Rexorcist's Forum Threads

Along with the Swedish pioneers of djent:

Meshuggah

1. I (EP)

2. Catch Thirtythree

3. Destroy Erase Improve

4. Chaosphere

5. Nothing

6. Koloss

7. The Violent Sleep of Reason

8. None (EP)

9. ObZen

10. Immutable

11. Contradictions Collapse

12. Meshuggah (EP)

01. Reign In Blood

02. South Of Heaven

03. Seasons In The Abyss

04. Decade Of Aggression: Live

05. Live Undead E.P.

06. Haunting The Chapel E.P.

07. Show No Mercy

08. Divine Intervention

09. Hell Awaits

10. God Hates Us All

11. Repentless

12. Christ Illusion

13. Diabolus in musica

14. World Painted Blood

15. Undisputed Attitude

Cool list, Rex! Though if I make my own list in this thread, it would all just be metal, and I wouldn't have to write my top 20 when it's already in the "top 20 releases" feature.

10. Jay-Z
Genres: East Coast Hip Hop

Hip Hop was a long and difficult road for me to get into, and favorites were rare for me. Then came along Jay-Z, who gave me everything I could ever want in a hip hop album on multiple occasions. Scattered among his lower-grade and underdeveloped sellout albums are also works of pure hip hop genius. The hip hop attitude that everyone loves is pretty much his entire personality. If anyone deserved to be called the "hip hop god," then I'd say Jay-Z's self-proclaimed title isn't far off.

The Blueprint: 100
Reasonable Doubt: 100
Black Album: 100
Unplugged: 98.5
American Gangster: 97

Score: 99.1 / 5
Staying Score: 100

9. Tim Buckley
Genres: Folk, Singer/Songwriter, Psych Folk, Avant-Folk

A lot of Bandcamp.com jokers try the whole "surreal folk" thing like that suddenly makes them arteests, but none of them even came close to Tim Buckley, let alone Nico. But no matter how weird Buckley's music gets, he stays true to the form of personal, emotional and soulful folk music that everyone loves. Buckley's music is folk beauty in all of its forms.

Dream Letter: Live in London 1968: 100
Starsailor: 100
Happy Sad: 100
Blue Afternoon: 99
Goodbye and Hello: 97

Score: 99.2 / 5
Staying Score: 100

8. Frank Zappa
Genres: Exp. Rock, Jazz-Rock, Jazz Fusion, Comedy Rock

When I was first getting into albums, Freak Out was my first venture into experimental rock, and I loved every effed-up second of it. That raw level of boldness in Zappa's music is justified by his absurd personality. The guy knows how to write what's potentially the worst music on Earth, and make it more fun than a drunken night out on the town. And why? Why did we need Zappa? Simple. Sometimes, we just need to let loose.

Freak Out!: 100
Hot Rats: 100
Apostrophe: 100
Over-Nite-Sensation: 99
Joe's Garage, Act I: 97

Score: 99.2 / 5
Staying Score: 100

7. John Williams
Genres: Cinematic Classical, Symphony, Romanticism

Williams' music has practically defined the histories of moviegoers worldwide. Tell me. When you read that name, did the Star Wars theme NOT blast in your head? Or was it the Indiana Jones theme? Jurassic Park maybe? Or maybe it's just... baaaa-DUM. Baaa-DUM. Baaa-DUM da DUM da DUM. And on an artistic note, even his lesser known pieces for movie soundtracks drive entire albums with incredible cinematic flair, transitioning both ends perfectly.

Star Wars: 100
Return of the Jedi: 100
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom: 100
The Empire Strikes Back: 98
Raiders of the Lost Ark: 98

Score: 99.2 / 5
Staying Score: 100

6. The Beatles
Genres: Pop Rock, Psych Pop, Psych Rock, Merseybeat

Even though you've got enough great songs between the debut and Help to put together a damn good best of comp, The Beatles kept getting better as they went along. They're exactly my kind of pop rock band: the type that's willing to try and create dozens of different types of pop not just for the fun of it, but because they have that serious passion. Now, the Beatles themselves considered their band to be overrated, and I'd say that's only slightly true.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: 100
Abbey Road: 100
Revolver: 100
The White Album: 99
Magical Mystery Tour: 97

Score: 99.2 / 5
Staying Score: 100

5. Beach Boys
Genres: Baroque Pop, Pop Rock, Surf Rock, Sunshine Pop

The Beach Boys are at the top of pop for me. No "pop" acts beyond radio bands will appear anymore. They're basically the American equivalent to the Beatles IMO. While the Beatles were rocking merseybeat before their heyday, Beach Boys were in charge of the surf scene. And then they became ARTISTS, and they could flow easily within various kinds of pop by just being themselves.

Pet Sounds: 100
Smile Sessions: 100
Surf's Up: 100
Today: 99
Smiley Smile: 97

Score: 99.2 / 5
Staying Score: 100

4. Vangelis
Genres: Electronic, Prog Electronic, Ambient, New Age

Vangelis is a very rare breed here. While I typically list genres that this artists are merely good at, very few of them remain at the "top" of each genre save the one I list first. But Vangelis is different. He is my choice for the best electronic artist, ambient artist and new age artist period. All three of these are essential components to his mastery of music. This is why I put Oceanic in with his other albums, because it's a perfect album to showcase what he's capable of.

Blade Runner: 100
1492: 100
Oceanic: 100
Albedo 0.39: 100
Voices: 97

Score: 99.4 / 5
Staying Score: 100

3. Pink Floyd
Genres: Art Rock, Prog Rock, Psych Rock

An awe-inspiring debut and several classic 70's works gave them five perfect albums to put up here. Floyd is just as easy to enjoy at the workplace for sing-along songs or bangers by bands like Deep Purple and as they are the kind of musical act that you just have to absorb, like Coil. While all the other prog bands in Britain and Germany were messing around with pianos and time signatures, Floyd separated themselves from them with a fixation on astral atmospheres, and kept enough melody intact to become overplayed radio staples.

The Dark Side of the Moon: 100
Wish You Were Here: 100
Pulse: 100
The Wall: 100
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn: 100

Score: 100 / 5

2. Miles Davis
Genres: Cool Jazz, Jazz Fusion, Jazz-Funk, Modal Jazz

I know, I know, Miles is a pretty typical choice for a number one jazz act. But let's be real here: this guy put all of the effort he could into perfect every jazz genre he touched. And even though some stand out much more than others, his large body of works makes it difficult to pick favorites. There are even many these days that say Kind of Blue is no more than an excellent introduction into jazz rather than the jazz standard itself. Me, my ideal choice for the jazz standard is In a Silent Way, an album that reinvented jazz with ambient, classical and rock influences in the same way After the Rain did with blues.

In a Silent Way: 100
Kind of Blue: 100
'Round About Midnight: 100
Dark Magus: 100
Sketches of Spain: 100

Score: 100 / 5

And now, we're finally at my number one.

1. Led Zeppelin
Genres: Hard Rock, Blues Rock, Folk Rock

Led Zeppelin had a five-album run of total brilliance, even though the early stuff was unofficial remakes in the same illegal manner of A Fistful of Dollars. But damn, did everything they touched turn to gold. They reinvented blues rock by introducing heavy metal to the mix with Dazed and Confused, took a further step into playing with genres a la Beatles with number 2, created a folk rock AND hard rock staple with 3, and with IV they created what I've considered the greatest album ever made for the last 12 years. And finally, they just went wild with Houses of the Holy (I even like The Crunge) where they had a reggae song and a Floydian knockoff, both of which were INCREDIBLE. The only blemish on this amazing five-album run is Moby Dick, and that blemish is easily healed with the inclusion of my favorite live album of theirs, BBC Sessions.

Led Zeppelin IV: 100
Led Zeppelin: 100
Houses of the Holy: 100
BBC Sessions: 100
Led Zeppelin III: 100

Score: 100 / 5

Thank you everyone, for following along with my top 100.

I know I said I didn't know if any of the novels I read capture the metal spirit, but they do now! I was reading this graphic novel adaptation of Star Wars - Revenge of the Sith:

While listening to all the industrial/cyber metal tracks I've shared in this page of the Sphere Track of the Day thread: https://metal.academy/forum/15/thread/193?page=9

Star Wars can really capture my cyber metal spirit. I guess the most suitable metal genre for Star Wars would be Mechina-style epic symphonic progressive cyber metal.

In no particular order:

Motorhead - Overkill

Slayer - Raining Blood

Darkthrone - In the Shadow of the Horns

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

Diamond Head - Am I Evil?

Iron Maiden - Phantom of the Opera

Autopsy - In the Grip of Winter

So I'm on the power metal Reddit, browsing through my various subreddits for something to do.  There's a discussion on Gloryhammer called, "Am I the only one who thinks Gloryhammer doesn’t actually embrace the 'cheese?'"  Part of the conversation pertains to Gloryhammer's later album.  My response to one guy criticizing the overall post, saying that it looks like the OP's trying to say that the older albums are better.  I reply to him saying:

"I do agree that the new album doesn't hold a candle to the first three (of course I've heard asstons of power metal so by this point it should come across as fairly unoriginal), but they know what they want to be. Bowes has always been a joker. Ever hear his original experimental stuff? Yikes. On top of that, they originally stole the logo font for the Dark Crystal for their own logo, and jagged it up (probably to avoid a lawsuit IMO). They know what they are, and they know who they want to be."

Apparently, the guy I replied to was Christopher Bowes.  And instead of letting this embarrass me, I'm gonna own this bit like a good bar story, because that's actually a hilarious and very cool thing that happened in my boring-ass life.

Based on the mess RYM have made of their genre-tagging in recent years, I wouldn't worry too much about what their members think Rex as there's not a lot of genuine understanding there. More importantly, we need a few more The Guardians members to vote on this release in the Hall of Judgement so that we can achieve a clear position.

I know.  I'm just expressing my pleasure that it's at least staying there for a while.  I don't have an RYM account as the staff isn't making the best decisions, but I wanted a place to express the pleasure anyway.

I just listened to it, and I agree and will vote YES for this entry. This short review of mine explains my thoughts, and if bands with only non-metal albums end up getting removed from the site, I'm sure Gloios will get the axe here once the entry succeeds. https://metal.academy/reviews/35730/33939

Totally respect that. Crunkcore is among my least favorite genres of all time, but I'd be totally open to hearing an album in the genre that is actually enjoyable. Maybe I'll give it a shot just for fun.

I actually love it when one of my least favorite genres features an album I find amazing.  Nadja helped me explore some more of my least favorite metal genre: drone.

I also get frustrated by the need to further sub-categorise metal genres, but I think in this instance it's a valid one. The influence that Deathspell Omega have had on black metal can't be overstated. There are many (admittedly) lesser known bands that are attempting to utilise a similar sound. I reviewed one here at Metal Academy not long back actually...

https://metal.academy/releases/23898

Bekor Qilish, Kvadrat and Skaphe are other bands that come to mind that are very obviously bringing Deathspell-like dissonance into their music. I do feel there's something quite distinct about the sound that was introduced by Blut Aus Nord's The Work Which Transforms God and Deathspell Omega's mid-2000s releases. They don't have traditional black metal riffs at all.

For anyone interested, I think these are good examples...

https://open.spotify.com/track/2eDaorhzqRSmuYdPFW7Jnu?si=728c5b45a7584f69

https://open.spotify.com/track/5FSASFBCaKkBYhH6iYq4kN?si=9f51be8b321a4f29

https://open.spotify.com/track/377pFq2o7qSZSU9wAo8oiI?si=635093e767b540a0

So, we've finally reached an outcome on "Ride The Lightning" with the vote tally finishing at YES 4 NO 8 to deny its entry into The Guardians. Thank you to everyone who participated in reaching this result.

Like Ben, I haven't really focused on metal labels since the 1990's. Back then I used to religiously follow labels like Earache Records & premier Aussie extreme metal label Warhead Records but these days that's limited to ones that are a little closer to home like Sphere of Apparition (Oni, Neuropath, Unholy Redeemer, etc.). It's far easier to find good music in the internet age than it was when all we had to go on were magazines & word of mouth. Labels served a stronger purpose as a reliable provider of music that fit their particular niche. You can simply Google that stuff these days.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

https://metal.academy/hall/508

Just finished up a Cult Member marathon in my outsider house ventures.  This guy understands the balance between atmosphere and complex beats.  Not quite on par with Cross by Justice, but it maintains a consistent sound through various influences and surprises with plenty of complexity. There are acid techno songs which fit perfectly in this ambient / outsider house sound.

These two nominations have been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

https://metal.academy/hall/486

https://metal.academy/hall/487

Yeah, I guess you're right, Daniel. But it was worth a good experiment. I don't think my packed schedule both here and in the outside world would let me do just one album/clan per week anyway.

In other words, you'd make an average deathcore album :P

Ambient: Imagine if King Crimson and Tangerine Dream got together.  It would be a little jazzy, occasionally folksy, throw in an emotional rollercoaster with some chamber and black ambient, and maybe include a Philip Glass cover.

How would you make a folk pop album?

Dragoncorpse - The Drakketh Saga. Sure this album leans towards symphonic power metal, but deathcore is the more dominating genre there. Maybe a little too extreme for the kids, but at least the lyrics don't have any swearing.

I think that ultimately it must come down to the site owners to decide the policy for genre differentiation as ultimately it comes down to their vision for how they want the site to operate with respect to genres and how broad or narrow they wish the site's genre focus to be. Sure we could pick every release apart and debate the minutiae to arrive at a definitive sub-sub-genre, but what's the point, when you could just be digging on some cool sounds instead of stressing over whether something needs yet another new pigeonhole to be put into.

I get the whole "the listener may not like sub-genre A, but love sub-genre B" argument, but give people credit for being able to pick out what they do and don't like from within a reasonably broad genre definition. It sometimes sounds like we are saying that new music discovery is a trial rather than something exciting and we fear that  some listeners may be too fragile to accidentally hear something they don't enjoy and need to be shielded from the possibility.

All this deep-genre talk feels to me like reading an operating manual for a Ferrari rather than actually driving a Ferrari. Personally, I'd rather we kept the genres reasonably broad and let people make their own minds up. 

...but I still haven't read anything that tells me why we NEED to differentiate them in the database.

I believe the discussion boils down to this at the moment. It seems like we all agree that "Symphonic Power Metal" is a valid term that gets thrown around in discussions, but I think that the way that we have it currently with a "Symphonic Metal" tag and a "Power Metal" tag is a pretty catch-all setup. Examples that were brought up: 

• Therion - Theli, Vovin, and Secret of the Runes are all labeled Symphonic Metal primary with currently no subgenres, but probably could gain a Progressive or Death Metal one if people voted. No Power Metal, checks out. 
• Rhapsody - Dual Symphonic Metal and Power Metal primary genres. Checks out. 
• Nightwish - Early Nightwish has dual Symphonic/Power Metal primaries. Checks out. Starting at Imaginaerum it changes to a Symphonic primary and loses the Power Metal, checks out due to the even higher emphasis on orchestration. 
• Lacrimosa - I'm not familiar with this band but after putting on Echos for a bit it has a Symphonic primary and no Power Metal. Checks out. 
• Tristania - I'm not familiar with this band either but after listening to a little bit of Beyond the Veil I could see adding a Symphonic Metal primary alongside the Gothic Metal primary and maybe a Black Metal secondary? So it would be tagged as Symphonic Metal with no Power Metal, checks out.
• All of the bands listed as "Traditional Power Metal Bands" do not have the Symphonic Metal tag on them. Checks out. 

The point I'm trying to make is that apart from a few very niche exceptions, albums that are currently labeled as having Symphonic Metal and Power Metal primaries are what you are describing as Symphonic Power Metal. If the Symphonic Power Metal change were implemented, each album with both Symphonic and Power Metal primaries would gain this primary instead and lose the other two primaries. I could see this being an advantageous change for chart reasons so that Twilight Force wouldn't go toe-to-toe with Therion for Symphonic Metal, but they're still different forms of Symphonic Metal. While it might be nice to compare all your high-fantasy Rhapsody rip-offs under one tag, I think tagging that use of Symphonic Metal with a more traditional Tristania approach is still valid and has merit. Plus, the MA charts are only filterable by Clan at the moment, not genre.

I can agree with the point to want to differentiate old Nightwish (Once, Oceanborn) from Rhapsody, but I'm in the camp of people using their own reasoning from two broader primary genres rather than differentiating further. 

Especially since my mouse is acting up a little.

At least some of the material on "The Sound of Perseverance" was originally intended for Chuck's clean-sung progressive metal project Control Denied so it's hardly surprising that it doesn't sound like death metal.

I just discovered something.  If there are two conjoined albums two numbers apart, like 13 and 15, if you press up on the lower number or down on the high number, the numbers will be connected properly, say 13 and 14, or 14 and 15.

Thanks for telling me how to fix this.

Yeah, it's always perplexed me that people don't care for it since it's a great piece of Fates Warning-inspired prog metal. Guess it's just because it's not quite the sound they would become.

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.

Oh, totally Ben. I was gonna raise that one too.

Well, it worked perfectly for my Meshuggah review.

https://metal.academy/reviews/26159/2600

To be fair, I'd listen to his death metal opinions above mine. We often disagree, but then I find myself coming around to his way of thinking more often than I'd like to admit (ssshhhh... don't tell him I said that).

I'd suggest that people make an exception with melodic death metal Ben. I think we both know that I can't be trusted to provide a fair judgement in that space.

Slam death metal is never usually my thing, as I tend to avoid the more brutal death metal subgenres, but Fanguine takes on a strong diverse direction in both the music and lyrical themes, instead of just gore, gore, and more gore. The music sounds quite good despite still sounding brutal, with several other metal genres thrown into their main technical/slam death metal sound. A couple highlights for me are the final two tracks; "Let Me Explain" with its "broken transmission" deathcore, and "Genocidal Genesis", a decently long progressive epic that still stands by their usual sound. I can definitely imagine the latter track making history in the extreme metal scene, and that final verse with "Angel of Death"-esque Nazi lyrics would definitely be making headlines. Lots of great moments in the album! Still too brutal for me, but highly recommendable for the more extreme metalheads. I give that album a personal rating of 3/5, or a percentage rating of 64%.

Emotional Suffering - Nocturnal Solitude

Primary genres: deathcore, melodic death metal

Secondary genres: dark folk, symphonic black metal, gothic metal

In November 19, 2027, an album is released to continue the rising scene of epic deathcore popularized by bands like Shadow of Intent, Lorna Shore, and Mental Cruelty. This is... Nocturnal Solitude by Emotional Suffering, a deathcore/melodic death metal band from Wisconsin. They expand on the dark lyrical themes mostly of death, depression, and loss, close to the lyrical themes that many doom metal bands have, but of course in a different sound. While sticking firmly in melodic deathcore, elements of genres like dark folk, symphonic black metal, and gothic metal are added into the mix. The ethereal yet spooky cover art is by a young artist inspired by the late Mariusz Lewandowski, a tree being blown heavily by a dark lightning storm, with a background mirage of a Grim Reaper. After the short symphonic blackened deathcore introductory title track that starts with a one-minute intro, you can expect a solid run of diverse melodic deathcore. Background female vocals can be found in the tracks "Darkness and Sorrow", "It's All We've Loved", and "Beyond the Killing End". The latter track is the 3-part 16-minute final epic, in a similar vein to the title suites of Shadow of Intent's Elegy and Lorna Shore's Pain Remains, though indexed as a full track. The second part is a 4-minute dark folk/ambient interlude, sandwiched between the two other 6-minute parts that have the usual melodic deathcore sound with symphonic black metal elements. The third part has less emphasis on deathcore, but it unleashes one final deathcore breakdown that, despite not being a single, can surpass that of Lorna Shore's "To the Hellfire", and a one-minute dark folk outro to end the album. Or at least the standard edition of the album. The edition released in Japan has a bonus track, a cover of Lorna Shore's "Immortal" released on YouTube the prior year, so popular upon upload, that's how they have gained a record label. The album sells well in a steady pace, and the aforementioned final breakdown and folk outro is often played at the end of concerts.

Lyrical themes: sadness (1, 5, 6, 7), death (2, 3, 4, 8, 9), loss (2, 4, 5, 6, 7), sorrow (3, 4, 8, 9), depression (3, 5, 7, 8)

1. Nocturnal Solitude (2:53, dark folk, deathcore, symphonic black metal)

2. Cut Up Alone (4:42, deathcore, melodic death metal)

3. Darkness and Sorrow (3:25, deathcore, gothic metal, melodic death metal)

4. Dead Tomorrow After Living Today (6:15, deathcore, melodic death metal, technical death metal)

5. Coma Eclipse (4:43, deathcore, folk metal, dark folk)

6. The Blackened Path of Silence (4:13, deathcore, melodic death metal)

7. Distant Calling (5:27, deathcore, melodic death metal, gothic metal)

8. It's All We've Loved (5:27, deathcore, gothic metal)

9. Beyond the Killing End (16:07, deathcore, melodic death metal, symphonic black metal, dark folk, dark ambient)

I. The Dwelling of Death (deathcore, melodic death metal, symphonic black metal)

II. Sun Without a New Year (dark folk, dark ambient)

III. It Ends Forever (melodic death metal, symphonic black metal, deathcore, dark folk)

10. Immortal (Lorna Shore cover) (Japanese edition bonus track) (6:48, deathcore, symphonic black metal, technical death metal)

I've added a Hall of Judgement entry to have the release added to The Gateway under Alternative Metal first as we can't remove it from The Infinite until it has another clan.

I don't think it's so much "warping" as it is metal fanboy pretentiousness, you know overstrictness to what real metal is, and then (potentially hypocritically) adding Deep Purple while the "poser" band Avenged Sevenfold is left out to rot in the hot sun.  The website seems to have it out for a lot of metalcore, but from what I've noticed it seems to be towards some more popular bands.

And yes, some hair metal albums are indeed true metal, notably Motley Crue and Dokken, but let's be honest: there are quite a few people who still confuse it with real metal.  Apparently, Poison is metal... Apparently...

I can't blame anyone for thinking hair metal or glam metal is metal. Why else would it contain the word metal in it!? Stupid, dumb genre names... (grumble, grumble)... don't get me started on U.S. Power Metal which apparently isn't Power Metal. It would be surprising if people weren't confused!

Guns 'n' Roses certainly have a heavy sound in comparison to most other rock music (as well as some of the lighter heavy metal releases to be fair) but the instrumental techniques utilized are still drawn from rock rather than metal in my opinion (i.e. a bluesy feel, open-string riffs, pentatonic licks, 4x4 rock beats, no use of double-kick, minimal use of palm-muted down-strokes, a groovier edge to their riffs & rhythms that has you tapping your foot rather than banging your head, etc.). Scorpions have a few metal tracks here & there but for the most part sit much more comfortably under the hard rock tag too in my experience (which amounts to their run of six albums from 1976 through to 1984). The only Scorpions album I've heard that's worthy of a metal tag is "Blackout" which, to my ears at least, contains a mixture of hard rock & heavy metal songs.

Let's see what others think though as I've just posted this nomination in the Hall of Judgement.

I did the best I could with this at the time, but I agree it's not ideal (particularly with long lists). I'll revisit with my developer at some point and see if there's a better way of doing it.

Lots of Slowcore. I find the less folky end of the genre to basically be Doom Rock. Wider Than the Sky by 40 Watt Sun is a great example, as are Low's first few albums. Codeine are this taken to the extreme, being incredibly heavy for a non-metal band. 

Dark/Depressive/Atmospheric Alternative Rock Albums like Alternative 4 by Anathema, or some mid-career Katatonia (Last Fair Deal Gone Down most of all) .

Some of the darker, more depressive Shoegaze bands creep into this territory occasionally (Nowehre by Ride, or My Bloody Valentine or Slowdive at their most depressive) 

Thanks guys.  I'll check them out.

As long as it's clearly stated, I'm not going to be pedantic about how or where. I understand that including the text in the image itself might be too intrusive. In the description if there is one, or as a directly associated comment etc. is fine.

Thanks for explaining.  Btw, I've got the outline for the first pic half done.  I'm gonna do one for each clan first in order of their appearance on the clans section of MA, so the first to get a poster is The Fallen.

I'm sure the genre is not for all metalheads, but I'm certainly attracted to it, if only as background music. Thanks for the recommendations, as I haven't delved into it as much as I probably should have. Just listening to Old Sorcery now.

Lemme know what you think when/if you feel like you've got a good amount of them down.

I know people are divisive as to what this genre entails, but the Metal Church debut fits the bill.  It's more apparent in the second side than the first, but the songs thrash with a lot of melody and energy, and feature the same attitude as typical speed metal.  Metal Church's debut is reelatively viewed by the metal community as a hard album to define because it flows so consistently through heavy, power, USPM, speed and thrash metal.  But this speed attitude is way to apparent to ignore, and it's a shame that here on Metal Academy it's only classified as a heavy metal album.

Well this sucks.  I've been so busy the last four days that I didn't even notice two major editing errors on the book cover.  The background under the dragon's leg and arm are not there, and Nula's wing is improperly shaded due to a Gimp problem.  Fixed now.

I just posted a bout how two Metallica albums should also have the heavy metal tag and nobody bugs me about it.  I might've committed the worst sin possible here, so don't worry about looking like a fool 

However, the fact that it has 9 votes and is still active says I'm not alone.

It would be cool to see pages for albums on the list challenges have a small section denoting which list it's on, specifically above or below the user lists section.

Well, I'll keep trying to raise awareness of the site.  I told a coworker about this place, and he was a little curious.  Thankfully he's a metalcore fan.  In the meantime, let's simply discuss current list progress.

Don't get me wrong, this isn't a plea to include demos.  The first music site I joined wouldn't allow EP's or bootlegs.  But this makes for a decent discussion since there are so many.

I'm talking about albums that take you into new worlds visually and audibly, albums that do things to you that other albums can't do.

The first thing that comes to mind right now is Hallucinogen by Blut Aus Nord for its extremely psychedelic behavior, as well as anything by Oranssi Pazuzu.

Yeah, that's pretty fuckin' punk.

Alright I'm wrong - Hell III is heavier.

One of my all-time favourites right there.

I've added "Aenima", "Lateralus" & "10,000 Days" to the Hall of Judgement.

For the record, people should feel free to submit as many releases for judgement as they feel like as long as they feel they're legitimately mistagged.

I figured the answer would be something along those lines.