Ok I know this isn't melodeath related but I'm genuinely curious about people's age/ average age in this sub.

I'm 21 for reference (Gen Z)

Alot of people of my generation/age don't really listen to melodeath or extreme type of metal, they kinda hate it (experience from songs posted in subs with my age group/generation)

Are you someone who tends to either lean into the side of melo-death that keeps more of the aggression and heaviness and barely / never uses clean vocals or into the side of melo-death which lays down some of the heaviness in favor for more cleans and more melody ?

Me personally, I prefer heavier melo-death without clean vocals with bands such as : Intestine Baalism, Arch Enemy (from Johan Liiva until Angela Gossow Doomsday Machine era) , Quo Vadis, at the gates, nightrage, cenotaph, arsis and other bands. (While you’re at it recommend me more bands of this kind)

Let me know your opinion, as I’m genuinely curious :)

I'll go first:

Scar Symmetry's current vocalists are excellent, despite individually not being as talented as Alvestam. Together they are incredible, have fantastic vocal ranges, and continue to create amazing albums/tracks that are on par with early Scar Symmetry.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DRZWXMUgp0x/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

This looks blatantly pre planned from my gut feeling. The last album didn't do well and the band needed a refresh. I suspect something (or someone) big is coming to try and do another reset of the band.

Mine was Burry Tomorrow, then I had discovered Children of Bodom and my life changed for ever.

It really is my preference with melodic death metal, when the band does a mix of harsh and clean vocals. I've been checking out Insomnium, it seems like they don't do clean vocals? Which bands do you guys recommend who do this type of vocal mix?

I nominate Dark Tranquility- The Gallery

I'll start with one of the no brainers.

Garden of Shadows. I still hear people talk about this band in 2026, and they only released one full length album in 2000 and disappeared.

Some great songs:

Garden of Shadows - Oracle Moon

Garden of Shadows - Citadel of Dreams

Garden of Shadows - Desert Shadows

Another one I think less people know about.

Absence of the Sun. They released 3 EPs between 2008 and 2013 and just disappeared. Which is a shame because I haven't found any bands that quite match their sound yet. I just checked. They have 26 monthly listeners ... Their shit is too good folks!!

Some great songs:

Absence of the Sun - Blood of the Innocents

Absence of the Sun - Will Drift Away

Absence of the Sun - Reflections of Time

It could be a riff, a solo, a lick, the chorus or bridge of a song but what melodic hook do you think is the most iconic in melodeath? Like, the first melody you think of when thinking of the genre.

For me, it's probably the opening riff to While We Sleep by Insomnium. That is so damn catchy and iconic.

There's also obviously the 5-7-8 riffs and the thousands of variations of it.

And I think the main melody of Only For The Weak deserves a mention too.

I was talking to a bartender in Thailand. He said I looked like a rockstar and asked if I listened to metal. We started talking artists and songs. He asked me my number one top favorite song of all time and asked to hear it. I felt put on the spot. So many came to mind. I ended up playing him "Dethklok - Castratikron" and singing along. That is a favorite, but its not my number one top favorite song of all time.

Its actually "Skeletonwitch - Infernal Ressurection" I just had to get that off my chest. Its been gnawing at me all day.

Other contenders are "Black Dahlia Murder - Carbonized in Cruciform", "Necrophagist - Fermented Offal Discharge", and "Arsis - The Face of my Innocence"

Maybe it gives you chills or brings a tear to your eyes, i'm not necessarily talking about the lyrics' significance as it could just be the melody or an emotional solo

I have a handful:

Wintersun - Sons of winter and stars at around the 9m30s mark always gets me

Insomnium - While we sleep

Be'lakor - Countless skies at the outro

Shylmagoghnar - I am the abyss

1. Dark Tranquility - Damage Done

2. In Flames - A Sense of Purpose

3. Æther Realm - Tarot

4. Scar Symmetry - Holographic Universe

5. Soilwork - Stabbing the Drama

6. Amon Amarth - Twilight of the Thunder God

7. Children of Bodom - Hate Crew Deathroll

8. Disarmonia Mundi - The Isolation Game

9. Insomnium - Shadows of the Dying Sun

10. Darkest Hour - Undoing Ruin

Honourable mentions: Nightrage - Sweet Vengeance, Bloodred Hourglass - Godsend, Arch Enemy - Doomsday Machine, Kalmah - They Will Return, Mors Principium Est - …And Death Said Live, Omnium Gatherum - New World Shadows (yes, I know that’s a lot, but there’s just so many amazing bands in this genre that I couldn’t go without mentioning)

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Insomnium's Since the Day it All Came Down is an atmospheric masterpiece, and in my opinion, still to this day their best album. Every song is amazing and its so chocked full of melodies and soundscapes. Great vocals, peak songwriting, and no dull moments.

It often gets overlooked for Above the Weeping World, which is an amazing album in its own right, but it has a bit more of an aggressive, straightforward melodeath sound. It has more of a Damage Done vibe, while Since the Day is almost Opethian in its sound.

The production is not as good but its not bad by any means, just a bit more raw and less polished, but the production sounds a lot better than One for Sorrow, and better than some other older melodeath GOATs like Projector or Versus the World.

It might be my favorite melodeath album, or at least in the top 5.

(or a font close to comic sans)

It doesn’t even necessarily have to be your favorite song, just the one that most perfectly embodies what Melodeath is for you.

I’ve made like a million posts/comments about this masterpiece. But for new people who are getting into MDM/Metal or anyone really.

This album in my opinion has to be the best Metal record ever recorded.

Now, before I get annihilated listen, for me there is a big difference in creating a genre, pioneering a genre and mastering your own art. Soilwork have always been good and in the beginning they were pretty similar to the rest of the Gothenburg scene up until In Flames revolutionized Metal in the year 2000. Soilwork have always been masterful but when The Living Infinite dropped nobody could’ve pulled that off, a double album with nothing but 10/10 songs in it. To be fair I didn’t think they could top it but holy shit they didn’t just top it they buried it (TLI is still a 10/10 album).

There isn’t a single micro-detail about this album that’s bad, and of course I believe Death in General being the best song ever recorded.

What do you guys believe, and to those who haven’t listened to it… PLEASE DO!

Love you all :)

From the very moment I heard The Gale, I knew I was listening to something so hauntingly beautiful. Give it a listen if you haven't yet!

We all know about Children of Bodom, In Flames, At The Gates, etc… I wanna hear the deep cuts, the ones that slipped through the cracks of popularity. Let’s hear them.

Which is your pick? For me it's very tough choosing between Winter's Gate and Vessels but i go with Vessels.

I think In Flames is the unfortunate most obvious pick. Listen I get it, they’re artists and they wanna “evolve” their style into however it fits them creatively and I support them as musicians on that basis. However, it’s hard to look past the contrast of how comically average their new music is compared to the god-like heights of their 90’s era.

Over the past few months I’ve started to come a lot more favorable to Dark Tranquillity, and their past 2 albums are surprisingly solid! Glad to see them still going strong and I hope for the best in the future

Thoughts/discussions?

C

He's my favorite melodic death metal artist of all time. He has a solo album named Moontower and its my favorite album of all time. He also has an album that tells a whole amazing story, with the same music style as Moontower. Edge of Sanity: Crimson II is it. Masterpieces. Must listens. Any of yall ever listen to these or like these?