Metal Academy Radio Playlist Suggestions - The Guardians Edition

Here are my submissions for the December Guardians playlist:

Accept - "Princess of the Dawn" (6:15) from Restless and Wild (1982)

Blind Guardian - "Journey Through the Dark" (4:45) from Somewhere Far Beyond (1992)

DragonForce - "The Last Journey Home" (8:12) from Ultra Beatdown (2008)

Rhapsody of Fire - "Unholy Warcry" (5:53) from Symphony of Enchanted Lands II – The Dark Secret (2004)

Savatage - "Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)" (3:24) from Dead Winter Dead (1995) (a special submission to celebrate Christmas month)

Total length: 28:29

Just three from me for December:

Sorcerer - "The Hammer of Witches" (from Lamenting of the Innocent, 2020)

Night Cobra -  "The Serpent's Kiss" (from The Serpent's Kiss, 2022)

Shadowland - "Ligeia" (from The Necromancer's Castle, 2021)

Length = 14:35

Still not feeling too much of the trad metal/heavy metal vibe at present so listening to a lot less of this clan for now.

For January:

Black Sites - "Sword of Orion" (from Untrue, 2021) 05:48

Tower -  "Prince of Darkness" (from Shock to the System, 2021) 04:22

Riot City - "Burn the Night" (from Burn the Night, 2019) 03:37

Traveler - "Starbreaker" (from Traveler, 2019) 05:41

The Night Eternal - "Son of Sin" (from Moonlit Cross, 2021) 06:31

Hammer King - "Hammerschlag" (from Hammer King, 2021) 03:21

Run time = 29:20

Here are my submissions for the January Guardians playlist:

After Forever - "Emphasis" (4:18) from Decipher (2001)

Angra - "Wuthering Heights" (4:38) from Angels Cry (1993)

Dragonland - "Supernova" (5:09) from Astronomy (2006)

Kamelot - "Rhydin" (5:03) from Siege Perilous (1998)

Nightwish - "Nemo" (4:36) from Once (2004)

Rhapsody of Fire - "Glory for Salvation" (5:04) from Glory for Salvation (2021)

Total length: 28:48

Here are my submissions for the February Guardians playlist:

Angra - "Mystery Machine" (4:11) from Fireworks (1998)

DragonForce - "My Heart Will Go On" (3:23) from Extreme Power Metal (2019)

HammerFall - "Hearts on Fire" (3:51) from Crimson Thunder (2002)

Nightwish - "The Poet and the Pendulum" (13:53) from Dark Passion Play (2007)

Sonata Arctica - "8th Commandment" (3:41) from Ecliptica (1999)

Total length: 28:59

Feb 22:

Tower - "Blood Moon" (from "Shock to the System", 2021) 03:13

Armoured Saint - "Standing on the Shoulders of Giants" (from "Punching the Sky", 2021) 06:47

Eternity's End - "Bane of the Black Sword" (from "Embers of War", 2021) 04:50

Heavy Sentence - "On The Run" (from "Bang to Rights", 2021) 03:12

Ross the Boss - "Denied by the Cross" (from "Born of Fire", 2020) 03:36

Rage - "Virginity" (from "Resurrection Day", 2021) 03:42

Bombus - "Abonimation Rock 'n' Roll" (from "Abonimation Rock 'n' Roll", 2021) 04:18

Run time = 29:38

Here are my submissions for the March Guardians playlist:

Angra - "The Voice Commanding You" (5:28) from Aurora Consurgens (2006)

Dream Evil - "Children of the Night" (4:44) from Evilized (2003)

Lord - "Set in Stone" (5:13) from Set in Stone (2009)

Running Wild - "Riding the Storm" (6:30) from Death or Glory (1989)

Sabaton - "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" (3:02) from The Great War (2019)

Savatage - "Not What You See" (5:02) from Dead Winter Dead (1995)

Total length: 29:59

March = 

Ancient Empire - "Wings of the Fallen" (from "Wings of the Fallen", 2019) 05:30

Helstar - "Burning Star" (from "Burning Star", 1984) 03:48

Morgul Blade - "In The Grip of the Dark Lord" (from "Fell Sorcery Abounds", 2021) 05:38

Sölicitör - "Terminal Force" (from "Spectral Devastation", 2020) 04:24

Skull Fist -  "Bad for Good" (from "Chasing the Dream", 2014) 04:26

The Night Eternal - "Elysion (Take Me Over)" (from "Moonlit Cross", 2021) 05:14

Run Time = 29:00

Not feeling as much of the heavy/power metal vibe as much as I used to, so these submissions might be my last for now. Will explain more about it later.

It's interesting to hear you say that Andi because your ratings don't reflect that at all. In fact they indicate the exact opposite. If we look at all of your The Guardians related ratings since October 2021 they average a score of 4.54/5 across 14 releases which is a phenomenally high result. There wouldn't be another member that could compete with that across any clan actually. I don't mean to overstep my welcome but do you think that your tendency to commit to rating/reviewing every release in a band's back catalogue is contributing to your drop in enthusiasm given the large commitment that takes? I would think it would certainly make it a challenge to come up with fresh playlist ideas. I know when I've been too scripted about my listening habits I've started to feel boxed in & the best thing to do has been to just listen to whatever the hell I feel like for a while & all of a sudden music just seems a whole bunch more fun again. Variety is the spice of life after all. Feel free to tell me fuck right off though of course. Sometimes I well & truly deserve it. 

Not feeling as much of the heavy/power metal vibe as much as I used to, so these submissions might be my last for now. Will explain more about it later.

It's interesting to hear you say that Andi because your ratings don't reflect that at all. In fact they indicate the exact opposite. If we look at all of your The Guardians related ratings since October 2021 they average a score of 4.54/5 across 14 releases which is a phenomenally high result. There wouldn't be another member that could compete with that across any clan actually. I don't mean to overstep my welcome but do you think that your tendency to commit to rating/reviewing every release in a band's back catalogue is contributing to your drop in enthusiasm given the large commitment that takes? I would think it would certainly make it a challenge to come up with fresh playlist ideas. I know when I've been too scripted about my listening habits I've started to feel boxed in & the best thing to do has been to just listen to whatever the hell I feel like for a while & all of a sudden music just seems a whole bunch more fun again. Variety is the spice of life after all. Feel free to tell me fuck right off though of course. Sometimes I well & truly disserve it. 

I echo the 'boxed in' sentiment and I have certainly felt like this in recent months to the point where I no longer plan any listening.  Yes, I will run through the features here but I am learning to live a little better with silence so far this year.  I can drive somewhere in silence if I want, I do not have to have music on in my office / lair every time I go in there.  I have been at this for over 30 years and so burnout is inevitable.

I do still enjoy those Guardians releases, but like Vinny says, burnout is inevitable. I might feel burned out with heavy/power metal at times mainly because I haven't made power metal my primary target of interest in over 4 years, yet at the same time, I try to build up that part of my metal taste based on recs and what I might like. Kinda like when my dad cooks for dinner some stir-fry chicken that I used to like and even though I've lost some of its appeal, I would eat it anyway. Sooo... I'm going to give some of the 14 Guardians releases I've rated since October each a good review and see if that's enough to motivate me to continue my Guardians submissions beyond my ones for March. Time to check if I still have the heart of a Guardian!

Not feeling as much of the heavy/power metal vibe as much as I used to, so these submissions might be my last for now. Will explain more about it later.

It's interesting to hear you say that Andi because your ratings don't reflect that at all. In fact they indicate the exact opposite. If we look at all of your The Guardians related ratings since October 2021 they average a score of 4.54/5 across 14 releases which is a phenomenally high result. There wouldn't be another member that could compete with that across any clan actually. I don't mean to overstep my welcome but do you think that your tendency to commit to rating/reviewing every release in a band's back catalogue is contributing to your drop in enthusiasm given the large commitment that takes? I would think it would certainly make it a challenge to come up with fresh playlist ideas. I know when I've been too scripted about my listening habits I've started to feel boxed in & the best thing to do has been to just listen to whatever the hell I feel like for a while & all of a sudden music just seems a whole bunch more fun again. Variety is the spice of life after all. Feel free to tell me fuck right off though of course. Sometimes I well & truly disserve it. 

I echo the 'boxed in' sentiment and I have certainly felt like this in recent months to the point where I no longer plan any listening.  Yes, I will run through the features here but I am learning to live a little better with silence so far this year.  I can drive somewhere in silence if I want, I do not have to have music on in my office / lair every time I go in there.  I have been at this for over 30 years and so burnout is inevitable.

I definitely get where you guys are coming from. I have dropped my metal releases of the year list on RYM and the inherent demands of listening to and reviewing 150-200 releases from the current calendar year. I have so far only heard two albums from 2022, neither of which were very inspired listening I must admit. In fact, I have spent most of the last week listening to Led Zeppelin and Jethro Tull, just because I wanted to! I have found that just going "fuck it, I'll listen to what I want" is very liberating, as is resisting the need to review every release even if I've got very little to say, so I'm sure you'll all be pleased to see my number of reviews dropping off quite steeply! And similarly to Vinny, I've even been out walking the dog without headphones on some days, which has been unheard of over the last few years.

I do still enjoy those Guardians releases, but like Vinny says, burnout is inevitable. I might feel burned out with heavy/power metal at times mainly because I haven't made power metal my primary target of interest in over 4 years, yet at the same time, I try to build up that part of my metal taste based on recs and what I might like. Kinda like when my dad cooks for dinner some stir-fry chicken that I used to like and even though I've lost some of its appeal, I would eat it anyway. Sooo... I'm going to give some of the 14 Guardians releases I've rated since October each a good review and see if that's enough to motivate me to continue my Guardians submissions beyond my ones for March. Time to check if I still have the heart of a Guardian!

Why would you feel burned out with those subgenres if you haven't made them your primary target of interest in over four years Andi? I would have thought the break would do the complete opposite & prevent any possibility of burnout. My point is that there's actually no need to HAVE a primary target of interest. There are truckloads of metal subgenres to explore so why tie yourself down to only a few & why commit to reviewing all of those releases you've already rated in the hope of revitalizing your interest? Why not simply put on whatever you feel like it & enjoy it for what it is in that particular moment? 

Also, your comparisons with force-feeding yourself your dad's cooking is confusing me because you've been rating the vast majority of these The Guardians releases 4.5/5 or 5/5 which is giving the impression that you think they're amongst the most enjoyable releases you've ever heard. Is that not the case?

I'm trying to prevent the burnout from going any further, and if it seems like I might be heading that way, I just test out writing a few reviews to see if there's still some hope in motivation. While many of the Guardians albums I've listened to at least 5 years ago, they were some of the most enjoyable albums back then and I felt like they should keep that honor, same for some of the Gateway albums from 10 years before today that I listened to before starting my path through "true" metal. Anyway, for some of the recently-listened-to albums, I still enjoy some of their highlights, and one post in The Guardians Track of the Day thread now has my decision for how I'm gonna handle my Guardians journey: https://metal.academy/forum/9/thread/189?page=5#topic_9615

I will not be submitting any suggestions for April's playlist.

Here are my suggestions for May's playlist:

Accept - "Too Mean to Die" (4:21) from Too Mean to Die (2021)

Alestorm - "No Quarter" (3:02) from Black Sails at Midnight (2009)

Kamelot - "Center of the Universe" (5:27) from Epica (2003)

Savatage - "She's in Love" (3:51) from Gutter Ballet (1989)

Sonata Arctica - "FullMoon" (5:05) from Ecliptica (1999)

Wintersun - "Land of Snow and Sorrow" (8:22) from Time I (2012)

Total length: 30:08 (pardon the slight overtime)

At the risk of sounding like a broken record I will not be submitting anything for May's Guardians playlist.

Exactly what happened, I didn't see the post. I'll put them in next month. 

Hi Xephyr, can I make the following suggestion for the June Guardians playlist:

Angel Witch - "Angel of Light" (6:40) from "Angel of Light" (2019)

Here's my submission for the June playlist Xephyr:

Kamelot - "Wander" (from "Epica", 2003)

Hi Xephyr, since the single-track suggestions are on for the Guardians playlist, and that's what I'm more comfortable doing, here's my submission for June:

Power Quest - "Master of Illusion" (from Master of Illusion, 2008)

My submission for the July playlist is:

Ambush - "Master Of Pain" (from "Firestorm", 2014)

Hi Xephyr, here's my submission for the July playlist:

Within Temptation - "Iron" (from The Unforgiving, 2011)

Hi Xephyr. My submission for July:

Black Sabbath - "Falling Off the Edge of the World" from "Mob Rules" (1981)