About "Waves" of Melodic Death Metal
I think its interesting how little this is discussed, almost all other subgenres or metal has waves or at least discussions about it.
Personally I'd define the melodic death metal waves as:
First Wave, Early-mid 90s (things like:)
- Carcass
- At the Gates
- In Flames
- Dark Tranquility
- Edge of Sanity (atleast Purgatory Afterglow and Spectral Sorrows)
- Dissection (atleast partially)
These types of bands are the original sound or melodeath, and also my personal preffered type.
Second Wave, Late 90s-the 2000s (things like:)
- Arch Enemy
- Children of Bodom
- Soilwork
- Amon Amarth
- The Black Dahlia Murder
- Avatar
Here I feel that the groove influences, along with the melodic metalcore sound starts to take a forefront. In Flames progresses their sound too, to please the standard of more groovy/poppy melodeath.
Third Wave, Late 2000s-Present (things like:)
- Be'lakor
- Orbit Culture
- The Halo Effect
(You can see that i dont listen to new stuff ๐๐, cause i dont know any bands) Here the production borders on sterile, everything sounds clean, the bands are good as always, but the production standards really kills the vibe.
(This sounds like it was written by AI but I am infact a very real person)
Posted Aug 12, 2026, 11:04 AM UTC