Re: Unpopular Or Obscure Albums That You Think Are Great

by ChristianDeathMetal Thu Jan 19, 2023 10:08 am

Sevenoneself wrote:

I'm not sure if these guys are obscure enough. Their two songs on Heavy & Hard from Down Under (Death of Hades, Tombthroat) impressed me so much in the late '90s I ordered JaR from Australia at a premium price.

I have this! Good album and band!!

by ChristianDeathMetal Thu Jan 19, 2023 10:20 am

Lets see...

I love Rush Test for Echo. Many consider it to be a Rush low-point...

In the 90s I was in to a lot of Prog Metal bands. Many of which you guys have probably never heard of: Forseen, Forte, Gretchen, Sanvoisen, Treasureland, Soundscape, Murcury Rising, Metalium, Scanner, Zero Hour., Conception, Ice Age..

I'm a HUGE fan of Fates Warning's A Pleasant Shade of Gray. It seems to be love it or hate it...

I got in to Iron Maiden with No Prayer for the Dying. So I really love it even though fans consider it a low point in their career. I also like The X Factor. But then again, I love all their albums (Except Dance of Death).

by Constantine Thu Jan 19, 2023 11:28 am

wesvette wrote:I love Rush Test for Echo. Many consider it to be a Rush low-point...

In the 90s I was in to a lot of Prog Metal bands. Many of which you guys have probably never heard of: Forseen, Forte, Gretchen, Sanvoisen, Treasureland, Soundscape, Murcury Rising, Metalium, Scanner, Zero Hour., Conception, Ice Age..

I'm a HUGE fan of Fates Warning's A Pleasant Shade of Gray. It seems to be love it or hate it...

I finally listened to Rush "Test For Echo" for the first time a few months ago, and yeah, my impression was that it was one of their weakest albums, if not the weakest. I liked Presto better despite the thin production (that one could really use a serious remix / remaster).

As for the prog bands you mentioned, i am very familiar with most of them and used to have CD's by 8 of them.
My favorite from that list was Conception. "Parallel Minds" is still a favorite. I can't really get into their newer material since they reformed, however.

There were also other interesting prog bands back in the 90's like The Quiet Room, Divine Regale, Vauxdvihl, House Of Spirits, Mind Odyssey, Centaur, Sieges Even, Psychotic Waltz, Altura, Elegy, Reading Zero, Echolyn, Wicked Maraya, and another favorite, Vanden Plas.

As for Fates Warning's "A Pleasant Shade Of Gray," I could never get into it as a whole album but these days it's okay in small doses.

by Pethead Thu Jan 19, 2023 12:03 pm

I never could get into Test for Echo, but for less popular Rush albums, I’ll say that Hold Your Fire is one of my favorites.

by ChristianDeathMetal Thu Jan 19, 2023 12:07 pm

Constantine wrote:

As for the prog bands you mentioned, i am very familiar with most of them and used to have CD's by 8 of them.
My favorite from that list was Conception. "Parallel Minds" is still a favorite. I can't really get into their newer material since they reformed, however.

There were also other interesting prog bands back in the 90's like The Quiet Room, Divine Regale, Vauxdvihl, House Of Spirits, Mind Odyssey, Centaur, Sieges Even, Psychotic Waltz, Altura, Elegy, Reading Zero, Echolyn, Wicked Maraya, and another favorite, Vanden Plas.

As for Fates Warning's "A Pleasant Shade Of Gray," I could never get into it as a whole album but these days it's okay in small doses.

Yep, I know all of those prog bands too. Got to see most of them live too. Went to two years of PowerMad in '97 and '98 (Prog metal concert festival in Baltimore) and went to PowerMad in 1999 and 2000 (festival in Atlanta). Good times...

BTW, IMHO, APSOG should only ever be taken as a whole album. LOL

by Constantine Thu Jan 19, 2023 12:26 pm

Pethead wrote:I never could get into Test for Echo, but for less popular Rush albums, I’ll say that Hold Your Fire is one of my favorites.

Hold Your Fire is one of my favorite Rush albums for sure. I don't care what the detractors say about it.

by Pethead Thu Jan 19, 2023 12:35 pm

Constantine wrote:
Pethead wrote:I never could get into Test for Echo, but for less popular Rush albums, I’ll say that Hold Your Fire is one of my favorites.
Hold Your Fire is one of my favorite Rush albums for sure. I don't care what the detractors say about it.

Preach it, brother!

by Temple of Blood Thu Jan 19, 2023 1:05 pm

Spoiler:

by Black Rider Thu Jan 19, 2023 8:20 pm

Some good stuff on there, that Screamer and Winter's Bane should've been bigger.

by Raegoul Sat Jan 21, 2023 9:43 am

https://christiantapeunderground.wordpress.com/category/thrash-metal/

Here‘s a good resource for obscure stuff.

by Theonymic Fri Jan 27, 2023 12:30 am

I have no idea how obscure or underrated these actually are, but

Meshuggah - Nothing
Spiral Architect - A Sceptic's Universe
Ved Buens Ende - Written in Waters
Special Defects - Sol Niger Within
Blut aus Nord - Odinist
Throane - Derriere Nous, la Lumiere
Setna - Guerison
Maudlin of the Well - Leaving Your Body Map
Mats/Morgan Band - Thanks for Flying with Us
Coprofago - Unorthodox Creative Criteria
Aletheian - Dying Vine

by ChristianDeathMetal Fri Jan 27, 2023 12:47 am

Love Aletheian - Dying Vine

by Airola Fri Jan 27, 2023 3:32 am

Manticora is a Danish band that no-one seems to know, but those who know seem to really love it. The criticism I mostly see is that people dislike the singer a lot. Other than that they are really liked by those who know the band.

It's a power/speed/thrash/progressive hybrid.

I found the band by accident when I was ordering something from cdbaby and needed to find some additional cheap cd's to make the shipping cost feel worth it. Bought Manticora's 8 Deadly Sins album and ended up being really surprised by the whole thing!

Here's a few songs from that album:

Check out the riff that starts around the 5:00 mark!
Too bad it ends almost as soon as it starts, but that riff is sooooo good!!!

This one is my favorite from that album:

I love the chorus!

Here's another song:

I have a feeling Temple of Blood might dig the band.

by Andreas89 Fri Jan 27, 2023 5:05 am

^I own that album as well and it's pretty good but as always with Manticora, it's held back in a signigicant way by the vocalist.

by Theonymic Fri Jan 27, 2023 9:52 am

I forgot to mention both Age of Silence records.

by Black Rider Fri Jan 27, 2023 10:40 am

I really enjoy Manticora and find the singer fits the music. That's my favorite album by them.

by Airola Fri Jan 27, 2023 12:29 pm

Yeah, I have no problems with the singer either, but I can see how people feel differently.

That's currently the only album I have physically from them, but what I've listened on Youtube it seems all of their albums are good. Very talented musicians and a sense of melody that quite often seems to hit the right spot for me. A nice sense of hunger even in their newer albums. Nice amount of power and aggressiveness.

by Airola Fri Jan 27, 2023 12:35 pm

I have to link another song from that album:

The opening riff is really REALLY good. It's a bit of a bummer that the full song sounds so much different from the opening, and gets back to that only once. But it's a good song with amazing first 30 seconds. I feel like if they would've based the whole song to that idea it could've been a modern classic.

by Sevenoneself Fri Jan 27, 2023 12:51 pm

Airola wrote:I have to link another song from that album:

The opening riff is really REALLY good. It's a bit of a bummer that the full song sounds so much different from the opening, and gets back to that only once. But it's a good song with amazing first 30 seconds. I feel like if they would've based the whole song to that idea it could've been a modern classic.

I listened to the first song you posted and really enjoyed it. So I downloaded the whole album on YouTube music and will listen to it today or tomorrow.

by Machine Fish Sat Jan 28, 2023 9:25 am

Korzus "Ties of Blood" is a slammer of a thrash album that reminds me of Sepultura fused with Slayer. The opening on this track one of my favorites. Loads of groove in there.

by Pethead Sat Jan 28, 2023 2:30 pm

AC/DC: Flick of the Switch

One of my favorites from them, but it needs more love.

by Black Rider Tue Jan 31, 2023 9:23 pm

Laaz Rockit - Annihilation Principle and Know Your Enemy. Both great thrash albums.

by Pethead Tue Jan 31, 2023 9:25 pm

Black Rider wrote:Laaz Rockit - Annihilation Principle and Know Your Enemy. Both great thrash albums.

I only have AP, but it’s dang good.

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