March 2023 "The Sphere" Playlist - Metal Academy Radio

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/45Xj4PCyW3LavsE8NMtncN

Tracklisting:

1. Omega Lithium - "Colossus" (from Kinetik, 2011) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

2. Deathstars - "This Is" (from This Is, 2023) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

3. Contracult Collective - "WDYT" (from A Cult of Opposition, 2020)

4. Gothminister - "Angel" (from Gothic Electronic Anthems, 2003) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

5. Motionless in White - "Brand New Numb" (from Disguise, 2019)

6. Combichrist - "Understand" (from One Fire, 2019)

7. Ministry - "Just One Fix" (from ΚΕΦΑΛΗΞΘ [Psalm 69], 1992)

8. Ghostemane - "Anti-Social Masochistic Rage (ASMR)" (from ANTI-ICON, 2020)

9. Strapping Young Lad - "Love?" (from Alien, 2005) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

10. Celldweller - "Shapeshifter" (from Shapeshifter (feat. Styles of Beyond), 2005)

11. Turmion Kätilöt - "Naitu" (from Global Warning, 2020)

12. SKYND - "Tyler Hadley" (from Chapter II, 2019)

13. Author & Punisher - "Maiden Star" (from Kruller, 2022) [submitted by Daniel]

14. Uniform + The Body - "Penance" (from Everything That Dies Someday Comes Back, 2019)

15. Static-X - "Push It" (from Wisconsin Death Trip, 1999)

16. Lindemann - "Ich weiß es nicht" (from Ich weiß es nicht, 2019)

17. Architects - "When We Were Young" (from The Classic Symptoms of a Broken Spirit, 2022) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

18. Marilyn Manson - "mOBSCENE" (from The Golden Age of Grotesque, 2003)

19. Circle of Dust - "Onenemy" (from Circle of Dust, 1995)

20. Rammstein - "Feuer frei!" (from Mutter, 2001)

21. Eisbrecher - "Frommer Mann" (from Liebe Macht Monster, 2021)

22. Traumtaenzer - "Stigmata" (from Der weisse Raum, 2010)

23. Skrew - "Helter Skelter" (from Angel Seed XXIII, 1997)

24. The Kovenant - "Star by Star" (from Seti, 2003)

25. Sybreed - "ReEvolution" (from Slave Design, 2004)

26. Fear Factory - "A Therapy for Pain" (from Demanufacture, 1995) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

27. Godflesh - "Suction" (from Streetcleaner, 1989)

Here are my thoughts on all the selected tracks:

Omega Lithium - "Colossus" (from Kinetik, 2011)

5/5. Let's start with this band that had the potential to keep rolling after two albums, but sadly declined that opportunity. This is an awesome start that's part of a one-two punch with its next track "Dance With Me". This is more kick-A than Rammstein! It really continues where the band left off in their debut Dreams in Formaline. It's my second favorite Omega Lithium song behind "Stigmata". It makes me think of what would happen if Theatre of Tragedy continue the industrial pop rock elements of Musique and Assembly in Storm while keeping that album's gothic metal comeback, or simply a more industrial Evanescence. They should really reform sometime.

Deathstars - "This Is" (from This Is, 2023)

4.5/5. This is real, people! Deathstars have a new album Everything Destroys You coming out two months from now. What a f***ing headbanging return!

Contracult Collective - "WDYT" (from A Cult of Opposition, 2020)

4/5. This good underrated song has a great message. The beat drop starts the crazy loudness. I can hear a bit of a Circle of Dust vibe in this one. The greater industrial metal fans will have a pleasant time.

Gothminister - "Angel" (from Gothic Electronic Anthems, 2003)

4.5/5. Here's an anthemic single totally worth hitting the charts and being used for clubs.

Motionless in White - "Brand New Numb" (from Disguise, 2019)

4/5. This one starts with an outtake of trying to sneak in an acoustic riff ("I'm trying to f***ing record this." "Sorry."), then the actual electric riff in the most poppy radio-friendly song here that's actually very well-written.

Combichrist - "Understand" (from One Fire, 2019)

3.5/5. "Today is not the right day to fall apart..." Good line for a song filled with wild industrial.

Ministry - "Just One Fix" (from ΚΕΦΑΛΗΞΘ [Psalm 69], 1992)

4/5. A pretty great song from Ministry, especially that hard-hitting breakdown over the 3-minute mark. It really can be worth "driving down the highway at night". However, there might be something missing, I don't know. Vocalist Al Jourgensen can do sinister laughing. This industrial rock/metal tune can also work well for fighting a zombie apocalypse, or at least that's what it sounds like. The f***ing world needs to be fixed, doesn't it? Also it reminds me of Rammstein's "Du Hast".

Ghostemane - "Anti-Social Masochistic Rage (ASMR)" (from ANTI-ICON, 2020)

4.5/5. Whoa... So nice yet spooky. I like it!

Strapping Young Lad - "Love?" (from Alien, 2005)

5/5. This is an absolutely emotional composition of punishing heaviness. Devy's great vocals range from screaming to clean. The guitar, bass, and keyboards are amazing with fantastic lyrics. The best song of this album! Though I'm sure there's at least one or two song by the band that's better...

Celldweller - "Shapeshifter" (from Shapeshifter (feat. Styles of Beyond), 2005)

5/5. Who here wants to listen this song while driving your car 200 MPH like a rocket...in Need for Speed Most Wanted, of course? That's the video game that has this song in its soundtrack. There are some glitches and censored swearing, but that doesn't matter much here, unlike in a certain experimental My Dying Bride stinker...

Turmion Kätilöt - "Naitu" (from Global Warning, 2020)

4.5/5. This is quite bad-a** despite me not being able to understand the Finnish lyrics. There's some good industrial-trance metal to love here!

SKYND - "Tyler Hadley" (from Chapter II, 2019)

4/5. Not gonna lie, this is one of the most disturbing songs I heard in industrial metal, and metal in general. An industrial metal gone trap song about a teen who bludgeoned his parents to death with a hammer, hid the bodies in the closet, and threw a party, then he was arrested the next day and sentenced to life in prison. It's pretty great though. "You should feel lucky, why don't you feel lucky?"

Author & Punisher - "Maiden Star" (from Kruller, 2022)

4.5/5. This one greatly unites more of brutal synths and percussion with heavy otherworldly melody.

Uniform + The Body - "Penance" (from Everything That Dies Someday Comes Back, 2019)

4/5. Here's an interesting blend of industrial noise and synthpop with great production. This collaboration can massage the brains of the strong and damage the brains of the weak. This kind of sound is actually quite underrated. Though it would be greater if there weren't the screams that sound like a rooster being tortured.

Static-X - "Push It" (from Wisconsin Death Trip, 1999)

3.5/5. Another Static-X song after experiencing another one of the songs from the album in this month's Gateway playlist. Wayne's industrial nu metal sound shall live on. RIP... Sounds like something my brother would've listened to over 10 years ago, but he didn't, he was listening to other similar bands. The song was used in some video game/film soundtracks in 1999 and the 2000s. Besides being in The Sphere, it fits well in The Gateway in a different style compared to TOOL.

Lindemann - "Ich weiß es nicht" (from Ich weiß es nicht, 2019)

3/5. The intro starts promising, but once the German verses enter, it starts going a bit downhill. I bet fans of Lindemann's first solo album didn't see the return to Rammstein's Neue Deutsche Härte sound coming in his second solo album.

Architects - "When We Were Young" (from The Classic Symptoms of a Broken Spirit, 2022) 

3.5/5. This is a pretty good new direction for Architects, going alt-industrial metal, though there are other releases that I would rank higher.

Marilyn Manson - "mOBSCENE" (from The Golden Age of Grotesque, 2003)

4/5. A bad-a** song from Marilyn Manson. "PAIN PAIN PAIN!!!"

Circle of Dust - "Onenemy" (from Circle of Dust, 1995)

3.5/5. I love Circle of Dust. It's Klayton's earliest and most metallic project. The lyrics are quite good, and the sound makes me think of Linkin Park gone The Prodigy. "Four cycles moving gone, three dark days and death is on, two wishing to fulfill, only one enemy to kill!" However, much of the structure in the sound is quite mild. However, the breakdown that starts the last minute is something to really love!

Rammstein - "Feuer frei!" (from Mutter, 2001)

3/5. When the sirens go off at the 40-second point, you're in for a ride. Actually this song would cause driving to be quite a challenge if you put it on your car stereo. It doesn't have much fire as I'm hoping for though, probably because of the typical Neue Deutsche Härte. That intro is quite sick though. I could imagine Pitbull remixing this song, which is quite odd to imagine. And don't forget, that song was also in that Vin Diesel film xXx along with one of Hatebreed's songs.

Eisbrecher - "Frommer Mann" (from Liebe Macht Monster, 2021)

3.5/5. This is slightly better, though still sounding a lot like Rammstein, maybe even Oomph!

Traumtaenzer - "Stigmata" (from Der weisse Raum, 2010)

4/5. Enjoyable music, though I prefer Omega Lithium's "Stigmata".

Skrew - "Helter Skelter" (from Angel Seed XXIII, 1997)

4.5/5. As a bonus hidden track in the original album, there are a couple outtakes before the actual song begins. A kick-A industrial metal cover of a Beatles classic!

The Kovenant - "Star by Star" (from Seti, 2003)

5/5. I just started listening to this band full-time, thanks to highlights like this one, and it's a shame that haven't had anything new since this album from 20 years ago. It's amazing how a band that I never had the guts to try when I was in my cleaner teens (because of their earlier black metal era) turns out to be glorious for me. Also associating the band with black metal is keyboardist Geir Bratland who would later join symphonic black metallers Dimmu Borgir. This f***ing great headbanger actually works well for the pandemic we were all in. Its album has more apocalyptic synths while being much less extreme than their earlier albums like Nexus Polaris. The Kovenant has proven to be masters of cyber-gothic metal. The band's not dead, it's just that the members have moved on to other things. Think before you judge this awesome piece!

Sybreed - "ReEvolution" (from Slave Design, 2004)

4.5/5. Pretty cool cyber metal. What else can I say?

Fear Factory - "A Therapy for Pain" (from Demanufacture, 1995)

5/5. A dark nearly 10-minute epic showing how influential Fear Factory can be. They're known as one of the first bands to unite clean singing with harsh growling. This is the kind of raw energy that I wish I would've discovered in my teens, if not for my dominating melodic side.

Godflesh - "Suction" (from Streetcleaner, 1989)

4.5/5. Last but not least, this is a much shorter piece. Similar to the rest of the EP that was added to the band's debut, it sounds more like industrial hard rock within the riffs and beats, with the vocals sounding cleaner for an ethereal tone. But it's still worth hearing...

Pretty good playlist I've made, huh? Despite a few slight bumps throughout... Anyway, I sure would recommend this to any industrial metal fan and anyone who isn't into industrial metal but is up to getting into a great start in enjoying the genre. Thanks Daniel for accepting this and your help with your submission, and I hope the rest of you enjoy it like I've had!