Shadowdoom9 (Andi)'s Forum Replies

The only filler track you'll find in this otherwise solid folk-metalcore album:

Slow folky melancholy is the main purpose of this 8-minute epic:

Epic folk/metalcore that can work as the soundtrack enemy-slashing battles, hammering parties, and simply headbanging to the loud heaviness:

The most blackened gem in this offering, sounding closer to the earlier eras of Ensiferum and Equilibrium:

A grand example of folk-fueled melodeath alternating between fast and slow, with similar vibes to bands like Kalmah, Swallow the Sun, Mercenary, and Hope for the Dying:

Welcome to Metal Academy, Mike! I love many of those bands so I'll definitely check out your band Deadtide.

Agreed. It may not be as djenty as their earlier material, but their metalcore side was still around then.

A dark satisfying example of the post-sludge sound we know, proving that it's far from dead:

An absolutely devastating sludgy start to this post-sludge adventure:

I've just given this EP some listening and a review, and honestly, it's an amazing return of the post-sludge sound we know. And there's definitely enough sludgy riffing for The Fallen. YES vote from me coming up!

Mirror Touch indeed shows the band taking a turn into just alt-metal, distancing themselves from the djenty roots of their first two albums. In fact, I would say their previous album Happier? continues the direction they've had since Different Animals. So I'll vote YES for this entry. Stay tuned for my Happier? judgement submission...

Cult of Luna is another contender for the greatest Swedish metal band, taking the post-sludge sound developed by Neurosis and Isis, and expanding it further, opening the gates for later bands like The Ocean and Rosetta.

Ben, please add Ithilien.

A fantastic start to the action that's epic, heavy, melodic, and accessible, all at once:

Yeah, that's what I mean, wait for his approval.

Well done, Rex! The gates to The North shall open for you when you earn that clan.

No worries, Daniel.

Glad to hear your wife's feeling better, Daniel. And happy birthday last week!

Thanks Daniel.

Thanks Daniel.

I'm referring to their album Fury, which is exclusively under metalcore. https://metal.academy/releases/36784

Anybody know some real genre-benders in melo-black? 

I have a few I would recommend to you, Rex, though a couple of them are mixed with other genres:

Underoath - Cries of the Past (2000)

Stormlord - At the Gates of Utopia (2001)

Shade Empire - Omega Arcane (2013)

Shylmagoghnar - Emergence (2014)

Waidelotte - Celestial Shrine (2024)

And how about the worst albums of this year? For my list, I've limited to the releases that I've given 2.5 or 3 stars, and that's given me enough for at least a top 5:

1. Brainstorm - Plague of Rats

2. Sabaton - Legends

3. A Day to Remember - Big Ole Album Vol. 1

4. Blessthefall - Gallows

5. Tremonti - The End Will Show Us How

My own Spotify playlist based on my list, from 10 to 1: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4uZGrg1oM7C6xf3Zkhis40

An early melodic progressive metal epic that I wish could describe more, but I have....

Excellent decision, Rex! Now which North clan challenge would you like to do to earn that clan?

And how about just EPs? Here's my top 5 of this year:

1. Trivium - Struck Dead

2. The Halo Effect - We Are Shadows

3. Rolo Tomassi - In the Echoes of All Dreams

4. Ex Deo - Year of the Four Emperors

5. Car Bomb - Tiles Whisper Dreams

Honorable mentions: Impending Doom - Towards the Light, Invent Animate/Silent Planet - Bloom in Heaven

Yeah, I enjoy this band's earlier metalcore material as much as, and possibly better than, their later rap-fueled material, so the haters out there can sit down.

Of all the more melodic genres that I've listened to 10 years ago, the one that I've departed from the most was epic folk metal. And now I'm really back there! Would've been better if I checked out these bands when I had the chance back then:

Sludgy progressive metal similar to Mastodon:

I'm glad to finally be fully interested in these bands that I've somehow missed out on when my power/symphonic metal taste was in an all-time high around a decade ago. I can especially say that about these German power metal pioneers:

Along with these two stunning female-led symphonic metal bands:

Ben, please add the new Volumes album Mirror Touch.

Ben, please add the new Upon a Burning Body album Blood of the Bull.

Oh these cover art coincidences just never end! The cover arts for that The Devil Wears Prada demo and that The Arbitrary Method EP both have a close-up of a woman's face behind an abstract pattern. Though the latter is definitely more futuristic, just like the EP itself.

If it looks good, I treat it like any other art. If it's clearly sloppy, I would dock points for it. Sadly, much of the world is so fixated on what's real or not, continuing their "zero tolerance" against AI. That I can understand, but if they see anything that looks even slightly AI, or if something real looks so good it's likely to be AI, those people can be so quick as to sh*t on it and anyone associated with it. That's why websites like YouTube and DeviantArt give you the option to clarify that something isn't AI.

I wanted to include the song "Defy" here, but that one doesn't have a standalone YouTube video. So I went with this one that's also a grand standout, even having Bjorn Strid from Soilwork behind the mic:

I love the guitar leads and vocals have a similar vibe to Trivium but more futuristic:

No it isn't. Glad you agree with me here, Rex.

Another magnificent 9-minute epic with the heavy/power metal sound similar to Crimson Glory and Helloween:

Fear of Domination have their brand-new album Katharsis coming out next month! This epic single from the album seems to emphasize their earlier industrial/trance metal roots more with some slight glimpses of their melodeath side:

Sorry to hear, Daniel. Hope your wife can recover soon.

Oh yeah, I enjoy Voivod. Seeing your rating for their album Dimension Hatross, I would also recommend the albums surrounding it; Killing Technology and Nothingface.

A magnificent 9-minute epic with the power metal-ish heavy metal sound similar to other bands from my early days of metal, especially in the chanting chorus:

Welcome, silentsteps! I'm generally more of a metalcore/industrial/power/progressive metal kind of a guy, but I sometimes explore other metal genres, with some results good, bad, or mixed. And just because something isn't up my alley doesn't always mean it's bad for anyone else. This brings me to my atmospheric recommendation to you, covering all 3 of your clans: Woods of Belial - Deimos XIII. Hope this album's dark industrial melodic black-doom sound can do well for you better than it has for me. Enjoy! https://metal.academy/releases/34464

2025 will soon reach its end, so I think now's a good time for a top 10 of this year:

1. Lorna Shore - I Feel the Everblack Festering Within Me

2. An Abstract Illusion - The Sleeping City

3. Dayseeker - Creature in the Black Night

4. Orbit Culture - Death Above Life

5. Jinjer - Duel

6. Shadow of Intent - Imperium Delirium

7. All That Remains - Antifragile

8. Warbringer - Wrath and Ruin

9. The Halo Effect - March of the Unheard

10. Warmen - Band of Brothers

Honorable mentions: Drown in Sulphur - Vengeance, Dawn of Solace - Affliction Vortex, The Haunted - Songs of Last Resort, Onslaught - Origins of Aggression, Eighteen Visions - Until the Ink Runs Out (re-recorded version)

An 11-minute epic of absolute complex rage and somber melody:

A fantastic eruption of progressive death metal:

Some of the best progressive death metal I've heard in my life is in this 14 and a half minute epic:

Just like in the debut album, the first full cut is the deepest and heaviest:

Probably the best epic of the entire album, possibly by the band, although the lyrics are in Swedish: