December 2023 - "The Pit" Playlist - Metal Academy Radio
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/083tGvGRuasSsmN8d3Nyww?si=ae748bcf3565450c
1. Mystic Storm – “Riddle of Steel” (from “From the Ancient Chaos”, 2021) [Submitted by Vinny]
2. Iced Earth – “The Funeral” (from “Iced Earth”, 1990) [Submitted by Daniel]
3. Anacrusis – “Far Too Long” (from “Manic Impressions”, 1991)
4. Hellish – “The Ancient Entity of the Darkest Light” (from “The Dance of the Four Elemental Serpents”, 2022) [Submitted by Daniel]
5. Imperial – “Censure” (from “Thrasheurs 13”, 1998) [ Submitted by Vinny]
6. Slaughtbbath – “Tyranny from Sodom” (from “Contempt, War and Damnation”, 2017) [Submitted by Sonny]
7. Trastorned – “Witch Hunt” (from “Into the Void”, 2023) [Submitted by Sonny]
8. Possessed – “Demon” (from “Revelations of Oblivion”, 2019)
9. Coroner – “Mistress of Deception” (from “No More Colour”, 1989) [Submitted by Morpheus Kitami]
10. Flotsam & Jetsam – “Doomsday for the Deceiver” (from “Doomsday for the Deceiver”, 1986) [Submitted by Sonny]
11. Mystik – “Nightmares” (from “Mystik”, 2019)
12. Motörhead – “Locomotive” (from “No Remorse”, 1984) [Submitted by Daniel]
13. Nihilist – “Sentenced to Death” (from “Carnal Leftovers”, 2005) [Submitted by Daniel]
14. Megadeth – “Good Mourning/Black Friday” (from “Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying?”, 1986) [Submitted by Sonny]
15. Primal Rite – “Antivenom” (from “Dirge of Escapism”, 2018)
16. Forseen – “Soldier’s Grave” (from “Untamed Force”, 2022)
17. Take Offense – “Power in Our Hands” (from “Tables Will Turn”, 2011)
18. Scatterbrain – “Here Comes Trouble” (from “Here Comes Trouble”, 1990)
19. DOOM – “Ghosts of Princes” (from “Killing Field…+4”, 1988) [Submitted by Morpheus Kitami]
20. OverDose – “Straight to the Point” (from “Progress of Decadence”, 1993)
21. Upon A Burning Body – “All Pride, No Pain” (from “Southern Hostility”, 2019)
22. Virus – “Murder in the Moshpit” (from “A New Strain of An Old Disease”, 2013) [Submitted by Vinny]
23. Nervosa/Gary Holt– “When the Truth Is a Lie” (from “Jailbreak”, 2023) [Submitted by Vinny]
24. Exodus – “The Last Act of Defiance” (from “Fabulous Disaster”, 1989) [Submitted by Daniel]
25. Slaughter Lord – “Slaughter Lord” (from “Thrash ‘til Death 86-87”, 1998) [Submitted by Sonny]
26. Vektor – “Forests of Legend” (from “Black Future”, 2009)
Seeing some bands I'm familiar with in this playlist, I felt up to listening to and commenting on those tracks:
Mystic Storm – “Riddle of Steel” (from “From the Ancient Chaos”, 2021)
4/5. A nice start to this thrash-fest. And there's more of this sound to come...
Iced Earth – “The Funeral” (from “Iced Earth”, 1990)
4.5/5. These were the days when Iced Earth started off a speed/thrash metal band before soon switching to the dark US power metal sound they would be known for. An excellent instrumental without any of original vocalist Gene Adam's awful singing. At over the 3-minute mark, after a brief spoken narration, some wonderful riff harmonies begin to rise, and again at the 5-minute point when everything's speed up. Now that's wicked! Honestly, I need to listen to more of this band despite my indefinite break from the majority of the Guardians and the band's main founder's imprisonment.
Anacrusis – “Far Too Long” (from “Manic Impressions”, 1991)
5/5. Awesome unique progressive thrash metal from one of the earlier bands of the genre!
Coroner – “Mistress of Deception” (from “No More Colour”, 1989)
5/5. My favorite song in its original album! After the first minute, the frantic fills make you feel the pain (in a good way) of the patient when the surgeon slides his scalpel into one of the patient's eye sockets over the eye to remove a cancerous part of the cranium. The rhythms and leads are highly notable, especially in the bridge.
Megadeth – “Good Mourning/Black Friday” (from “Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying?”, 1986)
4.5/5. Here's a joke based on the first part of this epic's title and a Cartoon Network show: What did Uncle Grandpa say in a funeral? "Good Mourning!" (lol. Get it? Anyone?) Anyway, the track is quite extreme, almost catching up with other American thrash bands, Teutonic thrash bands, and Sepultura. It starts in sinister doom, including a solo of f***ing dark emotion. After that creepy one-minute intro, the heaviness booms in, though with guitars sounding more clean than distorted. The solo ends, but the riffs are still clean. Dave comes in with his vocals. Then after asking "What the f*** is this?", BOOM!! The guitars and his voice rapidly ascend. Kick-A riffing and soloing go back and forth. The speed cruises and crushes keep until the end when the killer storm of madness makes a grinding halt. Not the right ending, but the rest of that track is so amazing!
Upon A Burning Body – “All Pride, No Pain” (from “Southern Hostility”, 2019)
4.5/5. I never knew deathly metalcore and groove metal can come together in so well in a Southern-inspired mix. Some hostile fire right here!
Vektor – “Forests of Legend” (from “Black Future”, 2009)
5/5. Let's end this playlist with an absolute highlight and one of the three 10+ minute epics from its original album. It begins with an eerie acoustic intro that sounds like the progressive thrash "Bard's Song (In the Forest)", before the heaviness begins building up before crashing safely into early-Megadeth-style speedy thrash. After that, it's back to the eerie acoustic section before another glorious outro!
The first half of this month's playlist was as good as anything you've put together, Vinny. Iced Earth, Coroner, Possessed, Mystik, Motorhead, Nihilist, Mystic Storm and Hellish, along with my own picks made for an imperious first hour. The more groove / crossover focus of the second half found my attention wandering a little with Upon A Burning Body and Scatterbrain's impersonation of The Offspring being the lowlights for me. Things picked up nicely towards the end however, from Virus onwards, closing with an absolute killer cut from Vektor. Thanks a lot, Vinny, especially for that first hour!