That Vehemence recommendation was phenomenal, thanks very much!

As for my own contribution I would like to mention

Eternal Lies - a truly amazing melodic death band with a small discography but heavy on the awesome, one of my new favourite MDM bands.

The Fifth Sun - a modern US MDM band with some seriously good, quality sound behind them, check it out.

Garden of Shadows - their album Oracle Moon is probably one of the most solid offerings in this particular strain of the genre, the growls are heavy and they use the blast beats often and well, a nice change

Hypocrisy has an expansive discography, ranging from more Death metal leaning to more modern MDM stuff, check out Osculum Obscenum.

The Omnium Gatherum is also a a catchy MDM band that also remains to be heavy, worth checking em out.


Have fun!

Arghoslent, I hate their ideologies but the music is freacking good, with a lot of NWOBHM influence. Check it out.

Yeah I like the deep growls on that Oracle Moon, sets it apart from a lot of melodeath. Music is good too. Also don't mind seconding The Fifth Sun, solid band.

Maybe you'd like Lycanthrope, they have a very melodic sound, and have some folkish elements as well.

http://www.myspace.com/lycanthropeofficial

I second Excretion (Swe). Awesome band

The Absence the best MDM America has to offer

my melodeath library minus metalcore and power metal influence & the aforementioned recommendations
2nd suicide, arch enemy, atropos, beyond the embrace, blood stain child, canopy, dark lunacy, darkane, dawn of tears, dispatched, dominia, eluveitie, eternal tears of sorrow, extol, falchion, fleshcrawl, ghost brigade, inactive messiah, julie laughs nomore, kanthaka, nightfall, orphaned land, pandemonium, quo vadis, sentenced, septicflesh, suidakra, tribes of cain, verjnuarmu, wintersun, zonaria

Ah yes, Dark Lunacy is one of my favorites as well, thanks for reminding me, U Sir.

Have to recommend Crown of Thorns, Amon Amarth and Hypocrisy. All fantastic.

Yes. If you need a few album recommendations, check out:

Arghoslent - Galloping Through the Battle Ruins
Arghoslent - Incorrigible Bigotry
Arghoslent - Troops of Unfeigned Might
Arghoslent - Hornets of the Pogrom

Try Cormorant - The Last Tree. It's pretty trad. heavy metal influenced (the guys are all big Slough Feg fans).

They also have a new album called Metazoa coming out in September, which is gonna be more prog-influenced.

Oh yeah for some reason I forgot to add these guys to the list i made:

http://www.myspace.com/cromlechsweden

What, no Norther?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUUo9crSdf8

Go for their first three albums.

I'm glad someone here else likes this band \m/ Pity they disbanded, I'd kill to hear them do another album.

norther is influenced by power metal i think

You might want to check out Thirdmoon of Austria. They have 5 albums, I think, some are better than others but all are good solid and rather unique melodic death. Best comparison would be with Eucharist or Gates of Ishtar.

Plus they're a CoB rip-off, and the original poster said no CoB.

Yeah sucks trying to find a decent site/store that sells their discography.

In Slumber is a pretty decent band you'd probably like after mentioning a few in the OP.

http://www.metal-archives.com/band.php?id=17928

Hey man, check out This Ending and Guidance of Sin. Both are related to Amon Amarth, and they play melodic death metal that has actually balls.

http://www.metal-archives.com/band.php?id=82444

http://www.metal-archives.com/band.php?id=677

Has anyone mentioned Septic Flesh/Septicflesh yet?

Also try Bolt Thrower`s The once loyal, excelent death metal with melody.

Eluveitie is folk metal with a lot of melodic death metal influence. Amon Amarth are pretty good too, IMO.

I think there are more folk/viking metal bands out there with a lot of melo-death influence, and those bands tend to stray from metalcore, for the most part.

2 pages and no "blind stare" yet.

Check them out.

Definitely check out Quo Vadis. Melodic death metal with a technical edge to it. Check out "Defiant Imagination," really top-tier stuff.

Mors Principium Est is a band I HIGHLY recommend, fast, almost thrashy and really epic. picture norther, mixed with old school gothenburg and way faster...
This Ending and Amon Amarth are good too, as well as Centinex.

Try Archons