The Revolution

Going to post my review for BABYMETAL'S Metal Galaxy here since it echos a lot of the short points I'll make about this one.

https://metal.academy/reviews/14061/14278

Surprisingly, Metal Galaxy is much better put together than this debut, with a lot of the songs on here being EXTREMELY erratic and silly, with most of the choruses being completely different songs than the verses. There's a surprising amount of harsh vocals in this one too and even though they're not the greatest thing ever, the fact that they stick around for a pretty long time does speak volumes for BABYMETAL'S attempt to really bring as much Metal as they could into their performance. 

At the end of the day though, BABYMETAL is very much just a performance, with their history being rooted in some Japanese idol group manager who happened to love Metal deciding to take the chance on a new act. It obviously went over very well, with them becoming a household name just because of how strange and different it was. I'm not going to lie, I absolutely rolled my eyes whenever someone told me that "BABYMETAL goes hard af" or anything like that since I was already starting to dive into the more extreme sides of Metal in 2013/2014. Like Saxy said, they certainly have a place in the mainstream Metal community to try and ease people into harsh vocals and Death Metal riffage. It was always eerily similar to Rammstein when "Du Hast" made its rounds thanks to Rock Band 3. Everyone knew the weird German song with the "NEIN" shouts and the heavy as hell riff, and it was the same sort of story with BABYMETAL'S "Gimme Chocolate!!" and "Megitsune".  

I think the newer albums do a way better job of incorporating the girls' voices and general wackiness that they have, but this debut certainly had a lot of...ideas. A lot of them aren't very good, but a few do work. The crazy rhythm game synths and Eurobeat are pretty good in some tracks, some of the solos rip pretty hard, and there's a ton of variety, but there are just way too many things that make me roll my eyes. It's just all over the place, with "Megitsune" being the only track that I legitimately think is pretty great. It does have its place in the Alternative Metal scene and I'd love to hear more bands experiment with this sort of sound without being so pandering and off-the-wall, like an even more Metal version of Wagakki Band. Look them up, their songs "Tengaku" and "Senbozakura" are massively popular (127m views? Jeez I didn't know they were THAT popular) and I'd love to see a middle ground between that and BABYMETAL. It probably exists somewhere out there, especially since we have that Vengeful Spectre release from this year. 

2/5

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

Amaranthe – “Afterlife” (from “The Nexus”, 2013)

8/10. I love Amaranthe, and this song exemplifies everything you want from the band. Sharp guitars and massive drums are taken to different levels by trance keys. What really stands out is the triple-vocal approach. The combination of the female singing of Elize Ryd, the male singing of Jake E. Lundberg, and the screaming of Andreas Solveström are something you would never hear from another band. This cyclone of sound makes you want to turn into Sonic and beat up Dr. Eggman's robots through the wind and light.

Bullet For My Valentine – “Tears Don’t Fall” (from “The Poison”, 2005)

10/10. A definite highlight for a couple reasons. First off, my brother was listening to this song during the beginning of my heavier modern metal phase and it reminded me of "Riot" (from Temper Temper), NOT similarly, but made me think of that song I was watching its music video about a year prior. The other reason is the instrumentation; very good riffs and great lyrics like in previous songs. The bridge gets much faster and worth headbanging, then in comes the blazing solo. Best song by the band ever!

Trivium – “In Waves” (from “In Waves”, 2011)

12/10 (not exaggerating). My favorite one from this album and possibly of metalcore in general. It starts off with an Ascendancy-like metalcore breakdown with Matt Heafy repeatedly screaming the name of the song, then it leads to a melodic Crusade-like chorus. There's also a complicated solo in the middle, but other than that, the riffs are simple yet catchy. That's what I like! During my original epic power metal taste a few years ago, I found the music video for the song "In Waves" on TV, then about a year later, the friend I told you about in my first forum thread introduced me to a heavier modern side of metal starting with this band. For that, I owe him big-time!

Darkest Hour - “For The Soul Of The Savior” (from “The Mark Of The Judas”, 2000)

7/10. This song begins their first album in a vicious bang. The hardcore-like breakdown rules, but nothing worth a twist. I chose this one because it's one of their most popular songs from that era and an easy one for listeners to get interested in the band. I probably should've added the re-recorded version with the guitar solo by Kris Norris.

Converge – “My Great Devastator (from The Poacher Diaries” split album with Agoraphobic Nosebleed, 1999)

8/10. A great devastating math/metalcore hit. The big problem is, I'm not a fan of split albums because then one of my favorite bands get paired up with a different band, and that other band is either relatively unknown or a band that is known but I'm trying to avoid it. This other band fits the latter category, grindcore grinders Agoraphobic Nosebleed. I just wish Converge would release their own half of The Poacher Diaries as a separate EP with a less explicit album cover.

August Burns Red – “Defender” (from “Guardians”, 2020)

9/10. One of my favorite metalcore songs of this year! It has fantastic drumming charisma. When that song was released as the first single of the album, people found different stuff that might end up in the album, such as a couple brutal breakdowns in the second half of the song. That shows August Burns Red's wild side, I love it!

Betraying The Martyrs – “Take Me Back” (from “The Resilient”, 2017)

8/10. A killer song from the album where Betraying the Martyrs was moving their sound from symphonic deathcore to progressive metalcore. This has the brutality of ABR's "Defender", yet also has powerful clean vocals and epic orchestral background. Though their change of style compared to previous albums is a little overly drastic.

Attila – “Middle Fingers Up” (from “About That Life”, 2013)

7/10. Interesting song you chose there, Daniel! This marks the beginning of their rap-infused metalcore phase, which I don't mind as long as they know what they're doing with their rapping, unlike say, Machine Head's Catharsis. And with a song title like "Middle Fingers Up", you know there's gonna quite some rapping and swearing going on. Personally if I were to choose an Attila song, it would probably be "Payback".

Fear, & Loathing In Las Vegas – “Virtue & Vice” (from “PHASE 2”, 2014)

10/10. I'm no fan of the Japanese techno-style of metalcore, but I decided to check out this song because someone from the outside world shared with a song by this band, Fear, & Loathing In Las Vegas. And lemme tell you, this one is PERFECT!!! Excellent smooth techno-metalcore gold!! I gotta get more of that band!

Here's my short summary:

After the Burial is a great melodic/technical death/metalcore band with intense breakdowns. You know how in France, they refer to sun-rain as "the devil beating his wife and marrying his daughter"? Well...the devil is Meshuggah, the wife is Cynic, and the daughter is Maya (Veil of Maya). And a child was born as a blessing, After the Burial! Yeah, that seems like a somewhat wrong story, but I can't think of any other description to sum this up. I reviewed the remastered version with vocals by Anthony Notormaso, instead of the original vocalist Grant Luoma whom I guess people didn't like. I like the off-beat guitar weirdness by Justin Lowe, who was a real djent guitar hero. Despite the incredible precision of the drumming, it's actually programmed, even in the remastered version. Also, the sound might be a bit scratchy, but it gives a cold feeling that helps the album stay awesome. Rareform is fantastic!! Not only would Veil of Maya fans love this, but also Meshuggah fans. Besides all that djent, it has everything to expect from deathcore and metalcore; quick solos, searing melodies, and earth-quaking breakdowns. After the Burial is a band I would recommend to a lot of metalheads out there! RIP Justin Lowe

5/5

I'm glad that I gave this EP a second chance as I bumped my score up a bit afterwards. I've checked out my fair share of modern and electronic focused Metalcore and personally I don't think this is anything particularly special. It's not egregiously bad, "Radiant" is the obvious highlight on here as "The Paddington Frisk" and "Rat Race" seem to just be experiments rather than anything polished. I think the mainstream Pop Rock influence is what rubs me the wrong way with "Radiant", with the constant "Woahs" going on in the background, but it's not all bad. The track is varied with Metalcore buildups, rewarding Trance/EDM elements and a pretty killer Metalcore riff here and there, with an "emotional" soft portion that actually doesn't sound half bad. 

Since I try to keep up with modern releases and there are quite a few Metalcore names that I constantly recognize and check out. Most of them are moving towards this very poppy modern Rock mixed with EDM influences kind of sound, so I'm personally worn out on it since it doesn't bring too many new or exciting things to the table for me. The final remix of "Radiant" was pretty nice, while it doesn't take any risks whatsoever that's kind of what Trance is all about, at least on the EDM side of things. Getting into a melody or rhythm and just kind of riding it until it decides to end. I think this album would have made more sense if I was ever an Enter Shikari fan, as from what I can gather this was a short return to form for them. Overall not the worst example of modern Pop Metalcore I've heard. 

2.5/5

You know what? I felt very similarly to you on first listen Xephyr. But after giving "The Mechanical Hand" a couple more listens I couldn't help but find some endearing qualities in it. For starters, it's a very varied & reasonably complex record which doesn't stick to the one plan for any length of time. The vocals & breakdowns show plenty of enthusiasm even if they are fairly generic metalcore inclusions but the 8-bit synth lines are really well incorporated into HORSE The Band's sound & it gives them a quirky appeal similar to Mr. Bungle. Do I think there's justification for an entirely new subgenre of metal (i.e. Nintendocore) here? Well... no... not really. The Nintendocore tag is usually associated with the more melodic side of metalcore but this record has more to do with mathcore. The instrumentation is very strong &, despite 3 or 4 duds across the 13 song tracklisting, I have to say that I eventually found myself getting some pretty positive feelings out of "The Mechanical Hand".

3.5/5 

Wow, I totally forgot about this album being the January 2020 Feature Release. Well it's been a long time like 6 months, and I've only starting listen to this band in April. Anyway, here's my review summary:

When making a debut studio album, there are some things you need to think about deciding; the feel for the album, the central themes, and each song's style. Give them all some time so you can let the album grow and glow without forcing the beauty. That's exactly what Protest the Hero did! After playing some Happy Go Lucky punk rock, they decided to brainstorm an album and story to compose that's far different, and that took them 2 years. 2 YEARS!! A long time for a 10-song album! However, that's what makes some albums the best, by taking the longest time. Alongside that and their more progressive sound, Kezia is not just an album but also a story, which is what concept albums are, right? It has everything you need for a story; interesting characters, plot twists, and poetic language. There are 3 parts of the story, and each part is in the perspective of a different character with their view in the story. We barely know anything about those characters when we start the story, but as the twisted tale goes on, we learn much more about them song after song. As the story goes on, you get some of the greatest progressive metalcore ranging from chaotic to melodic, and each act is more epic than the last. With all that said, I can absolutely declare that Kezia is one of the greatest progressive metalcore albums I've ever heard. Protest The Hero are some of both the most talented musicians and the most amazing storytellers, greater than most other albums I've heard and stories I've read. I would recommend this album to any music listener and story reader out there. Thank you, Protest the Hero, for this grand-masterpiece. Not to sound like I'm in love with someone, but... I love you, Kezia!

5/5

I just love that album cover! Beyond that, I really should give Converge a solid go sometime, despite my general aversion to Revolution releases. What's the worst that could happen?

As someone who wasn't too impressed by 2018's Helix and only enjoyed their cover of Powerwolf's "Army of the Night" as a guilty pleasure, I can say that this is probably Amaranthe at their best. Making accessible Metal is difficult, since a lot of Metal genres at their core are made to be inaccessible! With 12 tracks all at 3 and a half minutes and all having huge hooks and choruses, this album is basically begging to be played on mainstream radio, and that's perfectly okay! What separates this album from other albums vying for mainstream playtime, though, is that it still has the things people love about Metal mostly intact. The guitar tone is chunky and chugs well, the harsh vocals aren't laughably bad, the band in general has a great energy to them, there are some good guitar solos, and the balance between synth melodies and the rest of the band is well done.

It's pretty repetitive though, with the band having one or two ideas and rolling with them through the entire album, but since the songs are so short and don't try to overstay their welcome I don't really have a problem with it. Elize Ryd's vocals can come off as a bit flat sometimes but I think she works wonderfully as a front woman and has enough power behind her voice that it doesn't feel thin and compliments the piano and synths very well. Massive Addictive is a surface level album though, and even though it does what it set out to do very well, there's nothing too crazy on this one. This is a great recommendation for anyone who wants some electronics in their Metal and for a "mainstream album" this is pretty dang good. I'd rather listen to this every day of the week rather than what's on mainstream Hard Rock radio nowadays, which I'm pretty sure is like...Godsmack. Or Breaking Benjamin. Or Disturbed. 

3.5/5

For this round, we'll try a couple releases I've listened to myself, one of which I've done only for a Clan Challenge. If you have been following my journey through some of the Revolution Clan Challenges, you probably know which one I like better, but I won't tell you until I get at least one or a few responses. So here are two Revolution albums released in 2007. Which one of these albums with a different genre has the greater edge? Choose one and explain the reason!

Metalcore:

Melodic metalcore:

Inspired by the new DIS vs DAT thing on Metal Academy, in turn inspired by that weekly feature on Utopia Records' Facebook page, I decided to turn this conversation-starting activity into a full thread instead of separate threads. Got a couple albums with the same genre and release year that you can't decide which has the greater edge? Share them here!

Let's start off with two of the greatest metalcore/mathcore classics released in 2004. Which one has the greater edge? Choose one and explain the reason!

Since I play quite a few rhythm games, Trance Metal has been more or less in my listening cycle for quite a while now. While it may work great for hitting buttons in a videogame, I still don't think this style pans out as an album experience. 

Props to choosing an interesting one, as this album definitely had enough Death Metal influences to keep me interested, but like many other albums like this, it just gets to be too much after a while. After a while the riffs and melodies turn into a stagnant wall of sound and synths that ends up not being all that interesting. It had its moments, but I think it's a flaw of the genre trying to pack too much energy and noise into mostly simplistic songs rather than Blood Stain Child being a lackluster band or anything. I'll definitely think about revisiting this more than the other Trance Metal offerings I've heard, but I'm still waiting for synths in Power/Trance/Alternative Metal like this to really wow me. 

Post you clan-specific top 10 lists for 2019 here.

While I can say I enjoyed Earth Crisis more than modern Metalcore, this was just absolutely exhausting for me. I can appreciate the aggression and anger as well as keeping more to hardcore punk with more of an edge, but something just doesn't draw me into this. 

I think I look for more than just pure aggression when I listen to Metal or any kind of music, which is why I stray away from genres like Industrial, Metalcore, and Slam/Grind. There has to be something more substantial within the music for me to really connect with it, rather than just looking for raw evil and anger. Thankfully Earth Crisis does have something more substantial with some dirty riffs and climactic breakdowns that I found way more interesting and heavy than something like Bring Me The Horizon or Parkway Drive, so at least I can rest easy knowing that 90's Metalcore kicks the teeth out of 2010's Metalcore. 

Still though, I can't say I'll be going back to this by my own volition. 

Thanks Strig. I've fixed the Every Time I Die year and the Controller double.

As for Knut, this is because you have The Revolution clan selected, and that album is considered pure sludge, and therefore The Fallen only. If you have no clan filter, it's there.