February 2021 “The Revolution” Playlist – Metal Academy Radio

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7HCjPHM5CT77GbA5cc9MG4?si=IrYiVrpjSNaCXhRucfXNSQ

Tracklisting:

01. Arkangel – “Within The Walls Of Babylon” (from “Prayers Upon Deaf Ears” E.P., 1998)

02. Venom Prison – “Defy The Tyrant” (from “Primeval”, 2020)

03. Bleed From Within – “The End Of All We Know” (from “Fracture”, 2020)

04. Strawberry Hospital – “Tacit” (from “Phantasmaphilia” E.P., 2020)

05. Loathe – “Is It Really You?” (from “I Let It In & It Took Everything”, 2020)

06. Amaranthe – “Fearless” (from “Manifest”, 2020)

07. August Burns Red – “Spirit Breaker” (from “Rescue & Restore”, 2013) [Submitted by shadowdoom9]

08. Converge – “Aimless Arrow” (from “All We Love We Leave Behind”, 2012)

09. Kickback – “Will To Power” (from “Les 150 passions meurtrières” E.P., 2001)

10. Kiss It Goodbye – “Helvetica” (from “She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not”, 1997)

11. Juan Bond – “Garbage Juice” (from “Womb”, 2021)

12. Trivium – “Kirisute Gomen” (from “Shogun”, 2008)

13. Norma Jean – “Landslide Defeater” (from “All Hail”, 2019)

14. Unearth – “Endless” (from “The Oncoming Storm”, 2004) [Submitted by shadowdoom9]

15. Cursed – “God & Country (Some Folks Inherit Star-Spangled Eyes)” (from “One”, 2003)

16. The Dillinger Escape Plan with Mike Patton – “Hollywood Squares” (from “Irony Is A Dead Scene” E.P., 2002) [Submitted by shadowdoom9]

17. Bury Tomorrow – “Lionheart” (from “The Union Of Crowns”, 2012)

18. The Swarm aka Knee Deep In The Dead – “Fucking Invincible At One AM” (from “Parasitic Skies”, 1999)

19. Botch – “John Woo” (from “American Nervoso”, 1998)

20. Underøath – “And I Dreamt Of You” (from “Cries From The Past”, 2000) [Submitted by shadowdoom9]

21. Serpent Column – “Endless Detainment” (from “Endless Detainment” E.P., 2020)

22. Sunami – “Y.A.B.” (from “Sunami” E.P., 2020)

23. Parkway Drive – “Smoke ‘Em If Ya Got ‘Em” (from “Killing With A Smile”, 2005) [Submitted by shadowdoom9]

24. After The Burial – “A Vicious Reforming Of Features” (from “Rareform”, 2009) [Submitted by shadowdoom9]

25. END – “Pariah” (from “Splinters From An Ever-Changing Face”, 2020)

26. Kardashev – “Lux” (from “Peripety”, 2015)

27. Inside The Beehive – “Bio-Feedback” (from “Drink Bleach; Live Forever” E.P., 2011)

28. Fuming Mouth – “Burning Hand” (from “The Grand Descent”, 2019)

29. Arsonists Get All The Girls – “Saturnine” (from “Portals”, 2009)

30. Dealer – “Violent Stimuli” (from “Saint” E.P., 2020)

My thoughts on some of the tracks (including my suggested songs):

Amaranthe – “Fearless” (from “Manifest”, 2020)

4.5/5. Not the Amaranthe song I suggested, but I'll take it! This is one of the most killer songs by Amaranthe I've heard since Massive Addictive, where the band fearlessly slays through their trance-metalcore sound like a sci-fi dystopian battle.

August Burns Red – “Spirit Breaker” (from “Rescue & Restore”, 2013)

4/5. Another nice metalcore song! This one starts with an intro similar to some Darkest Hour song intros but with rising and falling strings before starting the standard August Burns Red attack. That song also has a soft break with emotive spoken reading.

Converge – “Aimless Arrow” (from “All We Love We Leave Behind”, 2012)

4.5/5. I used to think those two bands mentioned above (Amaranthe and August Burns Red) were some of the best Revolution bands around, but when Converge entered my playlist, now I realize that sometimes it's more about aggression than melody. This track drops the extreme bomb into an explosion of math-metalcore backed up by vocalist Jacob Bannon sounding more semi-melodic than his earlier atonal screaming.

Trivium – “Kirisute Gomen” (from “Shogun”, 2008)

5/5. The track title is a Japanese saying meaning "authorization to cut and leave". The song itself is pretty effective. It begins with an acoustic Japanese guitar intro that is the same melody as the chorus for the epic title track. Then a gong is hit, followed by taiko drums kicking in, and I was amazed by the guitar build-up leading to the song itself drilling in some killer thrashy verses with vocals alternating between clean and growling, and a memorable chorus. Now that its album Shogun is finally in The Pit despite not concluding its hall voting, I might have to ask Ben in another thread to cancel the Hall submissions for that one and Vengeance Falls (the latter because I just realized it's not that thrashy) if possible.

Norma Jean – “Landslide Defeater” (from “All Hail”, 2019)

5/5. Now this is fantastic! I may have changed my mind about enjoying that Architects song from last month's playlist, but this song makes up for that by improving on those Architects influences to a new level. This brutal heavy song has one of the most chaotic breakdowns I've heard recently. Between the heaviness and catchiness, the vocals release mind-blowing energy from the infinite. The chaotic energy is mixed with fragments of melody. Some might think of old The Devil Wears Prada, but I say it has super-mega chaos far beyond that level. Forget what I said about August Burns Red being one of my favorite Revolution bands, Norma Jean takes the reign!

Unearth – “Endless” (from “The Oncoming Storm”, 2004)

4.5/5. A killer song with a bit of a Hatebreed vibe, re-recorded from the Endless EP. The lyrics are notable for being inspired and inspiring; the first verse lyrics inspired the name of symphonic deathcore band Winds of Plague, and the "ENDLESS FIGHT!!" breakdown, was inspired by Endless Fight Records, the label that released Unearth's demo EP Above the Fall of Man.

Cursed – “God & Country (Some Folks Inherit Star-Spangled Eyes)” (from “One”, 2003)

5/5. Remember yesterday when Daniel and I established that I wasn't really into the doomy hardcore sludge metal? I just changed my mind with this song! This is probably the best song to mix metallic hardcore with sludge, and those screams would be tough to imitate. "Final frontier falls to decay, last of hope rotting away... ROTTING AWAY!!!"

The Dillinger Escape Plan with Mike Patton – “Hollywood Squares” (from “Irony Is A Dead Scene” E.P., 2002)

5/5. The chaos starts right at the press of the play button, with legendary session vocalist Mike Patton screaming "GAME OVER! I WIN!! GAME OVER! YOU WIN!!!" Intensity never stops and instead keeps twisting and turning through all this variety. As the fast pace speeds on, Patton shows off his astonishing vocals ranging from blood-curdling yelling and creepy whispering. What a great maniac! Things get quieter in the second half where Patton sounds closer to his more accessible time in Faith No More. There's still some more amazing creative talent! The furious extreme noisecore rages on once more as Patton snarls "We're Hollywood squares, going nowhere".

Botch – “John Woo” (from “American Nervoso”, 1998)

4.5/5. This one has prime usage of the heavy-mild technique. The song starts with maximized mathcore noise that would fit well in a demolition derby, but eventually starts weaving back and forth between an easy guitar groove and a technical riff. Then there's a simple breakdown before a chaotic ending. That song pretty much proves the unrestrained hysteria of its album in intelligent progress and unique contrast.

Underøath – “And I Dreamt Of You” (from “Cries From The Past”, 2000)

5.5/5 (not exaggerated). Probably the longest song to ever reach one of the Revolution playlists! When this song came to my mind, I thought it was a great one to choose because I've been thinking about submitting a real 10+ minute metalcore epic, the ones I was thinking of, like the title tracks of Trivium's Shogun and Converge's Jane Doe were far longer than the other songs of their respective albums, and it doesn't quite make sense to choose a song that's far longer anything else in album. However, the first two Underoath albums are progressive black/death-influenced metalcore songs that are longer at 7-8 minutes on average, so I finally got the chance to include this 11-minute epic! And I gotta say, this is my favorite Underoath song from that era. The melodic guitar playing far near the 4 and a half minute mark is so sick and cool with leads playing over breakdowns that would otherwise be too fast for a breakdown. Some of the lyrics can be very poetic. Now that's a black/death-ish metalcore epic like no other!

Parkway Drive – “Smoke ‘Em If Ya Got ‘Em” (from “Killing With A Smile”, 2005)

4.5/5. This Parkway Drive fan-favorite was re-recorded from the Don't Close Your Eyes EP, now with better production and more intense sound. Once again, it sums up everything the band has; crushing riffs, heavy breakdowns, melodic leads, technical drums, and emotional intensity, the latter especially in the ending lead and riff.

After The Burial – “A Vicious Reforming Of Features” (from “Rareform”, 2009)

5/5. A great djent-core ending to its original album, it might sound like a copy of Meshuggah, but there are a few unique variations. The high-hat can really stand out in the incredible precise drumming which, by the way, is programmed, even in the remastered version. Also, the sound might be a bit scratchy, but it gives a cold feeling, like a more audibly distorted Necrophagist. A viciously awesome closer! There's another song from this album in this month's Infinite playlist, which I'll talk about later...