April 2022 "The Revolution" Playlist - Metal Academy Radio
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1yFgscg5HWKGoIy2s0xRfG
Tracklisting:
1. Attack Attack! - "The Revolution" from Attack Attack! (2012) [Submitted by shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
2. Attila - "Metalcore Manson" from Closure (2021) [Submitted by shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
3. Code Orange - "Swallowing the Rabbit Whole" from Underneath (2020)
4. Bullet for My Valentine - "4 Words (To Choke Upon)" from The Poison (2005) [Submitted by shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
5. Trivium - "Strife" from Vengeance Falls (2013) [Submitted by shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
6. Dreamshade - "Photographs" from The Gift of Life (2013)
7. From Sorrow to Serenity - "Perpetrator" from Reclaim (2019)
8. TheCityIsOurs - "Violent" from COMA (2021)
9. Silent Planet - "Nervosa" from Everything Was Sound (2016) [Submitted by shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
10. Phinehas - "Grace Disguised by Darkness" from The God Machine (2011)
11. Northlane - "Bloodline" from Alien (2019)
12. Sleep Waker - "Alias" from Alias (2021)
13. The Ansible - "Maestranza (Lost)" from Forever (2019)
14. If I Were You - "Radiant Dark" from Radiant Dark (2020)
15. Dealer - "Tourniquet" from Saint (2020)
16. Amaranthe - "Fury" from Maximalism (2016) [Submitted by shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
17. ERRA - "White Noise" from Impulse (2011)
18. Monasteries - "Allowing Your Traitors to Die" from Silence (2021)
19. Bound in Fear - "Cardinal Sin" from Eternal (2021)
20. Impending Doom - "Chaos: Reborn" from Baptized In Filth (2012) [Submitted by Daniel]
21. Betraying the Martyrs - "The Righteous with the Wicked" from The Hurt the Divine the Light (2009) [Submitted by shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
22. Shadow of Intent - "Gravesinger" from Melancholy (2019)
23. The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza - "Yippie-Kay-Yay Mother!@#$%^" from Danza 3: The Series of Unfortunate Events (2010)
24. The Number Twelve Looks Like You - "The Garden's All Nighters" from Worse Than Alone (2009)
25. The Dillinger Escape Plan - "43% Burnt" from Calculating Infinity (1999)
26. Gaza - "Mostly Hair and Bones Now" from No Absolutes in Human Suffering (2012)
27. Crystal Lake - "Into the Great Beyond" from The Voyages (2020)
28. Resolve - "Between Me and the Machine" from Between Me and the Machine (2021)
29. Enter Shikari - "Reprise 2" from Take to the Skies (2007)
Here are my thoughts on all the selected tracks:
Attack Attack! - "The Revolution" from Attack Attack! (2012)
4.5/5. Let's start this playlist with a suitable anthems for The Revolution and metalcore, the first of which being an amazing Attack Attack song! And why wouldn't it be the Revolution anthem? This is full-on metalcore power that fans of the genre love. Wow, this is absolutely worth headbanging to! It's surprising fitting for the recent Capitol Riot. The 30-second intro might bore some, but it's all for suspense before the action starts. And there's more metalcore greatness to come in this playlist...
Attila - "Metalcore Manson" from Closure (2021)
4/5. Here's the other beginning metalcore anthem of lit fire. Actually like the title suggests, it mixes metalcore with the more alt-metal side of Marilyn Manson. Very cool metalcore that could remind some of an X-rated partying recent Architects. A f***ing crazy banger!
Code Orange - "Swallowing the Rabbit Whole" from Underneath (2020)
5/5. Another climatic start point of the action, this one is awesome! One funky section has an average one time change per second in 7 seconds!
Bullet for My Valentine - "4 Words (To Choke Upon)" from The Poison (2005)
4.5/5. Another really good song with excellent lyrics, amazing drums, and a good solo!
Trivium - "Strife" from Vengeance Falls (2013)
5/5. This is of the best songs from the band and its album, combining a small bit of the Disturbed formula with the band's signature thrash elements. Though it still cannot beat the ultimate favorite which is the title track of the previous album In Waves.
Dreamshade - "Photographs" from The Gift of Life (2013)
4.5/5. "Look at these photographs, every time I do it makes me laugh..." Just kidding, it's not that song. Such strong lyrics in this melodic Dreamshade song, so intense to fit well with the emotional music. The heavy rhythm levels up the vocals. There's even a bit of synth power here and there. I might show this song to my brother who's having a bit of melodic metalcore in his playlist. "Through my eyes you're fading..."
From Sorrow to Serenity - "Perpetrator" from Reclaim (2019)
4.5/5. This d*mn underrated good sh*t goes hard, an excellent hammering single they've nailed. Such a brutal beast, so new and unique! And holy f***, that chorus sounds amazing! Lots of djent-core riffing here. This guys cleans sound a bit like James Hetfield. Some things might be a bit confusing, but I'll this band do what they love.
TheCityIsOurs - "Violent" from COMA (2021)
4/5. Found this cool song and snuck it in here. This might please the heavier fans who enjoy metalcore with a more f***ing violent edge.
Silent Planet - "Nervosa" from Everything Was Sound (2016)
4.5/5. This song is apparently about anorexia and encourages people suffering from that disorder to overcome with passion. Such captivating lyrics from this amazing song, with guest vocals from Cory Brandan of Norma Jean.
Phinehas - "Grace Disguised by Darkness" from The God Machine (2011)
5/5. "I scream Your name! Your name!! Your Name!!! Are You outside Your wrath?! OH GOD~!!! YOUR NAME!!!!" Some of the best music! What more can we f***ing get?!? I feel like conquering the rest of their discography.
Northlane - "Bloodline" from Alien (2019)
5/5. Absolutely awesome lyrics and production here! So atmospheric while dark and heavy. Fantastic prog-ish alt-metalcore!
Sleep Waker - "Alias" from Alias (2021)
4.5/5. This is quite a heavy jam! I love the cleans here. The story might take some time to understand, but the song is an amazing chiller. This is a brand new generation of metalcore this band is, along with Polaris, ERRA, and Crystal Lake (the latter two bands we'll hear later in this playlist). The screams are great too and essential for such a metalcore banger. It is killer, but the best I can give this is 9 out of 10. Still this band is quite f***ing underrated. Metalcore started in 1990 as an experiment to add metallic elements into hardcore, and listen to that genre now! Good music that shall keeping moving forward, probably as far as Cane Hill.
The Ansible - "Maestranza (Lost)" from Forever (2019)
4.5/5. Some more amazing atmosphere and tempo. A f***ing sick and amazing single! This is atmospheric prog-ish metalcore similar to the Silent Planet and Northlane songs from earlier. Though the singing sounds like Brendon Urie from Panic at the Disco.
If I Were You - "Radiant Dark" from Radiant Dark (2020)
4/5. Another consistent banger for the new decade, but the Dreamshade song a slightly higher edge.
Dealer - "Tourniquet" from Saint (2020)
3.5/5. The intro sounds almost like that of Godflesh's "Crush My Soul", and the rest is just nu metalcore that close to Attila's level but not as much of an anthem.
Amaranthe - "Fury" from Maximalism (2016)
3/5. This blaster displays Henrik Englund charging like a raging bull with vocal venom, actually sounding like Blood Stain Child-esque melodeath for the first 40 seconds, until it gets ruined by Elize Ryd trying to impersonate Rihanna. What a joke! So why did I submit this? Because I wanna hear Amaranthe once more before the fate of trance metal.
ERRA - "White Noise" from Impulse (2011)
5/5. Can you believe that I've never actually listened to a full song from this band until I was assembling this playlist?! The tone and depth is all in perfect dissonance! Definitely a piece of perfection that makes me want more of this band.
Monasteries - "Allowing Your Traitors to Die" (2021)
4.5/5. A mathy deathcore ripper to flex upon. Enough said!
Bound in Fear - "Cardinal Sin" from Eternal (2021)
4/5. Same with this sick hammering track. But I would have to have real deathcore man b*lls to go that far into brutality.
Impending Doom - "Chaos: Reborn" from Baptized In Filth (2012)
5/5. Actually I might! Indeed this is deathcore, but with Christian faith instead of that satanic sh*t. There's a bit of a Meshuggah influence here, so that's interesting... If anybody thought deathcore/death metal doesn't mix with Christian themes, they would be wrong. Thanks for this submission, Daniel!
Betraying the Martyrs - "The Righteous with the Wicked" from The Hurt the Divine the Light (2009)
4.5/5. I still enjoy the kind of deathcore I used to strictly be into, which is when the genre has more symphonic/progressive elements. Think of this one as a killer mix of the mid-2000s eras of Bring Me the Horizon and Bleeding Through, and Septicflesh.
Shadow of Intent - "Gravesinger" from Melancholy (2019)
4.5/5. Seems like Shadow of Intent took Betraying the Martyrs' earlier sound to a much darker level alongside some classical elements of Bach and Beethoven mixed with some of the most brutal metal subgenres out there. This might also include some Dimmu Borgir-like symphonic black metal in the middle. And the outro with neoclassical soloing before a symphonic closure is just EPIC.
The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza - "Yippie-Kay-Yay Mother!@#$%^" from Danza 3: The Series of Unfortunate Events (2010)
5/5. Fans of the Die Hard film series would definitely recognize that track title. This is f***ing incredible underrated mathcore in the house!
The Number Twelve Looks Like You - "The Garden's All Nighters" from Worse Than Alone (2009)
5/5. In early 2009, this band released their last album before breaking up for 6 years. I now recognize what a f***ing amazing band #12 is! A new adventure awaits to add to my ongoing journey. At over the 4-minute mark is one of the most beautiful while still wild mathcore sections around.
The Dillinger Escape Plan - "43% Burnt" from Calculating Infinity (1999)
5/5. The most popular track in its album and possibly mathcore! The fans love it enough for the song to remain a staple in the band's stage setlist. The song opens with screeching chords, before continuing into what may be the anthem of mathcore. The last minute and a half is just a trance-inducing mantra that slowly fades out. I think that's the 43% of the song that's burnt. The song still has a lot of the potential the band has offered; a playful section, atmospheric guitar, enraged lyrics, and more tempo changes than most other bands' albums. Beautiful yet defiant!
Gaza - "Mostly Hair and Bones Now" from No Absolutes in Human Suffering (2012)
4.5/5. This one starts Gaza's last album amazingly, as nicely intense as mints!
Crystal Lake - "Into the Great Beyond" from The Voyages (2020)
5/5. First thing when I starting getting some more band's discographies, this one, Crystal Lake! More perfect greatness beyond...
Resolve - "Between Me and the Machine" from Between Me and the Machine (2021)
4.5/5. As this journey comes in, one thing I don't wanna miss is a long epic, this one lasting 8 and a half minutes! It almost summarizes everything we've witnessed in this playlist, and the breakdown/solo mix is just heavenly. There are times when it seems like they f***ing nailed what they have in that amount of length. Such a climatic epic would make this complete, though I expected slightly more.
Enter Shikari - "Reprise 2" from Take to the Skies (2007)
4/5. Also known as "Closing", this marks the outro of Enter Shikari's most metal album, their debut Take to the Skies, and it's suitable for ending this playlist, still having the metalcore instrumentation in the first half, including the weird growls that not many other bands can do. "And still we will be here, standing like statues!"
Wow, this playlist turned out pretty well! I'm glad to have some good help from Daniel with his submission. 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!