Sonny's Forum Replies

I will have to give this a bit of thought, but one thing I do love is lyrics about history - especially WWI or WW2, but shit like Maiden's Alexander the Great is great too (although I do avoid the power metal historical epics).

Oh, and singers with gnarly, grizzled voices like Lemmy or Wino.

The cavernous sound of old-school death metal in the vein of Autopsy. The deeper in the earth it seems to emanate from, the more I love it.

A new Akhlys album called "House of the Black Geminus" is due 5th July... looking forward to this one.

You ever heard Masters Hammer- Ritual?

it’s Czech Heavy Metal. One of the jewels in the first decade black metal list (good shit Dan+Ben)

Yeah, I quite like it, although I haven't listened to it in a while. I don't think I dig it quite as much as most do however.

Vocals that you can't understand. Cookie monster vocals. If I can't understand you then I assume you are not proud of what you say and it's not worth me hearing.

How about lyrics in a language you don't speak?

Hi Vinny, my picks for July:

Metallica - "Disposable Heroes" (from "Master of Puppets" , 1986)

Municipal Waste - "Mutants of War" (from "Waste 'Em All", 2003)

Slayer - "Behind the Crooked Cross" (from "South of Heaven", 1988)

Toxic Holocaust - "War Is Hell" (from, "Evil Never Dies", 2003)

Violator - "Addicted to Mosh" (from "Chemical Assault", 2006)

Violent Force - "Dead City" (from, "Malevolent Assault of Tomorrow", 1987)

ZnöWhite - "To the Last Breath" (from "Act of God", 1988)

Vocals play a massive part in music for me and are probably the thing most likely to get me hitting the off button, so:

1. Shouty hardcore-style vocals where the singer sounds like a three-year old throwing a tantrum in Tesco.

2. Power metal vocals where the singer thinks Bruce Dickinson is OK, but is far too restrained in his delivery.

3. Gothicy vocals where the singer wants you to believe that he really is a romantically melancholy vampire rather than some sad act in a leather trenchcoat. Chances are Andrew Eldritch has already done this ten times better.

4. Overtly technical or avant-garde stuff that exists to illustrate how superior the musician is to us plebs either intellectually or technically.

5. Excessive use of keyboards smeared over the music like too-thick marzipan on a nice cake.

There's probably more, but these are the ones that really twist my melon (man!).

Yay, Sabs in The Fallen where they rightfully belong!!

When I was heavily into gigs, back when I was a lot younger, I wore a sleveless battle vest with a full back panel of Motorhead's Bomber over a leather bike jacket as I was also a biker and had no intention of having my skin flailed off in the event of a crash! I still have the leather jacket somewhere but it has been a long time since I could actually get it on. I think my sister may have my battle vest somewhere having rescued it from my parent's house after my dad passed away.

I am fourteen years older than my youngest brother and when he was two or three we got him a tiny denim jacket and I got a girlfriend to sew some of my extra patches on, so he had a little baby battle vest - although the little fucker has never liked metal or even rock music so it didn't influence him very much! I'll have to see if I have a picture anywhere.

Anyone else ever into bikes? I had a shedload from Suzuki, Yamaha and Honda 250s, through Honda 550 / 4, a 1968 Triumph 650 T120 Boneville and several Kawasakis - Z650, GPZ 600 and, my favourite after the Bonny, a Z1000 LTD factory custom.

Fucked knees have seen me have to leave the bikes behind, although I did have some stupid cars for a while until I got all old and sensible, and severe tinnitus has seen me leave gigs in the past too (although I do like to go to stand-up comedy shows sometimes).

We all have certain forms of one genre or another that we're the most passionate about, like how my favorite brand of EDM is breakbeat whereas I struggle with house.  

This is exactly my point & what we're trying to tap into. I feel that I have one of the most diverse metal palates you'll find but there's no doubt that I prefer death metal over heavy metal. That's not to say that I don't know a shitload about heavy metal, have releases that I genuinely love from that genre & could talk about it for hours on end (like I did on the Metal Academy podcast for years) but the fact remains that I'll always reach for a death metal record over a heavy metal one. We want our The Guardians clan members to be the ones that reach for the heavy metal record first (along with their other clans of course). 

When using the releases pages or charts, I almost always sort by clan rating now rather than site rating for the exact same reason. I have sometimes stepped outside my comfort zone and checked out and rated releases from clans I don't much care for, say for a monthly feature or whatever, but if I rate it low because it isn't my cup of tea that doesn't make it a bad record and people can rightly ignore my rating input. By checking out releases based on clan rating it means I can see what albums people who are knowledable about a given genre consider the best in said genre, so if I dislike them, then it probably means it is down to my taste profile rather than poor records and that style is not really for me.

Four clans is plenty, any more would see a dilution of the site's founding and unique principle. I just wonder if there is some ambiguity for people joining the site around what they can or can't do. Is it clear enough to someone joining anew that they can still review and rate releases from other clans and post on other clans' forums, listen to other clans' playlists and comment on other clans' monthly features or do they shy away because they feel restricted by the clan system when, in truth, the only meaningful restriction is Hall genre voting?

Just to clarify, Zero, you don't have to complete any challenges before you rate or review other releases as the clan challenges are completely optional. Members can completely ignore the challenges if they wish, although at this stage, it is the only way to unlock a fourth clan. I only unlocked my own fourth clan late last year and I have been here since 2019!!

I do understand what you are saying about the fixed nature of the clan challenges though. I have always myself quietly favoured a set number of reviews for a clan, whether it be 20, 25, 30 or whatever, but on whichever releases the user chooses themselves.

Been checking out Deathcade this morning and, although I need more time with it, I'm liking what I'm hearing. Some really nice melancholy melodies and a vocalist who at times sounds genuinely in despair. Thanks for the rec, Zero.

Glad to hear you are enjoying it. They also have pretty high quality live footage out there on youtube. I came across an album in the 1st decade black metal challenge list titles "Vampires of Black Imperial Blood" by Mutilation. It's allegedly the pre-cursor to the DSBM genre, and I think it's an absolute masterpiece. However the production values may very well be the worst that you have ever heard so it might not be your cup of tea. I'd still absolutely urge you to check that out.

I am well familiar with "Vampires of Black Imperial Blood" - I have it on CD and it is one of my 5/5s. I have no problem with lo-fi / zero-value production, in fact, as far as black metal goes I love it. I listen to my fair share of early metal demos, so production isn't a deal-breaker for me if the material is strong enough.

Been checking out Deathcade this morning and, although I need more time with it, I'm liking what I'm hearing. Some really nice melancholy melodies and a vocalist who at times sounds genuinely in despair. Thanks for the rec, Zero.

Here's a concept I quickly threw together for a Fallen-specific shading to start with, using one of my previous posts.

Yeah, it looks really good. Nice one.

If you press "see more reviews" then it shows the last 50 reviews to be posted. Surely that is enough for anyone!

Deathcade from Nocturnal Depression is in my opinion the best Depressive Black Metal offering of all time. Hell It's my favorite black metal album of all time. That's where I would point you Sunny. It's a compilation of their best songs but re-recorded with better production. Lifelovers' Pulver is pretty damn good too.

Silencer is indeed polarizing, I'm not even a huge fan of it myself, but I recognize it as a major album within the subgenre. 

Thanks, man. I'll check them out.

I saw you name checked Silencer there, Zero. Now that is a divisive album. Personally I love it, but I have seen a lot of hate for it elsewhere (it actually rates pretty well here). It definitely contains one of the all-time outstanding vocal performances (as in, it stands out). I'm not the biggest fan of DSBM as I have spent too long on Bandcamp listening to third-rate bedroom acts, but Silencer and Shining (if you count them as DSBM) are excellent. Any more recommendations for top quality albums in the genre?

As for site functions... two things I'd be interested in would be an actual weighting system to releases (more ratings=more weight, even if it was only a small amount. This could even be a toggle feature, if the community is split about it) and the ability to rate alternate album covers, such as on re-releases or odd examples where the album kinda has two official artworks (Like God Hates Us All does for censorship reasons).

I do like the weighting idea. It would be best if it wasn't too heavily weighted in favour of number of ratings though.

I've never used Discord, but toxicity online is certainly something I want no part of. I probably wouldn't get involved with a live chat room as I prefer to think out my posts beforehand and live chat, by it's instantaneous nature, may lead to ill-considered interactions which potentially feed into toxicity and misunderstanding. Good luck to anyone who does go for it, but it's not for me.

I had a sneaking suspicion that this might be right up your street, Daniel.

I kind of agree with your views on the symphonic metal bands, but SubRosa are very much not in that style. They are far doomier than any of those symphonic bands. Check out More Constant Than the Gods.

I think doom metal is very inclusive for women, with loads of bands having female members and not just vocalists, but even when they are singers, the likes of Windhand's Dorthia Cotrrell and Acid King's Lori S. are nothing like Tarja and co.

I grew up with The Runaways and have several of their albums on vinyl from the time. Girlschool I saw a million times during the NWOBHM era - they were on tour almost constantly and were tons better live than on record.

I do quite like Savage Master - have you listened to Smoulder, they are similar, but maybe more epic doom leaning.

Dan and Ben seam like damn cool dudes. I know now not to worry about it. I'll probably go back and try to add more bulk to my more lean reviews-not gonna lie sometimes its a real chore, but we'll get it done.

About Type O- I love that whole late 90s'-2000's Gothic Aesthetic. Something about being in formative years, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Alison Hannigan (Willow). I just love everything about that. It's thick in their work and if you don't like it you probably aren't going to like Type-O, the 69 Eyes, Moonspell, etc. There is just no getting around it with those bands. 

However, if you have not heard "I Don't wanna be me" I would throw that your way. It still has Type-O all over it, but it's a shorter song with a punk rock composition rather than the lengthy slow material you would often associate with them. 

How do you feel about Danzig? 

I feel you on the low sounds. Good doom is like a warm blanket. I will have to look into Tangerine Dream-I'm intrigued. 

When it comes to the technical stuff I don't immediately hate it. I would say Tomb of the Mutilated is a fairly technical album, but it still has recognizable strong structure and hooks and I love that album. 

I don't like things like Brain Drill or Periphery where the whole stick is "look at how goddamn good I am at this instrument." I can play in those styles, and I've done it in the past, but I'd much rather listen to Cronos growl and smack his bass and play like a demon. 

Likewise, I don't hate all technical metal out of hand, but I do like to be able to hear an actual "song" under the technicality. Atheist, Nile, Death etc. are all fantastic and several of my five star albums are by these bands.

I'm not massively into Danzig either, although I did love The Misfits when Glenn Danzig was in the band. The Type O track I do like (and I really like it) is Creepy Green Light, so if there's anything else like that then I may be interested. Even My Dying Bride sometimes piss me off, but they have a lot more great stuff than not, so they are forgiven their innate "gothicness", similarly with Paradise Lost. A band I really love who are in similar vein, but with female singers, are SubRosa. Somehow female singing in gothic metal annoys me less, I think it's because they aren't doing the whole "listen how deep and vampirey my voice can go" thing - and I do love violins in metal.

If you do look into Tangerine Dream then try their 1970's stuff first, Rubycon, Ricochet, Stratosfear and such are far better than their later, more movie soundtrack-sounding stuff, for me anyway.

Edit: Just checked out "I Don't wanna be me" and guess what, I liked it. It sounds a bit like early Sisters of Mercy - yes, I actually love gothic rock, but not gothic metal so much - go figure. I'm also very keen on old-school punk rock and hardcore, so the punky feel to this is actually right up my street. So now I like two TON tracks - we're really getting somewhere!

I went back to Gorguts and did my thing. I don't know if you will like the thing, but I thinged my ass off.

Hi, Zero. Just read your review and although I may not have put it quiite so bluntly, I actually agree with your view of excessively technical metal. I am over sixty and have been a metalhead since I was 14, so remember all too well when metal was treated with contempt by fans of other styles of music for being simplistic and dumb, so it rubs me up the wrong way too when some devotees of technical and complex metal look down on fans of "simpler" forms (ie metal with actual songs). It's bad enough when outsiders do it, but it feels like a betrayal when so-called metal brothers do it. But Ben was right, your new review has given everyone a far better insight into who you are and where you're coming from than the original one-liner. For the record, I thought Gorguts' first two albums were pretty good, but when they ditched the songs for a purely technical form of expression on the highly-rated Obscura they completely lost me.

As a massive fan of funeral doom metal and judging by some of your comments so far regarding it, I suppose we won't always see eye to eye, but it's good to meet you and I hope you enjoy your time here. Welcome.

Thank you so much man. That truly means a lot to me. I just didn't know if my brand of negative review would be well received. I've had the misfortune of being around moderation elsewhere (looking at you Reddit) that would chalk up any kind of negativity as toxic trolling, so I had learned to reel myself in. I was genuinely concerned that I was gonna wake up banned this morning. 

I absolutely love funeral doom, I just prefer the "pretty" stuff with the violins and keys as opposed to the oppressive wall of sound synthesizer approach. 

You're welcome, ZS. Obviously I can't speak for Daniel and Ben, but as long as things remain respectful to other site members, there has never been any problem with posting negative reviews. We can't all like everything and in the great wide world of metal there will be things that wind us up. For example, I recall you said you liked Type O Negative, but they are a band I just cannot get along with, the whole theatrical gothic schtick in certain styles of doom metal being a particular bugbear of mine.

As far as funeral doom and drone go, I have said it before on the site, I sometimes struggle with auditory overload, but I find the monolithic nature of FD and Drone extremely calming. Progressive electronic like Tangerine Dream has a similar effect on me, but the unadulterated volume of doom metal suits my needs better. This is also probably why I am not a fan of excessively chaotic avant-garde and technical metal. Anyway, whether we agree or disagree, I hope we are all able to get along together and I look forward to reading more of your stuff as it's nice to have new points of view.

I went back to Gorguts and did my thing. I don't know if you will like the thing, but I thinged my ass off.

Hi, Zero. Just read your review and although I may not have put it quiite so bluntly, I actually agree with your view of excessively technical metal. I am over sixty and have been a metalhead since I was 14, so remember all too well when metal was treated with contempt by fans of other styles of music for being simplistic and dumb, so it rubs me up the wrong way too when some devotees of technical and complex metal look down on fans of "simpler" forms (ie metal with actual songs). It's bad enough when outsiders do it, but it feels like a betrayal when so-called metal brothers do it. But Ben was right, your new review has given everyone a far better insight into who you are and where you're coming from than the original one-liner. For the record, I thought Gorguts' first two albums were pretty good, but when they ditched the songs for a purely technical form of expression on the highly-rated Obscura they completely lost me.

As a massive fan of funeral doom metal and judging by some of your comments so far regarding it, I suppose we won't always see eye to eye, but it's good to meet you and I hope you enjoy your time here. Welcome.

Fear Is the Mindkiller is an EP of remixes of tracks from the FF's debut, Soul of a New Machine, with three of the six tracks being various versions of Self Immolation, one of which is the original album version. To be honest, the first two tracks sound fucking horrible to my ears, bringing to mind images from second-rate post-apocalyptic movies where tribes of rejects from Mad Max 2 dance round huge bonfires before setting off to harass the movie's main characters. Industrial metal mixed with electronic dance music and exactly the sort of thing that overloads my auditory sense mechanism, verging on the unbearable. For me personally, Hell sounds like this.

Things do improve after that and, in fairness, the remixes of Scapegoat and Scumgrief aren't quite that bad, but Scapegoat sounds poorly put together (the clean singing sections just sound right out of place) with Scumgrief (Deep Dub Trauma Mix) probably coming out on top of the remixed tracks. The Liquid Sky Mix of Self Immolation also has it's moments, but it does tend to drag on a bit. I know the fact that I have never been part of the EDM scene massively affects my opinion here, but it is what it is. Obviously, for me, the original version of Self Immolation is the best track here by a long way and even that is well short of FF's best work.

2/5

Crippled Lucifer is one of my favourite doom metal albums and defines the extreme end of the doom metal spectrum. Here is my review:

Stephen O'Malley and usual cohort Greg Anderson, have produced some of the most extreme doom metal known to man as well as founding one of the premier doom metal labels, Southern Lord and are probably most well known for being the driving force behind SunnO))). After their short-lived first project, Thorr's Hammer split and before loosening bowels with the aforementioned drone metal titans, these doom metal stalwarts were the integral members of seminal extreme doom outfit Burning Witch. The band also featured vocalist Edgemont Martin (aka Edgy 59) and bassist G. Stuart Dahlquist (aka G. Subharmonium) along with a couple of drummers (successively, not at the same time)!

I think it is pretty safe to say that seldom has doom metal been served up that is more extreme-sounding and gruelling an experience than Burning Witch. As if the titanic, world-destroying chords of O'Malley and Anderson weren't enough then the tortured and deranged shrieks of Edgy 59 are sure to push you over the edge. This is most definitely not comfortable doom metal, in whose all-encompassing embrace you can wallow and luxuriate - no, this is deliberately confrontational, difficult and just downright unpleasant-sounding in order to throw you off balance and make you feel ill at ease and feed your suspicions that something IS indeed rotten in Denmark. A track like Country Doctor is certainly only going to appeal to those who like their metal music to confront them with the distressing and difficult-to-love, although there are a couple of slightly more accessible and, at least relatively speaking, conventional tracks such as Sacred Premonitions acting like pieces of flotsam for the drowning listener to cling to. One aspect of almost all of O'Malley and Anderson's music that cannot be ignored is that it is written with an additional instrument in mind. That instrument is sheer, unadulterated volume. Throughout their careers their music is seemingly intended to be as much a physical sensation as an auditory one and can only really be fully appreciated within the context of extreme volume, which is another reason that they should be considered as genuinely inhabiting the most extreme end of the doom metal spectrum. Sure, high volume has played a part in metal for all of it's fifty year reign, but with these guys it isn't just an option, it is an integral part of their whole sound.

Crippled Lucifer is actually available in a couple of versions, the original 1998 version being sub-titled Seven Psalms for Our Lord of Light, it is now available in an extended version which carries the sub-title 10 Psalms for Our Lord of Light. The original version contain seven of the eight tracks contained on the Rift.Canyon.Dreams and Towers EPs. The 2008 expanded version also contains the track Rift.Canyon.Dreams from a split release with Asva and Burning Witch's two tracks from their split with Goatsnake, which is pretty much the sum total of the band's recorded output and is the version I would recommend as the CD is a nice package altogether.

Whichever version you listen to, be sure that you are going to be subjected to a crushing, bleak-sounding, nihilistic version of doom metal, a million miles removed from Candlemass, My Dying Bride or Saint Vitus, that takes no prisoners, gives no quarter and, to be honest, couldn't even give a fuck if you like it or not. Be prepared.

5/5

An absolutely stellar playlist this month, Daniel. I loved pretty much every minute of it. Listened to it whilst out walking, so didn't keep an eye which track was which band, but I will definitely be returning to it over the coming month and I will take notes then. If this is an indication of where we're going with the playlists then things are looking good!

Hi KK and welcome. I hope you enjoy your time here.

I'm not on Facebook or X myself and I'm not even sure I know what reddit is, but I can see that you are really working hard on this Daniel, so I thought I would just add my moral support for all your efforts. I really hope you see some reward for your hard work as it would be nice to see an uptick in site and playlist traffic.

On a related matter, getting people to visit the site doesn't necessarily seem to be a big problem, whereas getting them to stay or revisit does. Do you have any theories on why this would be?

I must have had Hawkwind on the brain because I incorrectly named the album from which Sabbath's "Into the Void" is taken as "Master of the Universe". Now corrected, before anybody had chance to point out what a numpty I am!!

I had the whole collection of Masters of the Universe when I was a kid. Sold them to a collector for a significant amount of money years later too strangely enough.

Was that a TV show back in the eighties? I think I vaguely remember my little brother watching it. I was thinking of the Hawkwind track, Master of the Universe.

I must have had Hawkwind on the brain because I incorrectly named the album from which Sabbath's "Into the Void" is taken as "Master of the Universe". Now corrected, before anybody had chance to point out what a numpty I am!!

June 2024

1. Candlemass - "At the Gallows End" (from "Nightfall", 1987)

2. Black Sabbath - "Into the Void" (from "Master of Reality", 1971)

3. Paradise Lost - "Say Just Words" (from "One Second", 1997)

4. Darkthrone - "Howling Primitive Colonies" (from "It Beckons Us All.......", 2024) [submitted by Sonny]

5. Katatonia - "Endtime" (from "Brave Murder Day", 1996) [submitted by Vinny]

6. Autopsy – “In The Grip Of Winter” (from “Retribution For The Dead” E.P., 1991) [submitted by Daniel]

7. Orchid - "Silent One" (from "The Mouth of Madness", 2013) [submitted by Vinny]

8. Grin - "Deathbringers" (from "Hush", 2024)

9. Woods of Ypres -"Silver" (from "Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light", 2012) [submitted by Vinny]

10. Confessor – “Endtime” (from “Confessor” E.P., 1992) [submitted by Daniel]

11. High on Fire - "Darker Fleece" (from "Cometh the Storm", 2024) [submitted by Sonny]

12. Skumring - "Forførelse i natten" (from "De glemte tider", 2005)

13. Melvins – “Your Blessened” (from “Bullhead”, 1991) [submitted by Daniel]

14. Mizmor & Thou - "Subordinate" (from "Myopia", 2022)

15. Grief - "Depression" (from "Dismal", 1992)

16. Reverend Bizarre - "Cromwell" (from "II: Crush the Insects", 2005) [submitted by Sonny]

17. Fireball Ministry - "Sundown" (from "Their Rock Is Not Our Rock", 2005)

18. Slumber – “Fallout” (from “Fallout”, 2008) [submitted by Daniel]

19. Sunn O))) - "Frost (C)" (from "Pyroclasts", 2019)

Gave it a listen during this morning's walk and although it's early days yet, I'm very satisfied with what I heard. It's exactly what you would expect from Thou and won't do anything to change anyone's view of the band, I suspect, but if you're a fan then I would be very surprised if this didn't float your boat.

When my self-imposed exile from metal was ending at the end of the Nineties and I was casting around for bands to get me into the new sounds that had developed since I left it behind in 1990, I stumbled upon CoF playing live on some late night UK TV show and was mesmerised by their sound and aesthetic which were all new to me. I soon obtained a copy of Principles of Evil (via Napster I am ashamed to say) and really got into this new, eccentric-sounding and thoroughly exciting "new" style. I've not always been wowed by all their stuff, but I did find that this debut, Middian and even Nymphetamine offered me enough enjoyment to thoroughly shred any possibility of me claiming to be any kind of trve kvltist black metal fan! However, over the intervening years my black metal listening has refined itself somewhat with Cradle no longer appealing to me that much and it has been a long time since I last listened to Principles of Evil all the way through, so it's time to see how it stacks up 25 years on from my initial discovery of the East Anglian black metal goths.

The most striking thing about CoF is the sheer theatricality of their sound. Combining the symphonic black metal of Emperor with the gothic aesthetics of MyDying Bride, Dani Filth strikes me as a black metal version of Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Cradle albums as soundtracks to black metal musicals. In truth, that fanciful notion has less basis in fact here on the debut than it does on some of their later releases, but it is still a fair comment, I think, as it is still steeped in theatricality. To this end Benjamin Ryan's keyboards play a significant role on The Principle... providing intros, outros, interludes and as atmospheric layering they are never far from the action and provide some great moments, such as during The Forest Whispers My Name where they provide a nice melodic overlay and my favourite track, To Eve the Art of Witchcraft, which is undoubtedly elevated by Ryan's keyboard work.

Obviously, Cradle never really sounded this black metal again, with them inching into more gothic metal territory with each release, but underneath the gothic and atmospheric trappings there are some pretty decent slices of melodic black metal blasting here with the title track, the aforementioned The Forest Whispers My Name and A Crescendo of Passion Bleeding. They are unafraid to slow things down, too, and lean more into the gothic metal direction. The Black Goddess Rises, for example, contains little actual black metal and is a much more considered tempo, almost resembling doom metal, for much of it's runtime.

I'm actually glad I returned to this for May's feature because it has held up quite well across the intervening years and I feel a bit more love towards it today than I did before revisiting it. Of course there is an inherent degree of cheesiness here, with Dani's clean vocals providing much of it, but I do like his singular brand of ear-piercing screams which possibly makes me a bit more forgiving. All in all, I am feeling so well-disposed to Principle today, after several revisits during the month, that I am going to up my long-standing 3.5 star rating to a full 4.

4/5

I'm not a massive Exodus fan, but like Vinny says, maybe a live album from the time will reveal a missing dimension that elevates them to another level. Think I may give it a spin.

Unfortunately I find an awful lot of Alcest to be sonic wallpaper, which from a drone guy is a bit of a statement, I realise. I've not checked them out since 2016's Kodama and can't say this new one is likely to change that any time soon.

Yes, it does all look good, Daniel and I particularly love the Fallen picture. Great work once more. I have tried to programme the June Fallen playlist along the lines you suggested and I am quite pleased with the result myself, but I would like to hear from you guys as to what works and what doesn't. 

It actually made for an interesting experience trying to produce something more ear-catching and re-ignited my enthusiasm for something that had felt like it was becoming a bit of a slog in all honesty.

I'm looking forward to hearing your lists,, Daniel, and I will even be checking the Guardians out, which is something I haven't done for ages (too much euro power metal in the past for me).

Here's hoping all your hard work has an impact and draws a few more metalheads sitewards. Onwards and upwards!!

I've been checking out their debut, Tyrant, over the last couple of days and been loving it, so this is one I really want to hear.

Deathspell Omega - Fas – Ite, maledicti, in ignem aeternum (2007)

Remarkably I haven't got around to DsO's "Fas – Ite, maledicti, in ignem aeternum" before, so I thought I would slap it on my player as I headed out with Koko this morning. As I have said several times before, I have very little tolerance for dissonant metal and even less for avant-garde music, yet somehow DsO seem to be able to transcend these ingrained prejudices of mine. I don't know exactly why the Frenchmen succeed where so many fail, but their dissonant form of black metal is so skillfully assembled that I find it irresistibly attractive with none of the built-in revulsion I feel for other practitioners of the dissonant style. Ultimately it feels more like a coherent wall of sound to me rather than diverse elements working against each other, which most other dissonant metal does. The vocals are fantastic and the drumming especially is transfixing in both intensity and precision. All-in-all these guys are the absolute very best at what they do and "Fas – Ite, maledicti, in ignem aeternum" is another brilliant example of the masters at their craft.

4.5/5

That is why my post was directed at Daniel, Andi.

In the interest of full disclosure, Daniel, I have used the Fallen clan logo to head up a public list on RYM where I list all the tracks I have used so far on the playlist. Would you prefer me to replace it or make the list private? In my defence, I only made it public in the hope that it might drum up some support for the playlist and, by extension, the website (which it seems to have spectacularly failed to do!) Sorry, I should probably have asked first.

Sorry, but I really don't have the time to search through countless pages of free to use images to try and find something suitable. Even my spare time has it's limits.

Guys, please feel free to suggest a suitable image for your playlists too. I've already changed the ones for The Horde & The Guardians to make them more appealing to the casual listener.

If using existing album artwork is permissible then the cover of Bell Witch's "Mirror Reaper" would be my first choice, closely followed by Jupiterian's "Protosapien" which has the added advantage of having no visible text to remove.

https://metal.academy/releases/6131

https://metal.academy/releases/22971

I've just done The Fallen, The Sphere & The Pit. Any ideas for The Gateway, The Infinite & The North playlist names?

Progressive Metal Dimensions

Progressive Metal Visions

Progressive Metal Voyages

Black Metal Wasteland

Black Metal Blasphemy

Black Metal Tundra

Black Metal Blizzard

Alternative Metal Authority?

Alternative Metal Assault?

Alternative Metal Armada?

Alternative Metal Attack?

I kinda like Alternative Metal Authority. What does everyone think?

Of the four, it is the one I would pick, but it seems very difficult to find sonething that feels right with alternative metal. I did give it some thought today, but drew a blank.

Interestingly, one of our inactive members has created a 224 hour Spotify playlist called "The Fallen" & has used our The Fallen clan symbol as the image which isn't wonderful, especially given that some of the content isn't in line with the Metal Academy clan genre trees.

If it's any consolation, Daniel, I couldn't find it and I searched for quite a while, whereas the "official" Fallen playlist (complete with new name) came up on the first page.

Hey Daniel, are you implementing any changes to the titles and descriptions of the playlists yourself, or do we list compilers need to do it?

I remember those covers well from way too many hours spent in record shops, flicking through endless racks of vinyl albums back in the day. It's a pity Molly Hatchet's music never lived up to the quality of the covers.

I certainly wouldn't disagree that the main riff is indeed a metal riff and a pretty good one at that. I quite like Dust as it happens and I have a double CD reissue of their two albums. The cover of second album, Hard Attack, is the type of cover that has graced many a metal album since, even up to the present day - compare it to the covers of Smoulder's albums, for example.

High on Fire - Cometh the Storm (2024)

High on Fire are a band I have derived a deal of enjoyment from, yet I haven't given them nearly as much attention as my taste dictates they deserve, not really checking out much since 2007's Death Is This Communion. I don't really have an explanation for this, it's just the way it's been. Anyway, Cometh the Storm is another really solid offering from the Matt Pike-led threesome and is yet another that is right up my street.

The basic sound here is sludgy stoner metal and within that framework there is a fair bit of variety, but with the riffs constantly being king. The production is of very high quality, so those fuzzed-up riffs are given some extra clout with a beefy sound job that still allows plenty of clarity and depth. The variation within the songwriting is illustrated very early on where the relentless chugging of Burning Down with it's myriad stoned-out solos leads into the almost thrashy Trismegistus that, with Matt Pike's grizzled and throaty, but quite shrill, bellows, makes the track sound a bit like Motorhead (a comparison that is even more obvious on The Beating). This then gives way to the psychedelically-loaded stoned-out grooves of the brooding title track and the unexpected, yet perfectly suited, Turkish folk music of Karanlık yol. Each is handled impressively as High on Fire demonstrate exactly how accomplished a band they now are with none of the tracks sounding out of place or mishandled. A quick word for ex-Melvins drummer Coady Willis who has come in to replace founding member Des Kensel and has dropped straight into the HoF groove with the band not missing a step despite the change and with Willis' busy and precise performance being the foundation on which the album is built.

Ultimately, this is top drawer stoner metal, skillfully performed, with great production values and a tough sludgy edge that draws upon the stoned-out psychedelics of past times and drapes them over a solid and harder than you may expect metallic core that is able to appeal to both stoners and moshpit denizens alike. I can't really define why, but this is just one of those albums that feels so authentically and unapologetically metal that it is impossible to do it down in any way.

4/5