October 2021 "The Fallen" Playlist - Metal Academy Radio
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2rSh9MnfQo9HmPLo2W5MBa?si=ea828bcd50184a16
Tracklisting:
01. Midnight Odyssey – “Dawn-Bringer” (from “Biolume Part 2: The Golden Ord”, 2021)
02. Body Void – “Wound” (from “Bury Me Beneath This Rotting Earth”, 2021) [Submitted by Daniel]
03. Melvins – “Isabella” (from “King Buzzo”, 1992)
04. Lacuna Coil – “Senzafine” (from “Halflife” E.P., 2000) [Submitted by Ben]
05. Earth – “Thrones & Dominions” (from “Phase 3: Thrones & Dominions”, 1995) [Submitted by Daniel]
06. King Woman – “Celestial Blues” (from “Celestial Blues”, 2021)
07. Solitude Aeturnus – “The 9th Day: Awakening” (from “Through The Darkest Hour”, 1994)
08. Pentagram – “The Ghoul” (from “Pentagram”, 1985) [Submitted by Daniel]
09. The Slow Death – “Famine” (from “Siege”, 2021) [Submitted by Sonny92]
10. Black Lodge – “Dissonance” (from “Covet”, 1995) [Submitted by Ben]
11. Esoteric – “Dominion Of Slaves” (from “The Pernicious Enigma”, 1997) [Submitted by Ben]
12. Vouna – “Vanish” (from “Atropos”, 2021) [Submitted by Sonny92]
Wait a minute... (quick doubletake)... are you aware there is no My Dying Bride on this month's list? I thought it was compulsory!
No but it is compulsory for you to sigh & shake your head whenever you spot them in the playlist each month Sonny.
No but it is compulsory for you to sigh & shake your head whenever you spot them in the playlist each month Sonny.
Hey... have you been spying on me?!
Rest assured that when I decide to include a My Dying Bride track, it will be one you can enjoy Sonny. There has been a big focus on the gothic side of the band, instead of the doom, which they're more than capable of doing well.
Wait a minute... (quick doubletake)... are you aware there is no My Dying Bride on this month's list? I thought it was compulsory!
If I was still in The Fallen, I would definitely submit a track from MDB and make the gothic/doom part of the playlist less more bleak, but I'm already on the path of moving on...
Seriously though, it's not that I have anything against MDB, I certainly don't entertain Type O Negative levels of hostility towards them, but prior to this month every single 2021 Fallen playlist except April's had a track of theirs on it and I just think there is more to The Fallen than My Dying Bride specifically and gothic death doom generally.
This is my favourite Fallen playlist to date. There's some serious hardcore Fallen-related shit going on here. OK, so I'm not crazy about that lengthy first track and the Lacuna Coil track is lightweight, but everything else really hits the mark with me. Well done all round to everyone involved. Here's some brief thoughts on each of the tracks:
01. Midnight Odyssey – “Dawn-Bringer” (from “Biolume Part 2: The Golden Ord”, 2021)
2.5/5 Summoning do doom metal - not really for me and way too long.
02. Body Void – “Wound” (from “Bury Me Beneath This Rotting Earth”, 2021)
4/5 Crushing, droning sludge metal that's like a bull elephant standing on your balls. Strongly reminiscent of Burning Witch (which is a good thing).
03. Melvins – “Isabella” (from “King Buzzo”, 1992)
4/5 Ah Melvins. Never has a band made me feel more schizophrenic - sometimes fucking unbearable, sometimes sublime, but never boring! This I like.
04. Lacuna Coil – “Senzafine” (from “Halflife” E.P., 2000)
2.5/5 I had a spell around the time of this EP's release of having quite a thing for Lacuna Coil, but as I have descended further down the extreme metal rabbit hole the less this sort of commercial metal appeals. Nowadays this doesn't sound all that different to Evanescence which, just to clarify, is not a good thing.
05. Earth – “Thrones & Dominions” (from “Phase 3: Thrones & Dominions”, 1995)
4.5/5 Really love this. Like some kind of primordial soundtrack to the formation of planets. I'm not at all as familiar with Earth as I know I should be.
06. King Woman – “Celestial Blues” (from “Celestial Blues”, 2021)
4/5 Will have to check this album out for sure. Shoe-gazey, atmo-sludgy marvellousness.
07. Solitude Aeturnus – “The 9th Day: Awakening” (from “Through The Darkest Hour”, 1994)
4/5 Classic epic / trad doom from a band with a huge debt to Candlemass.
08. Pentagram – “The Ghoul” (from “Pentagram”, 1985)
4.5/5 Proper Sabbathian old-school shit? Fuck yeah!!
09. The Slow Death – “Famine” (from “Siege”, 2021)
4.5/5 Initially soaring, turning infernally subterranean, death doom that has a lot going on.
10. Black Lodge – “Dissonance” (from “Covet”, 1995)
4/5 Great track from a criminally overlooked album.
11. Esoteric – “Dominion Of Slaves” (from “The Pernicious Enigma”, 1997)
5/5 Yet another example why Esoteric are the greatest funeral doom band of all time. Unremittingly bleak and desperate doom metal just how I like it.
12. Vouna – “Vanish” (from “Atropos”, 2021)
4.5/5 Eigenlicht's Yianna Bekris proves (if proof were needed) that women can contribute more than just nice, ethereal vocals to extreme doom metal. If not for Skepticism this would have been my funeral doom album of the year (so far).