Shadowdoom9 (Andi)'s Forum Replies

KYPCK - "Черно" (2008)

Andi, I think you might dig this Finnish doom metal debut as there's a significant amount of gothic metal influence here without ever leaving doom metal territory.

This is gonna be interesting, listening to Finnish gothic doom sung in their neighboring country's language Russian. I shall give that album a listen! And although I've already rated all the Isis releases, I might give that Mosquito Control EP (and their other albums) a review as well...

Update on my list (still alphabetized and still at Bruno Terrosa's 55) (and as Metal Academy Post #5555!!!! 5 is a special number for this):

1. After the Burial - Rareform (2008)

2. All That Remains - Overcome (2008)

3. Annihilator - Alice in Hell (1989)

4. At the Gates - Slaughter of the Soul (1995)

5. August Burns Red - Constellations (2009)

6. Ava Inferi - Onyx (2011)

7. Before the Dawn - Rise of the Phoenix (2012)

8. Between the Buried and Me - Colors (2007)

9. Botch - We are the Romans (1999)

10. Bullet for My Valentine - The Poison (2005)

11. Charon - Songs for the Sinners (2005)

12. Coroner - Mental Vortex (1991)

13. Cult of Luna - Somewhere Along the Highway (2006)

14. Darkest Hour - Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation (2003)

15. Demon Hunter - The World is a Thorn (2010)

16. Devin Townsend - Empath (2019)

17. Disillusion - Back to Times of Splendor (2004)

18. Gaza - I Don't Care Where I Go When I Die (2006)

19. God Forbid - IV: Constitution of Treason (2005)

20. Gojira - L'Enfant Sauvage (2012)

21. Ice Nine Kills - The Silver Scream (2018)

22. In Flames - The Jester Race (2006)

23. In Mourning - Shrouded Divine (2008)

24. Isis - Panopticon (2004)

25. Katatonia - Brave Murder Day (1996)

26. Lamb of God - Ashes of the Wake (2004)

27. Leprous - Tall Poppy Syndrome (2009)

28. Lord - Fallen Idols (2019)

29. Mastodon - Leviathan (2004)

30. Maudlin of the Well - Bath (2001)

31. Meshuggah - Catch Thirty-Three (2005)

32. Moonspell - Irreligious (1996)

33. My Dying Bride - Turn Loose the Swans (1993)

34. Ne Obliviscaris - Portal of I (2012)

35. Neurosis - Through Silver in Blood (1996)

36. Opeth - Blackwater Park (2001)

37. Paradise Lost - Draconian Times (1995)

38. Persefone - Spiritual Migration (2013)

39. Protest the Hero - Kezia (2005)

40. Revocation - Existence is Futile (2009)

41. Rosetta - The Galilean Satellites (2005)

42. Seventh Wonder - Mercy Falls (2008)

43. Sólstafir - Köld (2009)

44. Strapping Young Lad - Alien (2005)

45. The Dillinger Escape Plan - Calculating Infinity (1999)

46. The Ocean - Pelagial (2013)

47. Threat Signal - Under Reprisal (2006)

48. Tiamat - Wildhoney (1994)

49. Trivium - In Waves (2011)

50. Type O Negative - October Rust (1996)

51. Veil of Maya - [id] (2010)

52. Vektor - Black Future (2009)

53. Voivod - Killing Technology (1987)

54. Within the Ruins - Elite (2013)

55. Woods of Ypres - Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light (2012)

What a ripper of an opener from Canadian industrial metallers Strapping Young Lad. For fans of Fear Factory, Ministry & Nailbomb.

Yes it is! The beginning of the album that truly opened the industrial metal gates for me...

I did my review, here's its summary:

Until just recently, I never really had the appeal for industrial metal. I thought it was an overrated mainstream metal genre like alt-metal, with the invasion of bands like Ministry and Rammstein. Now I can see where its heavier background lies, when I was pulled into listening to Strapping Young Lad during my run through Devin Townsend's discography. This band has started my quest to dig into industrial metal's heavier background for bands like Fear Factory and the genre's true pioneers, Godflesh! But for now, Strapping Young Lad's Alien is the follow-up to their self-titled comeback album and, unlike other bands' fourth albums, is of higher quality instead of lower. Their extreme industrial metal is punishing throughout 9 of its 11 tracks. The humans within this decimating machine include drummer Gene Hoglan, guitarist Jed Simon, bassist Byron Stroud, and Devin Townsend who also plays guitars while screaming with a bit of clean vocals. They level up the music with pulverizing drumming and searing riffing while fantastic lyrics fuel the fire and fury. Already I think this is the best album of their tenure! It has heavy anger and emotional power. Alien is probably my new best of 2005. No matter the craziness, you must hear this!

5/5

You think that "Humble" hidden track is bad? This immediate follow-up to the absolutely stunning epic "Planet Rain", the bizarre hidden track "Forgotten", botching the wacky fun "Bad Devil", is enough to make me nauseous. That track, along with the out-of-place "Death" and "Devoid", have caused me to drop a half-mark from the 5-star score I would've given the underrated Physicist.

The best video I could find for this song had the last minute trimmed off, but the untrimmed version that I have is what I would consider the heavy opposite of "The Death of Music" and another one of the best songs by this progressive metal master:

Not really the most metal track, but it's certainly an epic you can't ignore in this progressive masterpiece of an album:

For my track thoughts here, I originally commented on a massive 20 of the 32 tracks here because there are so many bands I like and songs from bands that I might like. However, I realized that I tried so hard to enjoy the some of the songs from bands I haven't listened to before when really I didn't like them, and my comments on some of the songs from bands that I do listen to were outdated, most of which were copied from my own reviews and my opinions on those songs have changed since then. I might even give them up and sacrifice their discographies to make room for newer bands eventually if I feel like it, God forbid (NOT one of those bands). So I cut my amount of reviewed tracks to just 14 and rearranged the order of songs here to sound more complete. Here they are:

Hatebreed – “Instinctive (Slaughterlust)” (from “Weight Of The False Self”, 2020)

8/10. If Trivium could rip the heart from your hate, Hatebreed does just that then keeps stomping the heart hard while your hate bleeds to death. This is f***ing brutal old-school-inspired metalcore that would keep your wild bullhorns up. Though I still don't feel up to metalcore that brutal...

Gulch – “Self-Inflicted Mental Terror” (from “Impenetrable Cerebral Fortress”, 2020)

7/10. After the November playlist had the demo version, this newer version appears in their album Impenetrable Cerebral Fortress. It does fit well with the title, sounding too much like it was written by a mentally ill terrorist. I still can't handle this brutal grind-metalcore...

Chamber – “Numb (Transfuse)” (from “Cost Of Sacrifice”, 2020)

9/10. A heavy start to this playlist, one of the hardest metalcore songs I've heard so far, more than the heaviest hamburger! The drumming is so g****mn insane, pushing the boundaries of metalcore drumming and reminding me of Gojira's Mario Duplantier. Some listeners might pick up Code Orange and Norma Jean vibes from the chaotic mathy metalcore inspired from the late 90s. Then there's a 30-second unexpected beautiful ending. The two-minute breakdown has excellent hellfire. However, the chaos might be a little too spicy for me to handle as much as Zao. If the new Predator film could feature a Suicide Silence song, then the next one should have this song. Some listeners might also be reminds of a less technical Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza. Chamber has made a metal hardcore extravaganza that's a little out of my bounds!

Bleed From Within – “Alive” (from “Era”, 2018)

8/10. Another killer song, but not enough to get more of this band. Enough said!

The Dillinger Escape Plan – “Prancer” (from “One Of Us Is The Killer”, 2013)

9/10. This smashing hit continues The Dillinger Escape Plan's tradition of swinging straight into action. Off beat melodies shine in a considerate pace. This band sure knows how to prance around with more chaos than grace!

Trivium – “Pillars Of Serpents” (from “Ember To Inferno”, 2003)

10/10. Ah yeah, "Pillars of Serpents", the first full song I talked about in my first Metal Academy album review, Trivium's Ember to Inferno! Not just that, I also suggested this song in the playlist in memory of former bassist Brent Young (RIP). The song itself is a chugging churning example of heavy metalcore, still audible enough for the ears. In fact you can hear a bit of the bass clearly in the mix. I personally like the original (the version used in this playlist) better than the 2017/2019 re-recorded version, not sure why, maybe I just wasn't into the scream and the F-word at the end of the re-recording.

Amaranthe – “The Nexus” (from “The Nexus”, 2013)

9/10. Some of the most crushing music helped out by a diverse vocal trio. It really sets apart from any music you hear nowadays. The top-notch lyrics have a positive tone of never giving up. An energetic song of metal heaven on pop earth!

Converge – “Last Light” (from “You Fail Me”, 2004)

10/10. 3 and a half minutes of mayhem are the result from probably the most impressively unique song in the album. The screaming vocal attack of Jacob Bannon ranges from manic to emotional through the lyrics. The song is indeed emotional and you already know what's going on just by listening to it.

Botch – “Transitions From Persona To Object” (from “We Are The Romans”, 1999)

9/10. This song greatly represents the organic nature of the album We are the Romans. Every riff is played naturally, never forced, as if the riffs are inventing themselves. After an eerie intro melody, the song continues into its awesomeness, riff after riff, all in a perfect groove mood. The heavy riffs lead to high dissonance in a passage that brings back the lower riffs and vocals. The song ends with frantic discord fading out to a drumbeat.

HORSE The Band – “Lord Gold Throneroom” (from “The Mechanical Hand”, 2005)

10/10. One of the most amazing songs from Nintendocore masters Horse the Band! I can definitely say that this song could be used in a Nintendo video game battle. Other than that, I got no other words to do this killer piece justice!

August Burns Red – “Your Little Suburbia Is In Ruins” (from “Thrill Seeker”, 2005)

9/10. A blazing brutal song from August Burns Red BEFORE Jake Luhrs! The opening has a catchy riff and fast drums, leading into an earth-shattering breakdown. That's a fast song with interesting riffs that are never cliché.

The Contortionist – “Flourish” (from “Exoplanet”, 2010)

8/10. This song is a good heavier one, sounding closer to progressive deathcore/djent, with beautiful moments like the instrumental breakdown and that shoegaze-like solo. After that, close to the 5-minute point, they turn back to the sharper djent sound. Its album Exoplanet was remastered in 2015, and even though the remaster caused some mixed reactions, I still think this song has cool djent on both versions.

Veil Of Maya – “Crawl Back” (from “The Common Man’s Collapse”, 2008)

9/10. And here's another deathcore band that I enjoy, Veil of Maya. This song immediately introduces the band's second vocalist Brandon Butler with some semi-memorable lyrics. That's the deathcore I can tolerate!

Venom Prison – “Slayer Of Holofernes” (from “Primeval”, 2020)

8/10. And the third's time not the charm for deathcore... Vocalist Larissa Stupar does her attempt to do Cattle Decapitation-like vocals along with background cleans, but that's just too much and too spine-chilling. Still this song is somewhat amazing. I mean a female death-screamer must be quite a phenomenon, isn't it? Those are some sick killer screams that stay consistent and drag you through f***ing extreme Hell, if you're up for that challenge. D*mn, it's brutal! Larissa is one of the brightest shining stars of harsh vocals nowadays, in a pulverizing range from death to hardcore. So insanely killer! Her beautiful yet beastly vocals can pound f***ing harder than a gorilla's fists. Yep, those vocals are awesome, but it's just too chaotic, along with the rest of the song. I've reached my deathcore limit!

Despite the massive cutdown, that's quite a lot for me to review in this playlist! It hasn't beaten the original high score of December's playlist, but it came close. Thanks again Daniel for including my suggestions and many more songs for me to enjoy!

A couple recommendations from January's featured releases have opened a few gates to different bands of further horizons for me, from the spacey post-sludge of Rosetta...

...to the comedic progressive metal of one of the genre's masterminds, Devin Townsend...

...and finally the progressive industrial metal of his former band Strapping Young Lad:

There are two progressive metal bands called Coexistence. Did you want the French or the Italian one?

On behalf of Xephyr, I say both are fine.

Finnish power metal has hit a roadblock this month with the passing of Alexi Laiho (Children of Bodom) and the semi-retirement of Marko Hietala (Nightwish). Rest in peace, Alexi. And good luck with your break, Mr. Hietala...

Small fact: They were both in heavy/power metal band Sinergy.

OK, time for my suggestions for February's playlist. Since I'm currently the only active Revolution member, and you were able to accept all my suggestions for previous playlists when limited to 7, I'm gonna keep adding them at that limit, at least until we gain more active Revolution members.

After the Burial - "A Vicious Reforming of Features" (from Rareform, 2008)

August Burns Red - "Spirit Breaker" (from Rescue & Restore, 2013)

Bleeding Through - "Love Lost in a Hail of Gun Fire" (from This Is Love, This Is Murderous, 2003)

The Dillinger Escape Plan - "Hollywood Squares" (from Irony Is a Dead Scene, 2002)

Parkway Drive - "Smoke 'Em If Ya Got 'Em" (from Killing with a Smile, 2005)

Underoath - "And I Dreamt of You" (from Cries of the Past, 2000)

Unearth - "Endless" (from The Oncoming Storm, 2004)

Here are my suggestions for February's playlist. Daniel, please choose these songs:

Between the Buried and Me - "White Walls" (from Colors, 2007)

In Mourning - "A Vow to Conquer the Ocean" (from The Weight of Oceans, 2012)

Meshuggah - "Shed" (from Catch Thirtythree, 2005)

Here are my suggestions for February's playlist. Daniel, please choose these songs:

Avantasia - "Another Angel Down" (from The Scarecrow, 2008)

Blind Guardian - "Lost in the Twilight Hall" (from Tales from the Twilight World, 1990)

Lord - "United (Welcome Back)" (from Fallen Idols, 2019)

Here are my suggestions for February's playlist. Daniel, please choose these songs:

Draconian - "The Last Hour of Ancient Sunlight" (from A Rose for the Apocalypse, 2011)

The Ocean - "Devonian: Nascent" (from Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic, 2018)

Theatre of Tragedy - "Cassandra" (from Aegis, 1998)

Realizing how much I talked about my top and bottom favorite Trivium albums in the Unpopular Metal Opinions thread, I decided to rank all the bands here and their albums from weakest to strongest. Please feel free to rank any bands and their albums (they do NOT have to be formed in 1999 or your birth year, just any band you like.) Enjoy!

10. Dream Evil

f. Evilized, e. United, d. In the Night, c. Six, b. Dragonslayer, a. The Book of Heavy Metal

9. Battlelore

f. Where the Shadows Lie, e. Evernight, d. The Last Alliance, c. Third Age of the Sun, b. Sword's Song, a. Doombound

8. Bleeding Through

h. Bleeding Through, g. Dust to Ashes, f. Portrait of the Goddess, e. The Great Fire, d. The Truth, c. Declaration, b. This is Love This is Murderous, a. Love Will Kill All

7. Protest the Hero

f. Pacific Myth (EP), e. Volition, d. Scurrilous, c. Fortress, b. Palimpsest, a. Kezia

6. Sabaton

i. The Great War, h. Coat of Arms, g. Attero Dominatus, f. Metalizer, e. Heroes, d. The Last Stand, c. Primo Victoria, b. The Art of War, a. Carolus Rex

5. Mastodon

g. Once More Round the Sun, f. Emperor of Sand, e. Blood Mountain, d. The Hunter, c. Remission, b. Crack the Skye, a. Leviathan

4. Lamb of God (including the albums released as Burn the Priest)

j. Legion: XX, i. Burn the Priest, h. New American Gospel, g. Lamb of God, f. Wrath, e. Resolution, d. As the Palaces Burn, c. VII: Sturm und Drang, b. Sacrament, a. Ashes of the Wake

3. Dragonland

e. The Battle of the Ivory Plains, d. Holy War, c. Starfall, b. Astronomy, a. Under the Grey Banner

2. DragonForce

h. Maximum Overload, g. Ultra Beatdown, f. The Power Within, e. Sonic Firestorm, d. Reaching Into Infinity, c. Extreme Power Metal, b. Valley of the Damned, a. Inhuman Rampage

Honorable mention I've never really listened to often but played a small essential part in my metal history and based on what I've listened to so far:

Avenged Sevenfold

d. "Hail to the King", c. "Shepherd of Fire", b. "Nightmare", a. the entire Waking the Fallen album

And finally #1:

Trivium

i. Silence in the Snow, h. The Crusade, g. Ember to Inferno, f. Vengeance Falls, e. Shogun, d. The Sin and the Sentence, c. What the Dead Men Say, b. Ascendancy, a. In Waves

3. Voivod have never released a good album and are none of my business.

4. Amon Amarth have been releasing the same album for the last 29 years and it is still boring.

5. The internet has too many fucking lists on it.

6. Iron Maiden were at their best when Paul Di'Anno was on vocals.

7. Meshuggah sacrifice power and passion in their music in favour of unnecessary complexity.

Quoted MacabreEternal

Voivod's albums are really good, especially their earlier albums. I love Prog Voivod (the late 80s transitional trilogy), just slightly greater than Thrash Voivod (the first two albums) and far greater than the rest.

I agree that throughout Amon Amarth's almost 3-decade career, they've released so many albums with the same Viking themes. But they're still really killer, and I think of all their albums (plus their EP) as an ongoing Viking saga.

"Too many f***ing lists"!? This is kind of a thread where we create many lists, and you've fallen into that trap!

This opinion harkens back to the first two to ever appear in this thread, written by Sonny:

1. Number of the Beast was a serious let down after the immense Killers.

2. Piece of Mind is the best Maiden album with Bruce Dickinson. Seventh Son.. is pretentious shite.

Even though he has enjoyed one of the Bruce Dickinson albums, I can see how immense both of you think of the albums with Paul Di'Anno. Of course, nothing wrong with that, both singers are probably some of the best in metal!

I believe complexity is part of Meshuggah's passion and power, and Veil of Maya has that too in songs like "With Passion and Power".

I think as far as 'The Big Four" goes and arguments about who should or shouldn't be considered as members of this exclusive club: This was a term that was in use very early on in the development of thrash metal and at the time those four bands were literally the biggest four thrash bands around. Testament were quite late to the party, The Legacy coming out after Reign in Blood, Master of Puppets, Peace Sells and Among the Living so were never in with a shout of being considered in The Big Four. Time has dictated otherwise and revealed their consistent back catalogue to merit inclusion, but The Big Four is like the Mount Rushmore of thrash and will remain as those four for time immemorial.

Despite all these differences of opinion, which I was hoping for when beginning this thread, please remember that what unites us is more important than what divides us. Go to RYM and read their board's, there you will find people who think every single album on this site is shit and we are all idiots for enjoying them.

Finally, I must 'fess up that one of my original points is not actually my opinion and I included it in the hope of getting a reaction. Can you guess which it was?

Lol! Now I'm imagining a Big 4 + Testament split compilation where the cover art is a parody of the Deep Purple in Rock cover with the faces of all the bands' lead singers.

Let me guess...when you called Death "f***ing average"?

1. All In Flames albums are great, and their dive into Alternative Metal still makes them one of the most innovative bands ever. One day people will realize these guys basically perfected Pop Metal and once the stigma for that dies I believe they will get the credit they deserve.

2. Since I see the name being thrown around... Thrash Voivod > Prog Voivod

3. 70's metal, in general, is not that great. It's only revered because it came first. Basically one riff and a guitar solo away from Hard Rock. There was almost no innovation for the first decade, whereas the 80's saw a massive explosion in subgenres, technique, delivery, etc. There is not a single 70's metal album I consider a masterpiece, with Judas Priest's Sin After Sin being my favorite, but nowhere near my top.

4. Atmosphere, mood, emotion, delivery > technical skill, prowess, wankery, complexity 

5. Doom Metal is one of my favorite genres, but 80's Doom is really bland. Even Cadlemass is not among my favorite Doom artists. I feel 80's Doom had not yet captured the - as I mention above - atmosphere and mood that it gained in the 90's that made it a truly melancholic genre rather than just a lethargic and boring one.

The earlier In Flames melodeath albums are great, with The Jester Race being second place in the melodeath classic reign (first being that At the Gates album). But as innovative as their later alternative/pop metal albums are, they really distanced themselves far away from their original sound and sound way too different from their heavier glory, similar to Katatonia.

Prog Voivod (the late 80s transitional trilogy) just slightly greater than Thrash Voivod (the first two albums) and far greater than the rest.

I'm also not really into 70s metal bands (Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Motorhead), when heavy metal was mostly just a singular genre, often closer to hard rock. The 80s will probably forever be the minimum decade for me to go for all the innovation and subgenres. I'm sure the only people who consider 70s metal albums true masterpieces are people who are either oldie fans or 70s metal fans or super-fans that like every single decade of metal.

I like both atmosphere and technicality, which is why I like both the post- and progressive ends of the Infinite.

Doom metal is also a favorite genre of mine, but I prefer just death-doom, gothic doom, and sludge doom, which are slightly faster in some cases while keeping the dark melancholy. Traditional and funeral doom are so slow and bland that if I was given the entire Candlemass discography, I would speed it all up to be 2x faster. I used to do that for bands like My Dying Bride, but not so much anymore, since I can tolerate the slowness more now. No more blaspheming the whole reason for doom! ...At least for now.

Of course the 80s albums by Voivod have been either speed metal or progressive metal, but I say there's a great significant amount of thrash in their first 4 albums. In fact, they're part of the Canadian Big 4 of thrash, together with Sacrifice, Razor, and Annihilator, so why dethrone such an honor? However, there is one album that I object to one other genre label-slapped on, and that is Phobos with the Sphere clan and industrial metal tag! See my submission here: https://metal.academy/forum/28/thread/589

• Opeth's progressive rock pivot of the 2010s is not as bad as you initially thought.

True but it's not the best either. The 1998-2007 era (except Damnation) is the pinnacle of their career!

I'd go so far as to say that I've never heard a melodeath release that I regard as a legitimate classic.

Voivod never have & never will be a thrash metal band.

Not even At the Gates' Slaughter of the Soul? That's THE melodeath classic!

I've never heard a lot of people besides you say Voivod isn't thrash metal at all. #6 on your list, Daniel!

1. Opeth's Morningrise is the worst of their first 6 albums.

Orchid is my least favorite of their initial metal era. Morningrise is a more improved beast!

Here are some of my own:

1. The Crusade was a thrashy letdown after Trivium's killer metalcore breakthrough Ascendancy.

2. In Waves is the best Trivium album, Silence in the Snow is just scream-less classic metal sh*t.

3. The Sin and the Sentence is my 4th favorite Trivium album and What the Dead Men Say is #3.

4. Grindcore is just eardrum-piercing noise, and you can't claim you can survive listening to that noise for 24 hours without me thinking that's bullsh*t.

5. The standard gory death metal is overrated, melodic death metal deserves more attention.

6. DragonForce's Ultra Beatdown is good, but not as much as the incredible Inhuman Rampage.

7. Extreme Power Metal is DragonForce's epic comeback after the rest of the Marc Hudson era.

8. Who on earth agreed with Kawaii metal being a thing? It's just girly anime music metalized. But I can't p*ss on Babymetal's "Road of Resistance", DragonForce is in there!

9. Why are trance metal and trancecore not equated to each other?! They connect like a puzzle!

10. Voivod's 80s era is as awesome as what people think of other thrash bands from that decade.

11. Lamb of God is better than Machine Head, by far.

12. If Woods of Ypres founder David Gold wasn't killed and the band kept going, I'm pretty sure by now they would discard all of their black metal for just pure gothic/doom.

I don't know if many of you would agree with most of my opinions, but I would like to hear what you think!

I really get a lot of enjoyment reading the rym unpopular musical opinions board, especially when posters get ever so indignant as if they have been personally insulted. So I thought it might be fun to start one for The Academy. I'll kick off then:

1. Number of the Beast was a serious let down after the immense Killers.

2. Piece of Mind is the best Maiden album with Bruce Dickinson. Seventh Son.. is pretentious shite.

3. Defenders of the Faith is only the fourth best Priest album.

4. Avant-garde metal is inherently bollocks and is played by artists who wish they weren't playing metal at all!

5. Devin Townsend is the single most overrated metal musician of all time.

6. Ace of Spades is not as good an album as Bomber.

7. Diabolus in Musica is a decent album and is certainly better than Divine Intervention and the 2000s stuff.

8. Post-metal is not metal.

9. Gothic Metal does not equate to doom metal.

10. Anthrax made two of the best thrash albums of the eighties.

11. Machine Head are better than Pantera.

And if none of those get you going - Death were fucking average!!

I stand by every one of these!

For my responses, a few of them are what I actually think and the others are based on whether you're "right or wrong".

1. Oh really?? Number of the Beast was the first album with Bruce Dickinson and helped propel the band into success, despite some speed-bumps of controversy.

2. Piece of Mind continues the successful Bruce Dickinson era, but Seventh Son is more progressive. You seem to be quite selective in Iron Maiden's classic 80s era, Sonny.

3. Ok then... It would be interesting to hear what your top 3 are.

4. I don't think so. Maudlin of the Well sound like they were having fun with their metal, though their last one had no metal at all.

5. Are you serious?! Devin Townsend is one of the most talented progressive metal musicians of all time! And I just got interested in his music after listening to Terria.

6. Ace of Spades is kind of the Number of the Beast of Motorhead, propelling the band into success. With that, I'm interested to hear what you think of Iron Fist.

7. Divine Intervention is no Reign of Blood, but it's another popular album. But their next album (besides that cover album) Diabolus in Musica began their dreaded nu metal.

8. What!? Yes it is! Bands like Rosetta have heavily intense music, though that band wasn't accepted into the Metal Archives. You really don't like the Infinite genres, do you?

9. For most of those bands maybe, but some bands equate the two genres like Ava Inferi, Draconian, and Type O Negative.

10. Well that depends, are you gonna say Among the Living isn't as good as the two surrounding albums? Please correct me if I'm wrong...

11. I've listened to a few Machine Head albums. Though Pantera is more famous, Machine Head is probably better for me since I like my groove modern (except Catharsis).

12. Death? What do you know about Death? All I know is, they're more than just "f***ing average", inspiring many bands like Children of Bodom (see the reference there?).

So it looks like you're quite selective when it comes to classic albums from bands like Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Slayer, and possibly Judas Priest and Anthrax. You also seem to think Devin Townsend, Pantera, and Death are overrated despite being masters of their respective genres. And you dislike genres like avant-garde metal, post-metal, and gothic metal. Your opinions might not be similar to what others tend to believe (which is kind of the point of this thread), and we might not see eye-to-eye on many things, but like I said in one of my threads, respecting what people think is key!

A glorious 22 and a half minute epic from one of the bands that inspired the indirect Devin Townsend recommendation to me:

I did my review! Here's it's summary:

Normally I never plan on listening to any metal solo artists because I seem to have more appeal to full-group bands, and solo artists are usually mostly found in other genres besides metal, like...radio pop!! The other Devin Townsend album I've reviewed, Ziltoid the Omniscient, was good but other than that "solo artist" issue, it was far too comedic. Now we're at Terria...which is another one of the best albums created! It's perfectly heavy while being so soothingly atmospheric. Great for a relaxing drive! This is an album every listener must get, both progressive and open-minded audiences! You can't go your entire lifetime without listening to at least one song from this masterpiece. The main album has incredible songs ranging from heavy to uplifting, and I might share a few songs to my friend whom she likes this uplifting classic kind of rock! I agree that the hidden track "Humble" is a boring pointless track, but why should we include it as part of the album?! It's a hidden outro that you shouldn't let affect the album, like the outro at the end of Between the Buried and Me's Alaska! Just remove it, and the album would be perfect. So yeah, not including that pointless outro, Terria is a wonderful album and has now been made one of my favorite albums ever. If you wanna start your journey with Devin Townsend's music, this is where you gotta start. Highly recommended!

5/5 (without that outro, 5.5/5, if I could)

Also my last review before my 8-day break from reviewing, see here: https://metal.academy/forum/23/thread/650

If that "Vicarious Redemption" epic is one of the most incredible ones from Cult of Luna, it can't beat the epic that they've done with Julie Christmas. You gotta hear it to believe it!

The most pointless track by this usually awesome band:

I actually didn't enjoy "Terria" much on my first encounter with it back in 2009 & have subsequently given it the cold shoulder ever since. After giving it a few spins over the last couple of days I can easily see why I struggled with it initially too as it takes me well outside of my musical comfort zone into some fairly uplifting, joyous & at times quite quirky spaces. Those terms are generally the polar opposite of where my taste bracket lies but I'm glad that I've given the album another chance this week because I feel like I've started to discover its charms. The glistening production, high quality performances & expansive prog rock inspired sound are no doubt impressive & any fanatical music fan is likely to give in to them eventually. In saying that though, I don't think that I can say honestly that I regard any of the tracklisting as a genuine classic which was certainly not the case with an album like Devin's "Ocean Machine: Biomech" debut which is a personal favourite of mine. I just don't think the hooks are strong enough (with the possible exception of "Stagnant" which is still a touch too cheesy to claim classic status). On the other hand, the tracklisting is generally very consistent with only the closing hidden track "Humble" representing any sort of failure. And a significant failure it is too because I ended up dropping my score a half mark due to the fact that I couldn't get my five & a half minutes of wasted time back after having to endure that artistic travesty. Overall, I can't say I'm likely to be returning to "Terria" all that often but it's definitely proven a point to me & I've enjoyed the experience much more than I thought I would.

For fans of Porcupine Tree, Leprous & Haken.

3.5/5 

Though it looks like you didn't enjoy a few parts of that album especially that "Humble" hidden track, Daniel, Terria seems fun enough a progressive metal album for me to try, and I do like Leprous and Haken. Another album to put in my review to-do list!

The song that inspired the name of the newest and final band formed by Alexi Laiho. RIP

19 minutes of some of the most experimentally incredible music Cult of Luna has ever done:

I have say that "The Galilean Satellites" is yet another example of just how unnecessary the "atmospheric sludge metal" tag is. As with the vast majority of releases that receive that tag, there's really not much sludge metal on this release other than the vocal delivery. Sludge metal is essentially a brand of doom metal that's infused with hardcore punk & there's nothing hardcore or doom about this release. It's a true post-metal release in every sense of the term in my opinion. In fact, "The Galilean Satellites" sits far more comfortably in The Infinite than it does in The Fallen in my opinion.

NO!! Children of Bodom was one of the first melodeath bands I've enjoyed where the vocals are almost entirely growls. I admired his growls and guitar shredding so much. Now I feel bad for leaving my interest in this band during my escape from my earlier epic metal taste. Children of Bodom had already ended over a year ago and Alexi Laiho started a new project Bodom After Midnight. Now it's uncertain whether or not that project will go on. This is awful. Party on in metal heaven, Alexi... RIP );

They are indeed sludge classics, but Mastodon has been within my knowledge the longest, not just in my playlist, but also when I heard a song from the Leviathan album, "Island" in a quick scene from the Pixar movie Monsters University that I watched when it first came out. Besides that, Leviathan is what I believe to be one of the most innovative albums in both progressive and sludge metal. So yeah, Mastodon for me! I'll add my vote along with yours, Daniel:

Leviathan - 1

Panopticon - 1

That Rosetta album does remind me of Isis and Cult of Luna, especially a reminder for me to continue my album reviews for Cult of Luna and other bands. The song I'm gonna share is the epic finale of the last album I've reviewed before 18-day break from reviewing (more info about that here: https://metal.academy/forum/23/thread/620?page=1#topic_5230):