Shadowdoom9 (Andi)'s Forum Replies

The new track from Arizona progressive thrash metal legends Vektor.

Wow... Vektor has changed a lot since we last heard of them! First off, they set the tuning to the standard E, as opposed to the slightly higher F tuning in all their previous releases, and that's a bummer because I was kinda hoping for them to pick up some C-tuned 7-string guitars for a heavier yet ethereal sound. Second, the vocals! David DiSanto has been known for his high shrieking, yet the vocals here are mainly more melodic and clean, with a small bit of the shrieks only in the background. I think he lost most of his screaming ability after using it all up on his ex-wife (sorry, I know, poor taste). Anyway, with the E tuning and mostly cleaner vocals, this song sounds closer to the 80s albums of Voivod and Coroner (both bands I enjoy) than the unique style Vektor has been known for. If it's just for this song, would the other song "Dead By Dawn", from their spilt EP with Cryptosis, have this new sound as well or their unique style from before? And if they both have this new sound, is it just one-off for that split EP, or will it affect their upcoming album and become permanent?? Only time will tell.... But for now, I'll say that "Activate" is, in my opinion, the band's third-worst song (behind "Collapse" and "Mountains Above the Sun"), though it's not bad enough to be a sh*tter and it still remains solid.

3.5/5

The most deathgrind-sounding technical thrash song!? Probably... I'm glad that their current incarnation, Revocation has a more pleasant tech-death/thrash mix.

Hey everyone! I decided to slightly lift the rest of my 18-day metal break, so I can listen to a little more metal again under these conditions; just listening to individual songs, not full albums, and doing small metal-related things, not yet continuing my History of Heavy Metal commentary. So I can still do some forum posts and help out this website, but don't expect any reviews from me until New Year's Day. With that, here's a Christmas metalcore (instrumental) cover song. Merry Christmas!

That is an incredible amount of work Ben and your dedication is amazing. Thanks 25,000 times for all your stellar efforts to provide your members with a satisfying experience.

In these crazy times we are all living in, it is fantastic to have a place where you can just "hang out" and shoot the shit with like- (or sometimes unlike-) minded individuals about music, nothing more and nothing less. No pandemic, no mentally unhinged politicians, just talking with (and hopefully listening to) others about something we all love. Many, many thanks to both you, Ben and Daniel for all the hours you both must spend to provide this all for us.

Best wishes to both of you and your families for Xmas and the New Year and also to all the Academy members.

Seconded.

Thirded!

My Dying Bride - "The Dreadful Hours" (2001) 5/5

Gamma Ray - "Blast From The Past" (2000) 4.5/5

Two excellent albums, each a classic of their respective genre! Though the Gamma Ray release could've been slightly better... Great choices, Daniel! I'm glad to revisit those two albums, and right before I started my small break from metal (https://metal.academy/forum/23/thread/620?page=1#topic_5230). I'll be back around New Year's. Later!

- Shadowdoom9/Andi

Right now it's just gonna be a synthwave Christmas for me because of my break from metal (https://metal.academy/forum/23/thread/620?page=1#topic_5230). Happy holidays, and see you all in the new year!

- Shadowdoom9/Andi

Some of the synth-wave artists my brother and I have been enjoying during my break so far:

Patrick Russell - YouTuber known for his synthwave covers of rock/metal songs.

Dynatron - Danish synthwave music producer since 2012.

So we're a couple of years down the track with the Metal Academy website now. I'm interested to hear what you think of the clan setup now after you've had a bit of time to get used to it. Did we get it right? Are there clans whose configuration frustrates you? If so, how would YOU have done them differently? Did we get the number right? Which ones did we absolutely nail?

I have to admit that I'm very surprised that no one mentioned the clan that I've had the most concern about in recent times & that's The North. It certainly seemed like the right call at the time but I've struggled with the fact that we have folk metal lumped in with black metal for some time now & it's one of the primary reasons that I elected to remove myself from The North. This was particularly evident when creating the initial playlists because the subgenres of folk metal (i.e. Celtic metal & medieval folk metal) have absolutely nothing to do with black metal & neither does a portion of folk metal as a whole so their playlist inclusions sound drastically out of place most of the time. I feel like we would have been better off separating folk metal & Viking metal into it's own clan even though it may have struggled for numbers. What does everyone think about this? Do you think it's fine as it is? What would you have done differently? Is there any other subgenres that would have fit nicely with folk metal & Viking metal?

The other main area of annoyance for me is with niche subgenres like trance metal, Nintendocore & trancecore which I feel really don't have all that much to do with the rest of The Revolution subgenres & (in the case of Nintendocore & trancecore) are borderline metal at all. Given my experiences since putting together the clans, I may have pushed for alternative solution for those although I can't really think of a better solution at the moment.

I know a lot of death metal fans struggle with the grindcore part of The Horde but to my ears it makes perfect sense. Any thoughts on that?

4 of the most recent bands I've discovered are subjects to this debate. Viking metal started as just Viking-themed black metal, coming from early Enslaved (and of course we can't forget Bathory). And whether or not another black metal band is also folk metal, that band Woods of Ypres has prominent folk elements here and there (if you wanna hear both black metal and folk metal, maybe try Moonsorrow). So I think The North is fine at its current subgenres. HORSE the Band is known for their Nintendocore sound that mixes metalcore with 8-bit video-game synths. And I think if trancecore is related to melodic metalcore, should it be related to trance metal as well? They're both related to trance! Other bands I listen to with similar elements like Amaranthe and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (two examples I would suggest for you, Sonny) shouldn't be kept apart. Speaking of Amaranthe, their trance metal still has metalcore elements like the harsh vocals and a few occasional breakdowns. So I think the better solution is to keep those niche subgenres intact. Grindcore is perfectly fine in the same clan as death metal, which is another reason why I chose to leave The Horde. However, Gaza is in the Revolution, yet it is also in The Horde because a couple of their releases are grindcore, and I'm not sure I feel comfortable about that (obviously different from what I think of Gulch). My opinion won't affect The Horde, but would affect some (just SOME) Revolution releases. Also according to the Metal Archives, grindcore power metal is a thing: Apofigeus (United States) - Death Metal/Grindcore with Melodic and Power Metal elements; Wisdom (Spain) - Power/Thrash Metal (early), Death Metal/Grindcore (later).

A direct quote from my review of some months ago - "In fact, I hear very little black metal on here other than in the vocals. " So I absolutely agree with you on this one Daniel. The question then is, does only having a vocal relationship with black metal constitute a strong enough case for inclusion in the North. When I refer to them as a black metal band, I do so in the same way I would refer to Enslaved, as a band that has developed from black metal beginnings that still retain a vestigial link back to their origins. In both band's cases I think it is also fair to say that even in the early days they were already stretching beyond the genre's confines.

Enslaved is in The North for their first 5 releases (including Hordanes Land), both The Infinite and The North in their next 5, and The Infinite in all subsequent releases. Makes sense because of their origins as a black metal, transition to a more progressive sound, and progressive metal with (same as your quote) "very little black metal on here other than in the vocals." Those recent albums are why I started listening to that band that I probably wouldn't around 5 years ago but I've gained more leeway. I also agree with even their earlier black metal albums stretching beyond bounds, including over-10-minute songs and Scandinavian Norse lyrics that, unlike other black metal bands, never mention Satan. With that, I think Enslaved is a great band for anyone who enjoys non-satanic extreme progressive metal. Who needs the Devil when you have Enslaved!?

Update on my list (still alphabetized and still at Bruno Terrosa's 55):

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. Bleeding Through - Love Will Kill All (2018)

10. Botch - We are the Romans (1999)

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

12. Charon - Songs for the Sinners (2005)

13. Coroner - Mental Vortex (1991)

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

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

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

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. Sentenced - North From Here (1993)

42. Seventh Wonder - Mercy Falls (2008)

43. Shadows Fall - The War Within (2004)

44. Sólstafir - Köld (2009)

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)

While I like a couple North bands now, that's mainly because they were only in The North for the first half of their tenures and I like the albums after they started moving out of black metal (https://metal.academy/forum/12/thread/191?page=1#topic_5129). I also like Solstafir, from their black metal debut to their subsequent albums of post-metal, including this epic from their newest album:

Surprisingly, this song wasn't in Gamma Ray's Blast From the Past Part 2 video I was reviewing (maybe because back then they keep banning the second-to-last songs of metal albums from YouTube for copyright, but why specifically the penultimate songs?! WHY?!?). Fortunately, I found the song in a separate video. A catchy melodic anthem!

Finally did my review! Here's its summary:

This compilation is never ordinary. The first disc has songs from the era of their first vocalist Ralf Scheepers, while the second disc has songs from the vocal era of no other than Kai Hansen! All selected songs from the Ralf Scheepers era and Land of the Free were re-recorded (possibly to fit with E-flat tuning, though some songs have to stuck to the original E tuning). Are ya curious? Look no further and find many of the greatest hits, along with a few sh*ts including the weak ballad "The Silence". Despite a few flawed tracks, everything else is some of the best songs in the first decade of Gamma Ray's career. Personally, if I were to pick two songs, each for one of the discs, to be added in, they would be the cover of the "Gamma Ray" song the band was named after, and the "It's a Sin" cover. Both great covers! Blast From the Past is a greatest hits album the way it was meant to be done; an awesome overview of mostly their best songs, with the older songs re-recorded to please both newer and older fans. Highly recommended for power metal fans as big as I used to be. Indeed a blast from my power metal past!

4.5/5

Here are my suggestions for January's playlist, Daniel. Because I hit a big jackpot in the December playlist, a massive 23 songs I've reviewed including my own suggestions, other songs from bands I like, and songs from bands I haven't heard before, I think these Revolution playlists can sure help me and fans of metalcore, mathcore, deathcore, and trancecore enjoy their songs from bands in the clan and explore different bands. Not only that, the suggestions from the lone Revolution submitter (me) help keep the playlist organic and save the playlist assembler (you) from having to go through bands you know or don't know just for way more than 3 quarters of a playlist. So yeah, I'm gonna do 8 suggestions this time instead of 7, with the eighth one being the ultimate test of pushing that limit. Here they are:

Amaranthe - "The Nexus" (from The Nexus, 2013)

August Burns Red - "Your Little Suburbia Is in Ruins" (from Thrill Seeker, 2005)

Bleeding Through - "Set Me Free" (from Love Will Kill All, 2018)

Born of Osiris - "Follow the Signs" (from The Discovery, 2011)

Horse the Band - "Lord Gold Throneroom" (from The Mechanical Hand, 2005)

The Dillinger Escape Plan - "Prancer" (from One of Us Is the Killer, 2013)

Trivium - "Pillars of Serpents" (from Ember to Inferno, 2003)

Underoath - "Writing on the Walls" (Define the Great Line, 2006)

OK here's the thing about that last song, Underoath's "Writing on the Walls". The album that song is in, Define the Great Line, is not in this site yet because it's non-metal due to its Metalcore genre not fitting the 1:2 ratio in RYM, but I think that album is definitely metalcore for the most part with Christian lyrics and post-metal influences from bands like Neurosis, and that song is a great example of that style along with foreshadowing the heaviness of their next two albums. So please ask Ben to add that album into the site, and their other non-metal album, They're Only Chasing Safety, to bridge the gap, and once they get added, I'll explain more in a judgement submission. I don't know if you would approve of a song from that album going into this playlist, but it's a good test to see if you can do that and accept 8 suggestions rather than just 7...

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

Dream Theater -  "Lie" (from Awake, 1994)

Meshuggah - "New Millennium Cyanide Christ" (from Chaosphere, 1998)

The Ocean - "She Was the Universe" (from Anthropocentric, 2010)

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

Dragonland - "Holy War" (from Holy War, 2002)

Gamma Ray - "Rich and Famous" (from Sigh No More, 1991)

Kamelot - "III Ways to Epica" (from Epica, 2003)

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

After Forever - "Beyond Me" (from Prison of Desire, 2000)

Anathema - "Far Away" (from Eternity, 1996)

Officium Triste - "Your Eyes" (from Giving Yourself Away, 2007)

Great, thanks Daniel!

Great message! Here's my 2020 metal story:

This year has indeed been a sh*tty one because of COVID, but I'm also fortunate to be in a safe healthy family and to have great friends from the outside world. I'm definitely glad to be in this site where we can share metal to one another, review albums, make suggestions for things like monthly playlists (hint hint) and other cool features to help develop the website for a bigger brighter future. It's nice to have positivity during this dark time. Of course I also had to stay home for a couple few-month-long periods of time. That used to be a big challenge for me because I was not used to not going out for a few days or more, but now I can handle it just fine because of the many things I could do at home. I don't have a job but I'm living with my parents who already have jobs. I guess you can call my massive amount of reviewing, "jobless work". Heh heh...

It is sad when your hearing is damaged and can't fully function anymore, but my hearing is actually still very good. Since my days of youth, not to brag but I'm pretty smart at figuring out the proper volume when listening to metal. My computer volume is at 5% and I'm wearing my big Beats headphones, but it's still a pleasantly loud volume. I still can't stand things that are much louder than my computer at full maximum blast, like thunder which I'm still a bit scared of (don't laugh). Wearing earplugs when there's thunder and cleaning them every couple weeks is what prevents my ears from being deafened or infected. I'm very protective of my hearing and make sure they never get damaged because even though it's possible to listen to metal with damaged hearing, I fear that I might go deaf and never be able to enjoy metal again. Whenever I go out during the virus, not only do I wear a face mask but also big industrial earphones because I think the ears are important to protect from the virus too.* Lol! Anyway, I've also had happy moments when listening to metal as an underage teenager, but those were my earlier epic melodic metal days and they're now long gone, though you guys helped me bring a bit of power metal back to my life. My current routine for my home days is filled with metal and a bit of writing. All of my metal is in my computer and a spare hard drive in case it breaks. My computer time is limited but sometimes I go a little overboard. I can't pay full attention when absorbing albums except in special occasions and when I have to, like when I'm writing reviews, so I just take what I think are the greatest hits from each album and somehow be able to absorb them while playing Minecraft.

*(Hey people, ears are part of your face, they need protection too, if you don't want them to be infected! And while you're at it, please start calling the virus COVID-20, don't let the first year that did nothing take all the blame!!)

Well I do have responsibilities, but as a 21-years-old living with his parents, they're not as big as the later part of adulthood when I move out in the future. My time and focus on music is still around. In fact, while I'm still connected to my music, 2020 is indeed a big metal year for me because thanks to all of you in Metal Academy and the site itself, I've discovered way more bands now than I've ever done in the 5+ years before I joined the site, and I never had to make another drastic change of taste. My metal taste range has even been extended to more than my original 30-year limit with a few bands from the 80s, though I'm still don't feel ready for the 80s thrash giants like Metallica, Slayer, or Sepultura. The new releases that I pick up are either some of the best or just not the same as earlier material, but I'm glad to keep building my collection.

In conclusion, the world may be coming down while struggling to get back up during the virus and some people might recognize good resulting benefits while having some setbacks, but in the end, what matters is, our lives are worth appreciating all the same.

And to wrap up this life lesson, in case you're wondering what I'm writing, it's my own personal commentary for this book I got last month, Andrew O'Neill's History of Heavy Metal! I enjoyed reading it so much that I'm writing my own personal commentary for the book, agreeing and disagreeing with Andrew's heavy metal facts and opinions. After I finish my commentary and get some planned album reviews out of my way, I plan on reviewing that book (my first (and possibly the site's first) book review!). Stay tuned...

Yes I know, the album this song is in is not in The Infinite, not even in this site because it's non-metal, but it seemed fitting for this sad time, so there. RIP Sean Reinert and Malone );

I've been a bit busy the past couple weeks but I definitely look forward to reviewing this re-recording/compilation album (among other releases I plan on reviewing). I have a feeling this would also be a nice blast from my power metal past...

Here are the types of cover arts I've observed and think fit best in each clan:

The Fallen - Dark, specifically goth (gothic and doom metal), emo (NOT the music) (the more depressing doom like funeral doom), creepy/scary/horror (Fallen bands that take on a bit of horror theme, such as The Vision Bleak and Theatres des Vampires)

The Gateway - Not sure exactly what themes they have, but some Gateway bands rely on humorous cover arts, so we'll go with humor.

The Guardians - Fantasy (common in power, symphonic, and neoclassical metal, plus some heavy metal bands like Saxon), plus dark fantasy for bands with darker themes.

The Horde - Violence/blood/gore (all death metal subgenres (plus deathcore) except melodeath and the more progressive side of tech-death)

The Infinite - Abstract and sci-fi (both common in progressive metal and djent, and a bit of avant-garde metal, rarely post-metal), plus sci-fi fantasy for bands with fantasy themes and/or are also in The Guardians (Symphony X)

The North - Viking fantasy (Viking and folk metal), dark fantasy (the more fantasy-like symphonic black metal like Bal-Sagoth), anti-religious/blasphemous/satanic (common in many black metal bands)

The Pit - For some thrash metal bands, the violence of The Horde toned down some and mixed with the humor of The Gateway.

The Revolution - Like Ben said, this is difficult because its covers don't follow any representing themes. There are different styles like rebellion, fantasy, dark, emo, violence, abstract, humor, heartbreak, and a girl in lingerie (Atreyu).

The Sphere - Abstract and sci-fi (similar to The Infinite) but more futuristic.

Since most of my descriptions here seem to very accurately suit the respective clans that I'm in, I think my clans would be the same, except I'm never really a fan of creepy/scary/horror. And with all the violence/blood/gore in The Horde, I'm glad to be out of that clan. I'm not sure if the clans can really be based on cover art, but it's interesting to imagine what this concept would be like...

PS: There's only less than a week left before Daniel closes the playlist suggestions for this month, please don't miss out!

Finally got interested in HORSE the Band, thanks to Daniel including one of their songs in this month's Revolution playlist, "Shapeshift" for a round 2!! However, the song I'm sharing here is from an earlier playlist that I enjoyed, "Cutsman"! This band is for fans of Enter Shikari, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and Machinae Supremacy.

Ever since I started listening to post-metallers Solstafir, their black metal debut Í Blóði og Anda gave me a little more leeway to tolerating the other unholy satanic black metal; now it's fine as long as only the first one or a few of a band's albums is traditional black metal and for the rest they head through a different direction while keeping some of their black metal. Here are a couple bands like that; progressive black metallers Enslaved (from this month's Infinite playlist, thanks Daniel!)...

...And doomy black metallers Woods of Ypres. (RIP David Gold)

An utterly sublime remake of a classic doom/death anthem from 1992.

True that! Both versions rule!!

My thoughts on some of the tracks (including my suggested songs):

Evergrey – “Hymns For The Broken” (from “Hymns For The Broken”, 2014)

10/10. I haven't heard Evergrey in a long while, but ever since I left my earlier epic metal taste, they have released another album The Atlantic and they've just announced an upcoming album Escape of the Phoenix to be released in February. This is one of the best melodic progressive metal songs I've heard 5 years ago, with the vocalist Tom S. Englund singing his heart out in the perspective of this concept album's suicidal protagonist. There's even a bonus melancholic piano version. Evergrey is an underrated band that deserves more love. Awesome track from a top-notch album that I haven't heard since so long ago!

Between The Buried & Me – “Silent Flight Parliament” (from “The Parallax II: Future Sequence”, 2012)

10/10. This is the climatic 15-minute epic nearing the end of a two-part saga, with the intensity from high to low, and the vocals ranging from growling to clean, often put in a powerful simultaneous combination. Brilliant!

Enslaved – “Neogenesis” (from “Isa”, 2004)

10/10. Yet another attempt at trying to get into enjoying Enslaved, and maybe this is it! An awesome song from a legendary band, taking you on a journey beyond stars, lightyears, and the universe itself, like that "Cygnus" track. This might just be my key to listening to Enslaved...

Opeth – “The Drapery Falls” (from “Blackwater Park”, 2001)

10/10. A favorite for many fans and probably would be until the end of time. I can definitely understand why! An acoustic intro gives way to a nice riff then calms down back to acoustic guitar as the clean vocals join in. Then it gets stampeded by a bombastic chorus that can give you goosebumps. I got goosebumps an hour before the first time I've listened to that song. Perhaps it's foreshadowing...

My thoughts on some of the tracks (including my suggested songs):

Dee Snider – “Tomorrow’s no Concern” (from “For The Love Of Metal”, 2018)

8/10. Look, it's cool that this playlist has started with classic heavy metal performed by a metal veteran, but that's not really my thing. Though this is actually d*mn better than the Twisted Sister classics I've stumbled upon, and it sounds like Dee still has what it takes. H*ll yeah!!

Edguy – “Mysteria” (from “Hellfire Club”, 2004)

9/10. Here's a tight heavy song that would make a slightly better playlist starter than that Dee Snider track. Vocalist Tobias Sammet yells like a circus ringmaster, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the freak show!!" Then the power metal action begins, having some influences from thrash/speed metal. In fact there's even an alternate version with Mille Petrozza of Euro-thrash legends Kreator on guest vocals as a bonus track in the limited edition.

Hammerfall – “Blood Bound” (from “Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken”, 2005)

9/10. I've listened to this song for the first time in a few years after listening to the live version as part of their new live album Live! Against the World. This killer song is from an album that helped bridge the earlier and middle era, and it has a big chorus you just gotta sing along to.

Elvenking – “Reader Of The Runes – Book I” (from “Reader Of The Runes - Divination”, 2019)

10/10. From the runes of Spotify comes a song available for this playlist. This is a fantastic great monolithic end to the band's folk-power metal return album trilogy that started in Pagan Manifesto, but it might hint at a different saga starting with a possible "Reader Of The Runes – Book II". I was an Elvenking fan a few years ago in my earlier epic metal taste, and now I wish I could have the chance to return to the band for the album that has this song that's probably their best since Heathenreel, especially since it has a killer black-ish soloing section in the middle. I'm grateful for this exhausting yet powerful masterpiece of f***ing impressive epic metal sorcery, greater than the epics made by Helloween. I love it! I might review this album soon. Thanks Xephyr for submitting it and Daniel for accepting it!

Lord – “Chaos Raining” (from “Fallen Idols”, 2019)

9/10. This is from an album that I was asked to do a special review for, but didn't get fully interested in the band until I switched from The Horde to The Guardians. The song shows Lord getting a little more chaotic while staying in a mid-tempo pace, getting up to the level of Trivium's Silence in the Snow.

My thoughts on some of the tracks (including my suggested songs):

Mastodon – “Blood & Thunder” (from “Leviathan”, 2004)

10/10. A great start to this playlist! Furious upbeat prog rock-inspired sludge metal plus a speedier Iron Maiden section to listen to in glee. It's totally an awesome thrashing sludge song that makes this band worth checking out. One of my favorite songs in the album Leviathan!

Monolord – “Died A Million Times” (from “Vaenir”, 2015)

9/10. I've said a million times that I'm never really into the whole stoner metal business, but d*mn this good sh*t's harder than the hardest difficulty in a video game! It seems morbidly fitting for the time of the coronavirus when at least a million people worldwide have died from the virus. RIP

Lacuna Coil – “Heaven’s A Lie” (from “Comalies”, 2002)

10/10. This great hit single sounds a bit anti-religious, but it actually takes you through a relationship that you want to break free from, believing that the vision of love (heaven) is a lie. The song has a mid-paced offering of vocal aesthetics, gothic lyrical themes, and atmospheric keyboards, which is hard to find in an entire album nowadays. Awesome!

Cult Of Luna & Julie Christmas – “Cygnus” (from “Mariner”, 2016)

11/10 (not exaggerating). Get it?? Christmas? Because it's December? All joking aside, this is one of the most intense post-sludge epics I've ever listened to. Cult of Luna's collab album with Julie Christmas, Mariner, is one of my recent favorite albums and an unseen pinnacle of music. I think Perturbator did a remix of this song at one point. "Cygnus" is a 15-minute epic that you need and might just love. This is one of the most inspirational songs of recent times, from when I'm writing my feedback right now with my Beats headphones turned slightly up for a massive boost without deafening myself to looking up to the stars and imagine what the rest of the universe is like at the very edge. Seriously, this is one of my current favorite songs, from the pleasantly killer first 6 minutes to the 3-minute ambient interlude to the intense last 6 minutes, with the drummer building intense tension throughout the song. D*mn, just D*MN, that 6-minute finale part is one of the most brutally insane and greatest moments in post-metal and probably all of metal and music. Before we get to that, let me just say Julie Christmas is beyond g****mn amazing! Her unique vocals helped turned this long track into an epic. Those vocals have stunned me and left me on the brink of emotional tears. The music itself is so unreal and flawless, but she does a grand job helping out. Like I said, what makes this track the best and most epic of the album is that 6-minute ending. The final part starts with a F***ING BRUTAL minute of Christmas screaming at the top of her lungs. Then neurogenesis happens; we transcend across the solar system then beyond the galaxy and the universe itself with magnificently emotional vocals in the foreground over the underlying Twinkle Twinkle Little Star-like background vocal loop. She's a goddess of the post-metal universe! I love this amazing song so much, it might've surpassed the band's previous 3 albums. Also there's a f***ing awesome solo under the 3-minute mark. That whole song is EPIC!!! Thanks for including it, Daniel!

Draconian – “Ascend Into Darkness” (from “Under A Godless Veil”, 2020)

10/10. This is an almost 9-minute epic, just like Sovran's "The Marriage of Attaris" but way better. A long album closer that we've been waiting for since the 15-minute epic that ended Arcane Rain Fell. Heike sings melodic expression of melancholic sentiments and Anders delivers his vocals of growling inferno, while guitarists Johan Ericson and Daniel Arvidsson shine with melodeath riffing reminding some of the slower Insomnium, fitting in with the drumming of Jerry Torstensson and the bass of temporary member Daniel Änghede. This band has perfectly achieved their goal written in that song title!

I did my review, here's its summary:

My Dying Bride's 2001 album The Dreadful Hours truly returns to the aggressive death-doom of As The Flower Withers and Turn Loose the Swans. There are killer heavy riffs worth headbanging, along with top-notch growls by vocalist Aaron Stainthorpe. Their trademark slow sections with clean vocals are still there which is good because it helps with MDB's emotional lyrics of standard melancholy. Those sides mixed together form 8 long death-doom songs of depression and hopelessness that are healthy for the doom soul, including a re-recording of a song from their deadly debut. The Dreadful Hours is a solid album, as perfect as The Light at the End of the World but still a few inches below the majestic level of Turn Loose the Swans with a few new tricks up their sleeves. Pretty much all the songs here help form these dreadfully excellent over 70 minutes!

5.5 (or more specifically 4.8/5)

Since it's been almost 6 months and no further activity has been made in this thread, I'm gonna end it here and declare the winner of part 1, which is... Celtic Frost's To Mega Therion, two to one!! So for part 2, let's take Celtic Frost further into the tournament and pair it up with a different album from a subgenre I'm more familiar with. That's right, we're gonna do unlisted thrash metal subgenres for this round! However, I'm not gonna start part 2 just yet because (spoilers) the other release I have in mind is a Voivod album and I'm waiting for the results of a new different DIS vs DAT thread involving Voivod and another band. For more info and to vote in that thread, it's in this link: https://metal.academy/forum/23/thread/591

Disillusion - "Back To Times Of Splendor" (2004) 5/5 (maybe even 6/5 if I could)

Gaza - "I Don't Care Where I Go When I Die" (2006) 5/5

The Gaza record is a massive mathcore classic, and the impressive Disillusion release has been confirmed to be my current favorite progressive/melodeath album of all time. I'm currently getting those bands' discographies as of this comment. Thanks again for the recs, Daniel!

Fourthed!! Great work guys! 

I'm glad to finally get fully interested in Voivod, thanks to you, Daniel! My slightly older love for Coroner is definitely one of the reasons for that recommendation, so here's another Coroner classic (by the way, I'm sure the missing chorus lyric is "Hatred or justice, die right off"):

And don't worry, I'll listen to and review the Cremator EP, which might definitely never will hit this thread...

Thanks Daniel! I have a review for another album planned today, so I'll give the Cremator EP a listen and a review tomorrow. I'll later unleash my f***ing fury...

It's the same for reviewing only I add a 0 and 0.5 just specifically for anything Machine Head release nowadays.

And the Disillusion feature release apparently.

Back to Times of Splendor?!? I think that's the perfect progressive metal album!! I would give it 6 stars if I could! I guess some things can get both an A+++ and an F---...

Anyway since we came back to this thread, I kinda enjoyed that small challenge 9 months ago of listening to a torturously atrocious d****ebag of an album that deserved a super low rating, and I feel up to doing that again to break my cherry and once again prove that I'm not always a positive reviewer. So I think it would be a great challenge if anyone could please find me an album worthy of 2 or lower. Bring it on!

The issue of there not being much activity in the Hall has been lessened by me now having the ability to close off a request earlier when there is an unbeatable lead. I've just closed off both of the Vektor requests and added both of them to The Infinite.

Great, thanks Ben! Now we can see that Vektor is indeed completely progressive thrash metal.