Daniel's Forum Replies

An absolute belter of an opening track from a heavily overrated benchmark of US power metal. For fans of Metal Church, Virgin Steele & early Queensryche.

Savatage - "Hall of the Mountain King" (1987)

OK so I'm gonna throw out another big call having just revisited Savatage's most highly celebrated fourth album "Hall of the Mountain King" over the last day or so. I make no bones about saying that I just don't get the appeal of Savatage & never have. Sure they have an amazing lead guitarist in Criss Oliva but his brother Jon Oliva's vocals are incredibly overrated. He simply has no right to be mentioned amongst the great front men in heavy metal as he so often is. Plus, the song-writing here is pretty inconsistent & the album's claims for US power metal status are tenuous at best. I mean there's only one track that pushes out into heavier territory than Black Sabbath, Judas Priest or the NWOBHM did (i.e. simple speed metal tune "White Witch"). The opening track "24 Hrs. Ago" is an absolute belter but I really don't see anything else here to warrant the enormous underground fanfare that this album seems to draw. I can only think that it's my inability to come to terms with Jon Oliva's theatrical wailing that prevents me from seeing the true value in Savatage's music so, despite the fact that "Hall of the Mountain King" was the band's best work to the time in my opinion, it still doesn't offer me much in the way of appeal.

For fans of Metal Church, Virgin Steele & early Queensryche.

3/5

This was definitely the Priest album that I enjoyed the most out of their 70s / 80s efforts, which I know is an opinion that Daniel doesn't share.

Quoted Ben

For the record, my favourite from their 70's & 80's material is "Defenders Of The Faith". I really like "Sad Wings Of Destiny" but it wouldn't make my top five for Priest overall. I guess the more theatrical & proggy Queen influenced stuff isn't quite as appealing to me as the more obviously metal material that was to come.

In saying that, I don't think you really answered the burning question of whether "Death Or Glory" should qualify as a legitimate power metal record or not Xephyr. What's your take?

Dear Moonsorrow. "The Final Countdown" called & it would like it's cheesy, 80's synths back please. Yours sincerely, Europe.

I find that Moonsorrow got slightly more appealing for me with each release but they started at such a low starting point with their early records that it wasn't until "V: Hävitetty" that I found myself actually enjoying myself. It's really no secret that my interest is directly proportionate to the ratio of Viking metal to folk metal though.

That's a fantastic response Xephyr. That's exactly what I was after.

The closing piece from Moonsorrow's third album "Kivenkantaja" is by far the most appealing piece on the tracklisting for me personally. It's also the only track that sees them steering completely away from metal.

Moonsorrow - "Kivenkantaja" (2003)

After quite enjoying our recent The North feature release in Moonsorrow's classic 2007 album "V: Hävitetty", I thought I'd head back in their back catalogue a bit to see if my opinions have changed on their earlier material. Unfortunately it was not to be though. If raw, blasting black metal is a perfectly cooked medium-rare steak then Moonsorrow's third album is a big bag of fluffy pink & white marshmallows & anyone that knows me will already know which I prefer. A blend of melodic folk metal & galloping Viking metal, "Kivenkantaja" is simply far, far too unintimidating & cheesy for my liking & those folk melodies sound like fingernails down a chalk board to my poor old death metal loving ears. It's beautifully produced & executed as usual & fans of bands like Falkenbach, Finsterforst & Månegarm will no doubt think that "Kivenkantaja" is the best album ever recorded but in truth it couldn't be further away from my tastes if it tried.

2.5/5

P.S. Actually that's not entirely true. Moonsorrow's first two records are even further away from taste to be fair but it has better dramatic effect when I pretend that's not the case so let's run with it.

Ben, please also create an entry for Running Wild's "Wild Animal" E.P. for the exact same reasons.

Running Wild - "Wild Animal" E.P. (1990)

Further evidence that I just don't connect with Running Wild's brand of German heavy metal. The inclusion of these four tracks as a bonus on the CD version of their 1989 album "Death Or Glory" only further weakens its chances of ever meeting with my affection. For fans of Grave Digger, Judas Priest & Accept.

2.5/5

It's my personal opinion that lyrics have no impact on subgenre whatsoever. Also, does "power metal potential" mean that you'd be happy to see "Death Or Glory" sitting on top of the Power Metal charts? Honestly, opening track aside, this record isn't any more power metal than Iron Maiden or Judas Priest & no one is pushing them out into power metal territory despite having significantly more operatic front men than Running Wild.

Oh I didn't realise. They actually mixed the tracks up on Spotify too so I shouldn't be surprised. To be fair I find "Störtebeker" (another bonus track by the way) to be pretty flat too. Perhaps I'm just never meant to enjoy Running Wild.

Here's a couple of shocking bonus tracks from German metal albums that are generally regarded as classics:

The first is a Queen cover version:

The second appears to be a re-recorded version of an already shithouse track from Running Wild's 1985 album "Branded & Exiled":

High class German heavy metal for fans of Grave Digger, Judas Priest & Accept.

Running Wild - "Death Or Glory" (1989)

I gave Running Wild's fifth & arguably most highly regarded album "Death Or Glory" a revisit for the first time in years over the last day or so & (despite the fact that I've increased my rating by a half star since my last visit) I have to ask what the big deal is with this record. It's generally referred to as sitting somewhere between traditional heavy metal & power metal however it's really only two of the ten tracks (15 if you include the bonus tracks that come with the CD version) that manage to achieve genuine power metal status so I'll be taking a visit to the Hall of Judgement in a minute. The rest of the tracklisting is comprised of very simple song-writing that's lacking in the class & sophistication departments. The vocals of front man Rock 'n' Rolf should never have been strong enough to compete with the tier one heavy metal acts of the time either as far as I can see so I'm completely baffled as to how "Death or Glory" got to be regarded as highly as it is. At least the pirate themes are easy enough to overlook as you'd never know they were there without prior knowledge. Perhaps someone can enlighten me as I'm genuinely interested to know what I'm missing here.

For fans of Grave Digger, Judas Priest & Accept.

3/5

Sonny, if you haven't checked this out yet then I strongly suggest that you do. I think you'll love it.

A beautifully constructed & executed acoustic folk piece that represents the highlight of German power metal legends Blind Guardian's "Somewhere Far Beyond" album from 1992 for me.

Blind Guardian - "Somewhere Far Beyond" (1992)

Another quite enjoyable effort from my favourite European power metal band Blind Guardian. "Somewhere Far Beyond" jumps out of the gates beautifully with two of the albums most anthemic highlights in "Time What Is Time" & "Journey Through the Dark" before retreating within itself for the majority of the remainder. There are a couple of tracks that don't do much for me in "Theatre Of Pain" with its incredibly dated & cheesy synth work & the instrumental bag-pipe piece "The Piper's Calling" which is nothing more than a waste of one minute of your life but the rest of the album is all more than decent. As usual it's the speedier & more aggressive parts of the album that tend to offer the most appeal but interestingly it's the acoustic folk piece "The Bard's Song - In the Forest" that leaves the most long-lasting impression on me & rightfully stakes its claim for classic status. "Somewhere Far Beyond" doesn't challenge "Imaginations From The Other Side" for my favourite Blind Guardian release but it's not far behind "Nightfall In Middle-Earth" & "Live" for the minor medals.

For fans of Helloween, Stormwarrior & Savage Circus. 

3.5/5

Yeah I thought it was a particularly impressive group of feature releases this month too. In fact, there wasn't a dud amongst them in my opinion.

THE FALLEN: Solstice - "New Dark Age" (1998)  4/5

THE GATEWAY: Linkin Park - "Meteora" (2003)  4/5

THE GUARDIANS: Avantasia - "The Metal Opera" (2001)  3.5/5

THE HORDE: Dead Congregation - "Promulgation Of The Fall" (2014)  5/5

THE INFINITE: Animals As Leaders - "Animals As Leaders" (2009)  4/5

THE NORTH: Nehëmah - "Requiem Tenebrae" (2004)  4.5/5

THE PIT: Sacrilege - "Behind The Realms Of Madness" (1985)  3.5/5

THE REVOLUTION: Trivium - "In Waves" (2011)  3.5/5

THE SPHERE: Killing Joke - "Killing Joke" (2003)  4.5/5

The clear highlight for me was the Dead Congregation album which is likely to push for inclusion in my all-time death metal top ten & that's saying something given that it's my metal subgenre of choice. The Nehëmah & Killing Joke records are also genuine classics in my opinion. The Solstice & Animals As Leaders releases were both very solid & I have to admit to being very surprised at how much I enjoyed the Linkin Park record. If I'm honest I found the commercial elements of the Trivium record to be a lot more challenging than that of "Meteora" & I don't think there's all that much of a gap between them as far as underground credibility goes. It was nice to see that my commitment was repaid with some enjoyment in the Avantasia album & my generally positive impressions of Sacrilege's debut haven't faded in the slightest over the decades.

It might be commercially successful but this Linkin Park mega-hit still really does it for me. For fans of Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach & P.O.D.

Ok so I went into this feature having never listened to a Linkin Park album before to be honest. I saw them live at a festival back in 2013 & thought they had some good energy about them but I've always assumed that their records would be too commercially focused for my taste & you know what? I was wrong. I ended up really enjoying "Meteora". It's certainly not an expansive effort. Linkin Park had definitely hit on a formula that worked for them at the time & the album is chock full of different variations on a common structural theme however they also knew what their strengths were & worked really well within those confines.

Musically, "Meteora" didn't offer anything we hadn't heard before. This is quintessential nu metal with all of the trademark characteristics on display & those people that claim Linkin Park were never a metal band are trippin' because there's more than enough crunch about this material to warrant entry to the hall. They were a tight band that placed all of their attention on building atmospheres leading into big hook-laden choruses. The rapping vocals of Mike Shinoda are the clear weak point for mine. I quite like underground hip hop but Mike definitely lacks the authenticity to pull this stuff off without sounding a bit corny. Thankfully the real star of the show is front man Chester Bennington whose powerful & anthemic chorus delivery completely captivates me. In fact, Chester takes an average commercial metal record to a level that I wasn't really expecting to be honest.

The tracklisting is very consistent with only the popular single "Breaking The Habit" failing to make an impact on me. Songs like "Easier To Run", "Nobody's Listening" & the classic closer "Numb" are both highly potent & extremely memorable with the main hooks digging their talons in hard & ensuring that you feel like starting the journey all over again at completion. This is more than likely contributed to by the very short 36 minute runtime too. 

"Meteora" really surprised me & provided strong proof that we shouldn't make assumptions when it comes to music. One man's lunch is another man's garbage & I'll happily take a serving of two of "Meteora".

For fans of Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach & P.O.D.

4/5

Welcome to Metal Academy Theo. It's great to see a new & active member of The Gateway & The Revolution.  We have a very cool little community & a lot of really exciting & interesting features here at the Academy (e.g. monthly clan-specific forums, playlists & feature releases, clan challenges, highly filterable charts, an anniversary page, the ability to rate album covers, etc.) so I'd encourage you to explore the site & be as active as possible. Our regular contributors are very welcoming of new members as they all share our inclusive philosophy so have fun & I'll see you around the site.

Definitive death metal in all its glory. For fans of Incantation, Immolation & Morbid Angel.

OK so I've officially had my mind blown. I'm sure everyone knows that the more extreme end of death metal is where my absolute musical sweet spot is by now &, that being the case, "Promulgation Of The Fall" spends its entire duration incessantly pressing its finger right on top of my audio g-spot. It's cripplingly dark, relentlessly brutal & stunningly produced & executed. Sure there are some obvious influences here that Vinny has already gone into in his review however I'd suggest that Dead Congregation match them with ease here. In fact, the sheer precision gives Dead Congregation an edge over most of their peers. The drumming is outstanding, the deep death growls are suffocating & the atmosphere is situated right in the middle of a fog-filled, zombie-ridden graveyard at midnight. This record is the absolute epitome of what death metal aspires to be & I can't fault it. Unbelievable stuff!

For fans of Incantation, Immolation & Morbid Angel.

5/5

Last day to get your playlist suggestions in guys. Here's the run down of the current allowances (yes I know it's all a bit too complex at the moment but I'm hoping to clean that up after we trial a few things this month):

THE FALLEN: Strictly 30 minutes max. No track number or track length limitations. Clan members only.

THE GATEWAY: Clan members get a maximum of five tracks. Non-clan members get a maximum of one track.

THE GUARDIANS: Clan members get a maximum of five tracks. Clan members only.

THE HORDE: Clan members get a maximum of five tracks. Clan members only.

THE INFINITE: Clan members get a maximum of five tracks. Clan members only.

THE NORTH: Clan members get a maximum of three tracks. Clan members only.

THE PIT: Clan members get a maximum of five tracks. Clan members only.

THE REVOLUTION: Clan members get a maximum of five tracks. Non-clan members get a maximum of one track.

THE SPHERE: Clan members get a maximum of five tracks. Non-clan members get a maximum of one track.

Interesting. I find "Built To Fall" to be one of the less appealing tracks on the album to be honest. This one was my clear favourite:

This one has really tested me. It's taken me much further outside of my musical comfort zone than even some of the recent European power metal feature releases have to be honest. I mean I'd certainly heard the odd Trivium track here & there previously (particularly during "The Revolution" Spotify playlist creation process) but I never quite realized just how commercially accessible their sound was until now. Let's be completely transparent here.... a fair chunk of "In Waves" is a lot closer to Linkin Park than it is to "Master Of Puppets" & I even found myself making comparisons to Nickelback at times which isn't something that any self-respecting metal band would usually be comfortable with. But having said that, there's certainly a place for a poppier brand of metal when it's done well & it's done well here.

Colin Richardson's production job really is the player of the match for "In Waves" because he gives a lot of this material more grunt than it actually deserves. The performances & execution are outstanding but if you analyze many of these tracks in detail you'll find that there's not all that much substance. There's definitely a case for some of these tracks having been needlessly extended (see the last minute & a half of the title track for example) but in general everything seems to be in the appropriate place. It's a real credit to Richardson that he's managed to take such simple & accessible song-writing & make it into a fairly decent metal record.

For a release that's generally regarded as melodic metalcore, there's actually not very much hardcore on offer here. It's much more of a combination of commercial heavy metal & melodic death metal in my opinion but the vocals & breakdowns see it hanging onto its -core tag for dear life. I'm just not so sure that too many punks are gonna be jumping onboard the Trivium train based on this offering. Despite the screamy vocals & occasional blast beat, Disturbed & Metallica's "Black Album" seem like more appropriate counterparts so no one should really be claiming "In Waves" under the extreme metal banner. In fact, the vocals are probably the weakest part of the album for me as I'm not all that big on the generic nature of the screamed delivery & the clean stuff tends to be... welll... pretty Linkin Park like really (no offence to Linkin Park who are sitting in my playlist for the coming week) which only exacerbates the pre-existing feeling that I'm listening to a Stock, Aitken & Waterman version of modern metal.

At the end of the day though, I rate releases on how much I enjoy listening to them & I'd be lying if I said that I didn't find a fair bit of enjoyment in the majority of "In Waves". Sure there are a few duds thrown in here & there (see "A Skyline's Severance", "Built To Fall" & particularly the radio-friendly closer "Of All These Yesterdays") & there aren't really all that many genuine highlight tracks but there's enough high quality metal here to keep me interested even if I don't find my head bopping up & down all that often.  Thankfully I just love a well produced & tightly performed metal record & can look past Trivium's failings for the most part.

For fans of Bullet For My Valentine, As I Lay Dying & Shadows Fall.

3.5/5

Andi, you'll probably dig this month's Animals As Leaders feature release.

One of the highlights tracks from Animals As Leaders' self-titled debut. For fans of Plini, Mestis & Arch Echo.

I was a big fan of instrumental guitar records from my early teenage years all the way through the my mid-to-late 20's. In fact, most of you won't be aware of this but there was a time when I had ambitions in this space myself & I still have my 1999 solo CD to show for it. Why do I mention it? Well I'm just setting the scene for you so that you can understand why someone like myself might be more inclined to find appeal in a record like Animals As Leaders' debut than your average metalhead. There's an air of experimentation to a lot of this material that defines what progressive music is meant to be with the incorporation of jazz fusion & electronic components adding a fair bit of interest to the complex progressive metal backbone however (despite my strong background in both genres) I find that the more metal oriented material is the most effective here, particularly the tracks with a stronger emphasis on exotic melodies. And then there's Tosin Abasi... I can tell you this dude isn't just a super-talented guitarist. He's utterly mind-blowing for an old shredder like myself. Like some of the things he does here are on a level that I didn't even think was physically possible so that element alone keeps me on my toes throughout the runtime.

At it's core, "Animals As Leaders" is a guitar shred record & guitar shred records certainly have a niche market that they're aimed at so if you've gone into "Animals As Leaders" expecting something more than an impressive show of virtuosity & versatility then you might be disappointed but if you can accept that limitation then you'll leave yourself open to an entertaining showcase of the skill sets of the various band members. I think the fact that you don't simply see Abasi's name on the cover kinda leads the listener's expectations away from the reality in that respect. I have to admit that I would have preferred Abasi to put a bit more of a focus on melody but I can't complain much as I pick the shattered pieces of my musical ego up off the floor. Sure the production is a little bit wishy washy but it's nothing I couldn't overcome after my initial listen. This was a very interesting feature release selection in my opinion.

For fans of Plini, Mestis & Arch Echo.

4/5

Ben, please add US doom metal outfit My Threnody.

A majestic & atmospheric French black metal tribute to classic Burzum.

This one's outstanding Ben. Nehemah don't reinvent the wheel but they certainly know how to take me back to my black metal glory days. I'd suggest that "Requiem Tenebrae" sits somewhere between conventional black metal & atmospheric black metal. Possibly a little closer to the conventional side of the equation. It's not a perfect record as there are a couple of faults. The drum sound is pretty ordinary, particularly that ride cymbal that stands out like a sore thumb. There's also the odd bouncy punk beat tossed in here & there that isn't 100% my bag (usually in honour of similar Darkthrone & Hellhammer riffs) but the vast majority of the album offers a stunningly cold atmosphere enhanced by some wonderfully evil vocals. "Requiem Tenebrae" makes for one of the best examples of Second Wave of Norwegian Black Metal worship I've heard in a long time & I loved it.

For fans of Darkthrone, Burzum & Immortal.

4.5/5

Ben, please add Brazilian heavy metallers Ignited's album "Steelbound".

About that Trivium song... Sorry, Vinny, it's just so good! And sorry if you were thinking of suggesting a song from the In Waves album, Sonny.

Andi, please pick another song. Sonny already said in another thread that he intends on picking a track from "In Waves" & you've got a lot more options to choose from.

Pretty blatant Dio worship going on here but I can't help but fall for the strength of the massive chorus hook. For fans of Kamelot, Edguy & Stratovarius.

Ok so I think we're all aware that European power metal & I don't see eye to eye but I committed to giving "The Metal Opera" a good Aussie try by really focusing on it over the last couple of days & I'm reasonably pleased I did because I have to admit that I don't actually mind it. My first impressions weren't amazing for a couple of reasons though. Firstly, there are very few legitimate riffs on offer here as this material is completely vocal driven. The simple power chord or tremolo-picked backing work from the rhythm guitarists is not something that I'm usually comfortable with as it all sounded pretty tame to my untrained ears. The second thing that initially put me off was the lop-sided tracklisting which offers a significantly stronger B side. My lack of interest in much of the A side saw me putting my walls up on first listen & it took me a couple of revisits for the album to fully open up. But open up it did & I'm pleased to say that I eventually found the soaring vocal harmonies to be a bit of a drawcard. 

Honestly, I couldn't care less about the storyline & concept but the album can just as easily be listened to as a regular album because it's not obviously structured as your classic filler-ridden concept record. It's also not all that obvious that there are loads of guest vocalists unless you're familiar with the original intention of the album as many of the singers sound very similar to each other. The use of symphonics isn't over the top either (which I'm very thankful for).

Overall, this album isn't ever going to be a favourite for me but I respect the talent & ambition of Tobias Sammet & found it to be a generally enjoyable listen that further confirms my broader musical evolution over the last decade or so. I mean I never would have gotten through my first listen back in the 80's or 90's but now I find myself being capable of making an unbiased judgement call on a European power metal record which is quite the achievement for this ol' extreme metal fanatic.

For fans of Kamelot, Edguy & Stratovarius.

3.5/5

To be honest I've been making my selections based on the gaps that needed filling since day one so that everyone else got theirs. Luckily I really dig drone metal. :)

As for picking a track from In Waves for next month's playlist, I didn't really think anyone would be interested in listening to a track from the previous month's featured release again so soon.

I feel a little differently on that topic. I religiously include a track from the monthly feature releases because they're the most listened to releases by each clan in any given month & that works into my ambition to have the playlists reflecting our current listening habits. It's also worth remembering that these playlists are listened to by far more casual Spotify users than they are by our Metal Academy regulars.

My thoughts exactly Sonny. In fact, in order to give our three other contributing members of The Fallen as much runtime as possible I was intending to use my own thirty minutes to fill in gaps in our subgenre coverage for this first one. Perhaps if we continue with this format & expand it across the other clans then I could leave an allowance for an additional person so that I can use that space for this purpose. Good discussion.

We still have a three track limit for The North playlist Vinny. That's mainly because of the longer track durations that people have been selecting which tend to fill up the run time without the need for anything additional but also because most of those selections tend to be in the same couple of subgenres so I leave a little room to add some material from the large number of other subgenres.

Hahahahaha..... yeah I could have saved you both the trouble as I knew perfectly well that Amaranthe wouldn't be up Sonny's alley (or mine for that matter) but I don't like to put words in people's mouths when it comes to music.

The allocated April feature release owners:

THE FALLEN: Andi, Ben, Daniel, Sonny

THE GATEWAY: Daniel, saxy

THE GUARDIANS: Andi, Vinny, Xephyr

THE HORDE: Ben, Daniel, Vinny

THE INFINITE: saxy, Andi, Xephyr

THE NORTH: Vinny, Xephyr, Sonny, Ben

THE PIT: Vinny, Ben, Daniel, Sonny

THE REVOLUTION: Daniel, Andi

THE SPHERE: Daniel

Ben & Chris, you're both gonna love this one.

Elite level industrial metal from Notting Hill, London. For fans of Ministry, Nine Inch Nails & KMFDM.

Ok so this record is fucking superb just quietly. "Killing Joke" has exceeded my expectations by a very wide margin. I've heard bits & pieces of Killing Joke over the years but nothing's ever grabbed me enough to draw me into spending extended periods of time with them. This album however is much more metal oriented than I remember from them & is also beautifully produced & executed. The performances are absolutely phenomenal, particularly the stellar efforts from front man Jaz Coleman & guest drummer Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Queens Of The Stone Age). It's certainly not the most industrial of industrial metal releases. In fact, I'd actually question the validity of that tag here as there's really not much electronics going on but it certainly sounds a lot like Ministry at times (it's worth noting that bassist Paul Raven would join Ministry a couple of years later & had played with Godflesh just prior to rejoining Killing Joke) so I think that's where the link comes from along with Killing Joke's history of dabbling with industrial sounds. In saying that though, a more suitable genre tag doesn't easily spring to mind for this release. Alternative metal perhaps?

Killing Joke incorporate a few of their signature post-punk elements here & there with mixed results (i.e. the one completely post-punk dominated track "You'll Never Get To Me" is the only weak moment on the album) but when they decide to be heavy they really go to town with a brilliant use of layering & texture. There's a case for the tracklisting being a little top heavy with all of the highlights coming in the first six tracks however that's not to say the last few are weak by any means. They just don't take me to the same peaks as songs like opener "The Death & Resurrection Show" (the album highlight for mine), the very Ministry-like "Asteroid", Implant", "Blood On Your Hands" (with its indie rock verse that sounds like The National) or "Loose Cannon" do, all of which are elite examples of their type. Only decades of experience can produce records of this class & you can easily hear that in the use of tension & release. This is a top ten industrial metal release for me. My only question is why anyone would put out a self-titled record in 2003 when their most well known album (i.e. their 1980 debut) was also self-titled. Were they making a conscious effort to confuse potential fans?

For fans of Ministry, Nine Inch Nails & KMFDM.

4.5/5

I was simply asking why you didn't pick a track from the Trivium album you liked Sonny. Feel free not to though.

If you want to know what trance metal is all about then give Amaranthe's 2014 album "Massive Addictive" a few spins. They're by far & away the most significant & definitive trance metal band.

And yet you've only just listened to the monthly feature release for The Revolution & reported back positively Sonny. That qualifies as having an opinion as far as I can see.