Daniel's Forum Replies

The clan has spoken! Feel free to carry on taking submissions then. Just an idea but perhaps the guidelines could be that non-clan members can submit multiple tracks as long as they've genuinely listened to those records during the month prior? Otherwise they get just the one.

I think you've turned all of us into Warning fans over the past couple of years. 

Yeah I didn't mind Warning prior to that but my last revisit blew my mind. The vocals were always a problem for me but they finally clicked & WOH!!!!! "Footsteps" isn't one of my top few songs from the album (I prefer the title track, "Bridges" & "Echoes" which are pretty much perfect examples of the doom metal genre in my opinion) but it's still a damn fine piece in its own right which is a clear indication of the consistent strength of the album overall.

I've got a feeling someone else was kidding with that Månegarm track as well.

I wasn't actually. I found that atmospheric piece to be by far the most enjoyable thing on an album that I genuinely struggled with.

Yeah that's a fair call Ben but are you saying that you enjoy this latest Windir submission? Take a listen with fresh ears & tell me it's not a poorly executed Isengard clone.

Highly atmospheric Swedish doom/death for fans of October Tide & early Paradise Lost/Anathema.

Katatonia - "Dance of December Souls" (1993)

To be honest, I've never understood the unanimous praise that Katatonia's debut full-length seems to inevitably draw. Sure, it's got some lovely melodies & creates a uniquely sombre atmosphere at times but is it really a genuine classic? I don't think so. The musicianship is pretty amateurish, the vocals are lacking in power & control, the arrangements are pretty loose, it's lacking in heaviness for a doom release & Dan Swano's keyboards are cheesy as hell for the most part. Somehow though, the overall package seems to draw me in just enough to qualify for a pass mark. I think the first couple of proper songs taint my impression a bit as they both sound pretty lethargic & this is exacerbated by the fact that the closer is absolutely awful but there's a lengthy four track run in between that I really enjoy & it just does enough to overcome my concerns. In fact, you can pretty easily see where a classic like "Brave Murder Day" came from during that stronger period & perhaps that fact alone is enough to command a 3.5/5 rating from me. I have to say that I've never understood the links to melodic black metal though. There's approximately one minute of black metal here if you look closely. There's a lot more of the gothic component which would stay with Katatonia for most of their career. Overall, I'd suggest that "Dance of December Souls" is a mildly enjoyable if inessential & overrated release that kicked off a consistently high quality discography.

For fans of October Tide & early Paradise Lost/Anathema.

3.5/5

Superbly chunky progressive metal for Seattle, USA. For fans of Sanctuary, Communic & Warrel Dane.

Nevermore - "This Godless Endeavour" (2005)

Another very solid outing from an undeniably high quality progressive metal outfit. The production & performances are outstanding, particularly the lead guitar work of Jeff Loomis. I don't think this is a classic release for me personally though. Perhaps it's the groove metal style of some of the riffs or that the vocal hooks don't dig their teeth in quite far enough to allow me to reach the upper levels of my adoration but ultimately I don't think there are enough genuine highlight tracks for a classic release even if everything sounds super impressive. It's interesting that this album is generally regarded as a progressive thrash metal too. Progressive? Yeah definitely. Thrash? Hhhmmmm.... that's a considerable stretch in my opinion & I'll be raising an entry for the Hall of Judgement for this one. Anyway... I really enjoyed my "This Godless Endeavour" experience & place it in third place behind 1999's "Dreaming Neon Black" (their true classic in my opinion) & 2000's "Dead Heart in a Dead World" for Nevermore's overall discography.

For fans of Sanctuary, Communic & Warrel Dane.

4/5

The highlight track from the 2015 archival release of the demo tracks for the Wisconsin-based brutal thrash metal legends' sophomore album that never saw the light of day. For fans of Demolition Hammer, Kreator & early Sadus.

Morbid Saint - "Destruction System" (2015)

This archival release was originally recorded as the preliminary demos for Wisconsin-based thrash metallers Morbid Saint's follow-up to their classic 1990 debut album "Spectrum Of Death" but the final product never ended up seeing the light of day so these recordings lay dormant for more than two decades before finally becoming available in 2015. I actually don't think that's such a bad thing because, even though it's an enjoyable enough listen, "Destruction System" doesn't come close to the quality of Morbid Saint's legendary first-up effort. It's very much a meat-&-potatoes thrash record that doesn't possess the sheer violence & aggression of "Spectrum Of Death". It's heavily weighted towards the A side with a couple of pretty flat inclusions on the B side while the production job is unsurprisingly pretty awful with the guitars being far too low in the mix & the drums totally dominating. Still... I can't deny the appeal in this band. Pat Lind's brutal vocals are still a welcome novelty & there's a four track run on the A side that I really dig. The best moments tend to match up with the more up-tempo material (particularly the Slayer style solos) while the less appealing stuff is a lot more chuggy & mid-tempo than I remember from Morbid Saint in their prime with tracks like "Halls of Terror" & "Living Misery" sounding more like middle-of-the-road Testament or Exodus than they do the more brutal end of thrash. Overall, "Destruction System" is deserving of a cursory listen for fans of Morbid Saint's classic debut but will remain inessential as it's lacking in replay value.

For fans of Demolition Hammer, Kreator & early Sadus.

3.5/5

Melodic/symphonic/Pagan black metal from Norway. For fans of Mistur, Cor Scorpii & Vreid.

Robert Hood - "Fabric 39" (2008)

A super-cool Detroit techno mix from one of the true masters of the craft. No production tricks or studio mixing here. 32 tracks across a 69 minute mix that never loses momentum.

Devastated that this ol' favourite has finally packed it in after the material under armpits gave way due to overuse. It's likely my most used piece of clothing ever I would think. On the plus side, I have a one in/one out policy so I wasted no time whatsoever in securing myself a super-cool replacement band shirt.

I think we might close out the option for non-clan member submissions on The Gateway playlists now that we have two members contributing to the tracklisting.

For this week's top ten list I've opted to go for my Top Ten Brutal Death Metal Releases Of All Time. Unfortunately though, I've found it to be impossible to avoid having it completely dominated by my all-time favourite band:

01. Suffocation – “Pierced From Within” (1995)

02. Suffocation – “Despise The Sun” E.P. (1998)

03. Suffocation – “Pinnacle Of Bedlam” (2013)

04. Suffocation – “Effigy Of The Forgotten” (1991)

05. Suffocation – “Human Waste” E.P. (1991)

06. Hour Of Penance – “The Vile Conception” (2008)

07. Hour Of Penance – “Paradogma” (2010)

08. Suffocation – “Suffocation” (2006)

09. Deadly Remains – “Severing Humanity” (2012)

10. Pyrexia – “Sermon Of Mockery” (1993)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/144

What's your top ten look like?

Seminal Canadian war metal for fans of Archgoat, Proclamation & Black Witchery.

Blasphemy - "Fallen Angel Of Doom...." (1990)

After revisiting Canadian war metal godfathers Blasphemy's infamous 1989 demo tape "Blood Upon The Altar" a few weeks ago & quite enjoying it, I thought I'd branch a little further out by investigating their seminal debut album "Fallen Angel Of Doom...." as well to see if it'd grown on me of the years. I recall struggling to see what all the hype was about back in the day & after giving it a few spins over the last couple of days I have to admit that I still do. "Fallen Angel Of Doom...." is loosely written, sloppily performed & is presented within the context of one of the worst production jobs the world has ever seen but you can certainly hear the potential that it offered. Blasphemy managed to combine all four of the major extreme metal sounds of the time (i.e. death metal, black metal, thrash metal & grindcore) into one swarming mass of largely indecipherable noise with this release but I certainly find myself wanting to like it more than I actually do if I'm being completely honest. The drums & vocals are mixed absolutely miles higher than the bass & rhythm guitars which are almost completely lost on most tracks &, as a guitarist myself, I find this to be a little bit offensive. There's a noticeable variation in sound between the various tracks too with some possessing more high end & reminding me of a bunch of aluminium trash cans being rolled down a steep hill simultaneously while others seeing the guitars peeking through a little more which provides an obvious improvement to my listening experience. The insane guitar solos are a real highlight though as they're almost invariably placed over the most intense sections & create psychotic blankets of excitement over the most over-the-top of musical sequences. There are a few tracks that see Blasphemy managing to overcome the rubbish production job (see "Hoarding of Evil Vengeance", "Desecration" & album highlight "Demoniac") but these are simply not enough to create much value in repeat listens for me & overall I still find "Fallen Angel Of Doom...." to be more interesting than it is enjoyable to tell you the truth. I greatly prefer the "Blood Upon The Altar" demo which included a few of the same songs only with a vastly superior production job.

For fans of Archgoat, Proclamation & Black Witchery.

3/5

Dead Congregation - "Graves Of The Archangels" (2008)

Sonny & Vinny, I notice that neither of you have rated this one but I'd recommend it if you haven't already checked it out.

A short blast of pure underground death metal joy from this Greek outfit. For fans of Incantation, Immolation & Cruciamentum.

Dead Congregation - "Graves Of The Archangels" (2008)

The debut full-length from this Greek death metal band is a dark, swampy mass of deathly decay that reminds me heavily of Incantation meets "Covenant"-era Morbid Angel. The light-speed blast-beats are beautifully executed & are a real highlight while the vocals come from the deepest bowels of hell where they've been meticulously trained by the likes of Incantation & Immolation. This shit is right up my alley but isn't a patch on Dead Congregation's 2014 follow-up "Promulgation Of The Fall" which is utter death metal perfection. Still... "Graves Of The Archangels" won't disappoint a single fan of your darker brand of death metal.

For fans of Incantation, Immolation & Cruciamentum.

4/5

What a consistent bunch of features we had this month guys! There wasn't a dud amongst them in my opinion. The Nile submission was always gonna be my favourite given my taste profile however there were some really interesting sounds to be heard this month & it was clear that you all put a lot of thought into picking some records of genuine intrigue & quality. This was my order of preference:

THE HORDE: Nile - "Annihilation Of The Wicked" (2005)  4.5/5

THE FALLEN: Messa - "Feast For Water" (2018)  4/5

THE SPHERE: Andrew Hulshult - "DUSK (Original Game Soundtrack)" (2018)  4/5

THE PIT: Exumer - "Rising From The Sea" (1987)  4/5

THE GUARDIANS: W.A.S.P. - "The Headless Children" (1989)  4/5

THE INFINITE: Persefone - "Core" (2006)  4/5

THE NORTH: Sun Of The Blind - "Skullreader" (2009)  4/5

THE GATEWAY: Spiritbox - "Eternal Blue" (2021)  4/5

THE REVOLUTION: Trivium - "In The Court Of The Dragon" (2021)  3.5/5

A genuine death metal classic for fans of Deicide, Cannabis Corpse & Monstrosity.

Cannibal Corpse - "Tomb Of The Mutilated" (1992)

This was such a huge record in my life at the time but I'm afraid it hasn't aged as well as I'd hoped so I've been forced to relegate it back to being simply a very strong & entertaining death metal album rather than the genuine classic I've always thought it to be. "Tomb Of The Mutilated" definitely relies pretty heavily on pure shock factor to draw it's audience in but it's influence on the more brutal end of death metal can't be denied. I guess it's just that the flaws are far more evident now that I've heard ten thousand records that rival it in the extremity stakes. Chris Barnes' super-deep vocals may have set new levels of gutteral brutality however he struggled noticeably with his phrasing. Paul Mazurkiewicz really only had three beats which he alternates throughout the album with very few interesting fills while his bouncier thrash moments detract from the atmosphere a little at times. The tracklisting is very top heavy with the two genuine CC classics opening the album in "Hammer Smashed Face" & "I Cum Blood". It's the half-time sections that show where Cannibal Corpse's real strength lies though & there are some absolute belter riffs going on within the bridge sections of most songs & the song-writing is generally always really catchy. I never thought I'd say this but I'm now finding that I give "Butchered At Birth" a slight edge over "Tomb Of the Mutilated" in what was historically a pretty convincing win to the younger challenger.

For fans of Deicide, Cannabis Corpse & Monstrosity.

4/5

Kentucky metalcore for fans of Gulch, Year Of The Knife & Sanction.

Knocked Loose - "A Tear In The Fabric Of Life" E.P. (2021)

21 minutes of fairly brutal Kentucky metalcore featuring abrasive vocals, djenty breakdowns & a deathcore weight to some of the riffage. I'm not a huge fan of the vocals & those breakdowns can be pretty generic at times however the production & execution are very strong & there's a genuine consistency to the blemish-free tracklisting that sees me reaching a positive outcome.

For fans of Gulch, Year Of The Knife & Sanction.

3.5/5

Djenty metalcore-infused Canadian alternative metal for fans of Bad Wolves, Loathe & Northlane.

I actually disagree you here Saxy. "Eternal Blue" certainly offers some metalcore material at various points however there are plenty of tracks that don't include anything of the sort too. I'm going with alternative metal as the most consistently utilized subgenre with djent & metalcore as secondaries. There's nothing that sounds like melodeath here so I don't think the melodic metalcore tag is appropriate.

I have to admit that I really got into this album after giving it a few listens. It sounded a bit too commercially focused for my taste early on however the hooks & execution are really strong so the highlights, variety & consistency quickly turned my opinion around. Courtney's vocals certainly give Spiritbox an extra layer of accessibility however the song-writing & production always see her being positioned nicely & the contrast of the more extreme metalcore sections creates some welcome light & shade. The opening tracks on both sides (i.e. "Sun Killer" & "Holy Roller") absolutely slay & there's really only one of the twelve tracks that doesn't do much for me in the disappointing "The Summit". I can see why Spiritbox are getting a fair bit of attention around the traps at the moment as it's a formidable debut full-length.

For fans of Bad Wolves, Loathe & Northlane.

4/5

Andi, you'll definitely dig this release.

Hi everyone. For those that are now managing the monthly playlists for your clans, can I please ask that on the first day of the month you a) create the monthly playlist thread in the associated clan forum & b) add the playlist to the clan's Past Playlist Tracklistings thread. Please try to use the same format we've been using up until now so that it gives us some continuity. The link address for each playlist stays the same from month to month so it's not a huge concern if I haven't swapped out the previous month's list when you post. I'm pretty strict with doing the swaps as soon as I wake up on the first day of the month so it'll be rectified within hours.

Swiss atmospheric black metal for fans of Darkspace, Lurker Of Chalice & Almyrkvi.

Yeah I can see why you like this one-off solo project from Darkspace guitarist Zhaaral Ben. It's five lengthy tracks are melodic, majestic & possess genuine atmosphere. It's not without its flaws mind you. The programmed drums sound a bit sluggish at times & there are some melodic intervals used that have a tendency to sound a touch sickly (perhaps intentionally). A few of these lengthy tracks also take a bit of time to get going but it's definitely worth the investment because when Zhaaral hits his straps he's capable of transporting you to some pretty imposing locations. There are no weak tracks included & I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

For fans of Darkspace, Lurker Of Chalice & Almyrkvi.

4/5

So I decided to put together my top ten conventional death metal records of all time this week. Here's the outcome:

01. Morbid Angel – “Altars Of Madness” (1989)

02. Death - "Human" (1991)

03. Immolation – “Close To A World Below” (2000)

04. Dragged Into Sunlight – “Hatred For Mankind” (2009)

05. Carcass – “Necroticism: Descanting The Insalubrious” (1991)

06. Obituary – “Cause Of Death” (1990)

07. Dead Congregation – “Promulgation Of The Fall” (2014)

08. Morbid Angel – “Blessed Are The Sick” (1991)

09. Deicide – “Deicide” (1990)

10. Hate – “Erebos” (2010)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/143

What's yours?

A wonderful post-rock inspired ending to a unique & intriguing Italian doom metal record that should appeal to fans of Witch Mountain, Windhand & Frayle.

Yeah, great feature release selection this one Sonny. A really intriguing & refreshing listen. I love the combination of influences. We've got early Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin style blues rock, Pink Floyd, Bohren & der Club of Gore, Mazzy Star, early Dead Can Dance & even a bit of post-rock,  all combined with what I'd describe as more of a stoner rock backbone than I would a doom metal one. It's very well executed, extremely consistent & thoroughly enjoyable too. Nothing sounds at all out of place here. I'm not sure I'd say that the jazz component amounts to "dark jazz". I used to listen to a fair bit of that subgenre & this stuff isn't really very dark in comparison. I think I'd go with "deep jazz" instead. Anyway.... this may not actually be a metal record as such but Sonny's The Fallen form continues with no end in sight.

For fans of Witch Mountain, Windhand & Frayle.

4/5

One of the doomier tracks from this classic technical/brutal death metal album from South Carolina. For fans of Lykathea Aflame, Hour Of Penance & Origin.

I selected this release purely because it's a bit of a favourite of mine & I recently noticed that I hadn't rated it. (That's actually been the driver behind a fair few of my recent feature release nominations so I'm afraid it's been for purely selfish reasons but you know what? ....It's my party & I'll cry if I want to!) On paper Nile were always going to be a band that would appeal to me & I believe it was Ben that brought this album to my attention as soon as I returned to metal in 2009. I recall that it blew my socks off & it still does to this day. George Kollias' unbelievable machine gun-like extreme drumming & the dual lead guitar trade-offs of Karl Sanders & Dallas Toler-Wade are spectacular & I love the way that Nile manages to incorporate a blend of old school death metal, technical death metal & my beloved brutal death metal in roughly equal portions without ever really pigeon-holing themselves under any of those banners. The Egyptian themes are incorporated beautifully & I particularly love the doomier sections which see the band exploring their more atmospheric side. The vocals can be a touch generic at times (particularly when they simply follow the rhythm of the blasting riffs) but they really find their groove when things slow down a bit which allows for a little more emotion to creep in. The quality of the tracklisting is very high throughout but the album definitely peaks across the last couple of tracks in my opinion with the doomy closer "Von Unaussprechlichen Kulten" being an absolute gem of the highest order. I also really love the more brutal stuff like "Cast Down the Heretic" & "Chapter of Obeisance Before Giving Breath to the Inert One in the Presence of the Crescent Shaped Horns" which reminds me a lot of a band like Hour Of Penance who I'm a big fan of. I genuinely love "Annihilation Of The Wicked" & think it may be my favourite Nile release these days. It should be essential listening for all death metal fans as far as I'm concerned.

For fans of Lykathea Aflame, Hour Of Penance & Origin.

4.5/5

I agree Andi. In fact, I did it only this afternoon.

I wasn't implying anything Saxy. I was pretty openly saying that Trivium utilize very familiar tools that I've heard many times before but do it in a catchy way that I find hard not to enjoy. Those tools are borrowed from several different subgenres but all are very melodic & easy on the ear. To answer your other query, yes I was questioning Trivium's metalcore tagging because there's very little hardcore punk influence in this album or "In Waves" other than the use of breakdowns & some screamed vocals. I'm not sure what the correct tag would be but metalcore just sounds wrong & the same can be said for several of their melodic metalcore peers.

As for the Nickelback comparison, I honestly find myself drawing that reference point multiple times across both albums & would be surprised if others don’t pick up on it too. I don’t have any sort of bone to pick with Nickelback as I’ve only ever heard a few singles that I found to be more inoffensive than genuinely horrible. Ultimately though, my message is that I feel that Trivium make a conscious effort to sound as commercially accessible as possible which is generally at odds with my taste in music but they’re talented enough at what they do to convince me of their merit regardless.

I can completely understand those "generic" comments to be honest. I have the same sort of feelings & didn't really want to like "In The Court Of The Dragon" as a result. Strangely, I can't help but see the appeal in most of the song-writing though. Trivium really know how to compose & position a catchy heavy metal chorus however there's not a hardcore tragic in the world that finds this stuff appealing for its similarities to their chosen subgenre. Despite the use of some screamed vocals & the trademark breakdowns,  this album is the complete antithesis of everything that hardcore's about so the metalcore tag seems a bit odd to me. It's so polished & clinical in the execution & the style is built around easily palatable melodies that are intended to give the band the same sort of crossover appeal as Metallica's "Black Album". The term "bubblegum" often comes to mind & even the blast beat sections sound easy on the ears. I'd actually suggest that this record is much closer to Linkin Park than it is Discharge to be honest. It's certainly not in the same stratosphere as extreme metal & the references to thrash are misguided. The faster guitar parts are drawn from European power metal, not the San Francisco Bay Area. There's plenty of Iron Maiden in the guitar harmonies & Dream Theater/Queensryche in the couple of more progressively inclined moments. There's also a fair bit of At The Gates worship & even some fairly standard sounding groove metal riffs thrown in here & there.

I agree that I should be banned for that Bubblegum Octopus track. I always make a conscious effort to include a cybergrind track & inevitably find that a) I hate it & b) they're not really a variation on grindcore & it's a stretch to even be calling them metal. I actually think the cybergrind subgenre would be better off as a subgenre of avant-garde metal (if it has to stay a metal subgenre at all) as it sounds pretty ridiculous when book-ended between death metal or grindcore tracks. Thoughts?

Orlando-based melodic metalcore for fans of Shadows Fall, As I Lay Dying & God Forbid.

Honestly, I could pretty much copy & paste my review of Trivium's "In Waves" album here as I have very similar feelings about it. Once again we have some very accessible & poppy metal music that relies heavily on the chorus hooks to draw the listener in & it has just enough success to keep me interested despite the generic nature of the tools on offer. Matt Heafy's screamy metalcore vocals certainly aren't Trivium's strong point & I greatly prefer his clean stuff which is often found to be the saving grace on some of these tracks which are fairly flat until the super-catchy chorus kicks in. There are more than a few tasty lead solos scattered across the tracklisting which are a definite highlight while the blast beats sound fairly unintimidating most of the time. As with "In Waves", this really isn't a metalcore record as there's bugger all hardcore punk influence here. "In The Court Of The Dragon" draws its sound from a number of directions with classic heavy metal, power metal & melodic death metal all getting the once over. As I say, this really is a fairly easy-listening metal album & at its worst it often reminds me of a metal version of Nickelback. In saying that though, the strength of the song-writing & arrangements sees the stronger half of the material carrying the album & it just manages to overcome a particularly flat last few tracks to leave me with a mild sense of appeal. "In Waves" is a more consistent record overall but there's really not all that much in it.

For fans of Shadows Fall, As I Lay Dying & God Forbid.

3.5/5

The main theme from Dallas-based producer Andrew Hulshult's industrial metal/dark ambient "DUSK" video game soundtrack from 2018. For fans of Mick Gordon's "DOOM", Sonic Mayhem's "Quake" & Jamie Chrostopherson's "Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Vocal Tracks" soundtracks. 

I've selected a couple of video game soundtrack feature releases for The Sphere in the past & with mixed results it has to be said. Mick Gordon's "DOOM" has gone on to become one of my all-time favourite releases of any subgenre while I found Jamie Christopherson's "Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Vocal Tracks" effort to be a bit flat & lacking in appeal. When I noticed the similarities between the descriptions & praise being bandied around for Texas-based producer Andrew Hulshult's "DUSK" score though I was buoyed by the suspicion that I might be in for something more akin to the former & jumped at the chance to explore it with the group. What I hadn't noticed however was the enormous girth of this release which clocks in at over 158 minutes in duration &, given my stance on rating & reviewing releases on this site, this committed me to a minimum of eight hours of "DUSK" which initially seemed like an enormous mountain to climb. This feeling was only exacerbated by the fact that the whole thing is instrumental too. Thankfully though, "DUSK" is a high quality & extremely consistent release that ticks a lot of my boxes.

"DUSK" is much closer in tone to "DOOM" than it is to "Metal Gear Rising" although it's by no means a mirror image. There's not the same tension-&-release or the industrial techno influence. It's clearly a combination of industrial metal & various brands of ambient music though, not always dark ambient however. The horror synth reference is quite apt at times as this is clearly a soundtrack. I mean I don't think it would take listeners long to realize that had they not been informed prior to going into their listening experience. In fact, it's a little bit ambitious to categorize "DUSK" as an industrial metal release (or a metal release in general actually) because the metal component isn't as prominent as the ambient one with the simple chugging metal riffs often playing more of an accompanying role in the arrangements than a focal point. The guitar tone isn't wonderful & is probably the only criticism I have of Andrew Hulshult's efforts here.

For a 43 track soundtrack, "DUSK" remarkably only dishes out a few failures & these usually line up with the simpler metal based tracks. I've been frustrated by the way that these soundtracks tend to cut their ideas short before they've had the chance to become fully realized in the past but that never feels to be the case here. In much the same way as Akira Yamaoka's "Silent Hill" soundtracks, I actually think I prefer Andrew's purely ambient pieces over his more instrumentally driven ones overall & the highlights generally come when he decides to emphasize the drama by pumping up the tension through the use of dark & grandiose choirs & ever-building layers of abrasive noise or by stripping things back to a minimal structure with deep & subtle synthesizers & a repetitive underlying pulse that beckons you to continue through the game. He certainly possesses a rare talent for creating emotionally engaging soundscapes but I found that "DUSK" required some initial commitment before opening up, perhaps needing me to overcome my reservations about it's length in order to open myself up to it's charms. This release may not be a match for the unwavering focus & creative genius of Mick Gordon's "DOOM' soundtrack but it's a high quality listen in its own right & one that I would imagine would have served its purpose very well.

For fans of Mick Gordon's "DOOM", Sonic Mayhem's "Quake" & Jamie Chrostopherson's "Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Vocal Tracks" video game soundtracks.

4/5

It's with great pleasure that I announce that Xephyr will be managing the monthly Metal Academy Radio "The Guardians" Spotify playlist moving forwards.

Black Sabbath - "Mob Rules" (1981)

40 years young today!! I first heard this one through my best mate's older brother when I was in my early high school years back in the late 1980's & it's still my pick of the Dio-fronted Sabbath albums to this day. It's darker & heavier than the widely preferred but slightly more commercially focused "Heaven & Hell" which gives it the edge. Still sounds great all these years later too.

Saxy has kindly agreed to give the management of the monthly Metal Academy Radio "The Gateway" Spotify playlist a crack on top of his existing engagement with The Infinite playlist. This pleases me greatly as I think Saxy is the most qualified of our contributing members for the task.