Daniel's Forum Replies

Halford - "Live Insurrection" (2001)

A high quality double live album that showcases Rob at his best. This is a seriously metal release.

4/5

Welcome Andi & thanks a lot for the positive feedback. Ben & I have always intended the "Metal Academy" website to be more of a community than a dictatorship. In fact, our members probably haven't realized it yet but they actually have as much access to change the site as I do at the moment because Ben is currently the only administrator & is responsible for managing all of the delivery aspects of the website project (yes he's an IT nerd). We share all of the decision-making on how it looks & feels & what functionality we'll include but I'm more heavily responsible for the creation of the "Metal Academy" podcast which takes up most of my spare time so I enjoy the website as much from a user point of view as anything else. To be honest, we'd really like our members to have as much say in how the site functions & is laid out as we do so please feel free to offer improvement suggestions. We've already taken up several positive & productive suggestions from our members.

Also, we're thrilled to see you joining The Revolution because that clan has been a little quiet early on. As have The Sphere & The Gateway so I'd like to openly encourage people to get involved with those clans. You won't see any clan shaming on this website so people should feel free to go with whichever clans they honestly feel they're most passionate about. It's actually essential for the clan concept to work to its full potential when you think about it. We want everyone to be able to be themselves & openly express their opinions here. The more ratings & reviews submitted the better so don't be shy. We're very keen to hear your thoughts on the music you love.... or hate for that matter.

And finally... spread the word! Let's make this into something valuable & long-term for fans of metal music!

Sunn O))) - "Black One" (2005)

This post is a prime example of why the "Metal Academy" website is a superior tool for finding new music that fits your unique personal tastes than our competition can boast of. I've always been a fan of the Sunn O))) material I've encountered but I doubt that I would ever have checked this album out if not for the high regard its held in by our own Revolution666 & Jon who both awarded it the full five stars. "Black One" doesn't receive anything like that sort of rating on the less targeted rating & review sites that allow their scoring to be diluted by less devoted listeners. This is one of the best albums I've ever heard in my life to be perfectly honest. Our clan system works like a muthafucka!

5/5

Demonic Resurrection - "Live At Bloodstock" (Release date: 8th June)

The new live album from this Indian symphonic death metal outfit.

Make The Suffer - "Hollowed Heart" single (Release date: 7th June)

The new single from this Aussie deathcore outfit.

Ben, please add these bands:

Aborted (Belgium)

Aeternam (Canada)

Ares Kingdom (USA)

Metallica - "Through The Never" (2013)

A very decent double live album that makes up for James' weaker post-Black album vocal performance with a particularly strong tracklisting full of classic material.

4/5

Ben, please add 1349 (Norway), Agrypnie (Germany) & An Autumn For Crippled Children (Netherlands).

Holocaust - "Heavy Metal Mania - The Singles" compilation (Release date: 28th June)

Scottish heavy metal from the NWOBHM. Includes the "Heavy Metal Mania", "Smokin' Valves", "Coming Through" & "The Raw Loud N Live Tour" EPs.

Blind Guardian - "1988-2003" box set (Release date: 28th June)

A vinyl box set from these German power metal gods that includes the "Battalions of Fear", "Follow the Blind",  "Tales From the Twilight World", "Somewhere Far Beyond" & "Imaginations from the other side" albums.

This one has just gone up for voting.

This one has just gone up for voting.

Iron Maiden - "Live After Death" (1985)

Deathspell Omega - "Paracletus" (2010)

Fucking supreme avant-garde/dissonant French black metal. This album pretty much went over my head when I first encountered it back in 2010 but once it clicked it's absolutely nailed me. It's pure genius in many ways.

4.5/5

Grim Reaper - "Fear No Evil" (1985)

The second album from this meat-&-potatoes NWOBHM outfit.

Helloween - "Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part II" (1988)

I've never been much of a fan of the band or of European power metal in general but this is probably my favourite Helloween release. At least there are a couple of really decent tracks that I get a lot of enjoyment out of. When taken overall though, it's still a bit of a chore to sit through.

3/5

Ben, please add Wendy O. Williams, Brocas Helm & Griffin.

Loudness - "Live in Tokyo: Loudness World Tour 2018 - Rise to Glory" (Release date: 17th May)

Japanese heavy metal.

I think my first industrial metal experience was through hearing tracks from Godflesh's self-titled E.P. on late-night metal radio program around 1989. I remember thinking it wasn't too bad but the release of "Streetcleaner" shortly afterwards made a much bigger impact on me.

Metalcore - I picked up Earth Crisis' "All Out War" E.P. through tape trading some time around 1992/93. I didn't like it at all but thankfully the metalcore subgenre & I have come to terms with each other since.

Melodic metalcore - I'm honestly not sure I've ever actively listened to any.

Trance metal - I have no idea what this subgenre is all about. The very thought of what it might sound like sees me scurrying into the corner of the room with my hands over my eyes & tears streaming down my face.

Thrash metal - I first heard Metallica's "...And Justice For All" from a ripped copy a school mate gave me in late 1988. I'd been asking about it after recognizing the band's name in the Australian ARIA Top 50 charts. It completely changed my life.

Groove metal - I first heard tracks from Pantera's "Cowboys From Hell" album on late-night metal radio program in late 1990 & was instantly attracted to the band's sound.

Speed metal - I first heard tracks from Helloween's first couple of releases on a late-night metal radio program some time around 1989. I didn't like what I heard much but thankfully those records aren't representative of the common garden variety of speed metal & it wouldn't be long before I found other bands that were more to my taste.

Black metal - I first heard tracks from Bathory's "Blood Fire Death" on a late-night metal radio program some time around 1989 & I was instantly hooked.

Folk metal - I believe the first experiences I had with folk metal were through the folkier tracks on a ripped copy of Isengard's "Vinterskugge" compilation I received through tape trading in 1994. I didn't like the sound of folk metal then & I still don't now.

Viking metal - As with black metal, Bathory was my entry point. This time through "Hammerheart" & likely from the same radio program only a year or so later than my initial black metal experience.

Saxon - "Innocence Is No Excuse" (1985)

Progressive metal - My first progressive metal experience was through hearing tracks from Voivod's "Dimension Hatröss" & "Nothingface" albums on late-night metal radio programs in the very late 1980's. 

Avant-Garde Metal - The first genuinely avant-garde metal release I heard was the lone studio album from Norway's Ved Buens Ende..... which was entitled "Written In Waters". It was released in 1995 but I picked it up through tape trading after hearing "The Carrior of Wounds" on the 1996 Blackend Records compilation "Blackend: The Black Metal Compilation Vol. 1" which I picked up at my local record store.

Post-Metal - I first heard post-metal through tracks from Neurosis' "Souls At Zero" album being played on late-night metal radio programs around 1992/93.

My introduction to an alternative metal sound came in 1988 during my first year of high school. My best mate had an older cousin who was a Charlie Benante-obsessed drummer & we went around to his place one weekend. He had a pretty reasonable metal-focused vinyl collection & one of the records he played me was Anthrax's rap/metal hybrid E.P. "I'm The Man" which left me with a huge smile across my dial. I was already an Anthrax fan but I don't think I was aware of that release previously.

Doom metal - Black Sabbath were obviously the first place that I heard a doomier variety of metal however the full-time I heard anything from the full-time doom metal outfit was through Candlemass' "Epicus Doomicus Metallicus" record some time in the very late 80's when I heard "Solitude" being played on a late-night metal radio program. I have to admit that it didn't really click with me initially & would take a fair while to sink in, although admittedly "Solitude" is not one of my favourite Candlemass songs & I wouldn't be sold on the band in general until much later on anyway. The more epic feel to their sound initially took me a little bit too far outside of my musical comfort zone. Pentagram's debut was the first doom release I heard that clicked with me straight away & that came to my attention through hearing "Sign Of The Wolf (Pentagram)" on the same show a week or two later. Not a particularly doomy example of the Pentagram sound it has to be said but it gained my attention & Pentagram's close affiliation with the more traditional Black Sabbath sound really appealed to me so it wouldn't be long before I was completely infatuated with the slower, drearier variety of metal.

Drone metal - My first drone metal experience was through Earth's "Extra-Capsular Extraction" E.P. in the early 90's (possibly on underground metal radio once more) & I found it intriguing right from the start with subsequent listens seeing me becoming more & more enamored with the repetitive sound that would put me into a trance-like state. I've always been a fan of the more deep & cerebral styles of music (ambient, techno, etc.) so drone metal & I were always going to work together.

Gothic metal - I picked up the Paradise Lost "Icon" digipack at the time of release back in 1993 & was expecting more of that doom/death they'd been dishing out for the past three albums. Little did I know that I'd end up finding the best material of their career to take the form of this new gothic metal sound.

Sludge metal - When I was in high school there was only one other true metal fan in my year & we used to trade our music & go to gigs together quite regularly. Some time in 1991 he ripped me a copy of Fudge Tunnel's "Hate Songs In E Minor" & told me to keep an open mind because I was generally into thrash/death/black/doom metal. Well that little record really impressed me & it wasn't far away from my tape deck for a few months afterwards. That HUGE wall of guitar noise playing those HUGE riffs!!

Stoner metal - I was an absolutely massive fan of the monumental doom classic that was Cathedral's "Forest Of Equilibrium" debut. But when I picked up their follow-up two years later in 1993 I was left with a feeling of "What in the actual fuck is this?". It was much groovier affair with a stronger focus on psychedelia & I have to admit  that I struggled with it initially. Repeat listens eventually saw it breaking through my defenses but it would never be a big record for me in much the same way that the stoner metal subgenre would rarely impress me as much as pure doom.

Thanks mate. I uploaded an OZ review this morning.

Please add Stormwitch, Warlock & Spinal Tap.

Exodus - "Another Lesson In Violence" (1997)

A classic thrash metal live album featuring the return of original front man Paul Baloff & drummer Tom Hunting.

4.5/5

Pentagram - "Pentagram" (1985)

Thanks Ben. I've added a review for each of those bands.

Please add Finnish heavy metallers OZ.

If we're to implement some more precise genre tagging then perhaps we limit the functional use of it to filtering on the releases page. We've already got the full list of genres there rather than just the clans so it wouldn't change things too much to have that expanded to include an additional layer of subgenre tagging. I agree that it would definitely be good to be able to filter by brutal death metal or pagan black metal in a chart situation but still limit the rating to those from the existing clans i.e. The Horde or The North respectively.

Hate - "Auric Gates of Veles" (Release date: 14th June)

The eleventh album from these Polish death metal stalwarts.

Beheaded - "Only Death Can Save You" (Release date: 14th June)

The seventh album from this Maltese brutal death metal outfit.

Disentomb - "The Decaying Light" (Release date: 12th July)

The third album from Australia's leading brutal death metal exponents.

Thanks mate. I've added an Alcatrazz rating & a review each for Ritual & Torch.

Please add these bands:

Grim Reaper (NWOBHM)

Savage (NWOBHM)

Jaguar (NWOBHM)

Black Hole - "Land Of Mystery" (1985)

X Japan - "Art Of Life Live" E.P. (1998)

You won't find a better example to highlight why we needed a clan system than this little E.P. that includes a single 34 minute live rendition of a supposedly classic Japanese symphonic power metal epic. I could tell within seconds that this was not gonna be my thing & my score may not be as relevant as that of genuine fans of this sort of thing. Yay! It works!!!

2.5/5

Thanks mate. I've submitted a review for Battleaxe, three ratings for TSA & two reviews for Acid.

Can you please add these bands:

Alcatrazz (USA)

Ritual (NWOBHM)

Torch (Sweden)

Trouble - "The Skull" (1985)

The Rods - "Brotherhood Of Metal" (Release date: 7th June)

The new album from these New York heavy metallers from the 80's.

Iced Earth - "Alive In Athens" (1999)

If all power metal sounded like this then I'd be pretty chuffed. This is a three hour triple live album affair from the absolute peak of their career with excellent performances & production (except that you can't hear the bass guitar). It's heavy as shit & metal as all fuck. Ridiculously long though.

4/5

Thanks mate. I've added a 220 Volt review, a Chateaux rating & review & a Europe review today.

Please add these bands next:

Battleaxe (NWOBHM)

TSA (Poland)

Thanks mate. I just added two Rock Goddess ratings, one Heavy Pettin' rating & a Steeler review.

Please add these bands next:

220 Volt (Sweden)

Chateaux (NWOBHM)

Europe (Sweden)

Welcome to Metal Academy Strig. We're very pleased to have you onboard. Looking at your musical taste I can categorically declare that you are just the sort of metalhead we are looking to recruit to our cause so feel free to get involved as much as possible; particularly in adding ratings & reviews but also using the forums. We think we're onto something special here & both Ben & I are as excited to experience the website from a purely user point of view as we are from having conceptualized & created it. We look forward to reading your thoughts on metal music from both the classic & the more obscure ends of the genre.

Ben, please add these artists:

Rock Goddess (NWOBHM)

Heavy Pettin' (NWOBHM)

Steeler (USA)

Between The Buried & Me - "Colors_Live" (2008)

A top notch progressive metalcore live album from this North Carolina five-piece which is essentially a re-enactment of their classic 2007 "Colors" album in its entirety. Fuck me, this band can play like an absolute muthafucka! 

4/5

Nechochwen/Bhleg - "Sorlande Sky/Majestic Translucence" split E.P. (Release date: 31st May)

Venom - "In Nomine Satanas" box set (Release date: 31st May)

VENOM formed in 1979 in Newcastle upon Tyne. Coming to prominence towards the end of the new wave of British heavy metal, the band's first two albums — "Welcome To Hell" (1981) and "Black Metal" (1982) — are considered a major influence on thrash metal and extreme metal in general. VENOM's second album proved influential enough that its title was used as the name of the extreme metal subgenre of black metal. The band classic line-up trio of Cronos, Mantas and Abaddon recorded two further studio albums, "At War With Satan" (1984) and "Possessed" (1985), and live album, "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" (1986). Often cited by bands such as METALLICA, BEHEMOTH, CELTIC FROST and MAYHEM as major influences, they are one of the most revered bands of their generation. VENOM is still fronted by original singer/bassist Cronos and headlines festivals all over the globe and continues to release new music.  

This coming May 31 sees the release of "In Nomine Satanas" via BMG — a deluxe vinyl box set that celebrates VENOM's 40th anniversary and features the original Neat Records recordings from their 1981 debut "Welcome To Hell" to "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik", the live recording of their mythical appearance at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1985. All of the albums are remastered from the original tapes with embossed covers, posters and inserts like their original first editions. They're all now on color-configured vinyl too. The set also includes a 12-inch book detailing the history of the band featuring new interviews with all three members, written by respected journalist Dom Lawson. 

Of particular interest to hardcore VENOM fans will be the "Sons Of Satan" double album included within the set that features a treasure trove of unreleased demos from the bands vaults, some of which are mythical among fans who have known about their existence, but have never heard them as the tracks alluded bootleggers. Among the tracks are the earliest known VENOM performances, captured where the band rehearsed in 1979 at Westgate Road Church Hall in Newcastle's West End and featuring original singer Clive "Jesus Christ" Archer on vocals. Also included are the £50 demos from 1980, captured at Impulse Studios, alongside further demos from 1980 and the "At War With Satan" 1983 Impulse Studio demos.  

"In Nomine Satanas" features in full:  

4LPs and 2 x 2LP  

"Welcome To Hell"  

(Remastered from original tapes on splatter vinyl. Comes with reproductions of original poster and insert with an embossed cover.) 

 "Black Metal"  

(Remastered from original tapes on swirl vinyl. Comes with reproductions of original poster and insert with an embossed cover.) 

 "At War With Satan"  

(Remastered from original tapes on splatter vinyl. Comes with reproduction 6-page roll fold booklet and leather book effect cover.) 

 "Possessed"  

 (Remastered from original tapes on splatter vinyl. Comes with reproductions of original poster, insert and sleeve on mirror board.) 

 "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik"  

(Pressed on half and half vinyl. Comes with reproductions of original gatefold and inserts.) 

 "Bloodlust"  

(Planchette shaped 7” picture disc single) 

 "Sons Of Satan"  

(New album of previously unreleased demos. Pressed on splatter vinyl. Gatefold cover) 

 Merchandise  

12" x 12" book of the story of VENOM written by renowned heavy metal journalist Dom Lawson from new interviews with Cronos, Mantas and Abaddon. Featuring previously unseen and rare photos and memorabilia. 

 90cm x 60cm two-sided poster of "Seven Dates Of Hell" tour poster. 

 Reproduction "Seven Dates Of Hell" tour program. 

 VENOM's Legions back patch. 

 The first 300 orders from the official store will also receive a signed art card by Cronos. 

 Also available as an introduction piece is the "In Nomine Satanas – The Neat Anthology" — a 22-track double-vinyl collection of VENOM's most evil songs, remastered and pressed on splatter vinyl, including rare photos and memorabilia from the band’s personal collection, plus interviews with the band. 

 And for the non-vinyl collectors, there will also be a 43-track 2CD version, housed in a mediabook, that also includes two unreleased tracks.

Deathspell Omega - "The Furnaces of Palingenesia" (Release date: 24th May)

The new album from these French black metallers.