Daniel's Forum Replies

At The Gates - "The Red In The Sky Is Ours" (1992)

Although most of the world were first exposed to Swedish melodic death metal legends At The Gates through their undisputedly classic 1995 fourth album "Slaughter of the Soul", it would be their 1992 debut full-length "The Red in the Sky is Ours" that would first bring them to my attention back in the early-to-mid 1990's & I recall really enjoying the experience too with the record receiving a number of repeat visits. This was a very different At The Gates to the one that would explode across the globe a few years later but I had none of that future context at the time which I think helped me to understand the record more than someone that would try to go back to it after having been converted by the wonderful "Slaughter of the Soul" which I still regard as the pinnacle of the melodeath sound to this day. I also have some unusual opinions on "The Red in the Sky is Ours" that I think hold some merit & need to be heard so let's take a look at it in a little more detail.

At The Gates' debut album is a fairly raw death metal album that possesses a lot of street credibility for a number of reasons but the production job is actually pretty clean which makes the fairly complex compositions easily decipherable. The rawness comes more from the vocals & performances which keep "The Red in the Sky is Ours" firmly in the underground. Most pundits will have you believe that At The Gates' debut was simply a classic old-school death metal album but I have to disagree with that claim as there's much more to it than that. The arrangements are so erratic yet also so sophisticated that I'm constantly left feeling like I'm listening to a technical death metal release & there's a very clear reason for that. "The Red in the Sky is Ours" is very obviously an attempt to emulate Atheist's classic "Unquestionable Presence" sophomore album in my opinion with a lot of the tools being utilized having been clearly borrowed from the Florida tech death legends. Take the basslines of Jonas Björler (The Haunted) for example which often attempt to pull off similar flourishes of technicality with the guitarists opting for similar layers of melodic counterplay too, occasionally hinting at the melodic death metal sound that they'd play a huge role in developing over the coming years although never consistently enough to justify the claims that "The Red in the Sky is Ours" is a legitimate Swedish melodeath release. The one element that At The Gates can't manage to replicate is the musicianship though which sees them offering a much looser outcome. Don't get me wrong, these guys can certainly play but pulling it all together tightly in the studio is another thing altogether. Strangely though, this seems to work for At The Gates here as it gives the album an additional layer of authenticity, the sort that the underground tape trading scene was built on & one that I very much understand. The vocals of Tomas Lindberg (Lock Up/Disfear/The Lurking Fear/Grotesque/Liers in Wait/The Crown) are also extremely raw & don't sound anywhere near as polished as they would soon become which only adds to this underground atmosphere. There's an unhinged madness to his rabid delivery which isn't as accessible as we'd hear from him on later efforts & leaves him as the weaker link in the early At The Gates chain in my opinion.

"The Red in the Sky is Ours" is a very consistent record as I don't think there are any weak tracks included as such. There aren't any absolute belters either but there are just enough very solid death metal numbers to see me thoroughly enjoying the outcome nonetheless. The one-two punch of my personal favourite "Within" into the equally strong "Windows" is probably the best part of the record although I also really enjoy the title track, "Neverwhere" & the end of the album which is made up of the highly progressive "Night Comes, Blood Black" & "City of Screaming Statues", a track that was also included on At The Gates' excellent 1991 "Gardens of Grief" demo which fans of the band should really check out.

But where does "The Red in the Sky is Ours" sit in the overall At The Gates back catalogue then? Well, I'm not gonna surprise anyone by suggesting that it eclipses "Slaughter of the Soul" as that's simply not the case but I don't actually think it's all that far behind it terms of how much appeal it offers me. I've never been the biggest fan of melodic death metal so the more technical death metal approach of the debut is more in line with my usual musical preferences which, I'll admit, gives it a little bit of an advantage over At The Gates' other records & perhaps that's the reason that I've always considered it to be their second-best release. For those that have always had similar battles with the melodeath subgenre to myself, don't let that discourage you from giving "The Red in the Sky is Ours" a few runs because it holds some very different cards & I tend to associate much more closely with bands like the afore-mentioned Atheist, fellow Swedes Liers in Wait & the more technical melodeath artists like Arsis than I do a Dark Tranquillity or In Flames. Whatever you call it though, it deserves to be heard & shouldn't be left lurking in the shadows while "Slaughter of the Soul" takes all of the spotlight.

4/5

This morning we're going to take a look at the title track from Deep Purple's 1971 fifth album "Fireball" which possesses a classic chugging, palm-muted, tremolo-picked bottom-string heavy metal riff with highly influential double-kick work from drummer Ian Paice. This track was clearly influential on a young Judas Priest.

This morning we tie up Judas Priest's "Stained Class" record with closer "Heroes End" which I'm (perhaps controversially) going to claim as being hard rock rather than heavy metal although there's probably a case for a dual tagging too:

This sees "Stained Class" finishing with a successful metal ratio of 81% (the highest we've seen to date making it the most metal album released to the time) & rounding out our first ten genuine metal releases ever list which looks like this:

01. Black Sabbath - "Black Sabbath" (1970)

02. Black Sabbath - "Paranoid" (1970)

03. Black Sabbath - "Master of Reality" (1971)

04. Black Sabbath - "Vol.4" (1972)

05. Black Sabbath - "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" (1973)

06. Black Sabbath - "Sabotage" (1975)

07. Judas Priest - "Sad Wings of Destiny" (1976)

08. Rainbow - "Rising" (1976)

09. Judas Priest - "Sin After Sin" (1977)

10. Judas Priest - "Stained Class" (1978)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/271

I will throw out something else a little controversial by saying that, even though "Stained Class" is clearly a metal release, I've actually had to give it a dual tag with hard rock as it ended up with two songs that were solely tagged as hard rock (i.e. "Better by You, Better Than Me" & "Heroes End") & two that received dual tags of heavy metal/hard rock (i.e. "Invader" & "Beyond The Realms of Death") out of the ten included.

I know a few of your were pushing for Deep Purple's "In Rock" to be included in the list but I have to say that I don't hear it personally & the votes on the Hall of Judgement vote are currently in agreement with me so it doesn't qualify anyway. I've been really enjoying the process so I'm thinking that I might continue it through the end of the 1970's. See you tomorrow for a brand new record in Rainbow's 1978 third album "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll".

Now let's go a little deeper with a track by the name of "Love Me Hard" from short-lived New York hard rockers Dust. It was released as the main single from Dust's highly regarded self-titled debut album which was released in September 1971 & sees them offering up very much a hard rock/heavy metal hybrid sound with the main riff being a driving, high-octane heavy metal chugger. See what you think.

Today's song is Judas Priest's "Beyond The Realms of Death", a track that is universally regarded as a classic heavy metal power ballad but one which I'd suggest is probably more of a hard rock/heavy metal hybrid with the hard rock playing the stronger role of the two.

Malevolent Creation - "Retribution" (1992)

The 1991 debut album "The Ten Commandments" from Buffalo death metallers Malevolent Creation was a pretty big record in my household with both Ben & I finding a lot of appeal in their thrashy take on the exciting American brand of death metal that was dominating the underground market at the time. Based that experience, I was super-keen for another dose by the time 1992's "Retribution" sophomore record hit the record store shelves & went about purchasing it on cassette post-haste. If anything, "Retribution" hit me even harder than their debut & it's subsequently gone on to become my favourite Malevolent Creation release to this day. It saw the band dropping the majority of their thrash influence for a much purer death metal sound that was exactly the sort of stuff I was into at the time (& arguably always will be). It's a relentless record that balances its brutality with a strong sense of memorability & professionalism that immediately reenforced the suspicions that Malevolent Creation were going to be a mainstay of the US death metal scene for many years to come.

I've always thought of "Retribution" as somewhat of a classic release but unfortunately this revisit has seen me reevaluating that position. It's certainly a very solid effort that ticks all of my boxes but the reality is that, even though it offers an impressive level of class & consistency throughout the nine tracks included, there's not really enough genuine classics here to justify me placing it alongside the Death's & Morbid Angel's. Instead, I feel that "Retribution" placed Malevolent Creation at the front of the second tier with the highlight moments seeing the album lapping at the heels of the bigger name players. Perhaps the reason I've tended to think of it as a top tier record over the years has been driven by the way the tracklisting kicks off with the album beginning with its four strongest songs. Opener "Eve of the Apocalypse" is a stunning example of the US death metal sound & is arguably the band's career highlight while I also regard the more controlled "Coronation of Our Domain" as a genuine classic. And what about that breakdown in the iconic "Slaughter of Innocence", a song that I tried to convince my Neuropath band mates to cover back in the mid-1990's. The back end of the album tends to sit more within itself with this material lacking the obvious hooks of the earlier songs, even if it's all still pretty strong solid stuff in its own right.

The influence of the first couple of albums from fellow Buffalo death metallers Cannibal Corpse is obvious throughout & so is that of the self-titled Deicide record which leads to comparisons with the debut album from Florida's Monstrosity "Imperial Doom" which shared similar sources of inspiration. The vocals of front man Brettt Hoffmann are the excellent with his monstrous death growl proving to be both aggressive & easily intelligible. Former lead guitarist Jeff Juszkiewicz had been replaced by former Solstice & future Cannibal Corpse shredder Rob Barrett with Barrett adding further weight to an already imposing death metal sound. His Solstice band mate & drummer Alex Marquez has also come across to fill the stool that was previously filled by Mark Simpson with Marquez's pummeling performance only advancing Malevolent Creation's death metal credentials, despite the fact that his chops weren't as yet as tight as your metronomical modern-day skinsman.

There's not much between "The Ten Commandments" & "Retribution" to be honest but I still tend to favour "Retribution", perhaps only because its approach is a little more in line with my personal taste profile. There can be no doubt at all that these two are the band's best records though & I think it's a bit of a shame that Malevolent Creation have never amounted to more given the solid way they began their recording career & their longevity in the scene. I've generally checked out each of their eleven remaining studio albums as they hit the streets but have unfortunately found them to be pretty hit & miss with none of them being strong enough to be regarded as essential releases.

4/5

Brooklyn-based hard rock trio Sir Lord Baltimore released their self-titled sophomore album in August 1971 &, as with their debut 1970 "Kingdom Come", it wasn't a metal record as such but it did include one clear metal song. Closer "Caesar LXXI" is built on a classic Tony Iommi-style heavy metal riff that reminds me of Black Sabbath songs like "Supertzar".

This morning's track is Judas Priest's "Savage" which I regard as being heavy metal:

Disgorge - "Cognitive Lust of Mutilation" demo (1992)

This is another one of the early brutal death metal demos I picked up during my 1990's tape trading heyday &, listening back now, I can easily hear the sound that my band Neuropath would eventually develop in this material too. I'm not ashamed to admit that my influences & inspiration were drawn from this sort of stuff during what I regard as one of the most enjoyable periods of musical discovery in my lifetime. The production is of demo quality of course & the performances aren't the most precise or polished you'll find either but the atmosphere & brutality is certainly there with the riffs always maintaining a level of catchiness, despite the unadulterated extremity. The vocals of bassist Bryan Ugartechea are the obvious main attraction as they're not only ultra-deep, super-gutteral & thoroughly unintelligible but also pretty fucking awesome. The unfortunately titled "Cognitive Lust of Mutilation" demo tape is an accomplished effort for a debut release with all four songs proving themselves worthy of being heard & fans of brutal death metal bands like Brodequin, Gorgasm & Disentomb might wanna give it a spin at some point.

4/5

There's no metal whatsoever on Lucifer's Friend's 1978 sixth album "Good Time Warrior". It's essentially a commercial AOR record.

There will no doubt be a lot of people who will claim Black Sabbath's "Into The Void" as doom metal or heavy metal but I think it's better suited to the stoner metal tag personally. Just listen to the doomy groover of a riff that opens this classic song for example. The main verse riff is no doubt a heavy metal chugger but what about the psychedelic doubled guitar solos technique that's utilized during the outro or the heavily down-tuned guitar tone? How about the curvy blues rock-inspired riffs that come in at the three-minute & five-minute marks? Much more stoner than they are heavy metal in my opinion & this song isn't consistently slow enough for a doom metal tag either.

This morning's track is Judas Priest's "Saints in Hell" which I'd suggest is heavy metal:

Suggestions for The Pit:

Thrash & Speed Metal Massacre

Thrash Metal & Speed Metal Madness

Thrash Metal Menace

Thrash Metal Destruction

Thrash Metal Punishment

Fearless Thrash Metal Machines

Thrash & Speed Metal Swarm

Thrash & Speed Metal Annihilation

Thrashlethics

Thrash/Speed Metal Annihilation is my preference of those listed Vinny. I'll do some test searches & see how it fairs this afternoon.

OK, so how does "Doom and Sludge Metal Darkness" sound? The other two don't seem quite right the other way round.

Alternatively: 

Doom Metal Domination

Doom Metal Dominion

Doomination: Doom & Sludge Metal

Doom Metal Apocalypse

I just did a search & found that someone else has already used "Doomination" which is disappointing as a I quite liked that idea. I've already used "Apocalypse" for The Horde too. "Doom Metal Dominion" is my preference of the ones that you've listed. I'll do some test searches & see how it fairs.

This morning's track is Judas Priest's "Invader" which I'd suggest sits right in the middle between heavy metal & hard rock:

I' also checked out Japanese outfit Bow Wow's 1978 live album "Super Live" yesterday & found it to be predominantly a hard rock record although it does include a few tracks that are close enough to metal.

The "Master of Reality" album would eventually see the light of day on 21st July 1971 & it would include this doomy groover which was clearly an inspiration for many of the stoner metal bands we know today.

You're certainly on the right track Sonny. I would suggest beginning the title with the genre(s) as the Spotify searches cut off the names & people will want to see their genre of choice immediately if they're going to be enticed to click on the icon.

Alright, I've changed The Revolution & it's now coming up as number one when I search for "metalcore". Let's see how we go from here.

Interestingly, I can't insert links to the website in the description because Spotify reserve that functionality for artists & labels. I'll see if I can get around it somehow.

Actually, why not simply "Metalcore Revolution"? That'll kill two birds with one stone.

Also, I'm gonna have to find space to include the website address in the playlist descriptions.

I don’t mind “riot” for The Revolution” & agree with your thinking. I think it could also be “rebellion” which I think sounds a touch better in my opinion.

I don’t like “future” for The Sphere though. It’s not metal enough for my liking. Perhaps “invasion”?

Awesome! Have a think about how you might like to adjust the title of The Fallen then Sonny. I think we've been missing a trick here in a big way. Apparently including the more popular band names in the description helps too. Interestingly the list still comes up when I search on "Metal Academy" too, despite it no longer being listed in the playlist title.

OK, so I've decided to change the title of The Horde playlist to "Death Metal/Grindcore Apocalypse" to see how it goes. Strangely none of the other death/graind-related playlists have used the word "apocalypse" as yet as far as I can see. I've also changed the description to read as follows:

"Metal Academy website's monthly two-hour "The Horde" clan death metal & grindcore playlist covering new releases, old classics & underground gems as well as all of the subgenres. Think Death, Cryptopsy, Morbid Angel, Nails, Gorguts, Atheist, Carcass, Behemoth, At The Gates, Entombed & Pig Destroyer."

When I conduct various searches it seems to do very well but I'm wondering if that's because I created it & are listening to it regularly. It might be worth you doing your own searches to see if they result in the same outcome as listed below:

Death metal grindcore - 1

Death metal - 6

Grindcore - 5

Apocalypse - 1

I'll be very surprised if that doesn't result in more likes but we may need to look at using more professional looking images too. I might see if I can get a version of the Neuropath CD cover without the logo & title on it as that would probably be more likely to attract people than our clan image.

For a test, I just changed the title of The Horde playlist to "Death metal grindcore" & did a search for "death metal grindcore" on Spotify & our playlist came up in first place. In our current format it doesn't come up at all. That's how important it is that we get the title right. It clearly needs to include key words that we think our audience would search for. I'm open to the concept of us excluding the clans &/or the Metal Academy brand from the title in the interest of growing our listenership. We can always use the image & description for greater detail. Nothing's off the table at this point.

OK, excuse me, Daniel, but I am getting a little bit confused now. Are we changing the focus away from programming the playlists to reflect the members' listening habits over the previous month to something that is more likely to attract new listeners? If the majority of any given playlist comes from other members' suggestions then the playlist compiler has to play the hand he is dealt, thus making the tips you suggest very difficult to follow. For The Fallen, for example, youself, Vinny and I tend very often towards the more extreme end of the Fallen scope, so producing a list to reflect these new guidelines would be quite challenging, given the tastes of the contributing members. I don't really know how to proceed now, I must be honest.

No, I'm not suggesting that we change our nomination process Sonny. The playlists should still be an accumulation of our members listening habits wherever possible but I'd suggest that we could curve our programming processes to ensure that the start of the lists are really strong. When I mentioned classic songs I was simply saying that we shouldn't look at it as a bad thing if people nominate Metallica, Iron Maiden or Black Sabbath songs for our playlists. The majority of our playlists are still being selected by the playlist owner too (see The Revolution, The Sphere, The Gateway, The Guardians, etc.) so the programmer has the option to throw in a couple of classic tracks at their discretion on occasion but I'm not dictating any "guidelines" here as such. These are just suggestions to help us gain more listeners.

Unfortunately, I suspect that the listeners you mentioned don't exist yet Andi which is the reason for wanting to explore our naming convention options. If you search "metalcore" on Spotify you'll find that your playlist doesn't come up at all. Sure, it comes up if you search "Metal Academy" or "The Revolution" but that requires a level of prior knowledge which I don't believe is there right now. We also need to be doing regular advertising to create exposure which we're currently not doing. I intend on putting together some plans in that space too once we've developed a new naming/description/imaging convention that will come up in relevant searches. 

This morning's track is the title track from Judas Priest's "Stained Class" which is a clear heavy metal number with its driving metal riffage.

I also checked out Thin Lizzy's "Live & Dangerous" live album from 1978 yesterday. It's clearly a hard rock record rather than a metal one but I'd suggest that there are a few tracks that should qualify for metal status.

The mighty Black Sabbath would release another promotional single just prior to the release of their third album "Master of Reality" in the classic "Sweet Leaf" which was released in July 1971. It very much represents the prototype for the stoner metal genre overall with its obviously drug-fueled lyrics, thick, fuzzy guitar riffs & groovy, mid-tempo rhythms. The majority of people claiming it as a heavy metal tune are off the mark by miles.

Cathedral - "Soul Sacrifice" E.P. (1992)

Coventry stoner doom masters Cathedral's debut album "Forest of Equilibrium" absolutely floored me back in 1991. I simply found it so refreshing to hear a record that was so inspired by the past yet presented its influences in a way that sounded entirely fresh & which contained so much depth. It certainly helped that it's one of the doomiest records I've ever heard in my life as I'm sure you all know of my passion for gratuitous waves of deep audio oppression by now. I'd purchase "Forest of Equilibrium" on cassette shortly after it was released & it would immediately become a life-long favourite of mine. I'd frantically go hunting for more of this sound too which would lead me to Cathedral's marvelous 1990 "In Memorium" demo tape which I also regard as a genuine doom metal classic. That would unfortunately have to do me for a while, that is until Earache Records released their "Gods of Grind" compilation CD the following year, a release that included E.P.'s from Carcass, Entombed, Confessor &... what do you know, huh? A new Cathedral E.P.!!

Contrary to popular opinion, the "Soul Sacrifice" E.P. wasn't recorded during the "Forest of Equilibrium" sessions, instead being laid down in January 1992. The version of "Soul Sacrifice" that appears on the E.P. is slightly different to the one that I regard as being the only real blemish on the debut album. The differences don't leave it commanding a different response from me though I'm afraid. I simply can't get into that more chuggy, up-tempo & groovy stoner metal shit. The other three songs are all brand new which left me with considerable excitement. Sadly though, two of the three take a similar musical direction to the title track so I find myself struggling with both "Golden Blood (Flooding)" & particularly "Autumn Twilight". Lee Dorrian's heavily pitchy vocal stylings are done no favours by this material either. Thankfully though, the remaining song "Frozen Rapture" is an absolute doom metal monster of the most epic proportions imaginable. In fact, it's seriously one of the greatest examples of the genre I've ever heard in my life & I can't imagine why it never managed to make it onto a full-length album. Sure, there's a short stoner metal groove riff accompanied by s cheesy cowbell about two thirds of the way through the song but it's all over very quickly with things returning to pure desperation & depression. I can't tell you how life-changing this song has been for me across my life. It still gives me chills to this day.

So, the "Soul Sacrifice" E.P. sounds fairly inessential really, doesn't it? It kinda says something that I find it to be comfortably the weaker of the four E.P.'s on the "Gods of Grind compilation too but "Soul Sacrifice" falls into a fairly unique bracket of releases for me in that it can genuinely be carried by the one stunning piece, despite the fact that I get very little out of the remaining inclusions. It's also worth mentioning that the online consensus that the E.P. is a doom metal release is overly ambitious given that three of the four songs clearly fall into the groovy stoner metal camp. "Golden Blood (Flooding)" has a fantastic doom section towards the end that sits right up there in the top echelon of the genre but sadly it's wasted on a lengthy track that spends far more time in Groovetown. I'm sure stoner nuts that bow down at the altar of bands like Sleep, Church of Misery & Orange Goblin might have less of a problem with this material than I do but I still don't see "Soul Sacrifice" competing with the better releases from the stoner metal genre. It's merely an inessential platform for Cathedral to showcase one of its finest moments in my opinion so I'll always keep the CD handy, even if I might use the skip button a few times (often to return to the start of "Frozen Rapture" for another run).

3.5/5

I'm thinking that a good way to move forwards with the monthly playlist name change concept might be for me to develop a new tenth playlist that I can use as a test case in order to see if I can draw a wider audience to it. That way I can avoid fucking around with our established playlists. I've started to program one already but will take my time with it because it's important that it's of a very high quality & is programmed in a way that will attract an audience if it's going to make for a valid test case i.e. people need to be wowed by it if they're going to commit to subscribing to it & I'm not sure I've given that idea enough care in the past. I also need to do more research on how to name it well because most experts seem to say that changing the name of your playlist is a bad idea as it confuses your audience.

Some more tips from the web are that a) it's best practice to start your playlist with the five strongest tracks as a majority of people only give a playlist a maximum of five songs to win them over & b) you'll draw more hits if you include some classic songs in each playlist in order to draw in the less educated market segment. It's also worth including some of the more popular bands that reflect the overarching sound of your list in the playlist description in order to jag some additional search results.

I checked out the 1978 demo tapes from Russia's Легион & London's Girlschool this week but found them both to offer very little in the way of metal. I also investigated Budgie's 1978 seventh album "Impeckable" which is unquestionably a hard rock record.

5th July 1971 would herald the return of the legendary Black Sabbath following their world-changing 1970 sophomore album "Paranoid". On this day they'd release the "Children of the Grave" single which would present the world with a taster from their upcoming third album "Master of Reality". Unlike many of Sabbath's early classics, "Children of the Grave" showcases that classic mid-paced, galloping chug riff that would in no small part go on to defines what heavy metal music is to this day.

This morning's track is Judas Priest's "Better by You, Better Than Me". I'm gonna go against the grain here by saying this is predominantly a hard rock song rather than a heavy metal one. Sure, there's one obvious metal riff during the pre-chorus but the remainder clearly sits in the rock space in my opinion.

Godflesh - "Pure" (1992)

While I wouldn't ever suggest that industrial metal is one of my favourite genres, there are plenty of artists from within that realm that appeal to me but none of them come close to the sheer class & inventiveness of Birmingham's Godflesh who were at least partially responsible for birthing the genre in the first place. I fell hopelessly in love with Godflesh through their classic 1989 debut album "Streetcleaner" which saw me quickly investigating their seminal 1988 self-titled E.P., a release that soon proved itself to contain some similarly masterful material. I'd subsequently get onboard with 1991's stunning "Slavestate" & very solid "Cold World" E.P.'s as soon as they hit the streets as well as Godflesh's brilliant "Slateman" single in what was an imposing initial run of amazing releases that saw Ben & I thoroughly obsessing over Godflesh during the first half of the 1990's. 1992's "Pure" sophomore album would play a large role in that obsession too after I picked it up on cassette shortly after release.

"Pure" sees band leader Justin Broadrick (Jesu/Fall of Because/Napalm Death) embracing his experimental side by further incorporating elements he'd hinted at in the past to create a record that very much owns its own unique identity. It's calling cards come in the form of its repetitive, draw-out song-structures & abrasive layers of guitar work, both of which would provide the inspiration for the post-metal genre that would be developed in the coming years. The heavily hip hop-inspired drum programming & crushingly heavy basslines of G.C. Green (Fall of Because) are perhaps even further accentuated than on past releases with the atmosphere reflecting the coldness of the magnificent cover artwork beautifully. Broadrick's vocals now alternate between a hardcore-ish bark & a wispy & intentionally pitchy clean delivery that has remained with him throughout his career.

"Pure" is not an immediate release by any stretch of the imagination as it can take some time to open up, even upon return visits. It can be most closely associated with 1991's "Cold World" E.P. given that they were both recorded in the same session. There's not even anything that hints at being a weaker track on the lengthy 80-minute tracklisting with some of Godflesh's strongest material being scattered evenly across the album to reward the patient listener for their committed attention. The heavily dance music-inspired "Mothra", the post-rock infused "Don't Bring Me Flowers" & the enormous 21-minute dark ambient closer "Pure II" are simply devastating & represent my personal highlights while some of the other more significant tracks like "Predominance" & "Monotremata" also tick all of my boxes to qualify for classic status.

While 1989's "Streetcleaner" is perhaps destined to remain the pinnacle of Godflesh's illustrious back catalogue for all eternity (closely followed by the underrated "The Earache Peel Sessions" E.P. for me personally), "Pure" doesn't sit all that far behind in my opinion. In fact, I'd suggest that it slightly surpasses the self-titled & "Slavestate" E.P.'s in my esteem these days, comfortably eclipsing "Cold World" too. It's a marvelous example of what true industrial metal music can achieve. You know... music that simply sounds & feels like it's been created by layering samples of factory sounds over the top of each other to create a dark & brooding atmosphere? Godflesh did this better & far more consistently than anyone else during the first half of the 1990's &, in doing so, etched their name into my soul for a lifetime. When I return to these records every so often I feel a calmness & a warmth inside, even in the coldest & harshest of musical landscapes, & it's this achievement above all else that represents Justin Broadrick's most revering calling card. If you only ever find the time to investigate one industrial metal artist then it simply must be this one.

4.5/5

P.S. This revisit has forced me to reassess my Top Ten Metal Releases of All Time list with "Pure" forcing Emperor's "In The Nightside Eclipse" out & positioning itself at number 98.

I can't say that I've ever invested much time into Creed but the material I have heard has had nothing much to do with metal. If you think there are some Creed releases that should qualify for inclusion in the Academy database then feel free to advise which ones they are & I can arrange to have them added as Non-Metal. That way you can nominate them to be added to the Hall of Judgement so that people can vote on whether to include them here or not.

I've always really enjoyed Dutch brutal death metallers Severe Torture but had kinda lost hope of ever hearing another release from them in the fourteen years since 2010's excellent "Slaughtered" album. Next month we finally see Severe Torture's long-awaited sixth full-length "Torn From the Jaws of Death" hitting the shelves though & I'll be sure to check it out at some point.

I really dug 2021's "Escape of the Phoenix" album but haven't gotten around to investigating any of Everygrey's other thirteen full-lengths as yet. The Swedes brand new album "Theories of Emptiness" hits the shelves on 7th June so I might need to check it out at some point.

I've always quite liked the one-off 1979 "Fröm The Fjörds" album from Connecticut trio Legend, a record that combines a number of influences including the heavy metal of Black Sabbath, the progressive rock of Yes & the jazz fusion of the Mahavishnu Orchestra. It was also one of the earliest genuine metal releases to come out of the USA. Interestingly, drummer Raymond E. Frigon has turned born-again Christian & decided to re-record the album with the adjusted title of "From The Lord" & with new Christian lyrics. He's the only one of the members that are left these days so this isn't the most relevant release of 2024.

The new E.P. from Brooklyn-based avant-garde black metal outfit Liturgy was released this week. It's called "Immortal Life II" & I'll probably check it out at some point given that I've always gained some enjoyment from Liturgy's albums. Their E.P.'s have been a little more inconsistent though with 2008's "Immortal Life" E.P. being pretty ordinary so (given that this would seem to be the sequel to that ill-fated release) I'd suggest that this record could go either way. What in the actual fuck is going on with that cover artwork though, eh?

Japan's Flower Travellin' Band would release arguably their finest work on 25 April 1971 in their widely praised sophomore album "Satori". It opens with this highly psychedelic yet inherently metallic piece entitled "Satori Part I". Heavy metal, heavy psych & traditional doom metal are all subgenres that inevitably get tossed around when analyzing this song. I'd argue that it's too metallic for heavy psych. It's certainly doomy in parts & no doubt contains the occasional chuggy heavy metal riff but it's also seriously druggy, so much so that I feel that it should qualify as stoner metal. See what you think.

Today's track is Judas Priest's "White Heat, Red Hot" which I'd suggest should qualify as heavy metal:

December 1970 would signal the arrival of Brooklyn's Sir Lord Baltimore & their debut album "Kingdom Come". While their general linkage to metal is unjustified with their sound generally sitting much closer to heavy psych, the title track is pure, Black Sabbath-inspired stoner metal & stands out from the rest of the tracklisting very obviously:

This morning's track is Judas Priest's infamous "Exciter" which I'd suggest is an early example of speed metal:

This was my short review from many years ago now & it's stood the test of time with "Tools of the Trade" still proving itself to be a solid inclusion in the Carcass back catalogue. In fact, I'd suggest that I now place it alongside "Heartwork" on the second shelf beneath the wonderful "Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious" which is one of my all-time favourite releases from any genre.

I've always found this little E.P. to be an invaluable part of any serious Carcass fan's collection. Sure it only features one brand new track but it still has plenty to offer. Not only is the title track an absolute cracker but you also get the album version of "Incarnated Solvent Abuse" (arguably their career highlight) as well as re-recorded versions of two early Carcass songs that had not previously had the opportunity to be presented with a decent production. The fresh versions of "Pyosisified (Rotten To The Gore") & "Hepatic Tissue Fermentation II" are great improvements on the originals in my opinion. The fact that the tracks all seem to have been recorded during the "Necroticism" sessions is also a welcome bonus as it makes for a more even & flowing listening experience; a trait that isn't always made a priority when putting together EPs like this one.

4/5

Here's my updated top ten after Rorschach have usurped Disembodied to enter my list for the very first time:

01. Converge – “All We Love We Leave Behind” (2012)

02. Converge – “You Fail Me” (2004)

03. Converge – “Axe To Fall” (2009)

04. Loathe – “I Let It In & It Took Everything” (2020)

05. Converge – “When Forever Comes Crashing” (1998)

06. Between The Buried & Me - “Colors_Live” (2008)

07. Snapcase - "Progression Through Unlearning" (1997)

08. Every Time I Die – “Radical” (2021)

09. Converge – “Jane Doe” (2001)

10. Rorschach - "Protestant" (1993)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/178

Here's my review:

New Jersey metalcore outfit Rorschach have been on my radar to check out for quite some time now. I'd heard a few of their tracks while I was still programming the monthly The Revolution playlists & had always found their sound fairly attractive but I guess I'm not generally one to go chasing too much in the way of metalcore. The task of selecting every second The Revolution feature release has finally seen me investigating Rorschach though & I'm very glad I did because I've found them to be a class act that's deserving of the hype they inevitably seem to draw.

"Protestant" was clearly produced by a very competent group of musicians who knew what they were doing & had a clear sound in mind. Like a lot of the early metalcore releases, it sits heavily on the hardcore punk side of the metalcore equation but utilizes the best elements of that genre in conjunction with metal influences to great effect. The level of musicianship is exceptional for a bunch of rebellious punks to be honest with the arrangement & composition being very mature & showcasing a lot in the way of technique. I'm not the biggest fan of Charles Maggio's vocals as they tend to err on the generic, screamy side of the metalcore spectrum but they're certainly not a deal breaker by any means. It's the guitar work of Keith Huckins (Deadguy/Kiss It Goodbye) & Nick Forté (Raspberry Bulbs) that's the real attraction here though, particularly when they explore more atmospheric, arpeggiated or chaotic realms.

Another strength is that there are no weak tracks included amongst the thirteen included on "Protestant". It begins in very solid fashion & tends to maintain that level for most of the tracklisting. There's only really the one track that I'd suggest is capable of competing at the top tier of the metalcore hierarchy though in the classic "Blinders". The references to the mathcore subgenre are a little bit of a stretch though to tell you the truth. Yes, this material was fairly sophisticated for the time but I'm not sure I would ever tag it as chaotic, hectic or spasmodic. It's perhaps just a touch more progressive than you would usually expect from the hardcore scene which is intended as a compliment in this context.

"Protestant" is a very strong record overall & is definitely the sort of metalcore record I find myself attracted to. It doesn't rely on production or gimmicks to draw the listeners attention, instead focusing on strong song-writing & punk rock energy to perform the task & it works a treat. In fact, I've gone so far as to include "Protestant" in my newly revised Top Ten Metalcore Releases of All Time list which is really saying something given that it's not generally a genre of choice for me. I can tell a good record when I hear one though & "Protestant" fits the bill nicely.

4/5

November 1970 would see the release of the classic self-titled debut album from Germany's Lucifer's Friend, a record that I'd suggest sits somewhere between hard rock & heavy psych overall. The opening track "Ride The Sky" is another story altogether though with its driving bottom-string chug riff putting it comfortably into head-banging heavy metal territory. It sounds a hell of a lot like Deep Purple's more metallic moments but also sports the obvious Led Zeppelin plagiarism in the horn part which replicates the theme from "Immigrant Song".

The last track from Sorcery's "Sinister Soldiers" album is "Schitzoid" which I'd suggest should qualify as heavy metal:

This means that I've tagged only two tracks from "Sinister Soldiers" as being metal which is not enough for it to qualify as a metal release overall. It's a hard rock/heavy psych record for mine. Tomorrow we'll be starting a brand new release in Judas Priest's classic 1978 fourth album "Stained Class" which I would suggest holds strong metal prospects.

Here's my review:

When Ben nominated the brand new sophomore album from Los Angeles death metallers Civerous as our May feature release a couple of weeks ago I found myself full of hopes & dreams of a potentially very positive experience. I’ve given Civerous’ 2021 debut album “Decrepit Flesh Relic” a few listens in recent years & found it to be a very enjoyable experience while the early reports on their newie “Maze Envy” had tended to indicate that it was another step up from the debut so all was boding very well for the potential success of this week's undertaking. None of the reviews I'd read would end up giving me a hint at the magnitude of the impact that “Maze Envy” would make on me though as it’s an astoundingly good extreme metal record & potentially one that will stay with me for many decades.

“Maze Envy” is a seven-track, 42-minute affair that comes in a striking purple cover. It took me a while to come around to the artwork at first but now I find myself loving it. The indecipherable band logo isn’t real flash but thankfully the contents of the album are quite remarkable. You’ll rarely find a better produced death metal record in my opinion with every instrument being full, clear, powerful & in your face while the energy levels are kept high & the crescendos receive earth-shattering power. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that the production job is one of the major selling points for the album & I’d be perfectly happy if every metal release I ever heard in my life sounded like this one to be honest.

Civerous’ sound is generally touted as sitting somewhere between the doom/death & death metal genres but I have to admit that I’m not buying the doom/death tag here. Sure, “Maze Envy” has its doomy moments but there’s not enough of that material to justify a dual tag with the general atmosphere sitting clearly in the death metal camp. There are a number of other influences at play here though too with black metal, post-metal & even deathcore & djent receiving the occasional airing. It all works wonderfully well though with the vast majority of the material seemingly reaching the fullest realization of its potential. Front man Lord Foul is an absolute animal & his ultra-gutteral vocals are right up there with the best in the death metal game. They’re offset by the regular use of blackened screams that are almost as effective. I’m also a huge fan of the powerful yet innovative drumming of Aidan Neuner, as well as the subtle keyboards that are incorporated at just the right moments to ensure maximum atmosphere.

Sadly “Maze Envy” begins with its only weak point in the artsy modern classical intro piece “The Azure Eye” which does very little for me but the remainder of the album is right on the money, particularly the second half of the tracklisting which maintains its position in the more elite levels of the death metal hierarchy throughout. The one-two punch of new classics “Levitation Tomb” & the title track is utterly devastating while the two songs that bookend the album (“Shrouded in Crystals” & “Geryon (The Plummet”) aren’t far behind. This is crushingly heavy peak-time death metal of the highest order, so much so that I can easily see “Maze Envy” being my album of the year in another 7-8 months. The contrast of the Spectral Voice/diSEMBOWELMENT style doom/death sections & the more up-front Grave Miasma/Phrenelith/Incantation style death metal is so fucking appealing to this old extreme metalhead that I can hardly contain my joy right now. "Maze Envy" is just what I look for in my metal in 2024.

4.5/5

This morning we're gonna take a look at a deeper cut that hit the scene on 21st October 1970 & it takes the form of a cover of Black Sabbath's classic title track from earlier that year, only this time it's done in a deeper, more atmospheric & much more psychedelic style that I absolutely love. It's taken from Japanese icons Flower Travellin' Band's underappreciated debut album "Anywhere" & it also represents a very pure example of the traditional doom metal sound in my opinion. See what you think.