Shadowdoom9 (Andi)'s Forum Replies

Didn't I already share that Meshuggah track here earlier this year?? That's OK because that song is filled with great strong djent!

Here are my suggestions for November's playlist. Since I'm currently the only active Revolution member, and you were able to accept almost all my suggestions for previous playlists, I'm gonna keep adding more than 3 suggestions. However, since it looks like my Revolution playlist suggestion limit has gone slightly lower in October, for November's playlist, I'm gonna suggest 6 songs instead of 7.

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

Between the Buried and Me - "Aspirations" (from Between the Buried and Me, 2002)

Bleeding Through - "Rise" (from Portrait of the Goddess, 2002)

Prayer for Cleansing - "Feinbhas a Ghabhail" (from Rain in Endless Fall, 1999)

Threat Signal - "Rational Eyes" (from Under Reprisal, 2006)

Winds of Plague - "Drop the Match" (from Against the World, 2011)

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

Ne Obliviscaris - "Intra Venus" (from Urn, 2017)

Seventh Wonder - "The Promise (Studio version)" (from Welcome to Atlanta Live 2014, 2016)

The Contortionist - "Flourish" (from Exoplanet, 2010)

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

Dream Evil - "Dream Evil" (from Six, 2017)

Edenbridge - "Shine" (from Shine, 2004)

Machinae Supremacy - "Laser Speed Force" (from Rise of a Digital Nation, 2012)

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

Cult of Luna - "Ghost Trail" (from Eternal Kingdom, 2008)

Katatonia - "Saw You Drown" (from Discouraged Ones, 1998)

Tiamat - "Cain" (from Prey, 2003)

Also on this day:

A classic power metal album from my earlier epic metal taste! D*mn, this album is almost the same age as me. And seeing how many albums are having their anniversaries today, a total of 16, including those other two special albums, we can consider October 9 a special day for metal!

Those 3 tracks I commented on were an easy cinch to listen to, but the Black Breath track was quite a struggle and when it was over, it made me think "Nah, I'm out of this playlist". Despite its odd position, this playlist would be a great journey for Horde members from melodic to brutal and I approve of that track listing. They'll like it!

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

Shadows Fall – “The Unknown” (from “Fire From The Sky”, 2012)

10/10. One of the best Shadows Fall songs ever! Shredding licks, a singable chorus, dual vocals, and superb song structuring, this song has them all and is how a lot of the album Fire From the Sky goes.

All That Remains – “The Deepest Gray” (from “This Darkened Heart”, 2004)

8/10. Not as awesome as that Shadows Fall song, but I still enjoy this. It has a double-edge sword in vocals with one edge being the rough grunts and screams and the other edge being the melodic clean vocals. Labonte's clean vocals come in during the chorus at the same time as low grunts and high screams.

Between The Buried & Me – “Mordecai” (from “The Silent Circus”, 2003)

10/10. This was back when BTBAM was more metalcore than the progressive metal that would dominate their later releases. It is the high point of the album The Silent Circus. It begins with the technical death metal from bands like Suffocation and Misery Index and, after a brief 5-second Steve Vai/Frank Zappa riffing, the relentless action of The Dillinger Escape Plan. Then there's a bit of a melodic death/groove metal section. After that, everything changes with guitars switching from distorted to clean, and Tommy Rogers delivers his first ever clean vocals in a soft style similar to Thom Yorke. Keyboards and heavy chords come in before the song becomes a full-on metalcore power ballad, with Rogers' emotive singing and clean guitars from Paul Waggoner.

Ice Nine Kills – “Stabbing In The Dark” (from “The Silver Scream”, 2018)

10/10. A killer song perfect for October's playlist because it's directly based on the horror film Halloween. The music transits from soft and beautiful to a brutal onslaught of growling vocals, intricate guitars, and heavy drums as the horror goes on. You know how I said that there's a music video my alt-rock-loving brother recommended I watch and listen that made interested in Ice Nine Kills. That video is this song! I care more about the music than the videos, so I skipped the video and went onto the song which is incredible! There's also a recent acoustic version featuring Matt Heafy from Trivium whom I think would fit better in the originally heavy version.

Converge – “The Broken Vow” (from “Jane Doe”, 2001)

9/10. This is a song from one of the greatest non-melodic metalcore albums ever, Converge's Jane Doe! has remarkable lyrics from not just Bannon but also from other hardcore vocalists like Kevin Baker (The Hope Conspiracy), Tre McCarthy (Deathwish Inc.), and Caleb Scofield (Cave In), especially during the final screaming line, "I'll take my love to the grave!!" Yes I am commenting on another track that features the late Caleb Scofield. RIP

Misery Signals – “Set In Motion” (from “Controller”, 2008)

10/10. I knew getting interested in Misery Signals was the right move. I love this one! Especially the guitar tones that might remind some of Himsa. Thanks for including this perfect song, Daniel, along with my suggestions!

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

ISIS – “1,000 Shards” (from “In The Absence Of Truth”, 2006)

10/10. Attempt #2 at getting interested in Isis (because of my newly growing interest in ambient sludge), and IT'S GOOD!! Hopefully I won't change my mind later. This is great for when you're chilling at home at a time when the virus is making a comeback and you can't walk around the city. You can be able to travel into amazing beautiful dimension without leaving your home! There are some cool parts to highlight like the fantastic transition at the one and a half minute mark and the chilling section at the three and a half minute mark. There's also great guest vocals by the late Caleb Scofield (from Cave In). After his death, Isis performed a special reunion show dedicated to him (under a new name Celestial, to not be confused with that terrorist group). If you're even in a distant rain-forest contemplating eternal discoveries of the universe, this is a special song written for that. You might think of this as similar to Tool, and that kinda makes sense, except Tool is more on the alt-metal side (NOT nu metal like Slipknot). This song shows how much the band can blend all their instruments into a stew of beautiful brilliant ambiance worth praising. After finally getting interested in Neurosis, I knew this band would be my next step in my post-sludge journey. Isis is one of those bands whose style you might instantly love at first listen, and that's how I felt when I made my first try but somehow did a quick 180 and didn't return to listening to this band. Too bad this beautiful-sounding band already split up, but at least there are other projects for some of the members to focus on like Bryant Clifford Meyer in Red Sparrowes. This song is so incredibly intricate that I wanna have the chance to explore all their other albums in any random order. Both the music and lyrics are emotionally top-notch! I also like that snare sound that guides through this fantastic experience. This can very well be one of my favorite post-progressive metal songs. They don't need to go as brutal as Edge or Sanity or Augury to be progressive. It's just blows me away to hear all this awesome diversity. An amazing mesmerizing song for even the most brutal metalheads! I think The Ocean is slightly below this genius band. This song can take you into a world of imagination much better than those other bands that claim to do so but really don't such as nu metal bands like Korn. Isis should have more history than old rock bands like The Beatles, same with Agalloch, Intronaut, and especially Cult of Luna with similar harmonic structure. Isis and those 3 other bands, along with Neurosis are true post-metal heroes. Now if only I can give Panopticon another go. Thanks Xephyr for submitting this shining post-sludge star, and Daniel for including it!

Dream Theater – “As I Am” (from “Train Of Thought”, 2003)

9/10. A killer song from Dream Theater's heaviest album Train of Thought. Enough said!

Opeth – “Demon Of The Fall” (from “My Arms, Your Hearse”, 1998)

10/10. A splendid song to end this playlist. Another heavier progressive metal song and one of the best masterpieces in that genre! It's my favorite in that album with many riffs ranging beautiful and mighty to hellish and powerful. It's dark and heavy throughout, leading up to a sad but hopeful ending riff. Evil yet beautiful! With more dark and calm moments coming the next few songs in this album, it's impossible not to love this progressive death metal diamond heart. And I'm listening to this in Autumn, a great season for dark melodic songs like this. It's great hearing these diabolical growls that have recently been disposed of in their 2011 softer Mastodon-like album Heritage. The last two minutes leading to the outro riff can bring you tears. Seriously, those deathly screams are now timeless memories and can remind you of a mythological demon in darkness. Great perfect progressive death metal right there, despite an annoying kick sound. Thanks again Daniel for including it and save this best song for last!

My thoughts on some of the tracks:

In Mourning – “Past October Skies (The Black Lodge Revisited)” (from “Shrouded Divine”, 2008)

8/10. An excellent way to start this playlist, revisiting the epicness of its prequel, "The Black Lodge" in a great ending to one of the best progressive/melodeath albums ever! I like "The Black Lodge" slightly better though.

Septicflesh – “Virtues Of The Beast” (from “Sumerian Daemons”, 2003)

9/10. Another excellent epic melodeath tune, a majestic song with a creepy tune lurking in an old cave, followed by haunting vocals and synths that rise from the epic death-doom fires then fall back down.

Black Breath – “Feast Of The Damned” (from “Sentenced To life”, 2012)

7/10. REALLY?!? Interrupt a pleasant melodeath beginning with a death-thrash track?! Well I kinda like its Slayer vibe, but it's a little too intense for me and anyone wanting to start melodic before going extra-spicy! But I would like to say... RIP Elijah Nelson.

At The Gates – “Blinded By Fear” (from “Slaughter Of The Soul”, 1995)

10/10. Now this is the kind of intensity I enjoy, when it's mixed with melody. "Blinded by Fear" is one of the greatest melodeath songs of all time! It crashes in with some incredibly lightning fast action without ever slowing down. Guitarist Anders Bjorler and Martin Larsson make some incinerating impossible to head-bang guitar work. Drummer Adrian Erlandsson manages to blast through the blistering fast tempo. Tomas Lindberg screams with true majestic rage in his voice. Fantastic!

The first few songs are pretty great, thanks Ben and Daniel! I'm not kidding when I say that this playlist should've started a little more melodic. Starting with a few melodeath songs is a good starting point for anyone new to death metal or metal in general to begin with the more melodic stuff before digging deeper into death metal's gory brutality. However, that Black Breath track might catch them off-guard, a brutal death-thrash song in the middle of a melodeath beginning. That song probably should've been track #6 after the Insomnium and Wolfheart ones. Other than that, good playlist, Daniel!

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

Freedom Call – “The Darkness” (from “Legend Of The Shadowking”, 2010)

9/10. This is one of the darkest power metal songs I've heard in my earlier epic metal taste. I suppose anyone can say Powerwolf is darker than this but for some reason I've never really listened to that band back then, so we'll go with this Freedom Call track that I was more familiar with. This one starts with a doomy intro before switching to a typical power metal song with a dark vibe. I chose that one because it seems so Halloween-ish enough for the October playlist.

DragonForce – “Cry Thunder” (from “The Power Within”, 2012)

11/10 (not exaggerated). Another one of my favorite DragonForce songs, and my favorite with their new vocalist Marc Hudson! An amazing song worth playing air-guitar until your fingers break and headbanging until you sprain your neck. Its mid-tempo pace (unlike their usual faster songs) reminds me of Irish folk and especially the Skyrim theme. This would fit well for when Thor has his own army to lead him into war and fight. Seriously, it's that awesome!! You can't miss this! It fits well not just for Skyrim or Final Fantasy but also for any MMORPG that has ever existed. I agree with anyone who says this is nice and beautiful. It's really good for when medieval dragons face off against space aliens. An epic hit that has established DragonForce as one of the greatest modern power metal bands besides Alestorm. Well done, DF!

Blind Guardian – “Majesty” (from “Battalions Of Fear”, 1988)

10/10. The one song that opened Blind Guardian's career in their own big bang, a speed metal classic chosen for this playlist because it foreshadows their more majestic power metal sound. But what's with the odd circus organ intro though!? This is the ultimate opener for a speed/power metal band's discography, as grand as how Black Sabbath made their grand opening of heavy metal with the first track of their first album back in 1970. The mix of Lord of the Rings lyrics with speed metal is known as a prototype for their power metal sound, and is tied with "Valhalla" as their best song from their earlier speed metal era, both caught in a 3-way tie with "Mirror Mirror" for the ultimate Blind Guardian song. The last two minutes are absolutely killer with amazing majesty and speedy force, especially the drums. It's enough to even make Metallica surprised by how superb this band is. A majestic beginning of a band's glorious journey!

My thoughts on some of the tracks (including my sole suggestion):

Neurosis – “No River To Take Me Home” (from “The Eye Of Every Storm”, 2004)

10/10. This Neurosis song is one of the most clever mixes of extreme and ambient you would ever come across. It opens with a searing riff of mourning loss, then develops into flowing mid-paced guitars, followed by a quiet smoothing duet between the two vocalists/guitarists Steve Von Till and Scott Kelly (the latter I know more about since his frequent collaborations with Mastodon).

Type O Negative – “Creepy Green Light” (from “World Coming Down”, 1999)

9/10. Another familiar tale of losing a loved one by untimely death. I chose that song because it is one of their more popular singles despite having been rarely played live and it also fits for this month's playlist due to its Halloween reference ("Halloween in Heaven" would've been better but that song wasn't on Spotify). "Creepy Green Light" let us see the light of gothic doom metal and the tragedies within the lyrics we can kinda relate to.

Here's a complete list of instrumentals from tech-death/thrashers Revocation (including their time as Cryptic Warning) for you to consider which ONE or a FEW to include in your possible Spotify playlist:

1. Thrashterpiece Theatre

2. Man in the Dark

3. Alliance and Tyranny

4. Stillness

5. Enter the Hall

6. Across Forests and Fjords

7. Fractal Entity

8. Spastic

9. Apex

10. The Exaltation

11. Ex Nihilo

Many of these instrumentals are thrashy to fit in with the other instrumentals here! Not only that, if I can make my own Spotify playlist, I might include this list as an unofficial compilation of all Revocation instrumentals, or I can write my own lyrics based on them to test my lyric-writing skills (evident in this project: https://metal.academy/forum/23/thread/509). But since this is your playlist, Sonny, please feel free to choose just ONE or a FEW from my list. Enjoy!

Finally listening to more of post-sludge legends Neurosis! Here's a good song from them:


Here are a couple metalcore bands that I love one of their songs so much to enjoy the rest of their discographies. This first band is Coldrain, alternative metalcore from Japan for fans of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, early-2010s Bring Me the Horizon, and early-2000s Linkin Park (even this video is inspired by one of Linkin Park's videos):

The other band is Misery Signals, melodic progressive-ish metalcore from Wisconsin (where my dad's from!) for fans of August Burns Red, After the Burial, and late-2000s Protest the Hero:


An amazing example of progressive doom/death from Massachusetts, USA.

Quoted Daniel

That song is indeed amazing! I sense some prominent Wildhoney influences in there...

October 02, 2020 01:53 AM

Thanks Ben! Yeah I was a bit eager to put in multiple releases at once in a single thread when I could've put each one in different relevant clan forums which I thought would be some hard work. Just like that "Tracks of the Day - Multi-Clan Edition" thread, I shall stop using this one and stick with the single-clan threads. This multi-clan thread is over!

Sorry Daniel, just trying to make a point here. I'll delete that "PM" from this thread...
Oh I see... I was just a little shocked to see a globally popular song in the playlist. I didn't realize that some of you haven't heard it as frequently as many other people around the world. Anyway, you're both right. While the playlists can have underground tracks, they can also have mainstream tracks, even the most overrated and over-promoted ones. And since Linkin Park has been one of the most popular alt-metal bands, their albums from that era are essential for any Gateway member wanting to explore alt-/nu metal besides the other 3 giants of that style; System of a Down, Korn, and Deftones. Anyway, I haven't really listened to that playlist but I applaud the track listing looking good for Gateway members to listen to. They'll definitely enjoy it!
Cool playlist, Daniel, but in the future can you please not include Linkin Park singles like "In the End"? Don't get me wrong, that was a good song from when I used to Linkin Park 8 years ago, sometime before becoming fully interested in "real" metal, but it's one of the most popular songs from one of the most popular rock/metal bands of modern times and pretty much everybody knows it. I personally think the whole point of these playlists is to help us metalheads find songs from bands ranging from inaccessible underground to mildly popular enough for many metalheads to know but not to the point where it hits mainstream radio or "MTV Hits" or any place shared with the popular music some of us are tired of. If you wanna include songs from Linkin Park's nu metal era in future playlists, of course you can, but it would be better if they're non-single tracks like "Points of Authority", "Runaway", "Lying From You", "Easier to Run", etc. Anyway, The Gateway members might definitely enjoy the rest of this playlist. Good work, Daniel!
October 01, 2020 10:34 AM

Ben, please add these new albums:

Avatar - Hunter Gatherer (I was going to suggest that album when it come out two months ago but I forgot)

The Ocean - Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic / Cenozoic (if you end up including it with The Fallen clan and Sludge Metal label, please put in the Hall of Judgement with the proposal of removing that clan and genre tag, reasons mentioned here: https://metal.academy/forum/28/thread/385?page=1#topic_4402)

Amaranthe - Manifest (will be released tomorrow)

Hi Ben, I decided that this submission is back on! Daniel PMed me saying that the reason he didn't include my Solstafir track submission in October's Fallen playlist is because, beside it being too long, the album that track was in doesn't qualify as part of The Fallen. I was confused because I remember that album having The Fallen as one of its clans with the Sludge Metal label at that time, and now it's gone! I'm guessing you took it out of The Fallen without putting it in the Hall of Judgement because the Atmospheric Sludge Metal tag no longer meets the RYM 2:1 ratio criteria and it doesn't really sound like any kind of sludge at all. And you know what, I agree with you and Daniel! That album is basically post-/progressive metal with the last few fragments of their earlier black metal instrumentation (such as the last 3 minutes of that song I submitted, "I Myself the Visionary Head"). Yeah, it's clear that Solstafir is not, I repeat, NOT sludge metal by any means. The only Solstafir album left to have the sludge metal label is Svartir Sandar, and for the same reasons as those Ocean albums, I'd like that album taken out of The Fallen as well. Once again, I'm suggesting removing The Ocean's "Anthropocentric", "Pelagial", "Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic", and "Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic (Instrumental)", and Sólstafir's "Svartir Sandar" from The Fallen while keeping their existing position in the Infinite.
I know I already gave that maudlin of the Well album a rating, but not yet a full review. I shall soon work on a review for that album along with their debut My Fruit Psychobells...
September 30, 2020 11:32 PM
Nicely done with these new playlists, Daniel! In a few days from now, I plan on writing my feedback for some of the songs from the playlists for my current clans plus my former clan The Horde. Don't worry, I'll still do suggestions for November's playlists, I just need some time to think. Stay tuned for my feedback!

I did my review, here's its summary:

I've listened to a few songs from Insomnium before writing the original review, but I still don't really feel any interest in this band. But how can that be? They're like a Finnish Amon Amarth with the viking lyrics taken out and acoustic atmospheric elements taking their place. Their largely consistent style is close to early Gothenburg-style melodeath with slight occasion helpings of other Finnish melodeath bands such as Kalmah and Norther. Their appealing taste comes from the ability to deliver their sound just right, staying in one element for a decent amount of time before switch to the next without any overtly progressive pretension. Apparently, their audience really likes rage and sorrow, so that's what the band has given them, all bottled up in a disc. Here they picked up the pace and a slight power metal-like approach. They have a highly effective attempt to avoid any common repetition and the mundane verse-chorus formula that has infected Swedish melodeath bands like Amon Amarth and sometimes The Crown. Recurring themes occur often but the embodied ambiguity makes clear choruses not too obvious. While catchy and memorable, the flow of melody isn't clearly symmetric in design, though the broad acoustic sections each mark a cadence in the sound of separation. Though there are a few flaws, many of the songs come together in a dark epic journey creating a well-formulated adventure without being too adventurous. This melodeath is something any metal band can appreciate for a mix of melodic and extreme without any excess similarities to other bands. The only flaw is their sound not being expanded. However if every melodeath band expand that genre, it would lose its unique recognition. So enjoy the awesome melodeath while it's still around!

4.5/5

September 30, 2020 10:37 AM

Two-Week Quarantine (All That Remains COVID parody about the risk of quarantine)

Rules you neglected they call you out, no! Please!
Unless you're stronger than this now
Virus-infecting mistakes surpass, it seems
And they exist to sicken you

And still you feel like the loneliness
Can't get any worse than this
They don't believe it this way
And I can see the fear in your eyes
The cases materialize
Growing stronger each day

I could see that your lungs are stoned
Still breathing I can hear you say
"Oh please don't give up on me"
Two weeks you're locked away
I remember your quarantine
Everything is just not your way
Swear I'll never give up on you

I wanted nothing but your freedom again
When you're not sick you can take it
You fear the virus would now exist in you
You seem so fit to prevent it

And still you feel like the loneliness
Can't get any worse than this
They don't believe it this way
And I can see the fear in your eyes
The cases materialize
Growing stronger each day

I could see that your lungs are stoned
Still breathing I can hear you say
"Oh please don't give up on me"
Two weeks you're locked away
I remember your quarantine
Everything is just not your way
Swear I'll never give up on you

Rules you neglected they call you out, no! Please!
Unless you're stronger than this now
You fear the virus would now exist in you
You seem so fit to prevent it

And I can see the fear in your eyes
The cases materialize
Growing stronger each day

I could see that your lungs are stoned
Still breathing I can hear you say
"Oh please don't give up on me"
Two weeks you're locked away

I could see that your lungs are stoned
Still breathing I can hear you say
"Oh please don't give up on me"
Two weeks you're locked away
I remember your quarantine
Everything is just not your way
Swear I'll never give up on you

RIP former Trivium bassist Brent Young );


Oh, well if I knew that before the playlist's completion, I would've added another suggestion. Can't wait to see the October playlist!

Anime techno-rave trance-metalcore from Japan to please fans of Amaranthe, Dir En Grey, Enter Shikari and a bit of anime theme music:


Type O Negative - "Halloween in Heaven" (from Dead Again, 2007) (Since it's gonna be October, that last song would fit greatly in the playlist, so please remove my earlier requested Type O Negative song ("Creepy Green Light") and add this one instead.)

Quoted shadowdoom9


Andi, this track is not on Spotify as far as I can see..

Quoted Daniel

Hmmm... Is "Creepy Green Light" available on Spotify? (see my (again) edited list above)

This is simply one of the finest power metal tracks I've ever heard in my life. For fans of Helloween, Gamma Ray & iced Earth.

Quoted Daniel

Good track, though it's pretty clear that "Mirror Mirror" is a greater classic, hence my submission for this month's Guardians playlist. For October's playlist, I have another Blind Guardian song suggestion and even though it's more on the thrashy speed metal side, it's another classic still performed by the band to this day and had already shaped up their majestic power metal sound that would come to be: https://metal.academy/forum/9/thread/479?page=1#topic_4269

Yeah as much as I enjoy over 20-minute epics in my own clans and favorite subgenres, that Pig Destroyer track was way out of bounds for me due to being an experimental sludge/doom track from a band that usually plays grindcore, and I think a really long epic from a subgenre a member doesn't like might not work well for said member. Plus adding a super-long track that hogs the majority of a playlist really is kind of a cheat. Sorry if my initial reaction to seeing that Pig Destroyer track is September's playlist is what made you self-conscious about adding it in and a contributing factor to your decision to implement that policy. Think of it this way; say you're training for a run and your slow-running speed is 6km/h. You're supposed to "taper", meaning you have to not overdo your running. You think of doing two miles a day, but a running magazine article says that two kilometres a day is enough. So yeah, in that scenario, the 20-minute track limit is similar to the suggested limit of running per day. Anyway, I'm gonna change that 32-minute track to an ambient sludge epic that very closely touches the limit but has enough appeal for both Fallen members and members of other clans. (see my edited list above)

OK, time for my suggestions for October's playlist. Since I'm currently the only active Revolution member, and you were able to accept all my suggestions for previous playlists, I'm gonna keep adding 7 suggestions instead of the usual 3, at least until we gain more active Revolution members.

All That Remains - "The Deepest Gray" (from This Darkened Heart, 2004)

Between the Buried and Me - "Mordecai" (from The Silent Circus, 2003)

Converge - "The Broken Vow" (from Jane Doe, 2001)

God Forbid - "Better Days" (from Gone Forever, 2004)

Ice Nine Kills - "Stabbing in the Dark" (from The Silver Scream, 2018) (the perfect "Halloween metalcore" song for this playlist)

Shadows Fall - "The Unknown" (from Fire From the Sky, 2012)

Trivium - "Like Light to the Flies" (from Ascendancy, 2005)

Oh, guess I didn't have to add in more suggestions for October's playlist. Thanks for keeping my leftover tracks, Daniel!

OK, time for my suggestions for October's playlist. Daniel, please choose these songs:

DragonForce - "Cry Thunder" (from The Power Within, 2012)

Blind Guardian - "Majesty" (from Battalions of Fear, 1988)

Freedom Call - "The Darkness" (from Legend of the Shadowking, 2010) (this last song being a good Halloween-ish song for the October playlist)

OK, time for my suggestions for October's playlist. Daniel, please choose these songs:

Solstafir - "I Myself the Visionary Head" (from Masterpiece of Bitterness, 2005)

My Dying Bride - "Catherine Blake" (from Songs of Darkness, Words of Light, 2004)

Type O Negative - "Creepy Green Light" (from World Coming Down, 1999)

A ripper of a progressive metal anthem from our new The Infinite member Jean Elias. For fans of Dream Theater.

Quoted Daniel

Wonderful progressive song! Jean Elias is really good at his bass. Y'know, seeing the word "Neurosis" made me realize that I need to listen to more of the band Neurosis. I should get going on that band soon...

September 14, 2020 09:46 AM

Speaking of potential new features, go check out the Gallery now. You can now look for the top rating covers that you haven't yet rated. :smile:


Quoted Ben

That's great, Ben! This should help members who want to check out some of the coolest artworks that they haven't rated yet or explore different bands. Can you please do the same thing for the charts, for anyone who wants to find higher-rated bands they haven't rated or listened to yet? Thanks.

My thoughts on a few other tracks:

Iced Earth – “Dystopia” (from “Dystopia”, 2011)

7/10. Here we go again with this band, Iced Earth. I just can't seem to find a way through this band. I mean it has powerful lyrics that speak real volumes, but still not as awesome as people say it is. It might be as addictive as drug, but for me it's a technological bug. I should've listened to this band more in my earlier epic metal days.

Arion – “Seven” (from “Last Of Us”, 2014)

9/10. This one's much better! I almost thought this was another Iced Earth song, but the instrumentation is more melodic and symphonic with more beautiful singing. A great example of symphonic power metal, but still doesn't spark up great band interest.

My thoughts on a few other tracks:

Misery Signals – “Sunlifter” (from “Ultraviolet”, 2020)

10/10. I made the right choice of choosing this song to listen to. Misery Signals is the exact band this generation needs for a great impact of heart-shedding emotion. This song, "Sunlifter" has just became my favorite song of this year! It's amazing how a band that disappeared for a few years came back just in time to deliver a new album with awesome material like this song. Welcome back, Misery Signals, I'll be listening to more of you...

Strawberry Hospital – “Chimera” (from “Grave Chimera”, 2018)

8/10. Strawberry Hospital is an interesting project, mixing electro-trance with ambient black/metalcore/screamo. It's pretty great, but I don't think it's enough to consider more listens than just one. Too experimental, I guess.

HORSE The Band – “Cutsman” (from “R. Borlax”, 2003)

9/10. As some of you already know, I've reviewed HORSE the Band's recent album Desperate Living as part of The Revolution Melodic Metalcore clan challenge, and it was never really the best in that challenge. Now after getting interested in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, it was time to make another attempt on a synth-metalcore band which is, you guessed it, HORSE the Band! This is a good song to jam to, especially the "CUT CUT CUT" breakdown in the middle. You might think synth-metalcore is a dead genre since this band went on a hiatus, but NOPE, it was reborn by Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I also heard that the video game Borderlands 3 has a gun named after this song with its description being part of the song. Now that's genius! Still not feeling up to HORSE the band, though...

So far, those first 7 tracks really hit the mark with their playing order; two over 6-minute early-2000s melodeath-ish metalcore short epics surrounding 5 different-sounding 3-4 minute more recent tracks of different metalcore styles; symphonic deathcore, progressive metalcore, ambient black/trance-metalcore, synth-metalcore, and multi-vocalist trance-metalcore. A great collective overture of metalcore styles before the rest of the playlist. Nicely placed, Daniel!

I wasn't thinking of the other tracks because I already know the ones I submitted and seeing how many tracks this playlist has, it would take way too long to review them all. I'm gonna listen to a few more songs from this playlist and see how I like them. I might even do the same for the playlists for my other clans. More track thoughts coming..

Great list, Daniel! I'm glad to see that you picked up all of my suggestions instead of cutting them down to 3, probably because I'm currently the only active Revolution member, so thanks for that. Here are my thoughts on them:

Bleeding Through – “Savior, Saint, Salvation” (from “Portrait Of The Goddess”, 2002)

10/10. What better way to start the playlist than with this 6 and a half minute melodeath-ish metalcore epic. It starts with softly with nice keyboard touches, then the heavy chaos comes back. Brandan really his notes with no strain. M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold (a metalcore band at the time before morphing into a hard rock/metal band my brother likes) does guest clean singing in the slower epic sections. That was a great song, one of their best!

Betraying The Martyrs – “Man Made Disaster” (from “Breathe In Life”, 2011)

9/10. A killer song from the album where Betraying the Martyrs had their original symphonic deathcore/metalcore sound. This has a mix of deathcore vocal/instrumentation brutality, powerful clean vocals, and orchestral background.

Amaranthe – “Trinity” (from “Massive Addictive”, 2014)

8/10. I chose this song because it's a strong symbolization of the band, and more importantly the number 3; a 3-singer band singing their third song in their third album with their band logo being a triangle. Slightly calm but still powerful!

Shadows Fall – “Root Bound Apollo” (from “Of One Blood”, 2000)

10/10. This song is another one of my favorite metalcore songs, here having a fast searing Metallica-like solo. This was actually originally a song by Fair's former band Overcast, but it ended up in this album. It would later be re-recorded on the Overcast album Reborn to Kill Again.

The Dillinger Escape Plan – “Farewell, Mona Lisa” (from “Option Paralysis”, 2010)

9/10. Say hello to TDEP's mathcore again! It was a track that really teased what new direction the band might take in that album. The band gets really frantic in the first two minutes before the midsection artistry. The melodramatic chaotic ending breakdown is probably one of the band's heaviest moments since Miss Machine.

Trivium – “Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr” (from “Ascendancy”, 2005)

11/10 (not exaggerating). Trivium's best and most popular song before "In Waves", displaying their diversity. It’s loaded with as much brutality and speed as melody. Yet another reason why I love this band so much!

Converge – “I Can Tell You About Pain” (from “The Dusk In Us”, 2017)

9/10. A pretty impressive song, especially in Bannon's apocalyptic delivery. Enough said!

September 12, 2020 05:01 AM
Ben, I think now that we have enough active members rating album covers, the momentum is enough for the 5-rating minimum to be necessary. So when you're next available, please add that limit!
Ben, please add Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas.
September 11, 2020 10:23 AM
In case you're all wondering what my big project is, here's the link. Enjoy! https://metal.academy/forum/23/thread/509

Yet another great post-sludge metal album! 5/5. Cheers for the rec, Daniel! However, I won't immediately start listening to the rest of Neurosis' discography. I'm still an atmospheric sludge metal newbie (other than The Ocean), and tomorrow I plan on getting a few other band discographies, including those two other post-metal bands Cult of Luna and Solstafir. Those two bands would be a good starting point for me right now before I get to the further Neurosis side of atmospheric sludge bridge that I plan on crossing a few weeks later. I'm taking my slow time getting through what I call the "post-sludge elemental star":


September 11, 2020 12:52 AM
That's OK, Ben, I was able to upload my project the JPG way.

The ultra-rare Nucleus demo by progressive-thrashers Vektor is finally found! Check it out for the band's earlier songs at their original form: