January 2022 "The Pit" Playlist - Metal Academy Radio

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/083tGvGRuasSsmN8d3Nyww?si=3c03b566e2fc4145

01. Ketzer – “Fire To Conquer the World” (from “Satan’s Boundaries Unchained”, 2009) [Submitted by Vinny]

02. Craven Idol – “Iron Age of Devastation” (from “Forked Tongues”, 2021) [Submitted by Sonny]

03. Disrupt – “Fuelled by Fire” (from “Disrupt”, 2021)

04. Overkill – “Evil Never Dies” (from “The Years of Decay”, 1989) [Submitted by Daniel]

05. Ekulu – “Proven Wrong” (from “Unscrew my Head”, 2021)

06. Metreya – “Machines of War” (from “Machines of War”, 2013) [Submitted by Daniel]

07. Sadus – “Under the Knife” (from “A Vision of Misery”, 1992)

08. Morbid Saint– “Depth of Sanity” (from “Destruction System”, 1992) [Submitted by Daniel]

09. Nocturnal – “Rising Demons” (from “Storming Evil”, 2014) [Submitted by Vinny]

10. Viking – “Berserker” (from “Do or Die”, 1988) [Submitted by Sonny]

11. Bewitched – “Hard as Steel (Hot as Hell)” (from “Diabolical Desecration”, 1996)

12. Slayer – “Repentless” (from “Repentless”, 2015) [Submitted by Daniel]

13. Eternal Evil – “Terror of The Sphinx” (from “The Warriors Awakening Brings the Unholy Slaughter”, 2021) [Submitted by Sonny]

14. Celtic Frost – “Jewel Throne” (from “To Mega Therion”, 1985) [Submitted by Sonny]

15. Division Speed – “Panzerkommando” (from “Division Speed”, 2015)

16. Home Style Surgery – “Necrodecoration” (from “Brain Drill Poetry”, 2021)

17. Acrassicauda – “Quest for Eternity” (from “Gilgamesh”, 2016)

18. Nevermore– “The Psalm of Lydia” (from “This Godless Endeavour”, 2005) [Submitted by Daniel]

19. Testament – “Fall of Sipledome” (from “The Gathering”, 1999) [Submitted by Daniel]

20. Sabbat – “Godz of Satan” (from “Evoke”, 1992) [Submitted by Vinny]

21. Anthrax – “Madhouse” (from “Spreading the Disease”, 1985) [Submitted by Vinny]

22. Iron Age – “Evil Ways” (from “Constant Struggle”, 2006)

23. Merauder – “Master Killer” (from “Master Killer”, 1995) [Submitted by Vinny]

24. Leeway – “Who’s to Blame” (from “Desperate Measures”, 1991)

25. Flotsam & Jetsam – “Hammerhead” (from “Doomsday for the Deceiver”, 1986) [Submitted by Vinny]

26. Blood Tsunami – “Horsehead Nebula” (from “Grand Feast for Vultures”, 2009) [Submitted by Sonny]

27. Alkoholizer – “Alkoholik Metal” (from “Drunk or Dead”, 2009)

I decided to dive into part of the Pit playlist because of this month's Pit feature release that I enjoy (Sadus' Illusions/Chemical Exposure) and it felt like a good time to test out my thrash interest. So here are my thoughts on some tracks:

Sadus – “Under the Knife” (from “A Vision of Misery”, 1992)

5/5. I'll start with this hurricane of death-ish complications beyond any band whose song comments are set to come!

Morbid Saint– “Depth of Sanity” (from “Destruction System”, 1992)

5/5. Holy f***ing d*mn, this is some of the best untouchable thrash here! This is how to master this genre, and the voice is very good. Thanks for submitting this, Daniel, and Vinny for accepting it to the playlist!

Nocturnal – “Rising Demons” (from “Storming Evil”, 2014)

4.5/5. The riffing might remind some of old-school Exodus, and it is quite awesome, but the black metal-ish vocals are a bit too much.

Viking – “Berserker” (from “Do or Die”, 1988)

5/5. Another awesome golden oldie! Great kick-A thrash that's berserk as f***. That's another way to master this genre. Thanks for submitting this, Sonny, and Vinny for accepting it to the playlist!

Bewitched – “Hard as Steel (Hot as Hell)” (from “Diabolical Desecration”, 1996)

4.5/5. The quality is quite amazing here, but once again, the Venom-like old-school black metal elements are a bit too much. I appreciate the welcome, thank you, but I prefer to stay out of Hell.

Slayer – “Repentless” (from “Repentless”, 2015)

4/5. SLAYER!!!!!! This song really sums up humanity in a nutshell, with good sound quality. Drummer Paul Bostaph replaces Dave Lombardo once again in the final album before Slayer's farewell tour and retirement. Bad-a** thrash right here! Except the more popular thrash bands are kinda out of bounds from my thrash league. Thrash tastes better as an underground dish, that's part of the appeal of Morbid Saint and Viking that I'm glad to discover.

Eternal Evil – “Terror of The Sphinx” (from “The Warriors Awakening Brings the Unholy Slaughter”, 2021)

4.5/5. This one's really good, continuing the Slayer-like thrash with a different singing style. Awesome soloing and riffing combines thrash from both America and Europe. Killer shredding! Still doesn't beat the older underground thrash bands though.

Celtic Frost – “Jewel Throne” (from “To Mega Therion”, 1985)

4/5. This one has chord patterns to reflect the balance of primal composition against riffs of thrash energy and muscular drum groove intensity. I'm sure there are many other great thrash examples throughout the decades that followed, but a true thrashy metalhead would bang their head and swing their fists to those interestingly brutal riffs. I'm not even a fan of this darker kind of thrash metal and I'm already doing that!

Division Speed – “Panzerkommando” (from “Division Speed”, 2015)

3.5/5. The heavy/speed/thrash/death metal mix here is a bit too wild, but it works as part of a soundtrack for the World Wars.

Home Style Surgery – “Necrodecoration” (from “Brain Drill Poetry”, 2021)

3/5. Even though the music is actual thrash, the vocals sound a bit ridiculous and bring the score down some. At least it's way better than that Cremator release with the same name as this band.

Acrassicauda – “Quest for Eternity” (from “Gilgamesh”, 2016)

4.5/5. This one's more excellent! Lamb of God-like groove metal from Iraq with a different idea of adding clean singing.

Nevermore– “The Psalm of Lydia” (from “This Godless Endeavour”, 2005)

5/5. I'll stop after one more song, the most technical song on the playlist, its album, probably by the band. The intro and part of the first verse both have a crazily technical riff, and there's a killer guitar solo battle in the middle of the song.

Slayer – “Repentless” (from “Repentless”, 2015)

4/5. SLAYER!!!!!! This song really sums up humanity in a nutshell, with good sound quality. Drummer Paul Bostaph replaces Dave Lombardo once again in the final album before Slayer's farewell tour and retirement. Bad-a** thrash right here! Except the more popular thrash bands are kinda out of bounds from my thrash league. Thrash tastes better as an underground dish, that's part of the appeal of Morbid Saint and Viking that I'm glad to discover.

That's kinda like saying you prefer masturbation over a blow job in my opinion.

With Daniel and Sonny again doing a sterling job with their selections this month, putting together the playlist was again really enjoyable.  I got a feel for some more blackened themes running through the list this month with the inclusion of Ketzer, Eternal Evil, Craven Idol and Sabbat all falling into their places as I built the list for the month.  Controversially perhaps, I hear very little thrash in that Craven Idol track and having listened through the album again I would say it leans more towards black / heavy metal but still a great track regardless so was happy to keep in the list.

I am still struggling to place the groove metal stuff but as my knowledge (if not necessarily my taste) for this stuff grows I expect that will become easier.  Highlight of the month for me is being able to tee-up Sadus followed by Morbid Saint as well as being reminded what a great (and sadly overlooked by myself) album The Gathering is.