Shadowdoom9 (Andi)'s Forum Replies

I DID IT (again, again)!! I completed The Revolution Melodic Metalcore Clan Challenge. Once again, it was quite some tiring hard work. After finishing those challenges for my 3 main clans, I'm gonna think about my decision for my ideal 4th clan and what I'm gonna do next. Then tomorrow morning, I'll tell you all what my decision is, whether that would be either starting to lock in The Fallen or The Guardians, or doing my own unofficial challenge to ultimately prove my place in a clan that I think better suits me now than a few years ago. I got one hail of a choice to make before i do the big 4th! Stay tuned for tomorrow's decision....

Well done.

I toiled with The Fallen but my background into metal was from the more traditional end (Maiden, Saxon etc) so The Guardians was my natural choice in the end.

Thanks! Both The Fallen and The Guardians are clans with genres I naturally expanded in my taste range, but even though I have a bigger background history with power metal and symphonic metal (DragonForce, Blind Guardian, Sonata Arctica, etc.), I've forced myself out of those genres a couple years ago because I've lost passion for them and wanted to move my metal taste to this current more modern direction (Horde/Infinite/Revolution). But I think my Guardians flashbacks (ratings, reviews, tracks of the day, etc.) are starting to be too many to the point where it looks like I still have the mind of a Guardian. Well whichever clan I choose or if I have a plan for a clan, we'll see...

Thanks Ben!

I DID IT (again, again)!! I completed The Revolution Melodic Metalcore Clan Challenge. Once again, it was quite some tiring hard work. After finishing those challenges for my 3 main clans, I'm gonna think about my decision for my ideal 4th clan and what I'm gonna do next. Then tomorrow morning, I'll tell you all what my decision is, whether that would be either starting to lock in The Fallen or The Guardians, or doing my own unofficial challenge to ultimately prove my place in a clan that I think better suits me now than a few years ago. I got one hail of a choice to make before i do the big 4th! Stay tuned for tomorrow's decision....

Impressive storytelling progressive metal/metalcore from Canada. If you're a fan of Between the Buried and Me, The Dillinger Escape Plan, and a bit of Coheed and Cambria, you'll surely love this:

You guys are probably right. Whether or not Kyuss is totally metal has been a heated debate for decades and it's probably best that we don't be a part of that. Ben, if you prefer to keep Kyuss' Welcome to Sky Valley in that Stoner Metal Clan Challenge based on its sound and not its clan, that's fine. Submission cancelled!

But that pointless doo-wop hidden track though, UGH just awful...

Great band, but this song is a little too overrated. Your ears are gonna be sick from those annoying repeated leads near the end of this song!

How is this one of the most popular Unearth songs?! Your ears are gonna be sick from those annoying repeated leads near the end of this song!

My family and I are all fine, thanks Ben. I hope you, Daniel, and your families are safe and healthy as well, along with everyone else in the site and the world. My country is also almost entirely in lockdown. I mean it's more of a "movement restriction order", but with most outside places closed with the essential exceptions of grocery stores, banks, and hospitals, there's no point in leaving home, and it's better to stay at home. I don't even want to leave my house to walk around the safe outside part of my condo because of my anxiety and constant worrying. There are some things I can do when stranded at home, like continuing my Revolution Melodic Metalcore Clan Challenge strategy. In case you didn't notice my last "clan challenge progress" post, last month I've completed The Horde Death Metal Modern Era Clan Challenge! So now I'm doing The Revolution Melodic Metalcore Clan Challenge, and after I finish that, I have a special plan to determine once and for all which clan to lock in as my 4th, The Fallen or The Guardians. My latest post in the "4th Clan Poll" thread (https://metal.academy/forum/23/thread/308) explains what my special plan is and why I don't have The Guardians as my one of my 3 main clans. So yeah, let's hope for this worldwide catastrophe to end soon, and please, stay home, stay safe, stay clean, and stay metal. Good luck all!

Peace,

shadowdoom9/Andi

Hey guys! With a few gothic/doom classics being recommended to me that I've listened to (Katatonia's Brave Murder Day) or haven't yet (Type O Negative's October Rust), I've realized that my passion for Fallen genres might be growing a little bigger with a little more potential in joining that clan. I'll listen to that Type O Negative album next week, but I'm planning on doing a couple Metal Academy challenges first, official and unofficial. After I finish my Revolution Melodic Metalcore Clan Challenge strategy by the end of this month, I plan on doing my unofficial Metal Evolution band challenge (https://metal.academy/forum/23/thread/318). It's an unofficial Metal Academy reviewing challenge I've made for anyone to try and see which of 4 metal genres/scenes (with 10 bands in each one) they have the most passion for and hope to see it evolve in the future, depending on the highest amount of ratings they have for each genre. I decided that I would do that unofficial challenge myself in April and see which of the genres I enjoy most, and since of those 4 metal genres/scenes is Goth Metal and Type O Negative is one of the bands listed which would be a great time to listen to their October Rust album, it might be the ultimate chance to see if I can prove myself worthy of being a member of The Fallen and start doing a Clan Challenge to lock in that clan. Now about the Guardians, I'm gonna explain why I don't have that clan as my main 3, so here goes...

2017: I was getting kinda tired of my epic symphonic power metal taste to the point where I was losing interest and passion. I didn't care anymore about finding different older Guardians bands and the bands that I felt like listen to were the recent ones that have released only a few albums so far. Of course I already told you all about that social media pen pal of mine who led me to that heavier modern side of metal, starting with Trivium. Yes, that band Trivium completely changed my metal perspective and soon led me to discovering and enjoying an array of bands from genres such as metalcore and the more extreme side of progressive metal and melodic death metal.

2018: Sometime around my 19th birthday, I decided it was time for me to clean my epic metal table at once and start building my modern extreme side from scratch. I got rid of all of my epic metal band discographies, except Amaranthe which is near power metal but mainly trance metalcore, and kept the newly discovered modern metal bands including Trivium and that new array of bands. I broke free from the epic melodic side and escaped into a different modern extreme world. Since then, I've been listening to those Horde/Infinite/Revolution bands and finding different bands from those clans and a couple other clans like The Fallen and The Pit.

2019: This of course is the year I discovered Metal Academy, and indeed I chose my 3 main clans based on the genres I believed to be truly passionate about, The Horde (death metal (just melodic/technical/death-doom, NONE of the obscene blasphemous standard stuff)), The Infinite (progressive metal), and The Revolution (metalcore). Then I added ratings to all the bands in these two categories; the bands I currently listen to in those 3 clans plus The Fallen and The Pit, and the bands I used to listen to in my epic melodic past just to show what I used to enjoy in the past. When the DragonForce album Extreme Power Metal came out, I listened to that album because I didn't wanna forget about the one band that completely started my metal interest. I loved that album enough to listen to new 2019 albums from a couple more power metal bands I used to like; Sonata Arctica and Blind Guardian, which are good flashbacks to my melodic past, but not as awesome as that DragonForce album. I also mentioned a few symphonic/power metal songs in The Guardians Track of the Day forum to continue those flashbacks.

2020 (Q1): When Daniel recommended that I listen to and review Lord's Fallen Idols album and Blind Guardian's Live album, I just did what he suggested and I loved both albums. I thought, "Oh he's just recommending a couple albums for me to check out to remind me of my power metal past. What nice suggestions!" But a month before today, when Daniel asked me how I'm not a Guardians member, it hit me harder than the heaviest riff you can ever imagine; Daniel thought I still like power/symphonic metal! He believes that with all those power/symphonic metal flashbacks along with history and knowledge of those genres, plus a few of the bands I currently listen to being a little more melodic than others in their respective genres, I still have Guardians blood and mind. Well that's kinda true, and I agree that having different metal tastes from past to present would make my palate more diverse and interesting, but I already swore off 99% of the amount of the Guardians bands I used to listen to. Well if this lengthy post doesn't convince any of you to change your vote from The Guardians to The Fallen, that's totally fine, I respect that. I guess if I decide to start locking in The Guardians, I can not only please some of you guys cheering me on but also return to listening to some bands from my melodic past and explore bands I've never or barely listened to before such as Lord. So yeah, thank you for the motivation! But my unofficial Metal Evolution band challenge would still be on to decide my ultimate fate....

Another metalcore song that reminds me of our current coronavirus situation, fearing a future of a world of plague and having to stay in our homes to survive, unless the professionals can stop the virus which they're already trying to do. Please, stay home, stay safe, stay clean, and stay metal!

How convenient it is to write a review for a concept album about the end of the world right when it seems that way because of the coronavirus. Please, do your part to keep the world safe and sanitize yourselves, and also enjoy this metalcore anthem tribute to fallen heroes:

You really think your ears can survive the horrid harmonics of this song from one of the poorest metalcore debut albums out there? God Forbid!

Earlier this week I was reviewing some Darkest Hour albums for my Revolution Melodic Metalcore clan strategy, but this song is from their most melodeath album and it features a Gothenburg legend. US melodeath from DC!

I've actually tried listening to a few Katatonia songs during my younger melodic metal days a few years ago, but never felt full-time interested in that band, because while I was starting to get into gothic death-doom for the first time at that time, I didn't have the bravery to go down the route of depression through their earlier extreme doom metal material like this album and Dance of December Souls and the melancholic rockish sound of their later albums. But now that I'm gaining more leeway due to that part of my metal taste getting expanded time after time, sure I can give Brave Murder Day a listen. Maybe then I would really dig Katatonia to the point of full interest...

A couple songs from 2 albums I've reviewed in The Horde Death Metal Modern Era Clan Challenge that I love so much enough to listen those bands full-time:

It's not January anymore, but I will still summarize my review here:

There's one exciting album that's so close to the thrash metal throne that it can sit right next to Metallica and Slayer. And that is...Artillery's By Inheritance! It has impressive technicality along with more accessibility and theatrical compositions. Many songs in the album encourage listeners to headbang to the excellent composition without leaving their neck strained (though it's a little close) and replay their greater catchy riffs so many times. Soft verses make sharp turns into heavy choruses. And the vocals stay in a balance of melody and high screaming. Not to mention those splintering frets! Artillery can have as much fun as they please, but not in ways to throw people off, and it sounds like most of their thrash metal fun is great shape. By Inheritance is a priceless thrash metal recommendation for many metalheads out there.

Ben, please add these bands:

Limp Bizkit

Papa Roach

Coal Chamber

Kittie

Well as much as I love Travis Smith's artworks, there are two other metal album cover arts by other artists that are my actual favorites. This is my favorite "epic" cover art:

And this is my favorite in the "brutal" category:

When I was in a science class two years ago, we had to dissect a goat's heart. Most metal science project EVER!!! I decided to recreate that This is Love This is Murderous artwork by stabbing the heart with a penknife and taking a photo of it. It was just a wimpy penknife and there wasn't a lot of blood, but worth a try. Here's my recreation:

Thanks Ben!

Update due to Ben's vote:

The Fallen - 1

The Guardians - 2

The Pit - 0

As to the vote, hey, it's ultimately your call what you go for, if you feel more strongly about the Fallen then go for it.

Update on Tymell's vote. Thanks, Tymell!

The Fallen - 1

The Guardians - 1

The Pit - 0

Well that's odd. It's not duplicated in other devices that I'm using, like on my iPad:

But the duplication of Amon Amarth's The Crusher is definitely true (even though it's The Horde, NOT The Fallen):

I don't see The Angel and the Dark River added twice on My Dying Bride's page, but I do however notice Amon Amarth's page show 2001's The Crusher added twice, along with All That Remains' The Fall of Ideals release year being 2004 instead of 2006 and Symphony X's self-titled debut release year being 1996 instead of 1994. Is it possible to fix those errors, Ben? If it is, please fix them!

I've already included your vote, Daniel.

The Fallen - 0

The Guardians - 2

The Pit - 0

Awful blackened death metal from Brazil. I could honestly have included the entire album here but this track is one of the worst of a particularly bad bunch.

I would've included the entire album right there! Personally I think the track "Speed Metal" has some notoriety for almost, just almost soiling the speed metal genre.

More awesome new singles from a couple upcoming metalcore albums! Two of my favorite Revolution bands are back!!

And an older song that reminds me of my current torn 4th clan situation, also one of the most progressively complex songs Trivium has ever done:

I DID IT AGAIN!! I completed The Horde Death Metal Modern Era Clan Challenge! Once again, it was tiring and I managed to survive the obscene blasphemy of some albums without getting attached to them. After all that hard work, I plan on taking another short break throughout just tomorrow for a bit of rest. Then I will start doing The Revolution Melodic Metalcore Clan Challenge strategy. I'm still so torn about deciding between The Fallen, The Guardians, and The Pit as my 4th clan to complete a challenge and lock in, that I feel like starting a month-long poll thread where site members can vote which of those 3 clans is the most suitable one for me to lock in. And there's plenty of time as I do one more challenge before the big 4th....

PS: Daniel, if you're reading this, please alert Ben about it when he's back from his 4-day weekend break so he can confirm my lock-in.

Same as yours, Daniel, but similar to the American academic grading system:

5 - A+ (or more +'s)

4.5 - A

4 - B

3.5 - C

3 - D

2.5 - F

2 and lower - F- (the lower the rating, the more -'s)

To be honest, I've never rated an album lower than 2.5 stars, so even when a poor album (for me, non-metal albums in the middle of a mostly metal discography) has an F, that album never has any minuses. Perhaps I'm such a positive reviewer, I don't know. It would take a real bag of sh*t that stinks worse than a skunk bathing in a garbage dump to make me rate an album 2 stars or lower...

Better revised version of my 1990+ best of each year metal list (after the easier part of my Horde Clan Challenge strategy, and splitting them into groups similar to the Clan Challenges and different versions of RuneScape):

Classic oldies:

1990: Paradise Lost - Lost Paradise

1991: Meshuggah - Contradictions Collapse

1992: Edge of Sanity - Unorthodox

1993: My Dying Bride - Turn Loose the Swans

1994: Tiamat - Wildhoney

1995: At the Gates - Slaughter of the Soul

1996: Edge of Sanity - Crimson

1997: In Flames - Whoracle 

Old-school but newer:

1998: Meshuggah - Chaosphere

1999: My Dying Bride - The Light at the End of the World

2000: In Flames - Clayman

2001: Gojira - Terra Incognita

2002: Shadows Fall - The Art of Balance

2003: Edge of Sanity - Crimson II

2004: Mastodon - Leviathan

2005: Nevermore - This Godless Endeavor 

Higher original quality:

2006: Persefone - Core

2007: Between the Buried and Me - Colors

2008: Seventh Wonder - Mercy Falls

2009: August Burns Red - Constellations

2010: Underoath - Ø (Disambiguation)

2011: Trivium - In Waves 

2012: Between the Buried and Me - The Parallax II: Future Sequence 

2013: The Ocean - Pelagial

New and improved:

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: DragonForce - Extreme Power Metal (NOT in my current playlist, but I loved it so much that it just had to be in the list)

2020 albums I'm looking forward to getting:

My Dying Bride - The Ghost of Orion

August Burns Red - Guardians

Lamb of God (self-titled album)

An excellent return to Paradise Lost's earlier gothic doom metal sound after 10 years of experimentation:

Ah yes, Wildhoney! One of the more experimental gothic metal albums in the psychedelic sense and one of my favourite gothic albums. That interlude is beautiful, but I prefer the full songs like “Whatever That Hurts”, “Gaia”, and “A Pocket Size Sun”.

A killer progressive thrash metal hit that sounds a lot like mid-80s Slayer, I swear! Listen to that intro riff and scream before the first verse!

Can't argue with 1986 being the actual best year of metal. There are so many great years of metal but the best metal year for me is 2005. That year has a lot of my favorites!

Anyway, here's my best of 2005:

#10: August Burns Red - Thrill Seeker

#9: The Ocean - Aeolian

#8: Parkway Drive - Killing With a Smile

#7: Gojira - From Mars to Sirius

#6: Darkest Hour - Undoing Ruin

#5: God Forbid - IV (Constitution of Treason)

#4: Nevermore - This Godless Endeavor

#3: Meshuggah - Catch Thirtythree

#2: Between the Buried and Me - Alaska

Honorable mentions: Nightrage - Descent Into Chaos, HIM - Dark Light (despite the latter being more rock than metal)

And finally, #1: Trivium - Ascendancy

I've gone through a marathon of reviewing 5 Dark Tranquillity albums today as part of my Horde Clan Challenge strategy. Impressive, huh? Here's a melodeath classic:

To prep you for the new My Dying Bride album The Ghost of Orion coming out next month, here's one of their earlier songs that came to my mind, and for some reason, the song I thought of is from their worst album. This shorter live version is much better than the studio one. We don't need that Blade Runner-like narrative, thank you very much!