Abruptum - De Profundis Mors vas Cousumet

Lamb Of God - Ashes of The Wake

Withered Beauty - s/t

Pretty decent melodeath. Has some really melodic Ideas going on; the riffing is overall very solid and the vocals are nicely done in this context. However, it is a touch long for the Ideas present (53-ish minutes).

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White Wizzard - Over the Top

Amorphis - The Karelian Isthmus

Pretty solid record. I've never been nearly as big of an Amorphis fan as seemingly everything else, but this is definitely one of the more unique Death Metal records you'll find. Largely mid-paced, but the band manages to mix in that fairly prominent yet tasteful folk influence that goes a long way to giving the music character. (compared to their peers) The riffs are real good, and at times the songs are genuinely epic and sweeping ("Warrior's Trial", "The Pilgrimage", and "Lost Name of God").

This has never been my favourite Finndeath record by any Means (I've always preferred Demigod, Demilich, and Sentenced's Death Metal works over it), but it's definitely one worth having. Actually, now that I think about it, it's probably a good record to break somebody into Death Metal with...

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The Duskfall-The Shallow End

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Child of the Twilight - Novembre

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Last.fm: Mercenarion

King Diamond - Fatal Portrait

Solid record for sure, but unfortunately it kinda suffers being sandwiched between Mercyful Fate's godlike records and the classy Abigail. At times it's just as good as the best of the man's material (first three songs especially), but at others it feels like the King still needed to work out the kinks, especially on tracks like "Halloween" and the closer. Also, the instrumental is totally pointless.

Still though, i'd be lying if I didn't say this is a good one to have if you're a traditional metal fan in general. Those first three songs genuinely fucking Kick ass, the production is great, and the performances from the whole band are great. (Michael Denner and Andy Laroque's leads are stellar throughout)

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Samon - Eluveitie

Essence - Unlimited Chaos

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