Shadowdoom9 (Andi)'s Forum Replies

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!

An epic melodeath-driven German progressive metal outing.

It sure is! Thanks again, Daniel!

My thought on one more track:

Disillusion – “The Sleep Of Restless Hours” (from “Back To Times Of Splendor”, 2004)

12/10 (not exaggerating). It's a little odd starting this playlist with a 17-minute epic meant to be a grand finale for its original album, but it's an epic way to summarize the progressiveness to come in the rest of the playlist, so let's talk about it. This glorious track starts by building up an acoustic riff into fast heaviness, leading to the furious energy of the harsh vocals from Vurtox before a catchy beautiful chorus. After a few minutes of aggressive riffing, it all pauses for a soothing acoustic part before starting another chorus, this time with every bit of strength from Vurtox's clean singing, creating one of the greatest choruses ever heard in existence. After that chorus, the song halts into almost complete silence with very faint static. You might think that song is over already, and you're about to get ready to leave and think of what a glorious journey that was. But NOPE!! Opeth-like acoustic guitars build the song back up to a powerful mighty 4-minute outro. The band uses all their instrumental energy to create this crushing ending. Even when it fades out, this is not only the grand finale for this song, but also for its original album, a bit like Between the Buried and Me's Colors ("White Walls"). You'll definitely be wanting more after this adventurous epic!

I did my review, here's its summary:

As a mostly positive reviewer, I've stumbled upon albums so good, so great, that I give them the high ratings they may or may not deserve. However, there might be one album that goes beyond great, and I mean far beyond... In order for an album to reach this "beyond" status, it has to attract me enough to get the band's full discography ASAP so you can discover new stuff from this legendary group, stay in my playlist for at least 6 months of maybe for eternity, and keep listening to them during that period of time. And that album is... Disillusion's 2004 debut Back to Times of Splendor!! You won't believe how much I love this epic masterpiece with song lengths ranging from 5 to 17 minutes filled with strong riffs, fast drumming, clean melodic singing, aggressive growls, softer sections, heavier sections, and much more to create the ultimate progressive metal adventure! Anyone who doesn't love this album as much I do might be thinking, "He doesn't mean to really give the album 5 stars, he's probably just biased with so many albums rated like that." No, they're all real, especially my rating for this album. I wish I could give Back To Times of Splendor more than just 5 stars, maybe 6, 10, or over 9000! Every moment is excellent, perfectly helped out by the deep meaningful lyrics. Many magnificent influences and elements in and out of metal creates this epic masterpiece of splendor. This is so incredible! I don't know what else to say, other than...Thanks so much for the rec, Daniel. I thought the ultimate album would never come....but it came!

5/5

Twilight Force - Hydra from Dawn of the Dragonstar (2019)

Raven - Hung Drawn & Quartered from All For One (1983)

W.A.S.P. - Jack Action from The Last Command (1985)

"Hydra" was already in the September playlist. Hope you can think of another suggestion soon. Daniel will close the suggestion thread for December's playlist after tomorrow...

Why would you need to delete a cover rating?  There's an update cover rating button already?

What if you don't like your own cover rating and wanna get rid of it altogether? That's what the delete button is for!

Here are my suggestions for December's playlist, Daniel. Once again, I love how you managed to keep 8 of my suggestions in November's playlist, but I don't wanna push my luck, so back to my usual 7:

August Burns Red - "Carol of the Bells" (from August Burns Red Presents: Sleddin' Hill, 2012) (perfect Christmas metalcore song for the December playlist)

Converge - "The Saddest Day" (from Petitioning the Empty Sky, 1996)

Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas - "Twilight" (from Dance & Scream, 2010)

God Forbid - "To the Fallen Hero" (from IV: Constitution of Treason, 2005)

Underoath - "Anyone Can Dig a Hole But It Takes a Real Man to Call It Home" (from Lost in the Sound of Separation, 2008)

Unearth - "Stronghold" (from The Stings of Conscience, 2001)

Within the Ruins - "Versus" (from Invade, 2010)

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

Between the Buried and Me - "Silent Flight Parliament" (from The Parallax II: Future Sequence, 2012)

Evergrey - "Hymns for the Broken" (from Hymns for the Broken, 2014)

Opeth - "The Drapery Falls" (from Blackwater Park, 2001)

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

HammerFall - "Blood Bound" (from Chapter V: Unbent Unbowed Unbroken, 2005)

Lord - "Chaos Raining" (from Fallen Idols, 2019)

Trans-Siberian Orchestra - "Nutrocker" (from Night Castle, 2009) (great Christmas metal song to fit in the December playlist, I probably would've chosen a song from one of their Christmas albums, but none of those other albums are metal)

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

Cult of Luna / Julie Christmas - "Cygnus" (from Mariner, 2016) (Get it?? Christmas? Because it will be December? I think that song would fit as the final track of the December playlist to conclude the year.)

Lacuna Coil - "Heaven's a Lie" (from Comalies, 2002) (Only if there's room for one more gothic metal song. If not, please save it for a future playlist.)

My Dying Bride - "Sear Me III" (from The Light at the End of the World, 1999) (I was gonna pick the original "Sear Me" from their debut, but since the death-doom quota is full, I decided to suggest its doom metal incarnation instead.)

In a way this is one of the reasons I designed Metal Academy. The clans give us a different way to think about music classifications. The question of whether or not a release fits snugly into a specific genre isn't as relevant here as  questions like "does this release feel right in it's current clan(s)". If it doesn't then, I'd also question whether that release's genre tags are actually relevant. Cradle of Filth is a perfect example. Does calling it Gothic Metal achieve the goal of allowing fans of Paradise Lost to find music they will likely enjoy?

Actually, this is a very apt discussion, as I just ran a best Gothic Metal chart on RYM. Below is the result. Everyone happy with a Cradle of Filth album topping the list?

I'm not totally happy that a symphonic black metal album is dominating a best gothic metal chart list, especially since it has less ratings than those other 3 gothic metal albums that are definitely some of the best albums I've listened to. I might give that Cradle of Filth album a listen and review to decide whether or not it stays in or out of The Fallen. I might not fully enjoy it, but the review is to help contribute to this small debate. My review shall help choose the genre's fate!

Sonny, I'm interested to hear your thoughts on where you think gothic metal should reside if not in The Fallen? I agree that it doesn't sit entirely comfortably there but I struggle to think of another clan that's more appropriate. It probably should be in the same one as symphonic metal though in my opinion. I actually don't see any reason why we should leave Cradle Of Filth releases in The Fallen. If we think they don't belong there (which I don't) then let's simply vote them out in the Hall of Judgement.

Daniel, I know you directed that question to Sonny, but as another gothic metal fan myself, I have some thoughts about whether or not that genre belongs in The Fallen, and I say it still does. Gothic metal originated from doom metal, especially for many bands starting off as doom/death-doom, such as Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, Anathema (those first 3 bands forming the Peaceville Three), Type O Negative, Tiamat, Katatonia, The Gathering, and Theatre of Tragedy. However, gothic metal would later become a somewhat mainstream mix of heavy metal and gothic rock, with bands like Entwine and HIM. Gothic metal may be related to symphonic metal in some ways, whether a band mixes both genres together (Tristania), was originally gothic before switching to symphonic (Within Temptation), or just symphonic metal with some goth elements (Nightwish) but I'm not sure if that's enough to make gothic metal closer to symphonic than doom. I'm definitely not an expert in the knowledge of Cradle of Filth, let alone gothic black metal, but that one album from them I've listened to, Dusk...and Her Embrace, is already in the North as a black metal with symphonic gothic elements.

Looks like 2020 isn't such a quiet year for industrial metal after all. Here are some of the most recent industrial metal releases I've found in RYM, including a few of the more well-known bands of the genre and a couple well-known artists in general:

I don't know whether or not to agree with Xephyr here. On the one hand, I can see how out of place The Sphere is because there's never really a lot of notable industrial metal. If anyone wants a list of all the super-notable bands of that genre, it would have to consist of all and only the ones Xephyr mentioned in that last comment; Godflesh, Rammstein, Fear Factory, Ministry, Sybreed, and Strapping Young Lad. And many other industrial metal bands sound closer to industrial or rock, which I guess is why they banned that genre from the Metal Archives. So it would make some sense to have the classic alternative-industrial metal bands in The Gateway and the modern cyber-electronic metal bands like Sybreed in The Revolution. On the other hand, the clans that are currently up are great symbols of their respective metal genres, and I'm not sure if sacrificing one of the clans and the amount of hard work that might result in would be worth it. I think we should just wait until the end of this year for any new industrial metal releases (requesting bands and albums helps), and see if The Sphere is an active or dead clan. The turning of the year will decide on a sacrifice or victory!

By the way, it's a few days until the 15th. You all wanna get rolling with your playlist suggestions?

The ultimate Opeth epic, despite a few compositional flaws:

Update on my list (due to a 3-year extension of my metal taste range):

Classic oldies:

1987: Coroner - R.I.P.

1988: Sanctuary - Refuge Denied

1989: Annihilator - Alice in Hell

1990: Sanctuary - Into the Mirror Black

1991: Coroner - Mental Vortex

1992: Neurosis - Souls at Zero

1993: Sentenced - North From Here

1994: Tiamat - Wildhoney

1995: My Dying Bride - The Angel and the Dark River

Old-school but newer:

1996: Neurosis - Through Silver in Blood

1997: HIM - Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666 (though not metal)

1998: Meshuggah - Chaosphere

1999: Botch - We are the Romans

2000: In Flames - Clayman

2001: Opeth - Blackwater Park

2002: Isis - Oceanic

2003: Darkest Hour - Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation

2004: Neurosis - The Eye of Every Storm

Higher original quality:

2005: Nevermore - This Godless Endeavor

2006: Cult of Luna - Somewhere Along the Highway

2007: Between the Buried and Me - Colors

2008: After the Burial - Rareform

2009: Vektor - Black Future

2010: Nevermore - The Obsidian Conspiracy

2011: Trivium - In Waves

2012: Between the Buried and Me - The Parallax II: Future Sequence

2013: The Ocean - Pelagial

New and improved:

2014: Ne Obliviscaris - Citadel

2015: Bullet for My Valentine - Venom

2016: Vektor - Terminal Redux

2017: Septicflesh - Codex Omega

2018: Rivers of Nihil - Where Owls Know My Name

2019: Coldrain - The Side Effects

2020: Trivium - What the Dead Men Say

2020 albums I'm looking forward to getting:

My Dying Bride - Macabre Cabaret (EP)

Within the Ruins - Black Heart