February 2022 "The Revolution" Playlist - Metal Academy Radio
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1yFgscg5HWKGoIy2s0xRfG
Tracklisting:
1. Ice Nine Kills - "Welcome to Horrorwood" (from The Silver Scream 2: Welcome to Horrorwood, 2021)
2. Demon Hunter - "Collapsing" (from The World is a Thorn, 2010) [Submitted by shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
3. Parkway Drive - "Sleepwalker" (from Deep Blue, 2010) [Submitted by shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
4. Trivium - "Amongst the Shadows & the Stones" (from What the Dead Men Say, 2020) [Submitted by shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
5. If I Were You - "False Reality" (from Radiant Dark, 2020)
6. Novelists FR - "Modern Slave" (from C'est La Vie, 2020)
7. Crystal Lake - "Daylight" (from The Voyages, 2020)
8. Memphis May Fire - "Left for Dead" (from Left for Dead, 2021)
9. Invent Animate - "As If It Never Was" (from The Sun Sleeps, As If It Never Was, 2021)
10. Cold As Life - "All Alone" (from Born To Land Hard, 1998) [Submitted by Daniel]
11. Employed to Serve - "Exist" (from Conquering, 2021) [Submitted by Vinny]
12. Iwrestledabearonce - "Alaskan Flounder Basket" (from Iwrestledabearonce, 2007)
13. Convictions - "Hurricane" (from I Won't Survive, 2021)
14. Tasters - "Jakarta" (from De Rerum Natura, 2017)
15. Thornhill - "Coven" (from The Dark Pool, 2019)
16. Polaris - "Masochist" (from The Death of Me, 2020)
17. Bleeding Through - "Dearly Demented" (from The Truth, 2006) [Submitted by shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
18. Make Them Suffer - "Neverbloom" (from Neverbloom, 2012) [Submitted by shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
19. Born of Osiris - "The New Reign" (from The New Reign, 2007) [Submitted by shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
20. Psyopus - "The Pig Keeperis Daughter" (from Our Puzzling Encounters Considered, 2007)
21. I, Valiance - "Thrown to Belial" (from The Reject of Humanity, 2015)
22. Bound in Fear - "Left to Drown" (from Eternal, 2021)
23. Rolo Tomassi - "Cloaked" (from Cloaked, 2021)
24. The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza - "The Alpha the Omega" (from Danza 4: The Alpha- the Omega, 2012)
25. The Dillinger Escape Plan - "One of Us Is the Killer" (from One of Us Is the Killer, 2013)
26. God Forbid - "Earthsblood" (from Earthsblood, 2009)
27. Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas - "Stay as Who You Are" (from Phase 2, 2014)
Here are my thoughts on all the selected tracks:
Ice Nine Kills - "Welcome to Horrorwood" (from The Silver Scream 2: Welcome to Horrorwood, 2021)
5/5. The title track of Ice Nine Kills' latest album begins the playlist similarly to Every Trick in the Book, with Spencer Charnas' vocals, piano, and strings (“ink fills the page, a classic killer completes the cast”). Then the quietness is broken by a guttural scream and furious drum pounding. The song isn't based on any horror films, but establishes what to expect in the album; film violence that sometimes bleeds into reality, all part of the album's main concept. So continuing the story from my Silver Scream review, you leave the theater and find yourself in a mysterious town known as Horrorwood, where violence from movies is real and you have to stay alive and not get killed. You successfully avoid the brutal madness and escape the town. To be continued in my review for that album.
Demon Hunter - "Collapsing" (from The World is a Thorn, 2010)
5/5. After that extreme opener, we have one of the strongest and greatest tracks of its album and the playlist. This is the first of 3 sneak peek tracks I've submitted because of my usually alt-rock-loving brother listening to them, this one having gotten me into listening to Demon Hunter. The vocals are mostly clean singing from Ryan Clark and guest member Björn "Speed" Strid of Soilwork, while keeping the song's heaviness along with a delightful guitar solo.
Parkway Drive - "Sleepwalker" (from Deep Blue, 2010)
4.5/5. Up next is this album's single, which is nothing like the previous two tracks while still having excellent riffing and amazing ending soloing.
Trivium - "Amongst the Shadows & the Stones" (from What the Dead Men Say, 2020)
4.5/5. This one is filled with crushing technical fury. The brutal chorus would grind you to dust and eat your remains like a motherf***er. And that's the last of the metalcore trio of songs that my brother likes, but there's more to come, so stay in your seats.
If I Were You - "False Reality" (from Radiant Dark, 2020)
4/5. I appreciate the hard work this band puts into their music, especially the f***ing grinding breakdown at over the two and a half minute mark. However, it still doesn't beat any of the earlier tracks.
Novelists FR - "Modern Slave" (from C'est La Vie, 2020)
4.5/5. This is Polaris-like sh*t to love. I can be quite a slave to modern metalcore.
Crystal Lake - "Daylight" (from The Voyages, 2020)
5/5. Know what I mean in that last comment? I hope to hear more of this crystalline Japanese metalcore band.
Memphis May Fire - "Left for Dead" (from Left for Dead, 2021)
5/5. A tremendous powerful song! Memphis May Fire was not yet a metalcore band I had to listen to, but I'm glad to start feeling up for this band thanks to this song. Simply excellent! A f***ing great comeback to the band's heaviness as part of their upcoming album Remade in Misery, coming out in less than 3 months.
Invent Animate - "As If It Never Was" (from The Sun Sleeps, As If It Never Was, 2021)
4.5/5. The recent two-track EP/single from this band continues with this song to make sure this pair stays f***ing great. What's especially great is at the one and a half minute mark, the start of an epic one-minute section that reminds me of Silent Planet.
Cold As Life - "All Alone" (from Born To Land Hard, 1998)
4/5. A brief time-travel to the 90s when metalcore was really hitting hard. Thanks Daniel!
Employed to Serve - "Exist" (from Conquering, 2021)
4.5/5. This one's quite a banger. This band was touring with Gojira and must've gotten their groove from them. Sick slaying right there! This kick-A hellfire of amazingness should reach the stratosphere for great attention. Despite not surpassing Trivium's early 2020s albums, it's still a strong killer monster of a track. This heavy brutal banger is for fans of groove-laden hardcore metal with some Sepultura/Slipknot vibes, probably greater fans that I am. Honestly, it just rips hard, and this f***ing good journey of mine for new music isn't ending any time soon. Think of this like Code Orange and Prong in a slightly thrashy turn. The vocals are a bit of a struggle though. Anyway, thanks Vinny!
Iwrestledabearonce - "Alaskan Flounder Basket" (from Iwrestledabearonce, 2007)
5/5. It wasn't until 15 years after this EP's release when I finally came across this band via this song and another one from a different playlist. This one starts with an audio sample from Scary Movie 2 ("Im'a p*ss on yo face, and Im'a fart in yo mouth, yeah, and Im'a sh*t on these b*lls, ray, ooh!"), a bit f***ing odd, but the rest of this song is perfect and I'm glad to start listening to this band and its "descendant" Spiritbox.
Convictions - "Hurricane" (from I Won't Survive, 2021)
4.5/5. Convictions is another underrated band. Christian metalcore bands can really people get their lives on track again. The bass has some good talent, and I love the clean vocals that take the genre to a higher level while keeping the heaviness.
Tasters - "Jakarta" (from De Rerum Natura, 2017)
4/5. Another groove-ish metalcore song. The soft 12-second intro is a good sound. Amazing extremeness here! The g****mn guitar grinds greatly, but the growling is a bit out of place. This is the second metalcore song to remind me of Jakarta, Indonesia, that I went to over 3 years ago, the other being August Burns Red's "Indonesia".
Thornhill - "Coven" (from The Dark Pool, 2019)
4.5/5. Then we started to unreal depths of power. This might just help 23-year-old me get through any anxiety I might suffer at times. The insane breakdown 2 minutes in rules. If I can listen to more Karnivool and Northlane, I might dig this slightly more. The harsh-melodic mix of metalcore never fails! UNFD continues reaching the top of the metalcore record label hill along with Sharptone. The ending is slightly more DOOMy (the game soundtrack not the metal genre). The great melody is more serene, while the djent vibes still remain, inspired by Tesseract and Monuments. This is indeed useful for breaking out of the dark abyss of anxiety with your screams released.
Polaris - "Masochist" (from The Death of Me, 2020)
5/5. This is a f***ing phenomenal song to share, with metallic hardcore vibes from Bring Me the Horizon, Periphery, and Loathe. I'm loving this underrated sh*t that might just be one of my recent favorite metalcore songs! F*** BTS, this should go viral!
Bleeding Through - "Dearly Demented" (from The Truth, 2006)
4.5/5. This song can kinda be the sequel to the previous album's "Number Seven With a Bullet"; it's over 5 minutes long and has more prominent keyboard parts. The chorus features haunting guest vocals by Nick 13 from psychobilly band Tiger Army. At one point, there is a moshing breakdown before focusing on a riff that would fit well in an Iced Earth album along with said haunting chorus.
Make Them Suffer - "Neverbloom" (from Neverbloom, 2012)
5/5. The massive title track of Make Them Suffer's deathcore debut Neverbloom starts with actual riffing instead of just the overused breakdown. The song is so epic and brutal, and even though it still has the breakdown, the one used in this song is the best in the entire album. There's a lot to progress in this 6 and a half minute monster (a couple longer epics would appear later in this playlist). I love how the bass doesn't cause the rest of the music to be heavily distorted. The piano is also great! It sounds so real, even though it's probably just electronic keyboard. Keyboardist/pianist Louisa Burton is really talented, offering great soft piano contrast to the deathcore breakdowns and riffing, playing actual piano melody instead of just a few keys. She also provided background vocals in this song, similar to Skillet drummer/vocalist Jen Ledger in their album Awake. Both her piano and vocals add the melodic beauty of their sound. That epic has the essence of perfection!
Born of Osiris - "The New Reign" (from The New Reign, 2007)
3.5/5. The title track for Born of Osiris' EP is not bad but not appealing enough. At least there's another video game-like keyboard break and melodic breakdown that I would recommend to Born of Osiris newcomers.
Psyopus - "The Pig Keeperis Daughter" (from Our Puzzling Encounters Considered, 2007)
5/5. I'm glad to find one of the best mathcore bands around, and this band is probably more chaotic than Cattle Decapitation.
I, Valiance - "Thrown to Belial" (from The Reject of Humanity, 2015)
4.5/5. Psychedelic-ish progressive deathcore, I can give this band some credit. They know how to tell a story in the lyrics through some of the most f***ing complex music elements in deathcore to keep engage through these 6 minutes. And halfway through that amount of time is a sick groove. Throw some punches in the golden moshpit! The synths help keep this song and band unique. D*mn, what a ride!
Bound in Fear - "Left to Drown" (from Eternal, 2021)
4/5. Another attempt to fit in the new epic deathcore generation with killer breakdowns and crushing riffing. However, I'm slightly disappointed about skipping out on most of the epicness of the previous track for the genre's typical brutality.
Rolo Tomassi - "Cloaked" (from Cloaked, 2021)
4.5/5. The drumming and guitar riffing are insane in this beautiful metallic mathcore song.
The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza - "The Alpha the Omega" (from Danza 4: The Alpha- the Omega, 2012)
5/5. This spine-chilling piece of chaos might also be one of my new favorite mathcore songs! What really adds golden perfection here is the guest vocals from the lead vocalists of two deathcore bands, Whitechapel (Phil Bozeman) and Despised Icon (Alex Erian). Brutally loud like a motherf***er, to get you ready for a g****mn fight. This chaotic -core style pummels heavier than a sledgehammer. The final minute explodes like TNT into madness, with a brutal breakdown more aggressive than Pantera! Likely to be my favorite Revolution song since All That Remains' "Two Weeks"! 8-string guitars can be used in more than just djent.
The Dillinger Escape Plan - "One of Us Is the Killer" (from One of Us Is the Killer, 2013)
4.5/5. Here's some straight-forward experimentation in this playlist, with dreamy jazz verses and more catchy than extreme choruses. Despite the song sounding a bit different, it still feels like something TDEP would do.
God Forbid - "Earthsblood" (from Earthsblood, 2009)
5/5. This track and the one after are the two longest songs of the playlist at 9 and 7 minutes, respectively. It is also the longest God Forbid song! They have more traditional progressive dynamics than ever before, alternating between the band's usual thick heavy riffs and different atmospheric passages. And they both have superb standout moments! What makes the title track stand out is the epic-sounding acoustic intro.
Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas - "Stay as Who You Are" (from Phase 2, 2014)
4.5/5. And finally, we end this playlist with the longest song by Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas, their so far only attempt at 7-minute 3-part epic, all in good power, especially that third and final part in the last 3 minutes. Enjoy this final nightclub dance as your reward for making it through this entire playlist!
Wow, this playlist turned out pretty well! I'm glad to have some good help from Daniel and Vinny. Great submissions, guys! I look forward to listening to more of the bands that are perfect for me. 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!