Daniel's Forum Replies

Malevolent Creation – “Multiple Stab Wounds” (from “The Ten Commandments”, 1991)

Critical Defiance – “All The Powers” (from “The Search Won’t…”, 2024)

Asphyx – “Diabolical Existence” (from “The Rack”, 1991)

Pestilence – “Twisted Truth” (from “Testimony of the Ancients”, 1991)

Convulse – “Incantation of Restoration” (from “World Without God”, 1991)

Bolt Thrower – “Destructive Infinity” (from “War Master”, 1991)

Immolation – “Those Left Behind” (from “Dawn of Possession”, 1991)

Autopsy – “Destined to Fester” (from “Retribution For The Dead” E.P., 1991)

Comecon – “Omnivorous Excess” (from “Megatrends in Brutality”, 1992)

PainKiller – “Warhead” (from “Guts of a Virgin”, 1991)

Hypocrisy - "Suffering Souls" (from "Penetralia", 1992)

Anthem – “Night Stalker” (from “Gypsy Ways”, 1988)

Sorrow – “Insatiable” (from “Hatred & Disgust”, 1992)

Anathema – “…And I Lust” (from “The Crestfallen E.P.”, 1992)

My Dying Bride – “Sear Me” (from “As The Flower Withers”, 1992)

Welcome to the Academy ZeroSymbolic7188. We're very glad you enjoy the concept & encourage you to be as active as you'd like on the site. There are some very cool activities that go on every month (like the Hall of Judgement genre-tag voting, our nine monthly clan Spotify playlists & our monthly clan feature releases) & if you'd like to be involved in any of them then simply shoot me a private message & I can help guide you through the process. If not, then enjoy the site & our tight-knit little metal community.

While I certainly quite like "Sin After Sin" & "Screaming For Vengeance" & have had a very long relationship with both, I've always felt that they were heavily overrated with neither being essential Judas Priest releases for me personally.

The 24th March 1972 would be a significant day in rock music with Deep Purple releasing arguably their heaviest & best record in their illustrious sixth full-length "Machine Head". It kicks off with a belter of a heavy metal track too in the driving headbanger "Highway Star" which has gone on to become an iconic inclusion in the band's back catalogue over the years:

Today's track is Rainbow's " Sensitive to Light" which I regard as being hard rock:

I'm across about two thirds of the Illdisposed back catalogue Andi. I remember picking up "There's Something Rotten... In the State of Denmark" back in my tape trading days & got some mild enjoyment out of it. I liked their earlier & more conventional death metal albums a little better unsurprisingly enough.

Ok, so I've updated all of the playlist titles, descriptions & images & they now seem to be much easier to find in Spotify searches. With next month's The Guardians & The Horde lists, I've attempted to program them in a way that will offer immediate appeal to the casual listener with five strong tracks from the primary genre kicking off proceedings. I've also made an attempt to ensure that I had the best material from each release on The Guardians list & have picked a couple of obvious classics in order to draw in the less educated audience. The Horde playlist is looking really bloody good now that it's 100% comprised of member's selections actually so I think that was a good move. I'm planning to start a social media marketing campaign for those two playlists in June to see what I can accomplish too.

The brand new "Les chants de l’aurore" seventh full-length from French blackgaze/post-metal outfit Alcest is being released on 21st June. Some of Alcest's releases have really grown on me in recent years while others have left me feeling a bit flat but I'll no doubt give this one a run at some stage, particularly given that I enjoyed the promotional video for the opening single recently.

The brand new "Discontinued" fifth album from New York brutal/technical death metallers Malignancy hits the streets on 14th June. I really dug everything I've heard from these guys to date, particularly their 1999 debut album "Intrauterine Cannibalism" which was stellar, so I'll most certainly be indulging in this one at some point.

The seventh full-length album from LA sludge metallers Thou hits the shelves tomorrow & is called "Umbilical". I've had mixed experiences with Thou on record over the years but there's no doubt that they're a fantastic live act.

A new live album from San Francisco Bay Area thrash metal legends Exodus hits the streets tomorrow. It's called "British Disaster: The Battle of '89 (Live at the Astoria)" & was recorded on the 1989 tour for their excellent "Fabulous Disaster" third album.

Another fresh new live recording from [hate5six], this time from Detroit metalcore outfit Cold as Life whose 1998 "Born to Land Hard" debut album I quite like.

Genre-shunning Tokyo experimental band Boris share some of their favourite music in a special NTS radio residency:

https://www.nts.live/shows/boris/episodes/boris-21st-may-2024

LA sludge metal/metalcore outfit Admiral Angry have released their long-awaited sophomore album "Albania" this month. I was a big fan of their 2009 debut album "Buster" but felt that they'd dropped the ball a little bit with 2010's "A Fire to Burn Down the World" so it'll be interesting to see what the last fourteen years have brought to the table.

US progressive metallers Nospūn have released an instrumental version of their excellent 2023 debut album "Opus" that I really enjoyed. This one might be worth checking out at some point given how impressive the vocal edition was.

I investigated the 1978 "Cuentos de ayer y de hoy" debut album from Spanish five-piece Ñu this morning. There was definitely the odd sign of metal but it never amounts to a full song. I'd suggest that this is a progressive hard rock record with strong folk influences.

Well, we're very pleased to have you here at the Academy Pelle & would like to encourage you to get as involved in the site as you wish. There's a whole bunch of cool activities to choose from. You can help us vote on potentially incorrect genre tags in the Hall of Judgement, can submit your favourite tracks from the last month for the monthly clan Spotify playlists or can take part in nominating our monthly clan feature releases for example. If any of those options sound interesting then please feel free to send me a private message & I can help you with the finer details. Until then... have fun with the site & we hope to see a lot more of you around these parts. :)

The doom train continued its journey in February 1972 when Philadelphia hard rockers Bang released their self-titled debut album which included this doomy number which I'd suggest should qualify as traditional doom metal:

This morning's track is Rainbow's "The Shed (Subtle)" which I regard as being a hard rock song:

Anthem - "No Smoke Without Fire" (1990)

I feel very similarly about the Japanese heavy metallers sixth album as I did about their fourth (see above) with Anthem taking a familiar yet unanimously effective approach. If anything this one might offer a touch more of a hard rock influence as well as a little more speed metal in parts. Once again, the production job & performances are on the money although Yukio Morikawa's vocals don't appear to be quite as strong here. Anthem were a seriously class act by this point in their careers though so there are no hints at weak song-writing with "No Smoke Without Fire" containing just as many highlights as "Gypsy Ways" did. I do think I slightly prefer "Gypsy Ways" over it but there's very little between the two, neither coming close to matching 1989's marvelous "Hunting Time" fifth full-length. The sensational "Fever Eyes" is my pick of the nine tracks on offer & is definitely one of Anthem's finest moments.

For fans of Loudness, Judas Priest & Accept.

3.5/5

Anthem - "Gypsy Ways" (1988)

I've gotten a fair bit of enjoyment out of the two releases I've heard previously from Japanese heavy metallers Anthem. Their 1987 "Bound to Break" album was more than decent but it was really 1989's excellent "Hunting Time" that sealed the deal for me & I've intended on checking out the records either side of it ever since. Well, 1988's "Gypsy Ways" sits somewhere between those two releases in terms of quality. It's certainly not as essential as "Hunting Time" but it's worth a listen none the less. As usual with the Japanese, the musicianship is excellent, particularly the shredding Eddie Van Halen/Randy Rhoads inspired guitar work of Hiroya Fukuda & powerful vocals of talented front man Yukio Morikawa. There are no duds included here either with the few highlight tracks being very impressive, particularly the outstanding closer "Night Stalker" which I'd suggest is somewhat of a classic for Japanese heavy metal overall.

For fans of Loudness, Judas Priest & Accept.

3.5/5

The self-titled album from Philadelphia trio Bang was released in February 1972 & opened with this number that sits somewhere between heavy metal & hard rock:

Today we look at Rainbow's "Kill The King" which sits somewhere between heavy metal & power metal making it the very first power metal song:

Traitors Gate - "Devil Takes The High Road" (1985)

I generally regard myself as having a very extensive knowledge of the NWOBHM after having analyzed & reviewed pretty much every release of any significance over the years but this little three-song E.P. from Welsh four-piece Traitors Gate is an exception to the rule, most likely because I've never recognized this release as a legitimate NWOBHM record since it didn't come until 1985 which is a good two years after the end of the movement finished as far as I'm concerned. "Devil Takes The High Road" seems to have gone on to some level of underground notoriety over the years though so I thought it was about time I checked it out. I have to say that it hasn't impressed me much though with only "Love After Midnight" offering me much in the way of lasting appeal. The vocals are pretty pitchy & weak & the production isn't amazing either. It certainly sounds a hell of a lot like a NWOBHM release though it has to be said. I'd imagine that Judas Priest & Deep Purple would have been on high rotation at the Traitors Gate rehearsal studio. They remind me quite a bit of England's Virtue who also released a one-off single back in 1985. Nothing much to see here I'm afraid.

3/5

Dark Millennium - "Ashore the Celestial Burden" (1992)

I hadn't returned to the debut album from this German outfit since the 1990's & I can kinda see why now. It's gone on to develop somewhat of a cult following over the years but, even though I find it to be generally pretty enjoyable, I'm not sure that I see it in that sort of light. I'm only aware of Dark Millennium's first two full-lengths with "Ashore the Celestial Burden" being by far the best of them. It sees Dark Millennium pushing a fairly diverse sound that I'd describe as conventional death metal with strong doom/death & progressive metal influences which would be brought further into the foreground on subsequent releases. The production & musicianship aren't amazing but these flaws are made for by general ambition & some excellent death growls from front man Christian Mertens who sometimes even reminds me of Obituary's John Tardy (i.e. my all-time favourite death metal vocalist). In fact, I'd suggest that the Florida heavyweights were a clear influence on parts of the album if I'm not mistaken. Unfortunately, there aren't any genuine classics amongst this lot & the album never feels like a tier one or two death metal release to me, even if it is worth a few listens.

For fans of The Chasm, Phlebotomized & Pan.Thy.Monium.

3.5/5

Liers in Wait - "Spiritually Uncontrolled Art" E.P. (1992)

I'm finding that I don't have much time for full-length reviews this week so I'm gonna give you a short synopsis of a few records that I've been spinning recently. This one is from my early 90's tape trading days & represents the only proper release from Swedish death metallers Liers in Wait. "Spiritually Uncontrolled Art" isn't a bad description of what you can expect to hear either as these three dudes go completely apeshit with the compositions being extremely chaotic & ADD-fuelled. The song structures rarely stay in one place for longer than a few seconds, changing spasmodically from one idea to the next amid a barrage of clicky drum blasts. While the riffs themselves may not be all that technical, the song structures are so complex that this release simply must reside in the tech death camp with the urgency & vitality in the performances keeping me on the edge of my seat throuhgout. The performances aren't terribly precise but that's all part of the appeal with an artist like Liers in Wait & I've found myself really buying into what they're selling here.

For fans of VoidCeremony, early Atrocity & "The Red In The Sky Is Ours"-period At The Gates.

4/5

This morning we take a look at another highly underground early stoner metal track in the one-off 1971 "Slave of Fear" single from Texas four-piece Stone Axe which once again sports a significant amount of Black Sabbath influence along with a fair whack of Jimi Hendrix style psychedelia. 

This morning's track is gonna be a controversial one. It's Rainbow's "Gates of Babylon" which is often touted as an early metal classic but really contains very little metal to speak of. Once again people are wanting to tag it as metal simply because of how "epic" it sounds when the tools that are being used really have no basis in metal. It's a symphonic progressive rock piece as far as I'm concerned & would seem to my ears to be Rainbow's attempt at something like Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir". 

I'm doing very well Pelle. Struggling a little with my work-life balance & rarely finding enough time to myself but generally can't complain as I'm in good health, have a beautiful family & live in the very best part of the world. Where are you from? Tell us a little bit about yourself.

This morning we take a look at the B side from the above-mentioned 1971 "Midnight Witch" single from Australia's Ash, a song entitled "Warrant" which is built on a heavy psych backbone but has also been heavily influenced by Black Sabbath. So much so, in fact, that the verse riff has been completely ripped off from Sabbath's classic "War Pigs".

This morning's track is Rainbow's "LA Connection" which is pure hard rock with a strong Led Zeppelin influence:

Found it! And it's been done with the other clans too: https://open.spotify.com/user/3uyuzxp5v3bxjdlm0x7x97og6/playlists

Impressive, but can't really say I approve of all that being done behind our backs.

I'll reach out to her & ask her to stop using the images & clan names as they're not for public use. Those logos were created specifically for Metal Academy by a paid designer.

She's removed the images at my request but not the playlist names which I also have a problem with.

Guys, please feel free to suggest a suitable image for your playlists too. I've already changed the ones for The Horde & The Guardians to make them more appealing to the casual listener. Make sure they're freely available for public use & don't breach copyright though.

Found it! And it's been done with the other clans too: https://open.spotify.com/user/3uyuzxp5v3bxjdlm0x7x97og6/playlists

Impressive, but can't really say I approve of all that being done behind our backs.

I'll reach out to her & ask her to stop using the images & clan names as they're not for public use. Those logos were created specifically for Metal Academy by a paid designer.

Black Metal Blasphemy has unfortunately already been taken.

Alternative Metal Authority?

Alternative Metal Assault?

Alternative Metal Armada?

Alternative Metal Attack?

I kinda like Alternative Metal Authority. What does everyone think?

Interestingly, one of our inactive members has created a 224 hour Spotify playlist called "The Fallen" & has used our The Fallen clan symbol as the image which isn't wonderful, especially given that some of the content isn't in line with the Metal Academy clan genre trees.

Sepultura - "Third World Posse" E.P. (1992)

By 1992 Brazilian thrash metallers Sepultura had quite literally changed the world, at least as far as the then-struggling thrash metal genre went. A commanding grunge rock wave had all but washed away the once thriving thrash metal scene with most of the more senior bands now resorting to dilution in order to stay afloat but these four heroes from Belo Horizonte had managed to not only stay afloat but to give the thrash world the shot in the arm it so sorely needed. I first discovered Sepultura through their classic 1989 third album "Beneath The Remains" & quickly indulged in their much rawer earlier material, all of which I really enjoyed. 1991's inspired "Arise" album hit me for six &, in doing so, almost managed to match "Beneath The Remains" (which still sits in my top five for the thrash metal genre overall to this day) for sheer class. So, needless to say that when I heard that Sepultura were coming to my hometown of Sydney in 1992 it saw my excitement levels reaching a fever pitch. The fact that these foreigners felt the occasion was significant enough to warrant a dedicated Australian tour E.P. left a 16 year-old me feeling somehow special so, despite the fact that "Third World Posse" didn't contain much in the way of new original material, I picked it up on CD as soon as it was released & indulged in it consistently throughout the next few years too. It's been eons since I've listened to it now but I thought I'd keep my obsessive completist urges at bay by giving it a revisit this week.

"Third World Posse" is a five-track, fifteen-minute E.P. that acts as somewhat of an extended single that's built around one of Sepultura's most popular songs in "Dead Embryonic Cells" which was drawn from the "Arise" album. It's backed with a cover version of Dead Kennedy's "Drug Me" & three live recordings that would appear to be taken from the same Barcelona show that made up the outstanding 1992 live video "Under Siege (Live at Barcelona)" which I also bought. While I've always been a big fan of "Dead Embryonic Cells", I have to admit that I've never felt that it was one of the strongest tracks on "Arise" & don't think of it as the classic that most people seem to. It's certainly a very solid inclusion though & it has the desired effect in kicking off an E.P. which was obviously intended to draw in a new audience through a fairly cheap release that coincided with their tour. Sepultura's version of "Drug Me" is also very impressive, coming across as a high-octane crossover thrash assault that's chock-full of energy & aggression. The three live cuts are all of a very high quality too to be honest with the magnificent "Inner Self" from the "Beneath The Remains" album unsurprisingly representing the highlight of the EP. "Troops of Doom" had been given a tidy-up during a session that took place in August 1990 & the version we receive here is much more in line with that re-recording than it is with the youthful enthusiasm of the original that appeared on Sepultura's 1986 debut album "Morbid Visions". It's a really good thrash song in this format too & it isn't let down by the closing track either, a very successful heavy metal cover version of the title track from Motorhead's 1986 "Orgasmatron" album that sees the band taking the song in a slightly different direction & one that saw it taking on a whole new personality.

So you see, while "Third World Posse" may not offer anything terribly new for the more experienced & obsessive fans out there, it certainly served its purpose very well. For me personally, it acted as somewhat of a calling of the guard before one of the live shows that I've placed at the very top rung of my metal experiences over the years. Sepultura may never have been the same after that tour but I guess those days can never be taken away from me & I'd encourage anyone that has similar feelings about Sepultura's peak period to give this E.P. a couple of listens, if only for old time's sake. For those that are new to the band but have been lured into the thrash world by bands like Slayer or the gods of the Teutonic scene like Kreator & Sodom, this record should also offer plenty of appeal to you as well & will no doubt open up a brand-new can of worms for you too.

4/5

This morning we're going to take a look at the true roots of the Australian metal scene. Short-lived Melbourne act The Ash began their recording career with a psychedelic pop rock single called "Avignon" in 1970 but strangely transformed into something entirely different for their second & final single "Midnight Witch" in 1971 under the shortened moniker of Ash. The title track makes up the A side & I'd suggest that it's metallic enough for inclusion under a stoner metal tag with a doomy Black Sabbath influence infiltrating its heavy psych backbone.

This morning's track is Rainbow's "Lady of the Lake" which people seem to want to tag as heavy metal but is nothing more than hard rock with some added atmospherics being added by the keyboards as far as I'm concerned. I'm guessing that people tend to think this makes the song sound more "epic" which tends to be something that's associated with metal for some reason but that doesn't make the riffs suddenly transform into metal riffs or the beats magically become metal drumming. It's just a more epic sounding hard rock tune as far as I can see.

Also, I investigated the 1978 third album "Pain Killer" from Switzerland's Krokus yesterday but found no metal whatsoever. It's a hard rock record with Status Quo-inspired boogie rock influences as far as I'm concerned.

I checked out Rush's 1978 sixth album "Hemispheres" today but didn't find any metal to speak of. It's purely a progressive hard rock record.

Armoured Angel - "Stigmartyr" E.P. (1992)

Canberra death metallers Armoured Angel were very much a local icon during the late 1980's & the whole of the 1990's. They're often touted as being the very first Australian extreme metal band which is probably a little debatable given that they started out as a more traditional heavy metal band & with a very different line-up to the one that was at least partially responsible for pushing the death metal genre in this country. Armoured Angel's first demo tape "Baptism in Blood" (released way back in 1985) is a showcase for those early attempts at heavy metal but it wasn't until 1989's "Wings of Death" & 1990's "Communion" demos (both fairly iconic releases in this part of the world) that we'd see them blazing a trail through the world of thrash metal. That transition would take its next logical step with their first proper release though & it would see Armoured Angel properly defining the sound that would make them arguably the most celebrated of all Australian death metal artists. The highly regarded four-song "Stigmartyr" E.P. would see the light of day in 1992, a release that would ultimately go on to become the jewel in Armoured Angel's crown.

I had the pleasure of witnessing Armoured Angel in a live environment on many occasions over the years, an experience that was invariably rewarding & was generally a fairly significant event in the Sydney metal calendar. Their three-piece setup was unusual with drummer Joel Green handling the vocal duties & allowing guitarist & brother Matt Green & founding member & bassist Glen "Lucy" Luck to front the stage either side of him. The most memorable event I can recall was an infamous night at the Phoenician Club where Armoured Angel & fellow Aussies Destrier blew Deicide off the stage on their "Once Upon The Cross" tour but that's a story for another time. The point I'm trying to make here is that the release of the "Stigmartyr" E.P. was highly anticipated by the local metal community which saw me picking up a CD copy immediately upon release. It didn't muck around in making an impression on this aspiring 16 year-old metal musician either & I'd suggest that it played an important role in convincing me that I needed to form my own death metal band. I mean, if these three dudes from Canberra could make a CD that was of a world class standard then so could I, right?

For all its influence & celebration at a local level, the "Stigmartyr" E.P. is only a very short overview of where Armoured Angel were at at the time with the four songs only amounting to a mere fifteen minutes in duration. It's the consistent quality of those fifteen minutes that matters here though with all four songs being worthy of your attention. "Stigmartyr" saw Armoured Angel maintaining some of their previous thrash metal tools but utilizing them within a death metal context. It's by no means the most brutal death metal release you'll ever hear but that's not the intention either. This music is all about atmosphere with repetition being used to create tension & with subtle changes creeping in over time. The riffs are kept fairly simple but the band are a tight-knit unit by this point & execute them splendidly. Joel's vocals possess a whispery, raspy quality that's always intelligible which gives Armoured Angel a level of accessibility that's not afforded to all death metal acts. His beats are kept quite basic & uncluttered which allows the hooks in the riffs & song-writing to really dig their teeth in & also keeps life as a drumming front man fairly easily achieved in a live environment. Probably the only weakness is with Matt's guitar solos as they're not terribly sophisticated & their pentatonic melodic structure doesn't exactly accentuate a death metal atmosphere. His rhythm guitar sound is nice & thick though which gives the riffs plenty of weight.

The E.P. kicks off beautifully with opener "Hymn of Hate" being a very solid example of what you can expect from "Stigmartyr". "Beyond the Sacrament" is comfortably the weaker of the four songs but is still pretty decent before the title track steps the aggression up a bit, showcasing an early Morbid Angel influence along the way. It's the brilliant closer "Ordained in Darkness" that's the real gold here though, showcasing a clear understanding of dynamics & building a trance-inducing soundscape of darkness in the process. It's an amazing journey in my opinion & I've always regarded it as one of this countries most important metal songs. That's not to scoff at the other three mind you. These four tracks are all built on an accomplished understanding of song-writing concepts with the composition being tailored to highlight the hooks. That's right... I said "hooks"... in death metal... You see Armoured Angel are all about them in a similar way to English death metal masters Bolt Thrower who are probably the band that I most closely associate with the Armoured Angel sound given their mutual penchant for repetition & melody within what are still essentially death metal riffs.

Sound interesting? Well, it should because this is not Australia's premier death metal release for no reason with all of Armoured Angel's post-"Baptism in Blood" releases being high quality representations of Aussie death metal. If you enjoy some of our other bands like Slaughter Lord or Mortification then you owe it to yourself to check out "Stigmarytr" too. 

4/5

This morning we take on a track that I feel kinda sits right in the midpoint where heavy metal & stoner metal meet in Flower Travellin' Band's "Kamikaze" which was included on their 1972 third album "Made in Japan" but first saw the light of day on a 7" single that was released a lot earlier in January 1971. There's a truckload of psychedelia here along with a doomy atmosphere but the riff structures err towards the chuggier heavy metal variety. See what you think.

This morning we take on a track that I feel kinda sits right in the midpoint where heavy metal & stoner metal meet in Flower Travellin' Band's "Kamikaze" which was included on their 1972 third album "Made in Japan" but first saw the light of day on a 7" single that was released a lot earlier in January 1971. There's a truckload of psychedelia here along with a doomy atmosphere but the riff structures err towards the chuggier heavy metal variety. See what you think.

This morning we kick off a new release with the title track from Rainbow's 1978 third album "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll", a track that I'm confident most would agree is simply hard rock:

I've just done The Fallen, The Sphere & The Pit. Any ideas for The Gateway, The Infinite & The North playlist names?

It's worth noting that the newly named The Fallen playlist is not as easy to get to come up in searches as there's a large quantity of other playlists withe the genres listed in their titles. The searches take into account the number of streams/listens to prioritize the results so the moral of the story is that the more you listen to your playlist, the more likely it is to come up in other people's searches. I've actually been leaving The Horde playlist running all night on my laptop while I'm asleep to ensure maximum coverage & it's still sitting quite high up in the searches.