I think the last 3 Amorphis albums were prog. (Elegy, Tuonela and Am Universum) Am Universum especially was not at all doomy or deathy.<BR><BR>Hail to the Emperor!<BR><BR>If you like Dissection, check out their album Storm of the Light's Bane if you haven't already Saruman. It is pretty wicked.<BR><BR>Death were at best an average Death Metal band. I never cared for them. I think the Florida scene has dried up mostly. (I use Florida loosely, Florida DM is a sound in the same way Scandinavian Metal is). There are only a few really talented DM bands around. The early 90s was when DM peaked. Albums like Legion by Deicide and Covenant by Morbid Angel pretty much defined the genre as far as Flor. DM. Then it got really boring. Even at the time most critical acclaim was being given to Scandinavian bands like Entombed, Dismember, Amorphis etc. Napalm Death also got a lot of praise though they were labelled Grindcore, not DM. New DM, like In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, (notice a theme....hint Svenske) get all the accolades now and the American scene is basically ignored. So I don't actually really keep up on DM because it is so overdone now. A band has to be really something, like In Flames, to make me listen.<BR><BR>An example is Nile, a DM band from the US. They are absolutely terrible. Generic Cannible Corpse clone. I don't know how people listen to it. Cannible Corpse wasn't even that great but their image and gory songs and artwork got them lots of press.<BR><BR>If people are interested in what great DM is, these few albums will show you. Beyond that, it all starts to sound the same.<BR><BR>1.ENTOMBED: Clandestine(91) and Left Hand Path(89) (laid the blueprint for the Swedish sound...interestingly, Entombed changed their sound as soon as they mastered it, delivering WOLVERINE BLUES, coining the "Death & Roll" sound. After Clandestine, they were not really DM anymore, but still a metal force to be reckoned with.) These 2 are the ultimate classics<BR><BR>2.AMORPHIS: The Karelian Isthmus(92), a tremendous DM album that is often forgotten in the larger picture of Amorphis' genre smashing and awe-inspiring masterpieces later released. Wall of guitars, heavy drums. It is not a fast album, tinges of Doom, but the riffs are huge and the voice is a rumbling steamroller.<BR><BR>3. EDGE OF SANITY: Crimson (96), a single 40minute track makes up this amazing mid 90s effort. It is varied in texture, ranging from slow and bludgeoning to quick and thrashing. It is an arty DM album that blew my socks of when I first heard it. Mike Akerfeldt of Opeth guests on some vocals.<BR><BR>4.DEICIDE(92 I think): Legion, replete with satanic lyrics and imagery, this is the ultimate FloridaDM album. It has a hypnotic momentum that just grabs you and hustles you along (down the path to Hell!). Lots of double bass, wailing Florida style solos, and Glen Benton's demonic roar make this an entertaining listen almost 10 yrs later.<BR><BR>5. MORBID ANGEL: Covenant(93)Another classic FlorDM album, MA really peaked here, after this their guitar solos became immensely nauseating. The double bass is a machine gun on this album.<BR><BR>6. DISMEMBER: Indecent&Obscene (93), a killer album right through. They sound a lot like early Entombed (half the band was in Entombed in the band's very very early days). Some people say their first album "Like An Ever Flowing Stream" was better but for my money this one is the best. It has a real cool rocking groove behind all of the brutality, makes you snap your fingers and whistle along, seriously. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif"border=0><BR><BR>7. FEAR FACTORY: Soul of a New Machine (92), sure they suck now, but this album was awesome! Industrial tinged, ripping brutal, I love it! God they bite now....<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif"border=0><BR><BR>8. OBITUARY: Slowly We Rot (89 I think), slow and brutal with indecipherable bellows from the vocalist...I don't understand a single word pretty much. This album is very very heavy with brutal detuned guitars and ponderous bass drumming. Another band that put out about 2 too many albums after the mid 90s.<BR><BR>9. MALEVOLENT CREATION: The 10 Commandments (91?), The vocal style is what separated this band at the time, it is higher and more articulated. Most songs featured very fast riffing with equally quick singing. A revolving door line-up killed the band basically, they are still around I think, putting out albums that suck.<BR><BR>10. CYNIC: Focus (93?), a fricken weird album, the only one they ever put out, it is very zen, textured guitars with synths and varying growls and synthed voices. The structures are very intricate and the guitarwork is really something. This album isn't that heavy, but it is one of the quirkier and better releases of the DM era. A neat listen.<BR><BR>That is enough I think. Most of these albums hold true even today despite the fact that some are getting pretty old. All together they pretty much reveal every aspect of DM worth revisisting. At the time, for every good DM band there were 10 horrible ones. In future days, when someone asks about DM, refer them to this post. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif"border=0> Like any of you care, no one here really likes DM I think! <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-rolleyes.gif"border=0><img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif"border=0>