[passetiermes]

Usually people prefer the early releases when it comes to bands discographies. Just a few examples could be: Slayer, Death,Metallica, Venom, Sepultura, Darkthrone, Rotting Christ, Impaled Nazarene, Entombed, Xysma, Morbid Angel, Barathrum and the list goes on.
Why do you think it is like that, and more importantly, which bands have progressed throughout their career in a way that makes you like their more recent releases more than their earlier efforts?
To me some expamples could be Satyricon, whose three first albums are garbage, but lately they have made some worthwhile music.
Another example could be Samael; even though I like Worship Him, progression in Samael´s case is not a curse word for me. I really like the newer albums as well.
Which bands have progressed/developed with their music into directions that you appreciate?

[IronBloodBlasphemy]

disagree on Satyricon. I'll take the grimness of Dark Medieval Times any day over this over-produced black n'roll nonsense that they're playing now.
best example that comes to mind immediately is PRIMORDIAL. "The Gathering Wilderness" is a masterpiece.

Most bands lose that hunger/aggression after a couple of releases. There are many reasons for this.

[krawling kaos]

If raw primitivism is key to a band's sound, of course the earlier stuff
is going to sound better. And because we hear that stuff first, that's how we think the band should sound like. But some bands manage to maintain that primitive evil while still "moving forward" sonically (like Harald Mentor's bands). And more technical bands don't really have that problem. I think Absu's lps got better and better. Third Storm and Tara are their best, IMO.
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"Great holes secretley are digged where earth's pores ought to suffice, and things have learnt to walk that ought to crawl..."

[Guest]

Yeah, Primordial is a good example of evolution...

Other bands with cool new stuff would be Nunslaughter, Sabbat, Toxic Holocaust, Zemial, Devil Lee Rot...

Their newer stuff is just as good as their old stuff, if not better IMO.

[Guest]

I have to say, the new Rotting Christ album is my favorite of what they've done- sans modern production. Seriously, where other Greek bands have failed to capture the old mystical Hellenic sound "Theogonia" with a few exceptions picks up the same feeling that made the genre a classic.

[Guest]

(The Lord Weird) Slough Feg--while Twilight of the Idols will always be my favorite for sentimental reasons, I think that their last two releases are definitely their strongest.

Bone Awl--admittedly, I haven't heard a lot of the really early Bone Awl stuff, but it seems to me that their material of the last couple of years is their best. They have so many releases though, there could obviously be a lot of debate on this one.

Maybe Bestial Mockery? I think this is a pretty interesting question. The more I think about it, the more difficult it becomes to think of a band that really got way better with time. I think most quality bands just plateau, and are still able to exist based on the fact that people want to see them live regardless of whether or not their new material is "better" than the old.

Also, the amount of time it takes for a band to peak varies greatly. Some bands blow their load on their first major release, or even demos, but many others don't have their magnum opus until the third or fourth major effort. Some of the older bands I can think of did in fact get better with time, up to a certain point. What I'd be interested in knowing would be if there are any bands who's like 12th album, after 20 years, was their best.

I do think that Riot is an interesting band, because many people talk about Fire Down Under as their best (and it is indeed great), but I actually prefer later stuff like Thundersteel, and MUCH later, Sons of Society.

[gruesome_ALLAH_fucker]