June 2022 "The Gateway" Playlist - Metal Academy Radio

(Thread posted with permission from Saxy, who has in fact encouraged me to keeping doing so whenever he can't, each month onwards, so it's all good)

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7aY7WjCGySb3Lb4x79Dk5T

Tracklisting:

01. System of a Down - "Question!" (from Mezmerize)

02. Northlane - "Clockwork" (from Obsidian)

03. Breaking Benjamin - "Breakdown" (from We Are Not Alone)

04. TOOL - "Prison Sex" (from Undertow)

05. Evanescence - "Better Without You" (from The Bitter Truth)

06. Coldrain - "RUNAWAY" (from Vena)

07. Mudvayne - "Happy?" (from Lost and Found)

08. Taproot - "Calling" (from Blue-Sky Research)

09. Dir En Grey - "AGITATED SCREAMS OF MAGGOTS" (from THE MARROW OF A BONE)

10. MAXIMUM THE HORMONE - "Seritsuwa Kannazukiwo Korasu Kion" (from Kusoban)

11. Five Finger Death Punch - "Under and Over It" (from American Capitalist)

12. Gone is Gone - "Violescent" (from Gone is Gone)

13. Fair to Midland - "Uh-Oh" (from Arrows & Anchors)

14. In Flames - "Where the Dead Ships Dwell" (from Sounds of a Playground Fading)

15. Vanilla Ice - "Too Cold" (from Hard to Swallow)

16. Lacuna Coil - "Within Me" (from Karmacode)

17. Cave In - "New Reality" (from Heavy Pendulum)

18. Linkin Park - "Somewhere I Belong" (from Meteora)

19. Skindred - "Electric Avenue" (from Shark Bites and Dog Fights)

20. Faith No More - "The Gentle Art of Making Enemies" (from King for a Day, Fool for a Lifetime)

21. Machine Supremacy - "Anthem Apocalyptica" (from Origin)

Here are my thoughts on most of the tracks in this playlist:

Breaking Benjamin - "Breakdown" (from We Are Not Alone)

4.5/5. After a "Fur Elise"-like piano intro, Burnley screams "BREAKDOWN!!!" to begin a hardcore riffing part of the intro similar to the heavy parts of their debut. That should've been a single!

TOOL - "Prison Sex" (from Undertow)

4/5. OK, there's a bit of disturbing groove sh*t, but it's dominated by amazing riffs and melodies.

Evanescence - "Better Without You" (from The Bitter Truth)

3.5/5. This one starts off with a soft synthesized music box before an industrial earthquake.

Coldrain - "RUNAWAY" (from Vena)

4/5. Masato sounds just fine in this song, but when Papa Roach’s Jacoby Shaddix butts in, he really has his vocal power that make that song another highlight. However, if you thought this was intense, another Japanese metal song I'm gonna comment on would be even more...

Dir En Grey - "AGITATED SCREAMS OF MAGGOTS" (from THE MARROW OF A BONE)

4.5/5. This one's absolutely killer, pure brutal alt-metalcore right here! The music video is also cool, though some viewers would be like "WT*?!" This is over-the-top madness, much different from the band's softer "empty" ballads.

MAXIMUM THE HORMONE - "Seritsuwa Kannazukiwo Korasu Kion" (from Kusoban)

5/5. Who else but this band can make lyrics about "physiological pain" and "freezing temperature" in the same song? I'm not usually in the more funk-oriented alt-metal, but this is so brilliant I can cry!

Five Finger Death Punch - "Under and Over It" (from American Capitalist)

4.5/5. This one fulfills the band's resolution with their revolution against critics.

In Flames - "Where the Dead Ships Dwell" (from Sounds of a Playground Fading)

4/5. In Flames was a band that gave me good alt-metal/melodeath in the times when I was up for them. I can still hear the anger and sadness in the chilling lyrics ("I won't let the world break me, so I need to change direction..."). This amazing song hits me with unique beauty much more than bands like Killswitch Engage. This modern alternative sound they've been having since Soundtrack to Your Escape. Maybe I will return to this band someday when I'm fully back in my melodeath sound...

Vanilla Ice - "Too Cold" (from Hard to Swallow)

3.5/5. Wow, I didn't expect the "Ice Ice Baby" dude to appear here, but it makes sense because of his nu/rap metal material, which I'm not usually fond of. This one's a good hard-hitter though, so it's fine.

Lacuna Coil - "Within Me" (from Karmacode)

4/5. A good song for post-breakup woes of loneliness, bring back good memories of when I used to listen to this band full-time. This band still exists in activity, and I'm glad about that, though their earlier gothic years are far behind them.

Cave In - "New Reality" (from Heavy Pendulum)

5/5. H*ll yes, another awesome discovery for me from this band. It sounds so zany and they have good relation with Converge, with that band's guitarist Kurt Ballou manning the album's production and Nate Newton as their new bassist after Caleb Scofield's fatal car crash. RIP...

Linkin Park - "Somewhere I Belong" (from Meteora)

4/5. This one is more melodic with incredible emotion. There's powerful guitar along with great vocals alternating between rapping and singing. The lyrics are a bit forced and unable to flow well, but the song is still awesome.

Machine Supremacy - "Anthem Apocalyptica" (from Origin)

4.5/5. This one I still love as a potential fight-preparation song. The music fits well by itself without any lyrics. I discovered this band 7 years ago when I was still in the power metal zone. This was before their debut Deus ex Machinae when they creating singular tracks to upload on their website. It's still quite, including that calm beginning. I think this should've been in the movie Ready Player One. While I enjoyed the instrumentals, same goes for the real songs despite the whininess in the vocals. I also enjoyed playing the demo of the Jets'n'Guns game they composed music for. A great outro to end this playlist!