What's Still Great 20 Years Later?

Recommendations, discussions, questions & debates regarding the godly Metal of olde...
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nightsblood
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What's Still Great 20 Years Later?

Post by nightsblood »

It's hard for this old geezer to realize that albums released in 1998 are now 20 years old. Let's take a quick look at some examples (prepare to be depressed and feel really, really ancient):
(there's probably a few from '97 or '99 mixed in by mistake. If you don't like it, go start your own thread :P )

Aeternus and so the night became
Amon Amarth once sent from the golden hall
Blind Guardian nightfall in middle earth
Candlemass dactylus glomerata
Children of Bodom something wild
Cradle of Filth cruelty & the beast
Dawn slaughtersun
Death sound of perseverance
Dickinson, Bruce chemical wedding
Enslaved bloodheim
Iced Earth something wicked this way comes
In Flames whoracle
In the Woods three times seven on a pilgrimage
Incantation diabolical conquest
Jag Panzer age of mastery
Katatonia discouraged ones
King Diamond voodoo
Lord Weird Slough Feg twilight of the idols
Monster Magnet power trip
Nightwish ocean born
Nocturnal Rites tales of mystery & imagination
Opeth mourningrise
Orange Goblin time traveling blues
Savatage wake of Magellan
Symphony X twilight in Olympus
Therion vovin
Virgin Steele invictus
While Heaven Wept sorrow of the angels

So, which ones has withstood the test of time?
Right off the top of the list, AETERNUS 'And So the Night Became' is an album I'm still happy to revisit on a semi-regular basis. I've always liked their early work, before they devolved into very standard death metal fare. One reason: their early sound is really quite unique. I always thought of it as 'war metal', as it had the same driving intensity as, say BOLT THROWER, but with a more somber atmosphere. The rolling, driving beats, the sweeping, epic nature of the long passages broken asunder with powerful outbursts, just always paint this picture of an army slowly marching across a darkened landscape, heading into a battle they must fight but know they cannot win. This album has a lot of reviews on Metal Archives, and be they positive or negative, there are almost no comparisons given to any other band. given that reviews are typically littered with such comparisons, I think that speaks volumes about the unique identity they made for themselves.
This album took me a LONG time to acquire back in the day. At the end of '98 I moved out of Texas, which was a Metal Mecca (see my posts in the Hunting thread), and back to the Southeast. For most of the next year, i was living in the middle of nowhere with zero chance to get many new records. For context, ebay was just starting to become "that hot new thing on the internet", and Amazon wasn't really a thing yet. I read about this release in metal Maniacs in late 98/beginning of 99 and had to wait about a full year before I got to hear it. I went to Milwaukee MetalFest that summer and was bitterly disappointed that not a single vendor had a copy! Eventually I did get it, and at one point i had three different CD pressings :)
"I'm sorry Sam, we had real chemistry. But like a monkey on the sun, our love was too hot to live"
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Khnud
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Re: What's Still Great 20 Years Later?

Post by Khnud »

Woah, lots of memories seeing all those albums there. :-)

Chemical Wedding is still one of the best albums ever. I listened to that Monster Magnet record just the other day, still dig it. Slough Feg is still killer of course, and that Symphony X album was one of the first albums I ever ripped to mp3. Borrowed it from a guy I did "military" service with as it was impossible to find in Sweden at that time (he had the Japanese version).
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nightsblood
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Re: What's Still Great 20 Years Later?

Post by nightsblood »

Khnud wrote:Woah, lots of memories seeing all those albums there. :-)

Chemical Wedding is still one of the best albums ever. I listened to that Monster Magnet record just the other day, still dig it. Slough Feg is still killer of course, and that Symphony X album was one of the first albums I ever ripped to mp3. Borrowed it from a guy I did "military" service with as it was impossible to find in Sweden at that time (he had the Japanese version).
I LOVED 'Chemical Wedding' back in the day, but I haven't played it in ages, and the last couple of times I did spin it I felt that it wasn't aging particularly well.

I never got into that particular Slough Feg album that much. 'Traveller' has always been THE LWSF album for me.

Similarly, that's the only SX album I really like; most of their albums are slightly disappointing. It was impossible to find in the US back then; I found it in the Import bin at a tiny mom and pop store- it may actually have been the same record-buying trip when I got AC/DC's 'Powerage' (currently being discussed in the 'Finds While Cleaning Your Collection' thread); I KNOW it was the exact same store. For a couple of years the owner's daughter was the cashier. Most gorgeous Irish woman you could ever want to lay eyes on; dark hair, emerald green eyes, and an Import bin full of metal CDs you literally could not find in any other store within a 100 km radius.

Another great one from '98:
DAWN- Slaughtersun (Crown of the Triarchy)
Arguably my favorite black metal album ever. I tended to like a lot of the Swedish acts more than most of their Norwegian brethren; the Swedes always had a better knack for writing songs with a sense of melody. Thus, Dawn and Dissection got lots more spins in my CD player than Darkthrone & Mayhem. The intensity on 'Slaughtersun' is just incredible; the album just seethes with a barely contained, misanthropic fury. And unlike so many black metal albums, every song on here has its own identity.
"I'm sorry Sam, we had real chemistry. But like a monkey on the sun, our love was too hot to live"
-Becky
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Astra Wally
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Re: What's Still Great 20 Years Later?

Post by Astra Wally »

Don't have any stories to share and I'm not sure if my opinion really counts here since I was too young but...

Arghoslent - Galloping Through The Battle Ruins

Still great, definitely.
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doomedplanet
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Re: What's Still Great 20 Years Later?

Post by doomedplanet »

I've heard and own 14 albums in your list. "Twilight of the Idols" is of course the best album off the entire list. While Heaven Wept and Nocturnal Rites I still enjoy, plus a few more. savatage & Virgin Steel are both pretty damn good. Don't have any of the 'extreme' stuff, nor can I even comment on them as I've never heard any of them in their entirety.
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bigfootkit
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Re: What's Still Great 20 Years Later?

Post by bigfootkit »

20 years since 'Power Trip' seems crazy, but it still stands up rather nicely i think.
Although i didn't hear 'Twilight Of The Idols' until many years after it's initial release, it too still sounds great in the hear & now.
I randomly heard 'What You Need' by Entombed the other day and made a mental note to revisit their 'Same Difference' album which came out around '98. Haven't done so yet, and remember being underwhelmed by the album at the time, but that song sounded surprisingly good to me 20 years on.
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wicked keeper
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Re: What's Still Great 20 Years Later?

Post by wicked keeper »

Aeternus and so the night became - NEVER HEARD IT
Amon Amarth once sent from the golden hall - ZZZZZZZZZ
Blind Guardian nightfall in middle earth CONTINUED & RAMPED UP THE SUCKAGE THAT STARTED ON IMAGINATIONS
Candlemass dactylus glomerata - NEVER ACTUALLY HEARD IT, DID LIKE 13th SUN THOUGH
Children of Bodom something wild BOUGHT IT HATED IT GAVE IT AWAY
Cradle of Filth cruelty & the beast EEEEWWWWW
Dawn slaughtersun NEVER HEARD IT
Death sound of perseverance A BORING WANK LIKE ALL DEATH AFTER SPIRITUAL HEALING
Dickinson, Bruce chemical wedding HALF KILLER HALF FILLER
Enslaved bloodheim ONLY OWN ELD
Iced Earth something wicked this way comes SEE CHILDREN OF BODOM
In Flames whoracle DITTO
In the Woods three times seven on a pilgrimage THE FIRST TRACK ON OMNIO IS ALL THE ITW I NEED
Incantation diabolical conquest DONT CARE AFTER MORTAL THRONE
Jag Panzer age of mastery STILL RULES
Katatonia discouraged ones GO AWAY
King Diamond voodoo MEH
Lord Weird Slough Feg twilight of the idols STILL RULES
Monster Magnet power trip WHEN THEY STARTED SUCKING
Nightwish ocean born SEE CRADLE OF FILTH
Nocturnal Rites tales of mystery & imagination LAST GOOD ALBUM STILL RULES
Opeth mourningrise SEE COF & NIGHTWISH
Orange Goblin time traveling blues SEE ICED EARTH & COB - STONER ROCK AT ITS WORST
Savatage wake of MagellanZZZZZZZ....ANOTHER ONE QUICKLY BANISHED FROM THE COLLECTION
Symphony X twilight in Olympus DIVINE WINGS IS ALL I NEED
Therion vovin ACTUALLY LIKE THIS...WAS THE FIRST THERION ALBUM I EVER HEARD... :lol:
Virgin Steele invictus BEST ALBUM MANOWAR NEVER MADE
While Heaven Wept sorrow of the angels STILL RULES
Last edited by wicked keeper on Fri Apr 20, 2018 10:02 am, edited 4 times in total.
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fengisriprider
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Re: What's Still Great 20 Years Later?

Post by fengisriprider »

Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Nocturnal Rites for me still is awesome and one of my all time favorites!! Also Nightfall in Middle Earth by Blind Guardian still is a unique and great album. Can't forget Devil Force by Nifelheim either or classic by the Chasm "Deathcult for Eternity", also Hellfire's Dominion by Desaster. Was a very good year for underground metal overall!!
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Ernest Thesiger
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Re: What's Still Great 20 Years Later?

Post by Ernest Thesiger »

nightsblood wrote:Dawn slaughtersun
Absolutely, overwhelmingly.
Incantation diabolical conquest
Still gratifyingly grotesque, despite the crappiness of the drumming.
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humus
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Re: What's Still Great 20 Years Later?

Post by humus »

Not a lot of good albums on that list. I got into metal one year later so for most bands my first album was the follow-up to the album in this list. In general though, not the best era for metal.
If I can add one album to the list that did age well: Queens of the stone age debut. I've always been a big Kyuss fan but for some reason I didn't listen to that QOTSA album until maybe ten years ago, Really appreciate it, though it can never top Welcome to sky valley of course.

Re: Desaster - Hellfire's dominion: such a great album!
Re: Nifelheim - Devil's force: always found the debut and third one superior.
vasilis2112
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Re: What's Still Great 20 Years Later?

Post by vasilis2112 »

Wasn’t Slauter Xstroyes Free the Beast released in 1998?
Fantastic album, perhaps album of the year for me!
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doomedplanet
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Re: What's Still Great 20 Years Later?

Post by doomedplanet »

vasilis2112 wrote:Wasn’t Slauter Xstroyes Free the Beast released in 1998?
Fantastic album, perhaps album of the year for me!
Free the beast is really old really good shit but unreleased, so it wouldn't count.
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doomedplanet
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Re: What's Still Great 20 Years Later?

Post by doomedplanet »

wickedkeeper, are we related? haha! I might have to listen to Savatage again, I just remembered likeing it but honestly have not heard it in quite a long time, maybe 15+ years. same with that Death album, will have to check that again.
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Cochino
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Re: What's Still Great 20 Years Later?

Post by Cochino »

Well, 20 years ago I was 10 and not into metal yet, but it was when I first started branching out from just listening whatever my brothers listened to and getting my own bands/albums. The first band I ever liked just by myself, without anybody else telling me I should/shouldn't was The Prodigy, who were just breaking out internationally with Fat of the Land. I recently listened to it again after many years and I gotta say it holds up really well, specially compared to the really tame and lame mainstream electronic music kids listen to nowadays (I know 'cause my nephew is into all that crap and it's pretty sad how safe and bland everything is compared to what was making it big back in the 90s with Prodigy, Aphex Twin and whatever).

I started to get into metal when I was 12/13 so I'm gonna have to wait a couple of years to do this. However, I can tell you right now that there's gonna be very few albums that really hold up. Even back then I was rarely into the recent stuff by the band I was getting into, I mostly went for their older albums. Right now, the only album from the early 2000s that I can mention as one that I often come back to and really enjoy is Macabre's Dahmer.
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Astra Wally
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Re: What's Still Great 20 Years Later?

Post by Astra Wally »

A few death metal entries again:

Bolt Thrower - Mercenary
Pentacle - ...Roides The Moonstorm
Mortem - The Devil Speaks In Tongues

I actually think taht I don't even own a single heavy metal records from 1998 :lol:
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