Ben's Forum Replies

The following bands have been added to Metal Academy on the 31st of December, 2019:

1. Encoffination (FALLEN, HORDE) - requested by Sonny92

2. All Out War (REVOLUTION)

3. Dethklok (HORDE) - requested by Tymell

4. Deranged (HORDE) - requested by Daniel

5. Decimation (HORDE) - requested by Daniel

6. Blasfemia (NORTH, PIT)

7. Bestial Summoning (NORTH)

8. Dusk (NORTH) - requested by Sonny92

9. Destructor (PIT, GUARDIANS) - requested by Tymell

10. Desecrator (PIT) - requested by Daniel

Hi Shezma. I have every intention of adding more Clan Challenges that cover other genres. I've nearly created a challenge for each clan and I'll then make a second pass (including a Folk Metal challenge), and then continue on until I've created challenges for all major genres.

As for 25 albums being too many, I did spend a lot of time considering this very point. In the end I decided that I wanted these to be true challenges. If they were easy to complete, then everyone would quickly gain a fourth clan and that would be that. I want it to feel like a real achievement, I kind of badge of honour, and if it takes ages for some members to achieve it, then that means they've spent a significant amount of time assessing releases that they may not have otherwise (which I feel is a good thing).

I also took into account the fact that some members would already have reviewed most of the releases in some of the challenges (I know I have for my favourite genres), so making it 25 added a bit of certainty that everyone would still have some work to do.

I hope the difficulty doesn't discourage you from attempting the challenges, but even if it does, I hope you still find lots of value in what we're doing here at Metal Academy.

Cheers,

Ben.

I know that objectively The Sound of Perseverance is a good album, but it doesn't come close to Chuck's work between 1991 and 1995. For that reason I've always felt disappointed by it. It's probably a case where if it had been released by a different band, I'd probably have different feelings around it. For Death though, a 4 star album is a pretty disappointing one, whereas that's as good as it gets for a lot of other solid death metal bands (the likes of Hypocrisy, Malevolent Creation, Vader etc.).

Hi Ben, sorry but could you also add Monolithe's brilliant new album OKTA KHORA (it was released on digital in November whatever RYM says!)

It shall be done! Been a fan of the band since Monolithe II.

It's always taken me longer than Daniel to feel confident that my assessment of an album isn't going to change (in one direction or the other). I generally give each album 4 or 5 listens before settling on my rating. I've found that there are times when a release can suddenly click with me around that fourth listen, and I'd hate to judge an album before I've given it every opportunity to do so.

The following bands have been added to Metal Academy on the 27th/28th of December, 2019:

1. Flesh of the Stars (FALLEN)

2. Alkymist (FALLEN, NORTH) - requested by Sonny92

3. Belial (HORDE, NORTH)

4. Concrete Winds (HORDE, NORTH)

5. Sulfuric Cautery (HORDE)

6. Destroy Destroy Destroy (HORDE, GUARDIANS) - requested by Tymell

7. Coffin Rot (HORDE)

8. Shinda Saibo no Katamari (HORDE)

9. Fulci (HORDE)

10. Demonic Resurrection (HORDE, GUARDIANS) - requested by Daniel

11. Qantice (GUARDIANS)

12. Diviner (GUARDIANS)

13. Sleep Token (INFINITE, GATEWAY)

14. Abruptum (NORTH)

15. Profane Order (NORTH)

16. Vorna (NORTH)

17. Vosbúð (NORTH)

18. HWWAUOCH (NORTH)

19. Malum (NORTH)

20. Panzerfaust (NORTH)

21. Remete (NORTH)

22. Dödsrit (NORTH) - requested by Sonny92

23. Demonspeed (PIT) - requested by Tymell

24. Wraith (PIT)

Spotify playlists can be found below:

Alternative Metal - The Early Days

Alternative Metal - The Modern Era

Me too.

I'll take you up on that recommendation Xephyr. I really WANT to like Power Metal, as there's so much out there to get my teeth into, but I struggle with it. Will give this a fair go.

The following bands have been added to Metal Academy on the 23rd/24th of December, 2019:

1. Parabellum (NORTH, PIT) - requested by Daniel

2. Deadly Carnage (NORTH, INFINITE) - requested by Tymell

3. Demonaz (NORTH, GUARDIANS) - requested by Tymell

4. V8 (GUARDIANS) - requested by Daniel

5. Regurgitate (HORDE) - requested by Daniel

6. Dead / Regurgitate (HORDE) - requested by Daniel

7. Carnal Garden (HORDE) - requested by Tymell

8. Ecchymosis (HORDE) - requested by Daniel

9. Delusional Parasitosis / Ecchymosis / Dissevered / Bleeding (HORDE) - requested by Daniel

10. Dekapitator (PIT) - requested by Tymell

Spotify Lists can be found below. The vast majority of releases are available on the service.

Doom Metal - The Early Days

Doom Metal - The Modern Era

Well that's not going to work for Label Lists, as each label covers pretty much all of the clans. It would no doubt be useful for the Challenges, but I'd have to weigh up the potential effort / cost to implement vs the benefit.

I think if I'm translating your request correctly, what you're really trying to say is "Ben, the area where I store my own personal top 10 lists is starting to look messy, and I'd like you to make it so that it's more pleasing to me when I come and peruse my good work." Is this assessment correct big brother?

How would that work anyway? Would you select every clan that a list covers when creating it, even if it only contains one release from it? For example, your top 10 list for 1984 contains albums from The Fallen, The Guardians and The Pit. By filtering by The Fallen, would that list show up? Is that really all that useful?

Spotify Lists can be found below. The vast majority of releases are available on the service.

Death Metal - The 1st Decade

Death Metal - The 2nd Decade

Death Metal - The Modern Era

Spotify Lists can be found below. The vast majority of releases are available on the service.

Thrash Metal - The 80s

Thrash Metal - The 90s

Thrash Metal - The Modern Era

The following bands have been added to Metal Academy on the 21st of December, 2019:

1. Darkseed (FALLEN, GUARDIANS) - requested by Tymell

2. Dark Star (GUARDIANS) - requested by Daniel

3. Dark Sarah (GUARDIANS) - requested by Tymell

4. Dead (HORDE) - requested by Daniel

5. Darkane (HORDE, PIT) - requested by Tymell

6. Dissevered (HORDE) - requested by Daniel

7. Deadly Remains (HORDE, PIT) - requested by Daniel

8. Damageplan (PIT, GATEWAY) - requested by Tymell

9. Fen (NORTH) - requested by saxystephens

I'm determined to listen to enough new metal in 2020 to be able to contribute a list like this.

The new Esoteric is indeed amazing Sonny92!

I hear the new Cattle Decapitation could fit the bill.

In all seriousness, The Gathering is a good one to go for, particularly Souvenirs and Home. They'd dropped the metal by this stage, but still kept the majority of their sound.

I love this album so much. It was my first Nevermore album (totally ignored them to that point) and I was sold.

There's no need to re-post reviews by the way. I can very easily see which albums each member has rated / reviewed.

The following bands have been added to Metal Academy on the 18th of December, 2019:

1. Count Raven (FALLEN) - requested by Tymell

2. Selvans (NORTH) - requested by Sonny92

3. Leeway (PIT, GATEWAY, GUARDIANS)

4. ZnoWhite (PIT)

5. Gammacide (PIT)

6. Holocausto (PIT, HORDE)

7. Hobbs Angel of Death (PIT)

8. Mutilator (PIT)

9. Wehrmacht (PIT)

10. Cryonic Temple (GUARDIANS) - requested by Tymell

11. Delusional Parasitosis (HORDE) - requested by Daniel

12. Daemon Foetal Harvest (HORDE) - requested by Daniel

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one Xephyr. I love industrial metal when it's done well, and for me, early Godflesh and Ministry is where it's at.

I think this might actually be my favourite Godflesh release too, despite Streetcleaner reaching higher highs. I bought Selfless on release back in 1994 and immediately connected with it's crunchy beats, huge bass, cold melodies, and Broadrick's surprisingly vulnerable vocals (which he would go on to use to amazing effect in his Jesu project years later).

Listening to this album again after all these years has inspired me to check out the last few Godflesh albums, which I don't think I've given more than a background listen.

The following bands have been added to Metal Academy on the 17th of December, 2019:

1. Midryasi (FALLEN) - requested by Sonny92

2. Capilla Ardiente (FALLEN)

3. Cruciform (FALLEN, HORDE) - requested by Daniel

4. Vulcano (PIT)

5. Blind Illusion (PIT)

6. The Offering (PIT, GUARDIANS)

7. Powermad (PIT)

8. Cyclone (PIT) - requested by Daniel

9. Crucified Barbara (GUARDIANS) - requested by Tymell

10. Crimfall (GUARDIANS, NORTH) - requested by Tymell

11. Gorgon (NORTH) - requested by Sonny92

12. Abramelin (HORDE)

First of all, BTBAM's cover album "The Anatomy Of" actually has two metal genres in their RYM primary genre list, Progressive Metal and Alternative Metal.

To avoid confusion, I thought I'd explain the criteria used when adding releases to Metal Academy in case you weren't aware of it.

Only the most agreed upon primary genre on RYM is applied. For any other primary genres, they must have at least a 2:1 ratio for Yes vs No. This means releases aren't automatically added to clans when there is any significant debate. Having spent hundreds of hours adding releases, I think this is working really well, and has avoided countless albums being incorrectly assigned to multiple clans when some of them really don't feel right.

You happen to have picked a release that has a complete mess of genre voting though, and no-one seems to be able to agree on what it should be. When I apply the above criteria, the most agreed upon genre is Alternative Rock (which is also the only primary genre that has a 2:1 ratio - 32 Yes, 16 No), which puts it in Non-Metal. This sort of mess is rare thankfully. For releases like this one, I'd prefer to rely on Metal Academy members to check them out and make their own judgement (in the Hall).

How about French heavy metal band Berserks?

Done.

Hi,

I've just noticed, that Baroness' discography is not complete yet. Yellow & Green is still missing.

Please add when possible. Thanks.

Baroness' non-metal releases did meet the criteria to be added to the site, so I've done it.

The following bands have been added to Metal Academy on the 15/16th of December, 2019:

1. Berserks (GUARDIANS) - requested by SilentScream213

2. Mercy (GUARDIANS, FALLEN)

3. Wind Rose (GUARDIANS, NORTH, INFINITE)

4. English Dogs (GUARDIANS, PIT)

5. Coffeinne (GUARDIANS) - requested by Tymell

6. Phobia (HORDE)

7. Creative Waste (HORDE) - requested by Daniel

8. Deeds of Flesh (HORDE)

9. Volahn (NORTH)

10. Creeping (NORTH, FALLEN) - requested by Daniel

11. Coldbound (FALLEN) - requested by Tymell

12. Caronte (FALLEN) - requested by Sonny92

13. Alastor (FALLEN) - requested by Sonny92

14. Exorcist (PIT)

I've added up to 150. Scrolling through the list, there's an obvious pattern that I think really shows that the clan system we've developed for Metal Academy is already working. In about 90% of cases, the Clan Rating for each release is higher than the Site Rating. This is exactly what we expected to happen, as fans of a genre will generally rate releases higher than those that don't consider the genre to be one of their favourites. I think this pattern will only become more prevalent as the site gains more traction.

I agree that it's one of those albums that's just so strange and unique, but somehow manages to draw you back to it rather than forcing you away. I really love the whole aesthetic they went for too. It gives the whole project a level of sci-fi mystique. I think I called them the Daft Punk of Avant-Garde Doom Metal on the podcast.

I've obviously never clicked on one as that bug has alluded me. I'll get it sorted.

The following bands have been added to Metal Academy on the 12th of December, 2019:

1. Cough (FALLEN) - requested by Daniel

2. Totengott (FALLEN) - requested by Sonny92

3. Carved (HORDE, GUARDIANS) - requested by Tymell

4. Cist (HORDE) - requested by Tymell

5. NME (PIT)

6. PileDriver (PIT, GUARDIANS)

7. Hellyeah (PIT, GATEWAY)

8. Hirax (PIT)

9. Evil Invaders (PIT)

10. Humanity's Last Breath (REVOLUTION, INFINITE)

11. Tarja (GUARDIANS)

Both albums have been added to the Hall of Judgement.

I've put Fleshgod Apocalypse's Agony album into the Hall of Judgement. Let's see how that goes and if Metal Academy attendees appear to agree with the idea, I'll push all the Septic Flesh and remaining Fleshgod Apocalypse releases through.

This release has been added to the Hall of Judgement.

The following bands have been added to Metal Academy on the 11th of December, 2019:

1. Vofa (FALLEN) - requested by Sonny92

2. Alunah (FALLEN)

3. Narnia (GUARDIANS)

4. Cage (GUARDIANS) - requested by Tymell

5. Burn the Priest (PIT, HORDE)

6. Byzantine (PIT, REVOLUTION, INFINITE) - requested by Tymell

7. Concrete Sox (PIT) - requested by Daniel

8. Suicidal Angels (PIT)

9. Coprophiliac (HORDE) - requested by Daniel

10. Sorcery (HORDE)

ALREADY ON THE SITE

• HammerFall - Masterpieces 
• Children of Bodom - Skeletons in the Closet
• Arch Enemy - Covered in Blood

NOT YET ON THE SITE (because they're not metal and the band was added before I created the Non-Metal genre)

• Within Temptation - The Q-Music Sessions
• Between the Buried and Me - The Anatomy Of
• The Dillinger Escape Plan - Plagiarism
• In Flames - Down, Wicked & No Good

NOT YET ON THE SITE (because the band hasn't been added yet)

• Burn the Priest - Legion: XX (please also add their self-titled album)

If a band on Metal Academy has a cover album, then I've added it. Is there a particular cover album you feel I've missed?

The following bands have been added to Metal Academy on the 10th of December, 2019:

1. Slow (FALLEN) - requested by Sonny92

2. The Drowning (FALLEN) - requested by Sonny92

3. Clouds of Dementia (FALLEN) - requested by Tymell

4. Brothers of Metal (GUARDIANS) - requested by Tymell

5. To Separate the Flesh from the Bones (HORDE)

6. Cold Body Radiation (NORTH) - requested by Daniel

7. Renegade (PIT) - requested by Daniel

I also added a stack of 2019 releases to existing bands.

The following bands have been added to Metal Academy on the 8th/9th of December, 2019:

1. Brendon Small (GUARDIANS, INFINITE, HORDE) - requested by Tymell

2. Cock & Ball Torture (HORDE) - requested by Daniel 

3. Jig-Ai (HORDE)

4. Amputated Genitals (HORDE)

5. Obscure Infinity (HORDE)

6. Confessor (INFINITE, FALLEN)

7. Brume (FALLEN) - requested by Sonny92

8. Coffinworm (FALLEN) - requested by Daniel

9. Serpent Warning (FALLEN) - requested by Sonny92

10. Sturmgeist (NORTH, SPHERE)

11. Black Anvil (NORTH) - requested by Tymell

12. Order of the Ebon Hand (NORTH)

I won't comment on your request as I don't want to sway anyone's judgement one way or another, but I do want to state that I don't feel Septic Flesh (they will always be Septic Flesh to me, regardless of their recent change to Septicflesh) should be in The Guardians. Similar to the way Fleshgod Apocalypse should not in any way sit alongside Iron Maiden and Helloween, Septic Flesh just don't fit there.

This highlights the problem I have with the Symphonic Metal genre. Genres should be used to describe a style of music and not necessarily relate to the use of a particular technique or instrument. Nightwish, Epica and After Forever have what I consider to be the Symphonic Metal sound. Death Metal that utilises symphonic aspects does not in any way resemble that sound.

We don't call Emperor Symphonic Metal because we have a genre called Symphonic Black Metal, which I should point out is a subgenre of Black Metal and not Symphonic Metal. If we had a subgenre called Symphonic Death Metal, then I'm certain that Fleshgod Apocalypse and Septic Flesh would sit comfortably within it, and once again it would not be a subgenre of Symphonic Metal.

Before I consider adding these releases to the Hall of Judgement, does anyone share this view? Does anyone disagree with it? I'd be very happy to discuss as it's bothered me for a while. Would anyone not find it weird if Fleshgod Apocalypse's Agony album was in the top 10 Guardian releases (it never would be, but I'm sure you get my point)?

You can already see how many releases are related to each clan on the Homepage. You want that replicated on the Clans homepage (not necessarily each individual clan's homepage but the page you get when you click Clans)? I'm sure that wouldn't be difficult.

As for also showing how many you've rated...maybe...I'll check out how easy it would be.

Agreed. Although Blessed Are the Sick has a very special place for me also.

The following bands have been added to Metal Academy on the 5th of December, 2019:

1. Cloaca (FALLEN) - requested by Daniel

2. Lord Mantis (FALLEN, NORTH)

3. Possessor (FALLEN, PIT) - requested by Sonny92

4. Profetus (FALLEN) - requested by Sonny92

5. Black Magic (GUARDIANS) - requested by Tymell

6. Anthem (GUARDIANS)

7. Polterchrist (HORDE)

8. Desecresy (HORDE)

9. Chordotomy (HORDE) - requested by Daniel

10. Nattefrost (NORTH)

11. Hulkoff (NORTH) - requested by Tymell

12. Tsjuder (NORTH)

I'm with you Xephyr. I always wanted to like this album as I'm a huge fan of Faith No More. But it doesn't come close to the genius that follows, and the vocals are a big reason for that.

I used to find you practicing metal faces and poses in front of the mirror all the time when we were teenagers. Never as effective when you’re in pyjamas and ugg boots. You did have the long hair and the Flying V though.

OCD? Me? I don't know what you're talking about. Minor details are not important to me at all.

Um...you put two spaces between "discrepancies" and "between". Just sayin.

The following bands have been added to Metal Academy on the 4th of December, 2019:

1. Beyond the Black (GUARDIANS) - requested by Tymell

2. Luna Field (HORDE, NORTH)

3. Chaossworn (HORDE, NORTH) - requested by Daniel

4. Defiled (HORDE)

5. Cleric (INFINITE, REVOLUTION)

6. Imber Luminis (NORTH) - requested by Sonny92

7. Earth and Pillars (NORTH)

8. Bonded by Blood (PIT) - requested by Tymell

9. Golgotha (FALLEN) - requested by Sonny92

10. Clagg (FALLEN) - requested by Daniel

I've thought about it, but I think that will have to wait until there are other established administrators. I think that's a task that would be very naive for me to take on by myself.

Black metal is one of the biggest passions in my life, but I have to admit that I do have a limit when it comes to enjoying lo-fi material. I'm honestly surprised that you've listed Pure Fucking Armageddon as something that you love, as I find it to be literally unlistenable. In fact, it's the only release that I've given 0.5 stars on RYM, because the production is so bad that there's simply no enjoyment to be had (for me). I would genuinely love to hear what it is about that demo in particular that attracts you to it. Who knows, maybe I should reassess it. Out of the other demos you've listed, Enslaved's effort is likely the one I enjoy the most, although I haven't heard it in a couple of decades.

To answer your question more directly though, I'm going to cheat on a technicality and list Paysage d'Hiver's work as my clear favourite lo-fi releases. It's questionable as to whether they should be considered demos now that they all have album-like CD/LP releases, but they're listed as such in most places so seem to fit the bill. Otherwise, I do get a lot of enjoyment out of Emperor's Wrath of the Tyrant demo, although the production is decent enough there that you may not consider that to be lo-fi?

Great review Xephyr. You've clearly given the release a chance, and explained your views succinctly.

While I won't give away my views on the release yet (I plan to reassess it in the next week or so and hopefully write a review), I will say that I too initially struggled going back to traditional doom metal after years of submitting myself (very willingly) to death doom and funeral doom. It wasn't until Daniel and I chronologically explored the beginnings of metal for the Metal Academy podcast that I found myself appreciating traditional doom more.

If you check out the early albums of Trouble and Pentagram, and also Cirith Ungol's King of the Dead album, you'll hear riffs that are more in line with modern doom, but there are definitely other influences throughout those albums. I guess that shouldn't be surprising, as metal didn't really have any categorisation at this point. It was all just metal, and the doom metal template hadn't yet been solidified. The bands I just mentioned were really just taking one aspect of the Black Sabbath sound and giving it more prevalence. I don't think Paul Chain was necessarily doing that. I think he was just experimenting with sound and atmosphere, which makes labelling the result more challenging.

The following bands have been added to Metal Academy on the 2nd/3rd of December, 2019:

1. Beyond Fear (GUARDIANS) - requested by Tymell

2. Benedictum (GUARDIANS) - requested by Tymell

3. The Crest (FALLEN)

4. Esogenesi (FALLEN) - requested by Sonny92

5. Orodruin (FALLEN)

6. Black Dawn (NORTH)

7. Fimbulwinter (NORTH) - requested by Sonny92

8. Chaos Invocation (NORTH) - requested by Daniel

9. Mylingar (HORDE, NORTH)

10. Gorelord (HORDE)

11. Cerebral Bore (HORDE) - requested by Daniel

12. Hideous Divinity (HORDE)