Daniel's Forum Replies

Down - "NOLA" (1995)

The debut studio album from New Orleans-based stoner metal supergroup Down is a very solid & consistent piece work that draws heavily on Black Sabbath for influence ("Vol 4" in particular), only with a distinctly Southern twang reminiscent of southern rock artists like Lynard Skynard. The band features members of Pantera, Crowbar, Corrosion Of Conformity & Eyehategod & you can definitely hear bits of all of these artists however the contributions of Pantera front man Phil Anselmo & Corrosion Of Conformity guitarist Pepper Keenan are the most prominent & important elements. It's a groovy riff-fest that may not fall inside my comfort zone but makes up for it in swagger & attitude. I particularly like the more chilled moments which are clearly tributes to Black Sabbath's more subdued moments. For fans of Corrosion Of Conformity, Alabama Thunderpussy & Black Label Society.

4/5

A track from the brand new "Under Sullen Skies" album from Brooklyn-based black/sludge metallers Tombs which is due for release on 20th November.

A track from the brand new album from Canadian grindcore outfit Fuck The Facts (entitled "Pleine noirceur") which is due for release on 20th November.

A track from the brand new My Dying Bride E.P. (entitled "Macabre Cabaret") which is due for release on 20th November.

What do you think of the new Sepultura single? And yes, before you ask,  it IS a cover version of British synthpop act Soft Cell's timeless hit.

Ben, have you ever checked this one out? I think you'll dig it.

Aggressive Canadian thrash metal for fans of Slayer, Dark Angel & late 80's Kreator.

Sacrifice - "Forward To Termination" (1987)

Canadian thrashers Sacrifice returned in a big way with their 1987 sophomore album "Forward To Termination". I'm a big fan of their 1985 debut "Torment In Fire" which was essentially nothing more than classic Slayer worship but here we find a more well-defined & sophisticated offering that includes significantly stronger highlights. The gnarly vocals of axe-slinging front man Rob Urbinati are definitely the coolest part of Sacrifice's sound however there are also plenty of great thrash riffs on offer. Sacrifice don't tend to be overly clinical in their execution however they're clearly at their strongest when they drop the shackles & really going for broke as some of the more mid-paced & chuggy sections can sound a little generic. There are no weak tracks on offer though & fans of Slayer, Dark Angel & late 80's Kreator should find plenty of value here.

4/5

Saxy, have you ever given this one a run?

Classic Danish heavy metal for fans of Mercyful Fate, Judas Priest & Ozzy Osbourne.

King Diamond - "Conspiracy" (1987)

I know Mercyful Fate generally receive more accolades for their significant influence on the subsequent direction of metal music & I certainly have a preference for the atmosphere they created on their first couple of releases, however if I'm completely honest with myself I slightly favour some of King Diamond's solo records over anything that Fate were responsible for. I think the fact that I was bred on late 80's metal certainly contributes to that but I just really dig the razor-sharp yet finely polished production, the memorable & anthemic choruses & Andy LaRocque's spectacular lead guitar performance on a record like the King's fourth album "Conspiracy". Sure, "Don't Break The Oath" took a fairly similar approach if you look at it closely, however the progressive & neoclassical components are integrated more smoothly here & never really touch on the pomposity of that record. As a result, we don't see "Conspiracy" ever really flirting with cheesiness which is something I can't say about "Don't Break The Oath" at times. "Abigail" is still my favourite King Diamond related release however "Conspiracy" gives it a real run for the money & only just falls short of matching its more readily celebrated older sibling. There's a class & consistency about it that's very hard to deny, even by those that struggle with the King's overthetop vocal stylings. I actually couldn't give a bugger about the concept/storyline. It's all about the high quality metal & fans of Mercyful Fate, Judas Priest & Ozzy Osbourne should get a lot of enjoyment out of this record. 

4/5

Sarcófago - "I.N.R.I." (1987)

Ultra-raw, super-kvlt black metal from Brazil. For fans of Vulcano, early Sodom & the first couple of Sepultura records.

3.5/5

Ultra-raw Brazilian black metal from 1987. For fans of Vulcano, early Sodom & the first couple of Sepultura releases.

A couple of tracks from the upcoming "Carnival Of Killers" album from long-standing Chicago death metal outfit Macabre which is due for release on 13th November.

A track from the new self-titled album from long-standing Teutonic thrash metallers Accu§er which is due for release on 13th November.

A taster from the new "Live In Chicago" live album from Californian death metal legends Autopsy which is due for release on 30th October.

The brand new single from Swedish melodeath champions Dark Tranquillity's new album "Moment" which is due for release on 20th November.

The title track from the brand new "Under Pressure" E.P. from long-standing Bay Area thrashers Death Angel.

Spectacular sludge metal from Washington's godfathers of the subgenre.

Melvins - "Houdini" (1993)

1993's fifth full-length album from influential Washington trio Melvins (entitled "Houdini") has always left me a little frustrated to be honest. On the one hand you have some seriously high-end & heavy-as-fuck sludge/doom metal material with some particularly bad-ass vocals which see me immediately reaching for my higher scores. But this is then off-set by a few completely redundant alternative rock & experimental tracks which add nothing whatsoever to the record, particularly the very confusing ten minute closer "Spread Eagle Beagle". It's a real mixed bag stylistically as this isn't strictly a sludge metal record when taken holistically. There are various different genres spread across the tracklisting. The opening couple of belters certainly fall into the sludge metal category but the rest of the album sees everything from grunge to stoner metal to alternative rock to doom metal to experimental music. Of course the heavier tracks are the ones that appeal to me the most. It's actually pretty easy to see the influence that Melvins had on the more important (& ultimately heavier) grunge bands  & I'd actually go so far as to suggest that grunge should have equal bragging rights with sludge when genre-tagging the album. Overall, the highs are balanced out by the lows & we're left with a pretty enjoyable record that offered the potential for so much more. If you have a diverse taste palate that includes sludge (Acid Bath), stoner (Kyuss), grunge (Nirvana/Soundgarden/Alice In Chains) & alternative rock (Queens Of The Stone Age/Pixies) then you might wanna check it out.

3.5/5

That Chaos Divine track is a belter Xephyr. Nice choice!

Hi everyone. Just a heads up that I've changed the naming convention for the monthly clan playlists. Xephyr mentioned that the original convention was a little awkward to navigate from his smart phone due to key information being truncated (i.e. the month & clan) & after investigating it myself I found that I agreed with him. In order to rectify this problem, I've now renamed them all in this format:

Oct 2020 "The Sphere" Playlist - Metal Academy Radio

This should eradicate the truncation problem but let me know if you have any further suggestions in this space.

Vinny, I think this one might appeal to you. It was their best work to the time in my opinion.

Awesome techy Teutonic thrash metal that sounds like Kreator crossed with Coroner.

Destruction - "Release From Agony" (1987)

I've never been a fan of the first couple of seminal releases from German thrash metal legends Destruction. It wasn't until they went in a more sophisticated & technically proficient direction with 1986's "Eternal Devastation" & 1987's "Mad Butcher" E.P. that they gained my interest & that appeal reached its climax with 1987's "Release From Agony" album which I regard as Destruction's best work to the time. It's a particularly consistent record that oozes class & professionalism. The only limiting factors are the lack of many genuine vocal hooks & Schmier's vocal performance which I'd suggest falls into the category of "tolerable" more that it does "enjoyable". Those issues aside though, "Release From Agony" is a high quality & ambitious piece of Teutonic thrash that kinda sounds like Kreator crossed with Coroner. If that idea sounds appealing to you then you'll likely really dig this album.

4/5

An ex-girlfriend of mine owned a Summoning CD?? Well it’s pretty clear why we broke up now. It would never have worked. Although she’s clearly attempted to rectify the situation so there was some hope for her.

For the record, I'd like to clarify that my wife has never even considered procuring a Summoning release of any sort. This was one of the main things that attracted me to her.

Ultra-brutal death metal from New York's godfather of the subgenre. For fans of Dying Fetus, Cryptopsy & Pyrexia.

Swiss technical thrash metal for fans of Vektor, Voivod & Watchtower.

Please get your submissions in by 15th October if you want them considered for inclusion in the November playlist (maximum three each). And remember, there are three subgenres covered by The Sphere:

Industrial metal

Neue Deutsche Härte

Cyber metal

Please get your submissions in by 15th October if you want them considered for inclusion in the November playlist (maximum three each). And remember, there are seven subgenres covered by The Revolution:

Metalcore

Melodic metalcore

Deathcore

Mathcore

Trancecore

Trance metal

Nintendocore

Please get your submissions in by 15th October if you want them considered for inclusion in the November playlist (maximum three each). And remember, there are five subgenres covered by The Pit:

Classic thrash metal

Technical thrash metal

Crossover thrash

Groove metal

Speed metal

Please get your submissions in by 15th October if you want them considered for inclusion in the November playlist (maximum three each). And remember, there are many subgenres covered by The North:

Classic black metal

Atmospheric black metal

Melodic black metal

Depressive black metal

Symphonic black metal

Pagan black metal

Blackgaze

War metal

Black ‘n’ roll

Viking metal

Folk metal

Medieval folk metal

Celtic metal

Vinny, I've still got plenty of your previous submissions to keep me busy. Will try to get through as many as possible this month so that we can start fresh for December.

Ben & Xephyr, I also have one each from you guys & I'll stuff both of those in this month.

A couple more songs from the upcoming Sólstafir album entitled "Endless Twilight of Codependent Love" which is due to be released on 6th November:

A track from the new album "Syys" from Finnish black metal/folk act October Falls.

Taken from the new Fates Warning album "Long Day Good Night" which is due to be released on 6th November.

The new E.P. from Norwegian black metallers Troll entitled "Tilbake til Trollberg".

As good as the djent sound gets in my opinion. The Swedish masters of the subgenre at full strength.

Meshuggah - "Catch Thirtythree" (2005)

Another immensely complex single-track release from the Swedish masters of djent who had tested the waters the previous year with their incredible "I" E.P. & now took things one step further with a full album-length undertaking of the highest quality. The production job is excellent & this time Meshuggah take off in top gear rather than building up over time with the first three (sub)tracks being complete home runs. In fact, I see very little reason to separate them as they're clearly the same track. Then the intensity & quality drops a touch during the middle of the album with a couple of more atmospheric periods breaking things up nicely. The climax comes with a trio of brilliant pieces beating you into submission immediately following the epic 13 minute centrepiece "In Death - Is Death" & the band finishes on a real high.

Overall, I'd suggest that I probably prefer "I" just marginally over "Catch Thirtythree" but there's very little in it. The mid-section possibly just lacks a little in the hooks & melody department if I'm being particularly picky but have no doubt that this is a classic & defining release for the subgenre & Meshuggah once again prove that they can't be touched when it comes to this style of metal. For fans of Kobong, Fredrik Thordendal's Special Defects & TesseracT.

4.5/5

Orbital - "Brown Album" (1993)

Hugely influential melodic techno from Kent, England. Well ahead of its time & arguably Orbital's best record from a purely dancefloor perspective. Plus it includes the all-time classic progressive house anthem "Halcyon + On + On" which would prove to be one of the great closing tracks for DJs to drop as the lights came on for decades to come. 

Please get your submissions in by 15th October if you want them considered for inclusion in the November playlist (maximum three each).

Vinny, I've got five of your submissions leftover from previous months so I'm probably good to go there. I'll see if I can get them all in so we can start fresh for December.

Please get your submissions (maximum three each) in by 15th October if you want them considered for inclusion in the November playlist.

Xephyr, I'll get your Running Wild submission from last month in this time.

Please get your submissions (maximum three each) in by 15th October if you want them considered for inclusion in the November playlist.

Please get your submissions (maximum three each) in by 15th October if you want them considered for inclusion in the November playlist. I wouldn't bother submitting any death doom metal or funeral doom metal tracks as I've got those subgenres covered with material that was leftover from previous months.

Sonny, I've already got a couple of your tracks ear-marked so maybe just one more from you.