Daniel's Forum Replies

Neurosis - "The Eye Of Every Storm" (2004)

Neurosis eighth album (or ninth if you include their 2003 collaboration with Jarboe) saw them delivering their most stripped back, emotionally charged & atmospheric release to the time. Subsequently, you'll find that "The Eye Of Every Storm" requires a little more commitment from the listener before its qualities start to shine through but, once they do, I can assure you that this is yet another mind-blowing record from one of my all-time favourite artists. The depth & substance on display here is nothing short of phenomenal, despite the fact that the band tinker with self-indulgence at times. It's also another prime example of why we don't need the atmospheric sludge metal tag because this record is a hell of a lot closer to post-metal than it is to sludge. Essential listening for fans of Isis, Cult Of Luna & Minsk.

4.5/5

A storming piece of mid-80's Teutonic thrash for fans of Darkness, Sacrifice & particularly "Pleasure To Kill"-era Kreator.

Deathrow - "Raging Steel" (1987)

The 1987 sophomore record from  Düsseldorf-based four-piece Deathrow is an enjoyable piece of raw Teutonic thrash metal that builds on the decent platform they'd built for themselves with their debut album from the previous year "Riders Of Doom". There's a bit more melody & ambition being shown here although you shouldn't expect any traces of tech thrash at this stage. The vocal performance is a little inconsistent which has effected my score a touch but fans of Darkness, Sacrifice & "Pleasure To Kill"-era Kreator should find plenty to enjoy here nonetheless.

3.5/5

Andi, Xephyr & saxy, I'd highly recommend you give Voivod's "Dimension Hatröss" a few spins if you haven't already. It's a quality piece of avant-garde progressive metal & is probably my favourite Voivod release these days but it's definitely not suited to a casual one-off listen. It's far too complex for that.

Avant-garde progressive metal from Canada for fans of Vektor, Coroner & Watchtower.

Voivod - "Dimension Hatröss" (1988)

The fourth album from Canadian four-piece Voivod is a beautifully realised & highly consistent avant-garde progressive metal excursion that may just be the band's best work. I think the goofy vocal style probably limits its appeal for me personally but it's very hard to deny the sheer ambition & professionalism of this release. In fact, you're extremely unlikely to have heard anything like it. For fans of Vektor, Coroner & Watchtower.

4/5

Welcome Jean. We're very supportive of new &/or undiscovered bands here at Metal Academy so we'd be interested to hear a little bit about your band. It also goes without saying that the more ratings & reviews your album gets, the more exposure you can expect for Okyr so we'd encourage you to invite as many of your friends & fans to register & contribute to the site as possible.

Autechre - "Amber" (1994)

Sensational IDM & ambient techno from Manchester, England. I spent many a morning recovering from all-night benders to this one. For fans of Aphex Twin, Boards Of Canada & The Future Sound Of London.

Sonny & Ben, I think you might enjoy this one. Some very solid techy US thrash metal with ultra-shreddy solos & power metal vocals.

A ripper of a US thrash metal track from 1987. For fans of Heathen, Artillery & Forbidden.

Toxik - "World Circus" (1987)

The debut album from these New York thrash metalllers who offer a noticeably technical edge to their delivery. The vocals are performed in an operatic Geoff Tate-like US power metal style but Josh Christian's virtuosic lead guitar performance is shredding as fuck & never lets you forget the band's thrash credentials. For fans of Heathen, Artillery & Forbidden.

4/5

This one's for you Andi.

Superb Icelandic post-metal for fans of Agalloch, Russian Circles & Toundra. This particular track shows off Solstafir's black metal roots with a vocal performance that reminds me heavily of Primordial's  A.A. Nemtheanga.

It may have taken me a long time to get around to giving this album a spin but boy was it worth the effort because I absolutely loved it. In truth, "Kold" is probably a little more post-rock than it is post-metal but the professionalism this band is capable of in creating these textured soundscapes is quite remarkable. The emotive vocals sound a lot like Primordial's A.A. Nemtheanga at times & Anathema's Vincent Cavanagh at others. The use of post-rock's trademark long repetitive build-ups moving into immense climaxes technique is beautifully executed & there's a class about everything Solstafir do here. "Kold" is not a single listen undertaking by any means. It's very long & only opens up after several listens however I strongly encourage you to give it a few spins & see if it's for you. For fans of Agalloch, Russian Circles & Toundra.

4.5/5

01. War Pigs

02. Black Sabbath

03. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

04. Snowblind

05. Symptom Of The Universe

06. Sweet Leaf

07. Iron Man

08. Hole In The Sky

09. Planet Caravan

10. N.I.B.

I accidentally voted YES instead of NO here & apparently Ben can’t easily change it so you’ve got a handy head start here Andi.

Ben, please add the Boris with Merzbow album “Rock Dream”.

To be fair Andi, melodic death metal is one of the more populous subgenres included in The Horde so it isn't really one of the ones I'm referring to.

Chris Van Etten, have you got any track suggestions for inclusion in the September The Sphere Playlist?

Sonny, Ben, Vinny, Chris... got any suggestions for the September The Pit playlist (max three each)?

Sonny, Ben, Xephyr.... got a few track suggestions for the September The North playlist (max three each)?

Xephyr & saxy, do you have a few track submissions for the September The Infinite playlist from your August listening sessions (max. three each)?

Ben, have you got a few recommendations for the September The Horde playlist?

Xephyr, Vinny, Saxy.... any track suggestions from your August playlists for inclusion in the September The Guardians clan playlist? Please keep it to a maximum of three tracks per person.

Sorry Andi. We decided that we're only taking suggestions from clan members so as to keep the playlists clan relevant.

Saxy, do you have any suggestions for the September playlist?

Andi, Ben, Chris Van Etten.... I'm just putting the September list together at the moment. Got any track suggestions from stuff you've listened to in August? Let's try to keep it to a maximum of 3 suggestions each so that we can all get some play time.

With the initial run of playlists I tried to allow for roughly equal inclusions for all clan subgenres in order to satisfy everyone. After listening to some of the playlists & receiving feedback from various members on the topic, Ben & I are thinking I should go for a different approach whereby the primary subgenres receive the majority of the play time & the niche subgenres only get the odd track here & there (perhaps one per playlist for most of them). It wasn't such an issue with clans like The Fallen that have much longer track lengths but was very noticeable with ones like The Gateway, The Horde, The Infinite & The Guardians which include niche subgenres (funk metal, rap metal, gorenoise, cybergrind, avant-garde metal, neoclassical metal, etc.) that not everyone likes.

Does everyone agree with that approach?

I was actually surprised by how much I enjoyed some of this playlist too, particularly the more intense stuff during the second half. In fact, I actually don't mind a lot of the heavier nu metal stuff which I don't often admit to myself. The funk metal & rap metal stuff is largely hit & miss for me personally & that Corey Feldman album is one of the worst things I've ever heard in my life & was very much a novelty inclusion. There's actually a lot worse I could have included from that album which is saying something. Who knew Corey had made a pop/metal record after he'd ceased to become even remotely relevant??

Yeah I felt fairly similarly about this playlist to be honest Vinny & it reminded me the reasons why I opted to remove myself from The North altogether because there's a substantial portion of the subgenres it covers that are simply too far removed from my personal tastes which sit very much in line with with your own. I could easily have stuck to my comfort zones when creating these lists but it I would always have left someone disappointed so I opted to go with a more holistic approach. I'll be interested to see what the community consensus is on that over the next month or so but I think things will inevitably morph into whatever direction the clan members want to take over time once we have more regular suggestions for inclusion coming in.

Doomy Pennsylvania thrash metal from 1987. For fans of Celtic Frost, Hellhammer & Obituary.

Dream Death - "Journey Into Mystery" (1987)

The debut album from this Pennsylvania-based thrash metal outfit who sound very much like what Celtic Frost would have sounded like if Tom Araya was their front man. There's a really strong doom element to their sound. In fact, I much prefer the doomier parts over the more up-tempo material to be honest. Also, I have to admit that I spent most of this revisit thinking just how much this record would be up Sonny's alley so I wasn't surprised in the slightest to see that he's rated this a 4.5/5 just now. Saves me from recommending it to him. For fans of Celtic Frost, Hellhammer & Obituary.

3.5/5

You've already rated it Andi!

My revised list:

25. Obituary - "Cause Of Death" (1990)

24. My Dying Bride - "Turn Loose The Swans" (1993)      

23. Leprous - "Live at Rockefeller Music Hall" (2016)

22. Morbid Angel - "Blessed Are The Sick" (1991)      

21. Metallica - "Master Of Puppets" (1986)      

20. Darkthrone - "Transilvanian Hunger" (1994)      

19. Carcass - "Necroticism: Descanting The Insalubrious" (1991)      

18. ISIS - "Panopticon" (2004)      

17. Neurosis - "Souls At Zero" (1992)     

16. Botch - "We Are The Romans" (1999) 

15. Slayer - "South Of Heaven" (1988)      

14. Immolation - "Close To A World Below" (2000)      

13. Suffocation - "Pierced From Within" (1995)      

12. Boris - "Boris At Last -Feedbacker-" (2003)      

11. Alice In Chains - "Dirt" (1992)      

10. Death - "Human" (1991)      

09. Morbid Angel - "Altars Of Madness" (1989)      

08. Metallica - "...And Justice For All" (1988)      

07. diSEMBOWELMENT - "Transcendence Into The Peripheral" (1993)      

06. ISIS - "The Mosquito Control" E.P. (1998)      

05. Sunn O))) - "Black One" (2005)      

04. Pig Destroyer - "Natasha" E.P. (2008)  

03. Deathspell Omega - "Kenose" E.P. (2005)  

02. Burzum - "Filosofem" (1996)      

01. Slayer - "Reign In Blood" (1986)

Xephyr & saxy, please report directly to this double live album pronto. I repeat... your presence is required here immediately.... over.

Is this the best piece of progressive metal ever performed? Quite possibly!

A track from the new "Pharos" E.P. from former Emperor front man & Norwegian progressive metal master Ihsahn.

A track from the upcoming "Metal City" album from NWOBHM legends Raven (due for release on 18th September).

A teaser from the upcoming live release from Swedish doom metal outfit Atarvarium entitled "An Evening With Avatarium - Live in Stockholm January 2020" (due for release tomorrow).

The new single from Fates Warning entitled "Scars" which is taken from the Connecticut progressive metallers upcoming album "Long Day Good Night" (due for release on 6th November).

The new Carcass single "The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue" which is taken from their upcoming "Despicable" E.P. (due for release on 30th October).

The new Napalm Death single "Amoral" which is taken from their upcoming album "Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism" which is due for release on 18th September.

The new E.P. from Canadian progressive metallers Protest The Hero entitled "Fabula & Syuzhet". Both tracks were recorded as B-sides during the sessions for the band's new album "Palimpsest".

The new single from Sacramento-based alternative metal outfit Deftones entitled "Ohms" which is taken from their upcoming album of the same name which is due for release on 25th September.

The new single from Swedish gothic metal outfit Draconian entitled "The Sacrificial Flame" which is taken from their upcoming album "Under a Godless Veil" which is due for release on 30th October.

The new Metallica single which is taken from their upcoming "S&M2" live release with San Francisco Symphony Orchestra which is due for release tomorrow.

The new single from French deathgrind outfit Benighted entitled "Serve To Deserve".

I wasn't aware that they were visible until I published them here. That one's not ready yet so I'll make them secret until they're ready in future.

No Mercy - "Widespread Bloodshed/Love Runs Red" (1987)

This record seems to be heavily overrated, perhaps mainly due to the fact that Suicidal Tendencies re-recorded some of this material after No Mercy broke up. I just don't see the attraction personally as I find the rough & ready production & Mike Muir's out of key vocals to be pretty tough to stomach.

Some very unpolished Venice beach thrash metal featuring several members of Suicidal Tendencies. For fans of Suicidal Tendencies, Nuclear Assault & Slayer.

No Mercy - "Widespread Bloodshed/Love Runs Red" (1987)

This is essentially a Suicidal Tendencies side project that focuses more on a traditional thrash metal sound than a crossover one. It seems to be quite highly regarded but I can't justify those sort of opinions as the weak & noisy production & Mike Muir's terrible vocal performance are very hard to see past. Some of this material was re-recorded by Suicidal Tendencies following the separation of No Mercy so perhaps that's where the love stems from. I'm not a fan of Suicidal Tendencies' "Join The Army" album from the same year either but I'd probably take it over this one. For fans of Suicidal Tendencies, Nuclear Assault & Slayer.

3/5