Judgement Submissions

Hmm... Only "A Light in the Black" comes close to the speed of power metal. I was thinking so much of the melodicism and fantasy lyrics. It's clear that this judgement submission isn't gonna win, so please cancel it.

Some of you might certainly disagree with me on this one but to my ears, I find Extreme's 1990 album sitting comfortably in glam metal AND heavy metal. Almost every track that's not acoustic nor a ballad has metal spirit, especially in the guitar riffing and soloing performed by Nuno Bettencourt. Even in other songs with more of a hard rock and/or glam metal sound, the hard rock of AC/DC is enhanced by the guitars almost reaching the heaviness of Metallica's Black Album. So I'd like to submit Extreme's "II Pornograffitti" to the Hall to be added to The Guardians as heavy metal.

Thanks Daniel for your review on this Extreme album. I'm thanking you for that because the review reminded me of how much I needed to check out that album and find more of this band than just the acoustic radio ballad single that is "More Than Words". I can understand the lack of funk in this album when only a couple tracks have some slight funk including the aptly titled "Get the Funk Out". However, you might certainly disagree with me on this one but to my ears, I find this album sitting comfortably in glam metal AND heavy metal. Almost every track that's not acoustic nor a ballad has metal spirit, especially in the guitar riffing and soloing performed by Nuno Bettencourt, the best examples of that can be found in tracks like "Decadence Dance", "Money (In God We Trust)", and "He-Man Woman Hater". Even in other songs like "Li'l Jack Horny", "It('s a Monster)", and the title track that have more of a hard rock and/or glam metal sound, the hard rock of AC/DC is enhanced by the guitars almost reaching the heaviness of Metallica's Black Album. So while I'll give this Hall entry a YES vote to have removed from funk metal and The Gateway, I'll add in a judgement submission to have added to The Guardians with the heavy metal tag, so stay tuned for that.

Gravity Kills has always been just an industrial/alt-rock band. While their debut album is packed with guitar riffing, drum loops, synth layers, and vocal intensity, there's not much metal to offer here. I would recommend it much more to Nine Inch Nails fans than metalheads. So I'd like to submit a couple judgement submissions for Gravity Kills' 1996 debut to be removed from 1. The Gateway and 2. The Sphere, and be deemed non-metal.

Despite Anthrax's "Penikufesin" E.P. containing a couple of tracks from 1988's "State of Euphoria" album, the inclusion of a number of cover versions of non-thrash tunes sees the release veering outside of the thrash space quite regularly. For that reason, I'd like to see it added to The Guardians under the Heavy Metal genre on top of its existing position in The Pit under Thrash Metal.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

https://metal.academy/hall/417

I can't say that I hear much of the neoclassical component that others have highlighted to be honest.

As with a number of Yngwie's other vocal releases, the majority of the neoclassical component of 1989's 'Trial by Fire: Live in Leningrad' live album is saved for the guitar solos with only a few instrumental tracks possessing genuinely neoclassical structures. For that reason, I feel that Neoclassical Metal is more of a secondary component with Heavy Metal being the primary basis for the album's sound. Therefore, I'd like to see the Neoclassical Metal genre removed from the release so that it can reside solely under the Heavy Metal genre.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

I would argue that there are no death metal riffs on "Into Darkness" which means that the only way it can be doom/death is if the vocals clearly bring it back into the death metal space. The vocals sit very much on the borderline between angry crust punk/sludge & death metal though so it's not conclusive enough for the album to be doom/death in my opinion. The instrumentation is a combination of mid-tempo Celtic Frost & hardcore inspired chug riffs & slow doom metal riffs, both presented with a seriously down-tuned, abrasive & oppressive tone. That's a pretty good description of a sludge metal record for mine as sludge is essentially a more abrasive & angry version of doom metal with hardcore influences.

I've decided to pass this Hall of Judgement entry given its currently lop-sided vote tally of YES 5 NO 0. The appropriate database changes have been made.

So I've decided to pass the first half of this submission based on the currently lop-sided YES 5 NO 0 vote tally. The Grindcore genre has subsequently been added to the release as well as the Goregrind subgenre.

I've also added another Hall of Judgement entry to have the Death Metal genre removed from the release here:

https://metal.academy/hall/411

This nomination has posted in the Hall of Judgement.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

These two nominations have been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

I've given this Adramelch album some listening and a review to test out my strength in the progressive power metal I once loved, and to be honest, I'm not sure if fully-fledged progressive metal would be what I would call this offering. There are a few full-on power metal tracks with speedy Iron Maiden-infused riffing and wide-ranged singing, and sure the rest of this album has the early progressive metal of Queensryche/Fates Warning, but even the more progressive tracks are as melodic as power metal in some sections. So I might have to vote NO for this Hall entry.

The two nominations have been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

I would say that progressive metal would have been the next best option outside of neoclassical metal as tracks like "Saturation Point", "Evil Thrill" & "Forbidden City" all fall into that category. That's not enough to claim it as a primary genre though in my opinion. The speed metal component really only amounts for parts of "Evil Thrill" & "Anvils" too. There's not even a complete song in that style.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

As with his previous two records, Yngwie J. Malmsteen's Rising Force's 1988 fourth album "Odyssey" really doesn't include all that much in the way of neoclassical song structures. It's really just Yngwie's guitar solos & that element alone shouldn't constitute an additional genre tag. Therefore, I'd like to see "Odyssey" removed from the Neoclassical Metal genre whilst remaining under Heavy Metal which is a much more accurate reflection of the album as a whole.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

I've passed this nomination as the release no longer qualifies for inclusion in The Gateway.

I've added a Hall of Judgement entry to have the release added to The Gateway under Alternative Metal first as we can't remove it from The Infinite until it has another clan.

Guns 'n' Roses certainly have a heavy sound in comparison to most other rock music (as well as some of the lighter heavy metal releases to be fair) but the instrumental techniques utilized are still drawn from rock rather than metal in my opinion (i.e. a bluesy feel, open-string riffs, pentatonic licks, 4x4 rock beats, no use of double-kick, minimal use of palm-muted down-strokes, a groovier edge to their riffs & rhythms that has you tapping your foot rather than banging your head, etc.). Scorpions have a few metal tracks here & there but for the most part sit much more comfortably under the hard rock tag too in my experience (which amounts to their run of six albums from 1976 through to 1984). The only Scorpions album I've heard that's worthy of a metal tag is "Blackout" which, to my ears at least, contains a mixture of hard rock & heavy metal songs.

Let's see what others think though as I've just posted this nomination in the Hall of Judgement.

While there are clearly a couple of tracks that fit the criteria for heavy metal, I don't think it's fair to say that it's a primary genre on Marty Friedman's 1987 debut album 'Dragon's Kiss' as the album traverses a number of different metal genres including progressive metal & speed metal. Neoclassical metal is the primary sound that ties everything together so I feel that it should be the lone genre tag here at the Academy. For that reason, I'd like to see the Heavy Metal genre removed from the release while maintaining its position in The Guardians under Neoclassical Metal.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

https://metal.academy/hall/392

This nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

OK, thanks Daniel.

I agree that "Rage For Order" is a progressive metal record Andi. I'd also suggest that it's not even close to a traditional heavy metal release so if this nomination is successful I'll be submitting an additional Hall entry to have it removed from The Guardians.

The less the sub-genre/tagging options the better.  I am all for the "this in the wrong clan/this is missing an obvious clan inclusion" argument (Nocturnal Graves feature this month for example), however creating boxes within boxes is too much.  Atmospheric sludge metal my arse! 

Nocturnal Graves are generally tagged as blackened thrash but personally I’d suggest that there’s a lot more Sadistic Intent & particularly early Morbid Angel in Nocturnal Graves sound than there is the thrash metal of Slayer so I'd like to see 'An Outlaw's Stand' added the The Horde under the Death Metal genre.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

Nocturnal Graves are generally tagged as blackened death/thrash & you can easily see why upon first listen to “An Outlaw’s Stand” however I’d argue that the links to thrash are misguided on this occasion which makes the album an uncomfortable fit as a feature release for The Pit. There are certainly some thrash influences here & there but this is much more of a blackened death metal record in my opinion with the two primary genres sharing the spotlight in roughly equal measure. Perhaps the links to thrash come from the similarities in approach to Sweden’s Witchery & fellow Aussie bands like Destroyer 666 & Vomitor whose blackened sounds are more heavily infiltrated by classic thrash but personally I’d suggest that there’s a lot more Sadistic Intent & particularly early Morbid Angel in Nocturnal Graves sound than there is the thrash metal of Slayer.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

After coming fully to grips with “Cosmic Doom Ritual” recently, I’ve come to the realisation that Hexer have fooled many people because the use of the word “doom” in the album title has led most online resources to claim the album as doom metal. In reality though, the tone is much more abrasive & the vocals are a lot harsher & more aggressive than you would usually expect from doom which sees the release aligning itself pretty clearly with sludge metal. The use of slowly building post-rock song structures & stripped-back atmospherics is far in excess of what you will find on a conventional sludge release though with the band taking a more textured approach & steering away from the standard riff-fest. For these reasons, I see “Cosmic Doom Ritual” as a post-sludge metal release with references to stoner metal in the psychedelics so I'd like to see this release removed from the Doom Metal genre.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

I've passed this nomination as these releases no longer qualify for inclusion in The Revolution.

2019's third album from Spain's Teitanblood certainly offers a lot of death metal influence however I'd suggest that this is a signature component of the war metal sound with the majority of the album sitting much closer to the war metal sound than a conventional death metal. Therefore I'd like to see "The Baneful Choir" removed from The Horde & the Death Metal genre while maintaining its position in The North under the Black Metal genre.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

The new Klone album is more than just alt-rock/metal. There's quite some progressiveness going on in aspects such as the complex structures and frequent time signature changes, enough for the album to be deemed progressive metal. So I'd like to submit Klone's "Meanwhile" to the Hall to be added to The Infinite while staying in The Gateway.

I decided to check this EP out to continue testing out my interest in Anthrax, as well as explore the first ever rap metal release and one of the earliest Gateway releases. I can definitely hear what you mean, Daniel. The EP is basically 3 different versions of a song that has kickstarted rap metal, a Black Sabbath cover, and two live versions of songs from Among the Living. The rap/thrash/heavy metal ratio is 40%, 40%, 20%. I'm giving this one a YES vote!

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

Despite the misleading album title, Cacophony's 1987 debut album isn't technically speaking a speed metal record as it only possesses the one speed metal number (i.e. "Where My Fortune Lies") amongst the seven tracks on offer. I don't think it should hold a place in The Pit & would like to see the Speed Metal genre removed from the release while retaining its position in The Guardians.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

Cacophony's 1987 debut album draws is a neoclassical metal release that utilizes heavy metal, speed metal & progressive metal as tools to create one of the heavier guitar virtuoso releases you'll find. The predominant feature of the album is the neoclassical component though & it's a much more expansive release than most you'll find in The Guardians so (even though there are a couple of genuine heavy metal tracks amongst the seven of offer in "Savage" & "Desert Island") I think it's a bit deceptive to simply toss a record like this one into the classic heavy metal bucket. I'd like to have the Heavy Metal genre removed from the album whilst retaining the Neoclassical metal one.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

There's really very little straight up Doom Metal on 'IV.I.VIII' that isn't better covered by the existing Sludge Metal tag so I'd like to see the Doom Metal tag removed while maintaining the Sludge Metal one.

I've just posted this nomination in the Hall of Judgement.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

To my ears "Pig" is a metalcore/mathcore hybrid in roughly equal portions. I can only find about 30 seconds of grindcore influence on the whole release to be honest & even then it's only an influence rather than a primary sound. I wouldn't even go for a grindcore secondary subgenre on this one so I'm afraid it'll be a NO vote from me.

I've just posted this nomination in the Hall of Judgement too.