April 2026 "Metalcore Revolution" Playlist - Metal Academy Radio

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

Tracklisting:

1. Sylosis - "Beneath the Surface" from The New Flesh (2026) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

2. Varials - "Anything to Numb" from Pain Again (2017)

3. Every Time I Die - "Kill the Music" from Gutter Phenomenon (2005) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

4. Vision of Disorder - "Blood Red Sun" from The Cursed Remain Cursed (2012)

5. BOI WHAT - "BUCKET HELMET" from BUCKET HELMET (2026)

6. Fox Lake - "Cold Hard Truth" from Cold Hard Truth (2025)

7. We Came as Romans, Currents, After the Burial - "Bad Luck" from Bad Luck (2025)

8. Bring Me the Horizon - "Sleepwalking" from Sempiternal (2013)

9. Lamb of God - "Redneck" from Sacrament (2006)

10. August Burns Red - "Behemoth" from Behemoth (2026)

11. Shadows Fall - "Inspiration on Demand" from The War Within (2004) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

12. Carnifex - "Bury Me in Blasphemy" from Bury Me in Blasphemy (2018) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

13. Excessive Force - "In Your Blood" from In Your Blood (1995)

14. Born of Osiris - "Open Arms to Damnation" from The New Reign (2007) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

15. The Faceless - "Leica" from Akeldama (2006) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

16. Lorna Shore - "In Darkness" from I Feel the Everblack Festering Within Me (2025)

17. Showing Teeth - "Rip" from Rip (2026)

18. Crystal Lake - "The Weight of Sound" from The Weight of Sound (2026)

19. Avenged Sevenfold - "I Won't See You Tonight Part 1" from Waking the Fallen (2003)

20. Prayer for Cleansing - "Bael Na Mblath" from The Rain in Endless Fall (1999)

21. Bleeding Through - "War Time" from NINE (2025)

22. Electric Callboy - "Revery" from Revery (2025)

23. Until I Wake - "Sinking Under" from Until I Wake (2021)

24. Not Enough Space, Dark Divine - "Eye 4 an Eye" from Weaponize Your Rage (2025)

25. ERRA - "II. In the Gut of the Wolf" from Silence Outlives the Earth (2026)

26. Versus Me - "Heavy Breathing" from Continuous (2019)

27. We Butter the Bread with Butter - "Meine Brille" from Goldkinder (2013)

28. Volumes - "Pullin' Shades" from Different Animals (2017)

29. Ion Dissonance - "The Girl Nextdoor Is Always Screaming" from Breathing is Irrelevant (2003) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

30. The Chariot - "Mrs. Montgomery Alabama III." from Wars and Rumors of Wars (2009)

Here are my thoughts on all selected tracks:

Sylosis - "Beneath the Surface" from The New Flesh (2026)

4.5/5. Sylosis' new album The New Flesh may just be their most metalcore album in years, and this rapid banger might just make a smashing opener for both the album and this playlist, spine-chilling right from the intro onwards.

Varials - "Anything to Numb" from Pain Again (2017)

5/5. I can't put to word how much hellfire this heavy sh*t has. It's brutal as f*** and I love it!

Every Time I Die - "Kill the Music" from Gutter Phenomenon (2005)

4.5/5. I enjoy the guest vocals by My Chemical Romance's Gerard Way in this one. He really f***ing nails the chorus! Around that time, this was between the eras of Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge and The Black Parade. Gerard certainly has a rougher edge in his guest appearance, especially his black metal screaming in that Ibaraki song. G****mn, I wish I could perform guitar and learn to play this song and others on it. I also enjoy the usual screams by Keith Buckley. "I KNOW THE STRIPPER'S REAL NAME!!"

Vision of Disorder - "Blood Red Sun" from The Cursed Remain Cursed (2012)

5/5. The f***ing best song in this Vision of Disorder album. The vocals, guitars, bass, and drumming are all filled with rage, especially in the riffing and screams. The cleans also add to the brilliance.

BOI WHAT - "BUCKET HELMET" from BUCKET HELMET (2026)

4.5/5. Perhaps the heaviest thing Boi What has done! Sh*tloads of brutal chaos compared to other modern metal bands these days.

Fox Lake - "Cold Hard Truth" from Cold Hard Truth (2025)

4/5. This sick song is just like the truth, cold and hard.

We Came as Romans, Currents, After the Burial - "Bad Luck" from Bad Luck (2025)

4.5/5. We Came as Romans has brought together members of Currents and After the Burial to rework one of the songs from their new album. The end result is a powerful rifftastic blessing. And boy are we lucky!

Bring Me the Horizon - "Sleepwalking" from Sempiternal (2013)

5/5. After the metalcore action of the previous songs, this one is more melodic with a beautiful middle bridge painting images with words, "Your eyes are swallowing me. Mirrors start to whisper, shadows start to see. My skin's smothering me. Help me find a way to breathe!"

Lamb of God - "Redneck" from Sacrament (2006)

4.5/5. OK, I know Lamb of God is generally groove metal, but hear me out. Even their greater hits can please a metalcore fan. "THIS IS A MOTHERF***ING INVITATION!!!"

August Burns Red - "Behemoth" from Behemoth (2026)

5/5. August Burns Red are coming back with their new album Season of Surrender to be released in June, and this pre-release single is filled with ripped rage. An absolutely perfect return to their sound from 20 years ago, and then some. We have an Architects-style "BLEGH" 30 seconds in, plus a heavy breakdown a minute later followed by an even more crushing one shortly after. This band really should get more credit for enhancing metalcore with this and other unique songs.

Shadows Fall - "Inspiration on Demand" from The War Within (2004)

4.5/5. A heavy but more mid-tempo song with some moving, beautiful ballad-like verses that flashback to the title track of their previous album.

Carnifex - "Bury Me in Blasphemy" from Bury Me in Blasphemy (2018)

5/5. The fire burns within Carnifex as they unleash their sinister deathcore sound with symphonic touches.

Excessive Force - "In Your Blood" from In Your Blood (1995)

4.5/5. Interestingly the shortest one in the album and this playlist (besides that BOI WHAT track) and placed towards the end while not being the final track. The music and lyrics are absolutely earth-shattering and make another brutal highlight.

Born of Osiris - "Open Arms to Damnation" from The New Reign (2007)

5/5. Probably the best track of the EP, and it really should've started the album as track #1 with "Rosecrance" as track #3. It has the best riffs and keyboards. Vocals are catchy and fun. And the ending guitar melody is impressive.

The Faceless - "Leica" from Akeldama (2006)

4.5/5. I wish we could have more of this earlier Faceless sound when they were melodic/technical deathcore, though I still enjoy their more progressive later albums. At the 3-minute mark, after the music glitches out, we have one of the most brutal breakdowns I've heard in deathcore/metal.

Lorna Shore - "In Darkness" from I Feel the Everblack Festering Within Me (2025)

5/5. You know how epic an album when even the non-highlights earn 5 stars. The first of the 3 tracks without breakdowns is almost like their attempt at combining the title track of And I Return to Nothingness and one of my favorite Mechina songs "Anagenesis", including the double key-change final chorus of the former but excluding the clean singing and cyber synths of the latter. It still can't beat those two tracks though.

Showing Teeth - "Rip" from Rip (2026)

4.5/5. H*ll of a metalcore ripper! It seems this band is willing to combine the sounds of Knocked Loose and Poppy after those two artists' collab.

Crystal Lake - "The Weight of Sound" from The Weight of Sound (2026)

5/5. Must be quite a heavy weight. An underrated song that should make modern metal history!

Avenged Sevenfold - "I Won't See You Tonight Part 1" from Waking the Fallen (2003)

4.5/5. Last playlist had Part 2, this one has Part 1, a ballad-like epic to break things up a little.

Prayer for Cleansing - "Bael Na Mblath" from The Rain in Endless Fall (1999)

5/5. This highlight begins by alternating between fast blast beats and slow acoustics. Some parts get a bit sludgy in the second half, before speeding up one last time.

Bleeding Through - "War Time" from NINE (2025)

4.5/5. This one is a violent banger with background vocals by Brian Fair (Shadows Fall), and the lyrics fire away as well.

Electric Callboy - "Revery" from Revery (2025)

4/5. Electric Callboy can make beautiful songs while still having their heavy impact. This should really end up in a possible film adaptation of Five Nights at Freddy's 3.

Until I Wake - "Sinking Under" from Until I Wake (2021)

3.5/5. Beauty and strength can be found in the riffing and chorus melody, though a few parts are a little more average. Reminds me of We Came as Romans, with the clean singing practically paying tribute to the late Kyle Pavone. RIP

Not Enough Space, Dark Divine - "Eye 4 an Eye" from Weaponize Your Rage (2025)

4/5. Imagine if Butcher Babies added more of their early kick-A metalcore sound to their alt-metal, that would be this solid collab right there.

ERRA - "II. In the Gut of the Wolf" from Silence Outlives the Earth (2026)

4.5/5. The new ERRA album keeps up their djentcore style, sounding more cyber-ish than before. I can hear both Gojira and Silent Planet vibes here, along with some interesting background synths. A f***ing heavy banger until a soft cosmic ending sung by Jesse Cash. Having the intro sound so brutal and the outro sound so beautiful throws back to that kind of technique in songs from their earlier albums. This may be the heaviest song in both the album and its ending trilogy of songs. Oh, and there's also a bit of Mastodon in the instrumentation. This band never f***ing disappoints!

Versus Me - "Heavy Breathing" from Continuous (2019)

4/5. Apparently, AEW wrestler Shawn Dean used the instrumental of this song as his theme. The blend of heaviness and melody is quite pleasing to my ears, and I also enjoy the clean singing to go with the growls. The drumming is so technical, it's practically inhuman! We need more people listening to metalcore instead of just pop/hip-hop sh*t.

We Butter the Bread with Butter - "Meine Brille" from Goldkinder (2013)

4.5/5. What happens when you combine Rammstein, Linkin Park, and Volumes? You get songs like this that should really end up on the radio!

Volumes - "Pullin' Shades" from Different Animals (2017)

5/5. A ballad-like song in which the nu metal and metalcore worlds really collide. Myke's clean chorus is so wonderful. Although the short solo could've been slightly better, the rest is a true highlight and I wouldn't change a thing.

Ion Dissonance - "The Girl Nextdoor Is Always Screaming" from Breathing is Irrelevant (2003)

4.5/5. "The Girl Nextdoor Is Always Screaming", so is this vocalist. Disturbing spine-breaking mathcore, and one of my favorite songs by this band!

The Chariot - "Mrs. Montgomery Alabama III." from Wars and Rumors of Wars (2009)

5/5. "RECEIVE MY FATE! LONG LIVE THE GHOST!!!" Spectacular beauty and chaos to end it all!

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!