A couple metal albums/bands that I want to mention that are not widely regarded or popular.

Artist:AGALLOCH
Album: Ashes Against The Grain
Genre: Doom/Black
Released: 2006

This band hailing out of Portland, Oregon plays an eclectic mix of doom-laden and 70s rock riffs with a dash of black metal rasping vocals and sweeping soundscapes. The album Ashes Against The Grain is packed to the brim with ideas. Epic melodies and catchy hooks abound throughout the 8 songs.

Notable songs: Not Unlike The Waves, Our Fortress Is Burning (Part 2: Bloodbirds)

http://www.myspace.com/agalloch
http://www.metal-archives.com/band.php?id=305


Artist: ANATA
Album: The Conductor's Departure
Genre: Death/Technical
Release: 2006

An original and diverse take on the genre, at moments you could be scratching your head and asking yourself is this really death metal? Is this is the future of technical death metal? So abrupt are the time changes and mixture of jazz-riffage, strange modes and scales all combine into a sort of surreal and melodic metal experience - think Cynic meets Augury. The mentality here is extremely melodic and progressive death metal. I wouldn't call it quite melo-death because it would hearken comparisons to the extreme saturation of Gothenburgian melo-death bands out there whereas this band sounds nothing like them.

Notable songs: Better Grieved Than Fooled, Children's Laughter

http://www.myspace.com/anata
http://www.metal-archives.com/band.php?id=2975