July 2025 "Metalcore Revolution" Playlist - Metal Academy Radio
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1yFgscg5HWKGoIy2s0xRfG
Tracklisting:
1. Imminence - "God Fearing Man" from The Return of the Black (2025)
2. Miss May I - "I.H.E." from Deathless (2015)
3. Lorna Shore - "Oblivion" from Oblivion (2025)
4. Shadow of Intent - "Gravesinger" from Melancholy (2019) [submitted by Saxy S]
5. Undying - "Reckoning" from At History's End (2003)
6. The Autumn Offering - "Your Time Is Mine" from Fear Will Cast No Shadow (2007) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
7. Cryptopsy - "Anoint the Dead" from The Unspoken King (2008)
8. Drown in Sulphur - "Absentia" from Vengeance (2025) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
9. Bury Tomorrow - "What If I Burn" from Will You Haunt Me, with That Same Patience (2025) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
10. Orthodox - "One Less Body (feat. Brann Dailor)" from A Door Left Open (2025)
11. Malevolence - "So Help Me God" from Where Only the Truth is Spoken (2025)
12. Dal Av - "Protohuman" from Protohuman (2025)
13. We Came as Romans - "Shapes" from Dreams (2008)
14. Ankor - "Embers" from Shoganai (2024)
15. Bury Your Dead - "Year One" from Year One (2008)
16. Architects - "Even If You Win, You're Still a Rat" from Daybreaker (2012)
17. Confessions of a Traitor - "Fearless" from Guided (2019)
18. The Number Twelve Looks Like You - "Clarissa Explains Cuntainment" from Nuclear. Sad. Nuclear (2005)
19. Botch - "Closure" from The Unifying Themes of Sex, Death and Religion (1997) (based on Unifying Themes Redux reissue, 2002) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
20. Frontierer - "Glitcher" from Unloved (2018)
21. Ion Dissonance - "O.A.S.D." from Solace (2005)
22. The Chariot - "The Deaf Policemen" from The Fiancee (2007)
23. Polaris - "Fault Line" from Fatalism (2023) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
24. Calva Louise - "Impeccable" from Impeccable (2025)
25. Demon Hunter - "Light Bends" from Light Bends (2025)
26. Blessthefall - "See You on the Outside" from Hollow Bodies (2013)
27. Moments - "Black Widow" from Hopes & Dreams (2015)
28. Wage War - "Will We Ever Learn" from Pressure (2019)
29. The Amity Affliction - "All That I Remember" from All That I Remember (2025) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
30. Wolves at the Gate - "Unrest" from Wasteland (2025) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]
Here are my thoughts on all the selected tracks:
Imminence - "God Fearing Man" from The Return of the Black (2025)
5/5. Another super cool start to a Revolution playlist! As always, we have the blend of beauty and brutality. And d*mn, that breakdown is one of the heaviest of this year!
Miss May I - "I.H.E." from Deathless (2015)
4.5/5. "Miss May I is a Christian band", my a**. Sure some members are Christians, but the lyrics in some songs like this one darker and filled with swearing.
Lorna Shore - "Oblivion" from Oblivion (2025)
5/5. Lorna Shore are back with their upcoming album I Feel the Everblack Festering Within Me. And with their new single "Oblivion", I enjoy the music that throws back to 5 years ago in the Immortal era, along with the lyrics growled by Will Ramos. With that said, I'm hoping for more of his vocal techniques in the upcoming album, like some of his clean singing from his YouTube covers? Not too much of it, of course.
Shadow of Intent - "Gravesinger" from Melancholy (2019)
5/5. Saxy requested this for the June playlist, but I postponed it to July because I wanted to include their new single "Feeding the Meatgrinder", and I felt like giving this one some slight space after its inclusion in April 2022's Revolution playlist. Anyway, 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.
Undying - "Reckoning" from At History's End (2003)
4.5/5. This highlight has the best of many bands past and future, including late 90s Cave In, The Ghost Inside, Killswitch Engage, and Omnium Gatherum. A brilliant start to its original album!
The Autumn Offering - "Your Time Is Mine" from Fear Will Cast No Shadow (2007)
4/5. F***ing great melodic metalcore, similar to what All That Remains would have in Overcome the following year.
Cryptopsy - "Anoint the Dead" from The Unspoken King (2008)
3.5/5. This one is a far better blend of brutality and dissonance than the rest of its original album, tearing down the walls the way technical deathcore is meant to.
Drown in Sulphur - "Absentia" from Vengeance (2025)
5/5. Speeding things up is this incredible highlight, only slowing down at the end for one of the darkest breakdowns of the year. Perhaps my favorite deathcore track here!
Bury Tomorrow - "What If I Burn" from Will You Haunt Me, with That Same Patience (2025)
4.5/5. Daniel Winter-Bates and Tom Prendergast are two of the most kick-A vocal duos in modern metal, and their new album keeps up the power of the previous one.
Orthodox - "One Less Body (feat. Brann Dailor)" from A Door Left Open (2025)
5/5. WHAT THE F***?!? This is absolutely heavy brutal nu metalcore! The only moment of clean emotion is the guest appearance by Brann Dailor of Mastodon. He has already performed guest vocals in a Bleed from Within song, so that's a cool bonus. This is also around the time when Brent Hinds left Mastodon and is callous about it.
Malevolence - "So Help Me God" from Where Only the Truth is Spoken (2025)
4.5/5. Malevolence is back at it again with another gold heavy banger from their new album.
Dal Av - "Protohuman" from Protohuman (2025)
4/5. The intro to this song is quite phenomenal in the drums, leading to the rest of this neck-straining banger featuring Hollow Front vocalist Tyler Tate. The instrumentation sounds quite killer and might come out equally well on its own. You can really feel the anger in the lyrics. Not even Rammstein can go that dark.
We Came as Romans - "Shapes" from Dreams (2008)
4.5/5. RIP Kyle Pavone. He was an essential part of what made We Came as Romans one of the best metalcore/post-hardcore bands out there. I guess you can EP planted the seed for their debut To Plant a Seed.
Ankor - "Embers" from Shoganai (2024)
4/5. My brother and I aren't the only age group (mid-20s) to discover catchy bangers by this band. Even people around our dad's age are finding good appeal here.
Bury Your Dead - "Year One" from Year One (2008)
4.5/5. I love the soloing by Mark Tremonti of Alter Bridge and Tremonti in this track, adding f***ing sweet emotion to the bada** heaviness. And the beauty bleeds into the final chorus. Myke Terry is an amazing vocalist in both Bury Your Dead and Volumes. Though I can't deny that Mat Bruso is the better deal for this band. Lots of dark emotion in the lyrics too, "It's an uphill battle, and we're losing stride". The blend of singing and screaming is what we need more of, not just from Myke Terry. This is true metalcore, unlike when people think The Black Dahlia Murder is metalcore (they're melodeath) and a few generic bands out there, no disrespect there. So if you wish to be open-minded, think twice before turning your back on the hardcore/metalcore scene.
Architects - "Even If You Win, You're Still a Rat" from Daybreaker (2012)
5/5. And even if the haters win, they're still rats. This awesome highlight has guest vocals by Bring Me the Horizon vocalist Oli Sykes. It's just 3 minutes of metalcore chaos, just the way I love it!
Confessions of a Traitor - "Fearless" from Guided (2019)
4.5/5. Confessions of a Traitor can strike hard with their metalcore sound without fear.
The Number Twelve Looks Like You - "Clarissa Explains Cuntainment" from Nuclear. Sad. Nuclear (2005)
5/5. I wanna set this as my phone's alarm tone. This is one of my favorite songs by this band, with so much to enjoy like the riff 30 seconds in and the one starting the final 30 seconds. And it would work as well without vocals which are also great.
Botch - "Closure" from The Unifying Themes of Sex, Death and Religion (1997)
4.5/5. Then we slam into this track from a various artists compilation. A true trail of noise and destruction!
Frontierer - "Glitcher" from Unloved (2018)
4/5. This mathcore banger barely disappoints at all.
Ion Dissonance - "O.A.S.D." from Solace (2005)
4.5/5. Some of the most brutal sh*t in mathcore right here! Especially in the killer breakdown at the one-minute mark. There's no harmony and barely any set structure and it works greatly, with lyrics suitable for battling enemies in video games. Truly emotional in the raging side! And they never have to go as deathly brutal as Despised Icon nor make any of the symphonic turns Winds of Plague has. This really should've been as popular as Justin Bieber, maybe even more so.
The Chariot - "The Deaf Policemen" from The Fiancee (2007)
4/5. The more melodic riffing here seems to have taken some cues from Nirvana, but I enjoy the lyrics here, especially at the ending, "If there's blood on the roots, then there is blood on the branches".
Polaris - "Fault Line" from Fatalism (2023)
4.5/5. This one starts soft in the synths before launching into another easy yet impressive banger.
Calva Louise - "Impeccable" from Impeccable (2025)
4/5. Great song with more of Jess Allanic's impressive vocals. I gotta thank my brother for recommending this track to me.
Demon Hunter - "Light Bends" from Light Bends (2025)
4.5/5. I'm not even Christian and yet I end up getting strong faith, thanks to this solid banger.
Blessthefall - "See You on the Outside" from Hollow Bodies (2013)
5/5. Absolutely perfect music and lyrics here! I really enjoy this one striking my metalcore/post-hardcore heart. Escape the Fate vocalist Craig Mabbitt was in this band for their debut before joining that other band.
Moments - "Black Widow" from Hopes & Dreams (2015)
4.5/5. Let's take a moment to enjoy this modern metalcore track.
Wage War - "Will We Ever Learn" from Pressure (2019)
5/5. "Death walks among us, his sword hangs above us."
The Amity Affliction - "All That I Remember" from All That I Remember (2025)
4.5/5. We need more content from this band with their new bassist/clean vocalist Jonathan Reeves, originally from Kingdom of Giants.
Wolves at the Gate - "Unrest" from Wasteland (2025)
5/5. Let's end this playlist with what might just be my new favorite song by Wolves at the Gate, and perhaps one of the best of this year! I have a feeling there will be a sequel album titled Borderland, based on the ending lyric, "Come out the wasteland into the Borderland." I also enjoy other lyrics such as "I need a remedy, I hear my elegy singing the last verse", and the drumming especially at around the one and a half minute mark. Absolutely fantastic and can easily decimate their earlier post-hardcore material. One of the heaviest parts is the breakdown complete with a "SHUT UP!!!" scream more powerful than that of Linkin Park's "One Step Closer". Truly a killer way out!
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!