Ben's Forum Replies
Going through and rating album covers is making me realise how much I dislike photos of the band as the cover. With rare exceptions it almost always looks either silly, boring or cringe-inducing (or some combination of them).
Agree!
To answer your question Sonny, I don't really want to provide intentions or instructions for how to use the tools we provide. I personally rate album covers taking a few different things into account (general quality of art, personal appeal, symmetry / impact as an album cover, suitability for the genre of music are probably the main things), but I think everyone should just use whatever system they enjoy.
I'm certainly going to enjoy scrolling through the Gallery every day and giving my rating for everything in the top 100. It's just so easy compared to rating releases, for which you have to invest a lot of time for every rating.
One thing that bothered me about the Anniversaries page was that releases with multiple clans were only being displayed with one clan icon (the first one alphabetically). That's been fixed now, so multiple clan icons will appear when multiple clans are present.
The cover images are no longer cut off at the bottom on the Featured page. Looks much better.
The cover images are no longer cut off at the bottom on the Anniversaries page. Looks better.
The following bands have been added to Metal Academy from the 12th to the 13th of August, 2020.
1. Bone Awl (NORTH)
2. Kall (NORTH, INFINITE, FALLEN)
3. Vassafor (NORTH, FALLEN, HORDE)
4. Selbst (NORTH)
5. Wigrid (NORTH)
6. Ebony Ark (INFINITE, GUARDIANS)
7. Stride (INFINITE)
8. Corruption (FALLEN, GUARDIANS)
9. Thee Plague of Gentlemen (FALLEN)
10. Saturndust (FALLEN)
11. Battleroar (GUARDIANS)
12. Axenstar (GUARDIANS)
13. Draghkar (HORDE)
14. Duma (HORDE)
15. Artery Eruption (HORDE)
16. Last Days of Humanity (HORDE)
17. Disavowed (HORDE)
18. With Passion (HORDE, REVOLUTION)
19. Faceless Burial (HORDE)
20. Katalepsy (HORDE)
21. Year of the Knife (REVOLUTION)
The following bands have been added to Metal Academy from the 7th to the 11th of August, 2020.
1. Men in Search of the Perfect Weapon (INFINITE, FALLEN)
2. Marc Rizzo (INFINITE)
3. Vanessa Van Basten (INFINITE, FALLEN)
4. Artimus Pyledriver (FALLEN)
5. Mortal Love (FALLEN, GUARDIANS)
6. Seemless (FALLEN)
7. Nomad Son (FALLEN, GUARDIANS)
8. Aes Dana (NORTH)
9. Black Witchery (NORTH)
10. Chthonic (NORTH, HORDE)
11. The Monolith Deathcult (HORDE, GUARDIANS)
12. Question (HORDE)
13. Xythlia (HORDE)
14. Vituperate (HORDE)
15. Deathchain (HORDE, PIT)
16. Deadlock (HORDE, REVOLUTION, GATEWAY)
17. Thin (REVOLUTION)
18. On Broken Wings (REVOLUTION)
19. Mortal Treason (REVOLUTION)
20. Winter Solstice (REVOLUTION)
21. Heed (GUARDIANS)
22. High Spirits (GUARDIANS)
23. Tony Martin (GUARDIANS)
24. Warmen (GUARDIANS)
Always struggled with the vocals on gothic metal Sentenced albums. North From Here is where it's at for me!
It's always been cut off, but seems to be more cut off that it was before. Will try to sort.
We've improved the Monthly Feature Releases page in the following two ways:
- It's now alphabetically order by Clan.
- It now has clan icons so it's obvious which clan is being represented by each release.
All feedback is welcome.
The following bands have been added to Metal Academy from the 4th to the 6th of August, 2020.
1. Chasing Ghosts (FALLEN) - requested by Tymell
2. Like Rats (FALLEN, HORDE)
3. Inter Arma (FALLEN)
4. Moribund Mantras (FALLEN, INFINITE) - requested by Sonny92
5. Witchskull (FALLEN) - requested by Sonny92
6. Tephra (FALLEN, INFINITE)
7. Rites of Thy Degringolade (HORDE)
8. Disgorge (HORDE)
9. Debauchery (HORDE)
10. Flametal (INFINITE, GUARDIANS, NORTH)
11. Suspyre (INFINITE, GUARDIANS)
12. Rebel Wizard (NORTH, GUARDIANS)
13. Mystras (NORTH)
14. Bythos (NORTH)
15. Raven Throne (NORTH) - requested by Sonny92
16. Inexorum (NORTH)
17. The Bishop of Hexen (NORTH)
18. Gonoreas (GUARDIANS, PIT) - requested by Tymell
19. Gomorra (GUARDIANS) - requested by Tymell
20. Stargazery (GUARDIANS) - requested by Tymell
21. Magnus Karlsson (GUARDIANS)
22. Heavy Heavy Low Low (REVOLUTION)
23. Maroon (REVOLUTION)
24. Nodes of Ranvier (REVOLUTION)
I think it's U.S. time, or at least something similar. As much as I'd love to have the site in AU ESDT, I'm not sure that would be preferable for the majority of attendees.
I gave this 4 stars on my review here purely because the album hadn't stood the test of time well and needed Heresy and Shattered to be left on the cutting room floor in all honesty. A landmark album for me growing up no doubt and for a debut record it was a cracker. The darker edge to tracks such as Medicine Man are where my preferences lie on this record though even though before I had the album I played the video for the title track to death on my VCR after I recorded an episode of RAW Power with it on. More of a fan of the follow and Far Beyond Driven nowadays but the debut still holds a respectful score.
4/5
We're just ignoring all their previous albums are we? 
Ah, so you have! I guess that proves the need for this page, as I missed them.
I've added all 9 monthly features now, but I've noticed the sort seems to be a bit random. I can't sort it by Clan, as a few of this month's releases are connected to multiple clans. I might have to add another field that allows me to manually sort them 1 to 9. I'll try to implement a way to easily tell which clan each release is representing too, as not everyone will know the natural order of clans.
The following bands have been added to Metal Academy on the 3rd of August, 2020.
EMBR (FALLEN) - requested by Tymell
Mantar (FALLEN)
Wolftooth (FALLEN, GUARDIANS) - requested by Tymell
Jupiterian (FALLEN, INFINITE) - requested by Tymell
Satan's Hallow (GUARDIANS) - requested by Tymell
Greyhawk (GUARDIANS) - requested by Tymell
Bedsore (HORDE, INFINITE)
Spirit Possession (NORTH)
Battle Dagorath (NORTH)
Turpitude (NORTH)
Gaerea (NORTH)
Fellwarden (NORTH)
Cabal (REVOLUTION, INFINITE)
Gulch (REVOLUTION)
Justice for the Damned (REVOLUTION)
Anciients (INFINITE)
I looked up Bleeding Eyes on RYM and they're listed as Stoner Metal in both of their albums, so I think there's potential in that band earning its place in The Fallen.
The issue is that they have 5 releases, including 4 full length albums. RYM is very incomplete.
I'd like to request the following:
Wolftooth
Embr
Chasing Ghosts
Jupiterian
Bleeding Eyes
Just letting you know that I attempted to add Bleeding Eyes, but there's no information about genre for most of their releases. They seem to be listed as doom, stoner, sludge and even metalcore in different places, so we might have to wait for more activity on RYM (unless you want to listen to all their releases and make a judgement).
The following bands have been added to Metal Academy from the 29th of July to the 2nd of August, 2020:
Buckethead (INFINITE, GATEWAY, FALLEN, PIT)
Why only one band I here you ask? 326 releases is the answer!
The following bands have been added to Metal Academy from the 25th of July to the 28th of July, 2020:
1. Khthoniik Cerviiks (NORTH, HORDE)
2. Fides Inversa (NORTH) - requested by Sonny92
3. Astrofaes (NORTH)
4. Fjoergyn (NORTH, GUARDIANS)
5. Look What I Did (REVOLUTION)
6. Most Precious Blood (REVOLUTION)
7. Thy Majestie (GUARDIANS)
8. Tribuzy (GUARDIANS)
9. Aquaria (GUARDIANS)
10. Obscene (HORDE)
11. Prostitute Disfigurement (HORDE)
12. Exocrine (HORDE, INFINITE)
13. SUP (HORDE, FALLEN, INFINITE, SPHERE)
14. Gallower (PIT) - requested by Sonny92
15. Wormfood (FALLEN, INFINITE)
16. Impure Wilhelmina (FALLEN, INFINITE)
17. Frameshift (INFINITE)
18. Chimp Spanner (INFINITE)
The following bands have been added to Metal Academy from the 23rd of July to the 24th of July, 2020:
1. Urna (FALLEN, NORTH)
2. Umbra Nihil (FALLEN)
3. Mistress (FALLEN)
4. Ramallah (REVOLUTION, GATEWAY)
5. Fear My Thoughts (REVOLUTION, HORDE, INFINITE)
6. War of Ages (REVOLUTION)
7. The Project Hate MCMXCIX (HORDE, SPHERE)
8. Mindly Rotten (HORDE)
9. Insidious Decrepancy (HORDE)
10. Kekal (NORTH, INFINITE)
11. Vinterriket (NORTH)
12. Code (NORTH, INFINITE)
13. Ashdautas (NORTH)
14. Zero Hour (INFINITE)
15. Othyrworld (INFINITE, GUARDIANS)
16. Nanowar of Steel (GUARDIANS)
17. Rob Rock (GUARDIANS)
18. Crystal Eyes (GUARDIANS)
The following bands have been added to Metal Academy from the 20th of July to the 22nd of July, 2020:
1. Antestor (NORTH, FALLEN, HORDE)
2. Äkth Gánahëth (NORTH) - requested by Sonny92
3. Griefloss (NORTH, INFINITE) - requested by illusionist
4. Old Wainds (NORTH)
5. A Textbook Tragedy (REVOLUTION)
6. Symphony in Peril (REVOLUTION)
7. Kotiteollisuus (GUARDIANS)
8. Russell Allen (GUARDIANS)
9. Kipelov (GUARDIANS)
10. Graves at Sea / Asunder (FALLEN)
11. Graves at Sea (FALLEN)
12. Old Night (FALLEN) - requested by Sonny92
13. Continuo Renacer (INFINITE, HORDE)
14. Spheric Universe Experience (INFINITE)
15. Pantommind (INFINITE)
16. Rannoch (INFINITE, HORDE) - requested by saxystephens
17. Impaled (HORDE)
18. Thorium (HORDE) - requested by illusionist
19. Aeon (HORDE)
20. The Duskfall (HORDE)
Amazing album from a top tier band at their peak. It's been a while since I listened to it actually. I think it's time...
The following bands have been added to Metal Academy from the 14th of July to the 16th of July, 2020:
1. Ad Infinitum (GUARDIANS)
2. Tides (INFINITE, FALLEN)
3. Lalu (INFINITE)
4. Shedfromthebody (FALLEN)
5. Convocation (FALLEN)
6. Amnutseba (NORTH, HORDE)
7. Kaatayra (NORTH)
8. Woods of Infinity (NORTH)
9. Born From Pain (REVOLUTION)
10. Caliban vs. Heaven Shall Burn (REVOLUTION, HORDE)
11. Sinai Beach (REVOLUTION)
12. Exhumation (HORDE)
13. Watchmaker (HORDE)
Will definitely check out. Cheers!
If we've got the clan genres right (and I personally think we have), then it’s my belief that the system should allow people to join whatever clans they feel most affiliated with and rate/review whatever they want to across the site. In the long run, the system automatically corrects for Academy attendees downrating releases in clans they don't belong to, while sheer numbers should counter the odd Academy attendee that downrates releases in their own clan(s).
Absolute classic death metal album! Excellent choice.
I think we both pretty much said the same thing at the same time Xephyr. I know where Daniel's coming from, as he made the decision to leave The North due to his low ratings for Folk Metal releases having an impact on the Clan Ratings. I did point out that he had an alternate path though, which was to simply stop reviewing Folk Metal releases when he clearly doesn't like them. I can't say I understand why anyone would want to purposely and repeatedly subject themselves to subgenres that they know they're going to despise, but he seems to be a sucker for punishment.
I look forward to his retort.
Thanks for the suggestion Andi, but I'm pretty happy with how things are now. I'll probably make lists for some (possibly even all) of the subgenres at some point, but I think the clan challenges should remain as they are. If anyone finds completing a challenge to be a "nightmare", as you found when doing the Death Metal challenge for The Horde, then they may want to reconsider whether it's the right clan for them. At the very least they should consider whether it's the right challenge to be attempting.
I'd also like to state that while I agree with a lot of Daniel's comments above, I don't agree with this one:
"I never intended for people that don't like classic death metal to join The Horde, for people that don't like doom metal to join The Fallen or for people that don't like black metal to join The North, etc."
When I designed the system, I simply wanted members to join the clans that they feel most affiliated with. If someone is passionate about Folk Metal, but cares nothing for Black Metal, then they should still consider joining The North. There's no reason why they have to listen to or rate/review Black Metal albums to be part of that clan. In fact, I don't like to think of each clan as having major and minor genres. In most cases there's a genre that's more popular than the others, but that shouldn't lessen the other genre's positions.
Where things became more complicated for you was when you joined The Horde, despite not feeling comfortable affiliating yourself with either of it's two top level genres. If the Death Metal challenge made you reconsider your clan selection, then I think you were right to do so.
The following bands have been added to Metal Academy from the 9th of July to the 13th of July, 2020:
1. Early Man (GUARDIANS, PIT)
2. Massacration (GUARDIANS)
3. Catharsis (GUARDIANS, FALLEN)
4. 五人一首 [Gonin-Ish] (INFINITE)
5. Frantic Bleep (INFINITE)
6. Bossk (INFINITE, FALLEN)
7. Burning Saviours (FALLEN)
8. Torture Wheel (FALLEN)
9. Raging Speedhorn (FALLEN, PIT, REVOLUTION)
10. Mindforce (PIT)
11. Bonehunter (PIT, NORTH)
12. Aversions Crown (REVOLUTION)
13. Exhumed / Gruesome (HORDE)
14. Living Gate (HORDE)
15. Ingurgitating Oblivion (HORDE)
16. Feminazgul (NORTH)
17. Okkultokrati (NORTH)
18. Averse Sefira (NORTH)
The following bands have been added to Metal Academy from the 6th of July to the 8th of July, 2020:
1. Johnny Truant (REVOLUTION)
2. Eden Maine (REVOLUTION)
3. Embrace the End (REVOLUTION)
4. Neptunian Maximalism (FALLEN)
5. Pale Divine (FALLEN)
6. Aerial Ruin / Bell Witch (FALLEN)
7. M.S.W. (FALLEN) - requested by Sonny92
8. Linea 77 (GATEWAY)
9. Hamlet (GATEWAY, PIT, GUARDIANS)
10. Allele (GATEWAY)
11. Teräsbetoni (GUARDIANS)
12. Rata Blanca (GUARDIANS)
13. Serment (NORTH)
14. Valdrin (NORTH)
15. Thecodontion (NORTH, INFINITE, HORDE)
16. Thætas (HORDE)
17. Coprofago (HORDE, INFINITE, PIT)
18. VoidCeremony (HORDE)
19. Gravity (INFINITE) - requested by Sonny92
20. Vulkan (INFINITE)
21. Noekk (INFINITE)
22. Criminal (PIT, HORDE)
23. Twitch of the Death Nerve (HORDE)
I start working with my developer tomorrow on a whole bunch of stuff. Will take a few weeks to get through it all, but hopefully I'll be able unveil bits and pieces as we go.
The following bands have been added to Metal Academy from the 30th of June to the 5th of July, 2020:
1. The Deli Creeps (GATEWAY, INFINITE)
2. Hum (GATEWAY) - requested by saxystephens
3. Five.Bolt.Main (GATEWAY)
4. Kiko Loureiro (GUARDIANS, INFINITE)
5. Circle II Circle (GUARDIANS, INFINITE)
6. Stryper (GUARDIANS)
7. Heaven in Her Arms (INFINITE)
8. Merkabah (INFINITE, FALLEN)
9. Rinoa (INFINITE, FALLEN)
10. Filii Nigrantium Infernalium (PIT, NORTH)
11. Betzefer (PIT, REVOLUTION)
12. Summon (PIT, HORDE, NORTH)
13. Ocean (FALLEN)
14. Goblin Cock (FALLEN)
15. Forever Slave (FALLEN)
16. Aversio Humanitatis (NORTH)
17. Al-Namrood (NORTH) - requested by Sonny92
18. Dauþuz (NORTH) - requested by Sonny92
19. Beecher (REVOLUTION)
20. Rise and Fall (REVOLUTION)
21. Ed Gein (REVOLUTION, HORDE)
22. Enmity (HORDE)
23. Gorerotted (HORDE)
Regarding single track albums, I seriously considered including Edge of Sanity's Crimson, but it did feel a bit like cheating.
@MacabreEternal, I originally had Procession of the Dead Clowns, but for some reason it felt odd to have an entirely instrumental track as one of my top 10 tracks. On hindsight, I should have left it as it was. Lifechanging track!
The following bands have been added to Metal Academy from the 25th to the 29th of June, 2020:
1. Circle (GUARDIANS, HORDE)
2. Tyrant (GUARDIANS)
3. Secret Sphere (GUARDIANS, INFINITE)
4. Curl Up and Die (REVOLUTION)
5. Bleed the Sky (REVOLUTION)
6. Sonic Syndicate (REVOLUTION, GATEWAY, HORDE)
7. Animal Alpha (GATEWAY)
8. Element Eighty (GATEWAY)
9. Egypt Central (GATEWAY)
10. Vampire (HORDE, PIT, NORTH)
11. Pyrrhon (HORDE)
12. Vile (HORDE)
13. Blasphemy (NORTH)
14. Árstíðir Lifsins (NORTH)
15. Abduction (NORTH)
16. Firelink (NORTH, INFINITE)
17. Witchtrap (PIT)
18. Mastery (PIT)
19. Virgin Snatch (PIT)
20. Amia Venera Landscape (INFINITE)
21. Black Math Horseman (INFINITE)
22. Hail Spirit Noir (INFINITE)
23. Tempel (INFINITE, FALLEN)
24. Devil Sold His Soul (INFINITE)
25. Vile Creature (FALLEN)
26. Fireball Ministry (FALLEN)
27.Zoroaster (FALLEN)
It was always part of my Angel and the Dark River experience, as I owned the digipak version from day one. Yes, it was out of place on that album, but it was also the best thing about it (and that's not a criticism, I love the rest of the album). Incredible track!
Man, this is seriously difficult... here's a first attempt, although I admit I've never made a best song list before.
In no particular order...
My Dying Bride – The Sexuality of Bereavement
Blut aus Nord – Our Blessed Frozen Cells
Burzum – Det som en gang var
Carcass – Incarnated Solvent Abuse
Opeth – Bleak
Disembowelment – Cerulean Transience of All My Imagined Shores
Shape of Despair - ...To Live for My Death...
Morbid Angel – Fall from Grace
Slayer – Raining Blood
The Ruins of Beverast – Takitum Tootem (Trance)
That's some scathing commentary there Xephyr. Very enjoyable indeed!
I think I would have a similar response to it, so I won't even bother with this one.
This release has been added to the Hall of Judgement.
This release has been added to the Hall of Judgement. Just for the record, I personally feel that Ben & Jerry's is more black metal than Sonny92 realises.
This release has been added to the Hall of Judgement.
To be clear, my comments were only in relation to the Challenge lists, and not whether Atmospheric Sludge releases should be linked to both The Infinite and The Fallen. I'm pretty comfortable that releases that are correctly categorised as Atmospheric Sludge should be attached to both clans.
So to achieve what you're requesting, you'd need to The Ocean's albums to have the Atmospheric Sludge genre removed, and to have the Post-Metal genre instead. Is that what you're asking for?
This release has been added to the Hall of Judgement.
This release has been added to the Hall of Judgement.
An amazing album and an important one in my metal journey. I'll never forget that Daniel played me two tracks off the album (from memory they were Celestial Voyage and Uroboric Forms) that he'd recorded off a metal show on the radio. I immediately fell in love with them and desperately wanted to get my hands on the album (no easy feat back in the non-internet days). Literally a few days later our dad called from a second hand book store that also had a small CD section. He always called us if he found something that looked metal, in case it was something that we wanted. To my utter surprise, he was holding Cynic's Focus, which someone had bought and sold presumably after a single listen. Their loss!!!!
The following bands have been added to Metal Academy from the 23rd to the 24th of June, 2020:
1. Adema (GATEWAY)
2. DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid & Dave Lombardo (GATEWAY)
3. Dark New Day (GATEWAY)
4. Bucket Full of Teeth (HORDE)
5. Crimson Massacre (HORDE, NORTH)
6. Leng Tch'e (HORDE)
7. Dark Suns (INFINITE, FALLEN)
8. Irepress (INFINITE)
9. Vanishing Point (INFINITE, GUARDIANS)
10. Animus (NORTH)
11. Ondskapt (NORTH)
12. Dragonlord (NORTH)
13. Into the Moat (REVOLUTION)
14. Madball (REVOLUTION)
15. Ruoska (SPHERE, GUARDIANS)
16. Comatose Vigil (FALLEN)
17. 1000 Funerals (FALLEN)
18. Earthride (FALLEN)
19. Morgana Lefay (GUARDIANS, PIT)
20. Rytmihäiriö (PIT)
21. Cryptic Warning (PIT) - requested by shadowdoom9
I thought I'd do something interesting and list the albums I'm both thrilled and surprised to see on your list. Note that being surprised doesn't mean that I think you're wrong. It's your list after all!
Top 3 that I'm thrilled to see on your list:
- Blut Aus Nord's The Work Which Transforms God
- Deicide's s/t
- Metallica's ...And Justice For All
Top 3 that I'm surprised to see on your list:
- Obituary's Slowly We Rot at number 1!
- Death's Scream Bloody Gore, but no other Death albums
- Iron Maiden's Killers
The following bands have been added to Metal Academy from the 18th to the 22nd of June, 2020:
1. Fozzy (GUARDIANS)
2. Hunter (GUARDIANS, PIT)
3. Astral Doors (GUARDIANS)
4. Insane (PIT)
5. Terror 2000 (PIT)
6. Rumpelstiltskin Grinder (PIT)
7. Big Business (FALLEN)
8. Doomriders (FALLEN, HORDE)
9. Indian (FALLEN)
10. Story of the Year (GATEWAY)
11. Dope (GATEWAY, SPHERE)
12. Bloodsimple (GATEWAY, REVOLUTION)
13. Maylene and the Sons of Disaster (REVOLUTION)
14. The Agony Scene (REVOLUTION, HORDE)
15. Becoming the Archetype (REVOLUTION, HORDE, INFINITE)
16. Ulthar (HORDE, NORTH)
17. Pyre (HORDE)
18. The Absence (HORDE)
19. Orthrelm (INFINITE)
20. John Petrucci (INFINITE)
21. Communic (INFINITE)
22. Kommodus (NORTH)
23. Make a Change... Kill Yourself (NORTH)
24. Bâ'a (NORTH)
25. Алиса [Alisa] (SPHERE)
Nice list Sonny! It's great to see such a diverse list, with everything from Sabbath to Winter to Terrorizer.
Much harder to add functionality like that to specific lists rather than all lists.
I'll go with option 2 unless someone can come up with "a cunning plan that cannot fail".