Daniel's Forum Replies

Yeah it's definitely a step down from "Close To A World below" but I rate it pretty similarly to last month's feature release "Here In After". In fact, I think I'd take "Unholy Cult" over it if I had to pick one.

Good point. I think we should ensure that there is a post to tell everyone who the lucky members are for next month on the 1st when we announce that month's feature releases.

FYI if the nominated member doesn't get their feature release nomination in by first thing in the morning on the first day of the month (Australian time) then I'll select one myself to ensure continuity & they'll lose their opportunity until the next cycle. It would be preferable if they come in at least a couple of days before the end of the previous month so that I'm well prepared to smash out all of the posts on the morning of the 1st.

I was thinking I’d maintain the write-up responsibilities in order to keep some consistency of format & timing. I just need you to private message me the relevant release(s) & they need to already be on the site.

Bruce Dickinson - "The Chemical Wedding" (1998)

I'd suggest that Bruce's best solo work might be up your alley saxy.

A classic heavy metal anthem for fans of Iron Maiden, Halford & Dio.

Bruce Dickinson - "The Chemical Wedding" (1998)

I was feeling like a singalong anthem or two today so I gave this oldie a few spins today & found that it's grown on me considerably since my last visit. "The Chemical Wedding" (Bruce's fifth solo album) nicely balances the hard rock-inspired NWOBHM sound of Bruce's early days with a more modern metal chug & sees him achieving some his most memorable chorus hooks. It's not consistently strong enough to be challenging for genuine classic status in my opinion though as it tends to fade pretty noticeably over the last few track however highlights like "Gates of Urizen", "The Tower" & "Killing Floor" are easily impressive enough to command the attention of any self-respecting Iron Maiden, Halford or Dio fan.

4/5

Hi everyone. At this point I'd like to expand our clan member involvement in the monthly The Guardians playlists a bit by giving our three regular playlist contributors (Andi, Xephyr & Vinny) the chance to submit a couple more tracks each month. Therefore, the monthly limit for The Guardians will be five track submissions each clan member moving forwards from 1st March 2021. If we get additional contributors then I'll have to reduce the limit again to cater for them.

I notice you haven't rated this one Vinny. Can I assume you're acquainted with it?

More high quality New York death metal from these long-time champions of darkness & blasphemy.

Immolation - "Unholy Cult" (2002)

Another very strong album from these New York death metallers that perhaps suffers a little bit due to comparisons to the band's previous record "Close To A World Below" which I regard as one of the greatest releases for the genre overall. I still think that Immolation's main weakness is in their technical abilities as the drumming & lead work are pretty sloppy at times & I honestly don't know how people seem to overlook that however that trademark dark atmosphere is here in spades & is further accentuated by the intelligent use of open string dissonance. Plus, the real strength or "Unholy Cult" is in its consistency as the quality of the song-writing remains strong throughout the entire tracklisting. There is a case for there not being any genuinely classic tracks but there's also no sign of a weak one. Immolation will always be one of those bands where it's difficult to distinguish between the individual tracks but death metal isn't exactly a genre where that's such an issue as long as all the other key boxes are ticked & they certainly are here.

4/5

THE FALLEN: Sonny (Mar), Andi (Apr), Ben (May), Daniel (Jun)

THE GATEWAY: saxy (Mar), Daniel (Apr), saxy (May), Daniel (Jun)

THE GUARDIANS: Xephyr (Mar), Andi (Apr), Vinny (May), Xephyr (Jun)

THE HORDE: Vinny (Mar), Ben (Apr), Daniel (May), Vinny (Jun)

THE INFINITE: Xephyr (Mar), saxy (Apr), Andi (May), Xephyr (Jun)

THE NORTH: Ben (Mar), Vinny (Apr), Xephyr (May), Sonny (Jun)

THE PIT: Sonny (Mar), Vinny (Apr), Ben (May), Daniel (Jun)

THE REVOLUTION: Andi (Mar), Daniel (Apr), Andi (May), Daniel (Jun)

THE SPHERE: Daniel

The process will be that I'll remain the point of coordination for the moment. I think it's best if we keep the actual releases a secret until the 1st of each month as it will add a level of anticipation. Therefore, I'm proposing that you all send me your chosen releases by private message in the last week of the following month. If your release is not already on the site then you'll need to give Ben two weeks notice to ensure that he gets them in beforehand. I'll continue to create the individual threads & posts for consistency.

Brutal death/thrash from Sweden for fans of Kreator, Protector & "Darkness Descends"-era Dark Angel.

Daniel, I noticed you haven't rated this yet.

Well that took me back to a much simpler time in my life & I found that I still really dig Merciless' aggressive brand of Swedish death/thrash. "The Awakening" kinda sounds like the more brutal Kreator, Protector & Dark Angel material with some unusually vicious vocals elevating it above your average thrasher into more deathly territory. There's a little bit of early Morbid Angel about the style of the riffs too which can't be a bad thing but I think this album could have done with some shredding solos to take it to the next level. Very solid stuff indeed though so thanks to Sonny for reminding me that I needed to give it a revisit.

4/5

P.S. Ben, you should check this out if you haven't already.

Ever since I started the monthly feature release concept, I've always had the intention that the clans would take over the responsibility for selecting their own features once we had a bit more activity on the site & given that some of you have been very active in regards to the features in recent months I've been thinking that it might be time to test the waters. To be more specific, what I'm suggesting is that all contributing clan members take a turn at selecting the monthly feature in a revolving chair arrangement. For clans that only have one or less regularly contributing member I will retain the duties or act as a second person in order to insure a bit of variety. Here's what I'm proposing as far as schedules go:

THE FALLEN: Sonny (Mar), Andi (Apr), Ben (May), Daniel (Jun)

THE GATEWAY: saxy (Mar), Daniel (Apr), saxy (May), Daniel (Jun)

THE GUARDIANS: Xephyr (Mar), saxy (Apr), Andi (May), Vinny (Jun)

THE HORDE: Vinny (Mar), Ben (Apr), Daniel (May), Vinny (Jun)

THE INFINITE: Xephyr (Mar), saxy (Apr), Andi (May), Xephyr (Jun)

THE NORTH: Ben (Mar), Vinny (Apr), Xephyr (May), Sonny (Jun)

THE PIT: Sonny (Mar), Vinny (Apr), Ben (May), Daniel (Jun)

THE REVOLUTION: Andi (Mar), Daniel (Apr), Andi (May), Daniel (Jun)

THE SPHERE: Daniel

Are you all interested in contributing? Is there anyone I'm missing? What are your thoughts on this generally?

The other alternative is that the associated clan members come up with a way to collaborate in coming up with each month's feature release. I thought that the logistics might be a little difficult to manage but feel free to give it a shot if you can think of a good way to facilitate it. Every clan may choose different methods but it really doesn't matter as long as all the clan members have decided upon the process as a group.

And finally, if you're a less active clan member that's not listed & want to be involved then just let me know & I'll add you to the schedule.

A lovely little piece of Opeth worship for a Sunday morning.

Only a small amount of metalheads have heard of Persefone, a progressive death metal band from a small nation between Spain and France, and that's a shame because their music is so d*mn good. Since Aathma was released in 2017 and the Truth Behind the Shades re-recording in 2020, I'm expecting a new album in the future and maybe also a re-recording of Core. But the original album Core is still an epic masterpiece, and I recommend it to many progressive metal listeners and fans including fellow Metal Academy members Ben, Daniel, MartinDavey87, saxystephens & Xephyr. That Persefone album is a practically unknown masterpiece that deserves to be heard worldwide!

PS: While this album is progressive death metal, it doesn't belong in The Horde. The amount of death in their progressive metal is only as much as other progressive bands like Between the Buried and Me, Opeth, and Disillusion. More info in this thread that is part of my special Horde removal judgement submission week: https://metal.academy/forum/28/thread/688

Thanks for the head up on this one Andi. I really enjoyed it. "Core" kinda sounds like they've crossed classic Dream Theater with Opeth & Ne Obliviscaris & tossed in a little Emperor here & there. It's extremely progressive & your Hall submission is valid in my opinion as there's so much more to this record than the death metal tag could ever indicate. Some of the lead guitar work is stunning & I love the all-round ambition Persefone display for just their second full-length effort. I'm going with a very solid 4/5 rating.

I've been having a think about your idea over the last 24 hours Andi & I think it's got potential, especially after relistening to "Core" a couple of times yesterday. I've since come to the realisation that "Core" wouldn't really sit terribly comfortably at the top of the melodic death metal charts. It's simply a different beast as it takes some of its progressive elements to extremes & rarely sits in traditional melodeath territory for too long. But it's also a very different beast to the cleaner & more mild-manoured Fates Warning or Queensryche style of progressive metal. I like your idea of utilizing an "extreme progressive metal" subgenre (like Metal Archives do) & think it would work perfectly well for "Core" as I don't actually think it fits nicely with any other subgenre but needs to be separated from the classic metal based brand of progressive metal. In saying that, I don't think "melodic progressive metal" works for the cleaner stuff because "Core" is also as melodic as fuck. I'd be more inclined to simply go with the one additional subgenre for the extreme stuff & leave the rest under "progressive metal (conventional)". If a release qualifies as "extreme progressive metal" but needs additional tagging to highlight that it's a black metal or a thrash metal release then additional tags can be added. If (like "Core") it veers too far away from your signature extreme metal sounds then it can simply retain the one "extreme progressive metal" tag. This approach would allow people to easily search for cleaner progressive metal without receiving any unpleasant surprises in the vocal & intensity departments & the same goes for fans of the more extreme end of town. It would also help people to isolate progressive black metal or progressive metalcore releases or any other combination if they chose to. The only thing that would need to be nutted out would be where to draw the line between the two. I'll speak to Ben & see if it's something we'll consider moving forwards. If it is, we may think about employing the same approach for some of the other more descriptive genre tags like "avant-garde metal".

And for the record, with the database in its current state I'll be voting yes on this Hall submission.

I’m not sure you understood my angle Andi. I actually don’t want to split progressive metal into two. I’m suggesting that it might be better to treat it purely as a descriptor by tying each progressive release in with the subgenre that forms the basis of its sound. That would see Opeth sitting under progressive metal & death metal & Dream Theater sitting under progressive metal & heavy metal. That way you could conduct a search for progressive death metal by filtering by both progressive metal & death metal,

See, the reason I asked was to see if you actually think "Core" is a death metal based release or not but your response is still a little bit both ways. To me, the question is really about whether people need to know that a progressive record is based on death metal tools or not.

As a case study, I have two work colleagues that love progressive metal. One loves the cleaner traditional heavy metal based style of Dream Theater & can't deal with death metal vocals or intensity at all. The other one loves bands like Opeth & Meshuggah & can't stand the heavy metal based style with its operatic vocals. So the first question is whether there's a reason to differentiate these styles in the charts & on the evidence of that case I think you will agree that there is.

The second question is about how you handle the potential for progressive releases from all subgenres & the same can be said for avant-garde metal, industrial metal, post-metal, etc. If you're going to create a progressive death metal subgenre then you'd logically have to create a progressive black metal one & a progressive metalcore one & a progressive thrash one, etc, etc, etc. It would be a huge undertaking to manage logistically. It's also worth taking into account the fact that the progressive metal tag doesn't really serve its purpose as a standalone genre tag as the resulting record can sound like virtually anything. It's really just a descriptor for an existing base subgenre. Is it better to simply have each progressive release labelled with an additional subgenre tag to indicate the base sound given that we can filter our searches by multiple subgenres simultaneously? In this case we have "Core" which is essentially a highly progressive melodeath record. Would it seem out of place at the top of the progressive metal chart? Certainly not. But an equally important question is whether it would seem out of place at the top of the melodeath chart. Would "Images & Words" seem out of place at the top of the heavy metal charts or "Blackwater Park" at the top of the death metal charts? It's worth considering. As is whether there are heavy metal fans that don't like heavy metal based progressive metal & death metal fans that don't like death metal based progressive metal &, if so, is that demographic significant enough to not go down this path. Thoughts?

In response to your enquiry Sonny, my original intention was to spread our feature releases around amongst every subgenre included in the clans but I decided that this approach wasn't working after putting out several features that received very little engagement (goregrind & Celtic metal for example). It also made no sense to be putting out as many niche subgenre releases as the more classic ones (e.g. gorenoise vs death metal). In regards to The Fallen, I got through all of the subgenres with the exception of funeral doom metal which was next on the list when I decided to rethink my approach. It's worth noting though that I didn't differentiate gothic death doom from your regular death/doom or epic doom from your garden variety of doom though. I actually never thought there was much reason to differentiate those until you recently raised the topic & it explained why I didn't get the expected engagement from you on one or two of the past features.

The next approach I tried was purely to encourage the discovery of new music. I was picking highly-regarded releases that hadn't been rated by any of our regular contributors (with the possible exception of Ben & I) & this saw engagement picking up with people investigating bands & releases outside of their usual comfort zones. I wasn't really paying all that much attention to which subgenre these releases were from though as long as the members were discovering new high quality music. I ended up abandoning this methodology once I saw that people like yourself & Xephyr who are so comprehensive in your ratings for particular subgenres were causing me to skip those altogether though.

Over the last couple of months I've changed it up again & are focusing on a) highly regarded & interesting current releases & b) a mixture of old classics & unheralded gems. I haven't been focusing on the subgenres of these releases all that much or whether they've been rated before or not. It's been more about presenting quality options for everyone to enjoy & I often choose releases that I haven't personally rated as I'm committed to rating all nine of the features each month. My own musical preferences aren't taken into account at all though (as seen by the recent power metal features).

As you can see, it's a very fluid process of improvement. I'm obviously open to everyone's feedback (as seen in the changes we've been regularly implementing in that regard) so if you'd like me to focus on particular areas then feel free to let me know (like you appear to have here).

I have a hypothetical question for you Andi. If there was a progressive death metal subgenre, would you recommend that this release should sit under it?

February Feature Releases

The Fallen: The Body - "I've Seen All I Need To See" (2021) 4/5

The Gateway: Deftones - "Koi no Yokan" (2012) 4.5/5

The Guardians: Riot - "ThunderSteel" (1988) 4/5

The Horde: Asphyx - "Necroceros" (2021) 3.5/5

The Infinite: Pain Of Salvation - "Remedy Lane" (2002) 4/5

The North: Moonsorrow - "V: Hävitetty" (2007) 3.5/5

The Pit: Hexecutor - "Beyond Any Human Conception of Knowledge" (2020) 3/5

The Revolution: Inside The Beehive - "Drink Bleach; Live Forever" E.P. (2011) 4.5/5

The Sphere: Godflesh - "Godflesh" E.P. (1988) 4/5

Another generally rewarding month of feature releases in February which resulted in me claiming two new classics from Inside The Beehive & Deftones. There was also from a very nice surprise in The Body's brand new album which I found to be a particularly challenging & rewarding experience. I've been familiar with the Godflesh, Pain Of Salvation & Riot records for many years now but I'm pleased to say that my affection for all of them has grown over time & I now find them to be very solid examples of their type. Asphyx delivered exactly what I expected which can't be a bad thing while the Moonsorrow record confirmed my existing opinion that it's the first of their releases to offer me any genuine appeal. It was only the Hexecutor sophomore album that I found myself struggling with & I won't be returning to it any time soon. Release of the month? I'm going for that completely off-the-hook Inside The Beehive E.P. as it blew my fucking head off.

You should probably be aware that there are guitars playing doom riffs throughout the vast majority of the album Andi. They've just had their signals peaked out to the max, been heavily processed & sometimes further detuned artificially. For mine this is 100% a drone metal album that's been mutilated via the techniques commonly found in power electronics. This has seen it being infused with the shockingly depraved atmosphere that the power electronics subgenre is known for which makes it pretty inaccessible to the majority of metal fans. It certainly requires multiple listens to fully understand, even for drone metal fans like myself.

Yeah I'm sure Andi. I have a very extensive background with grindcore & to my ears this is just so obviously a mathcore release so there's no reason to throw it in with grindcore. The  characteristics you mentioned are all a part of the mathcore/metalcore sound as far as I'm concerned. For example, short song-lengths are a characteristic borrowed from hardcore punk which is the building block for both metalcore & grindcore. There are literally truck loads of metalcore releases with short song lengths. The self-titled Sunami E.P. we featured a couple of months back is a prime example. Are you suggesting that it should be regarded as grindcore too simply because of the two minute track lengths? Sure you'll find some artists that are more extreme than others in the same way that you do in any other genre but grindcore has a signature sound that differentiates it from death metal & metalcore & I only hear hints of that here. 

Andi, you need to hear this month's spectacular The Revolution feature release.

Insanely extreme mathcore from New Jersey, USA. For fans of Fawn Limbs, As The Sun Sets & The Sawtooth Grin.

Just where exactly in the actual fuck has this release been all my life??? If the idea of 16 minutes of the most over the top, extreme & insanely complex mathcore you've ever experienced sounds appealing then I'd urge you to dive right in & hang on for dear life. The production & performances are spectacular, the arrangements are off the Richter & the vocals are completely fucking berserk.  The occasional metalcore/deathcore breakdown prevents me from dishing out full marks but nonetheless this is a sensational release that sits amongst the best couple of examples of the mathcore subgenre I've ever heard. For fans of Fawn Limbs, As The Sun Sets & The Sawtooth Grin.

4.5/5

P.S. Sure this is a very extreme example of mathcore & it utilizes blast beats occasionally but I don't hear very much that sounds like genuine grindcore. It's more of a secondary subgenre than a primary one as it would seem out of place at the top of a grindcore chart.

P.S. I think Ben would find this album to be very tough going indeed. Would love to hear his thoughts on it.

Crushingly heavy drone metal from Arkansas, USA. For fans of Sunn O))).

What we have here is a particularly abrasive & unique brand of drone metal that heavily utilizes industrial electronics to further distort the already crushingly heavy down-tuned guitar drones & create an atmosphere of sheer, unadulterated depravity. It's certainly not the sort of record that you can expect to fully grasp upon first listen as your ears will need time to adjust to the senseless beating they're being submitted to. There are a couple of vocal approaches utilized with the bulk of the run time being dominated by a repetitive high-pitched shriek that I find quite annoying but whenever the more evil black metal style screams come in I find myself in a place of pure darkness & dread so I can only wish that they'd opted for a different balance.

Unlike saxy, I have very little doubt that this is a metal release. No matter how much twisting & distorting the producer has done post recording, the guitars are what dominates this record & the best material (like "Tied Up & Locked In" or the unbelievable album highlight "The City Is Shelled") rely almost entirely upon the power of amplifier reverberation for their appeal. As a guitar nut, I can't really get enough droning doom riffage & any attempt to make it sound darker & heavier is certainly welcome, particularly when it contributes to a dire atmosphere like this one. Unfortunately those shrieking vocals do hold this album back a bit & I think it had the potential to play a more significant part in my 2021. Regardless, fans of Sunn O))) should get a kick out of this.

4/5

Yeah those two are well & truly subpar & "Bad Seed", "Prince Charming" & "Fixxxer" are even worse in my opinion. "Reload" was a particularly awful effort. In fact, "Devil's Dance" & "Carpe Diem Baby" are the only tracks I have any time for to be honest.

Andi, I'd recommend that you give our monthly The Guardians feature release (i.e. Riot's "ThunderSteel") a few spins as it's a quality example of the US power metal sound.

A classic US heavy metal anthem for fans of Judas Priest, Running Wild & Helstar.

I'm really glad I gave "ThunderSteel" another chance because time has seen me finding it to be not only a much more enjoyable experience but also to be comfortably the best Riot album I've heard to date. It really doesn't sound anything like the Riot I'm so used to from their first five albums & that's not only because of the new front man. It's a much more metal sounding prospect than anything they'd undertaken previously. The Rhett Forrester period was highlighted by a bluesier edge but that's been completely tossed aside in favour of a metal-for-metal's-sake approach that draws heavily on the greats of the heavy metal genre for inspiration whilst upping the ante in terms of energy a lot of the time.

Musically, "ThunderSteel" is a combination of heavy metal, power metal & speed metal so it fits very comfortably under the US power metal tag that's intended to cover bands that blur the lines between those subgenres. The album kicks off with two straight-down-the-line speed metal numbers, takes a more epic turn towards power metal with a trio of tracks in the middle & closes out with three more traditional heavy metal songs in the back end. It's really interesting to see just how opposing my views are from that of Xephyr who seems to favour power metal over the more traditional heavy metal sound. To my ears the B side is the stronger of the two sides with the super anthemic "Bloodstreets" & lengthy closer "Buried Alive (Tell Tale Heart)" being the clear standout tracks. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that "Bloodstreets" is one of the best examples of 80's heavy metal I've heard in a long time. It's chorus is absolutely spectacular! It's no surprise that the Dio-era Black Sabbath inspired "Sign of the Crimson Storm" is another favourite either as I simply feel much more at ease with the classic metal sound. Don't get me wrong. With the exception of the fairly flat "On Wings of Eagles", I still quite like the speed & power metal material. It's just that I don't find it to have the depth of the slower, heavier material. 

Riot's influences are plain for all to see here. Sure, you can hear plenty of early Iron Maiden scattered across the tracklisting but the more obvious influence is Judas Priest, so much so that there's a strong case for claims that "ThunderSteel" runs a little too close to the plagiarism line at times, particularly as new front man Tony Moore is a dead ringer for Rob Halford only with a little more politeness in his delivery. Tony’s certainly got a set of pipes on him & is one of the major drawcards for the album in my opinion. The other is band leading axe-slinger Mark Reale who really goes to town on the exciting, ultra-shredding guitar solos. The drumming is a little light-weight in comparison & reminds me very much of former Judas Priest drummer Les Binks in that regard. In fact, most of the speed & power metal material seems to be heavily inspired by the classic opener from Priest's 1978 album "Stained Class". Does anyone else hear "Exciter" throughout this record?

Regardless, I don't want anyone to think of any of those observations as being particularly negative because I really dig "ThunderSteel". My affection for it is driven fairly heavily by its highlights but also by its class & consistency. I'd honestly be very surprised if fans of bands like Judas Priest, Running Wild & Helstar don't wet themselves over it to be honest.

4/5

Thanks for the heads up Andi. I’m certainly aware of them but don’t believe I’ve ever checked them out. I’ve added them to my playlist for the next few weeks.

It’s actually an old favourite of mine from my tape trading days Sonny. This serves as a welcome reminder that I’ve never gotten around to rating it though so I’ll stick it into my playlist for the next few weeks.

"Necroceros" is a more than decent example of old school death metal in my opinion. The composition & execution is high quality however there's very little ambition on display with the riff structures being about as simple as you'll find in 2021. Still, despite the fact that I've never rated Martin van Drunen's vocal delivery as highly as some, I'm an OSDM tragic if you've ever seen one so it's hard not to enjoy the way that Asphyx maximize the impact of their arrangements by not overcomplicating things & keeping plenty of space in their composition. In fact, I was actually very close to going with a 4/5 simply due to the overall consistency of this record that includes no weak tracks but I was ultimately held back by the lack of genuine highlights.

3.5/5

P.S. How blatant is the Bolt Thrower worship on "Molten Black Earth"??

La Monte Young & Marian Zazeela - "31 VII 69 10:26-10:49 PM / 23 VIII 64 2:50:45-3:11 AM [aka The Black Record]" (1969)

This was the first collaborative project for this experimental US husband & wife team & was one that saw them giving birth to the drone genre in the process. "The Black Record" encapsulates two 20+ minute pieces that require patience & the right mind-set to fully understand. Unfortunately the first of them is 23 minutes of the couple making obscure vocal sounds & I find it to be pretty intolerable however the second piece offers a much darker & more industrial atmosphere that really appeals to me. This is music that's best consumed as background noise or a meditative accompaniment rather than being a primary focal point. It's a more interesting listen that it is an enjoyable one to be honest & I'd only recommend you investigate it as an historical reference point.

3/5

French thrash metal for fans of Destruction, Whiplash & Kreator. This particular track has some parts that were clearly influenced by the black metal of Darkthrone.

Hhhmmmm.... I tried hard to like this one. I really did. But unfortunately I just found it to be a bit too unpolished & unfocused for my liking. It's generally being labelled as thrash metal but thrash is really just one component with Hexecutor throwing the kitchen sink into this record as far as influences go. The basis of their sound sits somewhere between the Teutonic thrash metal of Destruction & Kreator & the German speed metal of early Helloween with flourishes of Iron Maiden's melodic heavy metal, the black metal of Absu, Bathory & Darkthrone & legitimate European power metal tossed in for good measure. I even hear a fair bit of Vektor at times although Hexecutor are nowhere near as ambitious. The vocal delivery sounds a lot like Kreator's Mille Petrozza & is likely the element that's most responsible for the consistent thrash tagging as there's probably more speed metal from a purely instrumental point of view. The production is definitely pretty thin & lacking which doesn't help but I simply couldn't get into the more speed/power metal sections much even though the thrashier moment are reasonably solid. I haven't picked a dud feature for a while but I can't say that I'll be coming back to "Beyond Any Human Conecption Of Knowledge..." any time soon.

3/5

I thoroughly enjoy "Swerve City", "Leathers" and "Entombed", but the second half of this record tries to get more progressive and can't stick the landing. 

It's interesting that I actually find the B-side to be the stronger of the two, particularly the four track run from "Tempest" through to "Goon Squad" which is the best part of the record for mine.

every Deftones album since Diamond Eyes has focused more on texture than hooks.

I dunno about that. To my ears "Koi no Yokan" is still built around heavy riffs & catchy hooks & I feel similarly about "Ohms".

P.S. This is fourth Deftones album featured in The Gateway in just fourteen months. And while I certainly see no problem with highlighting one of Alternative Metal's best groups, it does feel a little disproportionate, especially when there is a shoegaze/post-metal/alternative metal revival going on with groups like Loathe and Hum.

Point taken. I knew it was self-indulgent when I made the call for this month's feature but I honestly didn't realise how heavily I'd focused on the one band until you guys highlighted it. You'll see more variation moving forwards. In fact, I've already got something penciled in for next month that's more in line with your suggested direction.

We'll have to agree to disagree then as I don't hear much resemblance to the heavier, chunkier & hard-hitting grunge-based sound of Tool & Deftones to be honest. For me, alternative metal is more of a late 80's/ early 90's thing than is a late 90's/early 2000's one & doesn't have as much to do with crossover appeal as much as it does with a crossover with the sounds being heard on early 90's alternative radio stations who were taking an alternative route to the cleaner, glossier & more indulgent approach of 80's rock & metal. Pain Of Salvation just seem to take a traditional progressive rock/metal path that's much more in line with the 80's to my ears.

A ripper of a Californian alternative metal anthem.

Look, I probably deserved that but I was hardly trying to hide the fact that I just really wanted to find an excuse to listen to this record & my efforts were rewarded in spades because this is another brilliant Deftones record. It certainly sounds exactly like Deftones. There's no question about that & it's interesting that a lot of reviewers always seem to want to tell us that each subsequent release from this band incorporates this or that disparate influence but the end result is generally just what you expected it to be. That's not a problem for me at all because I love Deftones' sound & the more finely honed it becomes the more I find myself salivating at the prospect. The point of differentiation between each release in their back catalogue is just how deep those emotionally charged hooks dig their talons in & I'm pleased to say that these ones grab on for dear life. There's not a sign of a weak track amongst this lot with only closer "What Happened To You?" seeing the quality drop a little. Album highlights like "Leathers" & "Gauze" sit amongst the best work of Deftones' career while "Tempest", "Rosemary" & "Goon Squad" are also elite examples of the alternative metal sound. Where does "Koi no Yokan" sit against their highly praised back catalogue? I'd place it in the top three behind "White Pony" & their latest release "Ohms" (which I seem to rate more highly than most). This is perhaps not quite as consistently heavy as "Ohms" but goddamn the instrumentalists know how to hit on a chunky down-tuned riff!! This is a top ten release for the alternative metal genre as a whole for me.

4.5/5

I think your hip hop reference is a bit of a stretch to be honest Andi.

I'm intrigued by your reference to alternative metal saxy as I've always thought of "Remedy Lane" as a fairly traditional example of progressive rock/metal. What have I overlooked?