd heard their new album I'd have given it the nod since it's got great reviews. I didn't vote for "Ithyphallic" because apart from the fact is was another Nile classic I thought they could've pushed more from "Annihilation Of The Wicked" - which is picky but hey we only get 5!
Now Playing: Megadeth - "Hangar 18"
Supporter
"I think they got better with their instruments on Nocturnal. It's my favorite of the three cds. But thats just my opinion"
My opinion to, they def. increased their musicianship (especially the drums, i cant believe that guy use to be in All That Remains) on Nocturnal
Goddam I f***in' hate it when retards say that The Black Dahlia Murder is metalcore, Cynic shut your fa**oty-ass mouth. They're not a f***in' metalcore or deathcore band they're melodic death metal. And so what if they're ripping off At The Gates, they do it better than anybody, except maybe The Absence but thats beside the point.
Well dudes I don't think they're metalcore at all, they may dress like one though. And yeah you can argue that they have metalcore elements in their music but you could argue that about a lot of different bands because metalcore robs so much from subgenres of metal. And its also pretty typical for you guys to think they're metalcore because just about everything from the states these days that has a melo-death sound gets called an At The Gates rip-off metalcore and/or deathcore band. Public Execution could you explain how the vocals are metalcore.
And for the record I was in a grumpy mood when I posted before,
MESHUGGAH....are the f***in best band in the world Period!!........................Meshuggah by far are the most inventive band on the face of this Planet they are pushing the boundries of this type of music in 2 new directions.........and they have to be the most underated band ever!!!!...............Too many bands out there in the so called Metal Mainstream scene are absolute sh** Garbage........while a band of this stature continues to remain underground.........Fredrik Thordendal is a f***ing Master at writing riffs that f*** with peoples minds........ yet he continues to go unnoticed by Guitar World magazine and the rest of these stupid magazines......He should have his own Magazine "Fredrik Thordendals" SONIC TERROR". 8-stringed Madness
MESHUGGAH...........GET YOUR a$$ DOWN TOO "AUSTRALIA" AND DESTROY US WITH YOUR SONIC BRUTALITY
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yo bro i know sh** yo niggas??
Founder, owner & programmer
I'll chime in here and say that I voted for 3 Inches of Blood's latest as my #1 album of the year. I wasn't a huge fan of their after hearing their first album or seeing them live once. But I generally liked their style and picked up the new album on a whim and couldn't stop listening to it for well over 3 months. I absolutely love that CD (and so does my 4-year old son)!
My other picks included Himsa (so underrated), Shadows Fall, Dimmu Borgir and Devildriver. It was a tough call to make and I had Down, Machine Head, Demiricous, Divine Heresy and Pelican as the rest of my top 10 I started with.
Post 67, is totally wrong Nocturnal was a break through album for black dahlia murder. Guitars were harder and faster then any of there other albums. and shannon lucas lets 10x more chaos on the drums then any of his other albums hes been on. (BDM, All That Remains)
Top 2 Albums.
The Black Dahlia Murder. {Nocturnal} They don't all sound the same, you never really listen to them If you think so. This album has some of the best drums I've ever heard. It makes Hoglan go whoa, thats pretty good. And the guitars are f***in sick. It really doesn't get much better.(Besides Death)
Megadeth {United abominations} Megadeth's last two cd's have been the best in a decade. Dave proved that he wasn't dead yet, and added another reason why I think this band is better than Metallica.
Behemoth's {The Apostasy} Just sick but I could never place it in front of the other 2 much more mature and talented bands.
Best performance.
Cannibal Corpse {Either Tour}
Slayer { Either Tour }
Megadeth {United Abominations}
Heaven And Hell {With alice cooper and queensryche} Because the tour with megadeth only allowed Megadeth like 9 songs. And Alice Cooper is always a god time, Seriously u should check it out.
Cynic writes:
They're just another band ripping off At The Gates to me. Except with metalcore nuances. To the man with the long name above - good call on Primordial, maybe if I'd heard their new album I'd have given it the nod since it's got great reviews. I didn't vote for "Ithyphallic" because apart from the fact is was another Nile classic I thought they could've pushed more from "Annihilation Of The Wicked" - which is picky but hey we only get 5!
I see what your saying about the similarity. However I think that Black Dahlia Murder is just way better in all aspects.
I love At The gates but I always saw them a faster sweedish 'Death" Rip off. Pretty much all death bands got influence from Chuck and Death. And most sweedish bands sound similar.
My point is I always saw BDM as a spawn of Cannibal Corpse, with melodic stuff thrown in, and a voice like Chuck or Tomas Lindberg from At The Gates. But to say they ripped off ATG is just going a little far. I'd say they have way more CC influence. I also believe that influence is the correct term these days because every thing has been explored and copied.
And everyone ripped off Sabath.
SLAyER writes:
Top 2 Albums.
The Black Dahlia Murder. {Nocturnal} They don't all sound the same, you never really listen to them If you think so.
I own all three of their CD's. As in, going out and buying them, so I do actually listen to them. After listening to all of their CDs a row, I can hear improvements, but nothing catches my ear at all. It all just blended together, and besides a few songs no entire CD is memorable. There's about 2-3 good songs on a CD and every other song I just want to skip through to hear the next good song. It's not that I don't like the band, I just got tired of the sound that they have and most songs on their CD's sound like filler.
I'm sad to see absolutely no love to any power or folk/viking/battle metal bands. nocturnal rites, Sonata arctica and helloweens new albums stayed blasting in my car for quite a while this year, and it technically wasn't released in America in 2007 but Primal Fears new religion is outstanding. Also, turisas really blew me away with the varangian way. I guess no one on the staff likes power metal, and thats a shame.
and my most anticipated album of next year is a tie between the new blind guardian and advantasia. i guess i'm the Nerd of the website.
Turisas album was very good, but I wasn't a huge fan of Helloweens new one.
On BDM- The vocals are done in the exact metalcore style. The growls are core-ish in nature, and the screams definatly sound like something you would hear on a metalcore cd. Not saying they are bad, just saying the definatly have the metalcore nuances.
Writer/Reviewer
I can't speak for the rest of the staff (we really do need an authority on this branch of metal) but viking/folk metal vocals makes me claw at my ears.
I feel embarrassed for the singer(Sonata Arctica especially) every time I hear it.
The instrumental performances often are great but I can't get past the vox. Too shrill....I have this same problem with Dream Theater.
Now Playing: Blotted Science - "The Insomniac"
Writer/Reviewer
Cruor
HATE ETERNAL!!!!!1!!11!!~1!
Love em. They are very much a member of the death metal genre but they are among the best. Their first and third album are at the -very least- worth checking out. New album next month!
Now Playing: Soundgarden - "Pretty Noose"
Writer/Reviewer
Indeed.
I'd love to see Hate Eternal in a package tour with Nile, Behemoth and Mumakil opening. My dream death metal festival if you will. That tour would have so many blasts people would leave the show with heart murmurs.
Now Playing: The Dillinger Escape Plan - "Unretrofied"
Supporter
"expect DOOM metal and sludge to get much more attention next year because it's the best form of metal ever"
Indeed so as it is the only genre where I can get behind any of the sub genres behind it
RM? that would be an awesome tour except Ive never heard of Mumakil
Supporter
And I was agreeing that it is the best sub genre of metal (imo) but I dont think it will gain any more popularity
RM? that sounds pretty cool as I'm just starting to get into grindcore. Any recomendations of where to start with their discography?
Now Playing: Pink Floyd- Pigs (Three Different Kinds)
I will semi agree with you remembermetal, tony kakko's vox (sonata arctica) are an aquired taste, and sometimes he does tap into the "so high its annoying" stratosphere, but still he does lay down some pretty impressive melodies on alot of their work(mostly the earlier stuff). He almost crosses that point too often in "unia" i think they tried too hard to seperate themselves from the power metal genre and try and tap into their progressive side. So i ask everyone don't judge them on the newest album listen to "silence" or winter guild" power metal at its finest.
Some viking/folk vocals are pitiful to say the least... a prime example wold be amon amarth, God bless their vocals patterns are like morse code, very predictable. although that awesome beard windmill thing the singer does in the vid for runes to my memory is pretty wild.
I'd just really like to see more attention be paid to some of the sub genres in 2008 (power, viking, folk, etc) mean honestly there would be dragons and cave trolls runing wild if there were no power metal bands to slay them.
Senior Reviewer
Hey EpicNeckbeard just had to say while my favourite genre maybe tech/prog I love power metal. In fact, I can't take Rhapsody out of my player at the moment. Manowar's new album was ok but could have been better. From average reviews I read of Unia they had changed styles somewhat and so I gave it a miss. I think power metal vocals just take some getting used too, Watchtower and Spiral Architect probably made me take a second listen.
For me you can't go past Bathory for viking metal. "Hammerheart" is wildly overlooked by the metal community - a classic. Personally I think there's heaps of great viking black metal out there too Ulver, Windir, Enslaved, Vintersorg etc.
Now Playing: Jason Becker - "Opus Pocus"
Writer/Reviewer
Cruor
Regarding Norther: I have a few tracks, but not a full album. -Much- more to my liking than COB. The vocals are better and the synths don't spill all over everything. I love synths but they're so massive in COBS music it's a turnoff.
Now Playing: Born of Osiris - "The Takeover"
Supporter
I liked Laiho's vocals on Something Wild and Hatebreeder but Follow the Reaper and onward I can see what you mean. Petri Lindroos is much better I especially love his stuff with Ensiferum. I don't know the synths of COB never bothered me but I still would rather listen to anything by Norther than any of the later day COB albums.
Senior News Correspondent
I also abstained from my votes, not laziness, I just forgot lol. My pick for best album was Onslaught- Killing Peace, hands down. In all fairness though I don;t think I bought too many albums from 2007. I thought The Blackening was overrated as hell though. And in my books, Testament's new album is the most anticipated for 2008. It's the one I'm most looking forward to anyway.
Now playing: Superjoint Ritual- Permanently
Machine Head are a pile of sh**! the best album of 2007 is definalty the UK band Devil Sold His Soul - A Fragile Hope runners up being Trap Them - Seance Prime EP & Parkway Drive - Horizons. Trust me anyone still listening to garbage like Machine Head take note from "Southern Slums" above and pick up Colors by Between The Buried And Me. Machine Head hehe...
whoever the retard is who said metalcore is dying, get your facts straight before posting. metalcore is actually growing if you have done some research, i respect anykind of metal, but just setting the right facts here, plus i dont think led zeppelin is verry metal, or metal at all =P
Hello sh** heads, f***ing p***ys,pieces of sh**,High School and college b****es.Best 2007 Behemoth-Apostasy,Nile-Ithyphallic,MoonSpell-Under Satanae,Six Feet Under-Commandment,Destruction-Thrash. Anthems,Devin Twonsend-Ziltoid,Dethklok-The DethAlbum,Exodus The Atrocity Exhibition,Immolation-Shadows in the light,Susperia-Cut From, Stone,Novembers Doom-The Novella Reservoir,Akercocke-Antichrist,Pain-Psalms, of Extinction,Vital Remains-Icons of Evil.THIS IS PURE f***ING BRUTAL METAL.
where are the ones that really matter this year... or at least should really matter
Epica - Devine Conspericy
Within Temptation - The Heart of Everything (could have won the biggest disapointment)
Nightwish - Dark Passion Play (could have also won biggest disapointment)
After Forever - After Forever
Dimmu Borgir's cd could have also won an award for a huge disapointment.
Lacuna Coil - Karmacode (I know they are bad but it is still a h--- of a lot better than uhmm in flames)
Nile - Ithyphallic
Behemoth - The Apostasy
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um, best metal album of 2007, MACHINE HEAD's 'THE BLACKENING'... by a f***ing mile!!!