Daniel's Forum Replies

Here's my submission for the February playlist Xephyr:

Amaranthe - "Crystalline" (from "Manifest", 2020)

Here's my submission for the February playlist Saxy:

Parkway Drive - "Glitch" (from "Darker Still", 2022)

Here are my submissions for the February playlist Sonny:

Void of Silence - "Opus VIII: Universal Separation" (from "Criteria ov 666", 2002)

Admiral Angry - "The Illusion of Strength" (from "Buster", 2009)

Paradise Lost - "Frozen Illusion - Frozen Illusion Demo 1989" (from "Drown In Darkness - The Early Demos", 2009)

January 2023

01. Carcass – “Ruptured In Purulence” (from “Symphonies of Sickness”, 1989) [Submitted by Daniel]

02. Aeternam – “Beneath The Nightfall” (from “Heir of the Rising Sun”, 2022)

03. Miscreance – “Flame of Consciousness” (from “Convergence”, 2022)

04. Oppressor – “Seasons” (from “Solstice of Oppression”, 1994)

05. Soilent Green – “Her Unsober Ways” (from “Sewn Mouth Secrets”, 1998)

06. Autopsy – “Severed Survival” (from “Severed Survival”, 1989) [Submitted by Vinny]

07. Amorphis – “Vulgar Necrolatry”, (from The Karelian Isthmus”, 1992) [Submitted by Vinny]

08. Acephalix – “Postmortem Punishment” (from “Theothanatology”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

09. Edge of Sanity – “The Sinner & The Sadness” (from “Purgatory Afterglow”, 1994) [Submitted by Daniel]

10. Asphyx – “M.S. Bismark” (from “Last One on Earth”, 1992) [Submitted by Vinny]

11. Gored – “Pathogenes & Symptoms” (from “Human”, 2008)

12. Tchornobog – “The Vomiting Choir” (from “Tchornobog/Abyssal” split, 2022)

13. Ulcerate – “Abrogation” (from “Shrines of Paralysis”, 2016) [Submitted by Vinny]

14. My Dying Bride – “God Is Alone” (from “Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium” E.P., 1992) [Submitted by Daniel]

15. Altarage – “Rift” (from “Endinghent”, 2017) [Submitted by Vinny]

16. Pig Destroyer – “Frailty In Numbers” (from “Orchid/Pig Destroyer” split E.P., 1998)

17. Diocletian – “Antichrist Hammerfist” (from “Doom Cult”, 2009) [Submitted by Vinny]

18. Divtech – “Occupied Decolonized” (from “Stasis Confines, Action Conditions”, 2016)

19. Napalm Death – “The Icing On The Hate” (from “Order of the Leach”, 2002)

20. Exhumed – “Drained of Color” (from “To The Dead”, 2022)

21. Visceral Disgorge – “Skullfucking Neonatal Necrosis” (from “Ingesting Putridity”, 2011)

22. Pathology – “Dissected By Righteousness” (from “Awaken To The Suffering”, 2011)

23. Deranged – “Razor Divine” (from “High on Blood”, 1998)

24. Dying Fetus – “Killing On Adrenaline” (from “Killing On Adrenaline”, 1998) [Submitted by Daniel]

Ben & I are considering doing away with the concept of maintaining all of the historical clan Spotify playlists & simplifying things by simply keeping the nine active ones. I doubt anyone's actually going back & listening to the old ones so it seems like wasted space & effort to keep maintaining an ever-growing list playlists. Before I go & delete anything though, does anyone have any strong feelings on this?

A monster of an epic Canadian progressive metal piece featuring truck loads of spacey Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd psychedelia.

Voivod - "The Outer Limits" (1993)

I have to admit that there are some pretty big gaps in my knowledge of post-1980’s Voivod. I was always a fan of the band in the late 80’s & early 90’s but they somehow dropped off my radar to an extent with 1995’s “Negatron” & 2011’s “Warriors of Ice” live album being the only releases I’ve checked out since 1989’s highly regarded “Nothingface” album. I guess they never really sat 100% within my taste profile so I tended to stick closer to my lane for the most part, even though I generally enjoyed their material. I recently noticed that the fanfare around the Canadian progressive metal icon’s eighth studio album “The Outer Limits” seems to have slowly gained momentum over the years though, so much so that it seems to be held up as another prog classic of sorts. That’s been the catalyst for me exploring the album this week & with generally positive results.

The “Nothingface” album had seen Voivod moving away from metal to an extent with the band having adopted more of a progressive rock sound &, from what I can make out by the critical response, their 1991 seventh album “Angel Rat” took them even further away from metal realms. “The Outer Limits” sees Voivod returning to metal in the most part & sounds quite familiar (if that can ever be said of a Voivod release). The angular & unusual guitar riffs of guitarist Piggy are as potent as ever & lead proceedings with Snake’s signature vocal delivery ensuring that you’re never in any doubt as to which band you’re listening to. You see, there’s simply no one that sounds remotely like Voivod, even if they’re consciously trying to. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, they’re a complete musical anomaly & that’s extremely rare in the modern music scene. “The Outer Limits” certainly fits into the progressive metal genre pretty comfortably though & I’d suggest that fans of that particular scene are the most likely audience for a record like this one with very little speed/thrash metal to offer those that are hanging out for a mid-80's revivial. “Le Pont Noir” & “Wrong-Way Street” see Voivod traversing the rockier prog territories of “Nothingface” while the epic seventeen minute album highlight “Jack Luminous” is a psychedelic monster that oozes of Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd influence. We even find the boys attempting some alternative rock sounds that wouldn’t feel out of place alongside the Detroit elite on “The Nile Song”.

Unlike Voivod’s very strong trio of progressive albums from 1987-1989, “The Outer Limits” struggles a touch in the song-writing department. There are no weak songs included with all nine tracks being presented with class & professionalism but the hooks aren’t consistently strong enough to see the album competing with the band’s best work. In saying that though, I do slightly prefer it to Voivod’s early speed metal releases like “War & Pain”, “Rrröööaaarrr” & the “To The Death” demo. It's always refreshing to hear these Canadians taking on spacey sci-fi topics as there are few artists that have the ability to sound so alien & “The Outer Limits” is yet another example of why we need bands like Voivod in a modern metal market that’s flooded with copy cats & pretenders.

3.5/5

Bitches Sin - "Predator" (1982)

What we have here is yet another underground also-ran from the NWOBHM movement in the debut album from Cumbria-based outfit Bitches Sin. The cover art gives you the distinct impression that you'll be in for a heavily metallic experience (perhaps something similar to Satan?) but the reality is very different to that so it's a bit misleading. Bitches Sin's sound sits somewhere between hard rock & heavy metal with the production sitting a little closer to the rock side of the equation. In fact, the production is the biggest detractor here as the guitars are miles too low in the mix with the pitchy vocals booming over the top but front man Tony Tomkinson's somehow manages to make up for his technical inadequacies in sheer charisma, regularly bringing to mind the blue-collar approach of original Iron Maiden singer Paul Dianno. The lead guitar work may be a little primitive but it oozes attitude (particularly in the electricity of the lightning fast bluesy pentatonic runs) & this helps to carry the weaker material. There are a couple of very catchy songs here that somehow manage to overcome all of the flaws that are doing their damnedest to draw your affections away (see "Lady Lies" & "Looser") but at the end of the day "Predator" was always destined for the second-hand bins & the dustier back pages of NWOBHM history.

3/5

Gojira - "L'enfant sauvage" (2012)

When Gojira's fifth album landed in 2012 I got really hot under the collar & started claiming it to be somewhat of a classic. In hindsight that isn't the case but it's certainly a very solid piece of progressive metal in it's own right & one that should be considered as essential listening for fans of the band. The death metal of Gojira's first few albums was a thing of the past by this stage but you can still hear bits & pieces of the Morbid Angel influence they'd previously championed. There's more groove metal in their sound here with snippets of djent & post-metal being thrown around on occasion too. There's a lot of Devin Townsend about "L'enfant sauvage", particularly in the vocal delivery. The consistency of the tracklisting & the quality of the production, execution & performances makes it a hard record for any open-minded metalhead to resist & I actually prefer this album slightly over Gojira's more widely acclaimed 2008 fourth album "The Way Of All Flesh" these days even if 2005's "From Mars To Sirius" is still their piece de resistance as far as I'm concerned. Still... don't make the mistake of overlooking "L'enfant sauvage" because it's got plenty to offer your average prog metal fan.

4/5

However, similar to My Dying Bride's "Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium", while there are some standard death metal elements in the demos, death-doom is much closer to doom.

I don't see this release in the same way as I did "Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium" which included just a single short death metal track between two death/doom numbers. "Drown In Darkness" includes twelve tracks which offer a roughly even split of classic death metal & death/doom. It's really not that relevant whether death/doom is much closer to doom metal as a good half of this release isn't death/doom & that's kinda the point of the dual tag which I feel is warranted here. I'm going with a NO vote on this Hall of Judgement entry as it's my opinion that this release belongs in The Horde just as much as it does in The Fallen.

Paradise Lost - "Drown in Darkness - The Early Demos" (2009)

Unlike with the other Peaceville Three bands, I never checked out Paradise Lost's early demos back in the day, perhaps because their first couple of albums didn't make as big an impact on me as My Dying Bride & Anathema's did. I thought I'd rectify that omission this week through this compilation which draws together 1988's self-titled demo, 1989's "Frozen Illusion" demo & 1989's ""Plains of Desolation" live bootleg. Be warned that this is some very rough stuff as far as production & sound quality goes so it's lucky that I have a long history with tape trading. As with Paradise Lost's early albums, the performances are very primitive but Nick Holmes' vocals are excellent & he represents the focal point for the band at this point, particularly as Gregor's guitar work isn't always far enough forward in the mix or perfectly in tune.

The three releases showcase Paradise Lost's evolution from a fairly standard death metal band into one of the earliest exponents of the death doom metal subgenre. The self-titled demo & "Plains of Desolation" sit very much at the centrepoint between the two genres while "Frozen Illusion" sees them having transitioned into a genuine doom/death band & is much the better for it. You'll find a few tracks being repeated across the three releases but they're not always in the same format & have slightly different atmospheres. "Paradise Lost" & "Plains of Desolation" are very poorly recorded with the latter having the guitars sitting miles too far back in the mix but Nick somehow manages to keep things from being a complete disaster through his charismatic delivery. The drumming is particularly poor on "Plains of Desolation" too.

Thankfully though, the "Frozen Illusion" demo is really quite good with "Paradise Lost" & the title track being very entertaining & highly atmospheric examples of early death/doom. It's versions of "Paradise Lost" & "Frozen Illusion" are the clear highlights of the compilation & make it worth checking out for completists & fans of the band but I wouldn't recommend "Drown In Darkness" to casual listeners as it can be a bit of a hard slog at times, even though it offers a fair bit of authentic 80's underground death metal atmosphere. Think Autopsy meets Celtic Frost & you won't be too far off the mark.

3/5

I've revisited Fleshgod Apocalypse's "Agony" album over the last couple of days & would suggest that it would have to be up there with the most relentlessly brutal death metal records ever recorded. I have to ask the question of the people who have voted for it to stay in The Guardians, do you really think it will appeal to the same audience as Saxon, Helloween or Yngwie Malmsteen? It sits in the complete opposite extreme of the metal spectrum as far as I can see so it shouldn't matter that it's a "symphonic" release. The integrity of the clan system is much more important than those sort of technicalities in my opinion.

Fleshgod Apocalypse - "Agony" (2011)

I got onboard with Italian extremists Fleshgod Apocalypse very early on as their 2009 debut album "Oracles" landed right around the time that I was returning to metal after a decade-long hiatus. I thoroughly enjoyed it's super-brutal brand of techy death metal too it has to be said but found myself struggling a little with 2010's "Mafia" E.P. (widely regarded as the band's best work) due to the cheesy neoclassical component & the excessive use of over-the-top blast beats which saw the tracks bleeding into each other. "Agony" landed the following year & saw Fleshgod Apocalypse taking the symphonics they'd hinted at previously & bringing them into the foreground to create a genuinely symphonic brutal death metal sound. Now if that sounds like a bit of a contradiction of terms then you wouldn't be entirely wrong as the orchestration definitely sounds a little out of place over what must surely be one of the most consistently brutal releases ever to grace our ears. The ultra-fast drumming of band leader Francesco Pauli is utterly mind-blowing in its execution & you'd have to suggest that there is no one that can top him in the speed & precision but there's no doubt that the individual tracks struggle to differentiate themselves from one another for much the same reasons as I mentioned previously so I kinda find myself torn given that it's Pauli's drumming that I find to be the main attraction with a record like "Agony". Ironically, it's the slower sections that work best given that the symphonic arrangements simply make for a better accompaniment when they're given more space to create atmosphere. I do find the neoclassical lead guitar work to be better integrated into the band's sound on this occasion though & the solos often work as crescendos of sorts.

At the end of the day I think a lot of extreme metal fans will appreciate "Agony" for it's novelty value more than anything else. It's an exhausting listen at times as the sheer weight of sound is relentless & it could definitely do with more dynamics. The Italians seem to hold the title in terms of brutality these days & if that's the case then Francesco Pauli may just be the central figure in the local movement given his ties with Hour of Penance who also push the limitations of human endurance to their most extreme levels. Unlike their buddies though, I can't say that I easily connect with Fleshgod Apocalypse's music on a more visceral & aggressive level as I'm not a fan of symphonics in my metal. It's lucky for them that I'm a sucker for elite level extreme metal drumming & they certainly aren't short of that.

3.5/5

To quote one of my earlier posts, while a good amount of metalcore lovers also enjoy a bit of trance metal, some might get confused about trance metal being in the same clan as metalcore. The Revolution's superior genre, metalcore has their roots from mixing metal with hardcore punk and lyrics of rebellion, and if trance metal bands like Amaranthe have an electronic-infused sound that leans more towards symphonic/power metal than metalcore, that would cause quite an issue. Then again, I still believe Amaranthe often has some melodic metalcore going on, especially in the earlier material. So I agree that it makes sense to have trance metal taken out of the site, with all those bands/releases you've reviewed for this thread moved to whichever clan/genre they fit well in, and if there's any solely trance metal release you might've missed, we might investigate which clan/genre they might belong in. A trancecore deep dive would be a good idea to see which releases belong in melodic metalcore or not, but for now, you've earned your rest from deep diving. The fate of trance metal is nigh!

Thanks Andi. I'm glad you're comfortable with this outcome as I value your opinion. Interestingly, this wasn't the result I was expecting when I went into the deep dive so I'm really pleased that I undertook the exercise. Ben has volunteered to make the database changes during the holiday period. I'll need to take out any Trance Metal-related Hall of Judgement entries.

Here's my first ever Top Ten Trance Metal Releases of All Time list following my completion of my Trance Metal deep dive this morning:

01. Amaranthe - "Manifest" (2020)

02. Mesarthim - "Vacuum Solution" E.P. (2021)

03. DOLL$BOXX - "High $pec" E.P. (2017)

04. Equilibrium - "Renegades" (2019)

05. Blood Stain Child - "Epsilon" (2011)

06. Amaranthe - "Leave Everything Behind" E.P. (2009)

07. PassCode - "Clarity" (2019)

08. Candye♡Syrup - "iDOL Can Dye Sick Rock!!" (2018)

09. Noidz - "The Great Escape" (2008)

10. Semargl - "Satanic Pop Metal" (2012)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/196

So this brings me to the end of my Trance Metal deep dive & has left me with some confusing results to be honest. On the one hand, it's very clear that Trance Metal isn't a well-defined genre with it's own easily identified sound (at least not when you take the ten releases in holistically). In fact, a good half of the ten I've explored aren't even Trance Metal in my opinion. Amaranthe & Blood Stain Child are the ones that I'd suggest offer the purest examples of the style as neither seem to fit very well under any other tag but if I examine the clans that I felt were most representative of each release I find a complete mish mash with only The Fallen & The Pit missing out on inclusion. I think that's telling because it's as strong an indicator that Trance Metal is more of an additional element added on top of another pre-defined genre as you're likely to find (see Symphonic Metal, Neoclassical Metal, etc.). I mean there's no way that the Mesarthim & Noidz releases should reside in the same clan yet both have equally strong claims to the Trance Metal tag. I don't think that either of them would appeal to fans of the Japanese style either.

So the question is, would each of the five releases that I believe to have a genuine claim on the Trance Metal genre fit under another existing tag comfortably enough so as to enable to removal of the Trance Metal genre from Metal Academy? I'd suggest that Mesarthim, Noidz & Equilibrium all would but Amaranthe & Blood Stain Child are a little more borderline. In saying that though, do we maintain a genre simply for two bands? Ben & I don't think so so we've decided to remove Trance Metal from the site which will see these ten releases being allocated as follows (at least for the time being until we can work out the true merits of the Trancecore subgenre's claim on inclusion at the site as I don't think it's all that accurate to call those releases Melodic Metalcore when they possess a noticeably different & fairly well-defined sound):

Amaranthe - Melodic Metalcore

PassCode - Melodic Metalcore

Mesarthim - Symphonic Black Metal

Semargl - Industrial Metal

Blood Stain Child - Melodic Death Metal

BABYMETAL - Alternative Metal

DOLL$BOXX - Power Metal

Noidz - Industrial Metal

Equilibrium - Melodic Death Metal

Candye♡Syrup - Melodic Metalcore

I know that some of those tags still need some work (Amaranthe & Blood Stain Child are much closer to symphonic/power metal in my opinion while the DOLL$BOXX record doesn't have much to do with power metal) but It will certainly eradicate the problem we currently have where The Revolution contains a bunch of releases that are nothing to do with the sounds that clan was originally designed to draw together.

 Candye♡Syrup - "iDOL Can Dye Sick Rock!!" (2018)

After taking a quick glance at the front cover I was obviously expecting a cheesy Babymetal tribute from this Tokyo act that was originally spawned as an offshoot from a popular Japanese hair salon. And that's not altogether a misleading assumption as the j-pop component of the band's sound is certainly a focal point however Candye♡Syrup offer something a little different to their more popular peers. I don't consider Babymetal to be Trance Metal really. They're more of an Alternative Metal artist whereas Candye♡Syrup embrace their cute & quirky image more with a Trancecore sound that flip flops between the sweet & the savage. The breakdowns here are quite savage & the gutteral vocal delivery is over the top but neither of those things can take any of the gloss off the pop & pop punk components with the innocent & child-like vocals offering a distinctly Japanese appeal & the electronica being of the quirky/bleepy nature as often as it is genuinely trancey. Does it work? well, yeah it does if you like that kind of thing but unfortunately I don't other with the possible exception of up-tempo hardcore number "Idol of Death (Burst Ver.)" (which features 「Story of Hope」front woman m!sa behind the microphone).

Is this a Trance Metal release? Well it is a metal release but I don't think it's Trance Metal. It's very much a Trancecore record with a strong Alternative Metal feel. It would fit best in The Revolution & possibly also The Gateway. This leaves me once again questioning whether we made the right call to remove the Trancecore subgenre as "iDOL Can Dye Sick Rock!!" wouldn't fit all that comfortably alongside other Melodic Metalcore, Alternative Metal or Trance Metal records but still has a right to command representation at the Metal Academy site. I think I'm gonna have to do a Trancecore deep dive at some stage to develop an informed position on that though.

2.5/5

Equilibrium - "Renegades" (2019)

This is one of those records that gets absolutely slammed by fans of the band, primarily because it saw these Germans opting to deviate from their symphonic folk metal model by trying something different. I went into the album with an open mind though because my only previous experience with Equilibrium was through their 2010 third album "Rekreatur" & I fucking hated it to put it bluntly. Folk metal & I generally don't see eye to eye so any distance they could put between themselves & that genre would be worthwhile as far as I'm concerned. What you get with "Renegades" is a union of the Trance Metal & Melodic Death Metal sounds with traces of Folk Metal & Power Metal here & there. It's an incredibly inconsistent record though as I actually found myself really enjoying half of the ten tracks on offer but the other five are nothing short of fucking awful. The big synth lines are really well integrated & sound full & epic while I can definitely dig the death metal component, particularly the blast beat sections which are beautifully performed. It's all about the chorus hooks though in my opinion & when Equilibrium nail those they can be genuinely captivating (see the marvelous closer "Rise of the Phoenix" for example). But when they tail off into cheesier territory I find myself recollecting my past trials with the band & that ultimately sees "Renegades" failing as an holistic piece of art.

Is this a Trance Metal record? Yeah, it is. It may be intertwined with melodeath but there can be little denying the trance influence on tracks like "Hype Train" & I'd suggest that Trance Metal is the most consistent genre represented across the tracklisting. Does this sound like any of the other Trance Metal records I've reviewed? No, not really. What clan would I place it in? Hhhmmm.... probably The Horde to be honest as it definitely doesn't have anything to do with The Revolution or The Gateway & it's probably a little too brutal for The Guardians.

3/5

Monolithe - Kosmodrom (2022)

Released 25.11.22 on Bandcamp

Monolithe are not you typical death doom crew, it must be said. The Frenchmen have developed an increasingly progressive aspect to their death doom as their career has developed. They place great significance on song length - their first four albums were fifty-minute plus single track epics, 2015's Epsilon Aurigae and 2016's Zeta Reticuli both contained three tracks, each of exactly fifteen minutes duration, Nebula septem had seven, 7 minute exactly tracks and Okta Khora contained eight tracks of either 4:04, 8:08, 4:08 or 8:04 minutes duration. Kosmodrom continues this idiosyncratic tendency with, of it's five tracks, 1 and 4 are precisely ten minutes, 2 and 3 are 10:30 and the closer, Kosmonavt is exactly 26 minutes. Despite this significance that the band place on precision in track duration, I have never found it to be contrived or constrictive and their music never suffers as a consequence of forcing it into a strictly defined temporal space.

I think it is fair to claim that death doom is a pretty "earthy" style of metal. It often suggests abyssal subterranean chasms or huge, hulking mountain vistas. I know there are the lighter-feeling gothic exponents of death doom, but these still focus on quite primal emotions such as fear and loss. Monolithe however, look outwards and upwards for their inspiration and are one of the few producers of what I would call cosmic death doom. Previous album Okta Khora, for example, was a science fiction concept album about some highly advanced civilisation's unshakeable belief that they must force the universe back into it's original form by destroying everything in it. Not your usual death doom subject matter then? Kosmodrom takes as it's theme the early Soviet pioneers of space flight and the huge risks they faced and sacrifices they made to allow the human race to dream of attaining the stars - again, not exactly your typical death doom aesthetic.

This time around, though, Monolithe have leant more heavily on their earlier death doom style than was employed on their previous couple of releases, integrating the progressive elements within a death doom framework, rather than vice-versa. This may initially come off as something of a backward step, but the progressive elements are worked into the fabric of the tracks so intrinsically that the transition from full-on death doom to lighter, more progressive sections sometimes happens imperceptably, so there is, in reality, more going on within each track than may at first appear - Voskhod suddenly erupts in a clean, melodic riff with a throbbing, electronic feel, the twenty-six minute Kosmonavt takes includes a Cult of Luna-like building, post-metal section and during Kudryavka you suddenly realise you are listening to a Dave Gilmour-like Floydian section after it's hulking death doom beginnings and don't even remember how you got there!

If you are familiar with Monolithe's work to date then the opener, Sputnik-1, may seem to be a bit unexpected, it's heavenly female vocals (provided by Houston alt. pop artist London Lawhon) combined with Rémi Brochard's usual gruff growls, the huge, heaving, yet melodic, main riff and the overlaid keyboards may bring to mind My Dying Bride or the like and their gothic take on death doom and in truth I think it stands up to anything the Yorkshiremen have produced. However, rather than some corny gothic romance for subject matter, it's recalling of the aspirations of the people behind mankind's very first step into space exploration provides a theme I personally am more at home with.

As a whole package, Kosmodrom seems very complete and is so skillfully written and crafted that it throws a lot of recent death doom releases into the shade. Monolithe show that it is no longer enough to just keep knocking out slowed down death metal riffs and throw some deep growls on top to appease the death doom cognoscenti - there is so much more that the style is capable of and the Frenchmen, like those cosmic pioneers are forging onwards and upwards in order to expand the minds of the human race. Please don't misunderstand, Kosmodrom does not want for heaviness either. When it needs to be it is as heavy as you could possibly ever want, it just doesn't live or die solely on it's ability to shake the foundations. I would go as far as touting Monolithe as the death doom version of prime-era Opeth and that is heady praise indeed, so if you are in the market for intelligent, progressive extreme doom metal, then you really should give this a try.

4.5/5

I've noticed that Monolithe have been linking your review on their social media platforms Sonny. You're a fucking global super star mate! Next you'll be dating Taylor Swift & partying with Paris Hilton.

Noidz - "The Great Escape" (2008)

The debut album from this Portugese outfit is a genuine combination of trance & metal music in about a 60/40 ratio; psytrance & industrial metal in fact. I've often been known to have a soft spot for well-produced psytrance in the past but only when it's of the deeper & darker variety whereas this material is more bouncy & squelchy. The metal component comes very much from the Rammstein school of simple chunky power-chord riffage but is well integrated so Noidz have done a pretty good job at creating an original hybrid of two disparate sounds here. It's just that it doesn't really appeal to me much. Is it genuine Trance Metal? Well duh! Of course it is as these tracks would all fit comfortably into a Psytrance set but could also be played at a metal club without too many people fussing over it. Does it sound in any way the same as the other releases I've granted Trance Metal status during this deep dive? Not in the slightest. It certainly belongs solely in The Sphere as far as clan assignment goes though.

2.5/5

DOLL$BOXX - "High $pec" E.P. (2017)

This five-song E.P. is tagged as Trance/Power Metal but neither are correct. Power Metal only appears as an influence on one song while the Trance influence is more of a secondary component. I'd go with a dual tagging of Progressive Metal & Alternative Metal for this one with The Infinite being the most appropriate clan. I was expecting cheesy J-pop stuff but received nothing of the sort from this fairly experimental & accomplished effort. The Japanese vocals do shit me a bit but the instrumentation is really good, particularly the funky slapped basslines which are an easy tie to Alternative Metal along with the occasional rapped vocals. I quite like a couple of the tracks but found the experience a touch underwhelming overall if I'm being honest. It's another example of the poor use of the Trance Metal tag as the synths are only sporadically used as an accompaniment & aren't always trancey in nature either. They're often more in line with electronica.

3/5

Blood Stain Child - "Epsilon" (2011)

Ok, so here we have a release that I can comfortably say is genuine Trance Metal although it also contains a fair bit of the Melodic Death Metal influence of Blood Stain Child's roots. Japan seems to be the home of Trance Metal so far & "Epsilon" is a beautifully executed example with a fluffy, accessible & unimposing production job & high precision performances with a great deal of attention to detail. The melodeath riffs are great & draw heavily on At The Gates for inspiration while the vocals take a similar approach to Amaranthe in their combination of sweet, clean female trance vocals & harsh male melodeath shrieks. Half of the tracklisting is really pretty good & at times I found myself wondering if I could get into this sort of stuff but unfortunately there are a few terribly cheesy tracks that indulge themselves much further in the trance than they do the metal & this pulls the album down overall.

I have to say that "Epsilon" has left me a little more confused about what to do with the Trance Metal genre than I was before. On the one hand, it's categorically a Trance Metal record & wouldn't fit very well under any other tag. If I had to pick a clan for it I'd have say that it would fit the most comfortably within the more melodic confines of The Guardians along with Symphonic Metal & Power Metal but the harsh melodeath vocals certainly confuse things a bit. I'd like to keep The Guardians free of harsh vocals as much as possible but I do think that it's that clan's audience that will be most attracted to a record like "Epsilon". I doubt it'll appeal to too many death metal, alternative metal or metalcore fans in all honesty so perhaps so I need to get over myself & accept that harsh vocals can belong in The Guardians if the musical style will appeal to that audience.

3/5

Here's a prime example of the Trance Metal sound:

"Monotheist" is comfortably my favourite Celtic Frost record & sports one of the heaviest production jobs I have ever heard in my life. I genuinely love it. 4.5/5

Semargl - "Satanic Pop Metal" (2012)

A fifith Trance Metal release & another completely different sound with the trance component layered over the top of a Ukranian version of the German Neue Deutsche Härte sound on this occasion & only then on around half of the tracklisting. Former black metal band Semargl really did manage to piss a few elitists off when they opted to go in an unapologetically commercial direction with their fifth full-length album & I can see why because not only is "Satanic Pop Metal" a drastic departure from anything black metal related but it's also a pretty poor example of its type too. Just listen to how dumb tracks like "Tak, Kurwa", "Join In Fire", Drag Me To Hell" & "Labyrinth" are! The growly vocals are one of the major obstacles for me as they're not very good to be honest. The sporadically used female vocals are miles better & I think they missed a trick by not exploiting those further. There's really only a couple of tracks that I found to be genuinely enjoyable & they bookend the tracklisting with closer "Redire" being the clear album highlight in my opinion. 

There's little doubt that the album belongs in The Sphere but should it qualify as Trance Metal too? I'm not sure. I mean the prominence of Industrial Metal in Semargl's sound is by far the most senior element with the trance stuff not being universally evident so I'm gonna go with an unconvinced no but I could go either way to tell you the truth. This release also highlights just how stupid the Neue Deutsche Härte tag is because "Satanic Pop Metal" should definitely be listed under the same subgenre as Rammstein & co. but is lumped into the Industrial Metal primary simply because it's not German. *sighs* Locational subgenres shit me.

2.5/5

And finally, my Top Ten Metal Release of 1981 list:

01. Motorhead – “No Sleep Till Hammersmith”

02. Iron Maiden – “Maiden Japan” E.P.

03. Black Sabbath – “Mob Rules”

04. Krokus – “Hardware”

05. Def Leppard – “High ‘n’ Dry”

06. Ozzy Osbourne – “Diary of a Madman”

07. Motorhead & Girlschool – “St Valentines Day Massacre” E.P.

08. Venom – “Welcome To Hell”

09. Iron Maiden – “Killers”

10. Tygers of Pan Tang – “Spellbound”

https://metal.academy/lists/single/195

And my Top Ten Metal Releases of 1980 list:

01. Diamond Head – “Lightning To The Nations”

02. Motorhead – “Ace of Spades”

03. Saxon – “Strong Arm of the Law”

04. Motorhead – “The Golden Years: Live” E.P.

05. Black Sabbath – “Heaven & Hell”

06. Judas Priest – “British Steel”

07. Witchfynde – “Give ‘Em Hell”

08. Iron Maiden – “Iron Maiden”

09. Samson – “Head On”

10. Trust – “Repression”

https://metal.academy/lists/single/194

And here's my Top Ten Metal Releases of 1979 list too:

01. Judas Priest – “Unleashed In The East”

02. Motorhead – “Overkill”

03. Mythra – “The Death & Destiny” E.P.”

04. Motorhead – “Bomber”

05. Legend – “From The Fjords”

06. Scorpions – “Lovedrive”

07. Saxon – “Saxon”

08. Riot – “Narita”

09. The Hand of Doom – “Poisonoise”

10. Motorhead – “On Parole”

https://metal.academy/lists/single/193

Here's the new Top Ten Metal Releases of 1978 list I've created this morning which has considered any release currently listed as a metal release on the Metal Academy database :

01. Judas Priest – “Killing Machine”

02. Judas Priest – “Stained Class”

03. Scorpions – “Taken By Force”

04. Centaurus – “Centaurus”

05. Sorcery (USA-IL) – “Sinister Soldiers”

06. Rainbow – “Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll”

07. Black Sabbath – “Never Say Die!”

08. Sorcery (USA–CA) – “Stunt Rock”

09. Zarpa Rock – “Los cuatro jinetes del Apocalipsis”

10. Heavy Load – “Full Speed at High Level”

https://metal.academy/lists/single/192

Here's my updated Top Ten NWOBHM Releases of All Time (1979-1983) list following my recent discovery of the Mythra's very solid "The Death & Destiny E.P.":

01. Iron Maiden - "The Number of the Beast" (1982)

02. Iron Maiden - "Piece of Mind" (1983)

03. Iron Maiden - "Maiden Japan" E.P. (1981)

04. More - "Blood & Thunder" (1982)

05. Saxon - "Power & the Glory" (1983)

06. Diamond Head - "Lightning To The Nations" (1980)

07. Saxon - "The Eagle Has Landed: Live" (1982)

08. Saxon - "Strong Arm of the Law" (1980)

09. Mythra - "The Death & Destiny E.P." (1979)

10. Def Leppard - "High 'n' Dry" (1981)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/191

I might just wait until the Trance Metal deep dive is over before posting this one Andi as I'm not certain that the Trance Metal genre will still be a part of our database or not just yet & that might change people's opinions on the most appropriate tagging for this release.

Mesarthim - "Vacuum Solution" E.P. (2021)

Who the fuck ever thought that Black Metal should logically be partnered with uplifting Trance music??? Well obviously there's a fellow Aussie that did because that's exactly what he's done here & I've gotta say that he's been fairly successful in the endeavor too. Now I'm not a fan of Trance unless it's of the more subtle & progressive variety but I have to say that I did enjoy the way it's been implemented into the Black Metal here with both elements playing equal roles in the final product. The tracklisting is a bit inconsistent as the first couple of tracks are really pretty enjoyable while the next two are far too cheesy for my taste but the beautifully soothing space ambient closer "Absence" sealed the deal to see me awarding a respectable rating in the end. It's interesting that he's chosen not to go with extreme metal drumming here, instead opting for programmed dance beats & somehow managing to pull it off for the most part while the blackened shrieks don't sound horrible under the more epic Trance synths. I guess I just find it to sound pretty fresh & different.

So is this a Trance Metal release? Well it doesn't align with the description very well & certainly doesn't sound anything like the first three releases I've covered in this deep dive but I'll be fucked if this isn't the tranciest of the four records to date & if any release was gonna be called "Trance Metal" then surely it's gotta be this one. That then begs the question that if I can have four releases that sound completely different from each other & residing in totally different clans... is Trance Metal even a genre or could it simply be considered to be a descriptor like Southern Metal for example? I'm very open to the idea of Trance Metal being removed as a genre altogether if that's found to be the case but would have to work out a way to suitably categorize the relatively small number of releases. Let's wait & see how I go with the remaining six releases, shall we?

3.5/5

That's fair enough Andi & please bare in mind that I'm not saying that you're wrong or trying to guide your opinion. I'm simply trying to ensure that I get the most out of this deep dive by understanding the various nuances as deeply as I can. I agree that "Clarity" is metal enough for inclusion here but aren't quite sure of how to manage it with the current database. It's interesting that you're saying that a lot of Trancecore artists are metal enough for inclusion & perhaps that's something that I need to review in the future. For the moment though, I think I'm most struggling with the fact that "Clarity" doesn't sound like a Trance Metal or Melodic Metalcore release to me so, although that tagging would seem to be a happy medium, I'm not sure I'm comfortable with it. Perhaps just Melodic Metalcore? I dunno. There's not really a right answer other than to do another deep dive into Trancecore in the future.

To be clear, all Trancecore releases were not moved to Melodic Metalcore during that exercise. That was only done if an existing release didn't have another Metal Academy genre tag as the assumption was made that some people may have historically voted for Trancecore thinking that it was a metal subgenre so we selected Melodic Metalcore as a close-enough of sorts in order to get us out of trouble as it was the parent genre anyway. Once Trancecore was removed from the site we drew a line in the sand & no purely Trancecore releases have been added since unless they have other metal primaries. Essentially Trancecore is considered to be a Non-Metal subgenre at the moment. Therefore, I'd suggest that we should only be looking to add Melodic Metalcore to a release like this one if we think it's a legitimate Melodic Metalcore release. Not because we think it's a Trancecore release & are looking for a close-enough.

Also, I'm still not clear on why you think this is both a Trance Metal & a Trancecore release from what you wrote above. It seems like you agree with me that it's a classic example of Trancecore but then you still want to keep the Trance Metal tag. Why is that? I'm very curious to understand what the key Trance Metal components are that aren't covered by Trancecore for my own learning. I would have thought the best outcome would be for "Clarity" to be removed from Trance Metal & added to Non-Metal if it's a Trancecore release, isn't it?

PassCode - "Clarity" (2019)

Now, this fifth album from Japanese all-girl four-piece PassCode is a really interesting one because it's thrown the cat amongst the pigeons for me in many respects. PassCode's sound is comprised of many disparate elements that are beautifully integrated with metalcore, pop punk, j-pop, alternative rock, electro & trance all playing major roles in the overall package. The vocals flip-flop between j-pop & metalcore & while the instrumentation does something similar between metalcore & pop punk with the electronica being layered over the top in a fashion that's more than simply an accompaniment. The thing with "Clarity" though is that, despite being claimed to be predominantly a Trance Metal release on RYM, if your read the definition of the genre & then do the same with the Trancecore one it's very hard not to think that the latter is perfectly describing the sound we're hearing here, only Trancecore isn't a metal subgenre & "Clarity" is arguably metal enough to be included at the Academy. Perhaps this fact has caused people to label it as Trance Metal simply because they think it's gotta sit under a metal-related subgenre? I can see the logic in that actually as there is so much more going on here than melodic metalcore. If I had to put the album into a clan though it'd 100% be The Revolution. There's no doubt about that whatsoever. But there's also no way that PassCode should be thrown into the same subgenre as the Amaranthe record I just reviewed because they're nothing alike. I think I'll reserve my final position on the album's qualification for the Academy until the end of the deep dive so that I can get a bit more perspective but I'm tempted to lodge a Hall of Judgement entry for it. I'm just not quite sure what I want to do with it yet. I'd be interested to get Andi's perspective on this one actually as he's probably the member with the most knowledge of these two niche subgenres.

At the end of the day "Clarity" is a quality example of it's type but it simply sits so far outside of my taste profile that I struggled to connect with it's quirky hybrid sound. It's certainly a much stronger piece of artistic expression than the BABYMETAL debut but I can't say that I enjoyed the experience all that much more, at least not enough to give it a higher score. I can certainly understand how PassCode would have packed stadiums of Japanese fans on their feet & singing in unison though as their appeal would seem to be perfectly tailored to their homeland.

2.5/5

I didn't uncover any unheralded classics this month but there were a bunch of strong & entertaining records along with a couple of releases that I couldn't connect with. I was already familiar with the Ulcerate & Overkill records & my feelings have remained relatively stable on those two. The Void of Silence, Admiral Angry, Xanthochroid & Mnemic albums were all very rewarding new discoveries for me while the Virgin Steele album was pretty decent too. I don't think I was ever really going to enjoy a Parkway Drive or a Summoning record if I'm being honest but at least I gave them a crack. 

Here are my ratings in order of preference:

THE HORDE: Ulcerate - "Shrine of Paralysis" (2016)  4/5

THE FALLEN: Void of Silence - "Criteria ov 666" (2002)  4/5

THE REVOLUTION: Admiral Angry - "Buster" (2009)  4/5

THE INFINITE: Xanthochroid - "Of Erthe & Axen: Act 1" (2017)  4/5

THE SPHERE: Mnemic - "Mechanical Spin Phenomena" (2003)  4/5

THE GUARDIANS: Virgin Steele - "The Marriage of Heaven & Hell: Part One" (1994)  3.5/5

THE PIT: Overkill - "Killbox 13" (2003)  3.5/5

THE GATEWAY: Parkway Drive - "Darker Still" (2022)  3/5

THE NORTH: Summoning - "Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame" (2001)  2.5/5

Well done to Vinny who gets my bikkies this month for the Ulcerate nomination.

Amaranthe - "Manifest" (2020)

For the second release in my Trance Metal deep dive I've opted to go with the latest full-length from arguably the most important artist in the genre in Sweden's Amaranthe. This is a very different record to the BABYMETAL one but it offers similarities in its focus on pop hooks. This is certainly a much better band than I heard on their 2009 debut E.P. "Leave Everything Behind" & Amaranthe prove themselves to be a well-oiled machine capable of stunning musicianship & production. This album definitely showcases the textbook Trance Metal sound, at least as far as my understanding of it goes. There's a noticeable trance influence on most tracks through the melodic & uplifting synth-driven electronic accompaniment, occasional use of four-to-the-floor beats & soaring, angelic female vocals. There's also the inclusion of harsh metalcore vocals that is generally thought to be a component of the Trance Metal sound but (as with their debut E.P.) they're comfortably the weakest component of the Amaranthe sound & they'd be well advised to drop them altogether in my opinion given how effective the clean male & female vocals are.

So, does this record justify the Trance Metal genre's existence? Quite possibly. It could sit under a genre like Power Metal but I don't mind the idea of keeping it separate either as it's just different enough to warrant it. It certainly has nothing to do with the Alternative Metal I heard on "BABYMETAL" & would be way out of place under The Gateway. It's also WWAAYYY too melodic for The Revolution. "Manifest" sits most comfortably under The Guardians in my opinion as it contains similar attributes & qualities to Symphonic Power Metal. I didn't mind this record either just quietly. It's certainly inconsistent but the highlights (see the wonderful power metal ballad "Crystalline" for example) are easily strong enough to carry the weaker moments. Consider "Manifest" to be a guilty pleasure for me.

3.5/5

Here's the good example of the Trance Metal sound:

BABYMETAL - "BABYMETAL" (2014)

I thought I'd start with a release that I'm miles more familiar with than any other Trance Metal record. In fact, I'd suggest that I've listened to it more than any other metal release over the last two years & that's not by choice. My two daughters are obsessed with BABYMETAL so they play the big hit singles from this record on repeat & never seem to tire of them. It's good to finally be able to get a rating out for it now but I unsurprisingly haven't found a lot of joy in it. There are a couple of decent tracks (see nu metal number "Onedari Daisakusen" & my personal favourite in djent effort "Rondo of Nightmare") but the rest is far too affiliated with J-Pop & commercial EDM for my taste. The musicianship is absolutely stunning though.

So is this a Trance Metal release? You know what, I'm way more across the finer details of trance music than the vast majority of metalheads due to my decade-long dalliance with the dance music scene (& DJing in general) so I think I'm well qualified to make a call on this. There's really only two tracks here that draw upon genuine trance music (see "line!" & "Uki Uki Midnight") with the rest of the album making a whole bunch of different stylistic choices (death metal, thrash metal, alternative metal, nu metal, industrial metal, djent, power metal) but this record ultimately ends up sitting much more comfortably under the Alternative Metal tag than the Trance Metal one. I don't even think the two trancey tracks fit the genre description all that well either so I've submitted a Hall of Judgement entry for this release which really belongs solely in The Gateway in my opinion.

2.5/5

Here's the best example of Trance Metal you'll find on this record:

This nomination has now been added to the Hall of Judgement.

This nomination has now been added to the Hall of Judgement.

I actually disagree. Black metal plays more of a supporting role in the overall package in my opinion & I wouldn't want to see a release like this one sitting at the top of the black metal charts or being included in the playlists for The North. I'm comfortable with the sole Progressive Metal tag as I think that genre adequately covers a lot of the cinematic & symphonic elements on show. I'll get the Hall entry up over the next couple of days & we'll see what everyone else thinks.

This was a really great feature release selection as far as I'm concerned as the scope & execution is excellent while the tracklisting is completely blemish-free. The reference to Ne Obliviscaris is certainly apt as they're probably the band that sits closest to this sound. Xandochroid possess an additional cinematic component which gives them a clear point of difference though, despite the fact that you'll easily detect the influence of other progressive metal masters like Dream Theater, Opeth, etc. The clean vocals sound a lot like James LaBrie from Dream Theater at times while the black metal shrieks are the spitting image of Ihsahn. You won't hear a more beautifully executed production job, especially in regard to the symphonic/orchestral elements which jump out of the speakers & gently stroke your face at times. The blast-beats are kept for key moments but are immaculately performed while the folk sections are engaging & free of cheese. I love the female vocals too. They're gorgeous! The only criticism I have is that the quality level dips a touch between tracks 5-7 but I'd suggest that all fans of extreme progressive metal will find a lot to enjoy here.

For fans of Ne Obliviscaris, Wilderun & Opeth.

4/5

I'm gonna have to apologise for this one as in hindsight "Buster" really doesn't have much to do with metalcore or The Revolution. It's really a djenty sludge metal record & a damn fine one at that too. The tracklisting is seriously consistent & the music is as filthy & depraved as you could ever ask for. Front man Chris Lindblad screams his absolute guts out in a marvelous performance while the techy djent feel to some of the riffs is something that I'm yet to experience in combination with a genre like sludge. Closer "Illusion of Strength" is the highlight for mine & is a wonderful example of the sound that the poorly titled Admiral Angry have to offer but there's not a weak moment on here & I thoroughly enjoyed the experience overall. It's a crushingly heavy album full of psychotic, drug-fueled self-harm & spite.

For fans of Black Wall Sheep, Knut & early Amenra.

4/5

I'm afraid I couldn't get into this one much as it's simply too poppy for my taste. There are three or four really decent 3.5-4 star tracks included ("Land of the Lost" & album highlight "Glitch" are especially solid) & the production & execution is excellent but the majority of the album sits in spaces that I'm not that all that comfortable, particularly the Fred Durst-ish vocal approach that pops up here & there. In fact, there's definitely a bit of nu metal about this album at times. Strangely, the back end of the tracklisting is where most of the best tracks can be found with three of the last four all being more than decent alternative metal numbers. 

For fans of Bad Wolves, Avatar & latter-day In Flames.

3/5

I'm about to go into my first Parkway Drive record ever. These guys are from Byron Bay which is less than an hour away from where I live on the Gold Coast so it's about time really, particularly given how huge these guys are on a global scale. I guess I've just never felt they'd interest me much. Anyway... wish me luck.

You kinda know what you're gonna get with an Overkill record, don't you? And their twelfth album won't disappoint too many fans in that regard as you'll find the same fairly simple, well-executed thrash metal tunes with Blitz's signature snarly vocals delivery here along with the groove metal influence the band had been touting since the mid-90's. The production is great, Bobby's vocals are excellent (particularly given that he'd only recently suffered a heart attack on stage) & the shredding guitar solos are outstanding with a searing tone. There's not a lot more to say about it really. It's yet another workman-like effort that sporting a couple of clear highlights in opener "Devil by the Tail" (with it's awesome Slayer-inspired bridge section) & my personal fave "The One". It also contains a couple of flat tracks in "Damned" & ""Unholy". The rest is just kinda middling i.e. pretty enjoyable but not something that's likely to see me returning to the album in the future. "Horrorscope" will remain as the only Overkill album that I genuinely love but "Killbox 13" isn't all that far behind the band's other highly regarded records like "The Years of Decay", "Taking Over" & "Feel The Fire" in all honesty. I guess I'm just not that big an Overkill fan but I'd suggest that this was Overkill's best work in a decade from what I can remember.

For fans of Exodus, Testament & Anthrax.

3.5/5

I really enjoyed this release Ben. It was new to me as I'd only heard Void of Silence's 2010 fourth album "The Grave of Civilization" previously but I think this is the better record of the two from what I remember of that particular release. I'd describe the sound of "Criteria ov 666" as being blackened/gothic doom metal. The style of the riffage certainly borrows a lot from My Dying Bride while the use of dark atmospheric interludes & cinematic symphonics gives Void of Silence a clear differentiator. The vocals are obviously drawn from black metal with Aborym front man Malfeitor Fabban handling the microphone duties on this occasion. I have to say that the rhythm guitar sound leaves a little to be desired but the tracklisting is completely free of duds so it's a very consistent record. It is a little strange though that they've elected to leave the three strongest cuts until right at the end of the album but it does leave you wanting more which can hardly be negative now, can it? Great selection once again Ben.

For fans of My Dying Bride, Dolorian & Dread Sovereign.

4/5

With a vote tally of YES 6 NO 0, I've decided that this is conclusive enough to make the change. Thank you to everyone that contributed to the result.

I guess it depends on your definition of "a big impact" Andi. Deadwater Drowning are hardly a household name, are they?

I've passed this nomination as the album already qualifies for inclusion in The Sphere without going to a vote. The relevant change has been made in the database.