July 2022 "The Infinite" Playlist - Metal Academy Radio
(Thread posted with permission from Saxy)
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2Wtb5QsNObO9w62f7ThQNF
Tracklisting:
01. Cynic - "Mythical Serpents" (from Ascension Codes)
02. Evergrey - "The Orphean Testament" (from A Heartless Portrait (The Orphean Testament))
03. Charlie Griffiths - "Luminous Beings" (from Luminous Beings)
04. Dream Theater - "The Shattered Fortress" (from Black Clouds & Silver Linings)
05. The Contortionist - "Early Grave" (from Our Bones)
06. Between the Buried and Me - "Prequel to the Sequel" (from Colors)
07. Kardashev - "Cellar of Ghosts" (from Liminal Rite)
08. Diablo Swing Orchestra - "Exit Strategy of a Wrecking Ball" (from Pandora's Pinata)
09. Isis - "Garden of Light" (from In the Absence of Truth)
10. Gojira - "Magma" (from Magma)
11. Vanden Plas - "Godmaker - Live" (from Godmaker (Live))
12. Dir En Grey - "Schadenfreude" (from Phalaris)
13. Mastodon - "Fallen Torches" (from Medium Rarities)
14. Symphony X - "Seven" (from Paradise Lost)
15. Polyphia - "Playing God" (from Playing God)
16. The Ocean - "The Grand Inquisitor I: Karamazov Baseness" (from Anthropocentric)
17. Novena - "Ghosts" (from Ghosts)
Saxy, let me just say, you have done such as incredible job assembling this month's Gateway and Infinite playlists! This tracklisting has encouraged me to go through the entire playlist and find excellent tracks from bands I already listen to along with different bands in which some of them I feel up to trying some more songs from them. Well done, please keep it up! So let's get my track thought journey started:
Cynic - "Mythical Serpents" (from Ascension Codes)
4.5/5. A great opening highlight to show each member's skill! This is actually also in the January playlist, but never mind. Moving on...
Evergrey - "The Orphean Testament" (from A Heartless Portrait (The Orphean Testament))
4/5. Evergrey strikes again with a good heavy tune from their new album released only a year after the last.
Charlie Griffiths - "Luminous Beings" (from Luminous Beings)
4/5. I was only a Haken fan for about a year before realizing that band was better off being listened to by me 8 years ago when my melodic side of progressive metal was dominant. With that said, I'm still delighted by such a h*ll of a prog-metal experience from that band's guitarist. This song's pretty great and so is the cartoony video for any biology lovers out there. Monstrous Haken-like riffs can be found especially near the 4-minute mark and in the intro chord. Great guitar skills from this man, with some Allan Holdsworth influence. Amazing how creative he can be! The drums also rule, though I don't know who's performing them. Blessings to this beautiful yet monstrous piece, along with the video aesthetics reminding me of Spongebob Squarepants. Call this song prog, rock, or metal, but what matters is this journey with lyrics warning us about the darkness of extinction. Crawl, walk, run!
Dream Theater - "The Shattered Fortress" (from Black Clouds & Silver Linings)
4.5/5. This was one of my favorite melodic progressive metal epics that marks the end of the band's "Twelve-Step Suite" and eventually, Mike Portnoy leaving the band after 25 years, heart-breaking many DT listeners. There's a lot to mention, so here goes: The volume heads up at the 3 and a half minute mark, then two minutes we have a f***ing great riff. At the 7-minute mark we have a Metallica-ballad-like section with narration, before throwing back to Octavarium a minute and a half later, even sounding close to Black Sabbath after a minute. And after some Paul Gilbert-like soloing and one more verse ("I am responsible when anyone, anywhere reaches out for help, I want my hand to be there"), the opening of "The Glass Prison" is reprised, closing the suite in full circle. EPIC!
The Contortionist - "Early Grave" (from Our Bones)
4/5. This one continues the aggressive vs. mellow pattern. Then we reach a climatic post-metal bridge with an outro that's probably the band's heaviest since their Language album from 5 years prior!
Between the Buried and Me - "Prequel to the Sequel" (from Colors)
4.5/5. Between the Buried and Me is another band I loved for a few years but have not gotten in touch a lot recently, other than this album's recent sequel Colors II. This one's quite awesome despite the recent remaster making not a lot of difference, other than making the bass and keys sound better while lessening the power of Adam Fisher (Fear Before)'s screams. Life is constant happiness...
Kardashev - "Cellar of Ghosts" (from Liminal Rite)
4/5. This one's quite powerful from start to end. F***ing sick instrumentation and growls at times. Rock on!
Diablo Swing Orchestra - "Exit Strategy of a Wrecking Ball" (from Pandora's Pinata)
4.5/5. The lyrics here convey the feeling of betrayal and not seeing the one you love again. That inspiring lyrical theme might one day make me up to trying Diablo Swing Orchestra despite crossing them out after a short month. This is a band of musical geniuses! Who knew swing and metal fit like a glove?! There's even a slight death/nu-metal scream section towards the end. The lyrics should probably have thicker meaning though, but I can identify with that situation well. High-quality unique swing-infused progressive metal here, am I right? Still there are other bands for me to enjoy in my nearly a decade of listen to metal...
Isis - "Garden of Light" (from In the Absence of Truth)
5/5. Such as this band whom each instrument has their own significant parts. An incredibly epic song with a f***ing awesome intro and outro. The album this song is in shows a more melodic/experimental side that the Isis band members would have in their later band Palms with Deftones' Chino Moreno.
Symphony X - "Seven" (from Paradise Lost)
4/5. This was one of my favorite Symphony X songs from when I was still commonly listening to that band and Dream Theater. It's decently long at 7 minutes, but I guess it's short in comparison with the longer progressive epics out there.
Polyphia - "Playing God" (from Playing God)
3.5/5. The first time I heard the jazzy riffing, I had a confusing "WT*" look on my face, but the majority of this is a beautiful listening experience. Note that this band's earlier material was basically just jazzy prog-rock.
The Ocean - "The Grand Inquisitor I: Karamazov Baseness" (from Anthropocentric)
4/5. This is part of "The Grand Inquisitor" trilogy that has killer heaviness. Enough said!
Novena - "Ghosts" (from Ghosts)
3.5/5. This one ends the playlist in an almost similar direction to the end of the Gateway playlist, sounding the closest to hard rock. In saying that, the male and female vocals sound pretty good. Though there could've been a better end to this playlist in which the rest of it is awesome.