Part IV: A World Ablaze ... the 2000s
Starting around the mid 1990s, alongside grunge, metal maintained a quasi-mainstream edge via nu-metal and other deviations … (A/N: not something that I care to represent here.) Despite the rise of the extreme underground the future of the genre was rather dim by the late 1990s. Starting to lose steam and to an extent diluting from their core, death and black were simply insufficient in maintaining the entire genre’s status quo. By the end of the decade true metal lost fans in troves and its very existence was questioned. Metal was (no pun intended) at the death’s door … What happened next could have easily be a motif lifted from archaic mythology: like a Phoenix, metal obtains new life by arising from its own ashes!
Underground metal spread like napalm at the dawn of the new millennium. It progressed and crossed itself over in a truly ascending fashion. Sound productions polished but also gained aggression. Music and lyrics were mostly emotionally dark and stoically melancholic. Musicians reached new levels of technicality. Six-strings warriors popped out of all sub-genres and styles. Keyboards reemerged onto the main-stage. The underground metal, while reaching new milestones, remained in total counter-culture to what was happening in the music’s mainstream. A highly intelligent, and sometimes extravagant answer to the pure bullshit that was polluting the airwaves and beyond. This was the real music! A lot of the metal released during the first decade of the new millennium was melodic. It is however a decade that could be easily overlooked despite the uber-quality of the offerings. All the albums on this list are superb and unique. They are all majestically executed. A new generation of underground was forming in the digital era.
A world ablaze …
2000
DEMONS & WIZARDS
(USA)
Demons & Wizards
Released on February 8, 2000
Power metal
ANGEL DUST
(Germany)
Enlighten The Darkness
Released on July 18, 2000
Progressive power metal/speed metal
VADER
(Poland)
Litany
Released on March 20, 2000
Death metal
IMMOLATION
(USA)
Close To A World Below
Released on November 7, 2000
Death Metal
KRISIUN
(Brazil)
Conquerors Of Armageddon
Released on March 7, 2000
Death metal
2001
MOONSORROW
(Finland)
Voimasta ja Kunniasta
Released on November 26, 2001
Folk/pagan black metal
GRAVEWORM
(Italy)
Scourge Of Malice
Released on July 31, 2001
Melodic/symphonic black metal/
Gothic metal
THERION
(Sweden)
Secret Of The Runes
Released on October 8, 2001
Symphonic metal
ABSU
(USA)
Tara
Released on May 23, 2001
Black metal/thrash metal
SILENCER
(Sweden)
Death - Pierce Me
Released on October 30, 2001
Black metal
2002
AGALLOCH
(USA)
The Mantle
Released on August 13, 2002
Folk/black metal/doom metal/post-metal
NEGURA BUNGET
(Romania)
'N Crugu Bradului
Released on October 3, 2002
Folk/black metal/avant-garde metal
MERCENARY
(Denmark)
Everblack
Released on March 11, 2002
Melodic death metal/thrash metal
ARCTURUS
(Norway)
The Sham Mirrors
Released on April 22, 2002
Avant-garde/progressive metal
PAGAN'S MIND
(Norway)
Celestial Entrance
Released on November 18, 2002
Progressive power metal
2003
DREAM THEATER
(USA)
Train Of Thought
Released on November 11, 2003
Progressive metal
ENSLAVED
(Norway)
Below The Lights
Released on April 13, 2003
Progressive black/viking metal
PSYCROPTIC
(Tasmania/Australia)
The Scepter Of The Ancients
Released on May 12, 2003
Technical death metal
WINDIR
(Norway)
Likferd
Released on March 27, 2003
Melodic/folk/viking black metal
TWISTED TOWER DIRE
(USA)
Crest Of The Martyrs
Released on May 26, 2003
Power metal/heavy metal
2004
DISILLUSION
(Germany)
Back To Times Of Splendor
Released on April 6, 2004
Melodic/progressive death metal
INTO ETERNITY
(Canada)
Buried In Oblivion
Released on February 10, 2004
Progressive/melodic death metal
ARSIS
(USA)
A Celebration Of Guilt
Released on March 30, 2004
Technical/melodic death metal
WINTERSUN
(Finland)
Wintersun
Released on September 13, 2004
Symphonic/neoclassical melodic blackened death metal
WINDS
(Norway)
The Imaginary Direction Of Time
Released on April 27, 2004
Neoclassical progressive metal
2005
NEVERMORE
(USA)
This Godless Endeavor
Released on July 26, 2005
Progressive metal/thrash metal
WHISPERING GALLERY
(Netherlands)
Shades Of Sorrow
Released on December 20, 2005
Melodic death/doom metal
PELICAN
(USA)
The Fire in Our Throats
Will Beckon the Thaw
Released on June 26, 2005
Post-metal
PRIMORDIAL
(Ireland)
The Gathering Wilderness
Released on February 7, 2005
Black metal/Celtic folk
MOURNING BELOVETH
(Ireland)
A Murderous Circus
Released on March 29, 2005
Death/doom metal
2006
KEEP OF KALESSIN
(Norway)
Armada
Released on March 27, 2006
Black metal
INSOMNIUM
(Finland)
Above The Weeping World
Released on August 9, 2006
Melodic death metal
AMON AMARTH
(Sweden)
With Oden On Our Side
Released on September 22, 2006
Melodic death metal
OUTWORLD
(USA)
Outworld
Released on November 13, 2006
Progressive power metal
SADUS
(USA)
Out For Blood
Released on February 26, 2006
Technical thrash metal
2007
MAN MUST DIE
(Scotland/UK)
The Human Condition
Released on March 29, 2007
Technical death metal
ANUBIS GATE
(Denmark)
Andromeda Unchained
Released on August 17, 2007
Progressive power metal
SIGH
(Japan)
Hangman's Hymn:
Musikalische Exequien
Released on May 23, 2007
Avant-garde black metal
THUNDERSTONE
(Finland)
Evolution 4.0
Released on March 14, 2007
Power metal
RAINTIME
(Italy)
Flies & Lies
Released on March 21, 2007
Melodic death metal/
progressive power metal
2008
IN MOURNING
(Sweden)
Shrouded Divine
Released on January 2, 2008
Progressive/melodic death metal
LIGHT THIS CITY
(USA)
Stormchaser
Released on November 11, 2008
Melodic death metal
EQUILIBRIUM
(Germany)
Sagas
Released on June 27, 2008
Folk/symphonic black metal
GRAND MAGUS
(Sweden)
Iron Will
Released on June 9, 2008
Heavy metal
DIR EN GREY
(Japan)
Uroboros
Released on November 11, 2008
Avant-garde/experimental/fusion metal
2009
OBSCURA
(Germany)
Cosmogenesis
Released on February 17, 2009
Technical/progressive death metal
LUNA MORTIS
(USA)
The Absence
Released on February 10, 2009
Progressive/melodic death metal
TRAIL OF TEARS
(Norway)
Bloodstained Endurance
Released on May 27, 2009
Symphonic Gothic metal/
Melodic blackened death metal
NAZXUL
(Australia)
Iconoclast
Released on July 27, 2009
Black metal/symphonic black metal
POWERWOLF
(Germany)
Bible Of The Beast
Released on April 24, 2009
Power metal
Part I: From The Start ... the 1970s - available here.
Part II: Metal For The Masses ... the 1980s - available here.
Part III: Death ... The Only Solution ... the 1990s - available here.
To be continued ...
Part V: ... the 2010s
© 2020 by Emil Chiru