December 2020 "The Fallen" Playlist - Metal Academy Radio
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7LumWJSKD1saOFiIO8VxVj?si=zqeCoNglRlGIHSFNGztaKA
Tracklisting:
01. Mastodon – “Blood & Thunder” (from “Leviathan”, 2004) [Submitted by Daniel]
02. Monolord – “Died A Million Times” (from “Vaenir”, 2015) [Submitted by Sonny92]
03. Lacuna Coil – “Heaven’s A Lie” (from “Comalies”, 2002) [Submitted by shadowdoom9]
04. Down – “Jail” (from “NOLA”, 1995) [Submitted by Daniel]
05. Robots Of The Ancient World – “High & Drive” (from “Cosmic Riders”, 2019) [Submitted by Sonny92]
06. Dystopia – “Stress Builds Confidence” (from “Human = Garbage” E.P., 1994)
07. Solitude Aeturnus – “Opaque Divinity” (from “Into the Depths Of Sorrow”, 1991) [Submitted by Ben]
08. Cult Of Luna & Julie Christmas – “Cygnus” (from “Mariner”, 2016) [Submitted by shadowdoom9]
09. Neptunian Maximalism – “Eôs - Avènement de l’Éon Evaísthitozoïque probocène flamboyant” (from “Éons”, 2020) [Submitted by Daniel]
10. Triptykon – “Goetia” (from “Eparistera Daimones”, 2010)
11. Vile Creature – “Apathy Took Helm!” (from “Glory, Glory! Apathy Took Helm!”, 2020)
12. Draconian – “Ascend Into Darkness” (from “Under A Godless Veil”, 2020) [Submitted by Ben]
13. The Drowning – “Solitary White Ship” (from “This Bleak Descent”, 2008) [Submitted by Sonny92]
14. Evoken – “In Pestilence, Burning” (from “Quietus”, 2001) [Submitted by Ben]
My thoughts on some of the tracks (including my suggested songs):
Mastodon – “Blood & Thunder” (from “Leviathan”, 2004)
10/10. A great start to this playlist! Furious upbeat prog rock-inspired sludge metal plus a speedier Iron Maiden section to listen to in glee. It's totally an awesome thrashing sludge song that makes this band worth checking out. One of my favorite songs in the album Leviathan!
Monolord – “Died A Million Times” (from “Vaenir”, 2015)
9/10. I've said a million times that I'm never really into the whole stoner metal business, but d*mn this good sh*t's harder than the hardest difficulty in a video game! It seems morbidly fitting for the time of the coronavirus when at least a million people worldwide have died from the virus. RIP
Lacuna Coil – “Heaven’s A Lie” (from “Comalies”, 2002)
10/10. This great hit single sounds a bit anti-religious, but it actually takes you through a relationship that you want to break free from, believing that the vision of love (heaven) is a lie. The song has a mid-paced offering of vocal aesthetics, gothic lyrical themes, and atmospheric keyboards, which is hard to find in an entire album nowadays. Awesome!
Cult Of Luna & Julie Christmas – “Cygnus” (from “Mariner”, 2016)
11/10 (not exaggerating). Get it?? Christmas? Because it's December? All joking aside, this is one of the most intense post-sludge epics I've ever listened to. Cult of Luna's collab album with Julie Christmas, Mariner, is one of my recent favorite albums and an unseen pinnacle of music. I think Perturbator did a remix of this song at one point. "Cygnus" is a 15-minute epic that you need and might just love. This is one of the most inspirational songs of recent times, from when I'm writing my feedback right now with my Beats headphones turned slightly up for a massive boost without deafening myself to looking up to the stars and imagine what the rest of the universe is like at the very edge. Seriously, this is one of my current favorite songs, from the pleasantly killer first 6 minutes to the 3-minute ambient interlude to the intense last 6 minutes, with the drummer building intense tension throughout the song. D*mn, just D*MN, that 6-minute finale part is one of the most brutally insane and greatest moments in post-metal and probably all of metal and music. Before we get to that, let me just say Julie Christmas is beyond g****mn amazing! Her unique vocals helped turned this long track into an epic. Those vocals have stunned me and left me on the brink of emotional tears. The music itself is so unreal and flawless, but she does a grand job helping out. Like I said, what makes this track the best and most epic of the album is that 6-minute ending. The final part starts with a F***ING BRUTAL minute of Christmas screaming at the top of her lungs. Then neurogenesis happens; we transcend across the solar system then beyond the galaxy and the universe itself with magnificently emotional vocals in the foreground over the underlying Twinkle Twinkle Little Star-like background vocal loop. She's a goddess of the post-metal universe! I love this amazing song so much, it might've surpassed the band's previous 3 albums. Also there's a f***ing awesome solo under the 3-minute mark. That whole song is EPIC!!! Thanks for including it, Daniel!
Draconian – “Ascend Into Darkness” (from “Under A Godless Veil”, 2020)
10/10. This is an almost 9-minute epic, just like Sovran's "The Marriage of Attaris" but way better. A long album closer that we've been waiting for since the 15-minute epic that ended Arcane Rain Fell. Heike sings melodic expression of melancholic sentiments and Anders delivers his vocals of growling inferno, while guitarists Johan Ericson and Daniel Arvidsson shine with melodeath riffing reminding some of the slower Insomnium, fitting in with the drumming of Jerry Torstensson and the bass of temporary member Daniel Änghede. This band has perfectly achieved their goal written in that song title!
I very much enjoyed this one Daniel. I already knew that the Solitude Aeturnus, Draconian and Evoken tracks are amazing (I selected them for that reason), but the Cult of Luna track is just as incredible! I've not checked out the Julie Christmas collaboration album, but I sure will now. Monolord was pretty enjoyable too.
Probably the only tracks that didn't float my boat were Robots Of The Ancient World (have we heard enough bands with this Sabbath-cloning sound?) and Neptunian Maximalism (which just isn't my thing). Still, I'm happy to know what these bands are about now.
Good stuff!