The Revolution

Thanks Daniel, but the album is still too far beyond my mostly melodic metalcore league, not to mention a title that would offend people with autism and their parents. Again I'm not into the ultra-grind-metalcore of this band and others such as Gulch and Fawn Limbs (Gaza is still OK for me though). I'm not gonna write a summary, I'm just gonna say the link to my review: https://metal.academy/reviews/19991/26049

3/5

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...

For my track thoughts here, I originally commented on a massive 20 of the 32 tracks here because there are so many bands I like and songs from bands that I might like. However, I realized that I tried so hard to enjoy the some of the songs from bands I haven't listened to before when really I didn't like them, and my comments on some of the songs from bands that I do listen to were outdated, most of which were copied from my own reviews and my opinions on those songs have changed since then. I might even give them up and sacrifice their discographies to make room for newer bands eventually if I feel like it, God forbid (NOT one of those bands). So I cut my amount of reviewed tracks to just 14 and rearranged the order of songs here to sound more complete. Here they are:

Hatebreed – “Instinctive (Slaughterlust)” (from “Weight Of The False Self”, 2020)

8/10. If Trivium could rip the heart from your hate, Hatebreed does just that then keeps stomping the heart hard while your hate bleeds to death. This is f***ing brutal old-school-inspired metalcore that would keep your wild bullhorns up. Though I still don't feel up to metalcore that brutal...

Gulch – “Self-Inflicted Mental Terror” (from “Impenetrable Cerebral Fortress”, 2020)

7/10. After the November playlist had the demo version, this newer version appears in their album Impenetrable Cerebral Fortress. It does fit well with the title, sounding too much like it was written by a mentally ill terrorist. I still can't handle this brutal grind-metalcore...

Chamber – “Numb (Transfuse)” (from “Cost Of Sacrifice”, 2020)

9/10. A heavy start to this playlist, one of the hardest metalcore songs I've heard so far, more than the heaviest hamburger! The drumming is so g****mn insane, pushing the boundaries of metalcore drumming and reminding me of Gojira's Mario Duplantier. Some listeners might pick up Code Orange and Norma Jean vibes from the chaotic mathy metalcore inspired from the late 90s. Then there's a 30-second unexpected beautiful ending. The two-minute breakdown has excellent hellfire. However, the chaos might be a little too spicy for me to handle as much as Zao. If the new Predator film could feature a Suicide Silence song, then the next one should have this song. Some listeners might also be reminds of a less technical Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza. Chamber has made a metal hardcore extravaganza that's a little out of my bounds!

Bleed From Within – “Alive” (from “Era”, 2018)

8/10. Another killer song, but not enough to get more of this band. Enough said!

The Dillinger Escape Plan – “Prancer” (from “One Of Us Is The Killer”, 2013)

9/10. This smashing hit continues The Dillinger Escape Plan's tradition of swinging straight into action. Off beat melodies shine in a considerate pace. This band sure knows how to prance around with more chaos than grace!

Trivium – “Pillars Of Serpents” (from “Ember To Inferno”, 2003)

10/10. Ah yeah, "Pillars of Serpents", the first full song I talked about in my first Metal Academy album review, Trivium's Ember to Inferno! Not just that, I also suggested this song in the playlist in memory of former bassist Brent Young (RIP). The song itself is a chugging churning example of heavy metalcore, still audible enough for the ears. In fact you can hear a bit of the bass clearly in the mix. I personally like the original (the version used in this playlist) better than the 2017/2019 re-recorded version, not sure why, maybe I just wasn't into the scream and the F-word at the end of the re-recording.

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

9/10. Some of the most crushing music helped out by a diverse vocal trio. It really sets apart from any music you hear nowadays. The top-notch lyrics have a positive tone of never giving up. An energetic song of metal heaven on pop earth!

Converge – “Last Light” (from “You Fail Me”, 2004)

10/10. 3 and a half minutes of mayhem are the result from probably the most impressively unique song in the album. The screaming vocal attack of Jacob Bannon ranges from manic to emotional through the lyrics. The song is indeed emotional and you already know what's going on just by listening to it.

Botch – “Transitions From Persona To Object” (from “We Are The Romans”, 1999)

9/10. This song greatly represents the organic nature of the album We are the Romans. Every riff is played naturally, never forced, as if the riffs are inventing themselves. After an eerie intro melody, the song continues into its awesomeness, riff after riff, all in a perfect groove mood. The heavy riffs lead to high dissonance in a passage that brings back the lower riffs and vocals. The song ends with frantic discord fading out to a drumbeat.

HORSE The Band – “Lord Gold Throneroom” (from “The Mechanical Hand”, 2005)

10/10. One of the most amazing songs from Nintendocore masters Horse the Band! I can definitely say that this song could be used in a Nintendo video game battle. Other than that, I got no other words to do this killer piece justice!

August Burns Red – “Your Little Suburbia Is In Ruins” (from “Thrill Seeker”, 2005)

9/10. A blazing brutal song from August Burns Red BEFORE Jake Luhrs! The opening has a catchy riff and fast drums, leading into an earth-shattering breakdown. That's a fast song with interesting riffs that are never cliché.

The Contortionist – “Flourish” (from “Exoplanet”, 2010)

8/10. This song is a good heavier one, sounding closer to progressive deathcore/djent, with beautiful moments like the instrumental breakdown and that shoegaze-like solo. After that, close to the 5-minute point, they turn back to the sharper djent sound. Its album Exoplanet was remastered in 2015, and even though the remaster caused some mixed reactions, I still think this song has cool djent on both versions.

Veil Of Maya – “Crawl Back” (from “The Common Man’s Collapse”, 2008)

9/10. And here's another deathcore band that I enjoy, Veil of Maya. This song immediately introduces the band's second vocalist Brandon Butler with some semi-memorable lyrics. That's the deathcore I can tolerate!

Venom Prison – “Slayer Of Holofernes” (from “Primeval”, 2020)

8/10. And the third's time not the charm for deathcore... Vocalist Larissa Stupar does her attempt to do Cattle Decapitation-like vocals along with background cleans, but that's just too much and too spine-chilling. Still this song is somewhat amazing. I mean a female death-screamer must be quite a phenomenon, isn't it? Those are some sick killer screams that stay consistent and drag you through f***ing extreme Hell, if you're up for that challenge. D*mn, it's brutal! Larissa is one of the brightest shining stars of harsh vocals nowadays, in a pulverizing range from death to hardcore. So insanely killer! Her beautiful yet beastly vocals can pound f***ing harder than a gorilla's fists. Yep, those vocals are awesome, but it's just too chaotic, along with the rest of the song. I've reached my deathcore limit!

Despite the massive cutdown, that's quite a lot for me to review in this playlist! It hasn't beaten the original high score of December's playlist, but it came close. Thanks again Daniel for including my suggestions and many more songs for me to enjoy!

It's pretty amazing that a band like Converge can release Jane Doe in September of 2001 and be heralded as the GOAT of mathcore, yet Botch can come along just over a year later with this EP and invoke the same critical reception.

As I have mentioned many times before, mathcore is not my specialty. Something about the irrationality of it all and how none of it sticks together just leaves me feeling empty after hearing it. But some groups can make it work: Converge from Axe to Fall and beyond, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Rolo Tomassi and Botch would probably fall into that category. The guitars are given prominent roles as a melodic instrument throughout as Dave Verellen's vocals are allowed to be as punishing and relentless as possible. The compositions are fluent as well; "Japam" and "Vietmam" are structured well and do not fee like an amalgamation of four/five ideas lumped together without a through line. 

I will say that the cathartic release that I felt following the buildup from "Afghamistam" into the first half of "Miciragua" was impressive, but the song "Afghamistam" on its own doesn't feel like it belongs here. It's a decent cut and a great way to show off the groups capability to play slow and atmospheric, but the runtime is a detriment and is not as developed as the albums heavier moments.

I feel like this EP is much more in the realm of mathcore that I can appreciate for its songwriting prowess alone. The production does help also, but it is the overall connectivity that makes these tunes resonate as actual pieces of music that I can listen to and enjoy rather than as a mosh pit anthem. An Anthology of Dead Ends is hardly my favourite in this niche subsect of mathcore, but there was an effort put forward and it did pay off.

7/10

I'm a big fan of hardcore punk like Sick of it All and Minor Threat and the first Suicidal Tendencies album is one of my all-time favourites, so I quite enjoyed this - far better than almost any metalcore I've heard before. Benefits, as most hardcore-based releases do, from it's short runtime as that level of intensity is hard to maintain for extended periods. 3.5/5

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7FHvqsAHntA7kP3gzgEFMr?si=CHbfHKLVSZ-ITXm57xsWaA

Tracklisting:

01. Alpha Wolf – “Akudama” (from “A Quiet Place To Die”, 2020)

02. Within Destruction – “Hate Me” (from “Yōkai”, 2020)

03. God Forbid – “Article II: In the Darkest Hour, There Was One, Section 7: To the Fallen Hero” (from “IV: Constitution of Treason”, 2005) [Submitted by shadowdoom9]

04. The Hirsch Effekt – “Torka” (from “Kollaps”, 2020)

05. Fear, & Loathing In Las Vegas – “Twilight” (from “Dance & Scream”, 2010) [Submitted by shadowdoom9]

06. Protest The Hero – “Blindfolds Aside” (from “Kezia”, 2006)

07. Amaranthe – “Hunger” (from “Amaranthe”, 2011)

08. HORSE The Band – “Shapeshift” (from “Desperate Living”, 2009)

09. August Burns Red – “Carol Of The Bells” (from “Sleddin’ Hill: A Holiday Album”, 2012) [Submitted by shadowdoom9]

10. Gulch – “Sin In My Heart” (from “Impenetrable Cerebral Fortress”, 2020)

11. Between The Buried & Me – “Selkies: The Endless Obsession” (from “Alaska”, 2005)

12. The Dillinger Escape Plan with Mike Patton – “When Good Dogs Do Bad Things” (from “Irony Is A Dead Scene” E.P., 2002)

13. Integrity – “Judgement Day” (from “Those Who Fear Tomorrow”, 1991)

14. Counterparts – “Ghost” (from “The Difference Between Hell & Home”, 2013)

15. Underøath – “Anyone Can Dig a Hole but It Takes a Real Man to Call It Home” (from “Lost in the Sound of Separation”, 2008) [Submitted by shadowdoom9]

16. Poison The Well – “Slice Paper Wrists” (from “The Opposite Of December”, 1999)

17. Converge – “The Saddest Day” (from “Petitioning The Empty Sky”, 1996) [Submitted by shadowdoom9]

18. Mortality Rate – “Sandman” (from “Sleep Deprivation” E.P., 2016)

19. Make Them Suffer – “Erase Me” (from “How To Survive A Funeral”, 2020)

20. Unearth – “Stronghold” (from “The Stings Of Conscience”, 2001) [Submitted by shadowdoom9]

21. Misery Signals – “The Year Summer Ended In June” (from “Of Malice & The Magnum Heart”, 2004)

22. After The Burial – “Berzerker” (from “Rareform”, 2009)

23. Within The Ruins – “Versus” (from “Invade”, 2010) [Submitted by shadowdoom9]

24. Sunami – “Weak Die First” (from “Demonstration” E.P., 2018)

25. Turmoil – “Playing Dead” (from “The Process Of…”, 1999)

26. Nostromo – “Sunset Motel” (from “Ecce Lex”, 2002)

27. Currents – “A Flag To Wave” (from “The Way It Ends”, 2020)

28. Methwitch – “Teeth Like Nails” (from “Indwell”, 2020)

29. Despised Icon – “Retina” (from “The Healing Process”, 2005)

I finished my review, here's its summary:

I Don't Care Where I Go When I Die is an intense, dissonant, and unpleasant album...for some people. But for me, this is awesome! This 2006 release contains some crazy brutal music but in a way that blesses my ears and has got me hooked. Now I plan on fetching their other two albums, and maybe they would cause destructive chaos just like this one did. For this album, after two short grindcore tracks, the album charges through 8 more mathcore songs of brutal chaos and wild intensity with occasional melodic sludge sections. I don't care if people think this album sucks garbage because it's too intense for them, I Don't Care Where I Go When I Die passes this mathcore/grindcore test for finding what I think is the right balance of enjoyment. Hello, Gaza!

5/5

I agree with Daniel with his assessment of Converge's All We Love We Leave Behind. I found this record to be far more enjoyable than the bands more critically successful Jane Doe from 2001.

And given my opinion on that record to be quite controversial, Converge fixed the production significantly from that record, and created a throwback album that is more refined, melodic and well thought out than any in their entire discography. It's still ruthless and aggressive as hell, but in a more developed and intentional way. One that I greatly appreciate and marks the turning point (at least for me) where I start to "get" Converge. Mathcore is not a genre I take lightly, but Converge deliver here.

8/10 

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.