Dionysus is actually not bad, but it's a just a TAD too wanky for my tastes, not a fan of the sweep picking which always makes me shudder, but the more simple melodies are really awesome!!
Just listened to Burnt offerings, actually not as bad as I remember it being! You're right about the feeling of it being "Death metal" almost, I can 100& see what you mean there. I still think their debut is the best though.
Jacksons I never liked, and if you want a darker tone than the Gibson Les Paul is the best you can get. For a warmer or more crisp tone, the Flying V is great, and the SG I fine is in between. For the past couple of gigs I've been using a Gibson Flying V through an ENGL Blackmore signature head with...
PAGAN ALTAR is great, BATHORY I really like too. And I'm probably a minority here but THE LORD WEIRD SLOUGH FEG was always a name I really really liked. Although I do think it's good that they shortened, made their albums easier to find under just "Slough Feg"
Am I really missing something with Burnt Offerings? I've had it for ages on CD but never really liked it, maybe I'll revisit it and let you know how it goes.
I won't lie, I really like the first few Iced Earth releases (not really into Burnt Offerings...), but who else likes this band? Their debut album has some really awesome moments, and Night of the Stormrider is almost as good but not quite, since it has a few moments on it which I think are a little...
I always liked "DARK QUARTERER", even though I have no idea what a "Quarterer" is! Trouble, Witchfinder General, Black Death, Brocas Helm, and Mercyful Fate (despite the misspelling... heh) are all great.