Ben's Forum Replies
Welcome Praemorior! We hope you stick around and find value in the site. If there are any releases you'd like me to add, let me know.
The following bands have been added to Metal Academy on the 10th of January, 2020:
1. Eciton (HORDE)- requested by Daniel
2. Nightfall (HORDE, NORTH, FALLEN)
3. Blackguard (HORDE, GUARDIANS)
4. Façade (FALLEN) - requested by Tymell
5. Tortuga (FALLEN)
6. Maniac Butcher (NORTH)
7. Eastern Front (NORTH)- requested by Daniel
8. Tod Huetet Uebel (NORTH)
9. Ragnarok (NORTH)
10. Fastkill (PIT) - requested by Tymell
11. Fatal Embrace (PIT) - requested by Tymell
12. Emmure (REVOLUTION)- requested by Daniel
The following bands have been added to Metal Academy on the 9th of January, 2020:
1. Essence (PIT, GATEWAY) - requested by Tymell
2. Dorsal Atlântica (PIT, GUARDIANS, HORDE) - requested by Daniel
3. Sextrash (PIT, HORDE, NORTH)
4. Exeloume (PIT, HORDE) - requested by Tymell
5. Svrm (NORTH)
6. Victory Over the Sun (NORTH, INFINITE)
7. Ungod (NORTH)
8. The Black (NORTH)
9.Dråpsnatt (NORTH) - requested by Daniel
10. Thou Art Lord (NORTH)
11. Sons of Apollo (INFINITE)
12. East of the Wall (INFINITE, FALLEN) - requested by Daniel
The following bands have been added to Metal Academy on the 7th/8th of January, 2020:
1. Tankograd (FALLEN) - requested by Sonny92
2. Wolf Blood (FALLEN) - requested by Sonny92
3. Wolf Counsel (FALLEN) - requested by Sonny92
4. Djerv (GATEWAY) - requested by Daniel
5. Eidolon (GUARDIANS) - requested by Tymell
6. Infernum (NORTH)
7. Grimah (NORTH)
8. Doombringer (NORTH, HORDE) - requested by Daniel
9. Necromantia / Varathron (NORTH)
10. Necromass (NORTH, HORDE)
11. Disfiguring the Goddess (HORDE) - requested by Daniel
12. Unbounded Terror (HORDE)
13. Elimination (PIT) - requested by Tymell
14. Enemynside (PIT) - requested by Tymell
5 stars from me. Love all the tracks mentioned.
I was a big fan of Lacuna Coil in their gothic metal period, but my interest quickly waned when they switched to alternative.
It has to be said that Cristina is one of the sexiest women in metal.
It's my favourite too, although the debut is also pretty cool.
The following bands have been added to Metal Academy on the 5th/6th of January, 2020:
1. Pinewalker (FALLEN) - requested by Sonny92
2. High Inquisitor Woe (FALLEN) - requested by Sonny92
3. Dub War (GATEWAY) - requested by Tymell
4. Chastain (GUARDIANS) - requested by SilentScream213
5. Killers (GUARDIANS, PIT) - requested by SilentScream213
6. Dublin Death Patrol (PIT) - requested by Tymell
7. Hellripper (PIT, NORTH)
8. Hadez (NORTH, HORDE)
9. Horde (NORTH)
10. Cénotaphe (NORTH)
11. Diminished (HORDE) - requested by Daniel
12. Suffering Hour (HORDE, PIT)
13. Die (HORDE) - requested by Daniel
14. Vale of Pnath (HORDE)
I have managed to use my downtime over Xmas and New Year well and appear to have completed the 2nd Decade challenge the day before I head back to work.
You have indeed! Congratulations mate! That was some festive season effort to get there. You are the very first Metal Academy Attendee to "lock in" one of your three chosen clans. You're a quarter of a way to gaining a much-desired 4th clan.
I will create a new thread to celebrate the occasion.
I also feel it's their best album by a fair margin.
The following bands have been added to Metal Academy on the 1st/2nd of January, 2020:
1. Eremit (FALLEN) - requested by Sonny92
2. Domkraft (FALLEN) - requested by Tymell
3. God Disease (FALLEN, HORDE) - requested by Sonny92
4. Exterminator (NORTH, PIT)
5. Flames of Hell (NORTH, PIT)
6. Xibalba (NORTH)
7. Détente (PIT) - requested by Daniel
8. Legion of the Damned (PIT, HORDE)
9. Devour The Unborn (HORDE) - requested by Daniel
10. Disarmonia Mundi (HORDE) - requested by Tymell
11. Desecravity (HORDE) - requested by Daniel
Spotify lists for the Progressive Metal challenges are below:
Progressive Metal - The 1st Decade
Progressive Metal - The 2nd Decade
Progressive Metal - The Modern Era
I don't consider myself to be a big fan of Prog Metal and yet these challenges are filled with some of my favourite albums. I think if anything that shows how diverse the genre actually is. I may not be attracted to the Dream Theater style of technical wizardry, but I sure love bands like Arcturus, Devin Townsend, Amorphis, Emperor, Enslaved, Gojira, Maudlin of the Well, Meshuggah, Nevermore, Anacrusis, Coroner, Cynic and, of course, Opeth.
Maybe I am a fan after all?!
Spotify playlists can be found below:
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)
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.
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.
Spotify Lists can be found below. The vast majority of releases are available on the service.
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.