February 2025 "Metalcore Revolution" Playlist - Metal Academy Radio

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1yFgscg5HWKGoIy2s0xRfG

Tracklisting:

1. Any Given Day - "My Doom" from Everlasting (2016)

2. Bleed from Within - "In Place of Your Halo" from In Place of Your Halo (2024)

3. Silent Planet - "Mindframe" from Mindframe (2024)

4. Resolve - "Exposed" from Reverie (2017)

5. Fit for a King - "Dead Memory (feat. Jake Luhrs)" from Deathgrip (2016) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

6. Hollow Front - "Hold Me Down" from Hold Me Down (2024)

7. Memphis May Fire - "Sleepless Nights" from Unconditional (2014) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

8. Imminence - "86" from The Reclamation of I (2024)

9. Demon Hunter - "Hell Don't Need Me" from Extremist (2014) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

10. Trivium - "To the Rats" from The Crusade (2006)

11. Still Remains - "The Worst is Yet to Come" from Of Love and Lunacy (2005)

12. Haste the Day - "Servant Ties" from Pressure the Hinges (2007)

13. Wage War - "Gravity" from Deadweight (2017)

14. Annisokay - "Never Enough" from Never Enough (2024)

15. Bury Tomorrow - "Boltcutter" from The Seventh Sun (2023) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

16. Blessthefall, Alpha Wolf - "DRAG ME UNDER" from DRAG ME UNDER (2024)

17. The Browning - "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" from Blue (Da Ba Dee) (2025)

18. Eighteen Visions - "Fake Leather Jacket" from XVIII (2017) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

19. Rolo Tomassi - "The Hollow Hour" from Time Will Die and Love Will Bury It (2018)

20. Daughters - "Hyperventilationsystem" from Hell Songs (2006) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

21. Knut - "Bound" from Leftovers (1997)

22. The Sleeper - "Paradigm" from Aurora (2013)

23. Aviana - "DELIRIUM" from DELIRIUM (2024)

24. Graphic Nature - "N.F.A." from Who Are You When No One Is Watching? (2024)

25. Memory of a Melody - "'Til Death Do Us Part" from Things That Make You Scream (2011)

26. Convictions - "Eros" from I Am Nothing (2012)

27. Kingdom of Giants - "Smoke" from Bleeding Star (2024)

28. Filth - "Idle Hands" from The Burden of Isolation (2018)

29. A Wake in Providence - "Mournful Benediction (feat. Ben Duerr)" from I Write To You, My Darling Decay (2024)

30. Make Them Suffer - "Weeping Wastelands" from Neverbloom (2012)

31. Shadow of Intent - "Malediction" from Melancholy (2019) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

Here are my thoughts on all the selected tracks:

Any Given Day - "My Doom" from Everlasting (2016)

4.5/5. Let's start off with some melodic metalcore the way it's meant to be done, with strong clean vocals, just like Killswitch Engage.

Bleed from Within - "In Place of Your Halo" from In Place of Your Halo (2024)

5/5. And here's more of that, but more brutal, with some eerie bagpipes throughout the last minute.

Silent Planet - "Mindframe" from Mindframe (2024)

4.5/5. Let's drop that cyberpunk metalcore beat!

Resolve - "Exposed" from Reverie (2017)

4/5. There's a lot more music to explore, and sometimes you can get them from a Spotify recommendation or a YouTube ad. The chorus is really good here. It's a true banger than can barely disappoint! This band and Landmvrks have shaped up the French modern metalcore scene. The heavy structure really stands out.

Fit for a King - "Dead Memory (feat. Jake Luhrs)" from Deathgrip (2016)

4.5/5. I'm glad to give Fit for a King a chance the first time I listened to that band two years ago. The blend of heavy verses and clean choruses has quite an As I Lay Dying/Demon Hunter vibe. The guest vocals by Jake Luhrs of August Burns Red give the song great impact, almost as much as the other FFAK albums Creation/Destruction. Lots of metalcore emotion to love! "Would you even notice if my world was falling apart? Would you even care if my heart stopped beating?"

Hollow Front - "Hold Me Down" from Hold Me Down (2024)

4/5. F***ing talented drumming in this one! This band knows how to make kick-A songs that can stay fresh.

Memphis May Fire - "Sleepless Nights" from Unconditional (2014)

4.5/5. The lyrics here are quite relatable for anyone in sleepless anxiety.

Imminence - "86" from The Reclamation of I (2024)

5/5. With hammer-fists and drum sticks, Peter Hanstrom blasts through this highlight alongside talented screams and singing of Eddie Berg (also the violinist) that in turn go well with dissonant riffs and melodies. The lyrics are so beautiful and fit greatly even when screamed.

Demon Hunter - "Hell Don't Need Me" from Extremist (2014)

4.5/5. A slower and sludgier track that's quite interesting.

Trivium - "To the Rats" from The Crusade (2006)

4/5. One of only a couple tracks from The Crusade to qualify for The Revolution, this one balls out some chaotic thrashy metalcore while having a more positive chorus.

Still Remains - "The Worst is Yet to Come" from Of Love and Lunacy (2005)

4.5/5. An amazing classic example of melodic metalcore! "Is this embedded status permanent?!?"

Haste the Day - "Servant Ties" from Pressure the Hinges (2007)

5/5. One of the f***ing best songs by Haste the Day! I love the riffing and the vocals, even the cleans. The bridge at over the two minute mark is quite epic, as is the soloing 45 seconds later, one of the most awesome guitar solos in melodic metalcore.

Wage War - "Gravity" from Deadweight (2017)

4.5/5. The drop C-tuned melodic metalcore continues in a slower pace. Far better than the similar-sounding similarly-titled Bullet for My Valentine song!

Annisokay - "Never Enough" from Never Enough (2024)

4/5. Annisokay fans would certainly dig this 5 days early Christmas gift.

Bury Tomorrow - "Boltcutter" from The Seventh Sun (2023)

4.5/5. Another insane metalcore song to take your breath away.

Blessthefall, Alpha Wolf - "DRAG ME UNDER" from DRAG ME UNDER (2024)

5/5. Anyone else enjoy two bands in one song?! I certainly approve of this blessing!

The Browning - "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" from Blue (Da Ba Dee) (2025)

4.5/5. How about some Blue to go with that Browning? An epic cover, though I prefer the Fleshgod Apocalypse cover slightly more.

Eighteen Visions - "Fake Leather Jacket" from XVIII (2017)

5/5. This one turns things around as another highlight, and the strongest one here too. There are more of the vengeful screams by Hart, "LIAR!!!! SADIST!!! CORPORATE!!! RAPIST!!!" The heavy verses and anthemic choruses are the best of what the album has in store.

Rolo Tomassi - "The Hollow Hour" from Time Will Die and Love Will Bury It (2018)

5/5. A f***ing beautiful mathcore epic! They can go as progressive as Gojira with a bit of black metal in the heavier sections. Such an awesome banger!

Daughters - "Hyperventilationsystem" from Hell Songs (2006)

4.5/5. "Love is a disgusting thing", according to the chant in this hyper track that would keep you away from sleeping.

Knut - "Bound" from Leftovers (1997)

4/5. Another heavy mathcore track. RIP Didier Séverin

The Sleeper - "Paradigm" from Aurora (2013)

3.5/5. Quite brutal, but a little too much for a djenty metalcore track.

Aviana - "DELIRIUM" from DELIRIUM (2024)

4/5. A heavy ripped banger for a two-minute track! There's even a bit of hardstyle 40 seconds in.

Graphic Nature - "N.F.A." from Who Are You When No One Is Watching? (2024)

4.5/5. The hardcore heaviness shines the best in this short track. Enough said!

Memory of a Melody - "'Til Death Do Us Part" from Things That Make You Scream (2011)

4/5. What's not to love besides my brother enjoying this song? And why not? It's like if Breaking Benjamin leveled up the metalcore elements in their alt-rock/metal.

Convictions - "Eros" from I Am Nothing (2012)

4.5/5. This song is also excellent, though this Convictions EP is their only one with lead vocalist Dan Gardner. That's a shame because I love his screams here. It might remind some of Dream on Dreamer, especially the more hardcore yet clean singing at the two and a half minute mark.

Kingdom of Giants - "Smoke" from Bleeding Star (2024)

4/5. The electronic intro starts the song off interesting, but it gets heavier as it progresses, especially halfway through. Seems like we still have some cyberpunk metalcore left after that Silent Planet track. Northlane, Architects, and Bad Omens influences unite!

Filth - "Idle Hands" from The Burden of Isolation (2018)

4.5/5. Nothing but filthy brutal deathcore in this one.

A Wake in Providence - "Mournful Benediction (feat. Ben Duerr)" from I Write To You, My Darling Decay (2024)

5/5. This one keeps up the perfect balance this band has between melody and heaviness. Drum blasts, symphonic keys, and a guest vocal appearance by Shadow of Intent's Ben Duerr make the song guaranteed to be an eternal epic deathcore hit.

Make Them Suffer - "Weeping Wastelands" from Neverbloom (2012)

4.5/5. This one was re-recorded from their brutal demo EP Lord of Woe, and is the band's longest song at nearly 7 minutes. It's not as special as those other two epics in its original album (the title track and "Maelstrom"), but it's still listenable by any means.

Shadow of Intent - "Malediction" from Melancholy (2019)

5/5. The playlist doesn't end there though, making way for this monumental gem, one of the best I've heard from this band and genre. I really am torn between whether this is the perfect ending for its original album or that long instrumental epic before it.

Pretty good playlist I've made, huh? I recommend this to any metalcore fan and anyone who isn't into metalcore but is up to getting into a great start for the genre. Thanks to anyone who have contributed with their own submissions, and I hope the rest of you enjoy it like I've had!