Shadowdoom9 (Andi)'s Forum Replies
I did my review, here's its summary:
Ever since their 1997 formation, The Dillinger Escape Plan have combined death metal, hardcore, and art-prog to spawn the genre mathcore, or more specifically grind-tech-math-metalcore. They've released 5 awesome albums at that point, and one of them is another killer album, One of Us is the Killer! On their fifth album, TDEP have a lot of extreme in their hands, but some of it is lost to construct songs with more melodic motifs. Their song-craft journey that they can still poly-rhythmic thrash metalcore choruses more barbaric than Conan the Barbarian while making more poppy numbers that would allow them to guest appear in Conan the talk show. It may sound selling out, but they can still be as extreme as they want to be. Just listen to these intense songs that range from melodic to sludgy to chaotic, and you'll hear what I mean. Unlike other hardcore metalheads who can cause abuse to the innocent with their music and lyrics, TDEP knows who or mostly what they can take their abuse out on. TDEP are no longer a college hardcore band, they have evolved into functioning adults who have unleashed their precision with no denial of fun chaos. They released an album that has a little more slow melody balanced with the usual contorted rage. You'll definitely be headbanging at some extreme choruses like metalheads always do....
4.5/5
I did my review, here's its summary:
In just one year, one of my new favorite musicians Devin Townsend released two albums that marked the beginning of the Devin Townsend Project. However, while they both were somewhat pleasant, they alienated his fanbase. Of course I have nothing against Ki, and definitely nothing against this album, Addicted. Well sure, this second album of the project has his more familiar trademark sound dating back to Ocean Machine and the more melodic side of Strapping Young Lad, but he has added a twist... This album can be described more as alt-dance-metal as opposed to the usual progressive metal. There's heavier emphasis on catchy hooks, melodies, and dance elements that is kind of the album's double-edge sword. Surprisingly, the album works well played as a whole, and can be fun to listen to. However, many of the songs don't seem that appealing to me, but the ones that do include the songs that have ex-The Gathering singer Anneke van Giersbergen into Devin's material, complimenting Devin's melody-craft with her soft beauty and otherwise putrid pop choruses. Absolutely stunning! She doesn't appear in the epic "Awake!!", but that's still a great song all the same. Another album done in his "Project", Devin Townsend has shown his genuine music knowledge, though only a few songs here are super great. After the intelligent yet dull ambience of Ki and the tunes of Addicted that mix alt-metal with dance-pop, the next album Deconstruction would be what I think is the real heavier start of his project, one that your ears will never forget....
3/5
Thank you Daniel for accepting my Fallen feature release submission, here's my summary:
Enter Within Temptation with their dark debut Enter! It's much different from their later symphonic metal work, being a gothic metal album. The Lacuna Coil style of gothic metal? Nope, I'm talking about symphonic gothic doom metal following the "Beauty and the Beast" vocals inspired by Theatre of Tragedy. The songs are longer with inspired composition work and great atmosphere. The structures are not complex but are unpredictable with the instrumental sections being long and the vocals alternating between female singing and male growling. All of this instrumental space has paid off with the added mysterious atmosphere. The guitars play nice decent riffs that help the dark heavy atmosphere of songs. The keyboards are an important part of their symphonic sound, making it more complete. Throughout most of these 8 songs, you'll hear the angelic voice of Sharon den Adel, along with the death-doom growls of Robert Westerholt that you would rarely find in any of their later albums. Two songs stand out as a death-growls-only song sung by Westerholt and Orphanage vocalist George Oosthoek, and an instrumental. Enter captures the strong 90s gothic metal magic with haunting melody and dark atmosphere. Within Temptation might not have made a debut masterpiece, but the album really stands for its pure simple sincerity. Enter the dark portal....
4/5
Recommended songs: "Restless", "Enter", "Deep Within", "Gatekeeper", "Candles"
For fans of: Draconian, and the 90s eras of Theatre of Tragedy and Tristania
Welcome Joseph! I see you enjoy a few bands that are some of my favorites as well; Fallen bands like My Dying Bride and Neurosis, and Infinite bands like Cynic and Devin Townsend. We might just get on really well and be able to share each other's favorite metal bands, possibly discovering different bands that one of us has listened to but not yet the other. Sounds good? Enjoy this site, Jobro!
Happy 45th anniversary to the album that established Judas Priest as the second true heavy metal band!! And here are 3 more less famous but still notable Guardians bands having their x5-year anniversaries today:
Angra and Power Quest were two of my favorite power metal bands back in my earlier epic metal taste, and those two albums (Holy Land and Blood Alliance) are pretty awesome. They also happen to be the second-to-last albums with Angra vocalist Andre Matos and Power Quest bassist Paul Finnie, both of whom have suffered a fatal heart attack in 2019, within months away from each other. RIP...
High class German heavy metal for fans of Grave Digger, Judas Priest & Accept.
Solid heavy metal majesty that would inspire a few metal bands like Alestorm to develop their own pirate lyrical themes!
Realizing I haven't listened to Blind Guardian's Queen cover, I decided to give it a listen, and well...many Blind Guardian fans know that the band is heavily influenced by Queen, but I think they tried too hard to show their influence, especially Hansi Kürsch sounding a bit strained when trying to reach the same cadence as Freddie Mercury. So without that sh*tty bonus track and possibly the two other ones in that album, I still think the original vinyl version of Somewhere Far Beyond is perfect (when listening to the "Bard's Songs" as a full suite)!
That Running Wild track shared here that I've also decided to listen to is actually "Störtebeker", that's probably why it sounded much different from the "Chains and Leather" song you were thinking of. Clearly there was a little mix-up... "Störtebeker" is pretty cool though, of course not the best, but good enough for me to give Death or Glory a listen and review. Seems like my newfound interest in heavy metal bands like Accept and Riot is craving for more....
Of course you can enjoy the acoustic folk beauty of that piece, but I personally think the two "Bard's Songs" work together as a full two-part suite. That's why I was p*ssed when the last 4 minutes of the Live version of "In the Forest" was crowd cheer instead.
RIP former Underoath guitarist Corey Steger...
Here are my overall ratings for the playlists I've reviewed this month (March):
1. Fallen playlist - 4.5/5 (number of songs commented: 5)
2. Guardians playlist - 5/5 (number of songs commented: 8)
3. Infinite playlist - 4.5/5 (number of songs commented: 9)
4. Revolution playlist - 4/5 (number of songs commented: 11 (formerly 12))
Another rewarding playlist month for me, though this time it's more about the quality than quantity. The 8 songs in the Guardians playlist I've commented are really awesome, including my own requests, though that's probably my earlier epic metal taste talking. The Fallen and Infinite playlists both have a decent amount of tracks I've commented that are very good. I reviewed a massive amount of tracks in the Revolution playlist, ranging from perfect to good to too incomprehensible for an average 4 stars. I've reviewed 12 songs in the Infinite playlist, but I ending up taking one song off the list of songs I've commented. Still a good month!
I've managed to review the March feature releases for all my clans plus The Gateway. Here are my ratings and a quick summary:
The Gateway: Linkin Park - Meteora (2003) - 4/5
The Guardians: Avantasia - The Metal Opera (2001) - 5/5
The Infinite: Animals as Leaders - Animals as Leaders (2009) - 5/5
The Revolution: Trivium - In Waves (2011) - 5/5, maybe even 6/5
Man, this month was a great one for feature releases, and I think it's because of the releases submitted by us Metal Academy members (including myself). For my clans, the releases are perfect, whether they are albums from bands I've never listened to before but became love at first sight for me, or albums from different eras of my metal taste that have marked milestones for me, especially the Trivium album. The latter category includes The Gateway feature release, Linkin Park's Meteora, which was part of when I was following my brother's alt-rock/metal footsteps before I became interested in "real" metal, and I'm grateful for Linkin Park's nu metal era setting my path towards where I am today. Thanks for these amazing feature releases, everyone, including the one who started this new concept, Daniel! Looking forward to more of this cool activity and my feature release submissions for next month coming in...
It might be commercially successful but this Linkin Park mega-hit still really does it for me. For fans of Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach & P.O.D.
Where did I hear this song before?... Oh yeah, SO D*MN MANY TIMES!!! But that's OK, because I definitely believe "Numb" is Linkin Park's ultimate anthem!
Happy 30th anniversary to the very first release of one of the true masters of death-doom! I still don't think The Horde clan is suitable for this release though, see this thread: https://metal.academy/forum/28/thread/689
Welcome, Theo! We have a forum for each clan where you can submit addition requests for the clan your requested release is in, so Ben can keep track of them easily. Here are a couple links to them for your clans:
The Gateway: https://metal.academy/forum/8/thread/100
The Revolution: https://metal.academy/forum/14/thread/104
OK, we'll see how I feel after I give this album a listen and review...
My submission for April's playlist is the title track from Trivium's In Waves album.
Even though I’ve already submitted this track for an earlier playlist, I won’t argue here. It’s your treat after all, Sonny, and the song is what I think is the best of the best!
Thanks, Xephyr and Daniel! Here's my review summary:
I've never really gained full interest in completely instrumental metal bands before, and sometimes I like to take instrumental songs (metal or otherwise) and write lyrics for those songs. I think it's really cool because then you can sing/scream along the lyrics to the songs you think would be empty without lyrics. A huge heap of ideas might spawn for me after checking out an album from instrumental djenty jazz-metal band from Washington DC, Animals as Leaders! This project, led by bassist/guitarist Tobin Abasi, perform energetic riffing and solid drumming, and their debut marks the beginning of more of them to come. The songs range from short and calm to long and intense, all according to their jazz-djent plan. Not every band's debut album can be consistent or flawless, but for Animals as Leaders, this is certainly different. Here you can find energetic consistency and masterful performance. I don't think there's any flaw in here, that's how perfect the album is. The guitar riffs might be a bit repetitive, but they're still enjoyable. Animals as Leaders' debut is one of the best progressive/djent releases, and I can just imagine the lyrics I'm gonna write for this wave of jazz-djent babies!
5/5
One of the highlights tracks from Animals As Leaders' self-titled debut. For fans of Plini, Mestis & Arch Echo.
With this killer instrumental, I can just imagine my own lyrics sung/growled in the vocal style of Meshuggah and Focus-era Cynic...
Here's my suggestion for the April Gateway playlist:
Linkin Park - "Don't Stay" (from Meteora, 2003)
Interesting. I find "Built To Fall" to be one of the less appealing tracks on the album to be honest. This one was my clear favourite:
This one is also good! An extreme strictly screaming song that reminds me of old-school Trivium.
Sonny had already called dibs on submitting a track from In Waves into the April Revolution playlist, but that's OK. I can just share another one of my favorite songs from the album in this thread. Here's an awesome single:
I've never been too sure about the release year for Riot's Rock City being 1977, despite popular belief. Barely anyone has heard of them until at least 1978, which was the year they started selling a decently prominent amount of copies and performed with AC/DC and Molly Hatchet, and then later right when they were about to lose momentum, DJ Neal Kay of the Bandwagon Soundhouse helped spread the word about them in the UK, earning the band a higher fanbase and encouraging them to continue. And even though the original vinyl label says 1977, that's not highly reliable because some CD/vinyl publishing years might be slightly false (like for example, Symphony X's The Divine Wings of Tragedy has the release year label 1996 even though its official release year is 1997). With that, I'd like the release year for Riot's Rock City to be changed to 1978.
And by the way, sure this album is mostly hard rock, but I think there's plenty of the heavy metal you would find in bands like Accept and the more popular Iron Maiden...
Update on my list (due to an extension of my metal year taste range):
Late 1970s/1980s (classic oldies):
1978: Riot - Rock City (yes I know, everyone says the year is 1977, but I don't quite suspect that as its true release year, more info about that in a separate thread reply)
1979: Accept - Accept
1980: Accept - I'm a Rebel
1981: Accept - Breaker
1982: Accept - Restless and Wild
1983: Accept - Balls to the Wall
1984: Voivod - War and Pain
1985: Accept - Metal Heart
1986: Voivod - Rrröööaaarrr
1987: Voivod - Killing Technology
1988: Riot - Thundersteel
1989: Godflesh - Streetcleaner
1990s (old-school but newer):
1990: Sanctuary - Into the Mirror Black
1991: Coroner - Mental Vortex
1992: Sadus - A Vision of Misery
1993: Sentenced - North From Here
1994: Tiamat - Wildhoney
1995: My Dying Bride - The Angel and the Dark River
1996: Neurosis - Through Silver in Blood
1997: Strapping Young Lad - City
1998: Meshuggah - Chaosphere
1999: Botch - We are the Romans
2000s (higher original quality):
2000: In Flames - Clayman
2001: Devin Townsend - Terria
2002: Isis - Oceanic
2003: Enslaved - Below the Lights
2004: Disillusion - Back to Times of Splendor
2005: Rosetta - The Galilean Satellites
2006: Gaza - I Don't Care Where I Go When I Die
2007: Between the Buried and Me - Colors
2008: KYPCK - Черно
2009: Vektor - Black Future
2010s (new and improved):
2010: Nevermore - The Obsidian Conspiracy
2011: Trivium - In Waves
2012: Woods of Ypres - Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light
2013: The Ocean - Pelagial
2014: Ne Obliviscaris - Citadel
2015: Bullet for My Valentine - Venom
2016: Vektor - Terminal Redux
2017: Septicflesh - Codex Omega
2018: Rivers of Nihil - Where Owls Know My Name
2019: Grand Magus - Wolf God
2020s (the newest and greatest to make up for the worst of the world):
2020: Trivium - What the Dead Men Say
2021 (so far): Cult of Luna - The Raging River
2021 albums I'm looking forward to getting:
Bodom After Midnight - Paint the Sky with Blood (EP) (as a last goodbye to Alexi Laiho, RIP)
Gojira - Fortitude
RIP Lars Göran Petrov (Entombed). Here's one of my former favorite melodeath songs, in which he contributed his own growls:
Here are my suggestions for April's playlist, following the 5 tracks in 30 minutes rule that I've applied to when I'm submitting for my 4 clans:
Born of Osiris - "Empires Erased" (3:26) from The New Reign (2007)
Demon Hunter - "Not Ready to Die" (5:03) from Summer of Darkness (2004)
God Forbid - "The End of the World" (6:09) from IV: Constitution of Treason (2005)
Underoath - "Emergency Broadcast :: The End is Near" (5:44) from Lost in the Sound of Separation (2008)
Within the Ruins - "Ataxia II" (5:09) from Elite (2013)
Total length: 25:31
Here are my suggestions for April's playlist, following the 5 tracks in 30 minutes rule that I've applied to when I'm submitting for my 4 clans:
Animals as Leaders - "Song of Solomon" (4:16) from Animals as Leaders (2009)
Ayreon - "Day Eleven: Love" (4:18) from The Human Equation (2004)
The Contortionist - "Follow" (3:47) from Our Bones (2019)
Meshuggah - "Marrow" (5:37) from Koloss (2012)
Neurosis - "Souls at Zero" (9:18) from Souls at Zero (1992)
Total length: 27:16
Here are my suggestions for April's playlist, following the 5 tracks in 30 minutes rule that I've applied to when I'm submitting for my 4 clans:
DragonForce - "Revolution Deathsquad" (7:51) from Inhuman Rampage (2006)
Edguy - "Key to My Fate" (4:34) from The Savage Poetry (2000)
HammerFall - "Heeding the Call" (4:30) from Legacy of Kings (1998)
Nightwish - "Harvest" (5:13) from Hvman. :||: Natvre (2020)
Stratovarius - "Hunting High and Low" (4:08) from Infinite (2000)
Total length: 26:16
Here are my suggestions for April's playlist, following the 5 tracks in 30 minutes rule that I've applied to when I'm submitting for my 4 clans:
Cult of Luna - "Hollow" (9:59) from Cult of Luna (2001)
Lacuna Coil - "Swamped" (4:00) from Comalies (2002)
Mastodon - "Sleeping Giant" (5:36) from Blood Mountain (2006)
Paradise Lost - "The Longest Winter" (4:31) from Medusa (2017)
Within Temptation - "Deep Within" (4:30) from Enter (1997)
Total length: 28:36
Pretty blatant Dio worship going on here but I can't help but fall for the strength of the massive chorus hook. For fans of Kamelot, Edguy & Stratovarius.
Massive chorus, amazing vocals, spectacular soloing... This is power metal at its full glory! I applaud Xephyr's Guardians featured release submission.
I've expanded my year range further down to the late 70s with classic heavy metal bands like Accept and Riot (RIP Mark Reale), but I still do not have any intention in checking out the more popular bands from that time like Iron Maiden or Motorhead, but maybe in the future...
And another classic-ish heavy metal band, Grand Magus, formed in the 2000s and more doom-laden:
Boy do I wish I could continue my earlier epic metal taste instead of leaving it for my current heavier modern era, though this new Rhapsody incarnation is more modernized. Here's an awesome song from this perfect album of theirs:
Another good idea, Sonny! However, for that to happen, we should probably limit that to two of each member's most heard clans that aren't their own. I know a lot about The Horde (my former clan) and The Pit, but I'm not a fan of The Gateway, The North, or The Sphere, though I started enjoying a couple bands from that last clan...
I think it's a good idea. Might be a tough challenge, but it can be done. Using both conditions, I'll submit 5 tracks in 30 minutes for all my clans...
Two of my favorite songs from the album that brought me to the current modern metal path I'm in today, besides of course the game-changing title track. Thanks again for adding this album as the March Revolution Feature Release, Daniel!
An over 15-minute epic of premium modernized retro UK progressive metal, for fans Leprous (whom their lead singer does the growling here), Dream Theater, and Opeth:
My thoughts on some tracks (including my suggested ones):
August Burns Red – “Meddler” (from “Constellations”, 2009)
5/5. Another perfect start of a playlist, an epic-sounding metalcore song with lyrics of hopeless rationalism. This can very well get my hopes up for a sweet playlist, though they shouldn't be too high up, of course...
All That Remains – “Tru-Kvlt-Metal” (from “The Order Of Things”, 2015)
3.5/5. This song makes you want to face palm over the oddly spelled title. The track itself is cool with all this metal aggression, but the momentum is a little lost and out of place. This song would work better in their earlier albums, not this one. But this is still a great song with their brutal metalcore sound and is one of their heaviest songs.
Betraying The Martyrs – “The Great Disillusion” (from “The Resilient”, 2017)
4.5/5. A great killer symphonic/progressive death/metalcore song. Enough said!
Botch – “Hives” (from ‘American Nervoso”, 1998)
4/5. Another killer song closing a good album of mathcore madness, but I wish it would have a more interesting ending like a much better piano melody than the one in "Oma" after the rest of the instrumentation fades, but that didn't happen. Oh well...
The Dillinger Escape Plan – “Limerent Death” (from “Dissociation”, 2016)
4.5/5. Another standard mathcore banger of a song filled with complete manic insanity, plus some yelling and screaming from both guitar and vocals. The violent blast beats and complex time signatures are far beyond how much your brain can handle.
Converge – “Dark Horse” (from “Axe To Fall”, 2009)
4.5/5. Probably the most accessible song by the band while having the usual monstrous metalcore fury. It has a fast technical riff that plays many times in the song, while in the middle there's a crushing breakdown with Jacob Bannon's powerful shrieking.
God Forbid – “Antihero” (from “Gone Forever”, 2004)
5/5. This is one of my favorite songs from this band. Melodic guitar leads cuts through my eardrums to the point of breaking them until it makes way for shattering mid-tempo moshing riffs with sweet angry vocals. Then it's back to the Arch Enemy-like melodeath/thrash mayhem!
Trivium – “What The Dead Men Say” (from “What The Dead Men Say”, 2020)
5.5/5 (not exaggerating). The title track of the newest Trivium album might take a few listens to fully grasp it, but the end result is this song becoming possibly my favorite Trivium song since the In Waves title track! The catchy chorus is a bit repetitive yet something I would never change. I say it has the fury of The Sin and the Sentence and the technicality of Shogun mixed into a hard-written song that's been missing from the band for many years until now. A total destroyer I profusely love!
Misery Signals – “River King” (from “Ultraviolet”, 2020)
5/5. Speaking of kings, "River King" is an amazing song from Misery Signals, the kings of Wisconsin (my grandparents' state) metalcore! We really need them to perform live after the virus clears out so they can shatter the earth, especially the heavy breakdown at the last minute. The exciting noise assault definitely brings back ABR memories.
Unearth – “One With The Sun” (from “Extinctions(s)”, 2018)
4.5/5. A great standout, featuring some of the most catchy guitar leads in the album while the lyrics warn you about the final extinction, hopefully not the virus. After all that intense energy, it lightens up to an uplifting mood as the song closes in calm symphonic melody.
Veil Of Maya – “Dark Passenger” (from “[id]”, 2010)
4/5. This one continues the technical veracity with some more headbanging breakdowns along with beautiful ambient riffs. Probably would've been better, but a decent introductory song for anyone stumbling upon Veil of Maya for the first time.
My thoughts on some tracks (including my suggested ones):
Opeth – “The Moor” (from “Still Life”, 1999)
5.5/5 (not exaggerating). Definitely the perfect song to start this playlist! One of Opeth's finest tracks that shows other progressive metal bands how to make a G****MN AWESOME OPENING TRACK!! After a mysterious two-minute intro, you'll be pulled into under 10 minutes of atmospheric complex progressive metal! I F***ING LOVE IT!!!
Pain Of Salvation – “Ending Theme” (from “Remedy Lane”, 2002)
4/5. Not really the ending theme, there's a lot more to go. This song has a dark mood and Daniel Gildenlow's soothing vocals especially in the great chorus. The talking part is really challenging for me to like without thinking it's dreaded rapping.
Evergrey – “In Remembrance” (from “Monday Morning Apocalypse”, 2006)
4.5/5. I'm quite proud of this band for their amazing melodic progressive metal that made my day in my earlier epic metal taste. There are plenty of good times to remember about this band, but I'm over them while making a few flashbacks to them like when I submitted this cool epic song.
Soen – “Lumerian” (from “Imperial”, 2021)
5/5. Soen has unleashed progressive metal at full power! I love it, especially the crushing riffing and strong commanding vocals of Joel Ekelöf. I might've just found one of the most d*mn important songs of this year. It's so stunning with a h*lla catchy chorus. Joel's singing in the softer parts remind me of Jonas Renkse. That's very great along with the f***ing genuine blend of heavy and melodic. The intro riff opens the song perfectly, and when it returns at around the two and a half minute mark, it sounds great in epic execution, along with the guitar bend and bass finish around 30 seconds later. The lyrics are so amazing! This ripped artful progressive metal sound can remind some of the recent Opeth and Tool. The chorus' triple-melody is f***ing incredible! This has greatly blown my mind more than Dream Theater and Leprous. This tremendous smasher has definitely gotten this month to a great start for me. The remarkable heavy intro reminds me of a progressive Disturbed. This is majestic powerful progressive rock/metal that should live on forever! An amazing killer song to pass the time when stuck at home. With their sound at heavy modern heights, I'm surprised they haven't been signed yet to Sumerian Records. They're definitely far heavier than Steven Wilson's music. Thanks for suggesting this, Xephyr, and thanks for sharing, Daniel!
Devin Townsend – “Sky Blue” (from “Z²”, 2014)
4.5/5. Interesting how I decided to spice up this playlist with a soft electronic-dance track, but this one works! Continuing Devin's willing experimentation, electronic beats and melodies surround soft vocals before a dance-rock chorus where the first half with Devin singing is based on Usher's "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love", and the other half shows Anneke's velvety voice.
The Ocean – “Devonian: Nascent” (from “Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic”, 2018)
5/5. This one I actually submitted to The Fallen, but this also works in The Infinite, a grand progressive post-sludge epic with guest vocals by Jonas Renkse of Katatonia (he was originally gonna be one of the guests in the epic Precambrian album, but he had to bail because of his band's touring and he was chosen to do guest vocals for Ayreon's 01011001). While, the sludgy elements drag along and test your patience, the drum aggression and harsh vocals are balanced out by ambient influences. After the complex experimentation, the song gets repetitive, but never excessively, staying perfect!
Meshuggah – “Humiliative” (from “None” E.P., 1994)
4.5/5. I'm a little surprised that I haven't reviewed this EP yet. Perhaps I should, especially this song that is a great early example of the djent sound Meshuggah would build. Review for this EP coming sometime this month.
Persefone – “Underworld: The Fallen & The Butterfly – Act III: When The Earth Breaks” (from “Core”, 2006)
4.5/5. Core works better as 3 multi-part epics instead of separating them as different tracks, but it's still amazing either way.
Pan.Thy.Monium – “III” (from “Dawn Of Dreams”, 1992)
5/5. Their actually is a name for this song now, "SIEEGEH", whatever that means. Anyway, this is THE SH*T! Awesome prog death that made me wanna enjoy the style a little more. A killer way to end this playlist!