u/dragonsden96

I've never really gotten into black metal, mostly due to its stereotypes, but found Blackbraid last year and absolutely love them. Recently started getting into Wolves in the Throne Room as well.

For my typical music taste, I listen to a little of everything, but really enjoy metalcore, melodeath, and folk metal. I am typically someone that loves good production, which I think has also steered me away from most black metal as well.

What non-sketchy black metal bands would you recommend for someone that enjoys Blackbraid and Wolves in the Throne Room, and comes from a more metalcore and melodeath fanbase?

This is going to be my first time in DC. It sounds like the festival typically ends around 10:00? I'm a huge Knicks fan, and would be trying to catch the end of the game 5 of the finals after the festival on Saturday, and think I'd have time since they've been ending around 11:30. Are there any good sports bars within walking distance from the festival site, or nearby on a metro line? Any suggestions are appreciated!

After a little over a week of listening to Ei8ht and letting the album sink in, I have finally compiled my thoughts on the album.

I believe this is a very strong album from them, although a much softer album than we are used to. As a metal head, I'm always looking for their harder songs, which are admittedly not really on this album. But, that is okay. The songs they've given us here are fantastic mid-paced and soft tracks. The only thing i feel is truly missing from this album is Brent using his gritty vocals, but he has been using them less and less over the years. It may not be sustainable for him to use as much.

Songs like Young Again, Machine Gun, and Back to the Living give me a sense of nostalgia, with a new sound for Shinedown as well.

I reallt want to commend Eric for the incredible production on this album. It sounds massive, and the engineering was great. I was actually not a fan of the production on Planet Zero at all. Everything felt muddy to me. I was mixed on the production from Attention Attention as well. But this was so much better.

Lyrically, I dont think we'll ever get lyrics to the level we did from Leave a Whisper through Amaryllis again. Nor do I think we'll ever get an album as great as those again, as they were the band's prime and in their youth. I wouldn't ever expect that. But, I think this is the best album they have released all around since Amaryllis. This album blows Planet Zero out of the water, and I believe it also edges out Attention Attention.

It seems the fanbase has mixed opinions on this. I posted a poll earlier this week and wasn't to share those results, and compare it to my opinion. I asked for fans to rate it out of 10, but could only go as low as 5, so I rounded the score down to try to account for any lower scores. That poll yielded an average score of 7.6/10 for the album, and a median of 8/10. The scores were all over the place, with everyone having a different opinion.

My personal score for this album is right around a 9/10

Where Ei8ht falls in my overall ranking of the albums:

8. Planet Zero

9. Threat to Survival

10. Attention Attention

11. Ei8ht

12. Amaryllis

13. Us and Them

14. Leave a Whisper

15. Sound of Madness

I'm glad to have a new Shinedown album to enjoy!

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