This morning I've been kicking back and reading to the delightful strains of Beherit's 'Engram' and Burzum's 'Belus', two excellent comeback albums.
I haven't listened to 'Engram' in ages and I really enjoyed it. It's much less bockety and all over the gaff than 'Drawing Down the Moon', more controlled and hypnotic, and a most pleasant listen. 'Demon Advance' is a great, trancey way to finish the album using a grand total of two notes throughout its lengthy duration but works really well in its pacing and meditative atmosphere.
'Belus' has similarities but is far more melodic. It's more melodic and bright than most of the early Burzum stuff as well which is often relentless in its gloominess. The comeback stuff sounds more positive and celebratory to my ear, and I love it. 'Belus' and 'Fallen' are incredible albums and I return to them quite a lot. I listened to 'Umskiptar' the other day and realised it's a banger, too, but I let it slip past me as I always lumped it in with his plinky plonky stuff that doesn't really appeal to me. I'll have to see if I can pick up a copy and get to know it a bit more.
Any other convincing comebacks that either recapture the band's original sound or expand into new and exciting territory?
Celtic Frost's Monotheist immediately springs to mind. It had its own modern sound and style yet was recognisably Frost underneath it all. It's just a shame it was such a shortlived comeback.
Gorefest-La Muerte ,mighty come back album.
Obituary-Frozen in Time was good too.
Suffocation-Souls to Deny was another great come back.
I think Souls to Deny was a great comeback too, the title track is one of their best. The first riff in that is so fucking evil!!!
I enjoyed Possessed's new one too. Pretty generic stuff, but that's ok with me, some great riffs on it.
It could have done with a less polished production, but that's nitpicking.
I'm probably one of the few that loved Dissections Reinkaos, some great songwriting on it. Simplistic and memorable songs.
Souls to Deny is a beast of a record. Love the artwork too.
I'd give the nod to Cynic's "Traced in Air". Really didn't think it'd ever happen, nevermind be so fucking good.
Given how quickly Cynic went to shit and how good Exivious' two records are, I wonder how much of a hand Tymon had in TiA.
Quote from: Carnage on January 08, 2020, 11:43:29 PM
Celtic Frost's Monotheist immediately springs to mind. It had its own modern sound and style yet was recognisably Frost underneath it all. It's just a shame it was such a shortlived comeback.
This. A million times this.
Hell with Human Remains.
Gorguts "Coloured Sands" by far my favourite Gorguts release.
Monotheist and Traced in Air for sure.
I'm quite fond of
Atheist - Jupiter
Alice in Chains - Black Gives Way to Blue
Death Angel - The Art of Dying
Acid Reign - The Age of Entitlement
not sure if you can classify it as a comeback album as they've been on-off for a long time but Living Colour - The Chair in the Doorway was superb
Surprised not to see Surgical Steel by Carcass mentioned. When you consider the drivel many of their contemporaries are releasing, Surgical Steel was far, far better than it had any right to be, and happily goes to to toe with any of their early releases.
Not sure if it quite counts as a comeback, but repeated listenings reveal Morbid Angel's Kingdoms Disdained to be a lot stronger than it may initially appear - at least equal to Formulas to my ears.
QuoteObituary-Frozen in Time
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Awful album, sounded like they recorded it on auto- much like everything else they've done since.
QuoteNot sure if it quite counts as a comeback, but repeated listenings reveal Morbid Angel's Kingdoms Disdained to be a lot stronger than it may initially appear - at least equal to Formulas to my ears
Can't agree there. Had it on the other day and it's a chore to get through. Very one dimensional. There's an initial flurry of decent tracks but wears it's welcome out very quicky. Display's none of the diversity or creativity found on Formula's. The production is far too muddy on Kingdom's too, obviously they were going for a Gatweay's/Formula's vibe but some of the riffs are inaudible.
QuoteCarcass
Don't really rate Surgical either - it's probably the most solid out of whats been mentioned but Necrotism/Heartwork it ain't.
I'll have to agree with Mr. Mcclove with his inital statement, Belus is indeed a very fine record.
Black Gives Way To Blue is the main one that comes to mind. It's an amazing piece of work.
Recently I've been impressed with Exhorder - Mourn the Southern Skies.
Would Pestilence - Hadeon be considered a comeback album? It's a fucking belter either way.
Faith No More - Sol Invictus is decent too.
Forbidden's Omega Wave is a great album, shame they split up before bringing anything else out
I enjoyed Sol Invictus a lot too. Probably place it somewhere in the middle of the other FNM albums in terms of quality, which is still high praise given how good their best stuff is
Another shout for Traced in Air and Jupiter too
Quote from: Juggz on January 09, 2020, 07:49:07 AM
Monotheist and Traced in Air for sure.
I'm quite fond of
Atheist - Jupiter
Alice in Chains - Black Gives Way to Blue
Death Angel - The Art of Dying
Acid Reign - The Age of Entitlement
not sure if you can classify it as a comeback album as they've been on-off for a long time but Living Colour - The Chair in the Doorway was superb
I´d second all of them. Brave New World and Firepower also. BNW was such a return to form. Cynic Traced in Air.
Iron Maiden - Brave new world
Moonspell - Night eternal
Godflesh "A World Lit Only By Far" - both their reformation era albums are on a par with their early work for me.
Voivod - "Target Earth" was a fine return after Piggy (though "The Wake" is a better album)
U2 - Achtung Baby
And yes....Surgical Steel was a savage album!!
Good calls on Surgical Steel (on a par with Symphonies... and Necroticism... for me, and much better than their other material) and Black Gives Way To Blue, though that took a while to click for me. Acid Reign too, obviously.
Are we just talking about bands who've reformed, or including bands who've returned to form? If the latter, then I'd chalk up another vote each for Brave New World and Firepower. Overkill's White Devil Armoury was their best since (at least) Horrorscope, and I'd have Anthrax's Worship Music as their best since Persistence Of Time.
Sol Invictus was awful to my ears, just another Mike Patton album as opposed to sitting alongside FNM's previous albums.
I didn't think much of A World Lit Only By Fire TBH but Post Self is every but as good as their classic albums IMO.
Lads you're just listing albums now. How the fuck can Overkill have a comeback album when they've never been away?
Like Iron Maiden, U2, etc :laugh:
Well cut Maiden some slack on it at least being a comeback with Bruce :laugh:
No slack will be cut this day!
Mental. Anthrax comeback? Maybe you could classify Worship Muck as one as they hadn't put out anything in almost a decade.
Surgical Steel up there with Symphonies and Necrotism, think some of you are doing the leftover coke from the Stryker xmas party
Cynic - Traced In Air
Atheist - Jupiter
Satan - Life Sentence (not mentioned yet but an absolutely stellar comeback album!)
Celtic Frost - Monotheist
Nocturnus - Paradox
FNM - Sol Invictus
Both Maiden and U2 were comeback albums, Maiden couldn't sell out a portaloo at that stage of their career and U2 had to reinvent themselves after shooting themselves in the foot with Rattle and Hum...
Exodus - Tempo of the Damned
Fucking banger. And one of my favourite albums of all time.
You have to go away to come back, lads. Releasing a good album after a shit one isn't a comeback, you can call it a return to form or renewed maximisation of artistic and commercial potential or whatever, but it isn't a comeback. The clue is in the thread title "Strong Comeback Albums". That means there can be shit comebacks, too.
Tempo of the Damned was a strong one, alright.
Rush - Vapor Trails
Surgical Steel is good stuff
Quote from: Juggz on January 09, 2020, 01:59:00 PM
You have to go away to come back, lads. Releasing a good album after a shit one isn't a comeback, you can call it a return to form or renewed maximisation of artistic and commercial potential or whatever, but it isn't a comeback. The clue is in the thread title "Strong Comeback Albums". That means there can be shit comebacks, too.
Tempo of the Damned was a strong one, alright.
Rush - Vapor Trails
Rush is an interesting one. They never really went away, sure they gave Peart some time and space after everything that happened to him but didn't actually break up. Then again they also said they weren't sure if he was going to come back which would have been the end of the band so...
Great album all the same
Peart had told them he was done after his daughter died. They (at least with Peart) didn't exist for a few years.
I'm not budging on Brave New World being a comeback album :laugh: Firepower fair enough, though I would argue that they were ABSENT or uninvolved, in the same way a parent can be accused of being absent or uninvolved and in the same way Liverpool FC was absent from their righful place in the premier league for the last 30 years. Reinkaos was a comeback album, though they never split up to the best of my knowledge...does it require a split for it to be a comeback? If so, Smith and Dickinson not being in Maiden I would deem a split and their return was a comeback..I rest my case :abbath:1
Good calls on Godflesh, Burzum and FNM.
Illud.. was Morbid Angels comeback and it is dogshit. Dodheimsgard with A Umbra Omega, which I feel is their strongest.
Didn't see the Godflesh mentioned, but it was excellent alright.
Sanctuary - The Year the Sun Died, although I'm a massive fan of Warrel Dane so could be a bit biased
Oh, good call. The only Sanctuary album I actually liked, a shame he died before they could follow it up.
Apart from those mentioned previously (Beherit, Burzum, Celtic Frost ) Dissection -Reinkaos deserves a shout out. Arguably the weakest release in their discography but is still a banger of a record.
Slayer - Reign in Blood
Burzum -Aske
Morbid Angel - Entangled in Chaos
Tool -Aenima
Iron Maiden - Dance of Death
Quote from: Cryptic Stench on January 09, 2020, 05:57:54 PM
Slayer - Reign in Blood
Burzum -Aske
Morbid Angel - Entangled in Chaos
Tool -Aenima
Iron Maiden - Dance of Death
:laugh:
Quote from: Weltenfeind on January 09, 2020, 05:38:12 PM
Apart from those mentioned previously (Beherit, Burzum, Celtic Frost ) Dissection -Reinkaos deserves a shout out. Arguably the weakest release in their discography but is still a banger of a record.
I mentioned Reinkaos. Gets a bad rap from the die-hards due to the more polished production and mid-tempo, commercial sounding songs.
I played the fuck out of it when it came out. I know it as well as the other two.
Went to see the last gig in Stockholm in 2006 on me lonesome, great gig.
It was professionally filmed but hasn't been released for some reason.
Heathen's The Evolution of Chaos.
Akercocke - Renaissance in Extremis
Class comeback album, up there with their best stuff. New Sacred Reich is quality too. Love how natural the production sounds. Another 1 up for Monotheist too. Hot take depending on who you ask but its Celtic Frost's best album in my opinion. It doesn't bother me that much that they didn't follow it up as at least sonically the Triptykon stuff does.
Quote from: TurnTheAirBlue on January 09, 2020, 06:30:10 PM
Quote from: Weltenfeind on January 09, 2020, 05:38:12 PM
Apart from those mentioned previously (Beherit, Burzum, Celtic Frost ) Dissection -Reinkaos deserves a shout out. Arguably the weakest release in their discography but is still a banger of a record.
I mentioned Reinkaos. Gets a bad rap from the die-hards due to the more polished production and mid-tempo, commercial sounding songs.
I played the fuck out of it when it came out. I know it as well as the other two.
Went to see the last gig in Stockholm in 2006 on me lonesome, great gig.
It was professionally filmed but hasn't been released for some reason.
Is there not a DVD of that?
No, that's the 2004 reunion gig.
The real question is what's the comeback album of the decade? :abbath: : ;D
Surprised The Sciences by Sleep hasn't been mentioned.
"Sound of Perseverance" since I think it was originally meant to be the first Control Denied album.
Quote from: ldj on January 10, 2020, 08:09:53 PM
Surprised The Sciences by Sleep hasn't been mentioned.
I listened to it alot when it came out but its lost its luster fairly sharpish
It was poor.
The Sound Of Perseverance is appalling.
Quote from: Carnage on January 12, 2020, 09:04:05 AM
It was poor.
The Sound Of Perseverance is appalling.
Weaker than the rest out their output certainly but appalling? Ah here!
The Sound of Perseverance used to be my favourite Death album as I got my hands on it before Human, ITP and Symbolic.
It's a bit patchy in places, sure, but there's no denying songs like Spirit Crusher and Bite the Pain. A Moment of Clarity is also my favourite Death song.
I'll still reach for it any day of the week over the first three records.
The first four are untouchable, and Symbolic's also pretty good, the return to a relatively straightforward sound in comparison to the albums either side of it was most welcome. TSOP is just a mess (his vocals are particularly bad) and ITP's noodly nonsense is almost as unlistenable. The sound of Schuldiner disappearing up his own arse.
I thought ITP was pretty bang on, the songs don't meander and there's some wild lead playing on there too.
I'd actually level that complaint at TSoP - Flesh and the Power it Holds literally stops at one point. I dig his vocals on it.
Been sitting here like a gowl for the last twenty minutes listening to it without thinking of this thread, namely Solitude Aeturnus - "Alone".
Great record, wonderful atmosphere and I've also found it interesting in that it's not particularly heavy for a doom album. Actually got a friend into it precisely because it isn't heavy.
Appalling is a bit strong!, i can definitely see why people might not like it,but still a belter of an album.
In any case, it's not a comeback album, regardless of what it was originally intended to be. It's a Chuck and co. album like all their others.
Leprosy is a belter for me, remember hearing it for the first time and being blown away, love spiritual healing and human, wasn't to crazy about much of their stuff after that, the earlier stuff was just vicious, that's just me though
Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on January 12, 2020, 02:04:58 PM
In any case, it's not a comeback album, regardless of what it was originally intended to be. It's a Chuck and co. album like all their others.
I see Your point, however I could swear that Death officially broke up after Symbolic, so it kinda fits.
As for the album itself, it just seems to be one of those love it/hate it records. I loved it when it came out, although as the years passed by I can here certain lack of focus and indeed "patchiness" (i. e. "Flesh and the power...").
"Human" is my personal favourite of theirs. But I can imagine someone naming any Death album as their best and making compelling argument. And sure, I understand the importance of the early records for the scene.
If this forum had moderators, they'd be saying "Back on topic."
Quote from: Eoin McLove on January 08, 2020, 11:33:36 PM
This morning I've been kicking back and reading to the delightful strains of Beherit's 'Engram' and Burzum's 'Belus', two excellent comeback albums.
I haven't listened to 'Engram' in ages and I really enjoyed it. It's much less bockety and all over the gaff than 'Drawing Down the Moon', more controlled and hypnotic, and a most pleasant listen. 'Demon Advance' is a great, trancey way to finish the album using a grand total of two notes throughout its lengthy duration but works really well in its pacing and meditative atmosphere.
'Belus' has similarities but is far more melodic. It's more melodic and bright than most of the early Burzum stuff as well which is often relentless in its gloominess. The comeback stuff sounds more positive and celebratory to my ear, and I love it. 'Belus' and 'Fallen' are incredible albums and I return to them quite a lot. I listened to 'Umskiptar' the other day and realised it's a banger, too, but I let it slip past me as I always lumped it in with his plinky plonky stuff that doesn't really appeal to me. I'll have to see if I can pick up a copy and get to know it a bit more.
Any other convincing comebacks that either recapture the band's original sound or expand into new and exciting territory?
Was there not a criticism of Belus at the time that it was mainly older pre written material from the 90s and as such was not exactly a comeback? In any case though its a fair while since I listened to it, I agree, fab album.
Umskiptar I've always championed. Great hypnotic soothing stuff. The way the whole album fades out over the last few tracks is brilliant. It was a real departure from the belus/fallen sound and proof that the mad lad knows his way around creating a tune. Pity he turfed it in for board games.
Must give Umskiptar a listen tonight. I used to find Filosofem a great album to fall asleep to, fierce hypnotic listening!
Dehumanizer
Great one, the best with Dio, I say.
Beyond Good and Evil by The Cult was nice rock slab.
^ That's a good shout too. That's easily the heaviest thing The Cult have done (if you only know She Sells Sanctuary it'll surprise you) and it's really consistent. Shame Atlantic didn't get behind them to promote the record properly.
The Stench Of Redemption by Deicide was a fucking great comeback. They'd released a few dud albums before breaking up of course. Can't say anything after this is blowing my hair back though. It was a one off
I don't know if either of these qualify. Maybe more a return to form, but Dystopia? Or when mustaine's arm went and jr left and he came back with Blackmail The Universe