A
AC/DC- Back in Black
Alice in Chains- Dirt (pretty good album if you like feeling depressed)
All That Remains- Fall of Ideas (Most of you probably know of this band from Guitar Hero II from their song "SIX". Let me just say that Fall of Ideas is solid album and you should seriously consider picking it. From front to back it's aggressive and keeps it going until the end)
Amon Amarth- With Oden on Our Side (This probably has to be my favorite out of the albums I own by them. I'm not saying their other albums are bad but With Oden on Our Side just was more memorable for me. As all their other albums its full of all things Viking. But I'm sure you could figure that out from the title of this album)
Surtur Rising (Only adding the cover because it's just awesome)
As I Lay Dying- Shadows are Security special edition (came with a dvd with the making of and music videos!)
An Ocean Between Us (Between Shadows are Security and An Ocean Between Us it's hard to pick which one I like more. They are both great!)
As They Sleep- Dynasties (Brutal Christian death metal here. Plus they are a conservative band, just listen to "To the Republic" and you'll know what I mean. The whole cd is good and its an interesting to hear them sing\yell about all the different powers that rose and fell throughout history. From Egyptian kingdoms to Hitler's Reich and to our present day government. I highly recommend it.)
Atreyu- Lead Sails Paper Anchor (A so-so album not really my thing, I'd call it happy feel good metal. No I don't mean glam metal)
Avenged Sevenfold- Waking the Fallen (Really good album)
City of Evil (Definitely my favorite by them, although I haven't heard Nightmare, this cd really does it for me. Guitar work A+, drums A+, vocals A+, bass eh can't really hear it. This is one of those cds I listen to from front to back every time. The Rev's drum work really comes out on the record and its too bad he's dead.)
....and I have their self titled.... nothing really to say about that cd except PASS! Ok well the first song "Critical Acclaim" was the only one I really liked.
B
Becoming the Archetype- Terminate Damnation (This cd is REALLY good for their first release. Very melodic and a few nice breakdowns here and there. I picked up this cd at one of their concerts and it was a pretty small place just about 15 people were there but they still kicked butt! They even asked me to get up on stage and it was just AWESOME for my first metal concert ever. They are super nice guys, even signed my copy! Now since then their singer and bass left to be with his wife and little boy but they do have a new vocalist but I'm not sure about a bassist. Agian REALLY good album!)
their second release- Physics of Fire (For me they sorta lost some steam on this one. It's still good but not as good as their first. It opens with a nice track called "Epoch of War" but then the songs seem to just melt together, they all sorta sound the same. But toward the end the song "Endure" is a nice change up and it's pretty good. If you not a real big fan like me I'd say pass and just download the two songs off of Itunes or Amazon.)
their third- Dichotomy (Now this is their jewel and one of my favorite albums ever. This is the ultimate praise and worship cd! They even do a cover of the hymn "How Great Thou Art", and a song called "End of the Age" telling about what's going to happen to God's enemies. If that song doesn't get you're blood pumping you're dead. I love this album its full of good riffs and time changes and it's a masterpiece of musical talent. Don't wait any longer add this cd to your "Need to Have" list and then go buy it!)
and their fourth- Celestial Completion (This is the last album with their first singer and bass player Jason Wisdom. It's very different from anything else they've done this far, it was very experimental. They even had trumpets and a little jazz breakdown in "Cardiac Rebellion". It's an okay album but not their best.)
a little note- (they did release a single called "Necrotizing Fasciitis" but it was only for download and I wasn't going to add it to this list but I'll say it is brutal old school death metal. I was hoping, since it came out between Dichotomy and Celestial Completion, that their fourth album would be old school sounding but sadly no. But maybe with their new vocalist they'll have a new direction and go that way, who knows.)
Black Sabbath- We Sold Our Souls for Rockin' Roll (Ok who doesn't have some Sabbath in their collection? It's good old fashion doom metal. This is a double cd like a best of with Ozzy on vocals. Although I prefer Dio over Ozzy it's still good, but it's Sabbath of course it going to be good.)
Bride- Snakes in the Playground
Oddities
This is It (If Guns N' Roses were Christian they'd sound like this. Pretty good band though.)
C
Corrosion of Conformity- Blind (it has the classic "Voting with the Bullet" on there!)
Creed- My Own Prison
Human Clay (one of their best)
Weathered (My favorite and first rock cd I ever got, I think I was 6. I still listen to it today.)
and their latest- Full Circle (Not bad after a long hiatus. Pretty good I enjoy it a lot)
D
Demon Hunter- Demon Hunter (This, or Mortification's "Best of Five Years" I can't remember, got me into metal! I was 11. This album was and still is awesome. It's has nice riffs and few breakdowns and stuff like that. Just really good!)
Demon Hunter's second- Summer of Darkness (This album, while still good, wasn't as good as their first. I guess it was just their sophomore slump.)
their third-Triptych (Oh yeah, my favorite by them if not my favorite album ever! From start to finish it's stuffed with nice chugging riffs and syncopation that really gets you're blood pumping! You can tell just with a few listens that they are influenced heavily by classic metal bands such as Pantera, Prong, Testament, and Fight. The songs sound great and simple so nodding you're head along to the music comes naturally. I wish more bands did more simple songs because they rock harder! I got the special edition that came with all their music videos and interviews and it was totally worth the $16 I paid for it back in '06. I will forever compare anything that DH ever puts out to this album. I cannot say enough good things about this album. Just go and buy it NOW!)
their fourth release- Storm the Gates of Hell (This album, although not as good as the Triptych it's still great. With the Triptych and Storm the Gates Demon Hunter had their golden line up as I like to say. Just like Megadeth had a golden line up with "Rust in Peace" and Metallica had the line up through "Kill 'em All"-"Master of the Puppets" DH had the "Triptych" through "Storm the Gates" line up. After Gates their lead guitarist left to drum for Reliant K and Ryan Clark's brother, Don Clark the rhythm guitarist left.
The Golden line up
then came number five- The World is a Thorn (it's heavy and melodic, both pluses! But just not as good as "Storm" or "Triptych". I do like the low Sepultura sounding guitar sound though and that was a nice touch to the DH sound.)
World is a Thorn art work. It even looks heavy!
and recently # 6- True Defiance (I just got the box set and I'm pretty happy with it. But like I said before in my other post it sounds like "The World is a Thorn pt.2" That, however, is not a bad thing at all.)
on a side note DH did come out with a dvd documentary called "45 Days". It was about their 45 day tour with Living Sacrifice and a few other bands. But since it isn't a CD I wasn't going to add it to this list.
Dead Poetic- Finest
Diecast- Internal Revolution (NICE metalcore! I'm not a huge fan of metalcore but I really like this band and its a shame they haven't put out anything in awhile. The vocalist can really sing and I actually mean SING! Of course it wouldn't be metalcore without some screaming but he does that nicely as well and its not annoying like so many other generic metalcore bands. And the Breakdowns are just mind blowing but simple. Again simple is good. IR brings it from start to finish! So check them out, Diecast's Internal Revolution.)
Dio- Holy Diver
Last in Line
Dream Evil (What can i say, it's Dio....do i need to say more? RIP)
Disturbed- Sickness
Ten Thousand Fists (Their best in my opinion, but I haven't heard Asylum, Believe or their newest album, I can't remember what it's called. And yes I'm too lazy to look it up.)
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and I have- Indestructible ( a solid follow up to "Fists" but not equal.)
Dragonforce- Ultra Beat Down (If you like fast power\Swedish metal you'll like this)
Dream Theater- Images and Words (Amazing)
Metropolis pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory (for all you who don't know much about DT this album is supposed to be a continuation a track off of "Images and Words" called "Metropolis pt. 1: the Miracle and the Sleeper". Pt. 2 is pretty sweet, it tells a story like Queensryche's "Operation Mindcrime" does. It's one of their best.)
then I have- Train of Thought (One of my favorite albums. I listen to it front to back ever time. I just enjoy the 11 minute tracks they put on here plus the 14 minute "In the Name of God" track at the end is just epic. It's by far DT's heaviest album and it was my first by them. This is an album I never get tired of listening to, well I don't really ever get tired of Dream Theater because their music is so vastly different than anything else out there and it always satisfies. It helps when the the band is made up of gods, but that's a different subject entirely. I could make a whole post about nothing but Dream Theater. So anyways Train of Though, heavy melodic, progressive, different, GREAT!)
then- Systematic Chaos (If Train of thought needed a follow up this is it! Although about halfway through it looses some steam it makes up for it at the end with two 15+ min tracks! It's Dream Theater so it's going to be good)
next- Dark Clouds and Silver Linings (This one opens up with "A Nightmare to Remember" a 15 min track! I got this one after "Train of Thought" and it didn't jive with me right off cause I was expecting something like "Thought" After a few listens I was glad I got it. The last track "The Count of Tuscany" is 20 minute epic! It takes your ear on a journey you won't soon forget.)
and their latest release- A Dramatic Turn of Events (This is the first record in over 25 years that the drummer hadn't been on. I heard this news and was crushed Mike Portnoy is my favorite drummer because he makes the drums feel so there. I don't know how else to put it, but he uses the whole set all the time. You may think its obnoxious but you can't say that unless you've heard him drum. It is amazing. So DT got Mike Mangini to replace MP. I got the special edition just so I could watch the drum audition and see how they picked someone to replace the master. In my opinion they should have picked someone else, but what do I know. With MP gone I held my breath while I listened to this cd. There is a BIG difference you can certainly tell the drums are not there as much as in previous albums. At first I shrugged the album off wishing Portnoy was still in there. Then I listened to it again, and again, and again. It wasn't bad, just different. I actually really like it but it's not their best. I even like some of their slower songs on this cd. James, the singer, really puts a lot of emotion into it as always. If you want something to listen to that different and new this is for you. If you've never heard any other DT albums you'll love this. Even if you are a hardcore DT fan you'll still appreciate it, but you'll still be thinking what I might have been if Portony was still sitting behind the drums)
The master Mike Portnoy
Ok well that's it for now. This post is long enough and I'll finish it in more posts. Don't want to give it to you all at once, gotta make you want to keep coming back for more. So until next time.......keep it metal \m/
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