March 2023 "The Revolution" Playlist - Metal Academy Radio
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1yFgscg5HWKGoIy2s0xRfG
Tracklisting:
1. Stigmata - "The Heart Grows Harder" (from The Hard Grows Harder, 1992)
2. Bleeding Through - "Fade into the Ash" (from Love Will Kill All, 2018)
3. Dead to Fall - "Stupid?" (from Are You Serious?, 2008) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
4. Deadwater Drowning - "The Best Sex I Ever Had Started with a 900-Number and a Credit Card Verification" (from Deadwater Drowning, 2003)
5. Shai Hulud - "The Consummate Dragon" (from That Within Blood Ill-Tempered, 2003) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
6. Trivium - "Insurrection" (from Shogun, 2008) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
7. All That Remains - "The Last Time" (from For We Are Many, 2010)
8. Kingdom of Giants - "Motif" (from All the Hell You've Got to Spare, 2017)
9. Lorna Shore - "Into the Earth" (from Pain Remains, 2022)
10. Slaughter to Prevail - "Demolisher" (from Kostolom, 2021)
11. From Here On - "Shard of Glass" (from Hope for a Bleeding Sky, 2000)
12. Sikth - "How May I Help You" (from How May I Help You, 2002)
13. Void of Vision - "Hole in Me" (from Hyperdaze, 2020)
14. Strife - "Angermeans" (from Angermeans, 2001)
15. Ice Nine Kills - "Hip to Be Scared" (from The Silver Scream 2: Welcome to Horrorwood, 2021)
16. Memphis May Fire - "This Light I Hold" (from This Light I Hold, 2016) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
17. The Chariot - "David De La Hoz" (from Long Live, 2010)
18. Unbroken - "Blanket" (from Life. Love. Regret, 1994)
19. The Browning - "Carnage" (from Geist, 2018) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
20. August Burns Red - "Ghosts" (from Found in Far Away Places, 2015)
21. Motionless in White - "Puppets 2 (The Rain)" (from Infamous, 2012)
22. Parkway Drive - "Deliver Me" (from Sleepwalker, 2010)
23. Amaranthe - "Danger Zone" (from Massive Addictive, 2014)
24. From Autumn to Ashes - "Short Stories with Tragic Endings" (from Too Bad You're Beautiful, 2001) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
25. Rolo Tomassi - "Howl" (from Astraea, 2012)
26. Car Bomb - "Blackened Battery" (from Mordial, 2019)
27. Chelsea Grin - "All Hail the Fallen King" (from My Damnation, 2011) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
28. The Last Ten Seconds of Life - "Annihilation Phenomena" (from Disquisition on an Execution, 2022)
29. Coalesce - "There is a Word Hidden in the Ground" (from Ox, 2009)
Here are my thoughts on all the selected tracks:
Stigmata - "The Heart Grows Harder" (from The Hard Grows Harder, 1992)
4.5/5. A great way to start the playlist is with the best song in its original album by far, a 7-minute opening epic that reminds me of Paradise Lost's Shades of God in the earlier verses. Then midway through, things go as fast as the speed/thrash metal of early Metallica. But there's still a bit of the hardcore/metalcore that represents what the earlier bands of the genre were going for. Then it slows down again to that Paradise Lost-like pace. The rest of the original album is 5 more songs with two scattered interludes, but none of them match the title track's glory.
Bleeding Through - "Fade into the Ash" (from Love Will Kill All, 2018)
5/5. A blistering mix of epicness and extremeness, and one of the most glorious metalcore songs I've ever heard! It displays the band's crushing music with huge hooks and one of the greatest choruses in the album and the band, topped off by symphonic keyboards. Pretty much every element the band has is served in just 3 and a half minutes. WELCOME F***ING BACK!!!
Dead to Fall - "Stupid?" (from Are You Serious?, 2008)
5/5. This one unleashes mighty in-your-face deathly metalcore to make fun of the genre in the lyrics, with Hunt bellowing about how "F***ING STUPID!!!" this song is, mentioning the "OH SH*T!!" At the Gates-like thrashy death metal riff while it's playing, and finally ending it all "WITH A F***ING BREAKDOWN!!!" There's more eclectic programming to come later...
Deadwater Drowning - "The Best Sex I Ever Had Started with a 900-Number and a Credit Card Verification" (from Deadwater Drowning, 2003)
4.5/5. This is perhaps the best song of its original EP, scary with some bits of Drowningman.
Shai Hulud - "The Consummate Dragon" (from That Within Blood Ill-Tempered, 2003)
5/5. One of the best songs of the more hardcore side of metalcore! Lots of people should find this song and witness what's to love there. "How does it sleep at night, this tyrant?! Heaping slaves on the pyre just to watch ambition burn!"
Trivium - "Insurrection" (from Shogun, 2008)
4.5/5. This one has the melodic vocals and thrashy guitar playing from The Crusade while still keeping some sinister metalcore screams and breakdowns.
All That Remains - "The Last Time" (from For We Are Many, 2010)
5/5. This is probably the best song of its original album and my second favorite by the band, behind "Two Weeks" from Overcome. It really brings their metal sound despite mostly clean vocals and the repetitive chorus.
Kingdom of Giants - "Motif" (from All the Hell You've Got to Spare, 2017)
4.5/5. Another track that's really hard to dislike because of how much the band has accomplished. Holy sh*t, the vocal variation is quite a lot!
Lorna Shore - "Into the Earth" (from Pain Remains, 2022)
5/5. Part of the epicness or Lorna Shore's new album, this one drives further with its frantic verses and dramatic chorus.
Slaughter to Prevail - "Demolisher" (from Kostolom, 2021)
4.5/5. And right after that Lorna Shore track is a killer song from a different band with the f***ing monstrous vocalist Alex Terrible. This song tackles the selfishness of their country Russia's government that doesn't care about the wars their citizens are suffering through. At one minute left, there's a f***ing brutal breakdown that fans of the genre would love to headbang to, right after Alex screams the song title "DEMOLISHER!!" This is real deathcore demolition!
From Here On - "Shard of Glass" (from Hope for a Bleeding Sky, 2000)
4.5/5. One of only two great highlights in this EP, this one is a total spine-chiller.
Sikth - "How May I Help You" (from How May I Help You, 2002)
5/5. This fantastic song has a crazy lot of guitar shredding and screaming babbling in a way that I love. Apparently it tells some kind of interesting fictional story.
Void of Vision - "Hole in Me" (from Hyperdaze, 2020)
5/5. There's a redux version of this track that features Kenta Koie of Crossfaith. His scream at over the two and a half minute mark is the f***ing killer sh*t!
Strife - "Angermeans" (from Angermeans, 2001)
4.5/5. Angermeans is an amazing underrated album by this band, Strife, with lots of original emotion. This song is really great, with a f***ing amazing riff to start it. Although there's also a bit of experimentation in that album, it's still like a more metallic Terror.
Ice Nine Kills - "Hip to Be Scared" (from The Silver Scream 2: Welcome to Horrorwood, 2021)
5/5. This one is based on American Psycho, and the first single of the album. They've really executed their sound like an execution! Great parts of the song include the sample of the original Huey Lewis song, and background vocals by Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach.
Memphis May Fire - "This Light I Hold" (from This Light I Hold, 2016)
4.5/5. Also featuring Jacoby Shaddix, the lyrics are about people or things being deemed bad by haters who don't bother collecting evidence. That's an excellent metaphor for people putting down metal because of the lyrical themes from death/black metal that they think every metal genre has when they obviously don't.
The Chariot - "David De La Hoz" (from Long Live, 2010)
5/5. A video was made for this diverse highlight. The song features a weird bridge from a hillbilly preacher, and it ends with a soft harp outro.
Unbroken - "Blanket" (from Life. Love. Regret, 1994)
4.5/5. Another intense unforgiving highlight! That's all there is to say...
The Browning - "Carnage" (from Geist, 2018)
5/5. I just love this American take on Crossfaith's electronic metalcore sound. This can work as a wrestling theme.
August Burns Red - "Ghosts" (from Found in Far Away Places, 2015)
4.5/5. This one starts with what almost sounds like the intro to one of the slower In Flames songs. But the song itself is interesting with clean vocals by Jeremy McKinnon from A Day to Remember, balancing out the melody with the mood that haunts you as much as ghosts.
Motionless in White - "Puppets 2 (The Rain)" (from Infamous, 2012)
5/5. This one starts off sounding a bit like brutal death metal. The chorus is sung by Soilwork's Björn Strid alongside the bellowing of Chris. It's clear how much intense passion can be found in these lyrics of storytelling vision.
Parkway Drive - "Deliver Me" (from Sleepwalker, 2010)
4.5/5. This is a brutal yet simple fan favorite to keep the live crowd energized.
Amaranthe - "Danger Zone" (from Massive Addictive, 2014)
4.5/5. This one, having a bit of the metalcore side of the band's sound, continues Elize's angelic siren-like vocals while also displaying Henrik's vocal ability, perfectly suited to hammer through heavy riff breakdowns in a shattering pulse.
From Autumn to Ashes - "Short Stories with Tragic Endings" (from Too Bad You're Beautiful, 2001)
5/5. Such a beautiful 9-minute epic that I love from this band, almost fitting well for a both an anime battle scene and anime romantic scene. So inspiring without anything forced! Within all that emotional passion, the ending is an absolute tear-jerker. It's different from what the band would make in other songs like "The After Dinner Payback". The calm ending occurs after the metalcore storm, from the 6-minute mark onwards. The vocals by Melanie Wills and violin makes this song a symphonic metal/post-hardcore track as a whole. Except the ending doesn't get heavy, and her vocals sound more like Avril Lavigne than any female vocalist in symphonic metal. It's quite bearable for the softer listeners, and works well in the aftermath of a heartbreak. "Did you ever look, did you ever see that one person?"
Rolo Tomassi - "Howl" (from Astraea, 2012)
5/5. Howl to the moon for this mind-blowing band of female-led mathcore that reminds me of The Dillinger Escape Plan and early Between the Buried and Me! How hardcore and heavy can they go?! They can surely dominate the mathcore scene. The breakdown at over the two and a half minute mark is a total headbanger. Nicely done!
Car Bomb - "Blackened Battery" (from Mordial, 2019)
5/5. This one is also unforgiving with their time signature changes. This really displays their Metallica influences, with the title coming from two Metallica songs, and different sections paying tribute to "Blackened" in the most mathcore way possible. It's like cheese, crackers, and milk, a few separate things that make an awesome combo!
Chelsea Grin - "All Hail the Fallen King" (from My Damnation, 2011)
4.5/5. An amazing slaying deathcore song, featuring Philip Bozeman of Whitechapel.
The Last Ten Seconds of Life - "Annihilation Phenomena" (from Disquisition on an Execution, 2022)
4/5. My brother told me about this band that a friend of his enjoys that's heavier than what he's comfortable with. Having experienced this kind of heaviness, I decided to check this band out, and it's probably heavier than what I'm used to. This track is still a great brutal deathcore ripper.
Coalesce - "There is a Word Hidden in the Ground" (from Ox, 2009)
4.5/5. This crushing slow closer is a brilliant favorite of mine to end it all!
HOLY SH*T, this is probably the best metalcore playlist I've ever done, with every track ranging from 4.5 to 5 stars, except for one 4-star track. I sure 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 your help with your submission, and I hope the rest of you enjoy it like I've had!