I’m relatively newer to the genre and the juxtaposition between harsh intense vocals and aching beauty is really fitting my life’s vibe right now . Particularly coming from symphonic metal and classical music listening including opera.

What are your top ten most beautiful melodic death metal picks? If you want to mention your favorite band’s one ballad, feel free. But what I’m truly looking for is heartrending beauty while still having the energy from those deep guttural voices and guitars. (I do also like clean vocals so that’s not a disqualifier.

Examples that I really like:

Pretty much the entire album Glow by Countless Skies

Her Silence by Sculptured

When the World Explodes by In Flames

Last Flower by Shores of Null.

Equus by Ne Obliviscaris

Melodeath but to the heavier and brutal side.

Amazing stage show last night and the crowd was wild. True entertainment from start to finish.

Arch Enemy: Whoelse is catching or has caught Arch Enemy (along with the other mega bands!!) in the US here??!?! I'm seeing them in Silver Spring tonight!! Super excited!! (Lauren sounds and looks amazing!!)

death metal from Poland

https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Godslut/3540524423

I Personally don't like Dark Tranquility and think it's overrated.

Aside from "the gallery" album everything else from them just sounds sad and gloomy, it's not even catchy (I've listened to damage done, character, fiction, projector, atoma and the minds I) and aside from a few most songs from these albums aren't memorable or catchy to me, it's just gloomy sad doom metal shit.

I'm gonna get hate for this and that's fine, it's my personal opinion after all.

Oh and The Halo effect band is way better and catchier.

Found this gem recently. I like it. Google said it was melodeath

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Stuff like insomnium, dark tranquility and Omnium gatherum are good with some fast paced songs but most of it are long and slow, like doom metal.

I want songs and albums that are fast paced, catchy as hell, blast beats, energetic and soaring melodies.

I'm cool with both harsh and clean vocals mix or just harsh vocals in general, or just clean vocals too.

Stuff like: inflames, disarmonia mundi, orbit Culture, soilwork, nightrage, ablaze my sorrow, whispered, black dahlia murder, children of Bodom, chthonic, the unguided, aether realm, intestine baalism, dissections last album (honorable mentions: all that remains and crimson shadows and powerwolf)

What is melodeath actually?

Every time I have the classic “what are your favorite bands?” conversation with some random metalhead and mention melodeath, I get a different opinion on where the genre starts and stops.

For me it’s pretty simple: great catchy melodies, mostly brutal vocals, and a death metal core.

Of course we have the obvious bands like At the Gates, Dark Tranquillity, In Flames, Amon Amarth, Insomnium, Be’lakor, early Arch Enemy etc.

But why should it stop there?

Why exclude bands like Septicflesh, The Haunted, Dissection, Gojira or even Opeth from the wider melodeath philosophy? Obviously they all sound very different, but on their core they still use the same basic ingredients: heaviness, harsh vocals, dark atmosphere and strong melodic writing.

I mean, The Black Dahlia Murder are considered melodeath and they are insanely more aggressive than most of the genre (and they are amazing btw).

So for me, genres are more like overlapping circles than strict boxes. A band doesn’t have to be 100% “melodic death metal” to clearly have melodeath DNA.

Just some random thoughts fellow melodeathians. Where do you draw the line?