December 2024 "The Infinite" Playlist - Metal Academy Radio

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2Wtb5QsNObO9w62f7ThQNF?si=b798e60ebb17484f

1. Altesia – Mouth of the Sky (2021)

2. Atomic Guava – Tether (2024)

3. Chaos Divine – Landmines (2015)

4. Devin Townsend – Goodbye (2024)

5. DGM – From Ashes (2024)

6. Extol – Reflections of a Broken Soul (1998)

7. Fates Warning – One (2000)

8. Hemotoxin – Reborn in Tragedy (2024)

9. Intronaut – The Unlikely Event of a Water Landing (2015)

10. Kardashev – Silvered Shadows (2022)

11. Mur – Vitrun (2024)

12. The Ocean – Unconformities (2023)

13. Opeth – S4 (2024)

14. Pyrrhon – Not Going To Mars (2024)

15. Tesseract – Luminary (2018)

16. Textures – To Erase a Lifetime (2008)

17. Trenches – Pathways (2008)

18. You Win Again Gravity – Dreadbound (2024)

Saxy, you've done an amazing job with this playlist! So much so that I have the incentive to comment on all the tracks in it. So here are all my thoughts:

Altesia – Mouth of the Sky (2021)

4/5. A pretty great start to this playlist with killer vocals and chorus to illuminate your soul. There's a nice balance of influences from Haken and Opeth. I remember listening to their album Paragon Circus a few years ago but haven't checked out much of this band ever since. The amount of high quality is quite big! I like how well-composed it is. Things also get a bit djenty here and there.

Atomic Guava – Tether (2024)

4.5/5. The bass sounds quite rad in this one.

Chaos Divine – Landmines (2015)

5/5. Not gonna lie, this mind-blowing song has one of the best choruses I've heard in this Karnivool-ish brand of melodic progressive metal. So heavenly!

Devin Townsend – Goodbye (2024)

4.5/5. This 6-minute epic is a joyful rocker in a similar vein to Van Halen, probably done better!

DGM – From Ashes (2024)

4.5/5. Wicked progressive power metal rising from the ashes.

Extol – Reflections of a Broken Soul (1998)

5/5. This one continues the amazingness with more cleans and lyrics of depression.

Fates Warning – One (2000)

4.5/5. Fates Warning can add in not just upbeat drumming but also melancholic melody. While their 80s era is often considered the best, they've also shown their standing potential in later albums like A Pleasant Shade of Grey and Disconnected. They also have the operatic progressiveness of 90s Savatage. Nice vocals and guitars!

Hemotoxin – Reborn in Tragedy (2024)

4/5. This one has more of a tech-death/thrash sound, practically rebirthing a genre that faded out long ago, but it's actually more progressive than most of the other tracks in its original album, but again, technicality and aggression reigns.

Intronaut – The Unlikely Event of a Water Landing (2015)

4.5/5. Intronaut is such a mind-blowing band that f***ing needs to be more famous. This is one of my favorite songs from this band, especially the kick-A vocals touching the 3-minute mark alongside the more soulful harmonies. Though the outro throughout the final 3 minutes might remind some of Alice in Chains. If you're up for atmospheric progressive metal, you've come to the right band.

Kardashev – Silvered Shadows (2022)

4/5. If you're up for atmospheric progressive metal similar to Intronaut but more deathly, you've come to the right band, but I'll just keep digging.

Mur – Vitrun (2024)

3.5/5. Some nice fresh arrangement, though a bit draggy.

The Ocean – Unconformities (2023)

4/5. It was great listening to The Ocean for a few years, but my interest didn't last as long as I hoped. The dark lyrics and orchestration throw back to 20 years ago when they relied on all that in their debut Fluxion. This was one of my favorites of their new album Holocene, with great gorgeous guest vocals by Karin Park. Her vocals help bring power to even the softer moments. So d*mn stunning! The music and vocals work well together for that part. The heavier part from the 5 and a half minute mark onwards somehow don't strike me as greatly as they should. But what sad is, the band's lineup might split up after an upcoming tour. I wish them all the best...

Opeth – S4 (2024)

4.5/5. I'm glad this highlight got added in because it's my favorite track in the new Opeth album. The riffs and rhythms flow together perfectly. Generally, the folk-prog of Heritage is given a darker heavier treatment complete with growls.

Pyrrhon – Not Going To Mars (2024)

5/5. We may not be going to Mars too soon, but I'm going to get more of this band's material sometime later, thanks to this wild banger.

Tesseract – Luminary (2018)

4.5/5. Another excellent djenty track!

Textures – To Erase a Lifetime (2008)

5/5. This highlight closes its original masterpiece album in all its beauty and glory. However, we still have two more tracks in this playlist...

Trenches – Pathways (2008)

4.5/5. Trenches can be considered progressive post-sludge with metalcore screams from vocalist Jimmy Ryan, formerly of Haste the Day, and this song is no exception.

You Win Again Gravity – Dreadbound (2024)

4/5. Let's end this playlist with some promising creativity. And f***ing h*ll, there's a lot of it! The best part is, when there's two more minutes left, a ripping solo to make this tune stay unique. It's really great and not highly disappointing. We need a f***ing lot more solos in modern progressive metal, we really do....