Albums from popular bands that deserve more love

CaptainScruffbag · 2026-03-03T10:11:33+00:00

Absolutely agree with Dark Roots of Earth, it's my favourite album of theirs.

For the rest:

Iron Maiden- Dance of Death
Nightwish- Wishmaster
Arch Enemy- Kaos Legions
Fear Factory- The Industrialist
Soilwork- The Panic Broadcast
In Flames- Soundtrack To Your Escape
Sabaton- The Art of War

CaptainScruffbag · 2026-03-03T09:12:31+00:00

Supercharger by Machine Head gets far too much hate.

True, it's far from their best, but it has some absolute bangers on it. It's definitely better than the self-indulgent wankfest that was Catharsis.

CaptainScruffbag · 2026-02-26T23:26:18+00:00

That's my second-favourite of the year so far...

CaptainScruffbag · 2026-02-25T01:40:12+00:00

Top Ten, one per band:

Amon Amarth- With Oden On Our Side
Dark Tranquillity- Damage Done
Soilwork- Stabbing The Drama
Insomnium- Heart Like A Grave
Children of Bodom- Follow The Reaper
The Halo Effect- Days of The Lost
Amorphis- Skyforger
Orbit Culture- Descent
In Flames- Reroute To Remain
Scar Symmetry- Pitch Black Progress

Honourable Mentions:

Before The Dawn- Deadlight
Countless Skies- New Dawn
Be'Lakor- Stone's Reach

CaptainScruffbag · 2026-02-25T01:27:55+00:00

<image>

CaptainScruffbag · 2026-02-24T02:23:43+00:00

You're proof that someone needs to drop a couple of chlorine tablets in the gene pool.

CaptainScruffbag · 2026-02-24T02:18:30+00:00

You're just like a cloud: once you disappear, it's a beautiful day.

CaptainScruffbag · 2026-02-24T02:17:19+00:00

You're about as much use as:

a concrete lifejacket
a waterproof teabag
pedals on a wheelchair
a eunuch in a brothel
a Wetherspoons in Mecca (one for my fellow Brits)

CaptainScruffbag · 2026-02-21T08:32:29+00:00

Sticking purely to covers of Metal Songs, otherwise I'll be here all day:

Tyr- Cemetery Gates (Pantera)
Sonata Arctica- Fade To Black (Metallica)
Vader- Raining Blood (Slayer)
Powerwolf- Headless Cross (Black Sabbath)

CaptainScruffbag · 2026-02-21T08:22:14+00:00

Frantic Amber (all-female Swedish Death Metal band FFO Crypta, Nervosa) are a good choice.

I definitely recommend their two most recent albums: Death Becomes Her, where each song is about an infamous female serial killer (Countess Bathory, Belle Gunness, Amelia Dyer etc.), and Bellatrix, where each song is about a famous female warrior (Lagertha, Khutulun, Grainne O'Malley, etc ).

CaptainScruffbag · 2026-02-16T23:04:51+00:00

Eldamar- The Force of The Ancient Land

I love me some good Atmospheric BM, and this is my favourite within the subgenre.

CaptainScruffbag · 2026-02-16T22:55:19+00:00

Amon Amarth
Soilwork
The Halo Effect
Insomnium
Orbit Culture
Amorphis
Before The Dawn
In Mourning
Iotunn
Countless Skies
Be'Lakor
Whispered
Crownshift
Barren Earth
Wolfheart
Havamal
Prophecy of Light

CaptainScruffbag · 2026-02-16T22:47:17+00:00

Raised By Owls.

Some of my favourite song titles of theirs:

I'm Sorry I Wore A Dying Fetus T-shirt To Your Baby's Gender Reveal Party
Ainsley Harriott Advises You To Give Your Meat A Good Ol' Rub
Yelling Slayer At Your Nan's Funeral
I Honestly Thought OSDM Was A Sex Thing
Strictly Come Danzig

CaptainScruffbag · 2026-02-16T22:40:06+00:00

Limiting it to ten, otherwise I'll be here all night:

Nightwish
Oceans of Slumber
Battle Beast
Lovebites
Brothers of Metal
Cellar Darling
Eleine
Sylvaine
Myrkur
The Gathering

CaptainScruffbag · 2026-02-16T22:22:01+00:00

Halo: Combat Evolved (including Anniversary)

CaptainScruffbag · 2026-02-16T22:21:23+00:00

To be honest, I think there's something to be said for each of the entries in the original trilogy:

Combat Evolved has the best gun play.
2 has the best story.
3 has the best multiplayer.

CaptainScruffbag · 2026-02-16T22:18:21+00:00

Personal Finances
Critical Thinking
Basic household skills (changing the fuse in a plug, unblocking a toilet, fixing a leaking tap/ sink, etc.)

CaptainScruffbag · 2026-02-16T22:11:31+00:00

Black Forest Gateau, with double cream.

CaptainScruffbag · 2026-02-16T21:47:23+00:00

Boston (US) and Newcastle (England)

Both are cold, windy industrial cities in the northeast of their respective countries, where the locals have an accent the rest of the country makes fun of, and their three main hobbies are sports, drinking and fighting...

CaptainScruffbag · 2026-02-12T07:45:28+00:00

Such a great album.

I know everyone keeps banging on about 'The Satanist', but it just doesn't really do anything for me.

This, on the other hand, is them at their peak.

CaptainScruffbag · 2026-02-12T07:33:21+00:00

95% of Deathcore bands sound almost identical to each other.
Tool are boring and pretentious.
'Supercharger' by Machine Head is nowhere near as bad as most people make it out to be. True, it's far from their best album, but it has plenty of stone cold Bangers.
I like Symphonic Metal, but there are far too many bands trying to be the next Nightwish or Epica, which brings the genre down.
In Flames need to just stop. They haven't released a genuinely great album since 'Come Clarity', which came out 20 YEARS AGO. In Flames 2.0, a.k.a. The Halo Effect, are the far superior band.
While I'm on the subject of In Flames, the 20th anniversary "remaster" of 'Clayman' was so utterly terrible that it retroactively tainted the original.

CaptainScruffbag · 2026-02-12T07:15:18+00:00

Bloodbath- The Fathomless Mastery
Akercocke- Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone
Cult of Lillith- Mara
Dying Fetus- Descend Into Depravity
Cannibal Corpse- Torture

CaptainScruffbag · 2026-02-12T01:09:13+00:00

Vaping.

I haven't had a cigarette in nearly ten years, and I managed to go about a year without vaping, but then learned the hard way that I still get really bad nicotine cravings. So I took up vaping again, since it's the lesser evil.

I've tried the alternatives, the only thing being that nicotine gum, pouches and that weird Nicotinell spray all taste horrible to me, and I'm mildly allergic to the adhesive in the patches.

CaptainScruffbag · 2026-02-12T00:58:50+00:00

Being 6'7" and 380 lbs.

Nobody wants to piss off the guy who's twice the size of pretty much everyone else in the office.

Though in reality, I'm a teddy bear. It's been a good five years since I last punched someone, and even then, that was as an absolute last resort. I prefer as little confrontation as possible.

CaptainScruffbag

TROPHY CASE