From: Psycho_Kenshin | #100 But, anyways I mean you crap on everybody's favorite stuff they're posting, isn't it okay to turn the microscope around a little bit once in a while? =P It's all good.
Hey, crap on my favourite stuff if you want, that's not what you're actually doing though.
But yeah, one thing for example is just how you're talking about this song from Onmyouza, a freakin' metal band. You describing their song like its a pop song that just has some "metal influences", well that is pretty much what directly lead to this thread of the conversation, it seems some metal you don't even consider metal. You know metal can have soft parts and hard parts right? There's nothing about that song that isn't heavy metal songwriting.
What I mean there is that a lot of the vocal sections have an electric guitar in the background that isn't really prominent, and everything else going on wouldn't feel out of place if you put it in a "post pop songs" topic (a lot of that is admittedly just the singing, which as I said makes me think I'm watching an anime intro). It's metal, but it feels like it's a metal skeleton being used to support something that would have worked without it. I may have overstated it (and yeah, not denying that I overstate a lot of stuff in this topic), I guess the best comparison is Metallica's S&M - it is "orchestral metal" if you want to use that term, but one of those things feels a lot more significant than the other (and amusingly enough, I'd probably have liked the song you posted if it weren't metal at all and just expanded everything else to fill the gap).
And personally well I'd rank things a bit differently, since average is well average, which with all the entertainment that's available could almost be called boring. You could say you're enjoying some stuff that's average, but going a full point below average to 4/10 and we're talking about a negative experience, even if only mildly negative, I'd say.
I don't think the quantity of entertainment affects the quality; "average quality" (which is a nebulous term but defining it better would be a topic all of its own) is still the same thing, and my standards basically say that if it isn't enjoyable, it's well below average - you could look at as high standards ("you just have no talent if you can't get to this level") or low standards ("most music someone put time into isn't going to be absolute ****"). Since I like weird analogies, I'd rate a peanut butter sandwich with fairly stale bread as around 4/10. It's not really good and it could be better, but I still enjoy eating it.
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Mistake you're making - overlooking the fact that we might not want to be saved.
Panthera posted... I guess the best comparison is Metallica's S&M - it is "orchestral metal" if you want to use that term, but one of those things feels a lot more significant than the other (and amusingly enough, I'd probably have liked the song you posted if it weren't metal at all and just expanded everything else to fill the gap).
How do they have anything in common and why do you consider Onmyouza orchestral? Because they have a flute? And if she doesn't belong in metal, well why is Queensryche metal? She's more intense than that guy.
And how does it sound like a pop song? It's a metal song, I mean I'm sure you get that say Nightwish is metal, and that entire song is heavier and more classically metal in style in comparison.
Metal is a broad genre, and the melodic and well prettier elements are an excellent part of it to compliment the heaviness, especially to bring variety.
-- One Piece: Pirates with style! -= Metal Gear Solid: Tactical Espionage Action =-
From: Psycho_Kenshin | #102 How do they have anything in common and why do you consider Onmyouza orchestral?
I don't.
It's a comparison to the relative mixture of elements within the music.
And if she doesn't belong in metal, well why is Queensryche metal? She's more intense than that guy.
It has nothing to do with "intensity", whatever that's intended to mean in this case. Only that her voice is too "pretty" for lack of a better term, which is an obvious issue for someone who prefers metal (across pretty much all sub-genres) to be fairly raw. Geoff Tate definitely has more of an edge to his voice than she does, although a lot of it simply boils down to her being female, and I just can't think of a case where a female singer with a voice that really satisfies what I like in metal when singing in a particularly "pretty" manner (well, there's actually one and I forget who she is beyond that she appeared on an Ayreon album, which narrows it down to "she's a human being on this planet" <_< I'll remember eventually!). Hence me liking female vocalists who take a thrashier approach, or...I don't really know the word I'd use for Christine Davis from Christian Mistress but I adore her singing, probably because it has a distinct character and grittier feel to it.
And how does it sound like a pop song? It's a metal song, I mean I'm sure you get that say Nightwish is metal, and that entire song is heavier and more classically metal in style in comparison.
The vocals and flute/whatever other extra stuff may have been in there. And I didn't say it isn't metal, just that the stuff that makes it metal seems kind of superfluous and everything that I associate with other genres seems more important (and is probably the better half; I'd have outright hated it if I didn't like her voice, for example).
Metal is a broad genre, and the melodic and well prettier elements are an excellent part of it to compliment the heaviness, especially to bring variety.
The problem is that the melodic and pretty elements you can add to metal are so often abused and used to the detriment of the finished product. Too many bands seem to have a song writing process of "play bland riff, add keyboard layers" or similar, and the bands who really use atmosphere and melodic elements well get overlooked because they simply aren't popular enough to get the same attention. And again, it's pretty weird to get this "metal is a broad genre" thing coming up considering this whole topic has been largely focused on a very small portion of it.
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Mistake you're making - overlooking the fact that we might not want to be saved.
From: Psycho_Kenshin | #104 Onmyouza - Tsuki ni Murakumo, Hana ni Kaze
For comparison's sake, this doesn't feel like it works as anything other than a metal song. The guitar work actually feels central to the song at pretty much all times.
Still don't care much for it though! It has a bit of inconsistency in tone (some darker sounding parts that just...give way to being super cheerful abruptly) and I still don't like this style of singing on top of riffs that are trying to be aggressive (although once again it's the parts of the songs that don't try to be aggressive that I end up liking the most). Also, at 0:25 we get a concrete example of something I hate. I'm not well versed in musical terminology nor guitar terms to define it better than saying "listen". Overall...it doesn't really bother me but most of its strengths are things that I'm not hugely into, so that limits its ability to appeal to me in the same way that the best made sauerkraut still wouldn't appeal to me because it's sauerkraut (although not to that extreme, since I don't mind this music whereas sauerkraut is probably the most disgusting thing I've ever eaten).
3.5/10
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We clasped our hands, our hands in praise of a conquerors right to tyranny
Panthera posted... it's pretty weird to get this "metal is a broad genre" thing coming up considering this whole topic has been largely focused on a very small portion of it.
I don't see what those things have to do with eachother. I'm just pointing out a lot of the stuff you consider not-metal or "extra" is part of metal. Guitar and a "rawness" isn't all there is to metal of course. And lots of male vocalists in metal sing very clean and not very aggressively, like the Queensryche guy mentioned. There's nothing about her vocals that makes them seem "not metal", granted if that's not your scene that's not your scene.
Plus I've posted a fair variety, I mean sure I haven't posted a funeral doom band yet but still.
-- One Piece: Pirates with style! -= Metal Gear Solid: Tactical Espionage Action =-
Panthera posted... Also, at 0:25 we get a concrete example of something I hate. I'm not well versed in musical terminology nor guitar terms to define it better than saying "listen".
The riff right after the guitar wailing ends? Also the riff we hear at 41? I gotta say not sure what quality it is you're saying you hate there.
I think it's bout time we gave the power ballad a spin in this topic,
Dream Evil - The Chosen Ones
-- One Piece: Pirates with style! -= Metal Gear Solid: Tactical Espionage Action =-
From: Psycho_Kenshin | #106 I don't see what those things have to have to do with eachother. I'm just pointing out a lot of the stuff you consider not-metal or "extra" is part of metal. Guitar and a "rawness" isn't all there is to metal of course. Plus I've posted a fair variety, I mean sure I haven't posted a funeral doom band yet but still.
They have a lot to do with each other! You can't really call me out for having a very narrow view of metal and justify it by saying I'm rejecting most stuff posted (even though there's been relatively little that I've really hated) when the stuff presented to me has itself been very narrow; it doesn't make sense since I could have a view so broad that it literally only excludes the fairly limited selection given in this topic.
Again, there's been very little saying stuff is not metal, just that it doesn't really fit well with the aspects of the genre that make it worth listening to. I mean deathcore is more metal than not in general and I hate it; breakdowns are definitely a part of metal but that doesn't mean I can't say that a lot of the implementation of them is god awful and shouldn't have been done that way. Most times I've called something extra/unnecessary has been "in this specific song this element is contributing nothing except maybe some annoyance" anyway.
And also again, we haven't really touched onto my favourite sub-genre at all (and I'll argue all day and night that it has no less variety than any other sub-genre), next to nothing in the realm of black or doom metal, a thrash song as a joke...other than that it's been almost all power/trad with a bit of prog thrown in here and there.
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We clasped our hands, our hands in praise of a conquerors right to tyranny
Well again saying what is and isn't metal in regards to Onmyouza is what lead me to that whole point, so I don't see what the majority of this topic being power metal or traditional heavy metal has to do with that.
And hey, I posted a song by the best thrash band there is (Overkill) so that's some thrash for ya, hell here's another one.
Overkill - Rotten to the Core
-- One Piece: Pirates with style! -= Metal Gear Solid: Tactical Espionage Action =-
From: Psycho_Kenshin | #108 I think it's bout time we gave the power ballad a spin in this topic,
Dream Evil - The Chosen Ones
This is definitely not destined for disaster in any way!
Hmm, I've heard this song before, wonder when that happened.
I do like the intro. From there...it's kind of a mixed bag. Going pretty crazy on the layers of vocals in the chorus but it's otherwise showing admirable restraint; I was expecting to have multiple vocal lines and eighty separate keyboard tracks doing different things by now. This is actually a fairly nice example given the ongoing discussion; the keyboards here are largely a background affair, giving extra weight to the vocals and guitar but not burying or overwhelming them. It's not doing anything too special and I do think the song kind of blew its load early by having the climax be just a repetition of the chorus, which is a bit strange on a song that seems to want to sound "epic" where you'd expect a more dramatic ending, but it's overall pretty solid and the flaws are basically just "this aspect could have been better" as opposed to "just rewrite the whole damn thing, it's better than trying to salvage this mess".
5/10
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We clasped our hands, our hands in praise of a conquerors right to tyranny
From: Psycho_Kenshin | #110 Well again saying what is and isn't metal in regards to Onmyouza is what lead me to that whole point, so I don't see what the majority of this topic being power metal or traditional heavy metal has to do with that.
Disliking elements of one band is even more absurd for saying I have a narrow view of metal, and the rest of the topic is a necessary thing to tackle since pretty much everything you point out as me not liking is something I've said can be done right but rarely is.
And hey, I posted a song by the best thrash band there is (Overkill) so that's some thrash for ya, hell here's another one.
Overkill - Rotten to the Core
Sabbat > Overkill but rest assured that it is nice to get some more thrash.
Unfortunately thrash is also probably the hardest genre for me to do a write up on, especially when it's both very traditional thrash and non-awful thrash (fancy experiments or just being **** are easy subjects to discuss). Sadly there really isn't a lot for me to say beyond "it's good and I'd headbang to it if it didn't risk my headphones falling off".
Why must some of the best things be the ones I have the least to say about :(
7.5/10
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Mistake you're making - overlooking the fact that we might not want to be saved.
On the continuing metal whatever argument, you said yourself you don't think the singer is suited for metal. You also described it as a pop song with metal influences, that I find issue in that on the subject of defining metal is not absurd, hey call me crazy.
Panthera posted... Sabbat > Overkill but rest assured that it is nice to get some more thrash.
You said yourself you don't listen to enough Overkill, the number of excellent thrash albums they have is staggering. Nobody comes close in the quantity/quality department, especially not Sabbat. Plus for me Sabbat kinda lacks of a lot of that attitude I love about thrash. But yeah I'm a big fan of quantity and quality side-by-side, big reason why Motorhead is my fav band. Speaking of...
Motorhead - Mean Machine
-- One Piece: Pirates with style! -= Metal Gear Solid: Tactical Espionage Action =-
I don't listen to enough Overkill, true, but that doesn't really change my position. I tend to prefer bands with a small number of great albums than ones with a larger number of good ones, and Overkill is definitely in the latter category for me, while both History of a Time to Come and Dreamweaver are some of my favourite thrash albums there are (not that Sabbat is necessarily my favourite thrash band, though they're definitely in close contention if nothing else). And I'm willing to overlook some lesser stuff as long it isn't too prominent or too awful, which also plays into the consistency thing.
Oh right, Motorhead. Fun and catchy and full of distinct character, you'd have to do something pretty dumb for that to not be at least enjoyable.
6.5/10
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Mistake you're making - overlooking the fact that we might not want to be saved.
From: Psycho_Kenshin | #115 Megadeth - Wake Up Dead
Not My Last Words/10
Okay okay I'll be fair. This song kicks ass and is as good a way as any to kick off a classic thrash album. Dave Mustaine is another of those singers who is good simply because he brings a distinctive presence to things. Oh yeah, great riffs. And Megadeth was a lot better about not burying the bass than a lot of metal bands have been throughout history. I don't think I've ever payed specific attention to the drums on this song before and now I'm mostly through it so it's kind of too late to formulate a strong opinion <_< As an extra...thing? I've always been in the camp of those who choose Rust in Peace as the best Megadeth album. That's...relevant.
7.5/10
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We clasped our hands, our hands in praise of a conquerors right to tyranny
From: Psycho_Kenshin | #117 Sentenced - The War Ain't Over
This guitar tone feels a tad lacking in punch. Meh, not that huge a deal. And really only noticeable in the beginning so maybe I got used to it fast. On second thought yeah, it is a bit weaker than I'd really like but it's only by a fairly minor amount. Anyway this is alright. Reminds me a lot of some other band I can't quite place. It does suffer the awkward transitions curse a bit though. Good amount of energy, even if the clunky transitions hurt a bit. Final ten seconds or so kind of suck. Otherwise, not bad.
6/10
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Mistake you're making - overlooking the fact that we might not want to be saved.
From: Psycho_Kenshin | #119 The Black League - Empiria
Huh, well some parts in the first minute have the least prominent vocals I've heard since the last time I listened to the newest Von Goat album (so...since a day or two ago <_< ). This is fairly catchy, lead guitar was annoying me briefly but now I'm not sure why because it isn't anymore. Very conclusive statement there. I do know that I'm not hugely fond of the guitar solo towards the end, it's one of those "throw a solo in for the sake of having one" moments (AKA way too many god damn solos, probably the most over used element in rock and metal, yeah I said it). Aside from that it's decent.
6.5/10
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Mistake you're making - overlooking the fact that we might not want to be saved.
Yeah. I'm not entirely sure how I go about judging this one because I can't decide whether to be serious or not. So instead I'll be boring and say "it's alright"
Hey look it's the one band in the folk metal category that doesn't just spam fiddles and **** all over the place while rambling about alcohol. Okay that's mainly Korpiklaani but still, too much of the genre is goofy as hell. So do Primordial fare any better by virtue of being more serious and better written and featuring one of the most memorable and emotive vocalists in the genre and...okay you know the answer already! Primordial is probably my overall favourite band, it's between them, Rush and Gorguts.
Empire Falls kicks ass (although it's kind of a shame that it is the most popular song from this album, No Nation On This Earth is better). Good build up throughout the song, both in the intro and the properly inserted softer section in the second half. It's not too big a shift from the rest of the song so it doesn't seem jarring, and it has some variety of its own that prevents it from getting boring (contrast that to, say, Green Carnation's Light of Day, Day of Darkness and its eight year long interlude that kills all momentum, annoyingly right before the best parts of the song). And of course, the main riff is a beast and as mentioned, Nemtheanga's voice is the perfect fit for this band, even if Empire Falls doesn't show off his less aggressive capabilities as well as, say, The Coffin Ships or The Mouth of Judas. Killer song.
8/10 (as a side note, this is really more of an 8.2, but I don't want to get into those kinds of numbers or I'll drive myself nuts).
From: WingedInsignia | #123 I have listened to a ridiculous amount of music yet virtually no metal. Here, have something you've probably heard already.
Melvins - Night Goat
Haven't actually heard it before! This is a band I actually have pretty little exposure to for how big a name they are.
So yeah this is pretty good. Fuzzy and heavy with slightly odd vocals, gee what a shock to get those things from a band that's known for its influences on the drone/sludge/doom/stoner realm of rock/metal. My one notable criticism is that it *is* a bit repetitive, although the last minute or so shakes it up enough to keep that a very brief problem.
7/10
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Mistake you're making - overlooking the fact that we might not want to be saved.
From: SSBDarren64 | #125 Blind Guardian - And Then There Was Silence
Tormenting me with lengthy penetration of my ears, huh. That was the most overly forced innuendo I've ever made. I apologize.
Alright as said before I do like Blind Guardian, though I prefer their earlier stuff. A Night at the Opera is probably the epitome of "excess" in their discography, to the point that it actually starts to be somewhat good. I mean, it doesn't absolutely suck despite the fact that it really should, so they must have been doing a good job, right? I'm not sure that makes sense but it does in my head and it's not like anyone by this point is expecting me to say things that make sense anywhere else so I think I'm in the clear.
Alright, And Then There Was Silence. I'm kind of tempted to give it an extremely short write up, just for the sake of irony (rant for three paragraphs over a three minute song, devote ten words to a fourteen minute one) but...I've already gone on too long for that to really work. This is an enjoyable song. It's not amazing or the best ever or anything, it still suffers from being overdone (especially the vocal layering, holy crap), but it's pretty decently structured to have a lot of build ups to climaxes that decently transition into the next stretch of build. Also, it hits probably its fanciest, most in your face segment fairly early on, which is often a bad thing...except that the grand finale of the song is actually surprisingly restrained. It's not very often that you see a long song have a fairly low key ending. It's kind of a difficult thing to pull off but it's pretty cool when you make it work and the fact that they did it here earns this song a lot more leniency than it would otherwise get, since it rewards you for listening all the way through.
Oh hey this is turning into a write up that IS proportional to the length of the song. I should not be too surprised by that, frankly.
But I'm also pretty much done now. Will point out that the section around 10:20 ("the nightmare shall be over now") is unpleasantly cheesy and probably the worst part of the entire song. Thankfully it's fairly brief and the next part leading into the chorus is good. Consider yourself spared for a segment that would earn significant scorn in any other song, Blind Guardian! Also did I do all of this without mentioning that I like Hansi Kurch's voice, at least when I can pick it out from all the layers (many of which are itself I believe <_< )? I do. He's good. And this is as good a time as any to say that I like Blind Guardian as a live band in large part because they can't bring all their studio magic to a live setting, and cutting their music down to its more basic elements tends to be a good thing. Haven't heard this particular song live though so no idea how THAT would work. And now I'm getting really off topic so let's end it here.
7/10
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We clasped our hands, our hands in praise of a conquerors right to tyranny
I know you hate power metal. but come on. Edmonton bros?
What's an Edmonton? Sounds like a fictional place where it's doesn't snow overnight.
So, Gamma Ray. I think we can all see where this is going. But it's not going to be quite as harsh as some might expect, since there's a nice lack of stupid flowery crap being thrown in where it doesn't belong. Riffs are alright, I don't mind the vocals, overall it's another of those cases where the problems are more just being kind of uninteresting as opposed to committing any mortal sins. I guess it goes on a bit too long towards the end.
4.5/10
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We clasped our hands, our hands in praise of a conquerors right to tyranny
Yuck. Weird bursts of chugging and ill-fitting keys abound. These harsh vocals are kind of "meh" and I don't know that it works for this kind of music, although they're better than the clean vocals that are highly unpleasant. The solo is...actually kind of good. Huh. I'm as surprised as anyone by that. What follows is unsurprisingly bad though! So overall this kind of sucks.
3/10
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We clasped our hands, our hands in praise of a conquerors right to tyranny
Oh god. Dream Theater. My Edmonton bro from a few posts ago better call the police, downtown rampage impending.
You know I have a rule that I never mention about how I avoid live versions and every live version I've been suggested in either version of the topic has had me say "eh, fine, this time". Panthera, man of firm convictions.
I don't object too much at first, it's only when LaBrie begins to sing that I get rather unhappy (his voice just annoys the hell out of me in most songs). That pretty much marks the moment I lose the ability to enjoy this, even if I were to try. Will be fair and say that this doesn't bother me nearly as much as a lot of Dream Theater songs do. I will point out that it still contains a perfect example of how this band thinks that even a song that's trying very hard to be emotional and meaningful is just as much cause to find some place to insert needless guitar wank as anything else. That and LaBrie being ass are the biggest criticisms I have of this song.
4.5/10
From: Psycho_Kenshin | #132 Metallica - Master of Puppets
Hey it's Metallica from the time where they had only just started their decline from being decent! Two main problems with this song are being a lot longer than it needed to be, and that it's rather lacking in energy. Fairly mid-paced, not particularly aggressive, the riffs aren't really doing anything special...it just doesn't have much punch. On the plus side I kind of like Hetfield as a thrash vocalist, at least during the 80s. Also I'll be nice and say that this is a case of a softer interlude that doesn't feel out of place. It doesn't kill the momentum of the song and it's...actually not bad at all. Kind of shocked, I don't remember thinking too highly of this section in the past. Fairly decent transition back into the heavier sections too, although the backing vocals in this part come across as a bit silly.
All in all, it's nothing special, and Metallica absolutely does not deserve the massive praise they get where everyone and their mothers say "oh their old stuff was amazing! They were the best before they started to suck in the 90s!" and this is only a "classic" in a historical sense, not a quality one. Still, it's an enjoyable song.
5.5/10
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We clasped our hands, our hands in praise of a conquerors right to tyranny
How did I get ninja'd while listening to two songs forty minutes after the last post?!
From: LolMyAlt | #133 Megadeth - Tornado of Souls
What a fitting follow up song!
Over time I've actually come to think this is one of the lesser tracks on Rust in Peace, in the lower half at least. But as I believe I alluded to earlier (boy I like the word "alluded", don't I?), Rust in Peace is my favourite Megadeth album and fairly far up there as far as thrash as a whole goes, so that's...hmm. What's the opposite of damning with faint praise? Saving with faint criticism? Doesn't really come across too well.
So we've got good riffs and a spiffy guitar solo (this being one of those albums that have consistently good solos, a rarity) and...not sure what else to say. Curse you, tendency to have an easier time writing about stuff I dislike! It lacks the in your face intensity of the title track or Take No Prisoners and isn't as interesting as Holy Wars, but it's still pretty good.
7/10
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Mistake you're making - overlooking the fact that we might not want to be saved.
The name "Lullacry" already has me wanting to give it a 0/10.
I'm kind of surprised by how prominent the bass is in this song. Not caring for much else that's going on here but that much is cool at least! The nicest thing to say about this is that it's nowhere near as atrocious as that name.
3.5/10
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Mistake you're making - overlooking the fact that we might not want to be saved.
I think you got confused about which song you were posting there bro <_<
From: Psycho_Kenshin | #141 Within Temptation - Caged
Liked the intro. Then I didn't like it anymore. Wow this woman's voice is really, really annoying at times. Also there's an annoying blip of static periodically and I don't know if that's the song or youtube being dumb or my laptop being dumb or something but it's dumb whatever it is. Dumb dumb dumb, I like that word right now. Ever have it happen where a word suddenly looks really weird to you even though it's totally mundane? Man, just look where my mind goes when I force myself to keep typing even when the thing I'm supposed to be writing about isn't really catching my attention. I guess I'll note that it's not going too overboard on the symphonic elements, they don't appeal to me much but they're not drowning everything with stupidity so that's a plus. I think I'll end up giving this song a score of...
3.5/10
From: VeryInsane | #142
Boo.
Yay! Not going to lie, it's pretty stereotypical to think of this as one of Emperor's best songs, but I fit the stereotype to a tee. Also, this is one of my favourite mangled English song titles out there. Probably because it's such a minor mangling. So yeah, this has all the strengths that the whole In the Nightside Eclipse album has, a chilling atmosphere, raw but not excessively so (which is good when you're writing music that is often not focused on aggression), tasteful use of keyboards (one of the least "symphonic" symphonic black metal albums, and better off for it), a rather oddly appealing vocal style, and of course some great riffs and generally solid song writing. It's also stereotypical to say this, but hey, this really is one of those albums that feels very right to listen to on a winter's night, walking alongside a river. Done so a couple of times, in fact. Does go on a little bit longer than it needed to, since the background spoken word stuff at the end isn't all that compelling, but eh, minor flaw.
8/10
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We clasped our hands, our hands in praise of a conquerors right to tyranny
From: greengravy294 | #144 Oops. Was gonna link that but I decided on another one.
I probably would have liked the Blind Guardian one more <_<
It's pretty strange when I hear a power metal song where the vocals starting is what makes me say "oh thank god" because man that intro was all kinds of awkward. Oh damn, similar stuff happens at other points. When this is just guitar, drums and vocals it's only sort of bad but every time anything else is noticeable it gets painful.
3/10
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Mistake you're making - overlooking the fact that we might not want to be saved.
Was wondering when a Priest song would be posted and which one it would be (this would be embarrassing if it turns out there has been one already and I've just forgotten it <_<)
So anyway. Good band, good album, song itself is pretty straight forward and simple, which is hard to talk about when you aren't good with music terminology (which I quite clearly am not). Fun song, not one of their best or anything, but I like it. Definitely like the bridge/interlude towards the end, nice and creepy.
6.5/10
From: Psycho_Kenshin | #146 Eluveitie - Havoc
Oh dear, folk metal that isn't Primordial (or two other bands I won't mention because I want to see if anyone will ever mention them), this could get ugly.
This is rather funny, when it isn't doing anything folk at all it's actually not too shabby, just standard melodic death metal fare with a fairly decent guitar tone backing it up. It's not setting the world on fire or anything but it's not unpleasant. Unfortunately pretty much every single time the "folk" part of "folk metal" kicks in, it's extremely ill-fitting and silly. I don't get the appeal of this kind of thing, it's just taking non-traditional (for metal) instruments and playing something fast and assuming that it just must be awesome when you put it over electric guitars and harsh vocals, even though they don't really complement each other at all most of the time.
4/10
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Mistake you're making - overlooking the fact that we might not want to be saved.
From: greengravy294 | #148 Children of Bodom - Silent Night, Bodom Night (this time with the right link)
Hey look, it's the power metal flavour of melodic death metal. Dull riffs and my god the keyboard/guitar "solo" section is bad. Oh and random switches in tone and speed for no reason, throw a galloping riff that was already getting tired when Iced Earth started abusing it to hell in there just for fun, the best thing about this is that it nicely demonstrates a lot of different annoying things and thus is a useful example if nothing else.
2.5/10
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We clasped our hands, our hands in praise of a conquerors right to tyranny