Judgement Submissions

Yes, that's true. As you can probably tell, I've been trying to drum up some interest in the Hall of Judgement of late as it's an integral part of the site.

This doesn't sound like much of a problem to be honest. We'd simply swap out the album in the list & there'd be no implications of doing that. If someone had already completed a review of the album in question then we'd simply accept that as we're not here to nit-pick over technicalities. The intent of the clan lists was always to a) prove that someone has a reasonable understanding of a fourth clan before allowing them to take on membership & b) to promote activity on the site (particularly early on in the website's existence). Whether one of the releases changes doesn't really impede the process much at all & in the case of "Rising" it's still an important release for the early metal scene even it may not technically be metal enough to convince me that it's not more of a hard rock record than it is a metal one.

I didn't hear any guitars on "The Ashes of Light" at all to be honest. If they were there they must have been so far back in the mix that I couldn't pick them up. The programmed drums were nothing out of the ordinary for New Age music as far as I could see so I think we'll have to agree to disagree on this one.

Today IS the Sabbath.  Good day to give it another spin if I can fit it in.

Two Hall entries have been created for this nomination.

I've added "Aenima", "Lateralus" & "10,000 Days" to the Hall of Judgement.

For the record, people should feel free to submit as many releases for judgement as they feel like as long as they feel they're legitimately mistagged.

Sore Throat's 1989 "Inde$troy" album is generally referred to as a mixture of Crust Punk & Industrial Metal but I'd suggest that there's more Sludge Metal than there is Crust so I'd like to see the record added to The Fallen under the Sludge Metal genre.

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

Can't say I agree.  It's not as speed-oriented as Metallica, but it's certainly heavier and more thrash-oriented than any album Pantera ever released.  Some of it straight up fucking jams in that same way.

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

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

This submission has now been added to the Hall of Judgement.

OK, so the industrial metal tag for this album is quite a stretch, but a few songs are close to cyber metal in the synths, and I've already started expanding my cyber metal knowledge with that part of the Sphere playlists.

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

This submission has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

This release has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

I added an entry in the Hall of Judgement for this release to be added to The Pit. If that's successful then we'll add another one to have The Guardians removed. Otherwise we could potentially be left without a clan.

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

Thanks, Daniel!

This release has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

Thanks, Daniel! I’d also like the Atheist and Trivium albums I’ve submitted last month sent to the Hall when possible please:

https://metal.academy/forum/28/thread/1301

https://metal.academy/forum/28/thread/1305

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

Pantera's classic "Cowboys From Hell" album may well have been the birth place of the Groove Metal genre but it was also very much a transitional album & I feel that there's enough genuine Thrash Metal on offer to qualify for a dual tagging (see tracks like "Heresy", "Message In Blood" & "The Art Of Shredding" for example).

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

I can't seem to locate the original thread that Ben posted when he nominated Marduk's debut album "Dark Endless" for the Hall of Judgement so I thought I'd create a new one to announce the result. I've decided to pass Ben's submission to remove "Dark Endless" from The North based on the fact that the current vote count is 4-0 in the positive which gives a strong indication that the vote will eventually pass & also that if the album were added to the site today it wouldn't qualify for a position in The North. This was Ben's original argument:

"I've been listening to Marduk's Dark Endless this week and have been surprised by just how little black metal it contains. There are a couple of riffs that border on black metal, but the vast majority of it is clear-cut death metal. Despite Marduk's long discography of black metal material that they've released since this album was dropped, it feels very wrong for the debut to be associated with The North."

Finnish producer Heaven Pierce Her's "ULTRAKILL: INFINITE HYPERDEATH" release is a pretty typical video game soundtrack in that it mashes together a whole bunch of different subgenres, one of which is certainly industrial metal. Unfortunately I don't think that this component is significant enough to warrant inclusion as a metal release overall as it amounts to only around a third of the overall run time with the rest being made up of drum & bass, ambient, jazz, progressive electronic, breakbeat, classical, etc.  Therefore I'd like to see this release removed from The Sphere & placed into the Non-Metal bucket.

I gave this album four spins over the last few days & I'm not sure I agree that it should qualify as a metal release. It's worth noting that I don't consider Kyuss to be a metal band either though. For "Reflections Of A Floating World" I'd go with a dual Progressive Rock & Stoner Rock tag with a Heavy Psych secondary. I think the psychedelic component is being overstated on RYM. To my ears the most prominent attribute is progressive rock (with Yes being a major influence) so it's really surprising that there's no progressive primary.

There is just as much grungy Alice In Chains & Soundgarden style Alternative Metal on this release as there is Down-inspired Stoner Metal so I'd like to see Floodgate's sole 1996 album "Penalty" added to The Gateway on top of its existing position in The Fallen.

The 2014 "Free..." E.P. from San Francisco stoner metal outfit Acid King offer four tracks with the first two sitting in the space between stoner metal & doom metal, the third being a total doom-fest & the fourth sticking more in the stoner camp. For that reason I feel that it needs a Doom Metal tag on top of its existing Stoner Metal one.

The music compiled within Virginia-based stoner metallers Alabama Thunderpussy's 2006 album "Open Fire" is generally regarded as stoner/Southern metal however in reality it's more of a combination of your more traditional heavy metal riffs & song structures with a stoner metal production job & aesthetic. You definitely get your fair share of stoner groove but those moments are comfortably out-weighed by fast-paced Judas Priest riffage, Saxon-esque hard rock crunch & Iron Maiden style guitar harmonies. For that reason I'd like to see it sitting in The Guardians under Heavy Metal while maintaining its position in The Fallen under Stoner Metal.

These two submissions have now be posted in the Hall of Judgement.

If I had given this album a closer listen before, not just after, choosing this album as this month's Gateway feature release so I would remember more than just those metal tracks from all those years ago, I probably would chosen a different release. Memories can be tricky that way, huh? So I would have to agree with you on this one, Daniel, along with your submission for Code Orange's Underneath that offers far more than that band's earlier metalcore. We'll see the fate of those releases' clan positions in the Hall.

Code Orange's 2020 "Underneath" album is very much a combination of metalcore & alternative metal with the industrial elements layered over the top. In fact, I'm surprised that it's not already in The Gateway actually as the the alternative component is easily as strong as the industrial one in my opinion. There's plenty of alternative metal & even Linkin Park/Korn style nu metal in Code Orange's sound with a number of tracks that have nothing to do with metalcore whatsoever so I think it warrants inclusion in The Gateway under the Alternative Metal genre.

With you on this one: there's a strong thrash influence present, but to me it feels like a stoner metal piece with as much influence from punk as from thrash.

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

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

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

So I finally got around to checking this album out over the last day or so & I have to admit that I disagree about it being a metal release. There are a lot more components to Blood Ceremony's sound than just doom metal with psychedelic rock, stoner rock & progressive rock all playing a strong role along with the odd bit of folk. I can definitely see where the two of you are coming from as there's no denying that there are Iommi-worshipping doom metal riffs here but the guitar tone is centered in hard rock territory which gives the album more of a rock feel & this is accentuated by the flute, organ & vocals to leave me feeling that a dual heavy psych/stoner rock primary is all I think this needs. I mean by definition stoner rock "combines blues rock, psychedelia & the repetitive riffs of doom metal" & that sums this record up pretty well in my opinion so I've gone with a NO on this occasion.

I'd be interested in your thoughts on this one Ben.

"Paracletus" was added to The infinite after receiving a unanimous 15-1 YES vote in the Hall of Judgement.

Vektor's "Black Future" was added to The Infinite after receiving a unanimous 14-1 YES vote in the Hall of Judgement.

Cool, thanks Daniel!

The 1980 debut album "Cycle Of Life" from Finnish heavy metal outfit Sarcofagus is one of the earliest examples of Progressive Metal in my opinion & should therefore be located in The Infinite.

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

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

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

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

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

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