Xephyr's Forum Threads

It's been a while since I revisited the debut album from notorious one-man Californian black metal artist Odz Manouk but this feature release has been beautifully timed to come off the back of the very positive experience I had with Yagian's long-awaited 2023 sophomore album "Bosoragazan (Բոսորագազան)" which was one that went pretty close to dragging classic status outta me. "Odz Manouk" is generally considered to be a classic release for the genre in itself & it's certainly very solid but I'm not sure I'd go that far, despite it possessing some admirable qualities. An exceptionally cold & lo-fi production job is the cassette's main calling card & boy is it effective, giving the atmosphere an extra couple of layers of menace & spite. Yagian's vocals are the other highlight as he really nails that evil, tortured & abrasive style perfectly, particulary on the classic opener "A Mymex Omen" which is frankly one of the greatest examples of the genre you'll find. Unfortunately, Odz Manouk can't manage to repeat the dose across the other five songs included with the quality levels showing a bit of unwanted variety as the tracklisting progresses. The very popular "The Indisciplinarian" doesn't do a lot for me in all honesty & is the only genuine weak point in my opinion while closer "The Roaming" is merely acceptable. The other three tracks are all high-quality examples of their type though which makes "Odz Manouk" an essential listen for fans of the US black metal scene. The one element that I think could have been improved is the use of a fairly cheap sounding drum machine which is pretty obvious at times. I don't recall noticing it on "Bosoragazan (Բոսորագազան)" which I consider to be the better record overall. Still... there's a lot to like about Yagian's debut full-length & I've really enjoyed this return visit.

4/5

Guardians Playlist for February 2024 is live!

1. "Metal Warriors" from The Triumph of Steel (1992) by Manowar
2. "Street Machine" from Traveler (2019) by Traveler
3. "Vertumnus Caesar" from Vertumnus Caesar (2023) by Malokarpatan [Submitted By Daniel]
4. "Dragons Dance" from Empire of Sins (2021) by Silent Winter
5. "Somewhere Else But Here" from Shangri-La (2022) by Edenbridge
6. "Hell, Fire And Damnation" from Hell, Fire And Damnation (2024) by Saxon
7. "Lust For Freedom" from Best Of Grim Reaper (1999) by Grim Reaper
8. "Dead Reckoning" from The Deep & The Dark (2018) by Visions of Atlantis
9. "Wings of Light" from Eldorado (2023) by Edu Falaschi
10. "Pandemic" from Blood of the Nations (2010) by Accept
11. "Space and Time" from Eat the Fallen (2019) by Ravenous E.H.
12. "The Courage to Die" from ...Unto the Breach (2019) by Sellsword
13. "Final Spell" from Final Spell (2012-06-05) by Visigoth
14. "Gardens of the Sinner" from Power Plant (1999) by Gamma Ray
15. "Power of the Saber Blade" from Power of the Saber Blade (2023) by DragonForce [Submitted by Andi]
16. "Mrs. Artisson - Extended Version" from Witches' Domain (Extended Version) (2021) by Witchtower
17. "Invoker" from The Armor of Ire (2016) by Eternal Champion
18. "Faster Than Light" from Abyss (2020) by Unleash The Archers
19. "Trial by Fire" from Court in the Act (1983) by Satan
20. "Spirits of the Dead" from The Grave Digger (2001) by Grave Digger
21. "Consequences" from Something Wicked This Way Comes (1998) by Iced Earth
22. "March or Die" from Soldiers of the Night (1985) by Vicious Rumors
23. "Harder Than Steel" from Ample Destruction (1984) by Jag Panzer

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3w8wz5HBOoks78mYzldAMq?si=8eab58e301c14c0e

Stortregn - "Finitude" (2023)

The sixth full-length from this Swiss outfit is arguably their best & has had me thoroughly engaged over the last couple of days. Forget the tech death talk that's floating around the internet as that tag is not expansive enough to cover Stortregn's sound which sits right in the middle of the space between melodic death metal & progressive death metal with smatterings of Dissection style melodic black metal also entering the equation to go with the really effective raspy blackened vocals. The level of musicianship is wonderfully proficient, particularly the drumming with the ultra-fast blast-beats being astoundingly tight & powerful. I'm not usually a big melodeath fan but I have to make an exception with "Finitude" as it gets the balance of extremity & ambition just right. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that I would place it behind only At The Gates' magnificent "Slaughter of the Soul" record for the melodeath subgenre as a whole which I'm aware is a very big call.

4/5

Cirith Ungol's "Dark Parade" album is the frontrunner to win The Guardians Release of 2023 Award with less than a week to go with Malokarpatan's "Vertumnus Caesar" & Kamelot's "The Awakening" being the main competition. Get those ratings in guys.

Thanks for this, Xephyr! I've just tested out that website and CSV-downloading technique with my upcoming February Revolution and Sphere playlists (still in the works). However, I find Excel a little too complex for me, and anyone who doesn't have Skiley Pro can only do it 3 times for free. I prefer the old-fashioned way of typing it all out, but there's a twist in my technique. After making my sneak peek suggestions in the Revolution and Sphere playlists, I copy them into Notepad and type out all the other tracks in the playlists in the same format (artist name, track name, track length, album name, album release date). Then when I send them to Daniel before the middle of the month, I set the tracks I've typed out to the order that they run in the playlist tracklistings and remove the track lengths that are only needed to keep track of their two-hour total lengths. And finally, when the first day of the month comes, I just copy the playlist tracklistings and paste them to their respective forum posts. Anyway, I still appreciate your suggestion and understand your technique, so you do you.

First Guardians Playlist of 2024 is up, track listing soon to come tomorrow. 

1. Eternal Champion - "Skullseeker" from Ravening Iron (2020) 
2. W.A.S.P. - "Mean Man" from The Headless Children (1989)
3. Judicator - "From the Belly of the Whale" from The Majesty of Decay (2022)
4. Marty Friedman - "Evil Thrill" from Dragon's Kiss (1988)
5. Sacred Outcry - "Symphony Of The Night" from Towers of Gold (2023)
6. Avantasia - "Promised Land" from Angel of Babylon (2010)
7. Black Sabbath - "Symptom of the Universe" from Sabotage (2014 Remaster) (1975)
8. Saxon - "Black is the Night"  from Carpe Diem (2022)
9. Tygers Of Pan Tang - "Hellbound" from Spellbound (1981)
10. Heavy Load - "Traveller" from Death Or Glory (1982)
11. HammerFall - "The Champion" from Renegade (2000)
12. Damnation Angels - "No Leaf Clover" from Bringer of Light (2013)
13. Sonic Haven - "Nightmares" from Vagabond (2021)
14. Tyrant - "Beginning of the End" from Too Late to Pray (2018) [Submitted by Daniel]
15. Brainstorm - "Descendants of the Fire" from Firesoul (2014)
16. Iron Savior - "Demise of the Tyrant" from Firestar (2023)
17. Stallion - "Canadian Steele" from Rise and Ride (2014)
18. Tank - "Heavy Artillery" from Filth Hounds of Hades (1982)
19. Crimson Glory - "Azrael" from Crimson Glory (1986)
20. Warmen - "The Race (feat. Pasi Rantanen)" from First Of The Five Elements (2015)
21. Rhapsody - "Unholy Warcry" from Symphony of Enchanted Lands II (The Dark Secret) (2004)
22. Omen - "Die By The Blade" from Battle Cry (1984)
23. Liege Lord - "Kill The King" from Master Control (1988)
24. Cirith Ungol - "Sailor on the Seas of Fate" from Dark Parade (2023)

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3w8wz5HBOoks78mYzldAMq?si=8eab58e301c14c0e

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3w8wz5HBOoks78mYzldAMq

1. Sabaton- "Sparta" from The Last Stand (2016)

2. Eternal Champion - "Invoker" from The Armor Of Ire (2016)

3. Cirith Ungol - "Dark Parade" from Dark Parade (2023)

4. King Diamond - "Blue Eyes" from The Puppet Master (2003)

5. ANGRA - "Gods Of The World" from Cycles of Pain (2023)

6. LOVEBITES - "When Destinies Align" from Electric Pentagram (2020)

7. Epica - "Quietus" from Consign To Oblivion (2005)

8. Sacred Outcry - "Legion of the Fallen" from Damned for All Time (2020)

9. Diamond Head - "Am I Evil" from Borrowed Time (1982)

10. Helloween - "The Saints" from Gambling With the Devil (2007)

11. Eternity's End - "Twilight Warrior" from The Fire Within (2016)

12. Mercyful Fate - "Curse of the Pharaohs" from The Beginning (1987) [Submitted by Daniel]

13. Chateaux - "White Steel" from FirePower (1984)

14. Queensryche - "Resistance" from Empire (1990)

15. Lunar Shadow - "Hawk of the Hills" from The Smokeless Fires (2019)

16. Powerwolf - "Secrets of the Sacristy" from Preachers of the Night (2013)

17. Twilight Force - "Sunlight Knight" from At the Heart of Wintervale (2023)

18. Domination Black - "The Final Sigh" from Dimension: Death (2012)

19. Aquaria - "Time Won't Wait" from Alethea (2020)

20. Timo Tolkki's Avalon - "Design the Century" from Angels of the Apocalypse (2014)

21. Majestica - "Ghost of Christmas Present" from A Christmas Carol (2020)

22. Winterborn - "On the Edge of Eternity" from Cold Reality (2006)

I've kind of grown tired of melodic death/black metal and such sounds. Often, it feels like an excuse for a bunch of people who can't sing and some guitarists whose only virtue is their speed. How I long for more bands to style themselves after Satan's Host, but alas, I seem to be the only person on the planet to like them. Malkarpatan falls into the former category, but honestly, they aren't half bad.
I can't quite put my finger on what their melodic parts sound like. I wanna say Iron Maiden, but I can't think of a single Iron Maiden song which sounds like something off this. It almost feels like a glam metal inspired riff style. To complicate matters, this is mixed in with at least a dozen instruments and synths. I had my answer on Panstvo Salamandrov, it's black metal ELP. Everything makes sense now.
This isn't necessarily to pin the band into one specific thing, because this album does so many things yet feels very cohesive. They possess the unique talent to do something like play rigid black metal and then follow it up with something that wouldn't fit on 90% of albums that try it. Yet, they make it sound as natural as the calm before the storm.
They're an interesting band, and I look forward to hearing more of them.
4.5/5

Now then, what have we here? This sole release from a mysterious & anonymous metal collective is the perfect example of a Metal Academy feature release in my opinion.

4.5/5

I'm a big fan of how I went from "Xephyr, why in the hell would you pick this as a Feature Release" to "Xephyr, this is exactly what I'm looking for in a Feature Release" this month hahaha

(Daniel's not wrong here for the record)

My fault, I'll add to the Playlist tonight. Getting back into the swing of things.

I wanted to like this album, there's basically no reason for me to not like this album. I like NWOTHM bands, and I like the sort of epic concept they've got going here. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it...but there's nothing I actually like about it. Nothing that I could call in any way, bad. It just found a way not to appeal to me.

I did notice a funny comparison though. The mystical and dark lyrics along with the heavily electronic voice effects on the lead singer made me think of Idle Hands/Unto Others. But whereas Idle Hands has some very cringey lows and some very amazing highs, this just sort of didn't make that same mark that Idle Hands did.

3/5

Playlist updated here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3w8wz5HBOoks78mYzldAMq?si=cab03c23cb364eea

This is certainly one of the strangest combinations of heavy metal meets jazz fusion that I've heard in a while. The heavy use of brass as a primary instrument brought me initially to a heavier version of Thank You Scientist, but as the album progressed, the timbre stuck less as an influence and more the compositions that felt closer to Imperial Triumphant and Focus-era Cynic. The record contains lots of dissonance and quick modulation keeping the listener on their toes as the record refuses to become boring.

That said, I wish I could like this as much as an Imperial Triumphant record. I think it's the mixing, but this style of really muddy and unfocused production does not fascinate me. Some of these tracks sound like they were initial demo recordings and is being recorded by one of those portable Zoom microphones; the quality is still superior to that of using your shitty phone microphone, but it loses the intricate details. And, since the record seems to do away with anything resembling a hook or motif, it's hard for me to hear this album as anything but noise. Perhaps a mix closer to that of Imperial Triumphant will help, but for now, this isn't doing it for me. Props to the band for trying something different, but it needs work.

5/10

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3w8wz5HBOoks78mYzldAMq?si=645ecf541ba44898

Tracklisting:

01. Jorn – “Below” (from “Spirit Black”, 2009) 

02. Black Sabbath – “Hand of Doom” (from “Paranoid”, 1970)

03. Stallion – “Time to Reload” (from “Slaves of Time”, 2020)

04. Volbeat – “Heaven Nor Hell" (from “Beyond Hell / Above Heaven”, 2010) [Submitted by Andi]

05. Iron Maiden – “Run to the Hills” (from “The Number of the Beast”, 1982)

06. Gatekeeper – “Twisted Towers” (from “From Western Shores”, 2023)

07. ANGUS McSIX – “Eternal Warrior” (from “Angus McSix and the Sword of Power”, 2023)

08. Blazon Stone – “High Treason” (from “Return to Port Royal: Definitive Edition”, 2020)

09. Ensiferum – “The Defence of the Sampo” (from “Thalassic”, 2020)

10. Lords of Black – “Sacrifice” (from “Alchemy of Souls, Pt. I”, 2020) 

11. Bloodbound – “The Raven's Cry" (from “Tales from the North”, 2023)

12. Todd La Torre – “Rejoice in the Suffering” (from “Rejoice in the Suffering”, 2021)

13. Blind Guardian – “Deliver Us From Evil” (from “The God Machine”, 2022)

14. Kryptos – “Mach Speed Running“ (from “Afterburner", 2019)

15. Yngwie Malmsteen – “Heaven Tonight” (from “Odyssey”, 1988) [Submitted by Daniel]

16. Rage – “Shadow Out Of Time” (from “Black In Mind”, 1995)

17. Avantasia – “Avantasia” (from “The Metal Opera, Pt. 1”, 2001)

18. Amberian Dawn – “Cold Kiss” (from “Re-Evolution”, 2013)

19. Tygers Of Pan Tang – “Never Give In” (from “Tygers of Pan Tang”, 2016)

20. Numenor – “Numenor” (from “Draconian Age”, 2021)

21. Possessed Steel – “Spellblade” (from “Aedris” E.P., 2020)

22. Solicitor – “Night Vision” (from “Spectral Devastation”, 2020)

23. Sacred Outcry – “Towers of Gold” (from “Towers of Gold”, 2023)

Following up the first of many Scottish albums, Knights of the Cross is about the Crusades. Kind of, because Grave Digger manages to sneak in a reference to Scotland again. It's not the most accurate portrayal of the conflicts, but that's not surprising. It's rather heavy towards the post-war inquisition stuff which suggests to me they originally thought they would make something about that.
Knights is a broadly typical Grave Digger album. Aggressive power metal. Definitely not like your Sonata Arcticas and Rhapsodys, but still distinctly within the realm of power metal. On the whole not quite typical. There are riffs under the vocal lines and sometimes you can hear the bassist! While there are your typical power metal material lying around, Grave Digger primarily does either very heavy stuff or very moody, not really ballad type of stuff.
Chris Boltendahl has a very distinct, hard to get used to vocal style. At first you have a very gruff, 10 pack a day vocal style, which aren't really growls, and sort of defy comparisons. On the other, you have a very clean, very melodic style which one would be surprised came from the same person. Boltendahl doesn't really do much of the latter here, at best doing a quiet version of his usual shtick. Choruses are often done in a very thrashy shout style.
The problem with how Knights of the Cross does this is that it kind of flows awkwardly. Grave Digger has this really unfortunate habit of having two songs on an album that sound very samey, here, Monks of War is that to the title track, and they're the first two tracks. Followed by Heroes of this Time, which isn't a great song to begin with, it has a very awkward transition between the verses and the chorus, but worst of all, Monks of War uses "Heroes of this Time" as one of it's lyrics. Could we not have had, instead, say, a song about some minor Muslim commander whom even the Christians respected instead of one of these two? After all he was one of the few people everyone respected at the time. While Fanatic Assassins is a fantastic song, it does feel somewhat strange as the only Arab-centered song.
Like all Grave Digger albums, it takes a while to get used to, and despite the awkward flow, has more than enough good material on the album to make up for it.

4/5

Placeholder for when I have time to list all the songs tomorrow, playlist link here: 

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3w8wz5HBOoks78mYzldAMq?si=c565b00787c34037

Firstly, there are plenty of good ideas within Black Medium Current, and I really do get why people would love it. To me though, it is a bit like the Oscar-winning movie, Everything, Everywhere, All At Once with just too many ideas being crammed into it's (admittedly, suitably lengthy) runtime. I also understand that the fault is entirely mine and my lack of sophistication, or maybe intellectual capacity, are the real reason I can't wrap my head around it's myriad of ideas, but I just can't hold everything it has to offer in my head all at once. Another issue for me is, frankly, the terrible clean vocals that are the real villain of the piece here. I much prefer the black metal sections because it means we get a few moments of respite from this vocal torture.

I did enjoy how they employ the keyboards and the occasional excursion into space rock was welcome. To be honest, though, I think Deathspell, Blut aus Nord and especially Oranssi Pazuzu do this sort of thing much better (or at least, more to my own taste). I have been determined to give it sufficient listens to allow it to reveal itself, but after four full listen-throughs, I have been relieved every single time when it has ended, so I guess it is just one of those albums that really isn't for me.

2.5/5

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3w8wz5HBOoks78mYzldAMq?si=2ced766398be4793

1. Unleash The Archers - "Awakening" from Apex (2017)

2. Liege Lord - "Master Control" from Master Control (1988) 

3. Trivium - "Endless Night" from The Sin and the Sentence (2017)

4. Tanith - "Seven Moons (Galantia Pt. 2)" from Voyage (2023)

5. Air Raid - "Lionheart" from Fatal Encounter (2023)

6. Crossfire - "Atomic War" from Second Attack (1985)

7. Grave Digger - "The Final War" from Excalibur (1999)

8. Killer - "Bodies and Bones" from Wall of Sound (1982)

9. Elvenking - "The Hanging Tree" from Reader of the Runes - Rapture (2023)

10. Xandria - "Asteria" from The Wonders Still Awaiting (2023)

11. Shield of Wings - "Frozen Harbor" from Unfinished (2022)

12. Angus McSix - "Master of the Universe" from Master of the Universe (2023)

13. Fellowship - "Avalon" from The Saberlight Chronicles (2022) 

14. Lacrimosa - "Alleine zu zweit" from Elodia (1999)

15. Kamelot - "New Babylon" from The Awakening (2023)

16. Allen Lande - "Lady of Winter" from The Great Divide (2014)

17. Beast In Black - "Beast In Black" from Berserker (2017)

18. Cacophany - "Savage" from Speed Metal Symphony (1987)

19. Stormwitch - "Priest of Evil" from Walpurgis Night (1984)

20. Dionysus - "Eyes of the World" from Anima Mundi (2004)

Death is the most obvious one but I'd also nominate Converge & Gorguts.

Gorguts would be my major call on this thread.  A band that not only consistently puts out quality material but actually improves with every release also.  Likewise, I would agree with Death being on the list, obviously.  BAN are another great call.  There are some golden runs that I cannot get away without mentioning - first 4 Metallica records and first 4 Sepultura also.  Both more or less went to shit afterwards unfortunately so would not qualify for the whole discography sphere of this thread.

Couple of others from me:

Nordicwinter, one man Canadian bm artist who can do no wrong in my book.

Sargeist, consistency is key in this accolade and this guys are as solid as they come.

Autopsy, I can't think of anyone else who produces such consistently sloppy and ugly death metal, release after release.  They pretend to be nothing other than what they are and make no apologies for being so.

I think the Fellowship record was the only The Guardians release I checked out for the entire year which is a pretty clear indication that it's the clan that offers me the least appeal these days. I didn't enjoy the experience either.

This isn't going to be my finest work as Spotify wasn't letting me change the order of the tracks, so maybe throw this one on shuffle. I apologize for missing peoples' recommendations, so they're all caught up on this playlist. I'll make the order a bit better if I'm able to later this week.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3w8wz5HBOoks78mYzldAMq?si=bc8730cda4eb476e

1. King Diamond – “Behind These Walls” (from “The Eye”, 1990) (Submitted by Daniel)

2. Cool Feet – “The Man from Marakesh” (from “Burning Desire”, 1976) (Submitted by Daniel)

3. Amaranthe – “Crystalline” (from “Manifest", 2020) (Submitted by Daniel)

4. Acid – “Prince of Hell and Fire” (from “Maniac”, 1983) (Submitted by Sonny)

5. DragonForce – “The Edge of the World" (from "Reaching To Infinity”, 2017) (Submitted by Andi)

6. Twilight Force – “Skyknights of Aldaria” (from “At the Heart of Wintervale", 2023)

7. The Lightbringer of Sweden – “Strike Back” (from “The New World Order”, 2023)

8. Jag Panzer – “Harder Than Steel” (from “Ample Destruction", 1984)

9. Kamelot – “Lunar Sanctum" (from “The Fourth Legacy", 1999)

10. Dark Moor – "Maid of Orleans” (from “The Hall of the Olden Dreams”, 2000)

11. Lost Horizon – “Welcome Back" (from “Awakening the World", 2001)

12. Heavens Gate – “Flashes” (from “Livin' in Hysteria", 2003)

13. Rage – “Solitary Man" (from “Trapped!”, 2020)

14. Pharaoh – “By the Night Sky” (from “The Longest Night", 2006)

15. Bloodbound – “Desdemonamelia" (from “Nosferatu" 2006)

16. Eternity's End – “Under Crimson Moonlight” (from “Unyielding", 2019)

17. Visions of Atlantis – “Melancholy Angel” (from “Pirates", 2022)

18. Steel Prophet – “Spectres" (from “Dark Hallucinations”, 1999)

19. Serenity - "Wings of Pride" (from "The Last Knight", 2020)

20. Human Fortress - "Thunder" (from "Reign of Gold", 2019)

21. Warrior Path - "The Mad King" (from "The Mad King", 2021)

23. Avantasia - "Misplaced Among the Angels" (from "A Paranormal Evening With the Moonflower Society", 2022)

There are times when I'm listening to heavy metal music (and as I have become older, those times have grown a lot closer) when I just need a break. All of the aggression and ruthlessness can become overwhelming and sometimes I wonder "are you guys actually having fun making music?" Well allow me to introduce to you to Fellowship, the newest power metal outlet making some of the cheeriest metal music of the 2020s.

My first impression of The Saberlight Chronicles was reserved as my first comparison point was Majestica and their 2020 Christmas album. And while I did enjoy Majestica a few years ago, something about this does not click the same way. Perhaps it was the promise of being uplifting, but then falling into a very comfortable, Rhapsody (of Fire) formula of songwriting, but perhaps without the indulgent guitar solo dominance. I find it to be adequate, but far from impressive, especially considering Blind Guardian and Avantasia have been able to push the power metal genre forward beyond over-the-top expansiveness.

At least the instrumentals are well performed. Unlike a record such as Pain Remains by Lorna Shore, the symphonic elements are clearly meant as supplements to the choruses. These backgrounds are well produced and compliment the leads well, instead of resorting to the Fleshgod Apocalypse approach of "MORE LOUD NOISES!" As for the compositions, songs like "The Saint Beyond the River", "Silhouette" and "Until the Fires Die" are likely to be complimentary mainstays in my metal playlists. The rest of it just flies over my head as sounding the same. The final two tracks "Still Enough" and "Avalon" are so basic and forgettable even after extending their runtime well beyond what was reasonable.

Perhaps Fellowship's brand of power metal is still in its baby steps and The Saberlight Chronicles is the band just getting their feet wet. Maybe the next album will sound completely different and Fellowship will set themselves apart from even the best that power metal has to offer at the moment. But for now, I thought The Saberlight Chronicles was satisfactory. There are touches of something greater, but too quickly resorts back to tired-and-true power metal formulas of Rhapsody and Nightwish.

6/10

Sorted.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3w8wz5HBOoks78mYzldAMq?si=ceb30fd0dbd14248

1. Blind Guardian – “Blood of the Elves” (from “The God Machine”, 2022)

2. Sumerlands – “Heavens Above” (from “Dreamkiller”, 2022)

3. Iron Maiden – “Heaven Can Wait” (from “Somewhere In Time (2015 Remaster)", 2015)

4.  Helloween – “Rise Without Chains” (from “Helloween”, 2021)

5. Avantasia – “Seduction Of Decay" (from "Ghostlights”, 2016)

6. Black Sabbath – “Under The Sun” (from “Vol. 4 (2014 Remaster)", 2014)

7. Riot City – “Eye of the Jaguar” (from “Electric Elite”, 2022)

8. Judas Priest – “Beyond the Realms of Death” (from “Stained Class", 1978)

9. The Lord Weird Slough Feg – “Vargr Moon” (from “Traveller", 2013)

10. Nightwish – "Creek Mary's Blood” (from “Once”, 2004)

11. Twilight Force – “Forest of Destiny" (from “Tales of Ancient Prophecies", 2014)

12. Unleash the Archers – “Soulbound” (from “Abyss", 2020)

13. Saxon – “See the Light Shining" (from “Wheels of Steel (2009 Remaster)”, 2009)

14. Iced Earth – “Desert Rain” (from “Night Of The Stormrider", 1991)

15. The Ferrymen – “The Last Wave" (from “One More River To Cross" 2022)

16. HAMMER KING – “Kingdemonium” (from “Kingdemonium", 2022)

17. Rhapsody – “The Dark Tower of Abyss” (from “Symphony of Enchanted Lands", 1998)

18. Herzel – “Maîtres de l'océan" (from “Le dernier rempart”, 2021)

19. Epica - "Synergize - Manic Manifest" (from "Omega", 2021)

OK, so what, at one point as we passed from summer to autumn, felt like a very lacklustre year for doom metal, has picked up quite considerably and ultimately has produced some sterling releases, albeit the year as a whole is lacking depth of quality. My current top ten now looks like this and I would have no problem recommending any of them to a fan of Fallen-related metal:

1. Dvvell - Quiescent (10/10)

2. Messa - Close (9.8/10)

3. Monolithe - Kosmodrom (9.1/10)

4. Epitaphe - II (9.0/10)

5. The Otolith - Folium Limina (9.0/10)

6. Mournful Congregation - The Exuviae of Gods: Part I (9.0/10)

7. Shape of Despair - Return to the Void (8.8/10)

8. The Funeral Orchestra - Funeral Death - Apocalyptic Plague Ritual II (8.7/10)

9. Conan - Evidence of Immortality (8.5/10)

10. BlackLab - In a Bizarre Dream (8.2/10)

There are still a couple of releases I need to work up reviews for, such as Darkthrone's Astral Fortress and Spiritus Mortis' latest, but this is where we are at the moment.

I've given Act I a review, here's its summary:

Do you ever wonder if bands combine the epicness of symphonic black metal and complexity of progressive metal? This band can! They've done it with great magic that many other bands of similar styles lost over the years. However, it's not like a Christmas present that I've really desired (and it is close to Christmas as of this review) in some parts, but there's no way this will ever make me as disappointed as I was about Opeth's prog-rock era. Of Erthe and Axen (Act I) is quite an exciting thrill-ride, and it was definitely worth the 5-year wait fans of the band had since their debut. This is kind of a throwback to around the time of the album's release, when I was an older teen listening to other band of the more epic progressive metal shortly between switching to its extreme side and more modern genres. It really satisfies what I've expected! The band members have done a brilliant job turning this album into a near-perfect masterpiece. While I hear a good amount of symphonic black metal, the album is not entirely like that, balanced out with tremendous progressive metal. Even the story is planned out to be as structural as the music, setting up a climatic tale from beginning to end, told through heavier metal songs and softer acoustic/orchestral ballads. The heavier tracks showcase the symphonic black metal sound in the orchestration, tremolos, and blast-beats, along with vocals ranging from unclean to clean, and the progressiveness is added to the brutality. In the end, we have a beautiful first part of the Of Erthe and Axen saga. Will I ever be up to checking out the exciting conclusion? Not today, but perhaps one day when I'm fully up to exploring more of non-satanic black metal and the more cinematic progressive metal. And this epic offering has given me a bit of motivation!

4.5/5

I've been seeing that Pharmacist album everywhere for the past few months and finally decided to give it a shot. What a weird and funky sounding album. Definitely not my thing but I'm starting to understand the hype, the fact that they're able to weave some random Progressive Metal passages in with everything else is very impressive. I think the base is a little too "disgusting" sounding for me, as a lot of my complaints stem from the vocal performance, but all the grooves and riffs they're able to accomplish are really cool. Hopefully I'll get a few more listens out of it to see if it edges anything out on the list. If anything, this is definitely a more impressive album than something like Undeath's record this year, despite me probably preferring that record for casual listening over something like Pharmacist. 

The Parkway Drive release intrigues me, I had no idea they had another album out.

I might just have to listen to the Disturbed album for some laughs? I can't imagine they've changed much.

I'm still quite new to industrial metal, despite my ongoing quest to find more of this genre, but I can do a top 5:

1. Northlane - Obsidian

2. Gothminister - Pandemonium

3. Psyclon Nine - Less to Heaven

4. Motionless in White - Scoring the End of the World

5. Fear Factory - Recoded

Here's my top 10:

1. Lorna Shore - Pain Remains

2. Upon a Burning Body - Fury

3. Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas - Cocoon for the Golden Future

4. Motionless in White - Scoring the End of the World

5. Deadguy - Buyer's Remorse

6. Betraying the Martyrs - Silver Lining

7. Chelsea Grin - Suffer in Hell

8. We Came as Romans - Darkbloom

9. Underoath - Voyeurist

10. Bleeding Through - Rage

1. Autonoesis - Moon of Foul Magics
2. Critical Defiance - No Life Forms
3. Daeva - Through Sheer Will and Black Magic...
4. Chemicide - Common Sense
5. Schizophrenia - Recollections of the Insane
6. Midnight - Let There Be Witchery 
7. Deathhammer - Electric Warfare

I'm having some issues with my 2022 list this year, so I'm going to try and break everything down by Clan to try and organize my thoughts. Here's my full, ordered list of North albums I've checked out this year, I'd be interested to see anyone else's top 5 or 10 or whatever as we're going into the final month of 2022.

...So this is where all my listening went this year, huh? I've got a lot of work to do, some of these definitely deserve another shot, like the newest Deathspell Omega. Autonoesis and Tómarúm have taken the crown this year so far, with my opinion on which one edges out the other changes from day to day. The Asunojokei album grew on me immensely throughout the year, and there wasn't any way Caio Lemos' Brii wasn't going to be high up in the ranks. There was tons of Black Metal out this year and, yet again, it didn't disappoint.  

1. Autonoesis - Moon of Foul Magics
2. Tómarúm - Ash in Realms of Stone Icons
3. Asunojokei - Island
4. Brii - Corpos Transparentes
5. Haunter - Discarnate Ails
6. Wake - Thought Form Descent
7. Ultha - All That Has Never Been True
8. Black Fucking Cancer - Procreate Inverse
9. Wiegedood - There's Always Blood at the End of the Road
10. Djevel - Naa Skrider Natten Sort
11. White Ward - False Light
12. Saiden - Onryo II: Her Spirit Eternal
13. Gaerea - Mirage
14. Vital Spirit - Still as the Night, Cold as the Wind
15. Celeste - Assassine(s)
16. Grand Belial's Key - Kohanic Charmers
17. Esoctrilihum - Saopth's
18. Blut Aus Nord - Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses
19. Saor - Origins
20. Grima - Frostbitten
21. Daeva - Through Sheer Will and Black Magic...
22. Esoctrilihum - Consecration of the Spiritus Flesh
23. Vorga - Striving Towards Oblivion
24. Devil Master - Ecstasies of Never Ending Night
25. Nocturnal Triumph - Nocturnal Triumph
26. Trhä - Tálcunnana dëhajma tun dejl bënatsë abcul’han dlhenisë ëlh inagat
27. Nokturnal Mortum - To Lunar Poetry
28. Drudkh - All Belong to the Night
29. Krallice - Psychagogue
30. Trhä - vat gëlénva!!!
31. Lamp of Murmuur / Ebony Pendant - Plenilunar Requiems
32. Negative Plane - The Pact...
33. Ultra Silvam - The Sanctity of Death
34. Arð - Take Up My Bones
35. Deathspell Omega - The Long Defeat
36. Negativa - 04
37. Pure Wrath - Hymn to the Woeful Hearts
38. Sylvaine - Nova
39. Det Eviga Leendet - Reverence
40. Kvaen - The Great Below
41. Falls of Rauros - Key to a Vanishing Future
42. Marrasmieli - Martaiden mailta
43. Festung - Der Turm
44. Gudsforladt - Friendship, Love and War
45. Stangarigel - Na Severe Srdca
46. Luminous Vault - Animate the Emptiness
47. Krallice - Crystalline Exhaustion
48. Scarcity - Aveilut
49. Elegiac - Wolves Chase the Light

For the December 2022 edition of the Guardians Playlist, I've assembled a full list of all the Guardians albums I've checked out this year, and then some. Some are fantastic, some are a little rough around the edges, but this is a compact but full look at what 2022 has had in store for Heavy, Power, and Symphonic Metal. Enjoy, and cheers for another full year of Metal Academy Playlists!

The Guardians - December Spotify Playlist Link

1. Blind Guardian – “Life Beyond The Spheres” (from “The God Machine”, 2022)

2. Satan – “Ascendancy” (from “Earth Infernal”, 2022)

3. Fellowship – “Glory Days” (from “The Saberlight Chronicles", 2022)

4. The Ferrymen – “One Word” (from “One More River to Cross”, 2022)

5. Nite – “Last Scorpion" (from "Voices of the Kronian Moon”, 2022)

6. Battle Beast – “Wings of Light” (from “Circus of Doom", 2022)

7. Jorn – “One Man War” (from “Over the Horizon Radar”, 2022)

8. Sumerlands – “Dreamkiller” (from “Dreamkiller", 2022)

9. Riot City – “Tyrant” (from “Electric Elite", 2022)

10. Septicflesh – "Neuromancer” (from “Modern Primitive”, 2022)

11. Hammerfall – “No Mercy" (from “Hammer of Dawn", 2022)

12. Queensryche – “Tormentum” (from “Digital Noise Alliance", 2022)

13. Saxon – “Age of Steam" (from “Carpe Diem”, 2022)

14. Unlucky Morpheus – “Serene Evil” (from “Evolution", 2022)

15. Venator – “Nightrider" (from “Echoes from the Gutter" 2022)

16. Stray Gods – “Black Horses” (from “Storm The Walls", 2022)

17. Maule – “Summoner” (from “Maule", 2022)

18. Sabaton – “Hellfighters" (from “The War to End All Wars”, 2022)

19. SONJA - "Pink Fog" (from "Loud Arriver", 2022)

20. Dynazty - "Achilles Hell" (from "Final Advent", 2022)

21. Axel Rudi Pell - "Follow The Beast" (from "Lost XXIII", 2022)

22. Stratovarius - "Demand" (from "Survive", 2022)

23. Avantasia - "The Wicked Rule The Night" (from "A Paranormal Evening With The Moonflower Society", 2022)

My time with progressive/avant-garde/post-metal has been rather turbulent this year while still staying in my position in The Infinite, so I didn't find as many new Infinite albums that would stick with me long as I thought I would, but I can do a top 5:

1. Seventh Wonder - The Testament

2. Dir En Grey - Phalaris

3. Voivod - Synchro Anarchy

4. Persefone - Metanoia

5. Meshuggah - Immutable

One honorable mention is the new In The Woods... album Diversum that I really enjoy, but I would need to give it more listening before it can end up somewhere in my list.

I'm having some issues with my 2022 list this year, so I'm going to try and break everything down by Clan to try and organize my thoughts. Here's my full, ordered list of Guardians albums I've checked out this year, I'd be interested to see anyone else's top 5 or 10 or whatever as we're going into the final month of 2022.

This year saw a few extremely strong Power Metal releases with not much in-between other than a solid Satan release, a lukewarm Avantasia offering, and a few newer bands to me like Sumerlands, The Ferrymen, Riot City, and Maule showing that Heavy Metal isn't a totally dying breed. Blind Guardian and Fellowship were heavily within my rotation the past few months, whereas Power Paladin may be one of the dumbest Power Metal albums I've heard since Dragony's 2021 album last year.

1. Blind Guardian - The God Machine
2. Fellowship - The Saberlight Chronicles
3. Satan - Earth Infernal
4. Sumerlands - Dreamkiller
5. Avantasia - A Paranormal Evening With the Moonflower Society 
6. Riot City - Electric Elite
7. The Ferrymen - One More River to Cross
8. Maule - Maule
9. New Horizon - Gate of the Gods
10.  Battle Beast - Circus of Doom
11. Nite - Voices of the Kronian Moon
12. Septicflesh - Modern Primitive
13. Saxon - Carpe Diem
14. Unlucky Morpheus - Evolution
15. Sabaton - The War to End All Wars
16. Aeternam - Heir of the Rising Sun
17. Hammerfall - Hammer of Dawn
18. Bymir - Voices in the Sky
19. Power Paladin - With the Magic of Windfyre Steel

To describe French one-man bm outfit Esoctrilihum as being industrious is quite an understatement. Since 2017, Asthâghul has released eight albums and three EPs. This level of prolific activity is hardly unheard of but is certainly not the norm. Reading a few interviews with him around the web this morning Asthâghul has a very specific mindset he exists within to allow his creative juices to flow and based on the frequency of his output he does not find it very difficult to get into the zone.

Released a little under a couple of months ago (at the time of writing this review at least), Saopth’s continues Asthâghul’s journey into the symphonic, the avant-garde and the lo-fi black metal elements of his music. I will go on record early on in this review in noting that there is a lot to take in here. As someone who is not really that interested in avant-garde metal this maybe more of an individual struggle as opposed to a more widespread challenge for any fan of the sub-genre. Fortunately, there is enough variety within Esoctrilihum’s music to retain enough of the more extreme elements that are more attractive to my palate.

I am not even going to attempt to talk about individual tracks here as that is firstly an impossible task (for me at least) and secondly would be an injustice to the whole release when viewed as a singular piece of art. I can only focus on the whole album as the consistency of the performance breeds the familiarity I need to connect with it superbly. One of the major strengths of Saopth’s forty-three plus minutes its clever use of keyboards and synthesisers. They draw an ethereal and eerie picture that is equal part dungeon synth and symphonic black metal also. They are like an icy cold hand to hold throughout the album, caressing your palm during the albums more bizarre moments whilst all the while guiding you through the maelstrom that is all the component parts of the album.

Vocally, Asthâghul adopts a rasping kind of lunacy in his style that is the perfect accompaniment to the music. Sat in the mix, well layered behind the keys and the guitars and drums they embody a real sense of struggle. There are times however when it all does get too much, where no amount of mixing and mastering prowess can balance all the elements in any sense of equilibrium and as a result sections of some tracks sound like they are damaged parts of the tape to my ears which is not a pleasant experience in all honesty. I cannot deny however that Saopth’s entertained me and although I am unlikely to have much desire to revisit this for further unpicking, there is no denying the effort and talent involved in this release.

3.5/5

Here's my review:

I wasn’t familiar with Brooklyn-based retro four-piece Tanith prior to investigating this month’s The Guardians feature release but they’re hardly a household name in metal circles. A quick look at the band photos left me wondering what I was in store for as they look a little more seasoned than most bands releasing their debut albums these days while the presence on Satan guitarist Russ Tippins intrigued me as I’ve always admired his work on an album like 1983’s “Court In The Act”. Could I expect another metal-as-fuck shred-fest like that one? Well, the reality is anything but.

Tanith place their cards down on the table right from the offset with a warm & organic production job that’s much more in line with 70’s rock than it is with the modern metal model. I really like the way they’ve left plenty of room for the guitars & bass to interact with each other. It’s light-years from the dense metal production we’ve come to expect in more recent times. The dual vocal approach of Tippins & bassist Cindy Maynard is interesting too with both opting for a clean & fairly light-weight delivery that never heads into overly aggressive territory, instead sticking to melodic tones that draw to mind the greats of 1970’s progressive rock. The lead guitar work amplifies that feel further through the consistent execution of simple yet emotive guitar harmonies that showcase a strong Thin Lizzy influence. It’s not the heaviest sound you’ll find but there’s a certain magic about it nonetheless.

It’s interesting that “In Another Time” has been embraced by the metal audience as I’m not really sure it should qualify as metal to be honest. Opening track “Citadel (Galantia Pt. 1)” & “Dionysus” are close enough to metal as they certainly draw upon familiar tools but the rest of the album sits predominantly in hard rock & progressive rock territory. In fact, I’m baffled as to why most metal websites have this record tagged as a hard rock/heavy metal hybrid because the predominant subgenre is comfortably prog rock in my opinion with bands like Yes & Rush being the source of inspiration for much of the content. There’s a magical atmosphere to some of this material that’s seeped in fantasy & wonder & I can see this being a major drawcard for some metalheads. As the album title indicates, this is music from another time only it’s presented with a modern professionalism that showcases the skills of some experienced campaigners who possess a deep understanding of tone & texture.

The thing with “In Another Time” though is that I’m not sure I’m ever completely comfortable with its unintimidating & whispy nature. Apart from the clear album highlight in the gorgeous “Book Of Changes”, I’m not sure I ever find myself engaging with the album on a deeply emotional level. Despite being very well executed, the song-writing is more pleasant than it is enthralling. I very much enjoy those lovely guitar harmonies but the vocals are a little too clean-cut for my taste while the basslines conduct themselves predominantly in fairly unintimidating spaces too. The folky acoustic sections sound sweet enough but I’m not sure that I can say that they pull on my heart-strings. It probably doesn’t help that the album loses its way through the middle of the tracklisting either with both “Cassini's Deadly Plunge” & “Under The Stars” being a bit flat. I’m glad that Tanith could recover for the remainder of the album but I don’t think I ever found myself in a space where I could say that I loved most of the material.

“In Another Time” certainly sounds pretty fresh & there’s a lot to like about the guitar tone but it’s just missing a bit of danger for mine. I appreciate the sentiment but I crave a little more in the way of intensity as the musicians seem to stay very much within themselves for the most part. Give it some more dynamic vocals & this could have been another story. Perhaps even go a little further with the psychedelia. As it is though I find this to be an entertaining little record that should bring Tanith quite a bit of crossover appeal, perhaps not always from the metal market though.

For fans of Wytch Hazel, Thin Lizzy & Night.

3.5/5

The Guardians - November Spotify Playlist Link

1. Avantasia – “Arabesque” (from “A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society”, 2022)

2. Diamond Head – “The Prince” (from “Lighting To The Nations - 2020 Remaster”, 2020) 

3. Judas Priest – “Saints in Hell” (from “Stained Class”, 1978)

4. Crystal Viper – “Ulitsa Roz” (from “The Last Axemen”, 2022)

5. Majesty – “Epic War" (from "Sword & Sorcery”, 2002)

6. Cross Borns – “The Hill Of Destiny” (from “Tales Of A Winter Night", 2000) [Submitted by Daniel]

7. Xandria – “Reborn” (from “Reborn”, 2022) 

8. Brothers of Metal – “Gods of War” (from “Prophecy of Ragnarok", 2017)

9. Manowar – “Hail and Kill” (from “Kings of Metal", 1988)

10. Helix – "When The Hammer Falls” (from “Walkin' The Razor's Edge”, 1984)

11. King Diamond – “Into the Covenant" (from “The Eye", 1990)

12. Savatage – “Back to a Reason” (from “Poets & Madmen", 2001) [Submitted by Andi]

13. Heavens Gate – “We Got the Time" (from “Livin' in Hysteria”, 2003)

14. Firewind – “Angels Forgive Me” (from “The Premonition", 2008)

15. Stratovarius – “Frozen in Time” (from “Survive" 2022)

16. Slough Feg – “Insomnia” (from “Hardworlder", 2007)

17. Iron Savior – “Watcher In the Sky” (from “Iron Savior", 1997)

18. Dexter Ward – “Evil Nightmares" (from “Neon Lights”, 2011)

19. Katana - "The Wisdom of Emond's Field" (from "Storms of War", 2012)

20. Edguy - "Navigator" (from "Hellfire Club", 2004)

This playlist is now up on Spotify.

A bit of a contentious album here.

Ashenspire have some chops, no doubt about it. When I heard this record for the first time, I was absolutely floored by the compositional techniques used to tell some awfully grim stories. The technicality of Hostile Architecture never feels overindulgent or as a medium for instrumentalists to wank; their purpose was to further the narrative and I appreciate that in a subgenre that seems too ignorant to this concept.

But as I said in my review, it's the vocals that bring it down considerably. Despite what so many people would like to believe, it's the performance, not the content that leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. Artsy (political) post-rock has this obsession with plainspoken vocals that have no sense of flow, groove or momentum. And as someone who doesn't relate at all to the content on display, I felt like I was being lectured to by a teacher for a class I had no interest in taking, but need credit for in order to graduate. Rage Against The Machine's political music was a statement, whereas as Ashenspire has the passion, but none of the precision. This score would have been several points higher if it was an instrumental record.

6/10

Here are my thoughts on some tracks:

Persuader – “Twisted Eyes” (from “When Eden Burns”, 2006)

5/5. Honestly, I don't get how pop stars with computer-made music such as Lady Gaga are nearly a million times more popular than this killer band. But I guess that's how the world is... I enjoy the instrumentation and vocals, though the latter is criticized is for sounding too similar to Hansi Kürsch from Blind Guardian.

Blind Guardian – “Violent Shadows” (from “Violent Shadows”, 2022)

4.5/5. ...And speaking of that band! To paraphrase a line from this song, you need a rebel heart, you need a pure soul. My rebel heart is in a different rebellion, though this is quite an amazing song as part of the Bards' metal comeback.

Freedom Call – “Metal Is For Everyone” (from “Master of Light", 2016)

5/5. My brother stumbled upon this song when I was still listening to this band a lot more, and he was pleased with the ability to cross over into a few other metal genres while staying in their usual power metal. This is a metal song for everyone!

The Sword – "Arrows in the Dark” (from “Warp Riders”, 2010)

4.5/5. I'm not really into the stoner-ish heavy metal, but this is a great track to rock hard and high. Kick-A!

Avantasia – “The Moonflower Society" (from “The Moonflower Society", 2022)

4/5. Another great song, this one with a beautiful video clip. I'm slightly disappointed by how poppy it sounds at times, but it's still d*mn inspiring and promising for what the new album might bring, especially after the worst of the pandemic. It's quite a Toto-infused power metal dream...

Running Wild – “Black Hand Inn” (from “Black Hand Inn", 1994)

4.5/5. This was one of my favorite Running Wild songs, with some quintessential guitar. Right from the start, you get very good speedy pirate power metal, though I've proven that a pirate power metal life is not for me.

Kamelot – “The Spell” (from “Karma”, 2001)

5/5. I was actually gonna submit a song from that album for next month's playlist, but never mind, I'm glad to see one of the songs here. Enjoyable with spooky keyboards.

Good call. I've been meaning to ask Ben about exactly that as it probably affects me more than anyone given that I've submitted so many Hall entries that I can't remember which ones were mine & which ones aren't.

Lemme share with you some Metalforum usernames: Goatmaster General, Relentless Oblivion, Sheol, Surgical Brute, Macabre Eternal, True Belief and Father Alabaster.  You'd think they'd have something better down for the ranks, especially if we implement them here where there's a clan system.

Actually, I wouldn't mind if each clan had different names for the ranks.

Gave this one last listen today and I gotta agree, was expecting a bit more out of Solider of Fortune. The album starts out with the killer "Soldier of Fortune", the passable "You Shook Me" which I honestly can't take too seriously since my brain's wires get insanely crossed with the AC/DC song, and the song that inspired this Feature choice "Danger of Love". The album then quickly derails with the run between "Twenty-Five Days" and "Long After Midnight"; "Demon Disease" is a pretty great closer as it goes back to what made the opener "Soldier of Fortune" great, but the rest of the album is a weirdly middling affair of Hard Rock influences and chorus structures that doesn't offer any standout tracks compared to the beginning of the album. It's not like "Faces in the Fire" or "Long After Midnight" are below average songs, but they also don't do anything spectacular either. I'm not a big fan of "Red Light Shooter" and the two ballads don't really hold up for repeated listens, so Soldier of Fortune is basically a singles album for me. I wasn't aware of the vocalist change before posting this, so maybe the earlier vocalist and style would be more interesting to me, like Morpheus said? Guess I'll have to check that out someday but for now, this is very passable Heavy Metal with a few notable tunes. 

3/5

I like the idea of adding new singles from upcoming albums, and that's kind of what I've been submitting to some of the playlists for my clans lately. After all, that's an essential part of playlists, isn't it? Anyway, once again I'm going to comment on a few tracks here that I still like, for memories' sake. Here are my thoughts:

Blind Guardian – “Deliver Us From Evil” (from “Blood Of The Elves”, 2022)

4.5/5. The opening track and single from the band's upcoming album The God Machine has great lyrics based on the play The Crucible.

Slough Feg – “Street Jammer" (from "Hardworlder”, 2007)

4/5. I like this one. I have not yet heard the original song by Manilla Road, but honestly, I'm still not in the mood for a big amount of Guardians discoveries.

Avantasia – “The Wicked Rule the Night” (from “The Moonflower Society”, 2022)

4.5/5. New single from the upcoming Avantasia album A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society, and it sounds great, especially the vocals by Ralf Scheepers from Primal Fear and formerly Gamma Ray.

Dark Moor – “Somewhere in Dreams” (from “Project X”, 2015)

5/5. I actually meant the original version of this song from The Hall of the Olden Dreams, but never mind, this one's perfect too. Alfred Romero's vocals sound amazing, though Elisa C. Martin had a slightly greater edge in the original. A power metal classic nonetheless!

Virgin Steele – “Through the Ring of Fire” (from “Hymns to Victory”, 2018)

4.5/5. The power metal sound courses through your veins and turns your heart steel. This song is part of an incredibly long double-and-a-half album, The House of Atreus. Some songs from this band, like this one, are still fantastic for me. The sound is so dynamic, especially back in the late 90s, when genres like power metal were building up their untouchable glory. This band would've connected to me better if I was listening to them at age 15 when I was enjoying bands like Blind Guardian much more back then.

Scanner - "Terrion" (from "Hypertrace", 1988)

5/5. OK, now this is amazing! It sounds like a much better continuation of Helloween's original speed metal sound that they dumped that year for their Keeper of the Seven Keys. Grand 80s speed/heavy metal that might make up to exploring more of this band and speed metal! Talk about ending this playlist in a mighty speedy bang.

It is good to occasionally add in tracks from different genres and/or eras that don't get much of the spotlight. That's kind of what I've done with the 90s/early 2000s metalcore eras in this month's Revolution playlist. Anyway, once again I'm going to comment on a few tracks here that I still like, for memories' sake. Here are my thoughts:

HammerFall – “Steel Meets Steel” (from “Glory to the Brave”, 1997)

4.5/5. I loved HammerFall a lot when I was still heavily into power metal, though not as much, despite great classic songs like this. The lyrics in the bridge explain the song's concept, "In July in '99, the Holy City was stormed and won, Jerusalem was freed, we thanked the lord for our glory."

Within Temptation – “Iron” (from “The Unforgiving”, 2011)

5/5. This epic expressive song still touches my heart to this day with the angelic voice of Sharon den Adel. This is awesome music for symphonic metal lovers like I was. Such godly spectacular power! Sharon is very much one of the symphonic metal queens out there. An awesome song to play at full blast when driving an abandoned highway, and it reminds me of DragonForce's "Cry Thunder".

Nightwish – “Nemo” (from “Once", 2004)

5/5. Another brilliant symphonic metal classic piece! I loved this album back in my high-school-age teens. The sound is so amazing and lovable, with Tarja's beautiful voice. Those were my earlier days of orchestral metal magic. I feel like g****mn crying from the lyrics about loss and longing. And this album Once was the band's last with Tarja...

Stratovarius – “Infinity" (from “Infinite”, 2010)

4.5/5. I've heard of Stratovarius for a very long time, though not at long as the previous bands I've commented on, and this is still an excellent melodic progressive epic from that band. Any metalhead would enjoy this even with better songs in those listeners' arsenal! This could've really helped well with spreading awareness of the possible end of the world when the virus was on the rise. This song is so popular, though a few points are off due to the song and others from this album being plagiarized into Dragon Ball game soundtracks. That's OK if you wanna unleash your SUPER SAIYAN!!!

Iced Earth - "The Hunter" (from "The Dark Saga", 1996)

4.5/5. This one continues the classic streak with killer riffing and a soaring chorus, almost perfect for this playlist and its original album. There's more of this awesome glory to come in other songs, but that's all for now, good Guardians!

Ben & I have been well acquainted with Austrian black metal establishment Abigor since the very beginning of their existence back in the mid-1990’s with releases such as “Orkblut - The Retaliation” & “Nachthymnen (From the Twilight Kingdom)” playing a very major role in our teenage household. Abigor were everything we wanted black metal to be at the time. They were dark, brutal, mysterious & totally underground. It was just the recipe for any aspiring young black metal elitist. Unfortunately though, I’ve found them to be a little hit & miss over the years with records like 2010’s “Time Is the Sulphur in the Veins of the Saint - An Excursion on Satan's Fragmenting Principle” doing very little for me however the news of a resurgence has peaked my interest so I’ve headed into Abigor’s thirteenth full-length with a significant amount of hope.

The album starts off well with a couple of the early tracks offering both strength & depth. I particularly enjoy the urgency & aggression of opener “Gomorrah Rising - Nightside Rebellion” which is probably my album highlight. The avant-garde direction Abigor had taken on their releases from the early 2010’s seems to have been pushed to the wayside in favour of a return to the band’s roots. The drumming is very fast & highly proficient while the dual guitar work is as complex as ever but I wouldn’t say it reaches for the dissonance of Deathspell Omega as often as some reviewers have claimed. There’s simply a lot going on simultaneously & the production job is full of high end which leaves everything fighting with each other a bit & the vocals & solos aren’t really highlighted as much as you would usually expect. It's not all that different from Emperor's overthetop wall-of-sound production approach to be honest but it can be a little exhausting given the lack of dynamics & does tend to leave everything sounding a little samey after a while. Personally I would have liked T.T.’s drums to be a little further forward in the mix in order to better showcase his precision brutality as he’s got some impressive blast beat chops & is capable of some pretty interesting cymbal work too.

There are a few weird moments that don’t quite work scattered across the tracklisting & they sometimes see the song structures threatening to fall over a bit. I’m not too much of a fan of the chanty vocal stuff on a track like “Tartaros Tides” which is the clear weak spot on the album in my opinion too. Silenius’ vocal delivery can be a bit hit & miss as he tries his level best to match Mayhem legend Attila Csihar for general insanity but there’s a decent amount of quality about what Abigor do here overall. They’ve clearly got more technical ability than the majority of the competition & showcase a deep-seated black metal pedigree in every move they make. The use of symphonic elements is professionally composed & executed with an obvious reference to classic Emperor but never seems to overstep the cheese line while the band aren’t afraid to step outside of their dedicated genre for a quick look at more progressive territories on occasion either. Is this the return to form that people are promising? Well, in a word no it’s not but I don’t doubt that it’s probably the band’s best effort in twenty-five years nonetheless.

For fans of Emperor, Lunar Aurora & early Dødheimsgard.

3.5/5

Well I have to say that I fucking loved this release Xephyr. It took me by complete surprise. The size of this dudes balls must be absolutely astronomical to have pulled this off with his debut solo album. It's just so beautifully executed & emotionally engaging. I can understand Saxy questioning whether it should technically qualify as metal or not as the metal component isn't huge but I think it's enough for me to want to link it to Post-Metal as it invites me to recall some of the more stripped back & atmospheric works of bands like Kayo Dot, Neurosis & Anathema. The androgynous vocals are lovely, the strings are very well orchestrated & even though the 55 minute single-track arrangement may seem drawn out to many (if not most) metalheads I never find myself questioning the artist's patience thanks to his exceptional ability to build tension & atmosphere. This record is just pure class from start to finish to be honest & I'm sure it'll be right near the top of my AOTY list come January.

4.5/5

Mercyful Fate, despite being held in high regard by many heavy metal fans are an inordinately divisive band. Or, to be more accurate, singer King Diamond with his falsetto histrionics is able to elicit singularly strong negative reactions in some. Personally I don't have a problem with him, sure sometimes I wish he would reign it in, but generally I don't have a problem with his vocal style, but I can definitely hear why others might. One thing we will never know is whether the band would have had as much success as they have without Diamond's unique vocal approach to set them apart. Personally I believe the songs and riffs are strong enough to have ensured a considerable following, but you just never know do you - the music business is a notoriously capricious beast.

Anyway, the good news for both the King Diamond pro and con camps is that on this first reunion release KD seems to have toned down his more outlandish vocal tendencies and utilises them more effectively by confining them to passages to which they seem to be more suited (of course, alternatively, this may just annoy both camps equally). Personally I think In the Shadows (ironically) allows the rest of the band to emerge from King's shadow and to shine on their own terms with the lead guitar work especially benefitting from this curtailing of vocal excess. As on their early releases there are plenty of memorable riffs present, the opening brace of Egypt and Bell Witch in particular having brilliant main riffs, as does the following track, The Old Oak, but this track does give in to some songwriting excess and becomes a bit cheesy in the middle section despite some excellent soloing. Room of Golden Air even features a riff that sounds a lot like Dave Mustaine on Hangar 18. For me the riffs and the solos are the real strength of this album and I found that it succeeded in spades where both these aspects are concerned, axemen Shermann and Denner deserving great praise for their work here. Lyrically it's a bit silly at times and KD will always present a problem for some listeners, but as I mentioned earlier he has reined it in a bit, although he does try to break free occasionally - Thirteen Invitations for example - and I found these to be the less enjoyable parts.

I had not listened to In the Shadows before this month's feature, although I was familiar with a couple of tracks and whilst it isn't quite up there with the band's earlier material it is still a strong heavy metal release and certainly shouldn't disappointed anyone who is already a Mercyful Fate fan.

4/5

It definitely requires some experimentation because it obviously doesn't work the same for each of the Clan's playlists. 

I absolutely wouldn't use the same methodology if I was doing the playlists for The North or The Infinite; there's something about cheesy and bombastic Power/Symphonic Metal that feels more corny than usual if it's slotted in-between some Judas Priest or Iron Maiden.

I agree that it is very much dependent on the clan. I regularly listen to the North playlist which is compiled by Ben and the Pit compiled by Vinny and they both work very well indeed with a mix of tracks. I don't think I would enjoy the North playlist as much if it kicked off with a bunch of blackgaze and folk metal tracks, becoming more raw as it proceeds or the Pit if I suddenly hit a groove metal iceberg in the middle of the playlist, whereas one track is ok because you know something good is just around the corner.

Just out of interest, members of the Fallen (or anyone else who may listen to the Fallen playlists), do you think my current approach works for the Fallen or would it be better with the extreme stuff more evenly spaced out?