Shadowdoom9 (Andi)'s Forum Replies

I believe there's still some powerful thrash in this amazing album This Godless Endeavor, such as the kick-A opener:

I decided to revisit an album from a band that I stopped listening to about a year when lightening up my Infinite load (that clan is still strong within me in the more extreme side). This second reviewing session for the album isn't as spectacular as the first, but I still see This Godless Endeavour as an amazing thrashy progressive metal album. Here are my thoughts:

This Godless Endeavor keeps the band's steady fire going, as greatly as they've done in Dead Heart in a Dead World, making up for the controversial production of Enemies of Realty. Guitarist Jeff Loomis performs complex riffing in 7-string slaughter, and drummer Van Williams goes heavy on his metallic drumming. Second guitarist Steve Smyth joins in on the action and contributed a bit of songwriting. The cherry on top is the excellent vocals by Warrel Dane, guiding us through thrashy tunes and epic progressive tracks. Sadly, with the band's split and Dane's passing, they can no longer continue the greatness streak they had. While there are other bands out there with killer releases, the vocals reign upon the modern metal throne! RIP Warrel Dane

4.5/5

Coming up next: the groove metal part of the challenge after having a great feeling from Demolition Hammer's Time Bomb.

So, I gave the remaining two Demolition Hammer albums each a listening/reviewing session, and Epidemic of Violence is a standout gem in their discography and the brutal side of thrash metal. I'm talking about absolutely vicious thrash filled with hatred and rage, just the way I like it, putting a bit of the more aggressive side of Megadeth or Exodus to shame. Even the switch to groove metal for Demolition Hammer in Time Bomb is very solid, giving me a great feeling about the groove metal part of the test, though the score is obviously brought down slightly by a couple tracks that don't work so well. Anyway, the next album I'll review will be from a band that I moved away from about a year ago, but felt like revisiting an album in a second attempt to review. You'll find out what is soon...

Even the switch to groove metal for Demolition Hammer can be very solid, especially in this long sludge-ish highlight:

Absolutely vicious thrash filled with hatred and rage, just the way I like it. If you thought bands like Megadeth or Exodus made the most aggressive thrash songs you've heard, this will change your mind:

There's no stenchcore or crossover thrash either just quietly.

At least one release from those two genres I can add to the list, Daniel. Let's see how I roll with the rest first...

So, I gave the first two Annihilator albums each a listening/reviewing session, and Alice in Hell is a standout gem in their discography and thrash metal in general. Even though it has many classic songs (especially "Alison Hell"), the last track "Human Insecticide" is its best example of full-on raging thrash. The band continued their earlier classic thrash era with one more album, Never Neverland. Same greatness, though with a different vocalist Coburn Pharr, instead of the debut's incredible Randy Rampage (RIP), and a couple tracks don't work as much as they should and bring the score down slightly. Still, those two albums are a solid-as-rune start to their big 17-album (so far) discography, and they brought my ultimate Pit test to an amazing beginning. Next up tomorrow: Demolition Hammer

Just like the previous album's closing track, this one closes the journey through Never, Neverland in a thrashy bang:

You're right, Sonny! Thanks for the heads-up. I'll add those bands to the list.

Annihilator's Alice in Hell is a standout gem in their discography and thrash metal in general. Even though it has many classic songs (especially "Alison Hell"), the last track of this offering is its best example of full-on raging thrash:

The only song I really like from Stigmata's mostly poor debut, a solid blend of early hardcore/metalcore and the speed/thrash metal of early Metallica, while reminding me of Paradise Lost's Shades of God in the earlier verses:

Mid-paced stoner-ish alt-metal riffing from one of the earlier bands of the grunge/alternative rock/metal scene:

I gave this album some listening and a review to see if I have what it takes to explore one of the earlier, classic grunge/alternative rock/metal bands. Now many of these songs I think of highly differently from what you think, Daniel. Let me count the ways... "Ugly Truth" has that groovy doomy riffing going on, but to my ears, it sounds a bit like Godflesh's hymns without any of the industrial part of the sound. "Gun" is probably the most accurate track in the stoner doom category. "Power Trip" was meant to parody glam metal, and despite the doomy riffing, it's closer to one of those moody glam metal ballads. "Get on the Snake" has the usual rock-on early alt-metal that has shaped this band's early sound. "Full on Kevin’s Mom" is as fast as earlier hardcore, while lighter and closer to hard rock. "Loud Love" has some stoner-like riffing while being more mid-paced. "I Awake" has that somber sludgy instrumentation for sure. And finally "Big Dumb Sex"... Are you sure you wanna compare that one to Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age? That's a full-on parody of the more mid-tempo glam metal songs that's hard to take seriously! So I would consider Louder Than Love an early grunge-ish alternative metal album with many of the songs experimenting with different styles, including 4 stoner/doom-sounding songs, two glam metal parodies, and two fast hard rock tracks. The amount of stoner metal in the album, from what I hear, is about 35%, a little under your 40% minimum. And the album was released a couple years before Kyuss and Motorpsycho released their own albums that would establish stoner metal as a genre. With that, I find stoner metal to be just a secondary genre for this Soundgarden album and will have to vote NO in your hall entry.

A 7-minute epic that shows Angra transcending the progressive boundaries farther than before:

My progressive power metal memories still shine with this highlight:

1. Gateway playlist - 4/5 (number of songs commented: ALL 21)

2. Infinite playlist - 4.5/5 (number of songs commented: 11, formerly ALL 19)

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

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

For all my own clans, I've listened to the entire playlists! I'm grateful to Saxy and Daniel for their playlist works. I really dig many of the tracks in the Gateway and Infinite playlists made by Saxy, and I'm glad the Revolution and Sphere playlists made by me paid off. I recommend them to any fan of those 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: Motionless in White - "Scoring the End of the World" (2022) 4.5/5

THE GUARDIANS: Angra - "Temple of Shadows" (2004) 4.5/5

THE INFINITE: Sikth - How May I Help You? (2002) 5/5

THE PIT: Anacrusis - "Screams and Whispers" (1993) 5/5

THE REVOLUTION: The Chariot - "Long Live" (2010) 5/5

THE SPHERE: Gothminister - "Pandemonium" (2022) 5/5

This is probably the most epic month of featured releases for me! Motionless in White's Scoring the End of the World and Angra's Temple of Shadows each receive a great 4.5 stars. They're near-perfect offerings that I would recommend them to fans of their respective genres. The other 4 featured releases I reviewed are perfect 5-star masterpieces, both two of the feature releases I've submitted (Sikth's How May I Help You? and Gothminister's Pandemonium) and two awesome discoveries (Anacrusis' Screams and Whispers and The Chariot's Long Live). Even though the Anacrusis album is way more suitable for The Infinite than The Pit, it has encouraged me to someday get ready to test out my strength in The Pit with more releases from that clan. I don't intend to make any changes to my clan lineup as of now though. If I do, The Gateway would be the one out, but I'm still sitting comfortable in that clan, so again, no changes yet. Keep up the good work on the feature releases, all! I look forward to more...

I think another reason why some people (including myself) associate this album with power metal is because of the guest appearances from vocalists of Guardians bands Edenbridge, Helloween, Gamma Ray, and Blind Guardian. Of course, guest vocalists from bands of other genres do not make an album those genres (a clear example being Ayreon's The Theory of Everything that is more of a progressive rock opera album despite most of the vocalists coming from metal bands). Looking back now, Temple of Shadows seems to be 80/20 of prog/power metal, but the amount of the power metal I have left in my heart wasn't going to give it up too easily. I actually plan to review another Angra album to rediscover a little more of their progressive direction, so stay tuned for that...

To my ears, I find this album to have more of a progressive power metal sound. The orchestration gives me a lot of Rhapsody (of Fire) vibes though not too highly used in the foreground that would've covered symphonic metal otherwise. The soloing is quite progressive, but in some songs (not just in those power metal highlights) it often reminds me of some of DragonForce's solos. You consider one of my earlier favorite power metal albums NOT power metal, Daniel? Ouch! (though I did say this is better than Petrucci and Dream Theater, so we're kinda even, but still, sorry about that) So I'll vote YES for The Infinite addition entry. Can't say the same about the later Guardians removal entry though.

A tremendous highlight of heavy keyboard-fueled progressive metal to be grateful for:

I agree here, Daniel. Although a few tracks are thrashy with fast speed, the majority of this album is quite progressive with ambitious ideas and keyboard orchestration. I'm definitely voting YES in that Hall entry.

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

Time for me to again give you a brief summary of what the deal was with classic metal genres transitioning in the early 90s. Most thrash metal bands at that time either left in a hurry or switched to a different style, most notably alternative or groove metal. But those bands started in the early to mid-80s, and the ones late in the game that started in the late 80s wanted to have the last bit of what was popular when the story was already moving on. Anacrusis is one of those latecomers, and they still had their great sense of technicality and unique atmosphere, unlike other late-80s-starting bands like Annihilator that fell victim to mainstream pressure too soon at that time. Screams and Whispers is a masterpiece! They really ended their initial run smoothly. It was quite an incredible surprise to me after just finding this band this week. It's a dark atmospheric swansong offering. Kenn Nardi has an impressive vocal range, ranging from aggressive shouting, almost deathly, to clean operatic singing that you can find from other thrashy progressive metal bands like Nevermore. In the pessimistic darkness of some songs, the riffing stays sharp and keeps the bleakness interesting. There's also fast pounding bass and drums that often lowers down to a slower pace. And some songs have atmospheric orchestration. The orchestration comes from the keyboards instead of an actual orchestra, so I can't really put the "early symphonic metal" stamp on it. Still it adds a whole new dimension to the sound in grace. Unlike what other bands had done that year, Anacrusis stayed firmly in thrashy progressive metal with the right amount of balance. Sadly, they disbanded right after that album, a self-sacrifice to not fall into the modern trap. However, in the early 2010s, they were back on the touring road for some time, and they even re-recorded their first two albums, then after that, other than a 2019 reunion show, they again said "That's all, folks!" But if they ever come back in the future with a new original album, sound the alarm!

5/5

A diverse experimental highlight from this Georgia-based metalcore band:

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

The Chariot had already made 3 albums before this, each more popular than the last, and their 4th album Long Live is filled with relentless energy. Unlike a band like Motionless in White that often balances aggressive verses with sweet choruses, The Chariot is firmly set in pure metalcore throughout each song, making the genre more exciting for the heavier fans. Long Live proves that the band is standing high in the metalcore game. The songs have a lot of the aggressive emotion and brutal energy of metalcore, though there are some experimental surprises. And one thing I forgot to mention in the actual review is, the odd-numbered tracks are named after winners of a contest involving the band's previous album Wars and Rumors of Wars. Long Live has clear production as much it has raw energy in this fresh masterpiece. If you need a lot of metalcore adrenaline, one of Georgia's finest bands of the genre can give it to you. Long live their music!

5/5

The glorious title closer of the new Motionless in White album, featuring the legendary Mick Gordon:

A phenomenal highlight of epic electro-industrial metal, with guest narration from Lindsay Schoolcraft, former vocalist of Cradle of Filth:

I did my review, here's its summary:

Motionless in White has been in the modern metal zone since the 2010s. They're one of my favorite bands to cover 3 of my current clans, though they probably would've been too dark for me 6 years before this review, when I wasn't fully into the genres they cover. They've made a really solid and relevant run from Creatures to Graveyard Shift, though Disguise was slightly more alt-metal focused. They started their current path through industrial metalcore around Infamous and Reincarnate, and what could top the former album being my favorite alongside Creatures? And will they continue the throwback while unleashing the emotions they've had in the period after Disguise? With the early 2020s insanity of the virus going, the band have more courage to unleash their emotions to the world. Once again securing the multi-track triptych, you can find many different styles in the songs, including cinematic metalcore, epic electro-industrial metal, glorious heavy alt-metal, and a couple powerful power ballads. You can also find a few guest vocalists including Bryan Garris of Knocked Loose, Lindsay Schoolcraft former vocalist of Cradle of Filth, Caleb Shomo of Beartooth and formerly Attack Attack!, and the legendary Mick Gordon. All in all, Scoring the End of the World has proven to be amazing comeback for the band after a slight decrease in quality in Disguise. Many of the tracks will satisfy open-minded listeners, though not every track is highly likeable. Scoring the End of the World has the band's dynamic strength in fresh quality!

4.5/5

Recommended tracks: "Meltdown", "Werewolf", "Slaughterhouse", "Masterpiece", "Burned at Both Ends II", "Cyberhex", "Scoring the End of the World"

For fans of: Beartooth, Code Orange, Marilyn Manson

A semi-radio-friendly yet well-written alternative/industrial metal highlight:

A heavy metalcore sequel to one of the songs from the Creatures "Snow" trilogy. Maybe in a future album, they should make a sequel to the 3rd part "Scissorhands".

A 7-minute highlight of industrial rock/metal, taking a break from the band's earlier metalcore fury:

The dark haunting finale of the killer "Puppets" trilogy:

Industrial metalcore, foreshadowing Motionless in White's later direction:

Brutal horror-themed metalcore, continuing the "Puppets" story from the band's debut:

For the best of Motionless in White's earlier horror-themed metalcore, check out the dark vicious "Snow" trilogy:

Glad to see the Northlane, Parkway Drive, and Cult of Luna releases taking home the Gateway and Infinite awards! Here are my top 10 releases of 2022:

1. Lorna Shore - Pain Remains

2. Northlane - Obsidian

3. Cult of Luna - The Long Road North

4. Gothminister - Pandemonium

5. Dir En Grey - Phalaris

6. Upon a Burning Body - Fury

7. Seventh Wonder - The Testament

8. In the Woods... - Diversum

9. Psyclon Nine - Less to Heaven

10. Annihilator - Metal II

A true pandemonium of epic industrial metal greatness:

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

From the capital city of Norway, Oslo, here's gothic industrial metal masters Gothminister! This project founded by Bjørn Alexander Brem became a full band when a fanbase started growing, a fanbase strengthened by their live shows and music. The band made a steady career with 6 albums spanning from 2003 to 2017. Then all was silent for 5 years, with no material released during then. It was a long wait...until last year, on October 21, the new album Pandemonium arrived, and the anticipation was totally worth it! With an intro and 10 songs at a span of 40 minutes, their lyrics of darkness and death can make your ears bleed in a pleasant and painless way. There's epic industrial metal greatness in pretty much all the songs, with occasional emphasis on poppy synths, electronic melodies, and metal heaviness. Pandemonium can surely unite the gothic-ish industrial metal fanbase with their catchy sound. Music listeners outside of metal may point out the band's aesthetic of evil darkness, but what they don't find when they don't try is the hopeful light in their compositions. It's so incredible this compelling music they make. Worth the 5-year wait, the Norwegian dark industrial metal masters strike again!

5/5

Recommended tracks: "Pandemonium", "Star", "Bloodride", "Norge", "This is Your Darkness", "Mastodon"

For fans of: Deathstars, Rammstein, Samael

Here's my list (mostly stinker albums I found in my metalcore rediscovery journey, each 2 stars or less):

1. Fuck the Facts - Mullet Fever (2001)

2. Premonitions of War - Premonitions of War (2000)

3. State Craft - Until the Darkness Is Gone (1998)

4. Nineironspitfire - Seventh Soul Sacrificed (1996)

5. Downcast - Downcast (1991)

6. State Craft - Never Forget... (1996)

7. Reprisal - Boundless Human Stupidity (2000)

8. State Craft - To Celebrate the Forlorn Seasons (2000)

9. Clear - Deeper Than Blood (1999)

10. One King Down - Absolve (1995)

Add some gothic-ish industrial metal to a dance club with this superb highlight:

A couple tracks that are exactly what the album title suggests, gothic electronic anthems:

It's been a long while, like under 5 months, since I've last updated my "favorite metal albums by years" list. I will certainly still update this, while putting my "favorite metal albums" thread list to rest because of the Top 20 releases feature. 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: Atheist - Unquestionable Presence

1992: Sadus - A Vision of Misery

1993: Old - The Musical Dimensions of Sleastak

1994: Circle of Dust - Brainchild

1995: Fear Factory - Demanufacture

1996: Morning Again - Hand of Hope

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: Despised Icon - Consumed by Your Poison

2003: Hatebreed - The Rise of Brutality

2004: Mnemic - The Audio Injected Soul

2005: Trivium - Ascendancy

2006: Sikth - Death of a Dead Day

2007: A Day to Remember - For Those Who Have Heart

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: Caligula's Horse - Bloom

2016: Issues - Headspace

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 albums I'm looking forward to getting:

In Flames - Foregone (revisiting one of the melodeath bands I used to enjoy)

Avatar - Dance Devil Dance (revisiting one of the melodeath bands I used to enjoy)

Code Orange - What is Really Underneath?

Insomnium - Anno 1696 (self-recommendation in an attempt to finally get into listening to a band I've heard of since first listening to that genre)

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

Bury Tomorrow - The Seventh Sun (self-recommendation)

Enter Shikari - A Kiss for the Whole World

Deathstars - Everything Destroys You

The epic climax of an amazing journey of my power metal nostalgia:

I did my review, here's its summary:

Any open-minded music fan should try at least one mature concept album to explore the story that you might find in a book or a movie. All the band members have worked together to build the soundtrack to a story written by guitarist Rafael Bittencourt, proving that their teamwork really made the dream work! There's a lot of headbanging power metal action, complete with professional guitar solo dueling between Bittencourt and Kiko Loureiro, and the unique vocal power of Edu Falaschi. However, the speed is often balanced out with some softer ballads or mid-tempo tunes. What can also add to this grand sound includes many orchestral/progressive/Latin influences, along with guest appearances from vocalists of bands Edenbridge, Helloween, Gamma Ray, and Blind Guardian. It's quite a journey for even the heavier metalheads to take, and its "classic" status isn't going away anywhere!

4.5/5

Here are my sneak peek submissions for the March Sphere playlist:

Architects - "When We Were Young" (3:13) from The Classic Symptoms of a Broken Spirit (2022)

Deathstars - "This Is" (3:42) from This Is (2023)

Fear Factory - "A Therapy for Pain" (9:43) from Demanufacture (1995)

Gothminister - "Angel" (3:31) from Gothic Electronic Anthems (2003)

Omega Lithium - "Colossus" (4:57) from Kinetik (2011)

Strapping Young Lad - "Love?" (4:53) from Alien (2005)

Total length: 29:59

Here are my sneak peek submissions for the March Revolution playlist:

The Browning - "Carnage" (3:04) from Geist (2018)

Chelsea Grin - "All Hail the Fallen King" (2:52) from My Damnation (2011)

Dead to Fall - "Stupid?" (2:22) from Are You Serious? (2008)

From Autumn to Ashes - "Short Stories with Tragic Endings" (9:24) from Too Bad You're Beautiful (2001)

Memphis May Fire - "This Light I Hold" (4:08) from This Light I Hold (2016)

Shai Hulud - "The Consummate Dragon" (2:59) from That Within Blood Ill-Tempered (2003)

Trivium - "Insurrection" (4:57) from Shogun (2008)

Total length: 29:46

Here are my submissions for the March Infinite playlist:

Burst - "Cripple God" (6:42) from Lazarus Bird (2008)

Ne Obliviscaris - "Devour Me, Colossus (Part I): Blackholes" (12:37) from Citadel (2014)

Queensrÿche - "Bridge" (3:29) from Promised Land (1994)

Today Is the Day - "Going to Hell" (7:09) from In the Eyes of God (1999)

Total length: 29:57

Here are my submissions for the March Gateway playlist:

Celldweller - "Frozen" (7:00) from Celldweller (2003)

Demon Hunter - "Silence the World" (7:13) from Exile (2022)

Gone Is Gone - "Violescent" (4:17) from Gone Is Gone (2016)

Lacuna Coil - "My Spirit" (5:50) from Dark Adrenaline (2012)

Through Fire - "Stronger - Extended Version" (4:05) from Breathe (2016)

Total length: 28:25

An alternative/progressive metal/rock highlight of fuzzy guitar magic, from the members of Mastodon, Queens of the Stone Age, and At the Drive-In:

I've done my review for that Gone is Gone release. Here's the link to my review: https://metal.academy/reviews/28681/26014

And here's its summary:

Gone is Gone offer really high-quality music in their plate. Mastodon bassist/vocalist Troy Sanders shows his more melodic heartful side, together with Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen, and At the Drive-In drummer Tony Hajjar, and keyboardist/guitarist Mike Zarin. The members' tight unity of music makes a spectacular 8-track EP of alternative/progressive metal/rock. A great thing about supergroups (though they prefer to be considered just a band) is, when each member is from a popular band, chances are you can get spectacular results, and Gone is Gone is a grand example!

5/5

I'll take Borealis please, Prog/Power Metal always intrigues me because there's normally very little Progressive Metal to be found on them, so I'll be interested to see if this one actually holds up. 

I was thinking of choosing that band because they're the most notable band I can think of in that list that I haven't checked out yet, but that's OK. You got them first, so it's yours, Xephyr.

I'm gonna go with the Gone is Gone release. Upon research, I noticed that band has Mastodon bassist/vocalist Troy Sanders, so I look forward to hearing what he can do there.

Your turn, Saxy!