Rexorcist's Forum Replies

Out of curiosity, is there a way to mark any specific challenges that are completed?

I heard my first two Atreyu albums today: Lead Sails paper Anchor, and Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses.  Meh.

I'm gonna post this week's North album hint a day early just 'cause I feel like it.

Hint: 7-12.

That's you're hint.

Ben / Daniel, I believe I have now completed the Death Metal - The 1st Decade clan challenge and as such I would like to seek admission into the hallowed halls of the Horde clan. It has taken a mere four years, but I believe I now have earned that fourth badge!!

Bada-fuckin-boom, bro!  Good job!

Yeah, I think it's a little more accurate personally but would throw Nintendocore in under the Electronicore banner too if I was them as it's simply too specific.

I think nintendocore used to be under trancecore but they removed it a couple years ago.

Oh, it's a chance.  I know very little about Trancecore, too, but that feels like a more accurate title from what little I've heard (Attack Attack and the first end theme of Hunter X Hunter).

I would simply direct those people to the Trance Metal deep dive thread where they can get a clear understanding of our reasoning. I was completely transparent & provided detailed explanations of my position on each of the releases I investigated as a part of each of the deep dives I've conducted. I also encouraged others to provide their opinions in the interest of an unbiased process. That being said though, if a large portion of our audience decided that they disagreed with our approach then we're certainly open to reviewing it but please bare in mind that whatever position results will need to be in line with our clan configuration (which Trance Metal wasn't just quietly).

I think you might need to rearrange the grammar of that last sentence, but directing them to that thread feels like the best way to go.  Whatever albums you reviewed there will likely be open for those discussions.

I'm not sure how you're suggesting that we're biased here Rex. Trance Metal was removed from the database because it was deemed to not be a legitimate metal genre. This was because, after doing some fairly in-depth research, I discovered that most of the releases sound nothing alike & draw upon a wide array of alternative genres for their base sounds with the only common element being that they utilize trancey synthesizers to some extent. All of the releases were added to move suitable genres though so they're all still here & fall under the same clan rules as any every other release which protects them from trolling.

I never said you ARE biased.  I'm just asking what would be said towards people who may think so, illustrating the possibility that it weould happen considering that as we grow, we may end up getting a few trance metal fans ourselves.  This feels like the kind of thing that might end up being brought back up every few months if we get big enough, like certain threads on RYM inevitably due, or like a "Is Converge punk or metal" topic.  Must be a lot of those on Metallum.  You know how metal fans can be.

On top of that, as it probably should be the case, there may be discussions as to what actually qualifies as a "trance metal" album.  Having said that, the specific discussion feels more appropriate for RYM, as they need it because the "trance metal charts" look like a mess, especially now that "electronicore" and "kawaii metal" were taken seriously enough for RYM to include a couple weeks ago. :P

What I'm saying is that sites like RYM & Metal Archives are inherently biased towards & against certain subgenres & they therefore aren't inclusive of all music fan's opinions. Say for example you are a huge fan of nu metal, slam death metal, gorenoise, melodic metalcore, etc. If you use RYM as a guide then you have absolutely no decent releases to choose from because they're all unanimously down-rated for being... well... exactly what they're trying to be! How can a nu metal fan distinguish the good nu metal releases from the bad nu metal releases when all & sundry seem to go to town on their releases when they weren't ever a fan of nu metal in general.

Now I have one question about genre-distinction and bias.  I have very little interest and even less knowledge in this specific genre, but in the event that we get enough people what would you say in regards to the idea that Metal Academy is "biased" towards "trance metal?"  I know we recently kicked it out, but I think I've only heard one trance metal album, so I don't really have strong arguments for it.  But still.  Of course, maybe this question is better to be discussed by someone who actually listens to that genre.

Ahh, atmo black.  I admit, I found Burzum's Filosofem to be great black metal on its own, but having such a long dungeon synth track at the end felt inconsistent.  Now I'm just begging RYM to find some replacement for the number 1 spot because of it.  My number 1 for any black metal genre is the traditional black album At the Heart of Winter.  But for atmo, I'm gonna use my own tags instead of MA tags:

1. Alcest - Souvenirs d'un Autre Monde (Blackgaze)

2. Gris - Il était une forêt...

3. Blut Aus Nord - The Work Which Transforms God

4. Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love

5. Blut aus Nord - Memoria Vetusta II: Dialogue With the Stars

6. Summoning - Stronghold

7. Altar of Plagues - Teethed Glory and Injury

8. Summoning - Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame

9. Negura Bunget - OM

10. Thurisaz - Scent of a Dream

Personally, I'll downrate anything that feels too monotone.  Length itself is only a common factor in this, but even a 20 minute album can feel samey and unimaginative.  This is part of why I consider Reign in Blood inferior to South of Heaven, and more appropriately, Pleasure to Kill under several Kreator albums.  Of course, length itself is an element that can be used properly, if the musician is good enough, like on many slower metal genres such as doom.  My favorite example of this would be The Dreadful Hours.  Or course, the absolute best I can think of is William Basinski's Disintegration Loops.

This is the kind of album where fluctuations in quality are a little more noticeable thanks to the consistency of the sound, despite the variety we get.  We have a much more melodic take on the signature sound of Biomech, making it feel less aquatic and more like an album by Genesis.  Even short bursts of melody like Hypergeek have this cute factor about it that makes the album stand out from normal metal.  I mean, if anyone tells you that Townsend is significantly less "gritty" than metal tends to be, albums like this prove you right, even though we have some very rough moments here, depending on what's appropriate.  That shoegazey noise-metal of Biomech finds its way onto Synchestra in bits, only applying on the most necessary bits for atmospheric and unpredictable touches.  Although sometimes we get some inappropriate diverse bits, like the short bluegrass solo in the middle of Triumph, or freakin' Vampolka.  These 180's from the tone of the album don't combine variety with consistency in an effective way, and feel unnecessary.

I noticed that Townsend's vocals are much more metal, like he's taking influence from Ronnie James Dio.  And it's working.  He's up to both his usual screaming and his softer Dream-Theatrical vocals, but the extra metal in his voice adds to the album's ability to stand out.  But in the second half of the album, while things remain atmospheric and cool, it also loses some of its unique orchestra touch, relying on more of the shoegazy stuff from Biomech and going for something a little less melodic and more sci-fi and industrial at times.

So this is another pretty cool album for Devin Townsend fans, but there are some mistakes that glare a little more as the album goes along.  There are also a couple of his best songs in this album, notably in the first half, but I don't really feel the need to listen to this again.

83/100.

Sorry about forgetting the hint.

This week's INFINITE album:

Devin Townsend - Synchestra (2006)

Genres: Prog Metal

Votes: 4

Reason: Devin Townsend is one of prog's most important figures.  ALso, this only needs one more vote to enter the charts.

I got a few I'm waiting on already.  I'll do that when we've got a few less.

I actually prefer this to their more popular album, Nosferatu.  It's well-produced and unpredictable, but also manages to give a power metal fan everything they could possibly want from a stylistic perspective as they go through various forms of metal that are not only related to power metal, but a couple like thrash that are only occasionally combined with it.

Review:

Now I've heard a few Nile albums, but not this one yet.  These guys are one of the leading figured in brutal tech, along with Suffocation and Cryptopsy.  Many death bands take their cues from these three bands, but Nile was different in the sense that a little of that brutality was replaced with mythological themes.  But even though Annihilation of the Wicked is their most beloved, this was the album that really cemented their place among the greats.

The intro started out similarly to how I would start out a tech metal album, weird and melodic at the same time.  Overtime, the album would cover a variety of moods and atmospheres with this single genre, taking time to be proggy, epic and doomy like with Unas, Slayer of the Gods, or speedy and catchy, like with Kheftiu Asar Butchiu, or just plain evil like Churning the Maelstrom, which reaches Devourment levels of brutality.  Notice, that this is only in the track 4-6 string.  This kind of thing just keeps happening throughout the whole album, which means these guys are writing a collective of very different metal songs with the one or two styles they play (as a further example, track eight uses fast guitars at a slow pace almost like an atmo-black metal song).  I've mentioned before that this kind of feat isn't as common as it should be, and I typically tend to hold albums like this in high regard.

While the style itself and the formatting of each song isn't always new or revolutionary, their moods and tricks are all healthy enough to keep the album entertaining.  This is largely because of a very strong depth to the band's personalities, effortlessly perfecting the "mood" aspects and overshadowing their own technical and songwriting skills, as good as the writing is on its own.  Our epic Unas, Slayer of Gods is probably one of the finest death metal songs I've ever heard.  It's an 11-minute track I'd easily return to if I was in the mood, and honor I've only ever given two 11-minute epics in my life: Through Silver in Blood by Neurosis, and the album version of Anything for Love by Meat Loaf.  But early on, there seems to be a point of technicality going against the organization of each layout.  This point is made especially obvious during the short second track: Exacration Test.  This is only occasional, but noticeable.  But the album REALLY digs into the moods and themes by the time our four-part titular epic begins, and it stays that way.

There seems to be an ongoing battle as to whether or not Nile can be counted among "brutal" bands, considering that they're a little less brutal than the rawest of these bands.  It doesn't help that the general consensus is that their latter albums were less brutal.  I'd say this album makes the cut, though less obviously.  It's that more tame brutality that brings out the atmospheres, so I'd say the small sacrifice was needed.

I'd say that my needs as an aspiring critic and a death metal fan are more than met.  Only very slightly in need of rewriting, this a very diversified and surprising album with an excellent mythical and horrific vibe about it.  I can picture a number of aspiring death metal bands taking a few cues from this one.  Now I need to replay Annihilation of the Wicked to compare the two properly.  This is some prime death metal here.

97/100

The change itself can be awkward, but look at it as a whole new form of enjoyment.

This week's HORDE album:

Nile - In Their Darkened Shrines (2002)

Genres: Tech Death, Brutal Death

Votes: 2

Reason: A couple other Nile albums are in the main chart with more than five votes, but this album is one of their highly regarded classics, and it only has two votes, this this was a perfectly easy choice.

I did try to make a review of the Crimson Glory album in time, but alas, it turns out I'm not terribly good as describing an album I love as much as their debut in that little time.

I typically write my reviews and feeling as I'm listening to the album, taking notes and fleshing them out after finishing the album.  That might help.

My world has been thrown into complete disarray this week after I was made redundant after 28 years of service at my company. It came completely out of the blue & seems to be complete madness from an operational point of view given that the work that I do is still very much required. The whole business is in uproar over it & I'll receive a very large pay-out which certainly softens the blow a touch but my ego has copped a significant amount of bruising & it hasn't come at a good time for my personal life so I'm doing it a bit tough at the moment.

Yeesh.  That really doesn't feel right at all.  I mean, what excuse did they have?

Here's the hint for tomorrow's HORDE album.

I feel like Human Waste's potential thrash influence made it sound more evil than brutal, and thus the brutality of Human Waste felt more effective.  I mean, I love both, but as far as blasting pure evil out at you, Human Waste was louder and still left plenty of room for brutality and some technicality.

The way I see it, a shorter album runs less risk of drying up.  This is often the case for bands that beat their own style to death.  This isn't always the case, though, because many eps will be a "taste" of wuat the band's about.  But it can happen.  The best example is how I consider the best Suffocation release to be Human Waste, because it's likely their heaviest and doesn't begin to run dry by the end.  This also marks the difference between No More Color abd Mental Vortex.

Having said that, it's not like I specifically need these albums to be short.  Take a look at my number 4 album of all time: Abbatoir Blues and the Lyre of Orpheus.  It's Nick Cave's longest album, but it covers the whole of Cave's genre-hopping while both remaining consistent and differentiating the two albums in waysthat compliment each other.  It all depends on how you use thr length.  Another example of perfection with great length is Soundtracks for the Blind.

Of course, thisis all subjective perfection.

I think it depends on how much art they're willing to put in the release as opposed to how much effort.  I noticed on a usual basis that an EP will be shorter than an album even if the band is one of those speedy ten-second-song extreme hardcore acts that likes 15 minute albums, in which case their ep's will usually be five minutes.  Length is one optional representative part of it.  But in the long run, it really amounts to how much time an artist is willing to put into a single project as opposed to how much effort.  Thus, something shorter can possibly be better than something longer.  If you're willing to give someone a larger taste than a single, but don't have the time for a full album, I guess you should call it an EP.  Ore maybe the designation of the term "EP" really refers to the fact that this is a shorter album than whatever "epic new release" they're willing to put out?  But when it comes to a band overcoming their usual studio album length, then there's much less sense in it.  In other words, it's either an artistic choice or marketing gimmick at this point.

You describe it like I describe Never Mind the Bollacks Here's the Sex Pistols, except that album isn't as surreal.

Review:

Crimson Glory is a name I've been aware of ever since I got into power metal, having heard of them back when Rateyourmusic still lumped US power metal in with regular power metal from Germany.  Some even call them a prog band (which feels wrong, now that I know what they sound like), but the reality of it all is that whatever tag they have, they've still got a huge following because their heavy metal approach is clean, memorable, authentic and as a result: generic.

It was pretty obvious from Valhalla what I was getting into.  Crimson Glory is basically joining the average 80's heavy metal collective with a beautiful and perfect presence that largely overcomes a generic sound.  But even though the talent and the power were there, I really can't say I was given any "surprises," just a really good time.  I mean, speed metal songs like Mayday are really easy to rock out to, and any heavy metal guardian should get at least SOME enjoyment from the fact that the band is really putting in some effort here, even if they can't reach above the level of the genre tropes they follow.  Let's take a look at the epic and well-structured Queen of the Masquerade.  It's slower and its easier to get soaked in its almost Gothic vibes, even though the song's guitars are often louder than they need to be.

Some songs have some very noticeable flaws among all the energy, metal attitude and strong personality.  For one thing, Lost Reflection might be pretty, but as a melodic piece, Crimson Glory made a bad decision putting in so many electric metal songs before that one ballad, so it felt out of place until it got to its heavier parts.  On top of that, the melody needed work.  And Dragon Lady kind of just did its own thing.  Midnight's vocal displays of obvious pretentiousness didn't have a rhythm that felt appropriate with the rest of the instruments.

So each song is either decent or good, but there are a couple great tracks.  This album offered me nothing I haven't already heard from a plethora of albums throughout every year of the 80's, but it's enjoyable for what it's worth.  It's a good introductory album for anyone looking into heavy metal, but there are plenty of albums that blow this out of the water.  After so much hype, I expected more.

81/100.

This week's GUARDIANS album:

Crimson Glory - Crimson Glory (1986)

Genres: US Power Metal

Votes: 4

Reason: Crimson Glory's most famous album, Transparency, has 6 votes already, so I figured I might as well bring this to the charts with its brother.

OK, the hint for the Guardians album coming tomorrow:

I got my pick.  Owwsla.  I'll review it later today on site and post it here when it's my turn.

OK, so I've given my Top 100 Metal Releases of All Time list a crack:

https://metal.academy/lists/single/227

THERE we go!  There's a definite love of the dark and grody here, and that love is shown through a lot of angels.  But the best part was finding some albums I've never heard of, like the Lucid Planet one.  It seems to have a little of almost everything, including a folk metal and a djent album.  And +1 for having a Merzbow collab up there.

I really love the variety and production here, as well as Lil Ugly Mane's various rapping tricks.  But I do have ONE problem with it so far: many of these songs aren't really changing or progressing despite the variety of the album as a whole.

Mechina - Cenotaph (2023)

Genres: Symphonic Metal, Cyber Metal

You know what I hate?  When people say they absolutely love a band that is writing the same song over and over and over again.  I mean, let's be honest.  Mechina are more samey than AC/DC.  So when I played this last Mechina album I needed before I completed another metal catalog, I knew what I was getting into.  This is another dull example of overly speedy drums working with synthy riffs and vocals going for a stronger "epic" vibe than the third Legend of Spyro game.  I saw those cutscenes, and this band might've been perfect for that.  And on top of that, almost every song is 7 minutes or more, and I'm including the six-minute-fifty song because I might as well.  Sure, it's well polished and very speedy.  But it gets to the point where you kind of realize that the only one displaying talent is the drummer.  The good stuff fluctuates and is often drowned in excess repetition, so this album may as well be strictly for Mechina fans.

57/100

Hah!  The last post was three years ago?  OK, I'm raising the activity here before things get any deader than they are.

Sybreed - Antreas (2014)

Genre: Cyber Metal

Cyber metal is probably the single metal genre most metalheads don't take seriously.  I've been through and started a fair share of cyber metal albums, and usually I don't find something that appealing.  It's a shame because I like the idea of spacey-industrial metal, but not enough people know how to take charge of it without falling into Periphery half-djent half-metalcore territory.  Maybe this is because one of the big bands that started the genre seems to take a few cues from them.

As for Antares, there is one compliment I'd like to start with: these guys are pretty good with atmospheres.  Even though their style is typical and their components are expected, their atmospheres and the vocals bring the album together pretty well.  This is especially true for the slower songs like Isolate.  But the best thing about this album is that, even though the components are expected for this kind of Periphery knockoff, there's some clear variety.  For example, there's the musical midtro of Revive My Wounds, which goes really deep into atmosphere, neoclassical synths and even a couple seconds of robotic vocals.  The extra variety is a good move to me; I had started Slave Design but I didn't finish it because it was quite samey.  There's also some clear melo or tech death mingled in with the melodic metalcore.  Of course, despite the variety, the emotional touch seems to have each song fluctuating between sadness and anger too often, another Periphery trait.  Eventually, it just becomes too much.  I mean, ending this overlong album with a nine-minute epic was a band move, considering it offers nothing really new to the album.

If I had to fault the album for anything besides the typical radio-metal components, I'd say that it's a little too noisy.  It's heavy most times, but at other times it feels needlessly noisy.  They should've gotten a producer like Andy Gill, who brought cleanliness to the sound (and as a result, griminess to the style) of Killing Joke 2003.  So while these guys have talent, they were clearly more worries about the reputation of the tropes rather than making a name for themselves alone.  So it's a cool album with many strengths that justify its flaws and tropes, but I would only really recommend this to people who like industrial music already.

85/100

Caroline Polachek - Desire, I Want to Turn Into You (2023)

Genres: Art Pop, Alt-Pop, Electronic

First, let me say that for a female-fronted alt-pop album, this is one of the COOLEST things I've ever listened to.  The whole album, even in its incredible variety, maintains a deep, soulful and hypnotic mood of chill like I've never heard before.  And this variety is carefully strutting like a smooth criminal all over the pop world with both acoustic and electronic genres carefully working together and taking turns in the focal points.  It's like Lorde overdosed on Portishead and got a member of Celtic Woman to sing it.  Just listen to Crude Drawing of an Angel.  There's a Lynchian vibe about it that just captivates the listener.  This lady obviously listened to Julee Cruise and Enya, and the influence did its job.  The album even has a couple worldbeat touches scattered throughout, as we have faint African undertones and even a flamenco song. 

As an example of the cool vibe, let me point out which, might surprisingly, even be one of the worse songs on the album (and that's a hard thing to judge).  Bunny Is a Rider is all about that unique and quirky percussion, justifying the lack of real instrumental melody in a rare and clever way that never gets in the way of its effortlessly and overpoweringly "cool girl" mood.  That percussion and the backing effects work together perfectly to bring me the surprises and consistency I demand.  Of course, before anything, this "pop" album is largely an atmosphere album.  This is proven by what may be the single worst track on the album, although its merits are five-star strong: Fly to You.  The instruments have no melody, and rely on reverb and Polachek's vocals to drive it.  However, I won't judge Fly to You as a blotch on the album, as its strong points are very strong, and we've had our share of melody-based songs and a percussion-focused track already.  Besides, immediately after this song is one of the best tracks: Blood and Butter, a folktronica song with both melody and great percussion tricks.

One more thing I have to mention is that Polachek is a vocal genius.  Her deep, new age voice can go into impressively high territory, and she really knows how to carry her voice in an atmospheric and lightly operatic way.  There are backing vocals that work very well with her, but she still manages to outshine them all.  Although it must be noted that her vocals tend to take over a lot, but I think that's actually fine considering that, while I would normally be bothered by that, the mood, instrumentation and atmosphere are made incredible because of her perfect voice.  In fact, one would say that because of the handling of these elements, the album is extremely unique despite its pop and electronic genres that it tweaks and rearranges so often.

So this is an album that may be really hard to get into, like Kid A for the best example I can think of, but I think it's totally worth it.  This album gives me everything I ask for in an album, variety, consistency and new tricks, while justifying elements that would likely be flaws if someone else had attempted it.  This is like Portishead meets Radiohead meets Enya, except this one album beats them all, and I hold all three in high regard.  One must remember that the vocals are considered an instrument this time, as well as the auto-tune, and are leading the melody with the instruments, even when percussion is the main focus of the instruments.  This is an album I will return to with no questions asked.  It's some of the most fun I've ever had with the surreal side of music, especially with pop.  It took more than half of the year, and I avoided alt-pop for reasons pertaining to awareness of alt-pop's radio-friendly reliance, but I dived into it again and I finally found my "perfect" album for the year.  It's my firm belief that with so many albums out every year, at least one of them has to be perfect, or at least there has to be at least one that I can consider perfect.  This is it.

10/10.

To clarify our position on that, technical death metal isn’t a Metal Academy genre. It’s a subgenre of death metal in the same way that dissonant death metal is. It’s our belief that dissonant death metal doesn’t necessarily have to be technical & vice versa so have made them seperate tags in their own right. It’s also worth noting that we’re not led by RYM when making decisions on our genre-tagging structure. We prefer to run our own race.

I figured all of that out.  Why else would you have the halls?  That's why I also made the Ulcerate comparison, as it's the only album in my ten that doesn't have both the dissonant and tech tags.  I won't immediately know all the tiny differences and similarities to RYM, so it would help if we had a genre tree.

I've heard everything on the above list except for that number one. I'll make room for that today and/or tomorrow.  Lovin the RYM genre tags.

I just went through my top ten tech death albums.

1. Death - The Sound of Perserverance (my number one death metal album in general)

2. Death - Human

3. Gorguts - Colored Sands

4. Suffocation - Human Waste

5. Athiest - Unquestionable Presence

6. Death - Symbolic

7. Suffocation - Pierced from Within

8. Ulcerate - Stare Into Death and be Still

9. Gorguts - Obscura

10. Cryptopsy - None So Vile

I'll go with you on both accounts.  I mean, there are plenty of albums that I think need the speed metal tag after RYM went through some weirdass cleansing of supposedly mistagged albums, but they made some mistakes, like taking the tag off Rust in Peace while keeping it on its live counterpart.  This is one of those albums I think should be re-evaluated in the tagging department.  Honestly, if we're going into other primaries, the closest we'd have would likely be either power metal or US power metal, and I don't really think it fully fits those bills.

Marty Friedman - Dragon's Kiss (1988)

Fun fact: This is the album that convinced Megadeth to hire him.  And it worked out.

Other fun fact: At the day of writing this review, the album turns 35.

So it should be noted that, first and foremost, this is a “riffs” album, one where that's the primary focus, much like Yngwie Malmsteen's debut, Rising Force.  Malmsteen made a smart decision to make his songs more radio friendly so that the heavy metal can compliment the classical riffs and vise-versa.  And as a result, we have a lot of “riff” albums with no other purpose in life, which is reflected in that music.  But with Friedman's debut, the rest of the band is there to compliment his riffs.  The drums are heavy and they carry the various vibes of Friedman's riffs perfectly.  I mean, just listen to the work done on Anvils.  Half of that track is the drum job and not Friedman's finger duties.

I mean, sure, there are some weaker songs that are mostly there for some cool solos, like Dragon's Kiss, or Namida's Kiss which didn't live up to its full potential as a magical folksy midtro, but there are also some interesting unpredictable compositions here.  There's a weird mysticism that goes into the intro of Evil Thrill before we're kicked off into a ferocious speed metal tune.  Even though the production needs some improvement, you hear what's going on just fine, and lemme tell you: the flawed production gives us enough of that atmos and reverb to make out everything just fine.  The drums are loud and hard, the guitar and bass work together well, and the riffs are monstrous.

Unfortunately, he needs some work on softer tracks.  The first half of Jewel, for example, is kinda boring.  But the proggy magic happens once the tone picks up.  And I love soft music as much as metal, being a huge Paul Simon fan.  So it's very clear that not every song will be a five-star.  Thankfully, the softer intro of the eight-minute prog epic Forbidden City has a good intro that builds up to the neoclassical parts.  And I was flat-out blown away by this epic.  Thunder March is a weird case.  It has both guitars making fine rhythms, but they're not molded well due to the production.  Also, the drums aren't quite as heavy as they should be for this marching example of "epica."

I have a little of a personal touch with this album, but I;m not gonna let that alter my rating.  Basically, what I want to say is simple: it's obvious that this album's guitar tone and melodies had a major say in the soundtrack to F-Zero GX, and its Guitar Arrange version.  Of course, that also makes it easy to compare this album, despite being a different type of metal.  This is a fine example of the genre-bending balance that a great metal album needs, and handles that aspect perfectly.  Unfortunately, a few songs need some re-evaluations in the compositions department, but there are a few 9's and 10's on this album and I'd easily recommend it for the effort and the historical relevancy.

91/100

Today's GATEWAY album:

Primus - Suck On This (1989)

Genres: Funk Metal, Alt-Rock, Alt-Metal

Votes: 2

Reason: Primus is a pretty big name band.  So for their cult-classic debut to only have 2 votes on what may one day become one of the world's most relevant metal databases feels just wrong.  These guys practically reinvented funk.

Review: Funk metal isn't a genre I take that seriously.  Most of it is just a bunch of dorks mindlessly ambling on either "cool" or "experimental" music without really taking the time to appreciate the music.  Thankfully, Primus keeps their weirdness more palatable without diving too far into either side of the funk metal spectrum.  They're just cool and experimental enough for their personalities to do the rest of the work, and that was clear from their live debut album.

Now I've heard this album once before, and at the time I gave it a 94/100.  So it was damn close to a five-stars.  Will it hold up?

The first thing I noticed was that the production is WAY better than a live debut album by a bunch of experimental dorks had any right to be.  It wasn't "perfect," as the sound quality is just slightly fuzzy.  But you can hear everything clearly.  So when we get into the really wild stuff, like the funk and riff-heavy Groundhog's Day, we're pretty much getting more than what we paid for.  They made it perfectly clear that, even though they're a bunch of comedians, they know how to jam and groove.  That bass of Claypool's is perfect for the weird rock and metal being played.  You can feel the Bootsy love.  But the best thing about it is how well the crazy but controlled drums carry the funky  and noisyriffs.  Never let it be said that Herb can't drum.

Even though they're a wacko band, they also have some deep, surreal and psychedelic vibes, like the middle section of Pressman.  Who would've thought comedic experimental funk metal could get so hypnotic and aural?  And this is right before that Sabbathy doom solo on the same song.  Pressman might be my favorite song on the album just for that.  After that, the album gets easier to let yourself just go with the flow.  I came to realize that the band is kind of mocking the weirdness of funk, likely with the band's whiteness.  But it works.

Anyway, I gotta say, even though I don't know if I can take the music seriously enough to give it five stars, I think that 94/100 rating I gave it before was pretty accurate.  Maybe my biggest concern is that they didn't really change their pace or sound as often as I would've liked, but they kept it fun.  I mean, seriously.  This is a VERY fun album.  You just kick back and let the weirdness do all the talking, jamming out like you're listening to a Ramones album.  Although it's not QUITE as original as I remember, I still recommend it.

92/100

Of course, if you need me to, I'll get through them all and review them.  I've already completed one Guardians list challenge so 'm not suggesting this because need to do another Guardians list to get my fourth clan, but I would like to be the first to complete this list if we do this.

Given I haven't heard a single release on the list, I'm not sure I'm qualified to judge whether or not it would make a good clan challenge.

I took them from the RYM too charts.  I also made sure I had the more popular albums by each act not already present in a list challenge.  Personally, I prefer Marching Out to Rising Force, but the latter is more historical.  Cacophony is a Mart Friedman band and Michael Romeo is from Symphony X.  But since it's such a niche genre, we don't need three or four era-based challenges.  Although, lists for more specific brands could be cool for Metal Academy.  Imagine dissonant death metal, war metal and djent lists.

Marty Friedman's debut, Dragon's Kiss, turns 35 tomorrow.  Gonna play that.

Solid list, Rex! This might be great for a possible neoclassical metal Guardians clan challenge. What do you think, Ben?

Thanks a bunch!  Although I don't know if it's the kind of list we need here; too many obscurities.  Of course, it IS a pretty niche genre.  I mostly made it for fun, but if by some chance it gets uploaded, awesome.

I made a couple adjustments to this.  I wasn't all that proud of my last neoclassical challenge list, but I think this one feels more appropriate since it has a couple more popular albums than the last two of the previous edition, and it includes Michael Romeo's solo career debut.

1. Symphony X – Twilight in Olympus

2. Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force – Rising Force

3. Marty Friedman – Dragon's Kiss

4. Royal Hunt - Paradox

5. Galneryus – Under the Force of Courage

6. Vinnie Moore – Mind's Eye

7. Iron Mask – Hordes of the Brave

8. Magic Kingdom – Symphony of War

9. Space Odyssey – Embrace the Galaxy

10. Tony MacAlpine – Maximum Security

11. Concerto Moon – Rain Forest

12. Jason Becker – Perpetual Burn

13. Michael Romeo - The Dark Chapter

13. Narnia - Awakening

14. Cacaphony – Speed Metal Symphony

15. Ring of Fire – The Oracle

16. Evil Masquerade – Welcome to the Show

17. Exmortus – Ride Forth

18. Impellitteeri – Stand in Line

19. Time Requiem – Time Requiem

20. Apocrypha – The Forgotten Scroll

21. Warmen – Beyond Abilities

22. Joey Trafolla – Out of the Sun

23. Majestic – Trinity Overture

24. Wolf Hoffman – Classical

25. Patrick Rondat - Amphibia

My favorite last time I listened to it is Hell - Curse and Chapter, while something that reflects more of what I listen to is Doom - Human Noise. Well-crafted technical, often veering into controlled chaos is more my forte than something that's just a perfectly crafted album of metal.

Different Hell than the one I've heard.  Classic heavy metal from the modern day is always welcome.

George Clanton - Ooh I Rap Ya

It's supposed to be the internet's hottest album for the time being.  But even though that Animal Collective-esque vibe is as pretty as a jewelry shop, I can't fully get past the decision to give all these songs very similar tempos.  It has a plethora of atmospheric strengths, cleverly using its various sound effects and melodies to maximum effect, but on the 0-10 scale, this one flaw keeps it from being perfect.  We'll see how it goes once I finish it.

Accidentally deleted this when I tried to edit it, so posting it again :P

Here's a hint for the next Gateway album.

What I wanted to say in editing it was, even if you guess right, I won't reveal the correct guess until Tuesday.

I've been on an industrial kick today.  I went back and reevaluated a couple of industrial metal albums just to check my views, and even heard Mutter for the first time.  Currently listing to a pretty heavy and atmospheric cyber metal / EDM album that's kind of replicating my feelings towards variety, but the genre listing looks both consistent and outlandish at the same time:

Internet Protocol by Master Boot Record

Primaries: Synthwave, Cyber Metal, Darksynth

Secondaries: Chiptune, Industrial Metal, Neoclassical Metal

I also notice hints of thrash and djent, and there's definitely a Malmsteen vibe.  Synthwave is kinda iffy for me, and so is cyber metal, so I'm hoping the rest lives up to the hype (and stays diversified).

Slayer's "Reign In Blood" is my favourite metal album of all time but the release that best reflects my taste & preferences is Suffocation's "Pierced From Within" as I've always been most inclined towards the more brutal end of death metal & it simply doesn't come more professionally executed than that record. I'm generally more inclined towards death metal vocals where you can actually understand what they're saying & Frank Mullen makes the adjustment towards greater intelligibility on that particular release too.

I actually feel that the better record is Pierced from Within.  It stays create and heavy through a longer runtime while a couple songs from Reign in Blood, while perfectly played, feel the same.  That's why my favorite Slayer is South of Heaven, and excellent bridge between the heavier and slightly less creative Reign in Blood to the more creative but slightly less heavy Seasons in the Abyss.  Of course, I feel that South of Heaven has greater creative prowess than Pierced from Within, which is also about on par with Seasons in the Abyss.