Shadowdoom9 (Andi)'s Forum Replies

Here's my review summary:

Sybreed wasn't the only Swiss cyber metal band around. When the drummer for their debut Slave Design, Alex Anxionaz left the band, he formed his own. His band started out as a deathly industrial metal band called Etna, but then changed into Breach the Void with a sound closer to his former band. Sadly, both Sybreed and Breach the Void split up in late 2013, which is a shame because of how solid both band's debuts are. Breach the Void is a clear continuation of the direction Alex Anxionaz wanted to take on Slave Design, with its toolkit of crushing rhythms, clean/unclean vocals, and cyber synths. Many songs can almost be considered a pinnacle of modern industrial/cyber metal, the only slight problem is when the clean vocals sound a bit inferior to the guttural ones. Nonetheless, the band has some original talent in the solid offering that is The Monochromatic Era!

4/5

Recommended tracks: "Subversive Mind", "Customized Genotype", "Digital Structure", "Ruins", "Spirals"

For fans of: Sybreed, The Interbeing, Mnemic

A fun spooky progressive interlude fueled up with horror-filled synths:

A great unique sound of progressive/tech-death that's almost like if Yngwie Malmsteen joined At the Gates at the time:

I just gave this Sadist album some listening and a review to continue my on-off thrashy progressive death metal exploration. There is a bit of thrash riffing going on, but I'm still one of those people who would consider this a progressive death metal album, maybe even technical death metal. Most of the speedy riffing has more to do with the more technical side of death metal, helped out by some neoclassical leads, all that combined with the keyboard ambience stirring up the progressiveness in the sound. I'm afraid I'll have to give this entry a NO vote, Daniel. And I encourage Horde members to please add the technical death metal subgenre to the album's release page.

Hey there, Rex. If you're up for any ideas for your possible "powercore" (power metal/melodic metalcore) band, the new Jeris Johnson album Dragonborn is for you. Particularly the first half in which most of the songs from that section genuinely exemplify this rare epic modern combo.

As with that other Jeris Johnson song I've shared in this thread, expect an epic blend of power metal, melodic metalcore, and... Greensleeves:

This highlight from Jeris Johnson's Dragonborn is a total rocker. Sure there's a bit of the electro-trap in the verses, but it's outshined by the heavy/power metal that makes its entrance in the chorus, along with a brief groove metal breakdown that you might hear from Lamb of God.

Daniel, I meant the original 2004 version of Obsession, not the 2024 re-recording. Could you please change that? Thanks.

One band that comes to my mind is Black Veil Brides. They start off strong with their metalcore debut We Stitch These Wounds then dwindle down to a mediocre attempt at reviving hard rock/glam metal. This doesn't count the equally perfect 10-year anniversary re-recording Re-Stitch These Wounds nor The Mourning, the latter showing their heavy/alt-metal sound at their best but is only an EP. There's another band I've discovered recently that would fall into the same category if it wasn't one album short of the minimum 6, which I'll talk about once it's added into the site...

INCOMING HIGHLY UNPOPULAR OPINION!!!!! That other band is... Falling in Reverse. I actually love their new album Popular Monster, despite all the hate the band and that album has received. I consider it the epitome of a modern alt-metal sound blended with metalcore, trap, and other genres. And it's a drastic improvement from their poor previous albums that are basically just pop-core. More info in my review here: https://metal.academy/reviews/36506/54163

Ben, please add the new Wintersun album Time II.

Some examples off the top of my head (constraining myself to picks only from albums I do enjoy in general):

Gehenna - "A Witch Is Born" (from "Seen Through the Veils of Darkness", 1995)
Inquisition - "Force of Death Is the Force of Life" (from "Veneration of Medieval Mysticism and Cosmological Violence", 2024)
In Flames - "Dead God in Me" (from "The Jester Race", 1996)
Iron Maiden - "Die with Your Boots On" (from "Piece of Mind", 1983)
Iron Maiden - "Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter" (from "No Prayer for the Dying", 1990)
<insert any blatant Celtic Frost worship track (or, hell forbid, a cover) by a second wave black metal band>
<insert any hard rock/glam metal cover track by a melodic death metal band>

Good list, Karl! I used to listen to In Flames a few years ago. The Jester Race was one of my favorite melodeath albums, and not even "Dead God in Me" could bring it down in my opinion. It was when they started going the alt-metal route in the 2000s that all went downhill from there. I actually enjoy when a melodeath band performs a cover of an 80s hit, as long as the band sounds more like themselves than the artist they're covering, hence metalizing the song. Here are a few of those tracks I found the other day that are my newfound favorite covers:

Norther - "The Final Countdown" (Europe cover) (from Dreams of Endless War, 2002)

Raintime - "Beat It" (Michael Jackson cover) (from Flies & Lies, 2007)

Warmen - "Somebody's Watching Me" (Rockwell cover) (from Accept the Fact, 2005) (more of a track from a power metal band with a guest appearance by a melodeath vocalist. RIP Alexi Laiho)

This one starts with sinister creepiness, then it comes out as more of a d*mn jam track that should've been left out of the album:

The guitars, beats, synths, and vocals collide with one another in one of the strongest comebacks to the band's roots, albeit with a more groove-ish sound:

An instant classic that aptly shows the band not caring about anything except their own thing:

A brief yet wild blitz of thrash, lightyears better than any grindcore band's attempt in my opinion:

Melodeath from the far Northern lands of Finland:

My metalcore band discovery journey continues with these two melodic bands:

As I continue to discover more Gateway bands, here's an alt-/groove metal supergroup consisting of members of Sepultura/Soulfly, The Dillinger Escape Plan, and Mastodon:

And here's one of the least-liked bands of modern rock/metal, which I wouldn't have liked either if not for some awesome songs from their new album that can kick a** and take no sh*t:

Ben, please add these new albums:

Jeris Johnson - Dragonborn

Within the Ruins - Phenomena II

Ben, please add Falling in Reverse. Their new album Popular Monster has alternative metal as its main genre in RYM.

One band that comes to my mind is Black Veil Brides. They start off strong with their metalcore debut We Stitch These Wounds then dwindle down to a mediocre attempt at reviving hard rock/glam metal. This doesn't count the equally perfect 10-year anniversary re-recording Re-Stitch These Wounds nor The Mourning, the latter showing their heavy/alt-metal sound at their best but is only an EP. There's another band I've discovered recently that would fall into the same category if it wasn't one album short of the minimum 6, which I'll talk about once it's added into the site...

All That Remains - The Fall of Ideals, Overcome, For We Are Many

I know EPs aren't included, but if they were:

Lorna Shore - Immortal, ...And I Return to Nothingness, Pain Remains

Trail of Tears - Bloodstained Endurance, Oscillation, Winds of Disdain

And the rare perfect 4-album marathon:

Kamelot - The Fourth Legacy, Karma, Epica, The Black Halo

Another killer collaboration with an alt-metalcore band, this one between Norwegian metal producer Alesti and The Word Alive vocalist Telle Smith. I'm picking up some Hard Reset vibes here, even though this track came out a couple years before that The Word Alive album:

Maleficium is one of the most brutal releases by Lorna Shore, hinting at the sound they would be known for, with this perfect relentless opener:

The second Lorna Shore EP Bone Kingdom severed the band's ties with metalcore for just pure technical deathcore in killer tracks like this one:

I can jam out to this vicious banger that works much better than everything else in this mediocre attempt at death/metalcore by the band that would later become the heroes of epic deathcore:

The other day I encountered this collaboration single between Rvshvd and All That Remains. I thought it was going to be nothing but a country rap song and I would've given it a "thumbs down to Hell" if it was, but it turned out to be something different and pretty good. Basically like one of All That Remains' ballads but with a decent country twist. Nice potential as an alt-metal track!

I generally don't do reviews for re-recording albums that each just re-record an entire album, for the same reason that I don't review demo releases consisting exclusively of songs from a band's debut album; they're the EXACT SAME SONGS. With that said, I feel like sharing my thoughts about the two new Eighteen Visions re-recording albums. The band celebrated the 20th anniversaries of Vanity and Obsession with a full revisit, and they're actually each a half-star better than the originals! One reason for that is, the re-recordings are much heavier, never straying from the heaviness of the band since reforming, even having the guitar tuned down from drop B to drop A. Not only that, those awful ballads from the original albums never got the re-recording treatment. Neither did the interlude "There is Always" which is just the Manchurian Candidate theme song sampled in its original form. They know how to not get in legal trouble. The re-recording of Obsession has 4 bonus tracks, two of which are unfinished demo tracks that were reworked. All in all, 18V have struck hard once again with two of their 2000s albums made heavier than before. And even though the original Obsession should be taken out of The Revolution, the re-recorded version should stay there. Now I wonder what they will do with their self-titled album in 2026....

Vanity: 4.5/5

Obsession: 3.5/5

Cool song, Zach!

1. Gateway playlist - 4.5/5 (number of songs commented: 7)

2. Infinite playlist - 4.5/5 (number of songs commented: 9)

3. Revolution playlist - 4/5 (number of songs commented: ALL 27)

4. Sphere playlist - 4.5/5 (number of songs commented: ALL 23)

For the clans I've made the monthly playlists for, I've listened to the entire playlists! I'm grateful to Saxy and Daniel for their playlist works. I really dig the tracks I've reviewed in the Gateway and Infinite playlists made by Saxy, and I'm glad the playlists I've made have paid off. I recommend them to any fan of the clans' respective genres and anyone who isn't into those genres but wants to get into a great start in enjoying them. Thanks, Daniel, for accepting these playlists, and good work all!

THE GATEWAY: Limp Bizkit - Significant Other (1999) 3.5/5

THE HORDE: Damaged - Do Not Spit (1993) 2.5/5

THE REVOLUTION: Eighteen Visions - 1996 (2021) 4.5/5

THE SPHERE: Samael - Rebellion (1995) 4/5

Although the Horde feature release is not really up my alley, the other feature releases I've checked out are pretty great and I would recommend them to fans of their respective genres. Keep up the good work on the feature releases, all! I look forward to more...

Cyber melodeath in vicious perfection:

Hardcore-ish melodeath/cyber metal, opening up more outer dimensions in the music-verse:

A pinnacle of modern industrial/cyber metal, despite the clean vocals sounding a bit inferior to the guttural ones:

Eighteen Visions' 1996 is one of the best cover albums I've heard in metalcore. Here's a highlight from the metalcore/hardcore covers side:

And here's a highlight from the hard rock/alt-metal covers side:

I've done my review, here's its summary:

From June to July 2021, Eighteen Visions released 3 singles. The first one was an Alice in Chains cover, the second one was a Vision of Disorder, and the third was their own song. Then on the 4th week, all 7 other tracks came out together with those singles in a surprise-release looking back at different bands from the 90s, the cover album 1996! Personally, I think when they switch into Alice in Chains-style hard rock/alt-metal, it doesn't always work as much as their metalcore glory. Still they can blend beauty and chaos together well. With crushing drums, pummeling bass, searing guitars, and in-your-face vocals ranging from clean singing to bloodcurdling screams, there's barely any other cover album to hit you as hard as this. The album has two sides; the first one has their original title track for the album and 4 covers of songs by metalcore/hardcore bands, and the second has covers of songs from hard rock/alt-metal bands. Pretty much every song from both sides manages to outshine the original. With that, I can forgive 18V for their earlier attempts at grunge-metal. The only problematic cover is the one for that Damnation A.D. track, in which the original was dragged down by the painful vocals and lyrics. I dig 18V's cover a lot more than the sh*tty original, but the fact it's still that song prevents this from becoming a highlight. The album would've reached a perfect 5 stars if they had replaced that cover with a different one from a metalcore/hardcore band. Still I really dig the other 9 songs, and if there's anything to bring the band back to their early 2000s glory, this is that!

4.5/5

Recommended tracks: "1996", "D.T.O.", "Blanket", "Them Bones", "Terrible Lie"

For fans of: Atreyu, Knocked Loose, Vision of Disorder

The Marilyn Manson-infused music and lyrics make me cringe at this total fail:

The heavy verses and anthemic choruses continue to stir up highlights like this one in Eighteen Visions' raging comeback album:

I still look at them, Ben. It's a good way for me to keep track of bands added to the site, including the ones I've requested.

Andi, the "Dethroned Emperor" cover version wasn't a part of the album as far as I recall. I'd suggest that it's a bonus track that's been added in more modern times. I completely agree that there's no deathcore on offer here though.

You're right about that, Daniel. The "Dethroned Emperor" cover was added to the 2001 reissue that includes the Passive Backseat Demon Engines EP as bonus tracks. Though some earlier versions have "Dethroned Emperor" as an untitled hidden track, after "My Grain" and "Nails" which are indexed as one track.

Also thanks for adding the new In Hearts Wake album, but I've noticed you've added Green Is the New Black (Original Soundtrack) a second time in the process. If that's an error, could you please remove the duplicate? Thanks again, Ben.

Ben, please add the new Eighteen Visions re-recording albums Vanity (2022) and Obsession (2024).

I just don't get why this band had to put a f***ing cheesy love ballad in a metalcore album:

The best track of Vanity for me where the singing, soloing, riffing, and lyrics all reach their very peak:

Eighteen Visions' "Best of" offering made many songs from earlier releases better than the originals, and this is my favorite one of those re-recordings:

Until the Ink Runs Out shows Eighteen Visions at their absolute greatest and heaviest, with highlights such as this masterpiece of a metalcore song:

The one true highlight of Eighteen Visions' debut is quite awesome and underrated despite its two major problems; 1. It's untitled. 2. It's split into 8 tracks.

This would've been a highlight if not for the painful vocals and lyrics that drag it down into the sh*t abyss:

One of only a couple surviving highlights of this Damnation A.D. album, this is one of the darkest and heaviest songs I've heard in metalcore:

This Alice Cooper cover would've been great, but Vorph's attempt at singing it ruins it all: