Daniel's Forum Replies

While I quite like "Breaking The Law", I'd have to argue against it being labelled as "the best classic of the album". It's certainly the most popular song from an MTV point of view & enabled Judas Priest to finally crack the US market but that's mainly due to it's poppy hooks, simple arrangement & general accessibility which enabled it to crossover into commercial radio. The guitar melody at the start sounds like it could have been pulled straight off of Martha & the Muffins’ “Echo Beach” & it really does rely entirely on the chorus hook to draw the audience in (which it obviously does very well). I guess the point I'm making is that it's not one of the real gems from "British Steel" for me personally. I'd place at least four tracks comfortably ahead of it. The outro is really exciting though & it goes off in a live environment. 

I completely agree Andi. I've always despised these two tracks. Thankfully the rest of the tracklisting is strong enough to maintain my interest (particularly "Metal Gods" & "The Rage" which sit amongst my favourite heavy metal tunes ever) but these two are the main reason that I don't regard "British Steel" as one of Judas Priest's best records.

Underworld - "Jumbo" single (1999)

Another old CD single I pulled out from my garage for a few spins. This time it's a three track affair featuring the radio edit of the title track along with remixes from Bob Rives/Francois K & Jedi. As usual it's not the progressive house of the original version that really floats my boat as it's a little too melodic for my taste. I prefer the belter of a techno remix from Bob Rives & Francois K which was a regular feature in my club sets in the early 2000's. The broken-beat Jedi mix is also pretty decent & got a little play time from me as well from memory. You really can't go wrong with 90's Underworld though in all honesty.

Now you're just making shit up at random Andi. I have no idea what you're referring to regarding Celldweller & never said anything about any rules regarding singles or releases that aren't already on the site. None of that's the case.

And I'm still up to following these two new rules (studio material only and single-clan only).

I think you misunderstood me Andi. I never said anything about "single-clan only". All I'm saying is that if a track doesn't come from a release that's a) already in The Sphere or b) would qualify for inclusion in The Sphere if was added to the site, then don't nominate it for inclusion in The Sphere playlist. You can feel free to do what you'd like with your Hall submissions as that's completely unrelated to this topic.

Also, the playlists should remain strictly one track per band as they're intended to be a compilation.

Andi, the only one of those you mentioned that I questioned was the Children Of Bodom one which is clearly a divisive selection for The Guardians given the vocal style. It obviously sits more comfortably under The Horde however the release it's drawn from is technically a member of The Guardians & until such time as that is no longer the case I felt that it's not my position to deny it's inclusion.

The Isis one is interesting as we've had people submitting the same sort of tracks by post-sludge artists in both The Fallen & The Infinite. I've never felt completely comfortable with that but we've never come to an agreement on what's appropriate so I've just chosen to go with it. You may have noticed that you can only select Atmospheric Sludge Metal as a Release's subgenre if it's got Post-Metal as it's primary genre i.e. you can't choose it as a subgenre of Sludge Metal. That's because Ben & I had to make a call on which direction we'd take given that a subgenre can't be a part of two main genres in our database. What does everyone think about that situation? If you had to choose one clan or the other for post-sludge releases, which way would you go? I'm inclined to want to limit post-sludge Playlist submissions to the one clan to be honest so I'm keen to hear what everyone thinks.

Back on the playlist topic again gents, I'd just like to provide a little bit of feedback on some recent submissions.

Firstly, can I please ask that you stick to studio material rather than live material? I made the decision not to include live tracks pretty early on in the piece after noticing that these tracks disrupt the flow of the lists. I also received feedback from a couple of people who said that they don't really enjoy live recordings all that much in comparison to studio work so I decided to draw the line there.

And secondly, can you please make sure that your selected tracks are a part of the associated clan? I've had a couple of recent submissions that weren't & used my judgement as to whether to include them or not but in general I think we should be focusing entirely on the clan.

A great way to open the 1993 debut album from these second tier Florida death metallers. For fans of Disincarnate, Monstrosity & Malevolent Creation.

Brutality - "Screams Of Anguish" (1993)

I picked up Tampa Bay death metal outfit Brutality's debut album "Screams Of Anguish" on CD shortly after it was released & really enjoyed it at the time. Brutality are often referred to as one of death metal's more underrated bands however I'm not sure that's entirely accurate as they've always been highly regarded as far as I've seen & don't ever truly threaten the tier one exponents of the genre. What you can expect here is a well composed & executed example of meat-&-potatoes Florida death metal which ticks all of the boxes without ever pushing out into fresh territory.

Scott Reigel's aggressive vocal delivery often reminds me of Deicide's Glen Benton while the more than competent lead guitar work has an element of hired gun James Murphy about its use of melody & harmony which can't be a bad thing. I really enjoy the regular inclusion of slower doomy sections which are always well integrated, despite usually being surrounded by faster blast beat parts. The clean interlude "Sympathy" has always sounded a little out of place to me & would probably sound more appropriate on a European black metal release but the quality of the eight death metal pieces is very consistent. Opener "These Walls Shall Be Your Grave" is the clear standout with its exciting use of short & flashy lead guitar flourishes reminding me a lot of fellow Floridians Nocturnus & I'm surprised they haven't explored that technique further given how successful its been on this track.

Overall, this is a high quality death metal release that has Florida written all over it. It doesn't try to reinvent the wheel & instead opts to beat the wheel into submission which shouldn't surprise anyone given the band's not-so-subtle moniker.

For fans of Disincarnate, Monstrosity & Malevolent Creation.

4/5

Reaching out to a few labels who have a predominantly underground roster and seeing how MA and they could become mutual partners for the furthering of their band's music through our features and/or the Spotify playlists (I don't know how that would work though - I am a software salesman, not a partnerships manager)

I have bands & labels contact me in regards to a mutually beneficial arrangement all the time but I've found that I just can't trust anyone in this industry. What generally happens is that I promise to bring a band or label free advertisement in exchange for them advertising our site through their own social media platforms & bringing long-term contributing members from their bands/fanbase to the site. This is all agreed to, I'll see one or two new members register (usually the person themselves) & make one or two posts/ratings, I'll engage some of you to do some unbiased reviews without telling you why & then as soon as soon as these reviews are posted the bands/labels drop off the face of the earth. I've even had some of these people contact me again months later to ask me to do the same thing for their next release & I've subsequently told them to go fuck themselves. I don't think it helps that I'm determined to maintain the integrity of the site so I won't bring them positive ratings simply to push our cause but these people have proven to have absolutely no respect.

• I can see Twitter is in use already from a marketing perspective, ever thought of extending this out to Instagram etc just to maximise the opportunity for growth ( I hate most social media platforms so this leaves a bitter taste in my mouth to even suggest it but at the end of the day they do work - algorhythms permitting of course).

Quoted Vinny

I've actually been using Instagram to promote the site for years now & interestingly it's proven to be by far the least effective of the three major social media platforms. It takes a lot of time to prepare posts given that I can't do it from my laptop & it doesn't even allow me to include clickable links within my posts so I've recently decided not to bother with it. Twitter really should be the best medium for advertisement of websites & that seems to be the common consensus in the market however I've found that boosted Facebook posts are the best way to bring people to the site in recent times. It all costs money though.

Hhhmmmm..... might not be as good an idea as I first thought. Carry on.

What does everyone think of us trialing an idea whereby each of us selects at least one track that's drawn from our home city's respective local metal scenes for each of the monthly Spotify playlists for our clans (i.e. not the clans we're not a part of)? I really like the idea of each member helping to promote their local scenes & think it might encourage us all to dig a little deeper too. As an added bonus, I figure that if we all then communicate these inclusions to the associated bands then they might voluntarily help us to promote the Metal Academy brand too while also giving each of you a little bit of healthy interaction with the scene. It's just an idea at this stage so I'm keen to gauge your interest. Thoughts?

Orbital - "Halcyon" CD single (1992)

I pulled this old CD single out of a box in my garage for a few spins while driving around town yesterday & really enjoyed it. The epic & incredibly recognisable title track is obviously one of the more iconic electronic dance music tracks ever recorded & will always be the go-to selection for the last track of the night for club DJs all over the world however it's trancy & melodic atmosphere isn't really my thing. The other four tracks are much techier with the deep tribal feel of "The Naked and the Dub" being the clear highlight & a regular feature in my early 2000's DJ sets. I also really like the more dancefloor friendly "Sunday" which got an occasional play from me too.

For fans of Underworld, Leftfield & Astralasia.

Here's my top ten (baring in mind that I don't believe in the one release per band philosophy):

1. Pig Destroyer – “Natasha” E.P. (2008)

2. Sunn O))) – “Black One” (2005)

3. Boris – “Boris At Last -Feedbacker-“ (2003)

4. Rosetta – “The Galilean Satellites” (2005)

5. Neurosis – “Souls At Zero” (1992)

6. diSEMBOWELMENT – “Transcendence Into The Peripheral” (1993)

7. Isis – “The Mosquito Control” E.P. (1998)

8. Isis – “Panopticon” (2004)

9. Celtic Frost – “Monotheist” (2006)

10. Warning – “Watching From A Distance” (2006)

Firstly, I'd like to put forwards a fairly unpopular opinion in that I think Cliff was always the influence that saw Metallica pushing outside of the thrash metal spectrum so I don't see any reason why he would have kept them from experimenting. On the contrary, I think he would likely have helped in the expansion process & seen them achieving it much more successfully given his unquestionable taste.

Secondly, I think that the commercial success that Metallica experienced with "The Black Album" saw James & Lars losing their identity. They lost their focus & got caught up between their own artistic wants & needs & the pressure to match their past successes. Substance abuse certainly didn't help either. "The Black Album" was the perfect example of a band getting that balance right & I think the only reason that this was possible was because the band had both a point to prove & a genuine hunger for success. Once they achieved that success I think they suffered from a lack of any real understanding of what the next step was. They'd already achieved everything from a commercial point of view & (despite what the underground extreme metal scene may think) the world were telling them that they had creatively too. The "Load" & "Reload" fiascos were the direct result of this &, although I genuinely hate those records, at least they were pushing into new territory with the band being their own masters. 

"St. Anger" is very much the opposite of this as it sees Metallica consciously trying to appease the metal fans they'd lost with their previous couple of releases but at the same time attempting to conform to the current market tastes by heading in a more alternative metal style & dropping the guitar solos altogether. Such an obvious showcase of a band that's given up the ghost & are trying to copy the bands that they'd influenced is the ultimate sell-out in my opinion. But then, in trying to make up for that mistake by consciously (& poorly) plagiarizing their past glories with "Death Magnetic", Metallica showed a vulnerability & a weakness that only further compounded the issue & provided further proof that the band had completely lost touch with both their fanbase & reality. "Hardwired...to Self-Destruct" was probably the band's best record since "The Black Album" but it was so bloated, over-produced & self-indulgent that it did nothing to pull the band out of their creative hole, particularly given that the best material was once again centered around self-plagiarism. At least the band tried something different with "Lulu". As bad as it was, they certainly showed that they didn't give a fuck what anyone thought with that release.

What a horrible example of the cheesy power metal ballad this is! I could just as easily have included "The Guardians Of Mankind" or "The Winged Horse" from this album actually as I find both very hard to endure but this track takes the cake when it comes to musical inadequacy in my opinion.

Powerful German power metal for fans of Helloween, Blind Guardian & Judas Priest.

Gamma Ray - "Somewhere Out In Space" (1997)

This was the first time that I've tried German power metal icons Gamma Ray's classic fifth album "Somewhere Out In Space" as my earliest encounter with them was through 1995's unanimously praised "Land Of The Free" record back in the mid-90's & it did very little for me. I did quite like the double re-recording album we featured recently in 2000's "Blast From The Past" though so I thought it might be time to see what Gamma Ray's other essential releases are like.

Well unfortunately "Somewhere Out In Space" is a classic example of why I find European power metal to be a struggle most of the time. There are certainly some quality tracks included here along with some more than decent interludes however these highlights are scattered amongst other material that places a strong reliance on cheesy & consciously anthemic vocal hooks over a simple speed metal backbone. This sort of stuff has never sat very well with me as I find it very hard to connect with & songs like "The Guardians Of Mankind", "The Winged Horse" & the God-awful ballad "Pray" really do make me want to sever my ears most of the time. 

Overall, "Somewhere Out In Space" isn't awful but I find it to be heavily overrated. The musicianship is always very good & the performances are extremely tight so Gamma Ray definitely have a strong pedigree in metal music but unfortunately this isn't enough to make up for the dairy-rich melodic content that permeates half of the tracklisting. That assessment is pretty much a carbon copy of my feelings on "Land Of The Free" to be honest although I'd probably take that album over this one if pushed. I think I'll stick with "Blast From The Past" for the moment.

For fans of Helloween, Blind Guardian & Judas Priest.

3/5

Ben, please add French progressive metal outfit Altesia.

Yeah, I'd suggest that the Fear, & Loathing In Las Vegas track is metal too Andi & it's definitely Melodic Metalcore-based so I feel like we've got it right to have Trancecore as a subgenre of Melodic Metalcore if these four tracks are a true reflection of the Trancecore sound.

Ben, Xephyr, Sonny & Saxy, what are your thoughts on these four Trancecore tracks? Metal or not?

A fantastic instrumental interlude taken from my favourite album from Swedish progressive metal/rock outfit Pain Of Salvation. For fans of Riverside, Leprous & Dream Theater.

Pain of Salvation - "The Perfect Element I" (2000)

I've actually had this Swedish progressive metal/rock outfit's third album in my playlist for three or four months now since finding that my opinion on Pain Of Salvation's 2002 follow-up "Remedy Lane" had grown over time when I nominated it as our February 'The Infinite' feature release. "The Perfect Element I" was always my favourite Pain Of Salvation record though & that hasn't changed as this is one highly professional release that may not possess as many obvious highlights as its younger sibling but more than makes up for it in class & consistency. As with "Remedy Lane", you'll find that the production isn't the heaviest & is much more in line with a progressive rock model but this isn't an issue as the execution is outstanding. I love the guitar solos which are a definite highlight. The vocal hooks aren't strong enough to be considering my higher scores but this album should be essential listening for fans of Riverside, Leprous & Dream Theater.

Xephyr & saxy, I recommend you give this one a spin if you haven't already.

4/5

Thanks for raising that concern Tymell. I'd suggest that a simple private message to Ben would be the smoothest & fastest way to report incorrect data as he owns the database administration. Alternatively, you could raise a new thread in the SITE SUGGESTIONS forum.

In regards to your request around Riot's "Rock City" Andi, I have to ask what actual evidence you have of it being released in 1978? I'm not seeing any above. Did you read that this might be the case somewhere? If so, what is the source of your theory? If we're going to change a readily accepted release date then we'll want to be sure that everyone else is wrong.

Welcome to the Academy. It's great to have you here. Do you & Vinny know each other from another site? I'm sure he wouldn't mind giving you the guided tour as there's a lot enjoy here. Have fun with it & feel free to contribute as much as you feel comfortable with.

A Viking metal-inspired call to arms for fans of  Moonsorrow, Agalloch & early 90's Bathory,.

Primordial - "The Gathering Wilderness" (2005)

I've had this one on my playlist ever since Ben reminded me of how much I enjoy it through his March playlist submission of the opening track "The Golden Spiral" which is an all-time favourite of mine. Much like its classic follow-up "To The Nameless Dead", Primordial's sound on this album is extremely hard to categorize whilst still seemingly so perfectly defined & developed. They simply don't sound like anyone else but do their thing so well & so comprehensively that I find myself easily falling into admiration for their artistic integrity, even during the weaker material. And let's be clear, there are no weak tracks here as such. "The Song Of The Tomb" isn't as strong as the other songs but it's far from a disappointment. The peaks however arrive at opposite ends of the tracklisting with the afore mentioned opener being the perfect realization of Primordial's craft & the emotion-charged final chapter "Cities Carved In Stone" being a fantastic way to close out proceedings. The impassioned vocal performance of A.A. Nemtheanga is always engaging & reminds me a lot of Anathema's Vincent Cavanagh at times. Despite his technical imperfections, he's become a real drawcard for Primordial over the years.

As I said earlier, it's pretty much impossible to categorize Primordial's sound as they don't really fit into the existing metal genrification model. They generally get lumped into the folk metal bucket however that tag has never sat all that comfortably with me as this album doesn't include many folk style melodies or turn to traditional folk instrumentation. Even so, there's something noticeably organic about Primordial's approach & their themes seem to be so intertwined with their homeland that I eventually give in to a Celtic metal tag as much out of desperation as anything else. However that tag alone isn't enough to fully describe Primordial's sound as there's a majestic black metal pedigree that shines through in everything they do (particularly in the sweeping melodic riffage that remind me a lot of Winterfylleth) & this often leaves me wondering whether it's appropriate to label a release as black metal when the vocals are all clean. I see no reason why not so the Pagan black metal tag seems more than appropriate as a second primary subgenre. The Viking-era Bathory influence that's so evident on tracks like "The Golden Spiral" also sees me asking myself this question: Is it apprropriate to tag a release as Viking metal when it doesn't have Viking themes & isn't from Scandinavia? It's something that needs to be discussed at some point & I'm not sure I've got an answer at this stage but it's more of an influence on Primordial's sound than it is a primary subgenre so it can wait till a later date. The Iron Maiden influence in the guitar harmonies is also worth mentioning.

There's very little doubt that "The Gathering Wilderness" is the entree to "To The Nameless Dead"s main course but it's still a classy release that won't disappoint those of you who are looking for a more mature & emotionally engaging form of folk metal. In fact, I rate as second for the genre as a whole behind it's younger sibling.

For fans of Viking-era Bathory, Moonsorrow & Agalloch.

4/5

I agree with you Sonny. This is what I wrote about "V- Halmstad" in my feature release response:

"It really asks questions of your average depressive black metal fan as it goes against the grain in many ways. Firstly, the production is crystal clear which is directly opposed to the lo-fi approach that most of Shining's peers take when attempting to create atmosphere & I think it works beautifully here. Perhaps it's due to the fact that it highlights the exceptional level of musicianship for a black metal outfit & a much more diverse & progressive musical palate. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that it's debatable as to whether "V - Halmstad" is even black metal in the traditional sense of the term. Despite the fact that Shining utilize traditional black metal tools fairly consistently throughout the album, the production, musicianship, experimentation in style & unusual vocal techniques never allow them to sound like a black metal band in the purest sense. (I feel similarly about Primordial's classic releases actually.) Post-black metal is perhaps a more accurate tag for "V - Halmstad" than anything else but it still doesn't fit all that comfortably."

I just gave all three tracks an initial listen & I think I'm with Andi on this one. I'd suggest that there's enough metal in all three of those tracks to warrant inclusion under a metal-based subgenre. Sure there are some electronic components in each of them but they're layered over the top of a melodic metalcore backbone while the hardcore punk component isn't dominant over the metal one so a Metalcore-based label is more suitable in my opinion. If these three tracks are a good representation of the subgenre (Are they Andi?) then the question for me would more about whether this sound requires its own subgenre or is better off being thrown in with Melodic Metalcore or Trance Metal. On the evidence of these tracks I'd be suggesting Melodic Metalcore would be more suitable as they're all metalcore based.

So Ben & I have now discussed the Nintendocore situation & have decided to remove the subgenre from the Metal Academy database based on the above feedback. All Nintendocore releases will be marked as an alternative subgenre or set to Non-metal. If you feel that any subsequent retagging is incorrect then please feel free to submit the release in question to the Hall or to vote on its release page (if you're a member of The Revolution clan). Ben is just having a small database bug rectified & will then make the required changes so you can expect to see it take place in the next month or so. Thanks a lot to everyone who contributed to us making a well-informed decision on that.

Let's move on to the Trancecore subgenre, shall we? Here's three prominent tracks from some of the more widely known Trancecore releases. I'd like to ask as many of you as possible to participate in voting on whether you feel that each of them qualifies as metal or not.

Crusty Californian sludge metal for fans of Eyehategod, Acid Bath & Corrupted.

Dystopia - "Human=Garbage" E.P. (1994)

This five song, 27 minute E.P. represents the most depressing audio portrayal of the human condition that I can remember experiencing for a very long time. The instrumentation sees this Californian trio opting for a dark & apocalyptic blending of bottom-heavy sludge metal with a rough-&-ready, DIY crust punk mentality while the raw production leans more heavily towards the latter. The whole thing is smothered in layers of audio samples that refer to sickening acts of murder & suicide though & this leaves you feeling like you've just watched the movie "Seven" by the time it's all over i.e. you feel deeply disturbed yet strangely exhilarated. Front man Matt Parrillo takes the typical screaming hardcore approach but sounds consistently unstable & on edge across the entire tracklisting. It's an unsettling experience if I'm honest but I find myself strangely attracted to the depressive atmosphere it invokes. For fans of Eyehategod, Acid Bath & Corrupted.

4/5

That Nuclear Death cover is fucking brilliant! Thanks for bringing my attention to it gents. Left me with a big smile on my face. :)

We had a really fucking consistent list of feature releases this month. In fact, it might even challenge for our strongest month yet in my opinion as I've discovered an impressive THREE new entries into my Hall of Metal Glory without a dud in sight. Here's my scores in order of preference:

THE NORTH: Oranssi Pazuzu - "Värähtelijä" (2016)  4.5/5

THE INFINITE: Lucid Planet - "Lucid Planet II" (2020)  4.5/5

THE SPHERE: Red Harvest - "Internal Punishment Programs" (2004)  4.5/5

THE FALLEN: The Gathering - "Mandylion" (1995)  4/5

THE HORDE: Cruciamentum - "Charnel Passages" (2015)  4/5

THE PIT: Sodom - "Agent Orange" (1989)  4/5

THE GUARDIANS: Unleash the Archers - "Apex" (2017)  4/5

THE REVOLUTION: Disembodied - "If God Only Knew The Rest Were Dead" E.P. (1998)  4/5

THE GATEWAY: Dir en Grey - "Uroboros" (2008)  3.5/5

Well done to Sonny who has (to the surprise of approximately no one) picked up my release of the month while Xephyr's two inclusions both had a significant impact on me too. Given how consistently I've frothed about them of late, Ben would appear to have been tailoring his inclusions to my personal taste & if that's the case then I'd suggest that he knows me extremely well & would encourage him to continue down that path given the string of fantastic releases he's brought me over the last few months. Bring on July!

US metalcore for fans of Earth Crisis, Sunami & late 90's Converge.

I really enjoyed this little E.P. which offers a muscular take on the metalcore subgenre. It includes five short songs that are built around hard-hitting, heavily down-tuned metal riffage & Aaron Weseman's angry hardcore vocal delivery. The weight of the guitars often sees me flirting with the sludge metal tag actually although I never see myself fully committing to the concept. There's a clear Machine Head influence in the inclusion of a number of groove metal riffs spread across the tracklisting while Godflesh has clearly had an impact on the band too with several parts showcasing a similar use of guitar harmonics & open-strings. "Dislocation" highlights a clear affiliation with my beloved Slayer too but it's the sheer enthusiasm of this E.P. that gets me.  Where many modern metalcore outfits turn to melody & commercial hooks these days, it's refreshing to hear a band that focuses purely on a more aggressive sound that takes no prisoners with the effect being similar to a blunt instrument to the cranium.

For fans of Sunami, Earth Crisis & late 90's Converge.

4/5

Classic Teutonic thrash for fans of Kreator, Slayer & Destruction.

So, just like with our The Gathering feature release, I've found that my feelings are very much the same as the last time I reviewed "Agent Orange" back in December 2013. I've always thought it was a very solid example of the Teutonic thrash sound however I've never regarded it as the classic that so many seem to & there's a few reasons for that. The faster & thrashier sections are absolutely sublime & sit amongst the absolute elite of the thrash scene with Tom Angelripper's vocals ripping shreds off my brain & force-feeding them to me. This is a much cleaner & more cohesive Sodom than we'd ever heard before with the tightness in the rhythm guitars & bass making for a more professional sounding package. But as with their previous album "Persecution Mania", we find Sodom making a conscious effort to include chuggier & much more generic sounding mid-tempo sections in every song, often at the expense of any sort of fluency in the song-writing &, in the end, leaving the strong impression that the band had simply pasted together unrelated parts in a haphazard fashion & called it a song. Some of Frank Blackfire guitar solos leave a lot to be desired too & I think a bit more attention to detail could have been shown there. Still, I can't deny how much I love the thrashier parts of the album & the simple hooks which see the song-titles more often than not making up the entirety of the choruses.

Songs like the title track & "Incest" have become thrash classics for me but none of them are perfect due to the band's insistence on those mid-tempo sections. I don't think there are any weak tracks though so there's an undeniable consistency about the tracklisting. The slower & heavily Celtic Frost influenced "Remember The Fallen" & the energetic Motorhead-worshipping "Ausgebombt" provide the album with some good variety however I'd also argue that they do sound a little out of place between the other six thrashers. I dunno.... "Agent Orange" is certainly essential listening for any fan of the genre but I simply can't agree with those that place it on a pedestal & I think it's fair to say that this sums up my feelings on Sodom in general actually. The rawer "Persecution Mania" remains my favourite Sodom release but I don't think I'll ever regard any of their records as genuine classics.

For fans of Kreator, Slayer & Destruction.

4/5

Great review saxy. One of your best. I'm really glad you got into that one. I was wondering what you'd think of it when I was doing my review actually

I would suggest that this Stuttgart-based heavy metal band fits the mold to a tee:

https://metal.academy/bands/1272

The pinnacle of this Norwegian industrial metal outfit's seventh album "Internal Punishment Programs" is also the longest, slowest & most melodic inclusion on the album & reminds me a bit of some of the premium post-sludge artists. For fans of Strapping Young Lad, Fear Factory & Ministry.

Fucking hell! What a powerful fucking metal album this is then! I can't believe I've never given these guys a proper run before & now that I have I'm finding it difficult to understand how they haven't gone on to bigger things. Perhaps it's just a matter of timing as they certainly missed the industrial metal boat by a couple of years when they released their first album of any note in the mid-90's. Regardless, "Internal Punishment Programs" was their seventh album to the time & it really shows as there can be very little doubt that Red Harvest knew how to write a crushingly heavy metal song by this stage in their development. If you can imagine the groove metal inspired industrial metal sound of Fear Factory crossed with the high octane excitement of Ministry & throw some aggressive sludge metal vocals over the top then you won't be far off the mark. The riffs are generally pretty simple but are inevitably really catchy & heavy as fuck at the same time which is very much in line with the classic Al Jourgensen model. Don't expect anything radical here as Red Harvest tend to tread familiar ground however they do it in such emphatic fashion that I rate them well ahead of 90% of their peers.

For fans of Strapping Young Lad, Fear Factory & Ministry.

4.5/5

Pole - "1-3" compilation (2000)

A brilliant box set of the first three studio albums (1998's "CD 1", 1999's "2" & 2000's "3") from German producer Pole. They all sound very similar so this compilation sounds quite fluent. You can expect to hear 139 minutes of very deep & relaxing glitchy ambient dub techno like only the Germans know how.

Old-school English death metal for fans of Incantation, Dead Congregation & Disma.

I quite liked English death metallers Cruciamentum's 2011 debut E.P. "Engulfed in Desolation" back at the time of release but have to admit that I haven't returned to it since so it's hard to recall the finer details. I think it's fair to say that their debut full-length "Charnel Passages" has a made a bigger impact on me though as I've thoroughly enjoyed my listening experience over the last couple of days. There's very little doubt that Cruciamentum are huge fans of early 90's death metal as this release is pretty much an exact replica of that sound with very little attempt at development or expansion being made but, for someone like myself that spent their formative years basking in the glory of that particular scene at the height of its powers, "Charnel Passages" represents a lovely reminder of just how much that period means to me. You won't find any self-indulgent progressive excursions or over-the-top technical wankery here. This album showcases the true death metal atmosphere beautifully & comes complete with corpses, graveyards & unholy blasphemy while drawing its influence from the darker end of the extreme metal spectrum. The deep death growls are extremely similar to Karl Willets from fellow English death metallers Bolt Thrower while the instrumentation draws equal influence from "Covenant"-era Morbid Angel & classic Incantation with the performances maintaining a level of looseness in much the same way as the latter, particularly in the grindy blast beat sections. Also in line with Incantation is Cruciamentum's penchant for doomier sections & those tend to be the most effective parts of the album for me. The tracklisting is extremely consistent with the album highlights being positioned right where they should be (i.e. the first & last tracks) & I simply find it pretty hard to fault "Charnel Passages" despite the fact that it does nothing to push the genre forwards. In my defense though, that quality has never been a must-have for me with extreme metal. It's all about atmosphere & the feeling of empowerment I draw from it & I get that in spades here.

For fans of Incantation, Dead Congregation & Disma.

4/5

Ben & Sonny, you should really dig this release.

You chose the correct clan to post about “Black Metal” in my opinion Vinny. Well done!

P.S. “Sabotage” is my second favourite Sabbath studio album from “Paranoid”.

"Epicus Doomicus Metallicus" was actually my introduction to doom metal back in the late 1980's. I couldn't get into it initially (which was likely because due to the vocal style & my obsessive taste for extreme metal) however it majorly grew on me over time & I ended up really digging it. I think it was a genuine landmark for the genre because it nailed that doom metal atmosphere better than anyone had done previously. Come to think of it, I'm wearing my old "Epicus Doomicus Metallicus" t-shirt right now actually. Their sophomore album "Nightfall" is my favourite Candlemass record these days but it's not that far in front of this one.

No need to apologize Tymell as I wasn't referring to you either. I guess I'm just a bit sensitive to the consistent references to other sites of late, particularly suggestions that we should do something with Metal Academy simply because others have. I probably need to get over it.

For the record Sonny, I had no problem whatsoever with your posts & was really enjoying the conversation around epic doom metal until the thread got high-jacked.

I have to admit that I'm getting a little frustrated at the insinuation that Metal Academy should blindly follow the direction of a competitor that is in no way the authority on metal. We're trying to set a new standard for a metal website here & I have zero concern for what RYM, Metal Archives or anyone else are doing with their subgenres. In fact, long-term I'd like to think that Metal Academy will become the sole point of call for all metalheads seeking new music. I can also tell you that it is our intent to make some changes to the subgenres over time (in fact we're currently looking at a change now & you should see that play out over the next week or so) but those changes will be made purely on the informed opinions of ourselves & our senior clan members. Not what other sites are doing.