December 2025 "Metalcore Revolution" Playlist - Metal Academy Radio

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1yFgscg5HWKGoIy2s0xRfG

Tracklisting:

1. Adept - "Blood Covenant" from Blood Covenant (2025)

2. Dead by April - "Bulletproof" from Bulletproof (2020)

3. Cave In - "Vicious Circles" from White Silence (2011)

4. The Narrator - "Aurora" from Aurora (2025)

5. Allt - "Aquila" from From the New World (2024)

6. Nik Nocturnal - "Collapse" from Collapse (2025)

7. Shadows Fall - "Root Bound Apollo" from Of One Blood (1999)

8. AVRALIZE - "Fading Faster" from Liminal (2025)

9. Carnifex - "Dark Days" from Die Without Hope (2014)

10. Reflections - "From Nothing" from Willow (2020) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

11. Humanity's Last Breath - "Anthracite" from Anthracite (2025)

12. The Breathing Process - "The Conscious Observer" from Samsara (2018) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

13. The Devil Wears Prada - "Supernova" from Space (2015) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

14. It Dies Today - "Life of Uncertainty" from Lividity (2009) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

15. 156/Silence - "Better Written Villain" from People Watching (2024)

16. Lamb of God - "Again We Rise" from Sacrament (2006)

17. Dragoncorpse - "Born Again" from Born Again (2025)

18. Structures - "Gone / Dead" from None of the Above (2021) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

19. We Came as Romans - "If There's Nothing to See" from Cold Like War (2017) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

20. Girlsbeinggirls - "Girls Cutting Girls" from Girlsbeinggirls (2025)

21. Daughters - "Jones from Indiana" from Canada Songs (2003)

22. The Chariot - "They Drew Their Swords" from The Fiancee (2007)

23. Psyopus - "X and Y" from Odd Senses (2009)

24. The Number Twelve Looks Like You - "An Aptly Fictional Description" from Nuclear Sad Nuclear (2005)

25. Wolves at the Gate - "The King" from The King (2012)

26. Trivium - "Six Walls" from Struck Dead (2025)

27. Hope for the Dying - "Open Up the Sky" from Aletheia (2013)

28. Atreyu - "Lip Gloss and Black" from Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses (2002) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

Here are my thoughts on all the selected tracks:

Adept - "Blood Covenant" from Blood Covenant (2025)

4/5. Adept are back with their first album in nearly a decade. Let their sound rain and pour over us!

Dead by April - "Bulletproof" from Bulletproof (2020)

4.5/5. Dead by April's new screaming vocalist Christopher Kristensen is also from dEMOTIONAL. For this song, I enjoy the kick-A electronic melodies and guitar soloing. It's one of the best non-album singles by the band, having their earlier electronic metalcore roots.

Cave In - "Vicious Circles" from White Silence (2011)

4/5. This grind-ish metal/hardcore blitzkrieg has some of the band's most vicious aggression since their debut. Horns up, y'all!

The Narrator - "Aurora" from Aurora (2025)

4.5/5. Honestly I don't think modern metal is f***ing up the genre, just as long as we still have amazing talent from bands like The Narrator. The last minute of this track starts with a heavy breakdown including an Architects-esque "BLEGH". I enjoy the screams and cleans from the two vocalists. They are right there with Annisokay as a leading band in the new wave of German metalcore.

Allt - "Aquila" from From the New World (2024)

4/5. Well-written lyrics of absolute fire. Enough said!

Nik Nocturnal - "Collapse" from Collapse (2025)

4.5/5. Nik Nocturnal has returned from his break to do some FUN. METAL. THINGS!!!! Kick-A modern metalcore/deathcore/electronic things, to be exact. And he's practically gone super saiyan in both his looks and vocals.

Shadows Fall - "Root Bound Apollo" from Of One Blood (1999)

5/5. Another of my favorite songs in this Shadows Fall album with a fast searing Metallica-like solo. This was actually originally a song by Fair's former band Overcast, but it ended up in this album. It would later be re-recorded on the Overcast album Reborn to Kill Again.

AVRALIZE - "Fading Faster" from Liminal (2025)

4.5/5. This one probably has the catchiest alt-metalcore chorus of the year! It should make Avralize big enough to reach stadiums.

Carnifex - "Dark Days" from Die Without Hope (2014)

4.5/5. And now the bright days turn dark in this f***ing brutal song with amazing soloing. This is around the time when they started adding elements of Dimmu Borgir-ish symphonic black metal to their deathcore.

Reflections - "From Nothing" from Willow (2020)

5/5. Holy sh*tballs, this entire gem is like a ultra-heavy downtuned breakdown from beginning to end. I'm glad I'm not listening to this while having my breakfast cereal, otherwise there would be a huge mess of things. These thall legends are like the son of Emmure and The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravanganza.

Humanity's Last Breath - "Anthracite" from Anthracite (2025)

4.5/5. More thall? You got it! This song and the Grimace Shake would make a lethal combo. Glad that this band and fellow thall masters Vildhjarta are still around this year.

The Breathing Process - "The Conscious Observer" from Samsara (2018)

5/5. Starting off melodic, the guitars and growls continue to strike forward, perfectly balanced with the melody. I also love the midsection guitar soloing that's a nice pleasant break from the blackened chaos.

The Devil Wears Prada - "Supernova" from Space (2015)

4.5/5. I especially love the chorus in this track. RIP Daniel Williams...

It Dies Today - "Life of Uncertainty" from Lividity (2009)

5/5. I really love this song, being another prime example of 2000s metalcore. Jason Wood is quite great at his vocals, though he can't beat Nicholas Brooks.

156/Silence - "Better Written Villain" from People Watching (2024)

4.5/5. I decided to listen to this on YouTube, and I stumbled upon the version with the intro "Sleep Spikes". And d*mn, they fit together like a glove!

Lamb of God - "Again We Rise" from Sacrament (2006)

4/5. Look, as much as I know Lamb of God is more of a groove metal band, there are a few songs that have a more metalcore vibe, in a similar vein to Cave In and the NWOAHM movement. Everything's intense from the intro ("RISE!!!!") to the bridge ("You'll never be one of our kind! This ain't yours, f*** you, don't try!") and so on.

Dragoncorpse - "Born Again" from Born Again (2025)

4.5/5. Dragoncorpse are born again, and they continue their blend of the power metal of DragonForce and the epic deathcore of Lorna Shore. They even throw in some of the epic folk metal of Ensiferum and Equilibrium, which reminds me, I need to start listening to those bands for real.

Structures - "Gone / Dead" from None of the Above (2021)

4/5. Structures' temporary split showed that the band was gone but not dead. Despite the obvious Limp Bizkit/nu metal vibes in the instrumentation and vocals, the riffing is quite sick. Plus there is a bit of a Silent Planet-ish sound here and there, so some great points for that. I just wish they had more of the intricacy of their earlier albums. I could practically use this for a party to have all the guests headbanging. Probably would've been better if it was two or three times longer though.

We Came as Romans - "If There's Nothing to See" from Cold Like War (2017)

4.5/5. One of the best songs of this album, throwing back to their earlier roots and featuring one of the I Prevail vocalists. RIP Kyle Pavone...

Girlsbeinggirls - "Girls Cutting Girls" from Girlsbeinggirls (2025)

4/5. Girls be girls. Mathcore be mathcore, no matter how chaotic and disturbing it can get.

Daughters - "Jones from Indiana" from Canada Songs (2003)

3.5/5. I think I know where Girlsbeinggirls got some of their speed and chaos from.

The Chariot - "They Drew Their Swords" from The Fiancee (2007)

4/5. Christian math/metalcore can be quite kick-A, as well as spawning some strange unique music videos.

Psyopus - "X and Y" from Odd Senses (2009)

3.5/5. D*mn, it's sad that bands like The Chariot and Psyopus are gone. Let's enjoy this while we can.

The Number Twelve Looks Like You - "An Aptly Fictional Description" from Nuclear Sad Nuclear (2005)

4/5. After a jazzy 30-second intro, we end up getting the band's usual progressive deathly mathcore. Some cool guitar arpeggios appear in the midsection along with the last bit of screaming to end the first half. Then the entire second half is just a baroque waltz. Only the strictly heavy mathcore fans would stay for just that first half.

Wolves at the Gate - "The King" from The King (2012)

4.5/5. Since this is the December Revolution playlist, I knew I couldn't miss out on including at least one Christmas metal song. Well this is actually from their earlier post-hardcore era, though metal enough to be included here. It would also be re-recorded for their Christmas-themed EP Lowborn. And even non-Christians would praise it!

Trivium - "Six Walls" from Struck Dead (2025)

5/5. The new Trivium EP's 7-minute epic, it may just be the "And I Return to Nothingness title track" of this EP, longer and more epic than the heavy rest of the offering. After a haunting one-minute intro, the remaining 6 minutes has the band's thrashy melodic metalcore reminiscent of Ascendancy, with a more cinematic progressive structure. It's the perfect emotional storm! Oh, and I would like to note that based on the different keys that are out of the E-flat/drop D-flat/7-string B-flat/drop A-flat tuning range, this may be the first ever Trivium track in D tuning (not drop D, standard D) (in my theory). So many surprises in that towering track that are easy to remember!

Hope for the Dying - "Open Up the Sky" from Aletheia (2013)

5/5. But then we have the closing epic of this Hope for the Dying album that is the band's longest song at 12 and a half minutes. It's truly one of the most epic and innovative metal tracks I've heard in my life. Everything's so progressive with occasional hardcore bursts. You have to be really experienced musically and lyrics to understand it all. Then everything ends with distant piano. So legendary!

Atreyu - "Lip Gloss and Black" from Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses (2002)

4.5/5. OK, let's really end this playlist with a melodic metalcore classic. And just like the previous track, it has a beautiful piano ending.

Pretty good playlist I've made, huh? I recommend this to any metalcore fan and anyone who isn't into metalcore but is up to getting into a great start for the genre. Thanks to anyone who have contributed with their own submissions, and I hope the rest of you enjoy it like I've had!