Daniel's Forum Replies

Pelle, if you click the video camera image at the top of the reply box & paste the YouTube link in there you can embed it into your post rather than simply presenting a written link.

Welcome Kosie. We're thrilled to have you & I've enjoyed reading your initial reviews which present a clear & well-defined point of view. If there's anything that I can help you with then simply flick me a private message. Ben & I strive to make the Academy a place where members can be open & honest without the risk of criticism or attack so please feel free to indulge in as much or as little of our functionality as you'd like.

Thanks mate. I think it'll work better this way moving forwards so I'll be continuing in that fashion. It simply means that I'm not including any tracks that haven't been fully vetted by a knowledgeable party purely in the interest of variety. Variety isn't as important as quality. If anyone else wants to proceed with their clan playlists in this manner then I'd support it.

This morning's track is Zarpa Rock's "Llega la destrucción" which I regard as being heavy psych:

Black Sabbath's most stoner-oriented record continues with the cocaine-fueled stoner metal anthem "Snowblind" which possesses a doomy atmosphere, psychedelic references & a classic groovy stoner bridge riff:

So, I've done a bit of promotional work for The Guardians & The Horde playlists over the last couple of days to see if I can drum up any interest:

1. Posted about them on the Metal Academy Facebook account (with links included) & shared that with my personal one too. Unfortunately, every time I try to do paid advertising on these posts I'm getting an error message telling me that I can't "boost" these particular posts & I haven't been able to figure out why as yet which is annoying because that's probably our best avenue for promotion.

2. Tweeted about them on Twitter with links.

3. Posted them in Spotify Playlists Subreddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/SpotifyPlaylists/)

4. Posted them in Spotify Playlist Exchange (https://community.spotify.com/t5/Music-Exchange/Playlist-Exchange/td-p/4529644/page/130)

5. Have just started to contact the bands I've included in these lists to see if they'll agree to share links to them with their followers.

Let's see if that makes any difference then!

Yes it was. Ben & I were obsessed with the figurines. Me in particular.

I just checked out Japanese hard rockers Bow Wow's 1978 fourth album "Guarantee" but found no metal whatsoever. To my ears it's a hard rock record with AOR tendencies & was clearly an attempt at cracking a more commercial market as any sign of the band's harder edge have been smoothly filed off in the name of accessibility.

I must have had Hawkwind on the brain because I incorrectly named the album from which Sabbath's "Into the Void" is taken as "Master of the Universe". Now corrected, before anybody had chance to point out what a numpty I am!!

I had the whole collection of Masters of the Universe when I was a kid. Sold them to a collector for a significant amount of money years later too strangely enough.

Black Sabbath reign continued when they returned with their fourth studio album "Vol. 4" on 25th September 1972, a record that included "Tomorrow's Dream" which is a track that most people seem to claim as heavy metal but that I'm gonna suggest is much closer to stoner metal:

This morning's track is Zarpa Rock's title track from their 1978 debut album "Los cuatro jinetes del Apocalipsis", a song that I'd suggest should qualify as heavy metal:

I honestly can't imagine where you're finding any metal in songs like the titled track & "The Shed" Andi but anyway... we'll move on.

I checked out the 1978 self-titled debut album from Sarajevo outfit Divlje Jagode today but didn't find any metal. It's a progressive/hard rock record as far as I'm concerned.

Crematory - "Denial" E.P. (1992)

This one-off E.P. from a little-known Swedish death metal band created a fair bit of hype in the tape trading scene back in the day so I ended up picking it up & quite enjoying it. I wouldn't say that it's anything terribly original but Crematory offer a very consistent fifteen minutes of extreme metal with a clear penchant for the underground. I find it really strange that literally no one on the internet has commented on the very clear grindcore component going here as it's significant enough for "Denial" to qualify as deathgrind in my opinion. I mean, there's so much here that reminds me of early 1990's Napalm Death & particularly "Symphonies of Sickness"-period Carcass (which I suspect was the primary influence) to balance out the classic Swedish death metal characteristics. All four songs are pretty decent. Unfortunately none of them stand out as highlights though which leaves "Denial" as one of those releases that I dig while I'm listening to it but rarely find myself returning to.

For fans of Carcass, Wombbath & Dismember.

3.5/5

My revised Top Ten Deathgrind Releases of All Time list with "Denial" doing just enough to usurp Napalm Death's "Mass Appeal Madness" at number ten:

01. Napalm Death - "Utopia Banished" (1992)

02. Cattle Decapitation - "Monolith of Inhumanity" (2012)

03. Brutal Truth - "Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses" (1992)

04. Full of Hell - "Weeping Choirs" (2019)

05. Lock Up - "Necropolis Transparent" (2011)

06. Cephalic Carnage - "Misled by Certainty" (2010)

07. Damaged - "Passive Backseat Demon Engines" E.P. (1995)

08. Napalm Death - "Harmony Corruption" (1990)

09. Napalm Death - "Mentally Murdered" E.P. (1989)

10. Crematory - "Denial" E.P. (1992)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/223

Dismember - "Pieces" E.P. (1992)

1992's "Pieces" E.P. was the second release I picked up from Swedish death metal legends Dismember after their 1991 debut album "Like an Ever Flowing Stream" album, both of which I picked up through trading back in the early 1990's. Despite the unanimous hype around the early Dismember records, I have to admit that I've never seen either as being particularly essential, even though I get a fair bit of enjoyment out of both. I think it simply comes down to my preference for a more sophisticated & extreme version of the death metal model to the one being churned out by the Swedes at the time to be honest. "Pieces" is very much in line with Like an Ever Flowing Stream" but I tend to slightly favour the album over the E.P. due to the greater number of highlight tracks. There's not a lot in it though as I'd suggest that "Pieces" is perhaps a touch more consistent. Anyway... if you like this sort of Swedish BOSS HM-2 pedal-driven death metal then you'll no doubt get a kick out of "Pieces". Just don't expect anything terribly life-changing with closer "Soon To Be Dead" being clearly the strongest inclusion.

For fans of Entombed, Carnage & Grave.

3.5/5

Also taken from Deep Purple's 1972 "Machine Head" album, we find this heavy metal chugger "Pictures of Home". Just listen to that driving chugger of a metal riff from the bass & guitars which manages to overcome some fairly swinging drumming to qualify as legitimate metal in my opinion.

This morning we close out Rainbow's "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" album with "Rainbow Eyes", a ballad that I'd suggest sits best under the chamber folk tag. That leaves me with a very clear "NO" result for "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll". There's really only the one metal song included in the infamous "Kill The King" & I've always struggled to understand how anyone could view it differently to be honest as it's just so clearly a hard rock record as far as I can see.

Tomorrow we'll begin a new release in 1978's "Los cuatro jinetes del Apocalipsis" debut album from Spain's Zarpa Rock (or simply Zarpa as they're more commonly known as). This particularly underground record has built up quite a reputation in the underground as being a bit of a player in the early metal scene. Let's see if it lives up to its reputation, shall we?

Here are the feature releases nomination recipients for July:

THE FALLEN: Daniel, Ben

THE GATEWAY: Saxy, Andi

THE GUARDIANS: Xephyr, Daniel

THE HORDE: Ben, Daniel

THE INFINITE: Xephyr, Saxy, Andi

THE NORTH: Xephyr, Daniel, Ben

THE PIT: Ben, Daniel

THE REVOLUTION: Daniel, Andi

THE SPHERE: Andi, Daniel

No, I'm in the minority, too.  I checked some ranked lists around the internet, and it's rare to find Sin After Sin in the top 4.  Typically the battle's between Painkiller, Vengeance and Defenders.  The latter two are a bit straightforward for me, especially Defenders.  That was the first of the various Priest albums I got through in the last 24 hours, and I really can't even say it holds a candle to the others, let alone to Invincible Shield or even British Steel which is more hard rock than anything.

Interesting. I guess it just goes to show what an important band they were given that a lot of people have very different preferences. For the record, "Defenders of the Faith" is comfortably my second favourite Priest record behind "Painkiller" (which is the only Priest record that I regard as being a genuine classic just quietly).

June 2024

01. Civerous – “Shrouded in Crystals” (from “Maze Envy”, 2024) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

02. Krisiun – “The Great Execution” (from “The Great Execution”, 2011) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

03. Abhorrent Decimation – “A Glass Coffin Burial” (from “The Pardoner”, 2017) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

04. Gorguts – “Disincarnated” (from “Considered Dead”, 1991) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

05. Malevolent Creation – “Premature Burial” (from “The Ten Commandments”, 1991) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

06. Akercocke – “Shelter From The Sand” (from “Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone”, 2005) [Submitted by Sonny]

07. Septicflesh – “Anubis” (from “Communion”, 2008) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

08. Balmora – “A Dagger To The Heart Of Finality” (from “With Thorns Of Glass & Petals Of Grief” E.P., 2023) [Submitted by Daniel]

09. Critical Extravasation – “Waltz of Hypocrisy” (from “Order of Decadence”, 2022) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

10. Neuropath – “Rectal Pulpation” (from “Nefarious Vivisection” demo, 1995) [Submitted by Daniel]

11. Sadistik Exekution – “Cautness Darling Blood” (from “The Magus”, 1991) [Submitted by Daniel]

12. PainKiller – “Skinned” (from “Buried Secrets”, 1992) [Submitted by Daniel]

13. Venenum – “Merging Nebular Drapes” (from “Trance of Death”, 2017) [Submitted by Sonny]

14. Massacra – “Atrocious Crimes” (from “Enjoy The Violence”, 1991) [Submitted by Daniel]

15. Coffins – “Chain” (from “Sinister Oath”, 2024) [Submitted by Sonny]

16. Gorephilia – “Devotion Upon The Worm” (from “In The Eye Of Nothing”, 2020) [Submitted by Daniel]

17. Grave – “Deformed” (from “Into The Grave”, 1991) [Submitted by Daniel]

18. Stortregn – “Cold Void” (from “Finitude”, 2023) [Submitted by Daniel]

19. The Crown – “Devil Gate Ride” (from “Deathcrown King”, 2000) [Submitted by Daniel]

20. Deicide – “Bury The Cross… With Your Christ” (from “Bury The Cross… With Your Christ”, 2024) [Submitted by Sonny]

21. Soreption – “Architects of the Apocalypse” (from “Monument of the End”, 2018) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

22. Suffocation – “Catatonia” (from “Human Waste” E.P., 1991) [Submitted by Sonny]

23. Discordance Axis – “Jigsaw” (from “The Inalienable Dreamless”, 2000) [Submitted by Sonny]

24. Dying Fetus – “Enlighten Through Agony” (from “Make Them Beg For Death”, 2023) [Submitted by Daniel]

25. Devourment – “Shroud of Encryption” (from “Molesting the Decapitated, 1999) [Submitted by Sonny]

26. Hour of Penance – “The Morality of War” (from “Devotion”, 2024) [Submitted by Sonny]

27. Benighted – “Le Vice des Entrailles” (from “Ekbom”, 2024) [Submitted by Sonny]

June 2024

01. Bonfire – “Temple of Lies” (from “Temple of Lies”, 2018)

02. Running Wild – “Sinister Eyes” (from “Pile of Skulls”, 1992) [Submitted by Daniel]

03. Paul Di’Anno’s Battlezone – “Rip It Up” (from “Children of Madness”, 1987)

04. Axel Rudi Pell – “Too Late” (from “The Crest”, 2010)

05. I Am The Intimidator – “Eat My Smoke” (from “I Am The Intimidator” E.P., 2024)

06. Sir Lord Baltimore – “Caesar LXXI” (from “Sir Lord Baltimore”, 1971)

07. Danzig – “Heart of the Devil” (from “Danzig III: How The Gods Kill”, 1992)

08. Dust – “Love Me Hard” (from “Dust”, 1971)

09. Black Sabbath – “Paranoid” (from “Paranoid”, 1970)

10. Stryper – “Co’mon Rock” (from “The Yellow & Black Attack” E.P., 1984)

11. Blaze Bayley – “Absence” (from “Circle of Stone”, 2024)

12. Venom – “Countess Bathory” (from “Black Metal”, 1982)

13. Myrath – “The Empire” (from “Karma”, 2024)

14. Alestorm – “Voyage of the Dead Marauder” (from “Voyage of the Dead Marauder” E.P., 2024)

15. Scanner – “Space Battalion” (from “The Cosmic Race”, 2024)

16. Avantasia – “Scary Eyes” (from “Lost in Space Part 2” E.P., 2007)

17. Cage – “Spectre of War/Science of Annihilation/At the Edge of Infinity” (from “Science of Annihilation”, 2009)

18. Frozen Crown – “Crown Eternal” (from “Winterbane”, 2021)

19. Týr – “Hammered” (from “Battle Ballads”, 2024)

20. Dreamtale – “Silent Scream” (from “Everlasting Flame”, 2024)

21. Dragonforce – “Pixel Prison” (from “Warp Speed Warriors”, 2024) [Submitted by shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

22. Rage – “Cold Desire” (from “Afterlifelines”, 2024)

23. Firewind – “Land of Chaos” (from “Stand United”, 2024)

24. Manticora – “Demonday” (from “Mycelium”, 2024)

25. Sodom – “One Step Over The Line” (from “Tapping The Vein”, 1992)

While I certainly quite like "Sin After Sin" & "Screaming For Vengeance" & have had a very long relationship with both, I've always felt that they were heavily overrated with neither being essential Judas Priest releases for me personally.

I can say the same for "Stained Class" actually. I guess my sweet spots for Priest are a little different to the norm.

Comecon – “Ulcer” (from “Megatrends in Brutality”, 1992)

Balmora – “An Angel’s Final Prayer” (from “With Thorns of Glass & Petals of Grief” E.P., 2023)

Critical Defiance – “The Search Won’t Fall” (from “The Search Won’t Fall…”, 2024)

Exhorder – “Unforgiven” (from “The Law”, 1992)

Solstice – “Cleansed of Impurity” (from “Solstice”, 1992)

Sodom – “Hunting Season”, (from “Tapping the Vein”, 1992)

Sadus – “Machines” (from “A Vision of Misery”, 1992)

Aura Noir – “Caged Wrath” (from “Black Thrash Attack”, 1996)

Master’s Hammer – “Utok” (from “Ritual”, 1991)

Evilfeast – “From The Northern Wallachian Forest… Tyranny Returns” (from “Elegies of the Stellar Wind”, 2017)

Emperor – “My Empire’s Doom” (from “Wrath of the Tyrant” demo, 1992)

Critical Defiance – “Full Paranoia” (from “The Search Won’t…”, 2024)

Malevolent Creation – “Multiple Stab Wounds” (from “The Ten Commandments”, 1991)

Critical Defiance – “All The Powers” (from “The Search Won’t…”, 2024)

Asphyx – “Diabolical Existence” (from “The Rack”, 1991)

Pestilence – “Twisted Truth” (from “Testimony of the Ancients”, 1991)

Convulse – “Incantation of Restoration” (from “World Without God”, 1991)

Bolt Thrower – “Destructive Infinity” (from “War Master”, 1991)

Immolation – “Those Left Behind” (from “Dawn of Possession”, 1991)

Autopsy – “Destined to Fester” (from “Retribution For The Dead” E.P., 1991)

Comecon – “Omnivorous Excess” (from “Megatrends in Brutality”, 1992)

PainKiller – “Warhead” (from “Guts of a Virgin”, 1991)

Hypocrisy - "Suffering Souls" (from "Penetralia", 1992)

Anthem – “Night Stalker” (from “Gypsy Ways”, 1988)

Sorrow – “Insatiable” (from “Hatred & Disgust”, 1992)

Anathema – “…And I Lust” (from “The Crestfallen E.P.”, 1992)

My Dying Bride – “Sear Me” (from “As The Flower Withers”, 1992)

Welcome to the Academy ZeroSymbolic7188. We're very glad you enjoy the concept & encourage you to be as active as you'd like on the site. There are some very cool activities that go on every month (like the Hall of Judgement genre-tag voting, our nine monthly clan Spotify playlists & our monthly clan feature releases) & if you'd like to be involved in any of them then simply shoot me a private message & I can help guide you through the process. If not, then enjoy the site & our tight-knit little metal community.

While I certainly quite like "Sin After Sin" & "Screaming For Vengeance" & have had a very long relationship with both, I've always felt that they were heavily overrated with neither being essential Judas Priest releases for me personally.

The 24th March 1972 would be a significant day in rock music with Deep Purple releasing arguably their heaviest & best record in their illustrious sixth full-length "Machine Head". It kicks off with a belter of a heavy metal track too in the driving headbanger "Highway Star" which has gone on to become an iconic inclusion in the band's back catalogue over the years:

Today's track is Rainbow's " Sensitive to Light" which I regard as being hard rock:

I'm across about two thirds of the Illdisposed back catalogue Andi. I remember picking up "There's Something Rotten... In the State of Denmark" back in my tape trading days & got some mild enjoyment out of it. I liked their earlier & more conventional death metal albums a little better unsurprisingly enough.

Ok, so I've updated all of the playlist titles, descriptions & images & they now seem to be much easier to find in Spotify searches. With next month's The Guardians & The Horde lists, I've attempted to program them in a way that will offer immediate appeal to the casual listener with five strong tracks from the primary genre kicking off proceedings. I've also made an attempt to ensure that I had the best material from each release on The Guardians list & have picked a couple of obvious classics in order to draw in the less educated audience. The Horde playlist is looking really bloody good now that it's 100% comprised of member's selections actually so I think that was a good move. I'm planning to start a social media marketing campaign for those two playlists in June to see what I can accomplish too.

The brand new "Les chants de l’aurore" seventh full-length from French blackgaze/post-metal outfit Alcest is being released on 21st June. Some of Alcest's releases have really grown on me in recent years while others have left me feeling a bit flat but I'll no doubt give this one a run at some stage, particularly given that I enjoyed the promotional video for the opening single recently.

The brand new "Discontinued" fifth album from New York brutal/technical death metallers Malignancy hits the streets on 14th June. I really dug everything I've heard from these guys to date, particularly their 1999 debut album "Intrauterine Cannibalism" which was stellar, so I'll most certainly be indulging in this one at some point.

The seventh full-length album from LA sludge metallers Thou hits the shelves tomorrow & is called "Umbilical". I've had mixed experiences with Thou on record over the years but there's no doubt that they're a fantastic live act.

A new live album from San Francisco Bay Area thrash metal legends Exodus hits the streets tomorrow. It's called "British Disaster: The Battle of '89 (Live at the Astoria)" & was recorded on the 1989 tour for their excellent "Fabulous Disaster" third album.

Another fresh new live recording from [hate5six], this time from Detroit metalcore outfit Cold as Life whose 1998 "Born to Land Hard" debut album I quite like.

Genre-shunning Tokyo experimental band Boris share some of their favourite music in a special NTS radio residency:

https://www.nts.live/shows/boris/episodes/boris-21st-may-2024

LA sludge metal/metalcore outfit Admiral Angry have released their long-awaited sophomore album "Albania" this month. I was a big fan of their 2009 debut album "Buster" but felt that they'd dropped the ball a little bit with 2010's "A Fire to Burn Down the World" so it'll be interesting to see what the last fourteen years have brought to the table.

US progressive metallers Nospūn have released an instrumental version of their excellent 2023 debut album "Opus" that I really enjoyed. This one might be worth checking out at some point given how impressive the vocal edition was.

I investigated the 1978 "Cuentos de ayer y de hoy" debut album from Spanish five-piece Ñu this morning. There was definitely the odd sign of metal but it never amounts to a full song. I'd suggest that this is a progressive hard rock record with strong folk influences.

Well, we're very pleased to have you here at the Academy Pelle & would like to encourage you to get as involved in the site as you wish. There's a whole bunch of cool activities to choose from. You can help us vote on potentially incorrect genre tags in the Hall of Judgement, can submit your favourite tracks from the last month for the monthly clan Spotify playlists or can take part in nominating our monthly clan feature releases for example. If any of those options sound interesting then please feel free to send me a private message & I can help you with the finer details. Until then... have fun with the site & we hope to see a lot more of you around these parts. :)

The doom train continued its journey in February 1972 when Philadelphia hard rockers Bang released their self-titled debut album which included this doomy number which I'd suggest should qualify as traditional doom metal:

This morning's track is Rainbow's "The Shed (Subtle)" which I regard as being a hard rock song:

Anthem - "No Smoke Without Fire" (1990)

I feel very similarly about the Japanese heavy metallers sixth album as I did about their fourth (see above) with Anthem taking a familiar yet unanimously effective approach. If anything this one might offer a touch more of a hard rock influence as well as a little more speed metal in parts. Once again, the production job & performances are on the money although Yukio Morikawa's vocals don't appear to be quite as strong here. Anthem were a seriously class act by this point in their careers though so there are no hints at weak song-writing with "No Smoke Without Fire" containing just as many highlights as "Gypsy Ways" did. I do think I slightly prefer "Gypsy Ways" over it but there's very little between the two, neither coming close to matching 1989's marvelous "Hunting Time" fifth full-length. The sensational "Fever Eyes" is my pick of the nine tracks on offer & is definitely one of Anthem's finest moments.

For fans of Loudness, Judas Priest & Accept.

3.5/5

Anthem - "Gypsy Ways" (1988)

I've gotten a fair bit of enjoyment out of the two releases I've heard previously from Japanese heavy metallers Anthem. Their 1987 "Bound to Break" album was more than decent but it was really 1989's excellent "Hunting Time" that sealed the deal for me & I've intended on checking out the records either side of it ever since. Well, 1988's "Gypsy Ways" sits somewhere between those two releases in terms of quality. It's certainly not as essential as "Hunting Time" but it's worth a listen none the less. As usual with the Japanese, the musicianship is excellent, particularly the shredding Eddie Van Halen/Randy Rhoads inspired guitar work of Hiroya Fukuda & powerful vocals of talented front man Yukio Morikawa. There are no duds included here either with the few highlight tracks being very impressive, particularly the outstanding closer "Night Stalker" which I'd suggest is somewhat of a classic for Japanese heavy metal overall.

For fans of Loudness, Judas Priest & Accept.

3.5/5

The self-titled album from Philadelphia trio Bang was released in February 1972 & opened with this number that sits somewhere between heavy metal & hard rock: