Changing Tastes

I think most people would say that they haven't always liked the same genre of music they're entire life. We have transitions through our preferences, they never really stay the same. That being said, it's rare for taste to pull a complete 180. Generally it's specific albums or artists that guide the listener through their phases.

The same goes for me. I've said before that I fancy myself an elitist metal fan. I try not to be; I try to be open to other genres, but I often just can't adapt; I like to stick close to my music. And by stick close, I mean if I go more than a few days without listening to my music, it'll have adverse effects on my mood. Really, I actually put that to the test once ( I was in a pretty shitty mood after the third day).

What can I say? I love music and even despite my elitism, I have not always been a full-on metal fan. Only for the past seven years or so. I've decided to talk about the three albums that got me into metal and thus, where I am today. I'll order them according to how much they influenced me.

Killswitch Engage - As Daylight Dies

This is an album that has diminished in my eyes slightly over the years, but only because my personal taste changed, it's still a great album from beginning to end. Every single song is solid. Great complicated and light guitars and very unique sounding clean vocals. It's metalcore, sure, but it remains as a great album to blast at full volume, especially when My Curse rolls around.

I listened to this album so many times that had every riff memorized. Great stuff. While I did like the following album, End of Heartache, I don't think it truly topped As Daylight Dies and I know I'm probably alone in that opinion, but hell, my opinion is my own.

In Flames - Come Clarity

Here's one that the elitists on forums wouldn't scold me for listening to. Interestingly, the only reason I ever found this band was because I liked the artwork and clicked on it while browsing music on Youtube all those years ago. Everyone can agree, In Flames is one of the greatest metal bands to grace the ears of mankind and Come Clarity is their indisputable best work. Some people prefer their earlier stuff, but to me, it's a no brainer. It has to be Come Clarity. Every single song is distinguished and exceptional.

The tunes are melodic and complex, the vocals are, again, quite unique as is the screaming. This is an album that I still cherish. It's certainly nothing short of a "God-tier" album.

Demon Hunter - The Triptych

This was an album that I found on the shelf of a record and CD store and the album artwork was so rad that I had no choice but to purchase it right then and there. I was blown away by this album. It was probably the first real metal I had taken the time to listen to. I was already dabbling in the areas of hard rock like Godsmack, but was ultimately bored by the genre. This album opened my eyes.

At first, I was utterly mystified by the album title, The Triptych. I did some research on this topic and found that a triptych is piece of art that features three panels next to each other. That didn't really help much until I finally realized that this album had alternate artworks.

And if that weren't enough...

The last one puts all three together. Spiders, snakes and crows. It's some amazing artwork that was done just for this one album. When I eventually started looking at their other albums, I found that every single one was like this, with the same logo but with a different design and no words anywhere. I thought and still think that that's really cool. I also discovered during my exploration of their discography that as amazing as I thought The Triptych was,  it's actually one of the weaker albums this band has put out. So, fuck it, what I'm getting at here is that Demon Hunter is an amazing band and may actually be of my favorite band of all time. Maybe.

Well, that's all I have to say on the subject. Try thinking about this yourself; what albums got you to where you are today? Not like anyone actually comments on anything here, but I'd love to hear about it if you feel like sharing.