The release of At the Gates' hotly anticipated new record is
coming at the perfect time. Melodic death meal has seen an insane resurgence in
the last couple of years. Many new melodic death metal bands have made it into the
heavy metal mainstream, whereas a lot of classic melodeath bands are
experiencing comebacks.
In Flames was a precursor to this trend. In 2011, the band
released Sounds of a Playground Fading. While the album wasn’t a total return
to form, it was still the best record In Flames had released in years. Hints of
In Flames’ old style were definitely noticeable through tracks such as “Ropes”
and “A New Dawn.” In Flames is currently working on a new record, which will
hopefully be even better than their last.
Last year was a huge year for melodic death metal comeback
records. The biggest of those releases was Carcass’ Surgical Steel. There were
a ton of fans who never thought there would ever be a new Carcass record. Once
the album was announced, the hype was unbearable. The expectations of metalheads
were extreme, to say the least. When Surgical Steel was finally released it
totally blew everyone away. It was one of the few instances of a record actually
surpassing the crazy expectations set for it. Surgical Steel was the clear
indicator that melodic death metal was about to enter a new glory age.
Releases from Dark Tranquillity, Hypocrisy and Children of
Bodom last year also brought some life to the subgenre. Dark Tranquillity put
out Construct, the band’s most experimental release in years. The album was a
roaring success that pleased both critics and fans. Construct was without a
doubt the band’s most acclaimed release since Character. It was a sign that the
melodic death metal standards can still be tampered with while remaining in
the confines of the subgenre.
Hypocrisy’s End of Disclosure was a highly anticipated
release of 2013. The album was criticized for being more of the same from the
band, but was still generally praised. Hypocrisy has been one of the few
melodic death metal bands that hasn't really declined throughout the years.
The band has always stayed sharp, so having another above average
release from them was a pleasure last year.
While creating End of Disclosure, Hypocrisy main man Peter
Tagtgren was also busy producing the newest Children of Bodom record, Halo of
Blood. Upon release, Halo of Blood was seen as a return to form for Children of
Bodom. While it didn’t go completely back to the band’s neoclassical metal
days, it pulled from that era, and was seen as a positive hybrid of
styles.
Melodic death metal bands with cult followings have even put
out great new releases recently. Arsis put out Unwelcome last year, which was
seen as their comeback effort. Meanwhile, Wintersun released the first part of
Time in 2012, which fans had been waiting eight years to hear. Time I was
positively received and the second part should be out next year.
New popular melodic death metal bands who have certainly
made their presence known include Battlecross and The Resistance. Battlecross
is the big name going around right now. The band is receiving a lot of acclaim for its ability to combine melodic death metal and thrash metal. The Resistance
is made up of In Flames’ old guitar team, Jesper Stromblad and Glenn Ljungstrom.
Also featuring The Haunted’s vocalist Marco Aro, The Resistance released a
gritty melodeath debut in the form of Scars. The album has received acclaim for
being a bold display of power from these aging musicians.
With impending releases from In Flames and At the Gates this
year, melodic death metal as a subgenre is in a great place. This decade will surely
be seen years from now as a melodic death metal revival. Sit back and enjoy it,
metalheads, because it may be gone before you know it.
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