Clan challenge progress

I managed to finally complete The Guardians, Heavy Metal - the 2nd Era Challenge tonight after about twelve months.  It was a great rediscovery voyage in so many regards as I got to listen to some real favourites of mine including Danzig II - Lucifuge, Transendence, Seventh Son..., Painkiller, The Crimson Idol and The Dark.

Dokken's Back for the Attack was more just a pure nostalgia trip for me and I had already reviewed it with my two and a half stars not really needing any embellishment on this revisit.  Hugely disappointed with Halford's self titled and don't really care if I never hear another King Diamond album again for as long as I live.

There were also some great discoveries on here for me too.  Namely, The Chemical Wedding which I am super pissed at myself for neglecting all these years.  What a fine and authentic heavy metal record that is from start to finish.  Warlock's Triumph & Agony was the other real standout record for me and one that I have spent a lot more time with since discovering via the challenge.

The most underrated album by far is Slough Feg's Down Among The Deadmen, would have thought this right up Daniel's street but can't see that you have rated it bud?

Debating where I go next with the challenges.  Might take a purely selfish slant on the next one and pick a challenge just for me to develop my own knowledge in one of my non-membership clans or maybe hit the Modern Era challenges for the Horde or the North.  Hmmm, decisions...

Well done mate. No I don't think I've checked out that Slough Feg record before. I actually have another one of their albums on my playlist for the next few weeks already so you've given me some encouragement to get stuck in. Thanks for the tip.

Congrats for completing the challenge Vinny! It's always a big effort, regardless of how much past knowledge you have.

Well done Vinny. I've just started hitting one if the Heavy Metal challenges myself. I've decided to go at the First Age challenge and see if I can lock The Guardians in as a fourth clan. I've found during initial spins of albums on the challenge that it has re-ignited my love of classic heavy metal and I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into this one.

Nicely done, Vinny!

Well done Vinny. I've just started hitting one if the Heavy Metal challenges myself. I've decided to go at the First Age challenge and see if I can lock The Guardians in as a fourth clan. I've found during initial spins of albums on the challenge that it has re-ignited my love of classic heavy metal and I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into this one.

Excellent choice, Sonny! The Guardians are waiting for you...

I believe on that note I've just finished my first clan challenge, that same one: the 1st era for heavy metal. Took me longer than I hoped, but I'm glad I got it done! There were some I re-evaluated one way or the other, others I gave a proper listen to for the first time, and some I just reminded myself of why I love them so.

Overall, my personal ranking of them would be:

1.) Dio - Holy Diver (5.0)
2.) Rainbow - Rising (5.0)
3.) Angel Witch - Angel Witch (4.5)
4.) Black Sabbath - Paranoid (4.5)
5.) Iron Maiden - Powerslave (4.0)
6.) Judas Priest - Sad Wings of Destiny (4.0)
7.) Mercyful Fate - Don't Break the Oath (4.0)
8.) Riot - Fire Down Under (4.0)
9.) Manowar - Hail to England (4.0)
10.) Metal Church - Metal Church (4.0)
11.) Manilla Road - Crystal Logic (4.0)
12.) Saxon - Strong Arm of the Law (4.0)
13.) Motörhead - Ace of Spades (3.5)
14.) Diamond Head - Lightning to the Nations (3.5)
15.) Running Wild - Gates to Purgatory (3.5)
16.) Satan - Court in the Act (3.5)
17.) Omen - Battle Cry (3.5)
18.) Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Ozz (3.0)
19.) Scorpions - Taken By Force (3.0)
20.) W.A.S.P. - W.A.S.P. (3.0)
21.) Accept - Restless and Wild (3.0)
22.) Queensryche - The Warning (3.0)
23.) Thin Lizzy - Thunder & Lightning (3.0)
24.) Cirith Ungol - King of the Dead (3.0)
25.) Jag Panzer - Ample Destruction (2.5)

Next up I'm hoping to tackle the 80s thrash metal list for The Pit. Should be an interesting one, there are a bunch in there I haven't listened to in a good while, and some I definitely have some heretical takes on...

Nice one Tymell! I'm already loving doing this particular challenge.

Well done sir.

Congrats mate! It's nice to see that these challenges are still getting attention.

So, I am undertaking The Fallen : Doom Metal - The Early Days clan challenge.  This is not me necessarily looking to pick up The Fallen as my Guardians replacement fourth clan, more me actually exploring a clan that I have only ever flirted with at best.  I am familiar with a few releases in here already (Saint Vitus, Bethlehem, Candlemass, dISEMBOWELMENT, Trouble and Katatonia all have albums in here that I have played on and off for years) so there is a fair old amount of revisiting going on in this challenge. In terms of the wider Fallen sub-genres, I am already quite partial to a bit of funeral doom and death/doom has occupied a healthy spot in my listening habits for a number of years now.  I am less familiar with sludge and drone metal but have some experience of these areas.

What I want to do is get through all the Fallen challenges (or the best part of them at least) to fully explore what is on offer here and so starting in the "early days" challenge seems like a great spot to reacquaint myself with some old stuff and pick up on any hidden gems I am unaware of or simply try some bands I have never listened to - Tiamat, Anathema, Esoteric and Skepticism, for example are entirely new to me.  Also, I have struggled historically with Cathedral and have never really rated Lee Dorrian as a vocalist, likewise Aaron Stainthorpe in MDB so this gives me an opportunity to make sure I am not just being a dick and missing something.

You wouldn't be the first to struggle with Cathedral. I've always had an issue with Dorrian's vocals too. There is enjoyment to be had throughout their discography, but I have to push myself to endure enough to find it.

My Dying Bride, well that's a different story. I can't say I've really connected with recent efforts, but their 90's / 00's work was for the most part fantastic. I'd like to think that Stainthorpe's vocals on Turn Loose the Swans-era MDB would be much more to your liking than more recent efforts.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the challenge, and discover some gems along the way.

It's been a long time since anyone posted on this thread, so I thought I would just post an update on my assault on The Horde's Death Metal - The 1st Decade challenge. I am now about two-thirds of the way through and after dipping in and out of it for a few months I am now determined to knuckle down and gain that fourth clan badge! I have been approaching it chronologically as I did with my early death metal discovery project and I now just have Bolt Thrower's The IVth Crusade to review and that will be 1992 finished. All in all I think I have eight more albums to review, so I had better get on with it.

A while back I ran into a problem.  I have a log of every album I've ever heard, ranked from best to worst.  As it currently stands, more than a fifth of it is metal, and it's showing.  So I've been spending weeks trying to lower the percentage and be more fair, so I haven't been able to hear new metal albums as often as I used to.  Having said that, I'm gonna spend some time re-evaluating albums on the challenges I've already heard so I can review them.

I've only got about 60 or so albums before I lower the percentage to 20.  And even then, I still need to be careful.  Thankfully, I found a couple of prolific artists with short albums (15-30 min.) in the vapor scene, so I've been spending some time with them.  I should be done with that in a week or two.

Ben / Daniel, I believe I have now completed the Death Metal - The 1st Decade clan challenge and as such I would like to seek admission into the hallowed halls of the Horde clan. It has taken a mere four years, but I believe I now have earned that fourth badge!!

Good work Sonny.

Impressive, Sonny! Looks like you're ready to enter the Horde.

Ben / Daniel, I believe I have now completed the Death Metal - The 1st Decade clan challenge and as such I would like to seek admission into the hallowed halls of the Horde clan. It has taken a mere four years, but I believe I now have earned that fourth badge!!

Bada-fuckin-boom, bro!  Good job!

Thanks guys.

Now that I've completed the Death Metal - the 1st Decade challenge, I thought I would rank the list:

1. Death - Human (1991)

2. Autopsy - Mental Funeral (1991)

3. Morbid Angel - Altars of Madness (1989)

4. Possessed - Seven Churches (1985)

5. Obituary - Cause of Death (1990)

6. Demilich - Nespithe (1993)

7. Atheist - Unquestionable Presence (1991)

8. Incantation - Onward to Golgotha (1992)

9. Carcass - Necroticism-Descanting the Insalubrious (1991)

10. Immolation - Dawn of Possession (1991)

11. Pestilence - Consuming Impulse (1989)

12. Brutality - Screams of Anguish (1993)

13. Gorguts - The Erosion of Sanity (1993)

14. Amorphis - Tales From the Thousand Lakes (1994)

15. Deicide - Deicide (1990)

16. Bolt Thrower - The IVth Crusade (1992)

17. Asphyx - Last One on Earth (1992)

18. Necrophobic - The Nocturnal Silence (1993)

19. Suffocation - Effigy of the Forgotten (1991)

20. Nocturnus - The Key (1990)

21. Dark Tranquillity - The Gallery (1995)

22. Demigod - Slumber of Sullen Eyes (1992)

23. At the Gates - Slaughter of the Soul (1995)

24. Entombed - Left Hand Path (1990)

25. Dismember - Like an Ever Flowing Stream (1991)

Out of curiosity, is there a way to mark any specific challenges that are completed?

Not currently, no. But it's an interesting idea that I'll put in my list of potential improvements.

Not currently, no. But it's an interesting idea that I'll put in my list of potential improvements.

How about a faint, smokey glow around the border of the 2x2 album picture with the clan color?

Ben / Daniel, I believe I have now completed the Death Metal - The 1st Decade clan challenge and as such I would like to seek admission into the hallowed halls of the Horde clan. It has taken a mere four years, but I believe I now have earned that fourth badge!!

Congratulations Sonny. The minions of the dead & I have long plotted this moment. A new age of darkest nightmares is finally upon us as the zombification process is now complete.