Very good friends with these guys. I'm not a big fan of their music but they're the hardest working band I've ever seen, and they deserve every good thing that happens to them

I can see why people like this kind of music; it's well played, very precise and very clean. But the cleanliness is actually a bit of a detractor for me. Imperfections in music actually don't bother me; I find that they actually give music character and added dynamics. Unfortunately, this super-refined production really flattens the music for me. In addition to this, the compositions really aren't anything special either. You can play music as proficiently as you want, but if the music isn't actually interesting, then what's the point?

I have nothing against these guys, but I'm just seeing too many similar bands popping up in the current metal scene -- bands who've got decent ability, but really flat songwriting, and a bad case of over-production in their music.

I KNOW this brand of metal appeals to some people, and you've got every right to enjoy it. But I don't see how people are able to listen to a lot of it without getting bored. To me, there's nothing memorable about the music, there's no originality to the band themselves, and there's very little (if anything) that's different from the last over-produced, generic modern metal band to recently hit the scene.

I would give examples, but quite frankly, I can't remember any of them. Mediocrity doesn't stick in my head, and unfortunately that's exactly what these bands are - mediocre. And together they're forming a sub-genre centered around mediocrity, and which uses squeaky-clean production to make its music sound perfect, making all of these bands sound even more alike, and thus forming a collective blob of indistinguishable monotony, left steaming in the lap of the metal music industry, attracting pests who flock to it for the shiny production and overall accessibility of this characterless music.

Let's have a few more acts with some personality in this industry.