August 2024 Featured Release - The Revolution Edition

So just like that we find that a new month is upon us which of course means that we’ll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we’re asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter. We’re really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on our chosen releases so don’t be shy.

This month's feature release for The Revolution, nominated by me (Shadowdoom9 (Andi)), is the 2021 cover album by Orange County-based metalcore band Eighteen Visions, 1996. We have been diving into albums from the very early years of metalcore (the early/mid-90s), so I thought this album might be good for discussion. It's a blast to the past as a long-running metalcore bands looks back at all the different bands that shaped up their sound, from earlier bands of the league to classic bands of different genres. Definitely worth some attention!

https://metal.academy/releases/36783

I've done my review, here's its summary:

From June to July 2021, Eighteen Visions released 3 singles. The first one was an Alice in Chains cover, the second one was a Vision of Disorder, and the third was their own song. Then on the 4th week, all 7 other tracks came out together with those singles in a surprise-release looking back at different bands from the 90s, the cover album 1996! Personally, I think when they switch into Alice in Chains-style hard rock/alt-metal, it doesn't always work as much as their metalcore glory. Still they can blend beauty and chaos together well. With crushing drums, pummeling bass, searing guitars, and in-your-face vocals ranging from clean singing to bloodcurdling screams, there's barely any other cover album to hit you as hard as this. The album has two sides; the first one has their original title track for the album and 4 covers of songs by metalcore/hardcore bands, and the second has covers of songs from hard rock/alt-metal bands. Pretty much every song from both sides manages to outshine the original. With that, I can forgive 18V for their earlier attempts at grunge-metal. The only problematic cover is the one for that Damnation A.D. track, in which the original was dragged down by the painful vocals and lyrics. I dig 18V's cover a lot more than the sh*tty original, but the fact it's still that song prevents this from becoming a highlight. The album would've reached a perfect 5 stars if they had replaced that cover with a different one from a metalcore/hardcore band. Still I really dig the other 9 songs, and if there's anything to bring the band back to their early 2000s glory, this is that!

4.5/5

Recommended tracks: "1996", "D.T.O.", "Blanket", "Them Bones", "Terrible Lie"

For fans of: Atreyu, Knocked Loose, Vision of Disorder