8.5 - There are a few moments that roughly cross into the kind of dense, subterranean territory outlined by groups like Incantation and Fuoco Fatuo but they're mostly used to root down those odd, spacey atonal passages that are played moreso for discomforting effect than raw carnage and force. Listening to this band always made me think of what walking through a warehouse full of leftover ideas from various avant-prog and dissonant death/black ideas might be like.
Apparition in the Woods
That's what I like about Ehnahre. They're like Kayo Dot with harder edges and fewer jazz elements.
Anyway, that Lantern track...
8. Not brutal or implacable enough to go higher, but tastily dark and rough. The vocals are interestingly done as well. What would you call this, exactly, sub-genre-wise? I'm not entirely sure myself.
Skullflower, "Solar Anus"
(Form Destroyer, 1989).
I was going to go with the live version of "Slaves" from the Kino box but nearly ten minutes of one bass riff and total guitar torture seemed excessive. So I went with six minutes and total *dual* guitar torture.
I'll hide your name inside a word and paint your eyes with false perception.
Death/black metal basically. It's a mixture of classic Finnish death metal (Demigod, Purtenance, old Amorphis, Demilich etc.) with earlier first wave styled black metal (Mystifier, Mortuary Drape, Varathron, Beherit, etc.).
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
it was hard to tell the heaviness of that Skullcrusher track due to the pretty shitty production. But I would say it's a 9 or 10. It's pretty loud and heavy.
Meshuggah-Beneath
A 9. It is slightly less intense overall than their more well known works, because it switches between their well known extremely percussive "djent" style and more traditional thrash/groove sounding parts.
7 - More riff centric than is the norm for power metal but they're the kind of simplified post speed metal Helloween types that mirror the vocals, meaning they convey motion and back up the singing rather than carrying the kind of firepower you'd get out of say, some German power/speed metal bands.
10. I could hardly understand what he was saying, so I'll just pretend it was caveman grunting. This type of music is brutalizing to the ears, hence it's such an exclusive genre.
Five Finger Death Punch - Mama Said Knock You Out (LL Cool J cover; feat. Tech N9ne)
Uhh I honestly expected to hate this cover of Mama Said Knock You Out. While I don't hate it, I still prefer the original song. Anyway, this is a 7 to me. It's not that heavy sounding. There's a lot of melody that prevents it from going higher.
Neurosis-Takeahnase
edited 28th Jun '16 6:18:29 AM by pointless233
Probably an 8. The loud sections are certainly harsh but they are relatively relaxed and atmospheric and the loud/soft dynamic contrast tips it closer to a 7.
8 - Just enough to edge out here and almost with an additional .5 but the weirdly confused mixture of power metal and melodic thrash contradicts itself a little too much to really let it harness the full forcefulness of either side.
10. I don't know what else to say, this is some brutal shit.
Linkin Park - Keys to the Kingdom
This is a 6 to 7 to me. It's got it's Loud and heavy moments and some impressive screams from Chester, but it's not that heavy to me. It's still a little too melodic to be brutal.
Dillinger Escape Plan-Understanding Decay
edited 1st Jul '16 9:09:34 AM by pointless233
The first loud section is a 9, then it jumps all around between levels 1-8 until finishing at level 10. I don't know what to give it overall.
This is a 9 to me. It's pretty heavy and the drums and guitar are fast and pretty loud. Not much else to say.
Pantera-Slaughtered
edited 2nd Jul '16 8:34:43 PM by pointless233
7.5 - Hilariously wonky verse riffs that sound like some weird mutation of southern fried bouncy hard rock crashing into the sloppy seconds of Metallica. With its bendy waving harmonies coupled with a bug-zapper guitar tone, it seems like they wanted to be a big intimidating thrashy metal band but lacked the capability for the rigid, precise, jackhammer riffs that make that style work and ended up with a self-contradictory hodgepodge of later day tuff-gai hardcore and the playlist of some prepubescent chump with an unhealthy addiction to COD montages. It's a lot of lower register pugilism but it lacks the contrast and careful, grandiose riff shaping to really give it much in the way of weight as much as obnoxious high school bully attitude.
edited 2nd Jul '16 7:14:30 PM by StillbornMachine
Personally I think Slaughtered is a 8. While it's not heavy like the stuff you're used to, it's heavy nonetheless. And I personally like the riffs.
Anyway, the song you posted is a 9. It's pretty heavy and the vocals are pretty harsh.
Meshuggah-New Millennium Cyanide Christ
edited 5th Jul '16 7:20:37 AM by pointless233
Edit: Forgot to give it a rating. It's a 10.
It's not exactly "brutal" in the way Death Metal is, but the relentless propulsive, angular rhythm coupled with the harshly aggressively vocals give it that hardness.
Gamma Ray - The Heart of the Unicorn (This is the only video with the studio version I could find)
edited 9th Jul '16 6:18:24 AM by djbj
7.5 - The thick bass-augmented tone is dense enough for a thrash band but the streamlined emphasis on harmony and sleek, laser-sharp riffing is more of a steady fencer's slash's than the hammer-wielding sociopathic tendencies of the other genre.
8. The whole thing has a very sludgy feel, and the deep vocals, while not the harshest I've heard, give the song a feeling of weight.
Author.
Somewhere between a 7 and an 8. It's heavy and Corey does use harsh vocals but it's not overly heavy. There's still the usage of melodic vocals and melodic guitar. That's how I see it.
Eyehategod-Agitation! Propaganda!
edited 9th Jul '16 8:32:45 PM by pointless233
That Eyehategod song sounds like a solid 9:
2 - Like being lightly hit by pillows.
I personally would say it's an 8. It's very heavy and the vocals are harsh but it's still a little too light to be super heavy. Just my opinion.
Meshuggah-Abnegating Cecity
A surprisingly hard 7. Mostly a 6 but a few of the nastier vocal bits add an ugly edge to the proceedings that keeps things reasonably heavy.
Ehnahre, "Old Earth IV"
(Old Earth, Crucial Blast, 2012).
I'll hide your name inside a word and paint your eyes with false perception.