Shadowdoom9 (Andi)'s Forum Replies

Here are my thoughts on some tracks:

Haken – Elephants Never Forget (2023)

3.5/5. OK, this starting move into a more prog-rock-ish style is a bit forgettable, but still worth enjoying. After a one-minute intro, the band's Gentle Giant influence kicks in, especially in Ross Jennings' vocals. That goes on for a minute until Haken's own classic sound enters, further taken another minute later into their typical chorus. Yet another minute later, it ends sounding closer to a bit of the industrial rock of Nine Inch Nails. At the 7-minute mark is an insane bridge to make up for the earlier drag. This is then followed a minute after by the progressive metal glory that I wish there could be more of without sounding too melodic.

Between the Buried and Me – Disease, Injury, Madness (2009)

4/5. The best song in this BTBAM album has a different execution but the same soft-hard blend. It starts in a progressive deathcore frenzy, then switches to soft and clean, all leading up to an excellent bluesy section in the second half. A unique standout!

Rivers of Nihil – Where Owls Know My Name (2018) 

4.5/5. This one is a bleak yet amazing song from another band that I should've listened to more of. The lyrics are some of the best here, and what makes it beautiful yet slightly laughable is the jazzy saxophone solos, one of them as early as the two-minute mark. Quite a groovy headbanger this track is! It will make you float out or orbit into the astral plane. I think I can hear where some of the more technical aspects of Lorna Shore came from!

Dream Theater – The Court of Tuscany (2009)

4/5. This nearly 20-minute progressive metal epic references a lot of the Thomas Harris novel Hannibal, specifically the eponymous Count of Tuscany. The epic is really solid, though not as much as I would've thought of it about 8 years ago. Still that over two-minute ending proves the band to already be on top of the world!

Rosetta – Ayil (2010)

4.5/5. Rosetta is one of the best bands of sludgy post-metal, and this song is d*mn amazing, like pretty impressive! The vocals remind me of Cave In's Caleb Scofield (RIP).

Ne Obliviscaris – Misericorde I – As the Flesh Falls (2023) 

5/5. Nicely done extreme progressive glory! I look forward to listening to and reviewing the rest of the album, including the second part of "Misericorde".

Voivod – Planet Hell (1995)

4.5/5. Killer bass from temporary vocalist Eric "E-Force" Forrest, along with raging rhythm the late Denis "Piggy" D'Amour. Though Negatron is an underrated album, it doesn't beat most of the albums prior.

The Ocean – Sea of Reeds (2023)

5/5. The Ocean continues to impress me with new singles to pump us up for their new album Holocene. They're another one of the best sludgy post-metal bands besides Cult of Luna. Loïc Rossetti can really execute his vocal ambition that he's had in the band since Heliocentric. That and the drumming by Paul Seidel are what make the band stay progressive. They still can't bring back the dynamic heaviness of Precambrian, and the ambience might remind some of the band Thrice. Nonetheless, they'll never stop their metal side. And the previous singles are slightly more captivating. Maybe there would be more of the earlier harsh vocals and guitars in the album, but we'll see when the album comes out over a month from now if they have them or not.

Slugdge – Transylvanian Fungus (2018)

4.5/5. Slug-themed sludgy progressive death metal, eh? Quite amazing, but not much to say here.

Scar Symmetry – Scorched Quadrant (2023) 

4/5. The Swedish masters of sci-fi progressive melodeath are finally back! This phenomenal sound is like late 90s In Flames modernized and sci-fi-ed. I probably would've loved it perfectly if the chorus didn't sound too much like Madonna's "La Isla Bonita", along with the cleans not sounding too quiet. I gotta check out their upcoming release!

Caligula’s Horse – Capulet (2017) 

3.5/5. Stunning yet a slightly bland soft ending. Still this playlist was a fun ride!

Here are my thoughts on some tracks:

Disturbed – Indestructible (2008)

5/5. The 4th Disturbed album's title track starts off greatly with background gunfire and war sirens. It's as if you're dragged into this battlefield where you become an army soldier ready for war, and when the drums and guitar enter, you're all pumped up for a new intense experience. I'm guessing that's how my brother felt when he first heard this song that caused him to convert from our earlier sh*tty radio pop interest into the more enjoyable (for us) rock/metal. Amazing catchy chorus, impressive guitar solo, mighty vocals... I totally understand and enjoy how this brand-new world of metal opened up for my brother and eventually me. Thank you for that, Disturbed!

Gone Is Gone – Roads (2017)

4.5/5. You ever think about a cover that's f***ing greater than the original? This is one of them, with haunting guitars! Recreating a Portishead hit, this is good for one of my brother's drives. Wow, this is like alt-metal/rock sounding as doomy as Type O Negative or Katatonia! The sound could've been slightly better though, particularly the vocals. Other than that, excellent cover from this band featuring Mastodon bassist/vocalist Troy Sanders!

Katatonia – Austerity (2023)

4/5. Dropping in right away is an incredible 4-minute track of progressive force, complex in the riffing and rhythm while staying melodic. Drummer Daniel Moilanen makes his way through an impossibly big amount of time signatures. Bassist Niklas Sandin impressively keeps up with fast technicality, into a bridge of mellow jazz. Guitar duo Anders Nyström and Roger Öjersson are the masters behind the riff complexity, with the latter performing a beautiful soloing. Of course, we can't about Jonas Renkse's warm vocal melodies, but while the unpredictability of the vocals can level up the impact, right from the beginning, it might catch you off guard at times.

Linkin Park – Numb (2003)

4.5/5. This is the second-best song of its original album, and probably Linkin Park's most successful song ever! The song can be found anywhere in the public, and even my friends from the outside world like it. Chester does melodic singing throughout the verses and chorus while getting rough in the bridge. The piano is awesome. The guitar sounds a bit weak, and it may be considered by some overrated, but I don't care. "Numb" is Linkin Park's ultimate anthem!

Avatar – Dance Devil Dance (2023)

4/5. Stomping right in is the opening title track with a thunderous country-like march. Though the riffing is repetitive, the song is redeemed by the solid Judas Priest-like chorus where vocalist Johannes Eckerstrom really shines. Perhaps my favorite since the title track of Hail the Apocalypse!

Breaking Benjamin – Next to Nothing (2002)

4.5/5. The best song of Breaking Benjamin's debut Saturate for me, despite sounding softer, which deserves as much fame as that album's 3 singles.

Dog Fashion Disco – Love Song for a Witch (2003)

5/5. This awesome song opens as a fast pounder, creeping in with keyboards. The guitars and drums go almost as fast as thrash!

Atreyu – Do You Know Who You Are? (2015)

4.5/5. Amazing marching anthem, though the lyrics might need some slight improvement.

Chevelle – Jawbreaker (2014)

4/5. A great song in the lyrics can actually fit well in one of the Saw films.

No words can describe this atrocity staining an otherwise great album:

Two amazing highlights to open this Disturbed album, the first of which being what kickstarted the rock/metal music path for my brother and eventually me:

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

This is it. The real "Big Bang" beginning of my brother's rock/metal taste that would spark up my metal interest, Disturbed's Indestructible! Or at least the title track. Indestructible shines similarly yet greater than what I've heard from Ten Thousand Fists. There's the grand guitar performed by Dan Donegan, with pretty much every track having good soloing without ever being out of place. However, this album would've been as perfect as those masterpiece milestones for my metal interest like DragonForce's Inhuman Rampage and Trivium's In Waves, if not for something holding it back, or someone. Drummer Mike Wengren's beats sounds too plain and doesn't work right in the snare-pedal combo. This causes the bass to have more prominence but in a way that overshadows the drumming. That's not to say the bass is bad at all, it's quite amazing. Simple yet interesting, performed by John Moyer. Here we have 6 of the best tracks I've heard from the band, 4 OK tracks, and two stinkers. The awesome tracks include the first two of the album, the former being the aforementioned "new beginning" for my bro's music path and eventually mine, and the latter written by David Draiman about his ex-girlfriend's suicide. And the otherwise poor drumming works greatly in that better half of the album. And of course, the guitar shines a lot in technicality and melody. Any Disturbed fan might dig this, and I respect this offering as the one spark to ignite my brother's rock/metal interest and eventually mine. Hail our true beginning!

4/5

Recommended tracks: "Indestructible", "Inside the Fire", "The Night", "Perfect Insanity", "The Curse", "Divide"

For fans of: Five Finger Death Punch, Breaking Benjamin, Trivium's Vengeance Falls (produced by Draiman)

Scar Symmetry? I haven't heard that name in years... Welcome back, you amazing Swedish sci-fi melodic death metallers! https://www.reddit.com/r/melodicdeathmetal/comments/127n2vi/release_date_for_scar_symmetry_the_singularity/

Another band I really need to revisit! In Times is known as one of the greatest albums from the band's 2010s era, and was a masterpiece for me when I was still listening to them. Look out for my second attempt at reviewing this album sometime this month!

April 2023

1. Samael - "Year Zero" from Eternal (1999) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

2. Strapping Young Lad - "S.Y.L." from Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing (1995)

3. Dead World - "Lies" from The Machine (1993)

4. Circle of Dust - "Descend" from Brainchild (1994)

5. Code Orange - "Drowning In It" from What is Really Underneath? (2023) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

6. Ministry - "Burning Inside" from In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up (1990)

7. Lard - "Pineapple Face" from The Last Temptation of Reid (1990)

8. Omega Lithium - "Dance With Me" from Kinetik (2011)

9. Nine Inch Nails - "Last" from Broken (1992)

10. Godflesh - "Mothra" from Pure (1992) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

11. Pitchshifter - "Triad" from Desensitized (1993)

12. Old - "Happy Tantrum" from The Musical Dimensions of Sleastak (1993)

13. Voivod - "Phobos" from Phobos (1997) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

14. Celldweller - "My Disintegration" from Satellites (2022)

15. Gothminister - "Bloodride" from Pandemonium (2022) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

16. Dawn of Ashes - "Blood of the Titans" from The Antimonian (2020)

17. Fear Factory - "Linchpin" from Digimortal (2001)

18. Motionless in White - "Reincarnate" from Reincarnate (2014)

19. Combichrist - "Compliance" from Compliance (2021)

20. Illidiance - "Critical Damage" from Damage Theory (2010)

21. Logical Terror, Soilwork - "The World Was Mine" from Ashes of Fate (2016)

22. KMFDM - "Brute" from Nihil (1995)

23. 3TEETH - "PUMPED UP KICKS" from PUMPED UP KICKS (2019)

24. Terminal Choice - "Kommerz" from Ubermacht (2010)

25. Megaherz - "5. Marz" from Herzwerk II (2002)

26. The Kovenant - "The Memory Remains" from SETI (2003) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

April 2023

1. Lorna Shore - "To the Hellfire" from ...And I Return to Nothingness (2021) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

2. We Came as Romans - "Intentions" from To Plant a Seed (2009) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

3. 36 Crazyfists - "We Gave It Hell" from The Tide and Its Takers (2008) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

4. Sikth - "Peep Show" from The Trees Are Dead & Dried Out Wait for Something Wild (2003)

5. From Autumn to Ashes - "The After Dinner Payback" from The Fiction We Live (2003) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

6. Motionless in White - "Slaughterhouse" from Scoring the End of the World (2022)

7. Despised Icon - "Absolu" from Consumed by Your Poison (2002)

8. Make Them Suffer - "Maelstrom" from Neverbloom (2012)

9. All That Remains - "Become the Catalyst" from The Fall of Ideals (2006) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

10. Upon This Dawning - "Embrace the Evil" from We Are All Sinners (2014)

11. The Amity Affliction - "The Weigh Down" from Let the Ocean Take Me (2014)

12. Killswitch Engage - "Eye of the Storm" from As Daylight Dies (2006)

13. As I Lay Dying - "A Greater Foundation" from Awakened (2012)

14. Any Given Day - "Possession" from My Longest Way Home (2014)

15. Candiria - "Temple of Sickness" from The Process of Self-Development (1999) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

16. The Acacia Strain - "One Thousand Painful Stings" from Slow Decay (2020)

17. Asking Alexandria - "I Won't Give In" from The Black (2016)

18. 108 - "Son of Nanda" from Songs of Separation (1995)

19. Eighteen Visions - "Motionless in White" from The Best Of (2001)

20. Wage War - "Godspeed" from Manic (2021)

21. Defiler - "Fanueil Falls" from A Deity Depraved (2021)

22. All Shall Perish - "The Death Plague" from This Is Where It Ends (2011) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

23. Will Haven - "I've Seen My Fate" from El Diablo (1997)

24. The Dillinger Escape Plan - "Widower" from Option Paralysis (2010)

25. The Chariot - "The King" from Long Live (2010) [submitted by Daniel]

26. Electric Callboy - "Tekkno Train" from Tekkno (2022)

27. Deadguy - "Apparatus" from Fixation on a Co-Worker (1995)

28. Zao - "Man in Cage Jack Wilson" from Liberate Te Ex Inferis (1999)

April 2023

1. Within Temptation, Annisokay - "Shed My Skin" from Shed My Skin (2021)

2. Avantasia - "The Scarecrow" from The Scarecrow (2008) [submitted by Shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

3. Scorpions - "Blackout" from Blackout (1982) (re-recorded version from Comeblack (2011))

4. LOUDNESS - "Crazy Night" from Thunder in the East (1985)

5. Iron Maiden - "Stratego" from Senjutsu (2021)

6. Lizzy Borden - "Me Against the World" from Visual Lies (1987)

7. Dokken - "It's Not Love" from Under Lock and Key (1985)

8. Warlock - "All We Are" from Triumph and Agony (1987)

9. Quiet Riot - "Cum on Feel the Noize" from Metal Health (1983)

10. Dio - "Rainbow in the Dark" from Holy Diver (1983)

11. Motorhead - "Hellraiser" from March or Die (1992)

12. Ozzy Osbourne - "Lightning Strikes" from The Ultimate Sin (1986)

13. Motley Crue - "Live Wire" from Too Fast for Love (1981)

14. Judas Priest - "Hell Bent for Leather" from Killing Machine (1978)

15. Skid Row - "Not Dead Yet" from The Gang's All Here (2022)

16. Narnia - "Heavenly Love" from Awakening (1998)

17. Time Requiem - "Creator in Time" from Optical Illusion (2006)

18. Queensryche - "Spreading the Disease" from Operation: Mindcrime (1988)

19. Sabaton - "The Lion From the North" from Carolus Rex (2012)

20. Kamelot - "Ghost Opera" from Ghost Opera (2007)

21. Nightwish - "Over the Hills and Far Away" from Over the Hills and Far Away (2001)

22. Xandria, Ralf Scheepers - "You Will Never Be Our God" from The Wonders Still Awaiting (2023)

23. Epica - "Freedom - The Wolves Within" from Omega (2021)

24. DragonForce - "Heart of the Storm" from The Power Within (2012)

25. RichaadEB, Cristina Vee - "Bad Apple!!" from Bullet Hell (2018)

Well this is gonna be tough. I don't think I've ever heard of those bands before in my life, but that's part of the point of the review draft, to discover different bands and albums that had never previously encountered by the reviewer. I'm gonna take my chances and choose... (plays that "eenie meanie minie mo" game) that Stone Healer album!

Your turn, Saxy.

Thanks, Daniel!

Thanks, Daniel!

Ben, please add these new releases:

Attack Attack! - Dark Waves (EP)

For the Fallen Dreams - For the Fallen Dreams

In Hearts Wake - Green Is the New Black (Original Soundtrack)

The Word Alive - Empire (EP)

Some metalcore bands I now enjoy thanks to what I discovered when assembling the Revolution playlists:

Empowering hardcore/metalcore from one of the leading (yet short-lived) bands in the Christian hardcore scene:

Maybe one day I can be up for checking more of what's truly considered metal's biggest year, but for now, here's my top 5 of 1986:

1. Dark Angel - Darkness Descends

2. Vinnie Moore - Mind's Eye

3. Destruction - Eternal Devastation

4. Megadeth - Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?

5. Kreator - Pleasure to Kill

Honorable mention: Voivod - Rrröööaaarrr

Here's my updated list:

Beginning oldies (1984-1989)/B.M. (Before Metalcore):

1984: Voivod - War and Pain

1985: Watchtower - Energetic Disassembly

1986: Dark Angel - Darkness Descends

1987: Voivod - Killing Technology

1988: Sadus - Illusions

1989: Godflesh - Streetcleaner

Old golden classics and millennium transition highlights (1990-2001)/Metalcore's humble beginnings and light of day-seeing classics:

1990: Rorschach - Remain Sedate

1991: Old - Lo Flux Tube

1992: Sadus - A Vision of Misery

1993: Old - The Musical Dimensions of Sleastak

1994: Amorphis - Tales from the Thousand Lakes

1995: Fear Factory - Demanufacture

1996: Amorphis - Elegy

1997: Will Haven - El Diablo

1998: Embodyment - Embrace the Eternal

1999: The Kovenant - Animatronik

2000: Living Sacrifice - The Hammering Process

2001: Candiria - 300 Percent Density

Modern favorites (2002-2013)/Rise of the full Revolution:

2002: The Red Chord - Fused Together in Revolving Doors

2003: All Shall Perish - Hate. Malice. Revenge

2004: Mnemic - The Audio Injected Soul

2005: Trivium - Ascendancy

2006: Insomnium - Above the Weeping World

2007: Despised Icon - The Ills of Modern Man

2008: Dead to Fall - Are You Serious?

2009: Vektor - Black Future

2010: Crystal Lake - Into the Great Beyond

2011: Trivium - In Waves

2012: Twelve Foot Ninja - Silent Machine

2013: Living Sacrifice - Ghost Thief

The best of the most recent (2014-present)/A greater new uprising:

2014: Beartooth - Disgusting

2015: Amorphis - Under the Red Cloud

2016: Insomnium - Winter's Gate

2017: Gothminister - The Other Side

2018: The Browning - Geist

2019: Northlane - Alien

2020: Code Orange - Underneath

2021: Trivium - In the Court of the Dragon

2022: Lorna Shore - Pain Remains

2023 so far: Insomnium - Anno 1696

2023 albums I'm looking forward to getting:

For the Fallen Dreams - For the Fallen Dreams (self-recommendation)

Chelsea Grin - Suffer in Heaven

Kamelot - The Awakening (revisiting one of the only power metal bands I still want to keep)

August Burns Red - Death Below

Ne Obliviscaris - Exul

Attack Attack! - Dark Waves EP

Enter Shikari - A Kiss for the Whole World

Crown the Empire - Dogma (self-recommendation)

Deathstars - Everything Destroys You

Unearth - The Wretched; The Ruinous

The Acacia Strain - Step into the Light/Failure Will Follow (self-recommendation)

The Amity Affliction - Not Without My Ghosts (self-recommendation)

Veil of Maya - Mother

The Ocean - Holocene

Omnium Gatherum - Slasher EP (self-recommendation)

Godflesh - Purge

Saturnus - The Storm Within (revisiting a Fallen band to try to revive my interest)

As a result of my Pit Test (no longer describing it as "ultimate" because apparently it ain't), I've encountered some amazing classics from the 80s. This is great for when I write my next story based on the golden decade of classic metal genres. Anyway, here's my top 10 of 1985:

1. Watchtower - Energetic Disassembly

2. Helloween - Walls of Jericho

3. Warfare - Metal Anarchy

4. Amebix - Arise!

5. Sacrilege - Behind the Realms of Madness

6. Slayer - Hell Awaits

7. Celtic Frost - To Mega Therion

8. Dark Angel - We Have Arrived

9. Living Death - Metal Revolution

10. Corrosion of Conformity - Animosity

I can't, Daniel. I'm no longer in The Guardians.

One of only a couple songs of the album to have a neoclassical vibe in more than just the soloing while mixed with the dominating progressive side of the sound, a blend that was never attempted before at the time:

An early honorable standout of progressive/neoclassical metal:

I decided to give this album some listening and a review to try to revive my interest in the progressive/neoclassical metal blend I've last experienced in Symphony X. Vinnie Moore's debut is definitely progressive to my ears because of the structural complexity and spacey keyboards. And I agree that the neoclassical aspect is secondary, appearing more in just the soloing technique without being the main genre, though a couple songs to me have more of that neoclassical vibe while mixed with the dominating progressive side of the sound. So I'll vote YES for this album's Infinite Hall entry.

To be honest, I was surprised to see a classic hard rock/progressive rock band like Deep Purple added to this site, but I think I know why... Good news, Rexorcist, if you're still around: Your remaining top 100 metal album is here!

Here's mine throughout the previous year and this year so far (the years before that were different and all over the place for me):

The Revolution - 25%

The Sphere - 21%

The Infinite - 17%

The Gateway - 13%

The Guardians - 9%

The Pit - 9%

The Horde - 3%

The Fallen - 2%

The North - 1%

Congrats, Daniel!

Sneak peek for the April Guardians playlist, this YouTube guitarist made a kick-A trance-power metal cover of a song from the Touhou Project video game series popularized by Alstroemeria Records, featuring the beautiful vocals of Miraculous Ladybug actress Cristina Vee:

I gave this Alcest album some listening and a review a couple years ago, and I still remember Les voyages de l'âme having some great blackgaze dominance. The black metal aggression in the guitar distortion and grim vocals is in smooth balance with the shoegaze atmosphere of uplifting melody and tranquil beauty. I made a judgement submission similar to this for the album, but somehow it didn't get through. I'm glad the album is in the Hall now, so thanks for that, Daniel.

An epic single from the new Kamelot album The Awakening! I look forward to hearing the rest of the album once my schedule clears up.

An amazing live rendition of one of Kamelot's greatest classic hits that I still enjoy:

I just gave this album some listening and a review to revisit this live album mainly consisting of songs from their best era, and to celebrate the release of Kamelot's new album with a blast to the past. Similarly to Angra's Aurora Consurgens, many songs show the more progressive side of the band with complex riffing and soloing that occur more in the songs from Epica and The Black Halo than in their earlier albums like Karma, and more diverse structure. So I'll definitely be giving this Hall entry a YES vote.

Congratulations to you and your wife, Daniel! Glad to hear your baby girl has finally entered this world.

A fantastic intersection between several of the hardcore/metal genres from earlier and later bands; the hardcore of Strife, the metalcore/melodic metalcore of August Burns Red and Parkway Drive, the deathcore of Chelsea Grin, and the melodeath of Avatar:

One of the more popular metalcore bands that somehow I keep overlooking started their career with an incredible album of underrated gems like this one:

Ben, please add the Strongarm album Atonement. Its Metalcore tag now fits the RYM 2:1 ratio (for: 12 - against: 6).

A 7-minute epic that starts off as melodic as Unearth and Trivium before this band's usual early black/death-infused metalcore:

Seriously, why would they ruin something sounding potentially good by f***ing hiding it too deep in the mix!?

A punishing highlight from one of the more famous industrial metal musicians around:

A true classic of Lard's brand of industrial rock/metal:

Amidst a sea of ambient tracks lies a few brilliant industrial metal tracks, like this hammering opening track:

One of two amazing remixes of the most well-known single of Broken:

I bought this Children of Bodom live bootleg CD earlier today, and it's quite killer. Though the original 2001 edition had 9 tracks, the edition I bought that was apparently from two years later (2003) adds 4 more live tracks not heard in any other available edition; "Downfall", "Needled 24/7" (probably their first time performing that track), "Children of Bodom", and "Everytime I Die", all of which are really kick-A. I still miss this amazing guitarist/vocalist Alex Laiho. RIP

4/5

The drummer from Artillery died on the same day. Not a great one for thrash metal it has to be said.

RIP Josua Madsen

RIP Dark Angel guitarist Jim Durkin. Though he's gone from this world now, the wicked thrash material he's made with Dark Angel shall rise in our hearts.

The occasional switch from metal to surf music will make you be like Joe Pesci and say "What the f*** is this piece of sh*t?!":

The Swedish experimental groove-ish alt-metal masters are back with perhaps their best song since the title track of Hail the Apocalypse:

1. Gateway playlist - 4.5/5 (number of songs commented: 8)

2. Guardians playlist - 4/5 (number of songs commented: ALL 24)

3. Infinite playlist - 4.5/5 (number of songs commented: 10)

4. Revolution playlist - 4.5/5 (number of songs commented: ALL 29)

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

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 Guardians, Revolution, and Sphere playlists made by me 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! Once again, all the best with your exam, Xephyr!

THE GATEWAY: Static-X - "Wisconsin Death Trip" (1999) 4/5

THE INFINITE: Between the Buried and Me - "The Great Misdirect" (2009) 4/5

THE REVOLUTION: Underoath - "Lost in the Sound of Separation" (2008) 5/5

THE SPHERE: Ministry - "In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up (Live)" (1990) 4.5/5

Even though I don't see that Between the Buried and Me album as a perfect masterpiece as much as I used to, I still enjoyed most of it along with that Static-X album. My Revolution nomination shows Underoath as their best, and I really would recommend it to fans of that band and metalcore. That Ministry live album is also excellent. Keep up the good work on the feature releases, all! I look forward to more...

This sh*tty composition has nothing to do with the glory of its heavier more furious counterpart:

The best throwback to the Jesper Strömblad era of In Flames' melodeath fury with a memorable chorus: