August 2021 "The Infinite" Playlist - Metal Academy Radio

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2Wtb5QsNObO9w62f7ThQNF?si=962fde0015c04da8

Tracklisting:

01. Dordeduh – “De neam vergur” (from “Har”, 2021)

02. Haken – “Celestial Elixir” (from “Aquarius”, 2010)

03. Subterranean Masquerade – “Somewhere I Sadly Belong” (from “Mountain Fever”, 2021)

04. Kong – “Stockhouse” (from “Phlegm”, 1992)

05. Pain Of Salvation – “Her Voices” (from “The Perfect Element I”, 2000) [Submitted by shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

06. Mastodon – “Oblivion” (from “Cracke The Sky”, 2009) [Submitted by shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

07. Enslaved – “The Watcher” (from “Vertebrae”, 2008) [Submitted by shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

08. Rivers Of Nihil – “Where Owls Know My Name” (from “Where Owls Know My Name”, 2018) [Submitted by shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

09. Dark Heresy – “Engines Of Torture” (from “Abstract Principles Taken to Their Logical Extremes”, 1995)

10. Grey Aura – “El Greco in Toledo” (from “Zwart vierkant”, 2021)

11. Voivod – “D.N.A. (Don’t Know Anything)” (from “Negatron”, 1995) [Submitted by shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

12. Thy Catafalque – “Móló” (from “Vadak”, 2021)

13. Meshuggah – “I” (from “I” E.P., 2004)

14. Year Of No Light – “Réalgar” (from “Consolamentum”, 2021)

My thoughts on some tracks:

Dordeduh – “De neam vergur” (from “Har”, 2021)

4/5. Dordeduh? Har? Not quite names to take seriously, but the opening epic of this playlist can be... You can make a magnificent trip to the edge of the world with this long track that has a bit of a magical classical-ish Killing Joke-like vibe. Interesting black-ish post-Viking metal right here!

Haken – “Celestial Elixir” (from “Aquarius”, 2010)

4.5/5. Haken is a band I used to listen to, and if you ever listen to this album while washing the dishes or doing anything water-related, it's gonna be an epic watery journey. There's an epic Dream Theater-like prog overture going on for 3 minutes with a bit of polka in the middle, and the rest is progressive history...

Pain Of Salvation – “Her Voices” (from “The Perfect Element I”, 2000)

4/5. Not the best song in this album, but a great introductory song for anyone new to Pain of Salvation. It begins with soft melodic pattern before a slow heavy chorus that's great in all the instruments including the bass, keyboards, and guitar. Again, the song reaches the climax at over the 4-minute mark as the instrumentation gets more creative and even extreme with a fast long solo. Then there's an epic violin bridge before ending smoothly back where it began.

Mastodon – “Oblivion” (from “Cracke The Sky”, 2009)

4.5/5. Also a great introductory song for Mastodon newcomers, especially if you wanna get used to a noticeable change in vocals. Bassist Troy Sanders' vocals are still there but different and less like a shouting caveman, and drummer Brann Dailor sings lead vocals for the first time.

Enslaved – “The Watcher” (from “Vertebrae”, 2008)

4/5. The keyboards being used on its own in the 15-second "ambient" intro was useless! What the f*** was that?!? I almost expected a PJ Harvey song right there!! So confusing! The rest of this song is really awesome though, and again for anyone finding this band for the first time...

Rivers Of Nihil – “Where Owls Know My Name” (from “Where Owls Know My Name”, 2018)

4.5/5. Similar to my Septicflesh submission for this month's Guardians playlist, I still like this song from this band that's now gone from me since my death metal departure because it sounds closer to another clan that album is in. So bleak yet brilliant! The lyrics are some of the best in this beautiful headbanging song, with a couple jazzy saxophone solos, such as the one in the two-minute mark. A d*mn great song of saxy tech-death/progressive metal!

Voivod – “D.N.A. (Don’t Know Anything)” (from “Negatron”, 1995)

3.5/5. This one is pretty good, one of my favorite songs in a more experimental Voivod album...without Snake! The vocals in this album and Phobos are performed by Eric Forrest, though in this song, the vocals are handled by JG Thirlwell. It's hard to get use to their temporary stay in a more industrial-like sound than the band's usual prog-thrash sound, but eventually you will. This song is one of the more industrial songs in the album, but it's still progressive enough to fit in this playlist. Though some of you might disagree. HAVE A NICE DAY....

Thy Catafalque – “Móló” (from “Vadak”, 2021)

3/5. There's slightly more experimentation here, too much for me to stand. Though it still has a few killer heavy parts...

Meshuggah – “I” (from “I” E.P., 2004)

5/5. Felt sneaky enough to bend the length rules by adding a 21-minute track, eh, Daniel? That's OK, because "I" is a tremendous metal achievement for Meshuggah. It's a really long song that helped popularize djent. I begins with low guitar that has almost the same tuning as the typical standard bass guitar, playing one note in constant drum marching. Not repetitive at all! The strange time-changing rhythm would get you pumped up and hanging onto your seat for the oncoming storm. Then after one and a half minutes, Jens Kidman unleashes a 20-second tortured scream. Then the song continues with heavy riffs and percussion, and vicious growls. Fredrik Thordendal does his first solo in the EP that's nicely dramatic. After those hypnotizing 3 and a half minutes, there's a crushing breakdown with guitars and drums over shattered time signatures, followed by more of those vicious growls. At the 5:40 mark, Thordendal unleashes a chaotic solo assault with incessant notes flying everywhere alongside the inhuman rampage of accuracy from drummer Tomas Haake. There's some disturbing reverb of odd notes that abruptly transition from the chaos to a massive soft soundscape the back to the chaos again. The riffing that comes shortly after the 10 and a half minute mark is so f***ing heavy which is probably the only moment where you can properly headbang without getting lost in confusion. Then there's a strange section at the 12-minute point where Kidman starts whispering diabolically, followed by a guitar solo that sounds like a beehive orchestra. Eventually after another soft break of dark arpeggios, at the 17-minute point, we head into the twisted guitars and drums of Nothing, all in standard djent rhythm before closing with lengthy stretched feedback. Holy mammoth, this track is an unstoppable monolith!

Meshuggah – “I” (from “I” E.P., 2004)

5/5. Felt sneaky enough to bend the length rules by adding a 21-minute track, eh, Daniel? 

Not really mate. That rule hasn't been in place since we moved to time-based playlist submissions.