Shadowdoom9 (Andi)'s Forum Replies

How convenient it is to write a review for a concept album about the end of the world right when it seems that way because of the coronavirus. Please, do your part to keep the world safe and sanitize yourselves, and also enjoy this metalcore anthem tribute to fallen heroes:

You really think your ears can survive the horrid harmonics of this song from one of the poorest metalcore debut albums out there? God Forbid!

Earlier this week I was reviewing some Darkest Hour albums for my Revolution Melodic Metalcore clan strategy, but this song is from their most melodeath album and it features a Gothenburg legend. US melodeath from DC!

I've actually tried listening to a few Katatonia songs during my younger melodic metal days a few years ago, but never felt full-time interested in that band, because while I was starting to get into gothic death-doom for the first time at that time, I didn't have the bravery to go down the route of depression through their earlier extreme doom metal material like this album and Dance of December Souls and the melancholic rockish sound of their later albums. But now that I'm gaining more leeway due to that part of my metal taste getting expanded time after time, sure I can give Brave Murder Day a listen. Maybe then I would really dig Katatonia to the point of full interest...

A couple songs from 2 albums I've reviewed in The Horde Death Metal Modern Era Clan Challenge that I love so much enough to listen those bands full-time:

It's not January anymore, but I will still summarize my review here:

There's one exciting album that's so close to the thrash metal throne that it can sit right next to Metallica and Slayer. And that is...Artillery's By Inheritance! It has impressive technicality along with more accessibility and theatrical compositions. Many songs in the album encourage listeners to headbang to the excellent composition without leaving their neck strained (though it's a little close) and replay their greater catchy riffs so many times. Soft verses make sharp turns into heavy choruses. And the vocals stay in a balance of melody and high screaming. Not to mention those splintering frets! Artillery can have as much fun as they please, but not in ways to throw people off, and it sounds like most of their thrash metal fun is great shape. By Inheritance is a priceless thrash metal recommendation for many metalheads out there.

Ben, please add these bands:

Limp Bizkit

Papa Roach

Coal Chamber

Kittie

Well as much as I love Travis Smith's artworks, there are two other metal album cover arts by other artists that are my actual favorites. This is my favorite "epic" cover art:

And this is my favorite in the "brutal" category:

When I was in a science class two years ago, we had to dissect a goat's heart. Most metal science project EVER!!! I decided to recreate that This is Love This is Murderous artwork by stabbing the heart with a penknife and taking a photo of it. It was just a wimpy penknife and there wasn't a lot of blood, but worth a try. Here's my recreation:

Thanks Ben!

Update due to Ben's vote:

The Fallen - 1

The Guardians - 2

The Pit - 0

As to the vote, hey, it's ultimately your call what you go for, if you feel more strongly about the Fallen then go for it.

Update on Tymell's vote. Thanks, Tymell!

The Fallen - 1

The Guardians - 1

The Pit - 0

Well that's odd. It's not duplicated in other devices that I'm using, like on my iPad:

But the duplication of Amon Amarth's The Crusher is definitely true (even though it's The Horde, NOT The Fallen):

I don't see The Angel and the Dark River added twice on My Dying Bride's page, but I do however notice Amon Amarth's page show 2001's The Crusher added twice, along with All That Remains' The Fall of Ideals release year being 2004 instead of 2006 and Symphony X's self-titled debut release year being 1996 instead of 1994. Is it possible to fix those errors, Ben? If it is, please fix them!

I've already included your vote, Daniel.

The Fallen - 0

The Guardians - 2

The Pit - 0

More awesome new singles from a couple upcoming metalcore albums! Two of my favorite Revolution bands are back!!

And an older song that reminds me of my current torn 4th clan situation, also one of the most progressively complex songs Trivium has ever done:

I DID IT AGAIN!! I completed The Horde Death Metal Modern Era Clan Challenge! Once again, it was tiring and I managed to survive the obscene blasphemy of some albums without getting attached to them. After all that hard work, I plan on taking another short break throughout just tomorrow for a bit of rest. Then I will start doing The Revolution Melodic Metalcore Clan Challenge strategy. I'm still so torn about deciding between The Fallen, The Guardians, and The Pit as my 4th clan to complete a challenge and lock in, that I feel like starting a month-long poll thread where site members can vote which of those 3 clans is the most suitable one for me to lock in. And there's plenty of time as I do one more challenge before the big 4th....

PS: Daniel, if you're reading this, please alert Ben about it when he's back from his 4-day weekend break so he can confirm my lock-in.

Same as yours, Daniel, but similar to the American academic grading system:

5 - A+ (or more +'s)

4.5 - A

4 - B

3.5 - C

3 - D

2.5 - F

2 and lower - F- (the lower the rating, the more -'s)

To be honest, I've never rated an album lower than 2.5 stars, so even when a poor album (for me, non-metal albums in the middle of a mostly metal discography) has an F, that album never has any minuses. Perhaps I'm such a positive reviewer, I don't know. It would take a real bag of sh*t that stinks worse than a skunk bathing in a garbage dump to make me rate an album 2 stars or lower...

Better revised version of my 1990+ best of each year metal list (after the easier part of my Horde Clan Challenge strategy, and splitting them into groups similar to the Clan Challenges and different versions of RuneScape):

Classic oldies:

1990: Paradise Lost - Lost Paradise

1991: Meshuggah - Contradictions Collapse

1992: Edge of Sanity - Unorthodox

1993: My Dying Bride - Turn Loose the Swans

1994: Tiamat - Wildhoney

1995: At the Gates - Slaughter of the Soul

1996: Edge of Sanity - Crimson

1997: In Flames - Whoracle 

Old-school but newer:

1998: Meshuggah - Chaosphere

1999: My Dying Bride - The Light at the End of the World

2000: In Flames - Clayman

2001: Gojira - Terra Incognita

2002: Shadows Fall - The Art of Balance

2003: Edge of Sanity - Crimson II

2004: Mastodon - Leviathan

2005: Nevermore - This Godless Endeavor 

Higher original quality:

2006: Persefone - Core

2007: Between the Buried and Me - Colors

2008: Seventh Wonder - Mercy Falls

2009: August Burns Red - Constellations

2010: Underoath - Ø (Disambiguation)

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: DragonForce - Extreme Power Metal (NOT in my current playlist, but I loved it so much that it just had to be in the list)

2020 albums I'm looking forward to getting:

My Dying Bride - The Ghost of Orion

August Burns Red - Guardians

Lamb of God (self-titled album)

An excellent return to Paradise Lost's earlier gothic doom metal sound after 10 years of experimentation:

Ah yes, Wildhoney! One of the more experimental gothic metal albums in the psychedelic sense and one of my favourite gothic albums. That interlude is beautiful, but I prefer the full songs like “Whatever That Hurts”, “Gaia”, and “A Pocket Size Sun”.

A killer progressive thrash metal hit that sounds a lot like mid-80s Slayer, I swear! Listen to that intro riff and scream before the first verse!

Can't argue with 1986 being the actual best year of metal. There are so many great years of metal but the best metal year for me is 2005. That year has a lot of my favorites!

Anyway, here's my best of 2005:

#10: August Burns Red - Thrill Seeker

#9: The Ocean - Aeolian

#8: Parkway Drive - Killing With a Smile

#7: Gojira - From Mars to Sirius

#6: Darkest Hour - Undoing Ruin

#5: God Forbid - IV (Constitution of Treason)

#4: Nevermore - This Godless Endeavor

#3: Meshuggah - Catch Thirtythree

#2: Between the Buried and Me - Alaska

Honorable mentions: Nightrage - Descent Into Chaos, HIM - Dark Light (despite the latter being more rock than metal)

And finally, #1: Trivium - Ascendancy

I've gone through a marathon of reviewing 5 Dark Tranquillity albums today as part of my Horde Clan Challenge strategy. Impressive, huh? Here's a melodeath classic:

To prep you for the new My Dying Bride album The Ghost of Orion coming out next month, here's one of their earlier songs that came to my mind, and for some reason, the song I thought of is from their worst album. This shorter live version is much better than the studio one. We don't need that Blade Runner-like narrative, thank you very much!

I agree with what you think of "I", Daniel. That's a true 21-minute djent epic!

There's more Christian metalcore coming your way when August Burns Red releases their new album Guardians this April. Here's an intense sneak peek single:

Considered the big amount of metal albums I enjoy, decided to extend my list to top 30. Here's my new bigger revised list:

#30: The Ocean - Pelagial (2013)

#29: Rivers of Nihil - Where Owls Know My Name (2018)

#28: Vektor - Black Future (2009)

#27: Parkway Drive - Horizons (2007)

#26: Septicflesh - Codex Omega (2017)

#25: Paradise Lost - Draconian Times (1995)

#24: My Dying Bride - The Angel and the Dark River/Like Gods of the Sun (1995-1996) (both albums fit together and edited to play at 2x faster tempo)

#23: Before the Dawn - Rise of the Phoenix (2012)

#22: Nightrage - Sweet Vengeance (2003)

#21: Underoath - Lost in the Sound of Separation (2008)

#20: In Flames - The Jester Race (1996)

#19: Mastodon - Leviathan (2004)

#18: Edge of Sanity - Crimson I+II (1996/2003) (both work better as one full 2-part suite)

#17: August Burns Red - Constellations (2009)

#16: Tiamat - Wildhoney (1994)

#15: Ne Obliviscaris - Portal of I (2012)

#14: Persefone - Spiritual Migration (2013)

#13: Cynic - Focus (1993)

#12: At the Gates - Slaughter of the Soul (1995)

#11: The Dillinger Escape Plan - Calculating Infinity (1999)

#10: Meshuggah - Catch Thirtythree (2005)

#9: Darkest Hour - Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation (2003)

#8: Amaranthe - Amaranthe (2011)

#7: Bullet for My Valentine - The Poison (2005)

#6: Gojira - L'Enfant Sauvage (2012)

#5: Between the Buried and Me - Colors (2007)

#4: Nevermore - Dead Heart in a Dead World (2000)

#3: All That Remains - Overcome (2008)

#2: Lamb of God - Ashes of the Wake (2004)

#1: Trivium - In Waves (2011)

Better revised version of my 1990+ best of each year metal list (including albums I've previously forgotten about and bands I've just started listening to):

1990: Paradise Lost - Lost Paradise

1991: Meshuggah - Contradictions Collapse

1992: Edge of Sanity - Unorthodox

1993: My Dying Bride - Turn Loose the Swans

1994: Tiamat - Wildhoney

1995: At the Gates - Slaughter of the Soul

1996: Edge of Sanity - Crimson

1997: In Flames - Whoracle

1998: Meshuggah - Chaosphere

1999: My Dying Bride - The Light at the End of the World

2000: Nevermore - Dead Heart in a Dead World

2001: Gojira - Terra Incognita

2002: Shadows Fall - The Art of Balance

2003: Edge of Sanity - Crimson II

2004: Mastodon - Leviathan

2005: Nevermore - This Godless Endeavor

2006: Persefone - Core

2007: Between the Buried and Me - Colors

2008: Seventh Wonder - Mercy Falls

2009: August Burns Red - Constellations

2010: Underoath - Ø (Disambiguation)

2011: Trivium - In Waves

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

2013: The Ocean - Pelagial

2014: Ne Obliviscaris - Citadel

2015: Bullet for My Valentine - Venom

2016: Vektor - Terminal Redux

2017: Trivium - The Sin and the Sentence

2018: Rivers of Nihil - Where Owls Know My Name

2019: DragonForce - Extreme Power Metal (NOT in my current playlist, but I loved it so much that it just had to be in the list)

2020 albums I'm looking forward to getting:

My Dying Bride - The Ghost of Orion

August Burns Red - Guardians

Lamb of God (self-titled album)

The masters of modern groove metal are back with their new self-titled album coming out in May! Check out this sick single for a sneak peek:

Here's my own best of each year list, containing albums from my own playlist (since 1990):

1990: Paradise Lost - Lost Paradise

1991: Meshuggah - Contradictions Collapse

1992: Edge of Sanity - Unorthodox

1993: Cynic - Focus

1994: Tiamat - Wildhoney

1995: At the Gates - Slaughter of the Soul

1996: Edge of Sanity - Crimson

1997: In Flames - Whoracle

1998: Meshuggah - Chaosphere

1999: My Dying Bride - The Light at the End of the World

2000: Nevermore - Dead Heart in a Dead World

2001: Gojira - Terra Incognita

2002: Shadows Fall - The Art of Balance

2003: Edge of Sanity - Crimson II

2004: Mastodon - Leviathan

2005: Meshuggah - Catch Thirtythree

2006: Persefone - Core

2007: Between the Buried and Me - Colors

2008: All That Remains - Overcome

2009: August Burns Red - Constellations

2010: Underoath - Ø (Disambiguation)

2011: Trivium - In Waves

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

2013: Persefone - Spiritual Migration

2014: Ne Obliviscaris - Citadel

2015: Bullet for My Valentine - Venom

2016: The Dillinger Escape Plan - Dissociation

2017: Trivium - The Sin and the Sentence

2018: Rivers of Nihil - Where Owls Know My Name

2019: DragonForce - Extreme Power Metal (NOT in my current playlist, but I loved it so much that it just had to be in the list)

2020 albums I'm looking forward to getting:

My Dying Bride - The Ghost of Orion

Lamb of God (self-titled album)

I love one of The Ocean albums (NOT this one) so much when doing The Infinite Modern Era Clan Challenge. This is full-on oceanic progressive sludge metal at its best! Can't wait to listen to more of this collective..

A pleasant piece of the folk/power metal jigsaw puzzle that I've locked away in my metal storage room (I would say attic but my house doesn't have one) over two years ago: