A-list metal

[Cargést]

Heavy: Manilla Road (give Crystal Logic a listen already)

Agreed.

Is this list going to be updated or altered any time soon?  Is anything going to be done with it?

[Transilvania]

Shouldn't there be an official DLA review for Prong's "Beg to Differ" given that it's referred to as the band's "opus" on their page?

[nastrond]

Atheist!!!!! 

[nastrond]

I should have been more descriptive, I cast my vote (yay!!!1) for  Gorguts, Mercyful Fate, and Deeds of Flesh as well.  Maybe replace Sentenced with Atheist.  Consider Cadaver-Hallucinating Anxiety.

Therion has never done too much for me and I haven't given Ildjarn or Sacramentum a scrutinizing listen

[Winter]

Is there any other rank of metal or do you guys all consider everything on the A list to be equal?

[Cargést]

Nothing is equal, but, at the same time, everything is in constant flux.  Some albums are now better than other albums which used to be superior. Anicca, etc.

[David_Brent]

"METALCORE

* Neurosis
* Human Remains
* Today is the Day
* Discordance Axis

POST-INDIE

* Jesu"

Which albums are we talking about here?
Also Power Metal:
*Blind Guardian
*Crimson Glory
*Hammers of Misfortune
*Stratovarius
*Iced Earth
*Cirith Ungol
*Helloween
*Manowar
*Fates Warning
*Angra
*Lost Horizon
*Pagan's mind
*Running wild

Why not making an A list (Sentenced) and a Triple A (Burzum) list?

[Humanicide]

Of course the personal taste of members varies widely as well. These lists were more compiled as a middle ground for people to agree on.

[death metal black metal]

Is there any other rank of metal or do you guys all consider everything on the A list to be equal?

I don't. A list is a cutoff: anything above this point is metal that I would recommend to:

* A literate musical listener of any genre(s)
* A classical listener
* A teacher
* A journalist
* An intelligent person
* Any Hessian with IQ over 110

Also Power Metal:

I know nothing about power metal except Helstar, of course. I think it should go into speed metal, since it's essentially speed metal with heavy metal vocals and some black/death technique, but that's not unique -- every post-black/death genre incorporates black/death technique.

[Chains]

Why not making an A list (Sentenced) and a Triple A (Burzum) list?

We do. We just call the AAA list A and the A list B.

[Conservationist]

I don't think this should become a jihad to eliminate "inferior" bands. Sentenced is fucking great, for example.

Here are some useful categories:

1. HISTORICAL

1983-1994 were the years of the growth of a genre. We should document it, all of it.

2. BEST OF

The easy test: would you recommend this to an intelligent non-metalhead? The answer is probably true for about 40 bands.

3. AESTHETICS

Are Venom and Mordred important? Yes, historically and in the development of aesthetic.

4. GUILTY PLEASURES

Can I "prove" to you that Von is any good? Who cares...

5. TECHNICAL MERIT

Cynic may be homosexuals who later made a turd of a second album, but their first album is hard to ignore. It's an attempt to apply technical knowledge to metal.

6. POPULARITY

Yes, fuck-me-in-the-ass-with-a-Honda, this is important. ARE YOU TALKIN TO ME? are execrable crap, but they defined much of the history to follow and much of what bands in that time reacted to, whether positively or negatively.

###

We could say that 3, 5 and 6 are subsets of 1

I think it would be a real mistake to confuse 2 and 4, but most average idiots assume we're doing that anyone. (VON probably belongs in the history section as well...)

[Spectrum]

Perhaps we can use this thread to flesh out a list for use on DeathMetal.org?

[Winter]

Nox Intempesta is incredible. I think they should be included.

[Cargést]

ICP is incredible.  I think they should be included.

[Winter]

I didnt think I would need to explain my statment. Yours on the other hand...

Really though, What are your opinion on them? Im pretty bad at describing why I find a band good withouth just talking about the surface of the music.