The Sphere

So we're going to be testing the waters with another new offering this week which is one that I'll be looking for your feedback on. The idea is to release regular two hour Spotify playlists for each clan with the tracklistings taking the listener through the full gamut of sounds each clan encompasses, both old & new, classic & underground. In putting together the initial lists I've attempted to push my personal tastes to one side by including something for everyone with all eras & subgenres receiving representation. I certainly haven't gone with your more obvious releases all the time & you will find the odd novelty track included just for a bit of fun. These will certainly give people that are finding it hard to choose their clans a good point of reference to see if a particular clan is for them too. Check 'em out & tell us what you think. If everyone enjoys these then we may look to make them a more permanent part of the site.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1KTkejlZP9J6PRZwO1Fx0Y?si=jywoPmKQTuanrhpqG1AVLw

Tracklisting:

01. Turmion Katilot – “Pirun nyrkki” (from “Pirun nyrkki”, 2006)

02. Oomph! – “Willst Du Hoffnung?” (from “Defekt”, 1995)

03. Master Boot Record – “Edit.com” (from “Floppy Disk Overdrive”, 2020)

04. Unheilig – “Grosse Freiheit” (from “Grosse Freiheit”, 2010) 

05. Deathstars – “Death Dies Hard” (from “Night Electric Night”, 2009)

06. Farmer Boys – “Stay Like This Forever” (from “The Other Side”, 2004)

07. ASP – “Ich bin ein wahrer Satan” (from “Requiembryo”, 2007)

08. Pain – “Same Old Song” (from “Dancing With The Dead”, 2005)

09. Lindemann – “Steh auf” (from “F & M”, 2019)

10. Emigrate – “Rainbow” (from “Silent So Long”, 2014)

11. The Kovenant – “Hollow Earth” (from “S.E.T.I.”, 2003)

12. Megaherz – “Herzblut” (from “Herzwerk II”, 2002)

13. Eisbrecher – “Leider” (from “Antikorper”, 2006)

14. …And Oceans – “Tears Have No Name” (from “A.M. G.O.D.”, 2001)

15. Godflesh – “Jesu” (from “Hymns”, 2001)

16. Sybreed – “Emma-0” (from “Antares”, 2007)

17. Static-X – “Hollow (Project Regeneration)” (from “Project Regeneration, Vol. 1, 2020)

18. Rammstein – “Mein Teil” (from “Reise, Reise”, 2004)

19. Meathook Seed – “Famine Sector” (from “Embedded”, 1993)

20. Author & Punisher – “Skies O’er” (from “Drone Machines”, 2010)

21. Neurotech – “Antagonist” (from “Antagonist”, 2011)

22. Aborym – “Dirty” (from “Dirty”, 2013)

23. Mechina – “Progenitor” (from “Progenitor”, 2016)

24. Iperyt – “Antihuman Hate Generator” (from “No State Of Grace”, 2011)

I don’t know much about the Neue Duetsche Harte subgenre, so I don’t have anything to say about how this record relates to that, but “Reise, Reise” is my favorite of the first four Rammstein albums. I honestly don’t like “Herzeleid“ very much, “Sehnsucht” is good but I wish it was heavier, and “Mutter” has some great moments but some cringe points as well. “Reise, Reise” is much more consistent and heavier than any of those. I can see how some might consider this record kind of monotonous, but I feel like they simply got their sound down and locked with it. I also like the keyboard sounds on this one across the board, whereas the wrong sound can kill an otherwise good song (and this definitely happens on their previous records). I pretty much get everything I want out of Rammstein here. I even like the acoustic guitars on “Los” and “Ohne Dich.” “Mein Teil” is the best though, that song is pure fucking POWER. I also really dig the female vox on “Moskau.” I don’t think I’ve seen anyone mention “Amerika” yet, which I guess is conceptually kind of cheesy but is undeniably catchy. On first listen I was leaning on giving this a 3/5 (good but not exceptional) but the more I listen to it, the more I like it so I think it deserves at least a 4/5 . 

City is Devin Townsend at his most unhinged, and its so absurdly aggressive and heavy that it's hard not to like at least some parts of this album. The strange but somehow endearing lyrics on "AAA", the pure insanity of "Oh My Fucking God", and the distortion drenched "Spirituality" all come together in this strange package that somehow works out in the end. I feel like on paper this album has no chance of working, with its flurry of random chug riffs alongside Devin's unsystematic vocals and corny sound effects, but it creates such a unique package that shows that extreme metal can take on many different forms, even if that different form is a strangely sung ballad-type thing with piano and pounding industrial drums on "Room 429". Devin's eccentricity is one of this things that always draws me back to him, and while I agree with Daniel and Chris in that I'm unsure about the "classic" status of this album, it certainly represents something sincerely different and something that only Devin could feasibly pull off. It certainly has its weak points and has a ton of issues in terms of structure and just overall strangeness, especially when it's trying so hard to be heavy and angry, but I still think that City is a must for Devin Townsend fans and an interesting excursion for anyone looking for something different in their extreme and angry Metal. 

4/5

So I've finally gotten around to giving "Mutter" a few spins over the last couple of days which is likely my first experience with the Neue Deutsche Härte subgenre overall. My initial impressions weren't good as I found this music to be overly simplistic & more than a little cheesy. Interestingly though, the song-writing really opened up on my third listen & I ended up finding "Mutter" to be a pretty fun listen even though it's never likely to become a regular as far as return visits go. For fans of Eisbrecher, Oomph! & Lindemann.

3.5/5

Jamie Christopherson - "Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Vocal Tracks" (2013)

This overrated release highlights yet another of the many advantages that Metal Academy enjoys over a site like RYM where video game soundtracks like this one almost universally receive overly-inflated scores. This is due to the large percentage of ratings that are submitted by video game fans who have no business rating a metal release & likely haven't even listened to the soundtrack as a purely musical piece of art. Metal Academy 1 RYM 0.

I've just listened to and reviewed both of those 2004 Sphere albums, and I consider them both good 4-star releases that help shape up industrial metal into the modern times. But the one I prefer is... Houses of the Mole! Yeah, I prefer that Ministry album which has a killer mix of industrial riffs with the energy of modern extreme metal that I'm more used to. Rammstein's Reise Reise is good too, but it's a little hard to understand because of the lyrics being mostly German, not to mention ranging from horrific ("Mein Teil") to humorous ("Keine Lust"). Of course, there is some good powerful riffing in the epic title track and the fancy dance-y "Moskau". Anyway, Ministry makes my vote!

Houses of the Mole - 1

Reise Reise - 1

This is also my first time hearing ...And Oceans and it's very interesting hearing Cyber/Industrial from a band that started with Black Metal rather than something more groove oriented like most Industrial bands. While there are some great riffs on "Tears Have No Name" and "Of Devilish Tongues", the rest falls into this cool but sometimes awkward atmospheric Black Metal tremolo riffing that has limited substance but plays off the electronic tidbits well enough. The addition of the synth/cyber elements does add some much needed spice and Identity to A.M. G.O.D. rather than feeling like an afterthought, which is always appreciated. The dance beat on "White Synthetic Noise" is a bit out of nowhere, but the way they crescendo out of it is pretty incredible, and the rest of the electronic beats fit in well with the chaos of the Black Metal riffing.

The album is pretty all over the place though, with tons of different influences and riffing styles flying right and left until they decide to stick to one for a few minutes. I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing, it just makes for a more confusing experience when listening to the album cover to cover. Even though this is a Black Metal album with enough electronic elements to call it Cyber Metal, it really did feel like there was just a bit too much bland and generic Black Metal stuff going on for me to really get excited about this one in the end. It certainly has its moments, but to me this is another Black Metal album that decided to add something to sort-of-kind-of-but-not-really change up its formula. I'd have to listen to it a few more times in order to get a full review written, but for now:

3.5/5

I think it's incredible that this is the album that preceded Mutter, because this is so much less refined and overall kind of boring. The EDM portion of Rammstein's music is one of the things that makes it Neue Deutsche Härte, and Rammstein really wanted to hammer that home on this album. It's incredibly hokey on tracks like "Sehnsucht", "Eifersucht" and "Küss Mich (Fellfrosch)" where they really try to make their electronic beats sound like bumping club music. The electronics work really well in normal Rammstein fashion on tracks like "Engel" and of course "Du Hast" where they're used to inject another interesting melody alongside the signature guitar riffing and heavy tone, but the rest of the tracks were duds for me. It's not bad by any means but you can really tell that they were really dead set on trying to integrate as many wacky sound effects or EDM beats as possible amidst the riffing. The vocal performance is still strong though, although from what I know it's better if you don't know what the lyrics actually mean and settle for "German sounds cool for this kind of music". 

This is an important stepping stone album for Neue Deutsche Härte since Mutter, released 4 years later, abandons a lot of the silliness and shows the band maturing a ton. I think this album is great for people who really want a true Neue Deutsche Härte experience since they really dig into the EDM roots, but it pales in comparison to their next two or three albums for me. 

3/5

Well said Xephyr. I've read an interview with Godflesh mastermind Justin Broadrick where he says that "Streetcleaner" was the outcome of the group repeatedly watching David Lynch's "Eraserhead" whilst under the influence of LSD. That makes a lot of sense once you hear "Streetcleaner" because it's just as confronting & polarizing in its incredibly cold atmosphere. I absolutely love this record. In fact, I regard it as the absolute pinnacle of the industrial metal subgenre.

Immediately when I threw this on, I was reminded of something, and I couldn't put my finger on it until the third or fourth track. Sybreed, at least on this album, sounds like what modern In Flames should have sounded like if they knew how to write interesting riffs and melodies that complemented the softer Melodic Death Metal approach. While I don't really care for modern In Flames, especially compared to their classic material, I never thought it was terrible, so this album was a treat for me. I'm already a pretty big fan of heavier electronic music, like Darksynth for instance, so hearing well written riffs with complex electronic beats really resonates well with me. There are some tracks in here that feel pretty uninspired though, like "Isolate" and "Permafrost", but overall it maintains a solid quality throughout the whole thing. I wish it would lean into the EDM side a bit more, especially towards the end where it just feels like more of the same Melodic Death riff over and over, but I still like what's going on here. 

3.5/5, but it may get repetitive if I end up listening to it again. 

Oh yeah, now this is what I'm talking about. This was legitimately my first time listening to Ministry ever and these guys are riff and chug masters. "N.W.O.", "Just One Fix", "Scare Crow", and even "Corrosion" have some of the heaviest riffs I've heard in quite some time. Some bands are just able to nail that guitar and drum tone that just makes the the riffs chug, and Ministry is definitely one of those. The whole album is dark and gritty but still has an insane amount of energy and momentum as well as some hilarious tongue-in-cheek political and religious commentary, which surprisingly doesn't take away from the album. 

While I think I could build up to appreciating something more grating and monotonous, this is an easy 4/5 for me even on the first listen. The amount of influence this album had must have been insane, because through "N.W.O.", "Just One Fix", and "Scare Crow" I was reminded of so many other heavy metal songs that came out much, much later than this did. 

Me too.

Definitely. They’ve got a lot more energy & urgency than the sludgier Godflesh. It sounds like that might appeal to you more.

I wish I could say that I was excited for a new Fear Factory album, but it has been a long time since they released anything of any note. There are always one or two decent tracks, but nothing close to Demanufacture period.