February 2021 “The Infinite” Playlist – Metal Academy Radio

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2UnCAhsTzW5r54DNfAAoCG?si=5d7BCvbfQcq-YbK1ipuyWQ

Tracklisting:

1. After The Burial – “Aspiration” (from “Rareform”, 2009)

2. Armia – “Wyludniacz” (from “Triodante”, 1994)

3. Sólstafir – “Ótta” (from “Ótta”, 2014)

4. Haken – “Nocturnal Conspiracy” (from “Visions”, 2011)

5. Shadow Gallery – “Crystalline Dream” (from “Carved In Stone”, 1995)

6. Symphony X – “Church Of The Machine” (from “Twilight In Olympus”, 1998)

7. Devin Townsend – “Christeen” (from “Christeen (Plus Four Demos)” E.P., 1998)

8. Ainsoph – “The Long & Self-Destructive Road” (from “Ω – V”, 2020)

9. The Reticent – “Stage 2: The Captive” (from “The Oubliette”, 2020)

10. TesseracT – “Concealing Fate, Part Two: Deception” (from “One”, 2011)

11. Meshuggah – “Shed” (from “Catch Thirtythree”, 2005) [Submitted by shadowdoom9]

12. Angel Vivaldi – “A Martian Winter” (from “Universal Language” E.P., 2011)

13. Between The Buried & Me – “White Walls” (from “Colors”, 2007) [Submitted by shadowdoom9]

14. In Mourning – “A Vow To Conquer The Ocean” (from “The Weight Of Oceans”, 2012) [Submitted by shadowdoom9]

15. Lör – “Ruin” (from “Edge Of Eternity”, 2020)

16. Enslaved – “Jettegryta” (from “Utgard”, 2020)

17. Oranssi Pazuzu – “Uusi teknokratia” (from “”Mestarin kynsi”, 2020)

For my track thoughts here, I originally commented on all of the 17 tracks here because there are so many bands I like and songs from bands that I might like. However, I realized that my comments on some of the songs from bands that I used to and still listen to were outdated, most of which were copied from my own reviews and my opinions on those songs have changed since then. I might give them up and sacrifice their discographies to make room for newer bands eventually if I feel like it, God forbid (NOT one of those bands). So I cut my amount of reviewed tracks to just 11 and rearranged the order of songs here to sound more complete. Here they are:

Meshuggah – “Shed” (from “Catch Thirtythree”, 2005)

4/5. This is the only song from Catch Thirtythree that fits well as a single and a good introductory song for new Meshuggah fans. They unleash their djent action but get more eerie and melodic over the brutal groove.

Angel Vivaldi – “A Martian Winter” (from “Universal Language” E.P., 2011)

4.5/5. Interesting attempt at a djent version of Antonio Vivaldi's 4 Seasons. I kinda love this phenomenal blend of djent and neoclassical shredding. So extraordinary intense, but I'm just not into the whole neoclassical metal motive anymore...

Devin Townsend – “Christeen” (from “Christeen (Plus Four Demos)” E.P., 1998)

3.5/5. Keeping up the "classical-poppy second track" trademark from Ocean Machine, the chorus sounds a little cheesy where the only other repeated lyric is "That's all I ask of you", a little too much like that Phantom of the Opera song. Fortunately, the nice intense bridge is a good lead-in to the final chorus.

Armia – “Wyludniacz” (from “Triodante”, 1994)

3/5. Umm... OK. This is kind of just Voivod-like punky progressive metal with small horn sections, and the lyrics are all in Polish. This song is decent, but with these odd horn sections and Polish lyrics, Armia might not be the band I'm looking for.

The Reticent – “Stage 2: The Captive” (from “The Oubliette”, 2020)

4.5/5. This one's much better, like holy cr*p, listen to those fantastic blended dynamics! I found another powerful underrated band sounding influenced from the older Opeth with a bit of Riverside. Outstanding legends! It's a good bite of powerful prog metal, but I kinda wish it would last longer. The Rivers of Nihil-like heaviness is amazing, but at the two-minute mark, the saxophone is unnecessary and there should've been a guitar solo there instead. Maybe those are the flaws there. Oh well...

Sólstafir – “Ótta” (from “Ótta”, 2014)

4.5/5. For this song's scenario, like the old man in the cover art, you wander around the beach at the dark dawn with just a sliver of sunlight from the horizon beyond the sea. This song is quite amazing, a sad yet serene song that you kinda consider an ambient doomy bluegrass metal ballad. The theme riff being reprised at under the 4 minute-mark and close to the 8-minute mark at h*lla incredible!

Oranssi Pazuzu – “Uusi teknokratia” (from “Mestarin kynsi”, 2020)

4/5. A killer epic of psychedelic black metal to end the playlist, but...NAH. It is killer, but this sounds closer to black metal if most of the metal heaviness was replaced with psychedelic jazz. Great song, but a poor mix of genres.

Lör – “Ruin” (from “Edge Of Eternity”, 2020)

4/5. Sounds amazing as f***, but this unorthodox mix of extreme progressive metal with folk tendencies doesn't quite level up so much enjoyment. It kinda ruins the good memories of my earlier epic metal taste and makes me glad I moved out of there.

Shadow Gallery – “Crystalline Dream” (from “Carved In Stone”, 1995)

5/5. Having tried listening to this band a few times about 5 years ago in my high-school-age years, I decided right now's a great time to try again, and it paid off! Mike Baker sounds like one of the best singers of progressive metal with fantastic clean-singing magic, but sadly he's gone. RIP... Who knows how many years until their next album after this last one that was released over a decade ago? I don't know, hopefully not too long. I just love this great piece of old-school prog metal, no question about it. They're another great band utilizing Dream Theater influences. The world needs more of their music that has dropped jaws, especially that mind-blowing keyboard solo. This is so good, I just hope to get more of this band soon...

Enslaved – “Jettegryta” (from “Utgard”, 2020)

4.5/5. A gigantic-sounding progressive black metal song! More about that in a review I might make for its album Utgard.

Ainsoph – “The Long & Self-Destructive Road” (from “Ω – V”, 2020)

4/5. Amazing, but I'm not into the avant-garde blackgaze sh*t. Let's wrap this up...

Despite the massive cutdown, this is still an amazing playlist, and I'm glad to comment on a great number of tracks. Thanks again for these great playlists, Daniel, and let's hope for more submission participation from the other members for many more to come...