Daniel's Forum Replies

So great to have you Tymell. And I share your feelings on systems & lists. I think that most committed metalheads share your passion there actually.

Also, choosing your clans is unquestionably pretty difficult for most true metal fans however I think the value of the clans arrangement becomes more & more obvious once you get a bit of time under your belt. I've found that I've become much more comfortable with missing out on membership of a couple of clans in recent times as I can see how it benefits the site to limit membership to those who are committed to the cause whole-heartedly & holistically rather than just possessing an interest in some portions of the clan. For example, I'm thinking of dropping back to three clans after admitting to myself that even though the raw aggressive black metal sound is something that I'm genuinely passionate about, the  folk & Viking metal elements are a bit of a struggle for me most of the time & the modern post-metal/blackgaze stuff isn't half as appealing as the more evil stuff either. Rather than dilute the charts I'm looking to separate myself from the clan to focus on the other three that I'm passionate about in their entirety. It doesn't mean that I won't gain the same benefit out of The North charts as the members do though. I'll maintain a keen interest in that.

Welcome to the site. I'm really glad you decided to take the plunge. Get amongst it & please feel free to feed back any thoughts you might have on the look & feel of the site.

Welcome to the Academy Shez. I'm so glad you've elected to enroll. The topic you mentioned was one that was hotly debated when we were designing the website concept. In the end it was decided that there is so much grey area between the different subgenres that we'd be better off going for primary genres only. Otherwise we'd have far too much work just keeping the subgenre tags accurate & relevant. Even if we used RYM as a guide for them, they're often inaccurate (particularly with those releases with very low rating quantities) & you often see them changing as the voting changes. We simply aren't going to be in a position to keep track of that. We did however conduct an extensive survey of metalheads to help us decide on which genres to link together & the results gave us a good guide on what the vast majority of fans would want. For example, we found that most grindcore fans also liked death metal so those two we combined in The Horde. It's all about what's most likely & if it works for the vast majority of people then we'll have achieved our goal.

Once we've got a really healthy membership it really won't matter all that much whether I'm a member of all of the clans I'd like to be as long as the overall ratings for the clans aren't tainted by ratings from people that don't like ANY of the subgenres they encapsulate & so far we believe we've achieved that. In saying that there were some subgenres that were particularly tricky to position & melodic death metal was one of the most debated along with folk metal, trance metal, industrial metal & symphonic metal. We think we've got it as close to right as we're going to get it but we're always looking to improve the site so we'll be keeping the topic open for some time yet. Please keep your feedback coming & enjoy the site. :)

I don't have the time to put together a top ten right now but here are a couple of examples that really shit me & add little value to otherwise pretty amazing releases:

I'm not sure how the 1986 debut album from Californian thrash metallers Sacrilege B.C. managed to drift by without much fuss as it's great stuff. Check out this belter:

Sacrilege B.C. - "Party With God" (1986)

The debut album from these Californian thrashers is an overlooked gem in my opinion. It's got a fair whack of hardcore about it but fans of the aggressive thrash that Slayer, Exodus & Dark Angel were dishing out around the same time will love this shit.

4/5

Ben, please add Blessed Death (USA) & Sacrilege B.C. (USA).

Ben, please add Blaspheme (France).

Ben, please add Black Wreath (Denmark).

Ben, please add Black Breath (USA).

Ben, please add Black Alice (Australia) & Black Task (USA).

Black Sabbath - "Asbury Park 1975"

This is better than any of the Sabbath live albums in my opinion. You really can't go wrong with a tracklisting like this.

4.5/5

Ben, please add Bison (Canada).

Ben, please add Birth Of Depravity (Greece).

Ben, please add Bifrost (Austria).

Flotsam & Jetsam - "Doomsday For The Deceiver" (1986)

The outstanding debut album from US thrash metallers Flotsam & Jetsam featuring future Metallica bassist Jason Newsted. Kinda sounds like Metallica & Megadeth meets the more melodic sounds of Agent Steel & early Queensryche. Very polished & ambitious for a first up effort. I've always dug it.

4/5

Ben, please add Bengal Tigers (Australia).

Ben, please add Beneath (Iceland) & Beneath The Massacre (Canada).

Ben, please add Belenos (France).

Ben, please add the gloriously named Begging For Incest (Germany) as well as Belphegor (Austria).

Damaar - "Triumph Through Spears of Sacrilege" demo (2007)

The only release from this Lebanese war metal outfit & you'll do well to find something that's more extreme than this. The vocal performance is utterly soul-destroying while the production job is as disgusting as you'd hope for from such a release. And that intro track is one of the scariest things yet put to tape. This is great stuff & fans of Bestial Warlust, Revenge & Conqueror should get on it urgently.

4/5

Nuclear Assault - "Game Over" (1986)

I've always enjoyed the debut album from these New York thrashers. Sure the guitar sound is lacking in distortion & definition but the rest of the mix makes up for it. As does the soild performance from the rhythm section. The tracklisting is very consistent & the band really didn't sound like anyone in particular. They'd already developed their own brand of hardcore-tinged thrash metal that never quite pushed out into full-blown crossover territory. Quality stuff.

4/5

Wow! Looks like quite a hectic place to be. How do I get to the beach to catch some rays? And which region offers the best home delivery pizza options?

Welcome to "Metal Academy" Isabel. That's one of my favourite songs too. Particularly the part where it goes "djent djent dj dj dj dj dj djent djent squeal" & the drums go "knock-knock-knock-knock-knock-knock-knock-knock-knock-knock-knock-knock-dugga-dugga-ccchh". 

Vocalist: “Breeeeeee-breeeeeeeeee-Satany gutsy stuff-brreeeeee-oink-SQQQQQUUUEEEEEE”

I can't see them doing it purely for the money. I mean they've likely been offered a ridiculous amount of money over the years but have always turned it down.... until now. Hhhmmm… it doesn't reek of financial desperation to me. It seems more like unfinished business.

Ben was checking that album out earlier this week & comparing it to classic Opeth. I've got it on my iPhone to listen to over the next few weeks on Xephyr's recommendation.

The new single from this Swedish djent/prog metal outfit.

Welcome to the site saxy. I'm so glad you decided to come across & it's great to get an insight into where your metal roots began. Also, it's so cool that we've had a few new members joining The Gateway over the last few days. The site has been fairly extreme metal dominant up till now & we've always wanted it to be more universal & all-encompassing so keep up the good work as far as alternative metal content. It's all great stuff. 

Ben, please add Avgrunn (Spain).

Ben, please add Avenger (Germany).

Ben, please add Ava Inferi (Portugal).

Welcome to the site TJ. Don't be shy. We're building something special here & would like to encourage you to a) be as active as possible & b) invite all of your friends as ultimately the more ratings & reviews we have the more effective the clan concept is. Also, if you have any suggestions for improvements or bug fixes then please offer us the feedback. Traditionally we've taken up people's suggestions pretty quickly & it's led to greatly improved user experience.

Ben, please add At War (USA) & Attitude Adjustment (USA).

Culprit - "Guilty As Charged" (1983)

The sole album from this Seattle-based progressive rock/metal outfit whose sound sits somewhere between classic Rush, 70's Riot & Paul Dianno-era Iron Maiden. It's really well written but is let down a bit by a very thin Mike Varney (Shrapnel Records head) production.

3.5/5

Onslaught - "The Force" (1986)

I wasn't much of a fan of Onslaught's 1985 debut album "Power From Hell" but I find their sophomore album from the following year to be a much more appealing prospect. There's a lot less hardcore punk about it & it's a total riff-fest but in saying that it's far from flawless. The track lengths are needlessly extended, the high pitched vocal squeals are annoying & the riffs & guitar solos tend to be pretty basic & generic compared to other well-known thrash records of the time. So why do I still find myself enjoying it? I guess it's the fact that it sounds like a mixture of the first two Slayer albums, "Bonded By Blood" era Exodus & classic Venom.  

3.5/5

Ben, please add Ascension (Germany).

Ben, please add Ascariasis (Canada).

Ben, please add As They Burn (France).

Strapping Young Lad - "City" (1997)

A very solid slab of industrial metal that should appeal to fans of Fear Factory, Ministry & Nailbomb. I'm not sure it's the classic release it's often made out to be but it sure hits the spot.

4/5

Hhmmmm…. interesting. I'll be adding this one to my list for the next couple of weeks. Thanks for the heads up Xephyr. :)

Exumer - "Possessed By Fire" (1986)

A pretty decent Teutonic thrash metal debut that should appeal to fans of Exodus, Slayer & Kreator.

3.5/5

Ben, please add Antropofagus (Italy).

Ben, please add Antichrist (Canada).