February 2023 "The Gateway" Playlist - Metal Academy Radio

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7aY7WjCGySb3Lb4x79Dk5T?si=4aabe06037b6457d

1. Sleep Token – The Summoning (2023)

2. Mudvayne – Death Blooms (2000)

3. Atreyu – Untouchable (2021)

4. Katatonia – Birds (2023)

5. Buckethead – Soothsayer (2006)

6. Breaking Benjamin – Blood (2018)

7. Bloodsimple – What If I Lost It (2005)

8. Candiria – Down (2004)

9. Parkway Drive – Glitch (2022)

10. Demon Hunter – Heaven Don’t Cry (2022)

11. Slipknot – The Heretic Anthem (2001)

12. Disturbed – Won’t Back Down (2022)

13. Alice In Chains – Drone (2018)

14. I Prevail – There’s Fear in Letting Go (2022)

15. Coaltar Of The Deepers – AMETHYST [REVENGE] (2021)

16. Twelve Foot Ninja – Oxygen (2016)

17. Love and Death – Down (2021)

18. Within Temptation – The Reckoning (2019)

19. In This Moment – Black Wedding (feat. Rob Halford) (2017)

20. Halestorm – The Steeple (2022)

21. Stuck Mojo – The Ward Is My Shepard (2000)

Saxy, let me just say, you have done such as incredible job assembling this month's Gateway and Infinite playlists! This tracklisting has encouraged me to go through the entire playlist and find good tracks from bands I already listen to along with different bands in which some of them I feel up to trying some more songs from them. Well done, please keep it up! So let's get my track thought journey started:

Sleep Token – The Summoning (2023)

4/5. There's a lot of brand-new metal to explore, and this playlist opener is one of them! After 5 cool minutes of ambient alt-metal, there's a funky turn into something different. But throughout the song, the vocals and lyrics are so divine, alongside the djenty heaviness almost as much as Deftones mixed with Tesseract and Haken. I'm telling you, those lyrics can really guide you through.

Mudvayne – Death Blooms (2000)

4.5/5. A legendary heavy intro starts this track that has a bit of an industrial aspect from Godflesh and Static-X. Ryan Martinie performs excellent bass here. This sh*t can be good as h*ll for the more experimental nu metal fans.

Atreyu – Untouchable (2021)

4/5. A good song to love for anyone who's into Atreyu and Jacoby Shaddix (Papa Roach).

Katatonia – Birds (2023)

4.5/5. Continuing the flow is this song from Katatonia's new album, restoring more of the straight heaviness of their early 2000s albums like Viva Emptiness, within the sinister atmosphere and urgent melody.

Buckethead – Soothsayer (2006)

4/5. This is such a beautiful and emotional long alt-rock/metal instrumental, with some soloing to marvel upon, especially at the 4-minute mark. Excellent! This can almost be consider this playlist's "Crusade".

Breaking Benjamin – Blood (2018)

4.5/5. If there's any song that can fit well with the soundtrack to the film Morbius, it would be this one. It's one of the f***ing heaviest tracks by this band, and one of my brother's favorite songs from one of his favorite bands.

Bloodsimple – What If I Lost It (2005)

5/5. Such as awesome underrated group this band is! A Cruel World is one of the best 2000s alt-metal albums I've heard. This song reminds me a bit of the aforementioned Mudvayne. Lead vocalist Tim Williams is also a founding member of metalcore band Vision of Disorder. Anyone who has watched the ESPN X-Games or played Need for Speed Most Wanted may be familiar with this track that reminds me of Godsmack in a Disturbed-like level of heaviness. Kyle Sanders (brother of Mastodon bassist Troy Sanders) would later join Hellyeah long after this band's split. I would really like more of Bloodsimple for alt-metal at its best.

Candiria – Down (2004)

4.5/5. Some listeners of this song might know it from Greg Hastings' Tournament Paintball. This one has the new millennium balance of heaviness and melody, all while declaring "I bow down to no one!" Its album shows the band's temporary move from the mathcore of The Dillinger Escape Plan to the heavy/alternative metal of Avenged Sevenfold and Clutch. It's gems like this that get me pumped up for the intense experience of a college course that I currently have. Candiria is one of the greatest mind-blowing hybrid bands out there! Though I can find better material from this band in their previous two albums. Too bad I'm nearly two decades late in finding this track. It's quite fun, despite not having their earlier intensity. It's, to me, much better than what I would find in Darwin's Waiting Room and Korn, and is as good as the better side of Linkin Park and Sevendust. They would've brought back the metalcore of The Process of Self Development if not for that van accident, but I'm glad they survived...

Parkway Drive – Glitch (2022)

4/5. The new Parkway Drive album's first single adds a bit of speed while in a mid-paced march through insomniac depression, alongside guitar and gang-style vocals to remind me of While She Sleeps.

Demon Hunter – Heaven Don’t Cry (2022)

4.5/5. This incredible highlight is worth being a radio single, mixing heaviness with melody. This can reach the mainstream without stripping down the sound as much as Songs of Death and Resurrection and instead elevating the writing quality.

Slipknot – The Heretic Anthem (2001)

4/5. Although Slipknot won't ever be a favorite band for me, this song kicks a** with impressive lyrics shouted by the talented Corey Taylor.

Disturbed – Won’t Back Down (2022)

3.5/5. This one's a kinda strong headbanger, bringing back elements of the band's first 3 albums, complete with some of the earlier "OW" and "get up".

Alice In Chains – Drone (2018)

3/5. Now here's something interesting, former Queensryche guitarist Chris DeGarmo performing acoustic guitar in this Alice in Chains song. There are longtime fans who think Alice in Chains isn't the same without the late Layne Staley. While I haven't listened to this band enough to agree, I can understand this song being a bit disappointing.

I Prevail – There’s Fear in Letting Go (2022)

3.5/5. I kinda like this song from another band that my brother loves, but it's a little weird like their Taylor Swift cover. With that said, holy f***, there are a few great surprises such as the extension of the chorus near the midway point.

Coaltar Of The Deepers – AMETHYST [REVENGE] (2021)

4/5. For any Japanese rock/metal fans who want some sweet energy without having to go into the thrash of Overkill, this is your answer, I guess. So poetic and versatile!

Twelve Foot Ninja – Oxygen (2016)

4.5/5. It's quite great to hear groovy prog-ish alt-metal without having cross too much into TOOL territory. There are great lyrics, but they can't beat the jazzy bridge in the middle. Mike Patton and the rest of Mr. Bungle would be pleased.

Love and Death – Down (2021)

4/5. A pretty great song with well-done singing from Brian "Head" Welch. This oughta motivate to live life with faith in your heart.

Within Temptation – The Reckoning (2019)

4.5/5. Despite having completed my move away from this band, I love how they've impressively enhanced their over 25-year career with cyber elements added to their symphonic/alternative metal sound. It's a great song to love and motivate your spirit.

In This Moment – Black Wedding (feat. Rob Halford) (2017)

5/5. Oh man, I need this played in my future wedding! This is some of the darkest alternative metal I've heard since the recent Motionless in White. Maria Brink has bad-a** vocal power, leveled up in this duet with Judas Priest's Rob Halford.

Halestorm – The Steeple (2022)

4.5/5. The second song I've heard from the new Halestorm album, and I have a feeling about this being their heaviest one yet. My brother listens to this band more than I do, and while you can assume that I've been living under a rock when it comes to hard rock/alt-metal, I have a lot to listen to in my heavier metal cave of solitude. Even without the fast speed from other metal bands that I enjoy, this is one you just gotta love. It really hits hard! Lzzy Hale has also guest appeared in songs from other bands like Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Dream Theater, In This Moment, The Hu, and Evanescence. While I don't have my own church, I have my own community of like-minded metalheads, this website. Whether we like the same or different metal genres, we're all our own people.

Stuck Mojo – The Ward Is My Shepard (2000)

4/5. Rich Ward has done amazing guitar that has pleased fans of Stuck Mojo throughout their career. And thank greatness this is instrumental, because I'm not really up for a whole lot of rapping that the band usually has, and it's a great way to close this playlist.