Shadowdoom9 (Andi)'s Forum Replies

Here are my suggestions for January's playlist, Daniel. Because I hit a big jackpot in the December playlist, a massive 23 songs I've reviewed including my own suggestions, other songs from bands I like, and songs from bands I haven't heard before, I think these Revolution playlists can sure help me and fans of metalcore, mathcore, deathcore, and trancecore enjoy their songs from bands in the clan and explore different bands. Not only that, the suggestions from the lone Revolution submitter (me) help keep the playlist organic and save the playlist assembler (you) from having to go through bands you know or don't know just for way more than 3 quarters of a playlist. So yeah, I'm gonna do 8 suggestions this time instead of 7, with the eighth one being the ultimate test of pushing that limit. Here they are:

Amaranthe - "The Nexus" (from The Nexus, 2013)

August Burns Red - "Your Little Suburbia Is in Ruins" (from Thrill Seeker, 2005)

Bleeding Through - "Set Me Free" (from Love Will Kill All, 2018)

Born of Osiris - "Follow the Signs" (from The Discovery, 2011)

Horse the Band - "Lord Gold Throneroom" (from The Mechanical Hand, 2005)

The Dillinger Escape Plan - "Prancer" (from One of Us Is the Killer, 2013)

Trivium - "Pillars of Serpents" (from Ember to Inferno, 2003)

Underoath - "Writing on the Walls" (Define the Great Line, 2006)

OK here's the thing about that last song, Underoath's "Writing on the Walls". The album that song is in, Define the Great Line, is not in this site yet because it's non-metal due to its Metalcore genre not fitting the 1:2 ratio in RYM, but I think that album is definitely metalcore for the most part with Christian lyrics and post-metal influences from bands like Neurosis, and that song is a great example of that style along with foreshadowing the heaviness of their next two albums. So please ask Ben to add that album into the site, and their other non-metal album, They're Only Chasing Safety, to bridge the gap, and once they get added, I'll explain more in a judgement submission. I don't know if you would approve of a song from that album going into this playlist, but it's a good test to see if you can do that and accept 8 suggestions rather than just 7...

Here are my suggestions for January's playlist. Daniel, please choose these songs:

Dream Theater -  "Lie" (from Awake, 1994)

Meshuggah - "New Millennium Cyanide Christ" (from Chaosphere, 1998)

The Ocean - "She Was the Universe" (from Anthropocentric, 2010)

Here are my suggestions for January's playlist. Daniel, please choose these songs:

Dragonland - "Holy War" (from Holy War, 2002)

Gamma Ray - "Rich and Famous" (from Sigh No More, 1991)

Kamelot - "III Ways to Epica" (from Epica, 2003)

Here are my suggestions for January's playlist. Daniel, please choose these songs:

After Forever - "Beyond Me" (from Prison of Desire, 2000)

Anathema - "Far Away" (from Eternity, 1996)

Officium Triste - "Your Eyes" (from Giving Yourself Away, 2007)

Great, thanks Daniel!

Great message! Here's my 2020 metal story:

This year has indeed been a sh*tty one because of COVID, but I'm also fortunate to be in a safe healthy family and to have great friends from the outside world. I'm definitely glad to be in this site where we can share metal to one another, review albums, make suggestions for things like monthly playlists (hint hint) and other cool features to help develop the website for a bigger brighter future. It's nice to have positivity during this dark time. Of course I also had to stay home for a couple few-month-long periods of time. That used to be a big challenge for me because I was not used to not going out for a few days or more, but now I can handle it just fine because of the many things I could do at home. I don't have a job but I'm living with my parents who already have jobs. I guess you can call my massive amount of reviewing, "jobless work". Heh heh...

It is sad when your hearing is damaged and can't fully function anymore, but my hearing is actually still very good. Since my days of youth, not to brag but I'm pretty smart at figuring out the proper volume when listening to metal. My computer volume is at 5% and I'm wearing my big Beats headphones, but it's still a pleasantly loud volume. I still can't stand things that are much louder than my computer at full maximum blast, like thunder which I'm still a bit scared of (don't laugh). Wearing earplugs when there's thunder and cleaning them every couple weeks is what prevents my ears from being deafened or infected. I'm very protective of my hearing and make sure they never get damaged because even though it's possible to listen to metal with damaged hearing, I fear that I might go deaf and never be able to enjoy metal again. Whenever I go out during the virus, not only do I wear a face mask but also big industrial earphones because I think the ears are important to protect from the virus too.* Lol! Anyway, I've also had happy moments when listening to metal as an underage teenager, but those were my earlier epic melodic metal days and they're now long gone, though you guys helped me bring a bit of power metal back to my life. My current routine for my home days is filled with metal and a bit of writing. All of my metal is in my computer and a spare hard drive in case it breaks. My computer time is limited but sometimes I go a little overboard. I can't pay full attention when absorbing albums except in special occasions and when I have to, like when I'm writing reviews, so I just take what I think are the greatest hits from each album and somehow be able to absorb them while playing Minecraft.

*(Hey people, ears are part of your face, they need protection too, if you don't want them to be infected! And while you're at it, please start calling the virus COVID-20, don't let the first year that did nothing take all the blame!!)

Well I do have responsibilities, but as a 21-years-old living with his parents, they're not as big as the later part of adulthood when I move out in the future. My time and focus on music is still around. In fact, while I'm still connected to my music, 2020 is indeed a big metal year for me because thanks to all of you in Metal Academy and the site itself, I've discovered way more bands now than I've ever done in the 5+ years before I joined the site, and I never had to make another drastic change of taste. My metal taste range has even been extended to more than my original 30-year limit with a few bands from the 80s, though I'm still don't feel ready for the 80s thrash giants like Metallica, Slayer, or Sepultura. The new releases that I pick up are either some of the best or just not the same as earlier material, but I'm glad to keep building my collection.

In conclusion, the world may be coming down while struggling to get back up during the virus and some people might recognize good resulting benefits while having some setbacks, but in the end, what matters is, our lives are worth appreciating all the same.

And to wrap up this life lesson, in case you're wondering what I'm writing, it's my own personal commentary for this book I got last month, Andrew O'Neill's History of Heavy Metal! I enjoyed reading it so much that I'm writing my own personal commentary for the book, agreeing and disagreeing with Andrew's heavy metal facts and opinions. After I finish my commentary and get some planned album reviews out of my way, I plan on reviewing that book (my first (and possibly the site's first) book review!). Stay tuned...

Yes I know, the album this song is in is not in The Infinite, not even in this site because it's non-metal, but it seemed fitting for this sad time, so there. RIP Sean Reinert and Malone );

I've been a bit busy the past couple weeks but I definitely look forward to reviewing this re-recording/compilation album (among other releases I plan on reviewing). I have a feeling this would also be a nice blast from my power metal past...

Here are the types of cover arts I've observed and think fit best in each clan:

The Fallen - Dark, specifically goth (gothic and doom metal), emo (NOT the music) (the more depressing doom like funeral doom), creepy/scary/horror (Fallen bands that take on a bit of horror theme, such as The Vision Bleak and Theatres des Vampires)

The Gateway - Not sure exactly what themes they have, but some Gateway bands rely on humorous cover arts, so we'll go with humor.

The Guardians - Fantasy (common in power, symphonic, and neoclassical metal, plus some heavy metal bands like Saxon), plus dark fantasy for bands with darker themes.

The Horde - Violence/blood/gore (all death metal subgenres (plus deathcore) except melodeath and the more progressive side of tech-death)

The Infinite - Abstract and sci-fi (both common in progressive metal and djent, and a bit of avant-garde metal, rarely post-metal), plus sci-fi fantasy for bands with fantasy themes and/or are also in The Guardians (Symphony X)

The North - Viking fantasy (Viking and folk metal), dark fantasy (the more fantasy-like symphonic black metal like Bal-Sagoth), anti-religious/blasphemous/satanic (common in many black metal bands)

The Pit - For some thrash metal bands, the violence of The Horde toned down some and mixed with the humor of The Gateway.

The Revolution - Like Ben said, this is difficult because its covers don't follow any representing themes. There are different styles like rebellion, fantasy, dark, emo, violence, abstract, humor, heartbreak, and a girl in lingerie (Atreyu).

The Sphere - Abstract and sci-fi (similar to The Infinite) but more futuristic.

Since most of my descriptions here seem to very accurately suit the respective clans that I'm in, I think my clans would be the same, except I'm never really a fan of creepy/scary/horror. And with all the violence/blood/gore in The Horde, I'm glad to be out of that clan. I'm not sure if the clans can really be based on cover art, but it's interesting to imagine what this concept would be like...

PS: There's only less than a week left before Daniel closes the playlist suggestions for this month, please don't miss out!

Finally got interested in HORSE the Band, thanks to Daniel including one of their songs in this month's Revolution playlist, "Shapeshift" for a round 2!! However, the song I'm sharing here is from an earlier playlist that I enjoyed, "Cutsman"! This band is for fans of Enter Shikari, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and Machinae Supremacy.

Ever since I started listening to post-metallers Solstafir, their black metal debut Í Blóði og Anda gave me a little more leeway to tolerating the other unholy satanic black metal; now it's fine as long as only the first one or a few of a band's albums is traditional black metal and for the rest they head through a different direction while keeping some of their black metal. Here are a couple bands like that; progressive black metallers Enslaved (from this month's Infinite playlist, thanks Daniel!)...

...And doomy black metallers Woods of Ypres. (RIP David Gold)

An utterly sublime remake of a classic doom/death anthem from 1992.

True that! Both versions rule!!

My thoughts on some of the tracks (including my suggested songs):

Evergrey – “Hymns For The Broken” (from “Hymns For The Broken”, 2014)

10/10. I haven't heard Evergrey in a long while, but ever since I left my earlier epic metal taste, they have released another album The Atlantic and they've just announced an upcoming album Escape of the Phoenix to be released in February. This is one of the best melodic progressive metal songs I've heard 5 years ago, with the vocalist Tom S. Englund singing his heart out in the perspective of this concept album's suicidal protagonist. There's even a bonus melancholic piano version. Evergrey is an underrated band that deserves more love. Awesome track from a top-notch album that I haven't heard since so long ago!

Between The Buried & Me – “Silent Flight Parliament” (from “The Parallax II: Future Sequence”, 2012)

10/10. This is the climatic 15-minute epic nearing the end of a two-part saga, with the intensity from high to low, and the vocals ranging from growling to clean, often put in a powerful simultaneous combination. Brilliant!

Enslaved – “Neogenesis” (from “Isa”, 2004)

10/10. Yet another attempt at trying to get into enjoying Enslaved, and maybe this is it! An awesome song from a legendary band, taking you on a journey beyond stars, lightyears, and the universe itself, like that "Cygnus" track. This might just be my key to listening to Enslaved...

Opeth – “The Drapery Falls” (from “Blackwater Park”, 2001)

10/10. A favorite for many fans and probably would be until the end of time. I can definitely understand why! An acoustic intro gives way to a nice riff then calms down back to acoustic guitar as the clean vocals join in. Then it gets stampeded by a bombastic chorus that can give you goosebumps. I got goosebumps an hour before the first time I've listened to that song. Perhaps it's foreshadowing...

My thoughts on some of the tracks (including my suggested songs):

Dee Snider – “Tomorrow’s no Concern” (from “For The Love Of Metal”, 2018)

8/10. Look, it's cool that this playlist has started with classic heavy metal performed by a metal veteran, but that's not really my thing. Though this is actually d*mn better than the Twisted Sister classics I've stumbled upon, and it sounds like Dee still has what it takes. H*ll yeah!!

Edguy – “Mysteria” (from “Hellfire Club”, 2004)

9/10. Here's a tight heavy song that would make a slightly better playlist starter than that Dee Snider track. Vocalist Tobias Sammet yells like a circus ringmaster, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the freak show!!" Then the power metal action begins, having some influences from thrash/speed metal. In fact there's even an alternate version with Mille Petrozza of Euro-thrash legends Kreator on guest vocals as a bonus track in the limited edition.

Hammerfall – “Blood Bound” (from “Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken”, 2005)

9/10. I've listened to this song for the first time in a few years after listening to the live version as part of their new live album Live! Against the World. This killer song is from an album that helped bridge the earlier and middle era, and it has a big chorus you just gotta sing along to.

Elvenking – “Reader Of The Runes – Book I” (from “Reader Of The Runes - Divination”, 2019)

10/10. From the runes of Spotify comes a song available for this playlist. This is a fantastic great monolithic end to the band's folk-power metal return album trilogy that started in Pagan Manifesto, but it might hint at a different saga starting with a possible "Reader Of The Runes – Book II". I was an Elvenking fan a few years ago in my earlier epic metal taste, and now I wish I could have the chance to return to the band for the album that has this song that's probably their best since Heathenreel, especially since it has a killer black-ish soloing section in the middle. I'm grateful for this exhausting yet powerful masterpiece of f***ing impressive epic metal sorcery, greater than the epics made by Helloween. I love it! I might review this album soon. Thanks Xephyr for submitting it and Daniel for accepting it!

Lord – “Chaos Raining” (from “Fallen Idols”, 2019)

9/10. This is from an album that I was asked to do a special review for, but didn't get fully interested in the band until I switched from The Horde to The Guardians. The song shows Lord getting a little more chaotic while staying in a mid-tempo pace, getting up to the level of Trivium's Silence in the Snow.

My thoughts on some of the tracks (including my suggested songs):

Mastodon – “Blood & Thunder” (from “Leviathan”, 2004)

10/10. A great start to this playlist! Furious upbeat prog rock-inspired sludge metal plus a speedier Iron Maiden section to listen to in glee. It's totally an awesome thrashing sludge song that makes this band worth checking out. One of my favorite songs in the album Leviathan!

Monolord – “Died A Million Times” (from “Vaenir”, 2015)

9/10. I've said a million times that I'm never really into the whole stoner metal business, but d*mn this good sh*t's harder than the hardest difficulty in a video game! It seems morbidly fitting for the time of the coronavirus when at least a million people worldwide have died from the virus. RIP

Lacuna Coil – “Heaven’s A Lie” (from “Comalies”, 2002)

10/10. This great hit single sounds a bit anti-religious, but it actually takes you through a relationship that you want to break free from, believing that the vision of love (heaven) is a lie. The song has a mid-paced offering of vocal aesthetics, gothic lyrical themes, and atmospheric keyboards, which is hard to find in an entire album nowadays. Awesome!

Cult Of Luna & Julie Christmas – “Cygnus” (from “Mariner”, 2016)

11/10 (not exaggerating). Get it?? Christmas? Because it's December? All joking aside, this is one of the most intense post-sludge epics I've ever listened to. Cult of Luna's collab album with Julie Christmas, Mariner, is one of my recent favorite albums and an unseen pinnacle of music. I think Perturbator did a remix of this song at one point. "Cygnus" is a 15-minute epic that you need and might just love. This is one of the most inspirational songs of recent times, from when I'm writing my feedback right now with my Beats headphones turned slightly up for a massive boost without deafening myself to looking up to the stars and imagine what the rest of the universe is like at the very edge. Seriously, this is one of my current favorite songs, from the pleasantly killer first 6 minutes to the 3-minute ambient interlude to the intense last 6 minutes, with the drummer building intense tension throughout the song. D*mn, just D*MN, that 6-minute finale part is one of the most brutally insane and greatest moments in post-metal and probably all of metal and music. Before we get to that, let me just say Julie Christmas is beyond g****mn amazing! Her unique vocals helped turned this long track into an epic. Those vocals have stunned me and left me on the brink of emotional tears. The music itself is so unreal and flawless, but she does a grand job helping out. Like I said, what makes this track the best and most epic of the album is that 6-minute ending. The final part starts with a F***ING BRUTAL minute of Christmas screaming at the top of her lungs. Then neurogenesis happens; we transcend across the solar system then beyond the galaxy and the universe itself with magnificently emotional vocals in the foreground over the underlying Twinkle Twinkle Little Star-like background vocal loop. She's a goddess of the post-metal universe! I love this amazing song so much, it might've surpassed the band's previous 3 albums. Also there's a f***ing awesome solo under the 3-minute mark. That whole song is EPIC!!! Thanks for including it, Daniel!

Draconian – “Ascend Into Darkness” (from “Under A Godless Veil”, 2020)

10/10. This is an almost 9-minute epic, just like Sovran's "The Marriage of Attaris" but way better. A long album closer that we've been waiting for since the 15-minute epic that ended Arcane Rain Fell. Heike sings melodic expression of melancholic sentiments and Anders delivers his vocals of growling inferno, while guitarists Johan Ericson and Daniel Arvidsson shine with melodeath riffing reminding some of the slower Insomnium, fitting in with the drumming of Jerry Torstensson and the bass of temporary member Daniel Änghede. This band has perfectly achieved their goal written in that song title!

I did my review, here's its summary:

My Dying Bride's 2001 album The Dreadful Hours truly returns to the aggressive death-doom of As The Flower Withers and Turn Loose the Swans. There are killer heavy riffs worth headbanging, along with top-notch growls by vocalist Aaron Stainthorpe. Their trademark slow sections with clean vocals are still there which is good because it helps with MDB's emotional lyrics of standard melancholy. Those sides mixed together form 8 long death-doom songs of depression and hopelessness that are healthy for the doom soul, including a re-recording of a song from their deadly debut. The Dreadful Hours is a solid album, as perfect as The Light at the End of the World but still a few inches below the majestic level of Turn Loose the Swans with a few new tricks up their sleeves. Pretty much all the songs here help form these dreadfully excellent over 70 minutes!

5.5 (or more specifically 4.8/5)

Since it's been almost 6 months and no further activity has been made in this thread, I'm gonna end it here and declare the winner of part 1, which is... Celtic Frost's To Mega Therion, two to one!! So for part 2, let's take Celtic Frost further into the tournament and pair it up with a different album from a subgenre I'm more familiar with. That's right, we're gonna do unlisted thrash metal subgenres for this round! However, I'm not gonna start part 2 just yet because (spoilers) the other release I have in mind is a Voivod album and I'm waiting for the results of a new different DIS vs DAT thread involving Voivod and another band. For more info and to vote in that thread, it's in this link: https://metal.academy/forum/23/thread/591

Disillusion - "Back To Times Of Splendor" (2004) 5/5 (maybe even 6/5 if I could)

Gaza - "I Don't Care Where I Go When I Die" (2006) 5/5

The Gaza record is a massive mathcore classic, and the impressive Disillusion release has been confirmed to be my current favorite progressive/melodeath album of all time. I'm currently getting those bands' discographies as of this comment. Thanks again for the recs, Daniel!

Fourthed!! Great work guys! 

I'm glad to finally get fully interested in Voivod, thanks to you, Daniel! My slightly older love for Coroner is definitely one of the reasons for that recommendation, so here's another Coroner classic (by the way, I'm sure the missing chorus lyric is "Hatred or justice, die right off"):

And don't worry, I'll listen to and review the Cremator EP, which might definitely never will hit this thread...

Thanks Daniel! I have a review for another album planned today, so I'll give the Cremator EP a listen and a review tomorrow. I'll later unleash my f***ing fury...

It's the same for reviewing only I add a 0 and 0.5 just specifically for anything Machine Head release nowadays.

And the Disillusion feature release apparently.

Back to Times of Splendor?!? I think that's the perfect progressive metal album!! I would give it 6 stars if I could! I guess some things can get both an A+++ and an F---...

Anyway since we came back to this thread, I kinda enjoyed that small challenge 9 months ago of listening to a torturously atrocious d****ebag of an album that deserved a super low rating, and I feel up to doing that again to break my cherry and once again prove that I'm not always a positive reviewer. So I think it would be a great challenge if anyone could please find me an album worthy of 2 or lower. Bring it on!

The issue of there not being much activity in the Hall has been lessened by me now having the ability to close off a request earlier when there is an unbeatable lead. I've just closed off both of the Vektor requests and added both of them to The Infinite.

Great, thanks Ben! Now we can see that Vektor is indeed completely progressive thrash metal.

Thanks to Killing Technology, I've realized the progressive thrash perfection of this Voivod album and the next two. I think that album would fit well as December's Featured Release for The Pit, though you might not agree, Daniel. Anyway, cheers for the rec! 5/5

I also have a special plan for how I would confirm my newly-growing interest in Voivod. More info about that in this list description: https://metal.academy/lists/single/78

Supreme mathcore from Salt Lake City, USA. For fans of Converge, Botch & The Dillinger Escape Plan.

Indeed it is. Thanks again, Daniel!

My thought on one more track:

Gaza – “Hospital Fat Bags” (from “I Don’t Care Where I Go When I Die”, 2006)

11/10 (not exaggerating). This song charges through dissonant rhythmic guitar that often ascend to harmony then is dragged back down by chaos but keeps climbing to create tension. Then everything slows down for a melodic punk-influenced sludge section as a nice parallel. Probably the most killer mathcore song I've heard in ages!

I finished my review, here's its summary:

I Don't Care Where I Go When I Die is an intense, dissonant, and unpleasant album...for some people. But for me, this is awesome! This 2006 release contains some crazy brutal music but in a way that blesses my ears and has got me hooked. Now I plan on fetching their other two albums, and maybe they would cause destructive chaos just like this one did. For this album, after two short grindcore tracks, the album charges through 8 more mathcore songs of brutal chaos and wild intensity with occasional melodic sludge sections. I don't care if people think this album sucks garbage because it's too intense for them, I Don't Care Where I Go When I Die passes this mathcore/grindcore test for finding what I think is the right balance of enjoyment. Hello, Gaza!

5/5

Californian technical death-ish thrash metal from the early 90s, recommended for fans of Coroner, Vektor, and Revocation:

Ben, I just found an issue here, the lists are unable to load in mobile devices like iPhones. Can you please find a way to fix that? Thanks.

You haven't heard a lot of tech-thrash, SilentScream? Well I have some recommendations for you to start with (thrash mixed with progressive also included in my list):

5. Revocation - Existence is Futile (2009)

4. Vektor - Black Future (2009)

3. Nevermore - This Godless Endeavor (2005)

2. Sadus - A Vision of Misery (1992)

1. Annihilator - Alice in Hell (1989)

Those albums can help you start on your tech-thrash journey with some of the greatest bands of the subgenre. The list can also be my current top 5 list with the only difference being Coroner's Mental Vortex tied with that Annihilator album for #1. Enjoy this tech-pack!

Y'know, I think now that we can make our own public lists, these "lists" kind of threads are no longer totally necessary when we can just make our own lists to share and inspire other members to make similar lists. So I say we focus on doing our top 5 or 10 (or any number) releases of a year, clan, or genre in the public lists from now on. I'm gonna head out of this thread and take my top 5 tech-thrash releases with me. See ya on the "list" side! https://metal.academy/lists/single/82

I think the "year/clan/genre" idea is a good fair one, though I might have to split my review to-do list into different categories. I like that idea! So far I've been able to manage my own list and don't see a lot that needs to be improved, but if I come up with any good ideas, I'll share them here. Great new features, by the way, Ben! 

DSBM, another reason for me to avoid black metal. As I've mentioned in an earlier thread (https://metal.academy/forum/17/thread/468?page=2#topic_3966), it's kind of the second wave of black-doom with dark suicidal lyrics of death, depression and human suffering over the lo-fi high distortion and fast tremolo of black metal alongside the droning low distortion and slow timbres of doom metal. I think that subgenre and funeral doom are the two most depressive subgenres of metal and other popular genres. While I do listen to The Fallen genres like doom metal and gothic metal that are depressing in a cool way to impress some of my peers, DSBM is obviously depressing in a "f*** my life, I wanna die" kind of way. I never have that kind of attitude. I love my life, I would never kill myself and break the hearts of all my family and friends, whether by choice or being encouraged via a certain metal subgenre. I wanna sleep in my bed and wake up a happy normal fellow carrying on with my pleasant life, not with a weapon, a noose, or poison next to me. I wanna live and avoid a subgenre that threatens to send me to suicidal Hell. DSBM is not the genre for a happy optimistic person like me! However, there might be some DSBM fans out there who really do get suicidal, I should point out DSBM is not, and I mean NOT responsible for any suicides link to that subgenre or any metal subgenre for that matter (remember a couple incidents involving Ozzy Osbourne and Judas Priest?). And I'm not saying DSBM should be banned or illegal or anything, artists of the subgenre just have to find the right audience, and clearly some of us members are in that right audience. In conclusion, despite its sadness, depression, and suicide results, anyone can handle DSBM just fine if they have the right mood, and if not, they can just avoid it and live their life. You may listen to a suicidal subgenre, but please don't commit suicide yourself. Just keep living!

Man, I was on a roll when reviewing all those Opeth albums. OK, this is the last Opeth track I'll share for now. Just disregard the "Reverie" part of the title that was meant for its pregap interlude and enjoy the "Harlequin Forest" epic!