Judgement Submissions

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 now 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.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

The Septicflesh nomination is no longer relevant as we've now moved that release onto the brand new Symphonic Death Metal subgenre.

Ah, I thought it was listed under the Guardians. I'm getting a bit confused over the whole site non-metal inclusion policy to be honest.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

Boris' debut album is generally tagged as a drone metal/sludge metal hybrid however there's a lot more to it than that. I have it tagged as follows:

1 Huge (9:16)                    Drone metal/Sludge metal

2 Ganbou-Ki (15:46)        Post-sludge metal

3 Hama (7:32)                  Post-sludge metal

4 Kuruimizu (14:29)        Post-sludge metal

5 Vomitself (16:56)         Drone metal

The drone metal component really only amounts to the first half of "Huge" & the entirety of "Vomitself" so I don't think it's significant enough to warrant a tag at Metal Academy. The predominant genre is post-sludge metal for mine so I'd like to see the drone metal tag removed & an atmospheric sludge metal tag added. A sludge metal tag needs to be maintained in order to see the album continuing to be associated with The Fallen which it clearly should be. I've posted two entries in the Hall of Judgement, one to have the drone metal genre removed & another to have the release added to The Infinite under the atmospheric sludge metal subgenre.

These two nominations have 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.

The nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

These nominations have been passed.

Thanks, Daniel!

Thanks, Daniel!

As with Dokken's 1985 third album "Under Lock & Key", 1987's "Back For The Attack" possesses an obvious metal edge but whether it should qualify for metal status really comes down to whether you consider the glam metal subgenre to sit below a hard rock or a metal part genre because this is clearly a glam metal release with only three of four genuine heavy metal songs out of the thirteen on offer. As with a lot of glam metal, the guitar work is certainly metal-based but the vocals & rhythm section sit in commercial hard rock territory. Here at the Academy we've always left glam metal for the hard rockers so for that reason I'd like to see "Back For The Attack" removed from The Guardians & placed under Non-Metal.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

I can't, Daniel. I'm no longer in The Guardians.

Vinnie Moore's 1986 debut album really isn't as neoclassically structured as it's made out to be. It's much more of a progressive heavy metal record with classical influence only sporadically popping up in the solos which doesn't constitute the requirement for an additional genre in my opinion. For this reason I'd like to see 'Mind's Eye' removed from the Neoclassical Metal genre while maintaining its position under Heavy Metal.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

I completely agree with your assessment here Sonny. "The Cage" is simply a hard rock record as far as I can see & not a very good one either it has to be said. It should never have been drawn in under the NWOBHM banner in the first place in my opinion.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

No it isn't a very good record at all. I really dislike AOR and this has all the hallmarks of that excremental genre. In fact, thinking about it again has pissed me off so much I have had to go back and dock it another half a point!

I completely agree with your assessment here Sonny. "Firepower" is a combination of progressive rock & hard rock as far as I can see & it should never have been drawn in under the NWOBHM banner in the first place. I do quite like it though.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

I gave this Alcest album some listening and a review a couple years ago, and I still remember Les voyages de l'âme having some great blackgaze dominance. The black metal aggression in the guitar distortion and grim vocals is in smooth balance with the shoegaze atmosphere of uplifting melody and tranquil beauty. I made a judgement submission similar to this for the album, but somehow it didn't get through. I'm glad the album is in the Hall now, so thanks for that, Daniel.

Revisiting "Trilogy" has reignited my feelings around many of the releases we have tagged as Neoclassical Metal in that this record is really just a Heavy Metal release with neoclassical guitar solos which doesn't constitute a separate genre in my opinion. By comparison, Yngwie's debut album "Rising Force" utilizes classical structures within the song writing which produces a much more compelling argument. Therefore, I'd like to see "Trilogy" removed from the Neoclassical Metal genre while maintaining its Heavy Metal one.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

Dokken's most highly regarded album is an interesting one because, while it undoubtedly offers a fair bit of metal in the guitar work & includes a couple of genuine heavy metal tracks, the vast majority of the tracklisting falls into the glam metal category which we regard as a subgenre of hard rock. For this reason, I'd like to see 'Under Lock & Key' removed from The Guardians & placed into the Non-Metal category.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

I just gave this album some listening and a review to revisit this live album mainly consisting of songs from their best era, and to celebrate the release of Kamelot's new album with a blast to the past. Similarly to Angra's Aurora Consurgens, many songs show the more progressive side of the band with complex riffing and soloing that occur more in the songs from Epica and The Black Halo than in their earlier albums like Karma, and more diverse structure. So I'll definitely be giving this Hall entry a YES vote.

As if I needed any confirmation of Slayer's demise from thrash metal legends, Repentless more than nails the coffin lid shut.  Andi's right to my ears, this album soon degenerates into groove metal with some knock off Machine Head riffs and structures littered all over the place.

Isen Torr's sole release is certainly one epic as fuck record. So much so that it leaves me baffled as to how the band have avoided the power metal tag. There's obviously a crap-tonne of Iron Maiden worship going on in the galloping rhythms & guitar harmonies but the consistently high tempos, epic atmosphere & metal-for-metals-sake attitude sit further towards power metal than they do traditional heavy metal in my opinion so I'd like to see "Mighty & Superior" added to the Power Metal genre on top of its Heavy Metal tag.

If this poll is successful then I may opt to raise another Hall entry to have Heavy Metal removed from the release too.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

Yeah, it's an interesting discussion & there's no right answer of course. We're a metal website though so we don't offer rock tags like Stoner Rock or Heavy Psych. It's either metal or it's not & if it's not then the release in question likely wouldn't be included on the site at all unless the associated band had other releases that were legitimate metal. In this case too, we have a release where the vinyl editions of the album don't include the bonus track so I think it's best not to take that track into account when discussing the album's metal credentials. When you take that track out of the equation then the four metal tracks included amount to about 23 minutes of the total 42 minute run time which puts it into metal territory in my opinion. But this is why we have the Hall of Judgement so our clan members are free to express their opinions & my opinion is worth no more than that of any other member of The Fallen.