December 2021 "The Guardians" Playlist - Metal Academy Radio
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3w8wz5HBOoks78mYzldAMq?si=1618072bc78f41bd
1. Savatage – “Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)” (from “Dead Winter Dead”, 1995) [Submitted by shadowdoom9]
2. The Lord Weird Slough Feg – “Warriors Dawn” (from “Down Among the Deadmen”, 2000)
3. Sorcerer – “The Hammer of Witches” (from “Lamenting of the Innocent”, 2020) [Submitted by Vinny]
4. Ravenous E.H. – “...Of Beasts & Faust” (from “Hubris”, 2021)
5. Avantasia – “Seduction of Decay” (from “Ghostlights”, 2016)
6. Powerwolf – “Incense & Iron” (from “The Sacrament Of Sin”, 2018)
7. Rhapsody Of Fire – “Unholy Warcry” (from “Symphony of Enchanted Lands II (The Dark Secret)”, 2004) [Submitted by shadowdoom9]
8. Blind Guardian – “Journey Through the Dark” (from “Somewhere Far Beyond”, 1992) [Submitted by shadowdoom9]
9. Accept – “Princess of the Dawn” (from “Restless and Wild”, 1992) [Submitted by shadowdoom9]
10. Kryptos – “Cold Blood” (from “Afterburner”, 2019)
11. Primal Fear – “Eyes Of An Eagle” (from “Nuclear Fire”, 2000)
12. Night Cobra – “The Serpent's Kiss” (from “The Serpent's Kiss”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]
13. Iced Earth – “Anthem” (from “Dystopia”, 2011)
14. Iron Maiden – “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” (from “Powerslave”, 1984)
15. Denner / Shermann – “War Witch” (from “Satan's Tomb” E.P., 2015)
16. Dragonforce – “The Last Journey Home” (from “Ultra Beatdown”, 2020) [Submitted by shadowdoom9]
17. Firewind – “Allegiance” (from “Allegiance, 2006)
18. Hunted – “Misled” (from “Deliver Us”, 2021)
19. Shadowland – “Ligeia” (from “The Necromancer's Castle”, 2021) [Submitted by Vinny]
20. Metal Church – “Dead on the Vine” (from “From the Vault”, 2020)
21. Majestica – “Ghost of Christmas Present” (from “A Christmas Carol”, 2020)
Excellent playlist, Xephyr! Here are my thoughts on some tracks:
Savatage – “Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)” (from “Dead Winter Dead”, 1995)
5/5. Thanks so much Xephyr for accepting this submission (among the other ones I've submitted), and at the perfect position, the beginning of the playlist. An absolutely epic Christmas tune used in both this Savatage album and the first Trans-Siberian Orchestra album, something to use for an epic Christmas battle, like that of the Regular Show Christmas Special (yeah, it was used there). One of the most brilliant Christmas songs to this day! Happy December!!
The Lord Weird Slough Feg – “Warriors Dawn” (from “Down Among the Deadmen”, 2000)
4.5/5. After that epic intro, we head on to the actual heavy/power metal action with this song. The vocals don't come until after another two-minute intro, and I'm really digging this one! It's even used in the metal video game Brutal Legend.
Sorcerer – “The Hammer of Witches” (from “Lamenting of the Innocent”, 2020)
4/5. Nearly incredible, but this "Children of the Grave"-like pace is a little too much. Next!
Ravenous E.H. – “...Of Beasts & Faust” (from “Hubris”, 2021)
4/5. This one's also great, but a little too stretched out for a 10-minute track.
Avantasia – “Seduction of Decay” (from “Ghostlights”, 2016)
4.5/5. Excellent collaboration in an album of guest collaborations (rock metal opera)! Geoff Tate (ex-Queensryche) should've stayed around with Avantasia longer. Tobias Sammet has done a f***ing excellent job with his vocalist choices in the album Ghostlights.
Rhapsody Of Fire – “Unholy Warcry” (from “Symphony of Enchanted Lands II (The Dark Secret)”, 2004)
4.5/5. Now go back in time another few centuries and add dragons and warriors and whatever fantasy-like thing you can think of from another world. Listen to those lyrics through the powerful voice of Fabio Lione and the narration from a name the world would never forget, famous actor Christopher Lee. RIP
Blind Guardian – “Journey Through the Dark” (from “Somewhere Far Beyond”, 1992)
5/5. This one is a kick-A journey through dark speedy power metal. The lead melodies and shredding solos are excellent!
Accept – “Princess of the Dawn” (from “Restless and Wild”, 1992)
4.5/5. A superb song to end Accept's 1982 breakthrough album, and probably would've been perfect if it wasn't for the abrupt ending that the band thought was a good idea but turned out not to be. Either way, Accept for life!!
Dragonforce – “The Last Journey Home” (from “Ultra Beatdown”, 2020)
5/5. This one has different changes compared to their earlier material, including being more mid-paced and progressive. While this is one of the best from Ultra Beatdown, it still can't beat the band's greater hits (the ones that I award 5.5 or 6 stars).
My thought on one more track:
Majestica – “Ghost of Christmas Present” (from “A Christmas Carol”, 2020)
4.5/5. This heavily orchestrated track has a lot worth headbanging to. Beginning and ending this playlist with a Christmas song is a brilliant idea for December. Once again, great work with this playlist, Xephyr!
Savatage – “Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)” (from “Dead Winter Dead”, 1995) [Submitted by shadowdoom9]
An enjoyable start to the playlist considering it is an instrumental which are not always my thing this was entertaining from start to finish 4.5/5
The Lord Weird Slough Feg – “Warriors Dawn” (from “Down Among the Deadmen”, 2000)
One of my favourite tracks from this album so always on for full marks 5/5
Ravenous E.H. – “...Of Beasts & Faust” (from “Hubris”, 2021)
More than a bit over-pompous for me (which is odd considering I waxed lyrical about Majestica this month) but I did get a sense of trying to push themselves too far. As a result the track loses credibility and so I lost interest. 2.5/5
Avantasia – “Seduction of Decay” (from “Ghostlights”, 2016)
Recognised Geoff Tate from the off on here alongside Tobias on vocals. Enjoyed the track overall too which is rare for me – some serious mellowing going on with me this month. 4/5
Powerwolf – “Incense & Iron” (from “The Sacrament Of Sin”, 2018)
A band I have never taken time much time to explore, thought it got going well after a shaky start. 3.5/5
Rhapsody Of Fire – “Unholy Warcry” (from “Symphony of Enchanted Lands II (The Dark Secret)”, 2004) [Submitted by shadowdoom9]
A bit of a stretch for me in all honesty, was at power metal overload by this point. 2/5
Blind Guardian – “Journey Through the Dark” (from “Somewhere Far Beyond”, 1992) [Submitted by shadowdoom9]
Slight upturn again on this from one of my preferred power metal bands 3.5/5
Accept – “Princess of the Dawn” (from “Restless and Wild”, 1992) [Submitted by shadowdoom9]
Nice sultry and brooding number to break out of that power metal from one of heavy metal’s finest albums. 4.5/5
Primal Fear – “Eyes Of An Eagle” (from “Nuclear Fire”, 2000)
Hard to believe they considered this guy Ralf to replace Rob Halford in Priest, I am not a fan of him but this track isn’t bad musically. 3/5
Iced Earth – “Anthem” (from “Dystopia”, 2011)
Just do not like Iced Earth, vocals are terrible 1/5
Iron Maiden – “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” (from “Powerslave”, 1984)
Nothing to be said really that hasn’t been said a million times before. One of the classic Maiden tracks that more than has the staying power to keep the attention over the entire 13:39 run time. 5/5
Denner / Shermann – “War Witch” (from “Satan's Tomb” E.P., 2015)
Not sure what we have going on here – heavy metal with power metal vocals. Doesn’t work. 2/5
Dragonforce – “The Last Journey Home” (from “Ultra Beatdown”, 2020) [Submitted by shadowdoom9]
Not dissimilar to every other Dragonforce track I have ever heard but entertaining, nonetheless. 3/5
Firewind – “Allegiance” (from “Allegiance, 2006)
Inoffensive but unremarkable 2.5/5
Hunted – “Misled” (from “Deliver Us”, 2021)
Interesting in an unusual sounding way that sounds polished and rough at the same time, feels a bit immature overall but tempted to listen to more before dismissing. 3/5
Metal Church – “Dead on the Vine” (from “From the Vault”, 2020)
Proof if needed of how relevant MC still are (were?) in the world of heavy metal in 2020 with this being one of 4 new studio tracks. 3.5/5
Majestica – “Ghost of Christmas Present” (from “A Christmas Carol”, 2020)
Yep, my love for this one is already known 4.5/5
Overall a great list, I was drowning in power metal at one point but the rest of the list remedied this nicely.
This playlist is going to be a challenging wakeup call for me as straight up Heavy Metal is one of my least listened to genres. Anything that would be close to Heavy Metal that I seem to enjoy either falls too much on the Doom Metal side (Crypt Sermon) or is just Power Metal in disguise, plus traditional Heavy Metal isn't a genre that gets a whole lot of buzz in the modern era so I end up brushing over any notable new releases. I knew coming into this that my playlists would be very Power Metal skewed, so I'll have to see what I can do moving forward once the year end list rush is over.
This playlist is going to be a challenging wakeup call for me as straight up Heavy Metal is one of my least listened to genres. Anything that would be close to Heavy Metal that I seem to enjoy either falls too much on the Doom Metal side (Crypt Sermon) or is just Power Metal in disguise, plus traditional Heavy Metal isn't a genre that gets a whole lot of buzz in the modern era so I end up brushing over any notable new releases. I knew coming into this that my playlists would be very Power Metal skewed, so I'll have to see what I can do moving forward once the year end list rush is over.
I hear ya. I am pummelling my earholes with groove metal and speed metal to try and get a better understanding of the variety needed for The Pit playlist as I am a conventional thrash fan at heart with only fleeting forays into crossover and technical thrash really.
This month I went for The Guardians for a playlist outside of my three clans and I'm not going to lie, this one was a real struggle for me. My distaste for power metal didn't serve me at all well here and the first 45 minutes were painful. In fact the only tracks I really enjoyed were Rime of the Ancient Mariner (obviously) and the Shadowland track. There was another two or three that were OK - Accept, Metal Church and Kryptos.
I think I may reconsider going for The Guardians for my fourth clan as I don't think I'll fit in at all well.