January 2022 "The Revolution" Playlist - Metal Academy Radio
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1yFgscg5HWKGoIy2s0xRfG
Tracklisting:
01. Bullet for My Valentine - "Parasite" (from Bullet for My Valentine, 2021) [Submitted by shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
02. Atreyu - "Doomsday" (from Lead Sails Paper Anchor, 2007) [Submitted by Theo-Wyoming]
03. Bleeding Through - "Love Lost in a Hail of Gun Fire" (from This is Love, This is Murderous, 2003) [Submitted by Theo-Wyoming]
04. From Autumn to Ashes - "Daylight Slaving" (from Holding a Wolf by the Ears, 2007) [Submitted by Theo-Wyoming]
05. Trivium - "Feast of Fire" (from In the Court of the Dragon, 2021)
06. Parkway Drive - "Boneyards" (from Horizons, 2007) [Submitted by shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
07. Currents - "Better Days" (from The Way It Ends, 2020)
08. Neon Graves - "Sanctuary" (from All That Brings Us Down, 2020)
09. Every Time I Die - "Prom Song" (from The Burial Plot Bidding War, 2000) [Submitted by shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
10. Motionless in White - "Dragula" (from Creatures, 2010)
11. Knocked Loose - "Where Light Divides the Holler" (from A Tear in the Fabric of Life, 2021) [Submitted by Daniel]
12. Unearth - "Letting Go" (from The March, 2008) [Submitted by shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
13. Like Moths to Flames - "YOTM" (from No Eternity in Gold, 2020)
14. Inventure - "Renaissance" (from No Time to Waste, 2020)
15. Anticline - "Headspinning Bias" (from Urgency, 2020)
16. Spirit Breaker - "Pure Fury & Wonder" (from Cura Nata, 2021)
17. Blueshift - "Voyager" (from Voyager, 2020)
18. 36 Crazyfists - "The Tide And Its Takers" (from The Tide And Its Takers, 2008) [Submitted by Theo-Wyoming]
19. Polaris - "Landmine" (from The Death of Me, 2020)
20. Amaranthe - "Director's Cut" (from Amaranthe, 2011)
21. Brand of Sacrifice - "God Hand" (from God Hand, 2019)
22. Slaughter to Prevail - "Baba Yaga" (from Kostolom, 2021)
23. Darko US - "Pale Tongue" (from Darko, 2021)
24. Bound in Fear - "Penance" (from Penance, 2021)
25. Attila - "Payback" (from Outlawed, 2011) [Submitted by shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
26. The Ghost Inside - "Dear Youth (Day 52)" (from Dear Youth, 2014) [Submitted by Theo-Wyoming]
27. Botch - "Man the Ramparts" (from We are the Romans, 1999)
28. The Dillinger Escape Plan - "Dissociation" (from Dissociation, 2016)
Similarly to last month's playlist, this one plays out like an epic hero story that could fit well in a movie or a video game, except after the final boss level during the 11-minute epic, a final soft track plays as en epilogue. This I think could make the playlist more interesting, along with more appealing based on the order, for anyone up to listening to a long 2-hour playlist, but that's just what I think. Enjoy! I'm gonna share with you my thoughts on all the selected tracks:
Bullet for My Valentine - "Parasite" (from Bullet for My Valentine, 2021)
4.5/5. After a minute of half of distorted brief radio samples of BFMV's greatest hits from practically every album, the song itself (and the playlist) blasts through pure metal to have you fist-pumping and headbanging in no time.
Atreyu - "Doomsday" (from Lead Sails Paper Anchor, 2007)
5/5. One of the best songs I've discovered via playlist submissions! Thank you, Theo, you didn't have to delete your submissions out of shame, if that's what you felt. This one has a mix of metalcore and hard rock/metal, especially proven by Dan Jacobs' Halen-inspired guitar soloing. It's so great to find this band via a song from an album released in 2007. This underrated band has just become one of my favorites in metalcore!
Bleeding Through - "Love Lost in a Hail of Gun Fire" (from This is Love, This is Murderous, 2003)
5/5. This one opens with a sound sample from the movie The Boondock Saints (not to be confused with that comic strip The Boondocks). Then the band starts their attack of powerful riff energy and Brandan Schieppati's fueled-up harsh vocals. This song features one of only a few instances of clean vocals in this album, sounding not too tough and not at all nasal, but somewhere in between.
From Autumn to Ashes - "Daylight Slaving" (from Holding a Wolf by the Ears, 2007)
5/5. Another amazing banger! This is well known as one of the songs from the soundtrack for Madden NFL 08.
Trivium - "Feast of Fire" (from In the Court of the Dragon, 2021)
4.5/5. After those first 4 songs starting the playlist heavy, the radio anthem "Feast of Fire" has a different riff that spawned from an unknown demo. There's killer strength and maturity that levels this song up more than the similar mid-tempo songs from The Crusade. The balance between heaviness and melody continues to suit Trivium's latest album and makes sure it's not just a sequel to the one from last year.
Parkway Drive - "Boneyards" (from Horizons, 2007)
5/5. One of the first and best Parkway Drive songs I've listened to, indeed a brutal bruiser with urgent up-tempo bursts! A killer flashback to the heaviness of their debut! I love that killer metalcore monster.
Currents - "Better Days" (from The Way It Ends, 2020)
4.5/5. Another d*mn amazing song to strike my soul! This almost describes the current situation of the world. The lyrics never disappoint, they hit f***ing hard and motivate you to break out of these hard times ("Suffocating, can’t breathe but you’ve got a f***ing mouth to feed"). Unbelievable! I think this is like a more metal Rise Against.
Neon Graves - "Sanctuary" (from All That Brings Us Down, 2020)
4.5/5. This is the second song I've heard from this band, and it's still not even close to bad. Spread the sound! In a time when real life is in a sh*tty level, sick songs like this are worth hearing to escape reality. It is also useful for dealing with breakups. Great song, but not perfect enough to start a relationship with the band's music.
Every Time I Die - "Prom Song" (from The Burial Plot Bidding War, 2000)
4/5. Another cool headbanger! The intro sample is from the movie Event Horizon. This EP and their debut Last Night in Town are the most brutal start to this band's journey. This is bad-a** killer sh*t that we're gonna miss, especially since recently, Keith Buckley is having his hiatus from the band. Who knows what their fate might be...
Motionless in White - "Dragula" (from Creatures, 2010)
4.5/5. A friend of mine from the outside world showed me a Rob Zombie song, "Dragula", in which a remix version was used in the first Matrix movie. That song is industrial metal, but the kind of industrial metal I prefer is not the "alt-" kind heard in that song, but rather the more experimental industrial metal bands like Godflesh, Strapping Young Lad, Samael, and Motionless in White, the latter having done a cover of that song with a gothic-ish metalcore twist in style, as you can hear here. You can also find one of Motionless in White's industrial songs in this month's Sphere playlist.
Knocked Loose - "Where Light Divides the Holler" (from A Tear in the Fabric of Life, 2021)
5/5. I just found this band thanks to Daniel's suggestion. After a minute of someone driving their car while browsing through different radio channels, the driver ends up in a car crash at the one-minute mark, and the chaotic metalcore action begins. F*** YEAH!!!! I love this headbanger, especially the breakdown near the 3-minute mark. This song is clearly inspired by Meshuggah's Destroy Erase Improve, while going nowhere near djent and sticking to their metallic hardcore guns. Thanks for this, Daniel!
Unearth - "Letting Go" (from The March, 2008)
3.5/5. This ballad-ish track can be considered the negative of its album, though it adds some deep restraint to the album, enough for me to make that playlist submission and recommend it to any melodic metalcore fans out there.
Like Moths to Flames - "YOTM" (from No Eternity in Gold, 2020)
5/5. Sometimes discoveries can be made on my own, and I can't wait for more of this awesome band!
Inventure - "Renaissance" (from No Time to Waste, 2020)
4.5/5. I haven't listened to this band before, but wow, I'm impressed by some of the great aspects! Killer lyrics, screaming vocals, and unbelievable technicality. The cleans are brilliant too! I would pass this on to someone who likes the more brutal metalcore more than me if I were...me.
Anticline - "Headspinning Bias" (from Urgency, 2020)
4.5/5. I found another f***ing killer band who can perform incredible riffs, clear bass, and sick grooves. Hitting so g****mn HARD, especially the furious breakdown at the two-minute mark. The aggression follows through all the way until the end with barely any melody, with the chorus riffing being mainly heavy groove. This brings more variety than the emo sh*t that chicks dig. Again, that song's for the more brutal fans.
Spirit Breaker - "Pure Fury & Wonder" (from Cura Nata, 2021)
4/5. Almost incredible, though the fire is often too engulfing. Next!
Blueshift - "Voyager" (from Voyager, 2020)
4.5/5. There some grand prog-metalcore gold here, clearly inspired by the Australian scene of bands such as Polaris, Thornhill, and Northlane, despite this band and the similar-sounding Erra being from Alabama.
36 Crazyfists - "The Tide And Its Takers" (from The Tide And Its Takers, 2008)
5/5. An interesting submission from Theo, a beautiful semi-acoustic ballad to break up the playlist a bit. I've tried listening to 36 Crazyfists for a few attempts, but maybe this could be my gateway to listening to that band, despite being different from what they usually do. So emotion-inducing! It reminds of when I changed the tempo of My Dying Bride's "Two Winters Only" to be 2x faster. This can very well be one of my favorite songs from a metal band to not be metal! If people start a mosh pit when they perform this song live, that would be ridiculous. And this is the same band who made the song "Slit Wrist Theory". So lovely and poetic, I would pay for it if I could!
Polaris - "Landmine" (from The Death of Me, 2020)
5/5. One of the best songs here, slightly better than the Inventure one! First track from this band I've listened to, and I'll definitely pay more attention to them. That insane breakdown really crushes and revives my soul. This band's heaviness shall wipe out the fluffiness of the mainstream. This band can combine some of the nu metal of Stray From the Path and Slipknot with the metalcore of Architects and The Devil Wears Prada. Or just be Make Them Suffer without female singing and with Northlane-like riffing.
Amaranthe - "Director's Cut" (from Amaranthe, 2011)
5/5. This is the longest song ever by Amaranthe, an almost 5-minute progressive-ish epic! Man, they have got to make more songs like that. Seriously, I need to fill up the trancecore/trance metal space in these playlists!
Brand of Sacrifice - "God Hand" (from God Hand, 2019)
4.5/5. We are now entering the dangerous deathcore zone, so if you can't handle the brutality, lyrical gore, and a bit of nude cover art, stay out the Revolution Hell's Kitchen. I probably will, despite this song being killer.
Slaughter to Prevail - "Baba Yaga" (from Kostolom, 2021)
4/5. Once you're about 20 seconds in, you already enter the hellish mosh-pit of chaos in a good song worth headbanging to. Listen to this at school without headphones, I dare you to survive that dare!
Darko US - "Pale Tongue" (from Darko, 2021)
4/5. There's just so much heavy destruction in this song, heavier than the largest elephant and possibly anything in existence. What's a heavier word than "heavy" and a more brutal word than "brutal"? Heavy enough for my liking but not perfectly appealing.
Bound in Fear - "Penance" (from Penance, 2021)
4.5/5. Another brutal headbanger with downtempo breakdowns to let rip!
Attila - "Payback" (from Outlawed, 2011)
5/5. Wow, what a beautiful Christian love song...NOT!!! A perfect song for the heavier metalheads! I'm not ashamed to admit that I was brought to this song by a video from one of the YouTube animator channels I used to like. I love this song, so beautiful, but brutal all the way. This heavy metal/deathcore song shouldn't be forgotten. It'll blow your f***ing mind! This amazing sh*t's on fire! The next time someone says "metalcore sucks", use that song against them.
The Ghost Inside - "Dear Youth (Day 52)" (from Dear Youth, 2014)
5/5. Finally we reach the last of Theo's submissions, a mega mood-fitting song for me to love, with some similarities to Crystal Lake, especially the vocals. From the 2-and-a-half-minute-mark onward is an epic breakdown until the ending fade.
Botch - "Man the Ramparts" (from We are the Romans, 1999)
5/5. The 11-minute closer "Man the Ramparts" is the perfect way to end Botch's two-album career (other than the EP). Epic gigantic chords soar throughout its long duration. Soon there's a passage where a choir sings the album's title, "We are the Romans", in glorious grandeur before being overtaken by one more furious devastating riff as a proper farewell from the band members. A grand atmospheric outro to bring that album to a heavy epic end! However, there's one more track to end this playlist...
The Dillinger Escape Plan - "Dissociation" (from Dissociation, 2016)
4.5/5. The Dillinger Escape Plan wanted to really say farewell in their final album before their end-tour and split, with the final title track. It starts with melancholic strings before electronic beats come in and Greg Puciato starts singing in a truly tender voice. It's NOT as soft as an acoustic ballad but at the same time obviously NOT heavy. And finally, strings and organic drums and cymbals keep playing as Puciato repeatedly sings "Finding a way to die alone" as the mix fades and he sings that line a couple more times and...it's over, that album, the band's career, and this playlist.
Wow, I really dig this playlist! I don't have to feel bad about saying that myself because of a couple great helpers in making this playlist; Daniel and Theo-Wyoming. Great submissions, guys, I look forward to listening to more of those bands! I would recommend this to any metalcore fan and anyone who isn't into metalcore but wants to get into a great start in enjoying the genre. Thanks Daniel for accepting this, and I hope the rest of you enjoy it like I've had!