May 2023 "The Revolution" Playlist - Metal Academy Radio
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1yFgscg5HWKGoIy2s0xRfG
Tracklisting:
1. Converge - "First Light" from You Fail Me (2004)
2. Nora - "Theneverendingyouline" from Theneverendingyouline (1999)
3. Parkway Drive - "Gimme AD" from Killing with a Smile (2005) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
4. All Shall Perish - "Deconstruction" from Hate.Malice.Revenge (2003)
5. Electric Callboy - "Pump It" from Tekkno (2022) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
6. Killswitch Engage - "Temple from the Within" from Killswitch Engage (2000)
7. Bleeding Through - "Number Seven with a Bullet" from This is Love, This is Murderous (2003)
8. Shadows Fall - "Fleshold" from Of One Blood (2000)
9. The Ghost Inside - "Engine 45" from Get What You Give (2012) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
10. The Red Chord - "Catalepsy" from Fused Together in Revolving Doors (2002)
11. The Acacia Strain - "Doppelganger" from ...And Life is Very Long (2002)
12. Avenged Sevenfold - "Remenissions" from Waking the Fallen (2003)
13. Crisis - "Surviving the Siren" from The Hollowing (1997)
14. Emmure - "Sons of Medusa" from Sons of Medusa (2021)
15. Motionless in White - "Soft" from Graveyard Shift (2017) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
16. Trivium - "A Crisis of Revelation" from In the Court of the Dragon (2021) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
17. Any Given Day - "Arise" from Everlasting (2016)
18. The Devil Wears Prada - "Cancer" from Color Decay (2022)
19. Northlane - "Impulse" from Node (2015)
20. Attila - "Pizza" from Pizza (2018) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
21. Wage War - "Twenty-One" from Blueprints (2015)
22. Zao - "All Else Failed" from All Else Failed (1995)
23. The Dillinger Escape Plan - "Sick on Sunday from Ire Works (2007)
24. Iwrestledabearonce - "Deodorant Can't Fix Ugly" from Ruining It for Everybody (2011)
25. Car Bomb - "Infinite Sun" from Meta (2016)
26. Memphis May Fire - "The Redeemed" from The Hollow (2011) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
27. Shadow of Intent - "The Tartarus Impalement" from Reclaimer (2017)
Here are my thoughts on all the selected tracks:
Converge - "First Light" from You Fail Me (2004)
4.5/5. Before the deranged mayhem of this playlist begins, this track is a gentle atmospheric intro.
Nora - "Theneverendingyouline" from Theneverendingyouline (1999)
4/5. This track is the only one from this EP I can stand. The metal riffing and bass crashes in and kicks you hard in the neck. The mix of metal and hardcore punk works well with the tempo. However, the vocals are too harshly twisted and predictable, like the guy's voice is heavily strained.
Parkway Drive - "Gimme AD" from Killing with a Smile (2005)
4.5/5. This one hits you hard with their prevalent attitude of wrath. It has all that listeners can be ready for; fast riffing, solid drumming, fantastic screaming, and heavy breakdowns. They have it all!
All Shall Perish - "Deconstruction" from Hate.Malice.Revenge (2003)
5/5. This intense yet short track has an incredible blend of punishing rhythms, searing guitars, and hyper-fast blast-beats. And the great intensity doesn't stop from there, continuing and increasing throughout.
Electric Callboy - "Pump It" from Tekkno (2022)
4.5/5. A total pumper! You can work out and run a 10K race to this. My brother loves this slightly more than I do though.
Killswitch Engage - "Temple from the Within" from Killswitch Engage (2000)
5/5. Like the movie Michelle Yeoh won the Best Actress award for shortly before this review, everything everywhere all at once kicks through! Without an intro, the instrumentation hits you non-stop. A great mid-paced perfect experience!
Bleeding Through - "Number Seven with a Bullet" from This is Love, This is Murderous (2003)
5/5. This one has the best riffing of this album, possibly the best by the band, with some breakdowns along the way.
Shadows Fall - "Fleshold" from Of One Blood (2000)
4.5/5. Solid extreme metalcore. Need I say more?
The Ghost Inside - "Engine 45" from Get What You Give (2012)
4.5/5. This is the kind of song you need for any crisis you struggle with. This band needs a lot more fame and glory. Let us have the bravery to choose our actions, break these chains, and keep swinging!
The Red Chord - "Catalepsy" from Fused Together in Revolving Doors (2002)
5/5. Next up is this song having some of the fastest brutality, starting awesome in the riffing without ever stopping. Psyopus did a comedic cover of that song as a hidden track for the album Our Puzzling Encounters Considered.
The Acacia Strain - "Doppelganger" from ...And Life is Very Long (2002)
5/5. This without a doubt serves as an intersection between several of the hardcore/metalcore genres from earlier and later bands; the hardcore of Strife, the metalcore/melodic metalcore of August Burns Red and Parkway Drive, and the deathcore of Chelsea Grin. Fantastic!
Avenged Sevenfold - "Remenissions" from Waking the Fallen (2003)
4.5/5. This one is a little darker, unleashing a brutal growl of pummeling drums and sinister guitars, then they slow down for a great thick verse. What really stands out is the perfectly placed drumming and guitar changes. Soon it goes through mid-tempo before blazing through a hardcore onslaught. It's a fantastic listen! I also love that Hispanic-esque segment.
Crisis - "Surviving the Siren" from The Hollowing (1997)
4.5/5. This is the greatest song of its original album, with every one of Karyn Crisis' vocal styles here; operatic singing, monstrous growling, and banshee-like shrieking. The lyrics seem to twist around The Odyssey, specifically the part with the sirens, in which lust can lead to doom. The drumming gets crazier and descends into chaos as the song progresses, and the only light in the darkness is the beautiful chorus sung by Karyn. You really gotta stick around for that song and have it stick to you!
Emmure - "Sons of Medusa" from Sons of Medusa (2021)
5/5. How long has it been since I last heard a song from this band before this one, almost a year? Apparently, it's an outtake from the album Hindsight, released a year earlier. It could've probably served as the album's intro or something. I cannot miss this band in my life!
Motionless in White - "Soft" from Graveyard Shift (2017)
4.5/5. For a song with that title, it's anything but soft. It's a more hardcore song, especially in the vocals that reach death growling, sounding closer to Slipknot. This song is worth headbanging to at loud volume.
Trivium - "A Crisis of Revelation" from In the Court of the Dragon (2021)
4/5. This Ascendancy-style heavy throwback isn't the best highlight of the new Trivium album but still manages to fit well with the other high-quality tracks.
Any Given Day - "Arise" from Everlasting (2016)
4.5/5. You get to hear some more of Trivium frontman Matt Heafy's perfect vocals here, though only his cleans are present because this is at the time with his blown-out voice hadn't completely healed. F***ing epic headbanging riff fire!
The Devil Wears Prada - "Cancer" from Color Decay (2022)
5/5. Such a masterpiece of a song, like a metalcore power ballad! I watched a music video for an earlier song from this band like 8 years ago, and back then I wasn't totally interested because I didn't start enjoying metalcore yet at the time. Now I'm destined to find more of this band! The song was written by keyboardist Jonathan Gering in memory of a late friend of his. RIP
Northlane - "Impulse" from Node (2015)
4.5/5. People weren't keen at first about vocalist Marcus Bridge when he first joined, but he can really bring new sounds to the old, and that's why he's an awesome vocalist! "So alone in a digital world..." Massive heaviness and diversity right here! That's how much I love this band, and the breakdown rules! Structures had also tackled the topic of the truth of the digital age. It can actually fit in the Digimon video games or anime! The sound would've been what would happen if Underoath didn't have their hiatus after Disambiguation and instead took on a more progressive sound before their recent albums.
Attila - "Pizza" from Pizza (2018)
5/5. I sh*t you not, this actually what got me interested in this band. My brother found the music video for this song and thought it was hilarious. I enjoyed the music enough to give this song and band a thumbs-up. Humor and riff-wrath sound amazing together! Now if you don't like pineapple on pizza, just peel it off. Don't go on a breakdown-infused rage like Fronz in the video.
Wage War - "Twenty-One" from Blueprints (2015)
4.5/5. Another modern metalcore song that has made me smile.
Zao - "All Else Failed" from All Else Failed (1995)
5/5. The 12-minute title epic of the band's debut is their longest track, and one of the longest metalcore epics I've ever encountered. They unleash everything that they can in the first 8 minutes, then after a one-minute break, a 3-minute acoustic ending plays, along with a bit of clean vocals. Epic!
The Dillinger Escape Plan - "Sick on Sunday" from Ire Works (2007)
4.5/5. This one is more experimental, basically heavy breakbeat electro-grind.
Iwrestledabearonce - "Deodorant Can't Fix Ugly" from Ruining It for Everybody (2011)
4.5/5. A very chilling song with amazing vocals by Krysta Cameron who I wish could've been with the band longer, no hate for Courtney LaPlante.
Car Bomb - "Infinite Sun" from Meta (2016)
5/5. This track summarizes all this band has done. Cleans and screams collide as riffs blow your mind. In the middle is some Deftones-like rock before ending with the heaviest djent workout.
Memphis May Fire - "The Redeemed" from The Hollow (2011)
4.5/5. Another track I really like. It motivates you to leave behind the past and move on to the future, all in positive self-empowerment for your life. There's a bit of a link between this band and Christianity. The song is quite excellent, and it can encourage you to fight back against the criticism you might receive for your religion or lifestyle. Despite nothing being eternal, you gotta do what's right for all that's temporary. Anything can and will happen. In a way, this foreshadows what the band would have next in Challenger. Other bands that might have a similar sound and message include Imminence.
Shadow of Intent - "The Tartarus Impalement" from Reclaimer (2017)
4/5. Well, after that metalcore song of motivation comes one more song, of symphonic deathcore destruction and despair. It starts a bit mundane in the first 4 minutes, then the epicness rises at over the 4-minute mark with such great music, lyrics, and vocals. "And I'll never see home again, never comfort my wife as she mourns and I'll never hear the cries of my firstborn son, How can I possibly continue on?!" F***ing d*mn, man! Pure beauty and emotion rolls on throughout that minute. Then comes another amazing minute where the band work together to unleash their power in battle. The final climax goes on the last one and a half minute and the hero impales the enemy and rules in victory. Talk about such a finale for this playlist! Though it probably would've been better in the first half...
HOLY SH*T, this is probably close to the best metalcore playlist I've ever done, with every track ranging from 4.5 to 5 stars, except for a few tracks in the beginning, middle, and end forming a small bump. 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!