Metal Academy Radio - "The Fallen" Playlist September 2020

Hi everyone. So we've been listening to your feedback on our initial Metal Academy Radio clan-specific playlists & we've returned with a slightly adjusted format for September in that we've focused a lot more on the primary subgenres rather than giving equal playtime to all subgenres covered by a clan. We've also started to make these playlists interactive as we're now taking our clan members suggestions for track inclusions with the intention of expanding this further as some of the less populous clans start to fill out.

Here's out September playlist for The Fallen, a list that was entirely made up of suggestions from four of our highest contributing clan members in Ben, Sonny, Andi & myself. I think you'll agree that this has resulted in a higher quality set with few weaknesses. Ben & I are excited to see where we can take this offering as there is sure to be a market for this sort of targeted & well-informed playlist. Well done everyone!

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/692yDoOD0en91Oslj2IvPC?si=lxp0FBn0TfGlqbV2wnt-mg

01. Cult of Luna – “Finland” (from “Somewhere Along the Highway”, 2006)

02. Sleep – “Dragonaut” (from “Sleep’s Holy Mountain”, 1992)

03. Cathedral – “Schizoid Puppeteer” (from “Serpent’s Gold”, 2004)

04. Boris – “Introduction” (from “Akuma No Uta”, 2005)

05. Pallbearer – “Foreigner” (from “Sorrow & Extinction”, 2012)

06. Trees Of Eternity – “Gallows Bird” (from “Hour Of The Nightingale”, 2016)

07. Draconian – “The Apostasy Canticle” (from “Arcane Rain Fell”, 2005)

08. My Dying Bride – “She Is The Dark” (from “The Light At the End Of The World”, 1999)

09. Shape Of Despair – “Reaching The Innermost” (from “Monotony Fields”, 2015)

10. Pig Destroyer – “Natasha” (from “Natasha” EP, 2008)

My thoughts on some of the tracks (including my suggested ones):

Cult of Luna – “Finland” (from “Somewhere Along the Highway”, 2006)

10/10. This over 10-minute marathon is an exhausting yet spectacular post/sludge metal adventure! This epic is so organic and different from pretty much any other piece of music I've listened to. Heavy and clean parts weave all around in as many twists and turns as you would find in Isis (side-note: I listened to and reviewed one of Isis' albums, and even though it was great, I ended up feeling nothing and gave up on them shortly after). Anyway, the heavy bits aren't too massive, but definitely have draining production, raw distortion, and drenching emotion in an overwhelming combination. The production is no mistake, it has big passion. Fantastic!

Draconian – “The Apostasy Canticle” (from “Arcane Rain Fell”, 2005)

9/10. Also a massive 10-minute marathon, this one being a gothic doom anthem with more of the deep impressive growls of Anders Jacobsson, and barely any sign of Lisa Johansson's fragile voice that sounds almost like an early-teen girl in a depressed suicidal funk. There's still some of the mood-killing narrations, but not as many is in some other tracks in that album Arcane Rain Fell, so that's acceptable.

My Dying Bride – “She Is The Dark” (from “The Light At the End Of The World”, 1999)

8/10. This slightly shorter but still great death-doom track starts with the riffing going from eerie to aggressive back and forth, with Aaron Stainthorpe singing in the softer parts. Those doom legends know how to excellently mixed the tempo up and down in this song. There are great riffs and melodies from the guitars present along with keyboard atmosphere, all that along with the returning harsh vocals bring back memories of Turn Loose the Swans.

And on a different note... DANIEL!!! Did you just sneak that 37 and a half minute track "Natasha" into the playlist?!? Isn't that kind of a cheat?! Nah it's OK, it's your playlist, you can add what you want! ...Along with our suggested songs, of course. Besides, this playlist works almost as well as a typical album but double its length; a good amount of songs in typical lengths plus a supermassive epic finale. I can change the tempo to be 2x faster!! Just kidding on that last part...or AM I?? Anyway, as always, great playlist, and thanks for adding our suggestions!

Once more, great playlist Daniel. That DJing experience is really coming in handy! Although I must admit the ending had me a bit flummoxed.

Anyway here's a few random thoughts on the tracks:

01. Cult of Luna – “Finland” (from “Somewhere Along the Highway”, 2006)
Atmo-sludge, post-metal, whatever you wish to call it is still a relatively new musical discovery for me apart from Isis, but with this and last month's offering from Pelican I am finding myself drawn to it more and more. Properly atmospheric.

02. Sleep – “Dragonaut” (from “Sleep’s Holy Mountain”, 1992)
The stoner doom pioneers wreathe Master of Reality / Vol.4 Sabbathian riffs in dopesmoke and force them straight to the mid-brain.

03. Cathedral – “Schizoid Puppeteer” (from “Serpent’s Gold”, 2004)
Originally only available on the 1996 Rise Above sampler Dark Passages II, this is one of Cathedral's great unknown tracks. Stoner metal songwriting ambition that Lee Dorrian excels at.

04. Boris – “Introduction” (from “Akuma No Uta”, 2005)
Wall of sound drone as Boris seem to do better than almost everyone else. Like it.

05. Pallbearer – “Foreigner” (from “Sorrow & Extinction”, 2012)
After a gentle strummed intro Pallbearer kick in with a crushing riff for ten minutes of ultra-heavy "pure" doom metal that the band have never bettered.

06. Trees Of Eternity – “Gallows Bird” (from “Hour Of The Nightingale”, 2016)
Despite not being a big fan of this album I actually really like this when heard in the context of the playlist, particularly after the cataclysmic heaviness of Pallbearer.

07. Draconian – “The Apostasy Canticle” (from “Arcane Rain Fell”, 2005)
As I've said before, I'm not a big fan of Gothic Doom, but this I like and will certainly be giving this album a spin.

08. My Dying Bride – “She Is The Dark” (from “The Light At the End Of The World”, 1999)
See above, although in light of the last couple of tracks, maybe I'm better disposed to gothic doom than I suspected!

09. Shape Of Despair – “Reaching The Innermost” (from “Monotony Fields”, 2015)
Funeral doom is one of my absolute favourite genres and this is one of the (many) reasons why. Bleak and claustrophobic as layer upon layer of melancholic atmosphere are built up to envelop the listener in a lightless blanket of doom.

10. Pig Destroyer – “Natasha” (from “Natasha” EP, 2008)
OK, I'll have to get back to you on this one!?