Daniel's Forum Replies

The Thron, Sulphur Aeon & Tilintetgjort ones are my favourites.

At the moment it would seem like the Neuropath CD is likely to come out on top in the race for The Horde Clan Release of 2023 & while I'm certainly flattered that it appears alongside the most popular releases from the clan over the past year I'm also not sure I feel comfortable with it. For starters, it's numbers have been boosted by me awarding it the full five stars which I'm not sure anyone would blame me for but it's a luxury not afforded to other releases & I wouldn't suggest is not an accurate reflection of the music itself. Secondly, "At Damnation's Core" is a remastered compilation of two demo tapes recorded in 1995 rather than a new release. Regardless of those two points, I'd suggest that it also might not be a very good look to have the moderator's CD winning the award when it's very unlikely to get a mention anywhere else. How does everyone feel about this & how would you propose we move forward? These are the options as I see them but feel free to propose your own:

1. We disqualify "At Damnation's Core" from being eligible for the award.

2. We qualify it but ignore my ratings.

3. We leave it as is & what will be will be.

Open thoughts guys? It's very much the same case in The Gallery too by the way as it's ahead there too.

I've always had time for "Seventh Star" & feel that it's been unfairly treated by people that were unable to think of it as the Tony Iommi solo album that it was always intended to be. In fact, I'd take it our records like "Never Say Die!", "Technical Ecstasy", "Forbidden" or "Tyr" these days.

3.5/5

Today's track is Budgie's "Crash Course In Brain Surgery" which is just a hard rock song in my opinion but seems to have been misguidedly elevated to metal status by the public due to the links to Metallica's hugely popular cover version.

And yet you apparently started the thread in order to do just that. ;)

My adjusted Top Ten Funeral Doom Metal Releases of All Time list after checking out the debut album from Sacramento duo Oromet today:

01. Esoteric - "The Maniacal Vale" (2008)

02. Esoteric – “Paragon of Dissonance” (2011)

03. Shape of Despair - "Monotony Fields" (2015)

04. Esoteric – “Metamorphogenesis” (1999)

05. Esoteric - "A Pyrrhic Existence" (2019)

06. Ahab - "The Call of The Wretched Sea" (2006)

07. Esoteric - "The Pernicious Enigma" (1997)

08. Evoken – “Atra Mors” (2012)

09. The Howling Void – “Shadows Over The Cosmos” (2010)

10. Oromet - "Oromet" (2023)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/132

Oromet - "Oromet" (2023)

This debut album from a new Sacramento-based duo is a great example of the funeral doom metal genre in my opinion & I'm surprised that it hasn't been mentioned as yet. With its three tracks spanning a suitable 43-minute duration, it doesn't outstay its welcome like so many funeral doom records do. It's also quite melodic with a noticeably epic feel that provides just a little differentiation from the pack. The second track "Diluvium" is spectacular & is one of the better examples of the genre you're gonna find. There's just not quite the musical proficiency to reach my elite scores but this is a damn fine release nonetheless & has even bumped its way into the lower positions in my top ten for the genre overall.

4/5

Dying Fetus - "Make Them Beg For Death" (2023)

The new Dying Fetus album is... well... you know... yet another Dying Fetus record with all of the same characteristics as every other one of their releases. Groovy hardcore riffs, slower slam sections, guitar-practice-sounding sweep-picking flourishes... they're all here. The production is super-clean & clinical but it doesn't change the fact that Dying Fetus will always be a band that I unanimously enjoy to some extent but never genuinely love. They just sound a little bit sterile & lacking in quality control when it comes to the use of some pretty lackluster riffs at times which is frustrating when they can be so crushing at others. In saying that, I'd suggest that this might be my second favourite of Dying Fetus' record from 2012's "Reign Supreme" but there's very little between most of them in all honesty. As usual, people will try to attach the tech death tag to "Make Them Beg For Death" but (also as usual) it's not an accurate description of their sound, despite the consciously techy moments which generally sound forced. 

3.5/5

Kostnatění - "Úpal" (2023)

Last year's sophomore album from one-man Minneapolis avant-garde black metal project Kostnatění is a really solid release & should probably come into these discussions somewhere. It's currently sitting solely in The North but it's very clear to me that it should have a dual clan allocation with The infinite as it's made an obvious attempt to sound as strange as possible with a Deathspell Omega influence being pretty obvious in the guitar work. It doesn't all work but the majority of the record is highly engaging, despite being more interesting & intriguing than it is traditionally enjoyable. I'm placing it just behind Odz Manouk's "Bosoragazan (Բոսորագազան)" & Panopticon's "The Rime of Memory".

4/5

This morning's investigation is the title track from Budgie's 1974 "In For The KIll" fourth album which I regard as being hard rock:

Today's track is Black Sabbath's "Spiral Architect" which I regard as being symphonic prog.

That's brings "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" to an end. It was actually a much closer thing than I would have thought going in. Despite it containing more hard rock record than it does metal though, there was still just enough metal to qualify. Unlike Sabbath's first four full-lengths which I now regard as being stoner metal releases, this one is more of a classic heavy metal record too. Tomorrow we'll start looking at Budgie's 1974 fourth album "In For The Kill".

Today's track is Black Sabbath's "Looking For Today" which I'd suggest is simply hard rock:

I'm aware of that Rex. I'm actually conducting this exercise as a part of another initiative I'm looking at doing in the future though & it's important that I check out or revisit all of these proto-metal records if I'm gonna make a good fist of that. And for the record, I don't think "Thunder & Lightning" is a metal record either just quietly.

I checked out Thin Lizzy's 1973 third album "Vagabonds of the Western World" this morning & didn't find any metal to speak of there. I'd suggest that it's a hard rock record with blues rock & funk rock influences so we won't be investigating it in this exercise.

I don't mind the Hellripper album. It's certainly a bit of fun, isn't it? I'm just not sure that I could ever truly "love" a blackened speed metal record like that one though as it mostly sounds like drunken party music which doesn't offer as much substance as I would usually look for in my extreme metal. "Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags" reminds me of a more blackened version of Midnight or the faster Venom tracks. The thrashier material (" The Cursed Carrion Crown" & my personal favourite "Mester Stoor Worm") is the most appealing for me personally & brings to mind Toxic Holocaust's more blackened moments while there are a couple of tracks that are pure Motorhead worship. I've just managed to get this up to a reasonable rating but I'd take the Demoniac album over this one.

3.5/5

A new live video from San Jose metalcore act Sunami whose 2020 self-titled E.P. I had some time for:

Today's track is Black Sabbath's "Who Are You? which I would suggest is symphonic prog:

Florida death metal legends Massacre have a brand new E.P. coming out on 1st February called "Tri-pocalypse".

Here are the feature releases nomination recipients for February:

THE FALLEN: Morpheus, Ben, Daniel

THE GATEWAY: Andi, Saxy

THE GUARDIANS: Rexorcist, Xephyr, Shezma, Morpheus

THE HORDE: Ben, Daniel

THE INFINITE: Shezma, Andi, Xephyr, Rexorcist, Saxy

THE NORTH: Xephyr, Ben, Daniel, Shezma

THE PIT: Rexorcist, Morpheus, Daniel, Ben

THE REVOLUTION: Andi, Daniel

THE SPHERE: Daniel, Andi

As I said last month, please feel free to submit your nominations immediately guys as I shouldn't need to chase you in the back end of the month.

Rexorcist, will you be participating given that you didn't submit your nomination on time for inclusion in the January features? If you don't respond within a week then we'll revert to the next member in the queue for The Guardians & The Pit which will be Xephyr & Morpheus respectively.

Morpheus, Rexorcist, Shezma & Xephyr, I'm still waiting for your feature release nominations. If I don't receive them before 31st January then you'll miss your turn.

For our newer contributors, please be aware that you need to create a feature release post for your nomination(s) on the 1st February so that our members have a place to share their thoughts.

My old Iron Maiden "World Slavery Tour 1984-85" baseball shirt has finally packed it in which has left me feeling quite emotional.

The only real contenders for The Sphere Release of 2023 are Godflesh's "Purge" & In This Moment's "Godmode" with less than a week to go so get those ratings in.

The frontrunners for The Revolution Release of 2023 Award are August Burns Red's "Death Below", Will Haven's "VII" & Unearth's "The Wretched; The Ruinous" at the moment with less than a week to go so get those ratings in.

The frontrunners for The Pit Release of 2023 Award are Hellripper's "Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags", Demoniac's "Nube negra" & Enforced's "War Remains" with less than a week to go so get those ratings in.

The frontrunner for The North Release of 2023 Award are Panopticon's "The Rime of Memory", Hellripper's "Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags" & Malokarpatan's "Vertumnus Caesar". There's less than a week to go so get those ratings in.

The frontrunner for The Infinite Release of 2023 Award are Ne Obliviscaris' "Exul', King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard's "PetroDragonic Apocalypse" & Periphery's "Periphery V: Djent Is Not a Genre". There's less than a week to go now so get those ratings in. 

The main contenders for The Horde Release of 2023 Award are Neuropath's "At Damnation's Core", Horrendous' "Ontological Mysterium" & VoidCeremony's "Threads of Unknowing". There's less than a week to go so get those ratings in.

Cirith Ungol's "Dark Parade" album is the frontrunner to win The Guardians Release of 2023 Award with less than a week to go with Malokarpatan's "Vertumnus Caesar" & Kamelot's "The Awakening" being the main competition. Get those ratings in guys.

Katatonia's "Sky Void of Stars" & Klone's "Meanwhile" are neck & neck in the race to take out The Gateway Release of the 2023 Award at the moment followed by Sleep Token's "Take Me Back To Eden". There's less than a week to go so get those ratings in guys.

Great Falls' "Objects Without Pain" album is the frontrunner to take out The Fallen Release of 2023 Award with less than a week to go followed by FVNERALS "Let the Earth Be Silent" & Ahab's "The Coral Tombs" so get those ratings in.

Cheers for the rec, Daniel! Here's my review summary:

Circuit Circuit perform a promising sound of experimental mathcore. After their self-titled EP, they made another one, Body Songs. And here we have some great powerful mathcore that leans into nu metal, basically mashing together the early 2000s eras of Converge and Linkin Park. Guitar grooves and shouted vocals have surely united two separate realms in the present. The circuits these guys have will keep you wired....

4/5

I'm not sure I pick up on the nu metal/Linkin Park thing to be honest. I actually think I may not be able to tag "Body Songs" as being metal at all if I gave it a little more time & scrutiny. The opening track is probably the only inclusion that I'd suggest possesses a clearly metallic sound. The mathcore tag isn't exactly accurate even during the more metallic moments either as "Body Songs" isn't always particularly chaotic & complex though it is often dissonant. I guess that ambiguity contributes to its intrigue though, doesn't it?

Today's track is Black Sabbath's "Killing Yourself To Live" which is a really difficult one to categorize. It's certainly more rock than it is metal but the chorus & solo section are so critical to the way the song plays out that I've allowed it to qualify as metal regardless. I'm going with a multi-tag arrangement of heavy metal, hard rock & stoner rock.

Balmora - " With Thorns of Glass & Petals of Grief" E.P. (2023)

I struggled with last year's five-track debut E.P. from Connecticut-based outfit Balmora who combine melodic metalcore with 1990's melodic death metal. I suppose that's hardly a surprise I given that I'm not a huge fan of either subgenre but I still feel that the combination could have been done much better than it is here. Balmora's sound is probably a little stronger on the melodeath side of things but the core-ish vocal delivery & consistent use of breakdowns are hard to ignore. This one wasn't completely awful but simply wasn't for me.

3/5

Nuclear Power Trio - "Wet Ass Plutonium" (2023)

This extraordinarily talented power trio/super group have produced a record that sits somewhere between the progressive metal of Dream Theater & the instrumental guitar shred of "Meltdown"-era Vinny Moore with a wide array of influences being utilized from funk to flamenco. The world-class bass playing of Nick Schendzielos (Cephalic Carnage/Havok/Job for a Cowboy) is absolutely astounding while guitarist Greg Burgess (Allegaeon/Cryogen) is no slouch either. In fact, the performances & production job are perhaps a touch too clinical which leaves things sounding a touch sterile at times. Perhaps I was never going to rate a record like this one higher than I have, despite the consistency of the tracklisting. It's possibly more about style than it is substance.

3.5/5

Circuit Circuit = "Body Songs" E.P. (2023)

This five-song E.P. from Tennessee-based hardcore outfit Circuit Circuit is very solid indeed & is now my new frontrunner for The Revolution Release of the Year. I have no idea what Sasscore is but this certainly doesn't sound like the description of that subgenre. It's definitely a lot more post-hardcore than it is mathcore but there's a strong consistency to the tracklisting & an electric energy in the performances that ensures that the listener is perennially captivated. An excellent production job ensures that I feel like I'm listening to an important record due to the vibrancy of the sounds blasting from the speakers. Circuit Circuit kinda sound like System of a Down meets The Dillinger Escape Plan & I can see Xephyr, Andi & perhaps even Saxy all being interested in this one.

4/5

Today's track is Black Sabbath's "Sabbra Cadabra" which I consider to be hard rock:

Well done Shezma. I'd suggest going chronologically as it helps with context.

This morning's track is Black Sabbath's "Fluff" which I'd suggest fits best under the chamber folk tag:

Also, I checked out Bang's 1973 third album "Music" this morning & there's no metal there whatsoever. In fact there's really very little hard rock either. It sits in between rock, soft rock & progressive rock in roughly equal portions in my opinion so we won't be investigating it in this exercise.

The first ever live release from Swiss industrial metallers Samael (entitled "Passage - Live") is due for release on 16th February & appears to be a complete reenactment of their 1996 fourth full-length "Passage". I have some time for "Passage" so this one might be worth a listen.

Emperor front man & progressive metal icon Ihsahn's self-titled eighth solo album is due for release on 16th February. I'm well across his 2008-2012 period but haven't checked out his last few records, potentially because I didn't get on all that well with 2012's "Eremita" at the time. Perhaps it's time to get back in the saddle with this one.

The Demoniac album is pretty good but hasn't exactly blown my socks off to be honest. The aggressive Teutonic thrash style stuff (think Kreator & Destruction) is great but the progressive experimentation often doesn't work & some of the decisions around song structure were misguided too. The highlight is clearly the guitar solos & I like the raspy vocals too. It's certainly not a tech thrash record like it's being tagged as though as it's not all that technical. It's just thrash metal with progressive influences for mine.

3.5/5

Kawaii metal is a little more of a "scene" genre, being almost entirely based in Japan, and some of us have struggled with where those kinds of genres stand here, which is why I don't count Neue Deutsche Härte as a subgenre in my Sphere playlists.

I'm not sure I agree to be honest. I think prime examples of genres being more "scenes" than genuine subgenres are the NWOBHM & (to a lesser extent) US power metal. The NWOBHM didn't have a well-defined sound with bands like Venom, Saxon & Witchfinder General all sounding vastly different to each other & arguably sitting in different genres altogether when considered outside of the movement. US power metal is similar but not so extreme in this respect. The other major issue with those subgenres is that only bands from those locations are eligible for entry due to their naming which is silly in my opinion.

I don't see Kawaii metal or Neue Deutsche Härte in the same light as they're generally used to group together bands with similar musical attributes. I mean, you certainly know Kawaii metal when you hear it & I always felt that the Neue Deutsche Härte tracks on The Sphere playlists stood out pretty obviously & sounded very similar to each other. Neue Deutsche Härte definitely suffers from being poorly named as it falls into the same camp as NWOBHM & US power metal in that it can really only be used by German bands but there's certainly a Neue Deutsche Härte sound that clearly differentiates itself from industrial metal as far as I can see so it'd work fine with a slight name adjustment.

This morning's track is Black Sabbath's "A National Acrobat" which I'd suggest sits best under the stoner metal tag:

Odz Manouk - "Bosoragazan (Բոսորագազան)" (2023)

The long-awaited comeback album from the notorious founder of Californian black metal label Rhinocervs is a very solid release indeed &, in fact, went very close to seeing me dishing out one of my more elite ratings. You may recall that I nominated Odz Manouk's 2011 split E.P. with fellow Californian black metallers Tukaaria for feature release status recently? Well, "Bosoragazan (Բոսորագազան)" comfortably eclipses that release with sole member Yagian proving himself to possess an undeniable pedigree in the things that made the Second Wave of Black Metal so special back in the early 1990's. His sound sits predominantly in the more conventional black metal space with a couple of tracks steering over towards the atmospheric variety & you'll no doubt pick up the influence of Darkthrone's unholy trilogy. I think the vocals could have been a little more consistent however there's very little to complain about here, particularly on classic black metal outings like "To Feast on Celestial Bodies" & my personal favourite "The Last Bastion of the Serpent's Tongue". This one has usurped Panopticon's position as my front runner the race for The North Release of the Year & fans US black metal acts like Kostnatění, Arizmenda & the rest of Yagian's Rhinocervs roster should not be disappointed.

4/5

Today's song is the title track from Black Sabbath;s classic 1973 fifth album "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" which I regard as being heavy metal:

I think we should focus less on what would make users comfortable and just what's more logical.

It's not about making people comfortable. It's about maintaining the integrity of the clan system. It's worth keeping in mind that the clan configuration is designed to ensure that our clan ratings are a reflection of the opinions of people who generally enjoy the genre in question. In order for that to work we need each subgenre to be in the clan whose members are most likely to enjoy it. It will never be perfect but we need to get it as close to it as possible.

I think the answer is simple: a clan dedicated to punkish or electronic high energy.

"Artists of this style tend to overlap with the larger Alt-Idol movement, which attempts to subvert rigid idol music traditions using influences from Punk, alternative, and metal."

That's Babymetal for you.

Quoted Rexorcist

That sort of exercise would require a huge amount of time & money in order to cater for a very small subsection of metal releases with a niche audience that often sits outside of the metal scene. Do you think many of our members would want to be a part of that clan? I can't see it personally. I feel that our existing The Gateway clan is the best location for Kawaii Metal releases given that it's all about cross-pollination with non-metal genres & often in a more accessible way. I mean, it's not called The Gateway for nothing. I'd like to get exposure to more Kawaii Metal releases before reaching my final position on that though.

On top of that, lemme just say that a part of me associates the deathcore scene with more extreme alt-metal bands because the two have seemed to draw many of the same fans outside internet culture and in general outside metal conversation.  What with their connections to trance metal and trancecore, two genres that often incorporate metalcore vocals and riffs, I don't really see why kawaii metal shouldn't belong under the Revolution other than for a little discomfort among "trve" metalcore fans.  But with so few releases in this genre, it begs the question as to whether or not this is a scene or just a temporary fad that never really kicked off the way a good genre does.

I disagree. Sure, there are some (admittedly really bad) deathcore bands that play with stuff like trance & electronic music but they're in the extreme minority. The majority take an aggressive & brutal approach that sits on the polar opposite side of the metal spectrum to trance metal. In fact, in my trance metal deep dive I don't recall hearing any crossover with deathcore whatsoever. We had trance metal in The Revolution previously & it stood out like a sore thumb because a large portion of the releases had nothing at all to do with -core music. BABYMETAL's self-titled album was a prime example with its tracklisting showcasing mostly alternative metal, power metal & even death metal influences. The clans are setup to link genres that are likely to have the same fan bases more than they are similar sounds too. I could be wrong but I think The Gateway is far more conducive to housing fans of Kawaii Metal than The Revolution is.

On top of that, this conversation practically goes hand in hand with the whole trance metal shebang.

"Tempo between 130 and 160 BPM, played with keyboards and metal instrumentation, sung with harsh and aggressive vocals including many clean melodic styles; regularly uses elements of Melodic Death Metal, Symphonic Metal, and Electronic Dance Music."

If we wanna compare this easily, the trance metal genre has over 160 studio albums on RYM while kawaii metal doesn't even have a full page of 40.  And since many of these releases have proven to be questionable, the logical conclusion would that we shouldn't really bother uploading the tags with the albums yet.

I don't think this is a similar argument to Trance Metal to be honest. After performing my Trance Metal deep dive I discovered that Trance Metal doesn't really meet the criteria for being a genre in the first place given that the releases more often than not sounded nothing alike & the links to Trance were often tenuous to say the least. No one can tell me that BABYMETAL, Noidz & Mesarthim should be in the same genre or clan. They all have base sounds that fit into different existing clans & just have some trance elements layered over the top, not much in the BABYMETAL example either I have to say. Yes, Kawaii Metal does something similar with the J-pop component but, in my experience, it's a much more prominent feature that completely dictates who is going to enjoy the release & who is not so you can easily identify the releases as being from the one genre, even when the base instrumental sounds differ a bit. The minimal amount of releases is certainly a factor but it's probably more about whether there's any point in isolating a group of releases so that fans can search for them directly in our database. If we were to place all Kawaii Metal releases under the Alternative Metal (Conventional) subgenre then we would have releases from Tool, Deftones & Alice In Chains coming up in the same search. Does that sound like a good solution? I'm not sure it is whereas I'd be comfortable enough with rap metal bands like Rage Against The Machine) or funk metal artists like Primus coming up in that search under the same circumstances.

But if there are indeed releases solely tagged with either of these genres, then should we play it safe and temporarily upload the genres to the most appropriate clan(s) until further notice?  

That's the point of this conversation really i.e. to determine what the most appropriate clan is.

Well, I will say that, even if we don't create a new Kawaii Metal genre or subgenre for the Academy, we need to find a way to handle a release that is just tagged as Kawaii Metal with no links to other existing genres or subgenres as I have no doubt that most releases with this tagging are metal releases of some sort. Personally, I feel that you could create a metal record where the base sound sits in any of the clans & layer j-pop over the top of it & it would always offer appeal to the same niche audience while alienating the rest of the metal crowd at the same time. The Yuyoyuppe "SICK" E.P. I checked out last week is a good example of that. Its instrumentation is clearly built on deathcore but I can't see members of The Revolution taking too kindly to it & subsequently don't think it sits right as a part of that clan. I feel that it would be better suited to the cross-pollination-centric environment of The Gateway & I had the same feeling about "BABYMETAL". The Candye♡Syrup record wasn't a good case study as it's not really a metal record & is more of an electronicore release so I don't feel that its Kawaii Metal tagging is correct. I mean, if it's not a metal release then it can't be Kawaii Metal, right?

One of the main drivers for approving a new subgenre is the question of whether it is worth segregating & a good way to determine that is to ask the question of whether there are people that like the main genre but would hate Kawaii Metal releases. In this case, I'm gonna have to suggest that this would be the case with Kawaii Metal. The other driver is whether the subgenre has clear definition & I also feel that Kawaii Metal does because you certainly know it when you hear it. My gut feel here is that we're probably best to add Kawaii Metal as a subgenre of Alternative Metal in The Gateway but I should perhaps give a few more Kawaii Metal releases a spin before making any firm decision on it. A deep dive is likely required here.

I'd add that Ben & I feel that we should really be steering away from subgenres that are simply a combination of two existing genres, particularly when they cross clans, as it needlessly complicates things. If a post-metal release is doomy enough for The Fallen then it should receive a genre from The Fallen on top of its Post-Metal tag. If not, then I'd suggest that it's not worth mentioning in its tagging. The Angelic Process is an interesting test case. This is an excerpt from my review of their highly celebrated "Weighing Souls With Sand" album:

"'Weighing Souls With Sand' is most commonly referred to as drone metal. I can see why but it's never seemed to me to be a very accurate label to be honest. There's a lot more going on here than there is in your average drone metal release, particularly from a melodic point of view. The noisy analogue hiss that shrouds most tracks reminds me a lot of the noisier works of ambient artist Tim Hecker while the huge crescendos indicate a love for post-rock artists such as Sigur Ros. There is most definitely a shoegaze element at play here too with a lot of these tracks seeing Kris strumming open downstrokes repeatedly in a melancholic fashion that reeks of My Bloody Valentine's classic 'Loveless' album. The droning bass notes take my mind more towards the ambient variety of drone only more from a textural point of view than a stylistic one. Overall I find that the post-metal tag is the more appropriate way to label the album & I'd feel much more comfortable if 'Weighing Souls With Sand' was separated from the drone metal charts as it inevitably fairs quite well but doesn't sound anything like the records scattered around it."

So, I obviously felt that it has very little to do with the drone metal subgenre that it was continually being associated with at the time but possesses an obvious shoegaze component. There was also no mention of a doom metal component & I was comfortable with the release sitting under the post-metal genre which is quite telling when it comes to the topic of discussion here. Unless anyone can present a strong case to the contrary, my immediate suggestion is that we leave releases tagged on RYM as Doomgaze under the generic Post-Metal genre.

My gut feel from the limited exposure I've had to Medieval Folk Metal is that we may be best to at least rename it to Mittelalter-Metal or Medieval Metal, particularly given that RYM felt strongly enough to do so. It wouldn't take all that much effort as there's not that many releases. A deep dive is certainly required in order to determine if it's really best suited to being a) a subgenre of Folk Metal & b) a member of The North clan at some point.

"Shylock" - You know what, I'm gonna go 50/50, heavy metal / heavy psych on this one.That main riff is real Sabbathy, not unlike Symptom of the Universe.

Overall I make that 20% metal, so not really metal for our purposes - still a great record though.

I'm gonna go with heavy metal for "Shylock" which sees "Volcanic Rock" finishing with just the two metal tracks for mine & I agree that it's not enough to qualify. Tomorrow we're gonna start our next release in Black Sabbath's classic 1973 fifth album "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath".