What's Still Great 20 Years Later?
Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2018 6:31 pm
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 )
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
(there's probably a few from '97 or '99 mixed in by mistake. If you don't like it, go start your own thread )
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