Shadowdoom9 (Andi)'s Forum Replies

I'm considering working with my developer in the next few months, so if anyone has anything they think could improve Metal Academy, please speak up. I'm not sure that there has been anything that anyone has requested so far that I haven't implemented or at least considered very carefully.

Ben, can you see if there's a way that we can better inform people that they have the option to select three clans when registering on the site? It's obviously not intuitive as we get so many people selecting just the one.

I agree with you, Daniel. Exhibit A:

Eh, unless the single-clan members explain a valid reason, like if death metal, progressive metal, or black metal is their sole favorite and that may be why they only chose The Horde, Infinite, or North as their one clan.

Update - May 22 extra credit album challenge (based on Ben's Metal Academy May 22 album list):

Yeah, I decided to give myself one more extra credit album review challenge that I'm gonna do after I finish The Fallen Modern Era Metal Challenge and earn my 4th clan. I'll especially review the My Dying Bride albums because ever since I declared My Dying Bride the winner of the DIS vs DAT tournament - The Fallen Edition, I've realized how important it would feel for me to show my opinions about My Dying Bride when I enter The Fallen. I mean, how can a Fallen member who likes even the slightest bit of doom metal/death-doom not even try something from the kings of death-doom!? So at the start of June, I'm gonna review all the My Dying Bride albums, including the two "extra-credit" albums, plus the two "22 May 2009" albums also listed, for both some extra credit reviewing and gaining some Fallen points. The Fallen quest is still going....

Kamelot's Epica and The Black Halo are an epic pair of albums from my earlier metal days of just power metal, though they would've had some points taken off if if weren't for the otherwise useless interludes being part of the story, like this Italian cabaret interlude:

Here are some sci-fi themed extreme metal albums I would recommend, with a few of them being prog-death/melodeath:

Between the Buried and Me - The Parallax I + II (2011/2012)

Born of Osiris - The Discovery (2011)

The Contortionist - Exoplanet (2010)

Rings of Saturn - Lugai Ki En (2014)

Scar Symmetry - Holographic Universe (2008)

Shadow of Intent - Primordial (2016)

Vektor - Terminal Redux (2016)

Hey Ben, how about Damad? Pre-Kylesa, and I think “Rise and Fall” would be a good choice if the Sludge challenge happens.

Upon looking up that band in Rate Your Music, I think "Burning Cold" might be a better album for the possible Sludge challenge.

Still haven't forgotten about my recent Horde past:

The question is...what do I do with Atmospheric Sludge?! I'm thinking that it will lock in The Infinite rather than The Fallen as both Daniel and I agree that Atmospheric Sludge is more Post-Metal than it is Sludge Metal. Anyone have an opinion on that?

Sludge Metal and Post-Metal are exactly what I had in mind as the starting genres for when you continue making clan challenges, Ben. With over thousands of releases in those genres primarily voted by a great amount of RYM users, there should be no trouble for you making clan challenges for those two genres. As for the other genres; Viking Metal, Neoclassical Metal, and Trance Metal, yeah it can be pretty hard finding releases that qualify in any of those genres in RYM, but there are still hundreds of releases in those genres (the lowest one, Trance Metal has 369 primarily voted releases). I might be able to help try to find enough release to qualify for at least one challenge per genre, so I say, never say nevermore!

Good question about Atmospheric Sludge. While it makes sense for Sludge Metal to be a Fallen genre because it's basically a more hardcore doom metal, Atmospheric Sludge is quite different as it focuses more on the experimental atmosphere of Post-Metal. It's a bit like our Symphonic Metal issue where Horde bands like Fleshgod Apocalypse and Septicflesh are placed in The Guardians even though Symphonic Death Metal is emphasized more on Death than Symphonic. With that, I'm gonna submit one or a few The Ocean albums into the Hall of Judgement with the proposal of removing them from The Fallen while keeping them in The Infinite, and see if there are enough Metal Academy members who agree with the idea for you to push all the Atmospheric Sludge releases through.

Seems like now I got a couple big Metal Academy plans going on throughout the rest of my week-long break from reviewing. You agree with them?

Both amazing death-doom albums, but I also think Dance of December Souls is overrated, only by a slight notch though. I think the black metal elements in that album are a little too much, at least for me. Turn Loose the Swans is definitely a slightly greater death-doom classic, despite sounding a bit too slow sometimes. Even though it looks My Dying Bride is about to win, I'll give it another couple weeks for other site members to have a chance. I'll add my vote along with yours, Daniel.

Turn Loose the Swans - 2

Dance of December Souls - 0

Since this did not get updated for about 3 weeks, I declare The Light at the End of the World the winner, two to one! So for this initial final third part, let's take My Dying Bride further into the tournament, along with Katatonia, and make things a little more challenging. Welcome to the initial final part 3; same genre, different year, 1993! Which of the following death-doom albums has the greater edge? Choose one and explain the reason! If My Dying Bride wins, then it's the total winner of the tournament. If Katatonia wins, the tournament continues with another Fallen band. Albums are below, so please, vote away!

PS: If any of you wanna continue the DIS vs DAT tournament - The Horde Edition, here's the link: https://metal.academy/forum/10/thread/349

I've just finished the Easy part of my strategy in The Fallen gothic metal challenge! But starting tomorrow (as of writing this thread), I'm gonna take a small week-long break from working hard on those reviews and use that opportunity to chill out and look for new bands to listen to. Then I will review a couple Lacuna Coil albums (as the only part of the Medium part of my Fallen strategy) and the new Paradise Lost album Obsidian, then spend the last week of May working on the hard part of the Modern Era Fallen gothic metal challenge. I'll soon enter the very last section of my journey to lock in and earn my 4th clan! However, my review challenging won't end there. I actually have one more bigger band challenge to more properly test my interests in all metal genres I've enjoyed, past and present. I'll make and post that challenge in June for anyone to try, but I won't start doing it myself until July because I've worked so hard throughout 2020 so far doing all these official and unofficial challenges and I feel like taking a break through June from reviewing groups of albums. Single-album reviewing recommendations would still be welcome. A new part of my Metal Academy era shall begin when this month ends....

While reviewing albums from Type O Negative as part of my Gothic Metal Clan Challenge strategy, I'm also listening to a bit of Nevermore, another band with a longtime vocalist who passed away. Y'know, Daniel, I'm a little surprised about you not liking their last album. I personally think The Obsidian Conspiracy is a great valuable swansong for the band, including their title finale with its killer melodeath-ish riffing and shredding. But I can never hear those ending lyrics the same way ever again, "The drowning sage can't feed the silence, the firestorm can never be heard, these are my last....WORDS."

Absolutely supreme US progressive metal from the masters of the subgenre. Spectacular stuff for fans of Rush, Fates Warning & Haken.

A killer epic from one of the best albums in the history of melodic progressive metal! Or as the top comment on its YouTube video says, "Indian progressive dubstep metal".

Metal Academy clan map (https://metal.academy/forum/23/thread/271) presents....

The Fallen Rock Virus 1998 (ROVID98) (year based on the worst year, not the first year)

Note: This is absolutely not meant to make fun of anything or offend anyone in any way. I'm just writing a brief history of how gothic rock started taking over gothic metal in the late 90s and beyond, and even though it might seem like HIM is responsible for bringing rock into the gothic metal scene, I don't totally blame them. And I'm using similar terms to the current coronavirus in a way that I hope wouldn't offend a lot, so please understand and enjoy my gothic rock/metal brief history. 

Gothic metal bands involved:

HIM - Formed in 1991 in the gothic rock lands beyond the Fallen Sea, broke up in 1993, then in 1995 reformed and sailed to the Metal Academy Graveyard of the Fallen, inspired by Type O Negative. Released their first gothic rock/metal EP 666 Ways to Love: Prologue in 1996, the main cause of the Rock Virus. Released their first gothic rock/metal album Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666 in 1997. Shortly after, the virus gained the named ROVID666. In 1998, due to the virus worsening it was renamed ROVID98, and HIM was banished back to the gothic rock lands. Briefly allowed to return to the Metal Academy Graveyard of the Fallen in 2007 to make a gothic metal album Venus Doom, then sailed back to the gothic rock lands. Completely disbanded in 2017.

Type O Negative - Main inspiration for HIM moving to the Metal Academy Graveyard of the Fallen, though Type O Negative did not take full responsibility. Took extensive measure to protect themselves from the rock virus and stay gothic metal throughout their tenure (while briefly visiting The Gateway in 2003's Life is Killing Me) until their disbandment following the death of Peter Steele in 2010.

Tiamat - Both Tiamat and Paradise Lost are the first bands affected by the rock virus in 1997. Tiamat was infected with a more gothic rock sound starting with A Deeper Kind of Slumber. Since then, they brought back some metal while still being infected by the rock virus. Haven't been heard from since after 2012.

Paradise Lost - Both Tiamat and Paradise Lost are the first bands affected by the rock virus in 1997. Paradise Lost was infected with a more gothic rock sound starting with One Second, worsening into synthpop in Host. Since then, they brought back some metal while still being infected by the rock virus. Fully recovered back to gothic/doom metal in 2007 and kept that sound ever since.

The Gathering - Infected with an alt-prog rock sound in 1998, starting with How to Measure a Planet. Kept that sound ever since and never recovered enough to make any return to metal. Went on hiatus in 2014.

Anathema - Infected with an alt-prog rock sound in 1998, starting with Alternative 4, discarding all metal elements in 1999's Judgement. Kept that sound ever since and never recovered enough to make any return to metal.

Katatonia - Last album with their original gothic/doom metal sound was 1998's Discouraged Ones. Infected with a more dark alt-rock sound in 1999 starting with Tonight's Decision. Fully recovered in 2003 but moved to The Gateway and kept that sound ever since.

Theatre of Tragedy - Last album with their original gothic/doom metal sound was 1998's Aegis. Infected with a synthpop sound in 2000 starting with Musique. Fully recovered back to gothic metal in 2006 but disbanded in 2010.

Moonspell - Last band to be even slightly infected by the virus. Started going experimental with 1998's Sin/Pecado and 1999's The Butterfly Effect. Slight gothic rock infection in 2001 with Darkness and Hope. Began their recovery back to gothic metal in 2003, completed it in 2006, and kept that sound ever since.

Within Temptation - Avoiding the virus, moved to a symphonic metal sound in The Guardians with 2000's Mother Earth and kept that sound until visiting The Gateway in 2019's Resist.

Lacuna Coil - Last album with their original gothic metal sound was 2002's Comalies. Avoiding the virus, moved to an alternative metal sound in The Gateway with 2006's Karmacode and kept that sound ever since.

Aftermath: Some of the still active gothic metal bands are still partly infected, some are fully infected and never returned to metal, some are fully recovered back to metal, and some have moved to a different clan. Either way, gothic metal remains a great part in metal history to be enjoyed by Fallen members, along with soon-to-be Fallen member, yours truly!

The end?

Ben, please add these bands:

Asking Alexandria

Attila

The Crimson Armada

Ben, please add Alien Weaponry.

A sh*t-storm made of some of the weakest gothic metal lyrics ever:

OK, NOW my Metal Evolution band challenge is completely finished! For my stat check this time, I've included ratings of discographies of all the bands I've enjoyed before, past and present, and the one album I've reviewed from each band that I've only listened to just for this challenge and other clan challenges. BUT for the Goth Metal bands, I made sure to only include albums that are actually in The Fallen, and for the Power Metal bands, I made sure to only include albums that are actually in the Guardians. No non-metal releases, no releases from an entirely different clan, just albums in the actual clans that have those respective genres. Then I've divided all the ratings into the average ratings for each genre. I suppose I could've waited another couple weeks so I can review the soon to be released new Paradise Lost album Obsidian, but just now I had a Samuel L. Jackson-like moment in my head thinking "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!! I've had it with those g****mn delays extending my motherf***ing band challenge! I just wanna do my final stat check and get it the f*** over with." So yeah, here it is, my (hopefully) final Metal Evolution band challenge stat average rating:

Goth metal:

Tiamat (Clouds/Wildhoney era and after 1998) - 4, Type O Negative (all albums) - 4.5, Paradise Lost (all albums except Host) - 4.2, The Gathering (before 1998 plus compilation of old tracks) - 4.4, Anathema (before 1998 plus compilation of old tracks) - 4.5, - Katatonia (up to 1998) - 4.7, Theatre of Tragedy (all albums except Musique and Assembly) - 4.3, Within Temptation (Enter and The Dance) - 4.3, HIM (Venus Doom) - 4, Lacuna Coil (first three albums and two surrounding EPs) - 4.4

Total rating: 4.3

Power metal:

Blind Guardian (all albums except Legacy of the Dark Lands) - 4.6, Stratovarius - 4.6, Iced Earth (one album plus extra credit album) - 4, Kamelot (all albums except Poetry for the Poisoned) - 4.6, HammerFall - 4.7, Rhapsody of Fire - 4.7, Nightwish (all albums except Imaginaerum the Score) - 4.5, Primal Fear (one album) - 4, Sonata Arctica - 4.5, DragonForce - 4.7

Total rating: 4.5

New wave of American heavy metal:

Shadows Fall - 4.4, Lamb of God - 4.6, God Forbid - 4.2, Darkest Hour - 4.4, Killswitch Engage (one album) - 4, Unearth - 4.1, Chimaira (one album) - 4, The Black Dahlia Murder (one album) - 4.5, As I Lay Dying (one album plus extra credit album) - 4, Trivium - 4.3

Total rating: 4.2

Extra credit albums (from other bands):

Nevermore - The Politics of Ecstasy - 4.5 , Stuck Mojo - Pigwalk - 2.5

Total extra credit rating: 3.5

So apparently, I still like my power metal past slightly more than my Goth Metal and NWOAHM present, which is a little surprising for me. I must've really enjoyed my younger times of power metal, and that's probably a good reason why some of you believe I still have Guardians heart and mind, hence that clan change. However, those stats mean my Goth Metal is actually slightly higher than my New wave of American heavy metal, which is now at the low end of the band challenge "Olympic podium" and is left alone because NWOAHM is a scene full of a few different metal genre and not one in particular. Also it looks like 1998 (the last year before I was born) was quite a big changing year for the gothic metal scene with most of the bands in Goth Metal list either moving out of their brief rock sound back to metal or (temporarily or permanently) quitting metal for a softer rock sound, whether it was that year or the next. It's the rock virus 1998 (ROVID98)! Sorry if anyone thinks that little joke is in bad taste. Anyway, if there isn't anything for you to object in this final stat check, then the Metal Evolution band challenge is completely over, and I'll continue doing my Fallen Clan Challenge strategy throughout the rest of the month of May. But after I complete that clan challenge strategy and gain my 4th clan, my review challenging won't end there. I actually have one more bigger band challenge to more properly test my interests in all metal genres I've enjoyed, past and present. I'll make and post that challenge in June for anyone to try, but I won't starting doing it myself until July because I've worked so hard throughout these first 5 months of 2020 doing all these official and unofficial challenges and I feel taking a break throughout June from reviewing groups of albums. Single-album recommendation reviews would still be OK, though. Now if you'll excuse me, I have one more clan challenge strategy to go through and a clan to lock in. Onward to The Fallen!

Too much of an ambient song to fit in a band like Paradise Lost. Their worst tune EVER!!!

One of the most killer Metallica covers you would ever hear. When progressive death goes thrash!

You want some Paradise Lost-influenced symphonic power metal? Well you got it:

Upon reviewing Icon, I can now see how much of an impact Paradise Lost made in and out of the gothic metal scene. It is one of the greatest gothic doom albums I've ever heard and the band's best album tied with Draconian Times! Here's an epic song from Icon (that's right, another track of the day in The Fallen thread):

Need I say anything here?

I'll say that I agree with you Daniel. "Blackened" is one of those heavier songs that just doesn't fit right when making an acoustic version. However, Between the Buried and Me's tech-death cover of "Blackened" is totally kick-A and guaranteed to grind this acoustic re-recording to dust.

Excellent metal knowledge, Daniel! Of course, death-doom was born when Autopsy released their debut album a year before Paradise Lost released theirs. However, despite the doom influences, Autopsy is more into the death metal side of death-doom. Perhaps I was thinking too much of the doom side that I’m more comfortable with. Type O Negative had their gothic metal sound throughout their career, and the time between the recording and release of their debut Slow Deep and Hard is long and a bit confusing. It was released a few months after Paradise Lost’s Gothic in 1991, yet it was originally recorded as a demo under their original name Repulsion, sometime before Lost Paradise in 1989.

Also recorded and released at around the same time as Lost Paradise was Celtic Frost’s Vanity/Nemesis which is also an early example of gothic metal, though mixed with thrash influences similar to Slow Deep and Hard. That’s actually an interesting mix of genres to be honest, don’t know why that barely caught on. Celtic Frost’s first two full albums To Mega Therion and Into the Pandemonium are probably the very earliest albums to use symphonic elements in metal. But that’s more apparent in the latter album, with the former only using a French horn in a few tracks and inspiring the name of Therion, a band that started off as death metal before being one of the first bands to be fully symphonic metal.

Therion’s symphonic metal sound, partly inspired by Into the Pandemonium and possibly Paradise Lost’s Gothic, is what inspired many power metal bands to focus less on speed and more on symphonic, such as Rhapsody of Fire and Nightwish, though the latter band started as an acoustic folk project instead of speedy power metal. Even though bands like Helloween and DragonForce still focus more on speed, the symphonic influences of other power metal bands is what gives that genre the epic feel it deserves. That’s why I talked about power metal there, but that was a funny misunderstanding my statement caused. “Paradise Lost influenced power metal?” Lol no! If you want Paradise Lost-influenced symphonic power metal, try listening to Nightwish’s “Rest Calm”.

In conclusion, Paradise Lost may be considered a pioneering influential force of death-doom, gothic metal, and a small bit of symphonic metal, but there a few other bands responsible for creating their respective genres. We got a lot more bands to thank for all those metal styles....

I won't lie, the title track of Paradise Lost's Gothic is THE beginning of many genres; the prominence of death-doom, gothic metal, symphonic metal, and operatic female vocals in metal. It has inspired many bands to expand those genres. Imagine what the metal world would be without this album, especially this song. Without them, those genres wouldn't exist or be forgotten; death-doom would fade away, gothic metal wouldn't be a thing, symphony and metal wouldn't coexist with each other, and metal would entirely be male. On top of that, power metal would remain part of speed metal which loses its epic appeal and wouldn't get me interested in DragonForce, the one band that got me interested in metal. And even with my metal taste starting elsewhere, I would be stuck in The Horde, The Infinite, and The Revolution forever. Fearing an alternate universe without Paradise Lost, I say we have to be profusely grateful for a band like them, especially if you love the genres that album spawned. So enjoy this amazing song and give Paradise Lost a massive "Thank you"!

With Queen's trademark "stomp-stomp-clap" beat infringed wrongly into the overly trance-ified "That Song", this is a new low in the metal community and shall be deemed "that song you gotta avoid at all costs".

I just did my review. Here's a summary of it:

Love them or hate them, Amaranthe is one of the most diverse Swedish metal bands, and not totally in the progressive sense. I'm one of those people who love the band, and I've been listening to them for 3 years now. They sure know how to trance-ify melodeath and power metal, and have toured all over Europe and America. Many metal purists accuse them of "ruining metal", but really they just wanna help bring metal and harsh vocals to the masses, no matter the mainstream cost. And even though this album isn't as perfect as their previous two albums, Massive Addictive can be hailed a successful breakthrough in trance metal! The album is both heavier and trance-ier than the previous two, with some songs having more metal than trance and vice versa. A few of the more electronic songs are a dreadful foreshadowing of the overpowering trance infecting their later albums, but the songs I love the best in the album are when the trance and metal are in perfect balance. There are also two or three clean-sung ballads. Oh yeah, we can't forget the unique vocal trio of new harsh vocalist Henrik Englund, the power metal-esque Jake E. Lundberg, and the angelic Elize Ryd. Overall, Massive Addictive is a strong album, though not as perfectly strong as their previous two albums, and Amaranthe continue finding more uniqueness for their sound. Even though I'm an extreme metalhead, I wouldn't recommend it to other fans of that kind. As long as people stay open-minded, anyone who is a fan of pop/dance/rock/metal would love this. Those fans would almost never want those 41 minutes refunded!

4.5/5

A coronavirus song parody about when the virus started hitting my country and my initial thoughts of anxiety:

Trivium Coronavirus parody - Viral Storm (Brave This Storm)
======================= 

Have you heard news of a plague so viral?
It's a catastrophe, a downward spiral
With death it's sinking tiny sickening teeth into
A crashing tide that would eliminate all of you 

What would you think if someone spits in your drink?
Wrong choice then nothing would spare you from your brink
You're equally at fault; ignoring the viral assault
Not right, it's so vicious, the villainous storm of all 

I know what we're hiding from
I know what we're hiding from 

The plague keeps crashing over
They pummel us over and over
I don't think we can make this viral storm 

Should we go quietly?
Accept that all is lost?
I don't think we can make this viral storm 

[First Solo] 

Slay us away with our lungs in decay
The plague will soon claim us all as his prey
We're pulled away after the virus has been set free
I'm wide awake to see the plague become blackening 

Lock us away for our apathy and crimes
We're isolated ones losing our time
The virus will consume everything we once knew
Make it or break it, we're still stuck in our rooms 

I know what we're hiding from
I know what we're hiding from 

The plague keeps crashing over
They pummel us over and over
I don't think we can make this viral storm 

Should we go quietly?
Accept that all is lost?
I don't think we can make this viral storm 

AS DEADLY AS POSSIBLE!
VIRUS!!
WE'RE ALL STUCK IN OUR HOMES!
VIRUS!! 

OUR LANDS ARE DEVOURED WHOLE!
VIRUS!!
IS THERE HOPE FOR OUR WORLD?!
VIRUS!! 

[Second Solo] 

The plague keeps crashing over
They pummel us over and over
I don't think we can make this viral storm 

Should we go quietly?
Accept that all is lost?
I don't think we can make this viral storm 

The plague keeps crashing over
They pummel us over and over
I don't think we can make this viral storm 

Should we go quietly?
Accept that all is lost?
I don't think we can make this viral storm

I already did a review of this album, so here's my summary:

Imagination can be fascinating, whether you imagine your own sci-fi/fantasy storytelling world or a world closer to reality. Imagination is important when you create classic albums, especially ones that give the metal genre grace. The 1995 Blind Guardian album Imaginations From the Other Side is what really masters metal imagination, using large amounts of references in music and lyrics in a compact structure, like this band always does. The album is filled with atmospheric epics, speedier songs with blazing aggression, and great ballads of spirited glory that are greater than the previous album's totally overrated "The Bard's Song (In the Forest)". I agree with Blind Guardian fans (on or off) that Imaginations From the Other Side is one of the greatest Blind Guardian albums. Although it's a great flawless album, it seems more connected to Somewhere Far Beyond and doesn't break down as many power metal boundaries as Nightfall in Middle-Earth. I don't mind this album taking a few risks, and those risks are very small and really paid off. Imaginations From the Other Side is an essential album for power metal fans that I would recommend along with Nightfall in Middle-Earth. This is for both old and new fans of Blind Guardian. See you on the other side of imagination!

5/5

My Metal Evolution band challenge is completely finished! For my stat check, I've included ratings of entire discographies of all the bands I've enjoyed before, past and present, and the one album I've reviewed from each band that I've only listened to just for this challenge and other clan challenges. Then I've divided all the ratings into the average ratings for each genre. So here it is, my Metal Evolution band challenge stat average rating:

Goth metal:

Tiamat - 3.9, Type O Negative - 4.5, Therion (one album) - 4, The Gathering - 4.4, Anathema - 4.5, - Katatonia - 3.5, Theatre of Tragedy - 4.3, Within Temptation - 4, HIM - 4, Lacuna Coil - 4.1

Total rating: 4.1

Power metal:

Blind Guardian - 4.5, Stratovarius - 4.6, Iced Earth (one album plus extra credit album) - 4, Kamelot - 4.5, HammerFall - 4.7, Rhapsody of Fire - 4.7, Nightwish - 4.4, Primal Fear (one album) - 4, Sonata Arctica - 4.5, DragonForce - 4.7

Total rating: 4.4

New wave of American heavy metal:

Shadows Fall - 4.4, Lamb of God - 4.6, God Forbid - 4.2, Darkest Hour - 4.4, Killswitch Engage (one album) - 4, Unearth - 4.1, Chimaira (one album) - 4, The Black Dahlia Murder (one album) - 4.5, As I Lay Dying (one album) - 3.5, Trivium - 4.3

Total rating: 4.2

Extra credit albums (from other bands):

Nevermore - The Politics of Ecstasy - 4.5 , Stuck Mojo - Pigwalk - 2.5

Total extra credit rating: 3.5

So apparently, I like my power metal past slightly more than my Goth Metal and NWOAHM present, which is a little surprising for me. I must've really enjoyed my younger times of power metal, and that's probably a good reason why some of you believe I still have Guardians heart and mind, hence that clan change. However, those stats mean my Goth Metal is at the low end of the band challenge "Olympic podium". But you know what?! I don't care what my band challenge outcome is! I came this far in my clan challenge quest for my 4th clan, and I'm at the last leg of this journey. I can finish this thing! So starting tomorrow, I'm gonna spend the month of May doing my Fallen Clan Challenge strategy; review a couple albums from a band I've already stopped listening to in a challenge, review all albums from a few bands I still enjoy in a challenge, then after taking a break, spend the last week of May doing the Modern Era challenge. It's been an epic ambitious adventure so far as much as Frodo's quest to destroy the One Ring (OK that comparison is a bit too much, but you get the point), and it's time for the last part of my clan challenge saga. The Fallen, I'm coming for ya!

Quoted from Wikipedia: '"The Ones We Leave Behind" is about "running over" people to succeed in life and the song also gave a powerful message and a whole new meaning in the wake of the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic.' Yes, this sure is a fitting song for this global outbreak. Once again, stay safe everyone!

This is gonna be one hail of an interesting ride through Wildhoney-inspired experimental progressive metal. I’ll listen to and review that motW album tomorrow...

A victorious anthem from Swedish prog-power metallers Seventh Wonder. Sweet recommendation for fans of Kamelot and Threshold!

You play My Dying Bride at 1.5 speed? Please reconsider joining The Fallen! 

Lol. I will still join The Fallen because my interest for gothic/death-doom (and a bit of sludge) is expanding, most other Fallen bands I listen to are slightly faster enough to keep the tempo unedited, and I'm still planning on getting it as my 4th clan using my Fallen Gothic Metal Clan Challenge strategy, which I'll start on Friday. Soon I'll do a final stat check on my Metal Evolution Band Challenge sometime within the next few days, so please keep an eye out for that!

Once again, even though they’re both great grade-A albums, I actually prefer The Light at the End of the World, same reasons as in the previous round: some of the best doom classics with death growls, slightly darker/heavier atmosphere, and more serious lyrics, and also there aren’t any of the abrupt cuts and bizarre interludes Type O Negative keep having in World Coming Down. And even though I like to do the “blasphemous” thing of speeding up My Dying Bride albums by 1.5x faster, The Light at the End of the World is still enjoyable, edited or not. I’ll add in my vote along with yours, Daniel:

World Coming Down - 1

The Light at the End of the World - 1

Since this did not get updated for about 3 weeks, I declare October Rust the winner, two to one! So for part 2, let's take Type O Negative further into the tournament and make things a little more challenging. Welcome to part 2; same genre, different year, 1999! Which of the following gothic doom albums has the greater edge? Choose one and explain the reason!

Ben, please add the new Trivium album What the Dead Men Say.

Here's a metalcore concept album about the fall of future civilization that seems kinda appropriate for the situation right now, that shows what would happen if the world ends up collapsing in the coronavirus. Fortunately the virus is currently in the process of being controlled out, but it just seemed like sh*t was about to go down on us last month when I was writing my review for this album that I'm referring to, God Forbid's IV: Constitution of Treason.

After sharing a song by Arch Enemy from the Johan Liiva era, I decided to share another song from the band, this time when they had Angela Gossow as lead vocalist. I think when they started having a female vocalist is what made the band more successful because of this unique piece of the melodeath puzzle.

I revisited Nightwish for their new album Human Nature. Most of the metal songs were great, and even though it's often a bit too symphonic, there are a few epic symphonic moments as well. The first and last parts of the half-hour 8-track symphony "All the Works of Nature Which Adorn the World" were the only parts of the suite that I like. At least I think it's better than when Blind Guardian went completely orchestral for their album Legacy of the Dark Lands.

Ben, I took some time to think of your comment about a slogan that would fit better with the site's inclusive aspect, and I just came up with I think is a better but slightly cliche slogan. I was in a "teaming with autism" webinar the other day (I have autism), and I was put into a group where we came up with a team name and logo with a "United We Stand Divided We Fall" kind of theme. Hence my idea to make this better slogan, "United We Stand for Metal"! The new slogan is in an edited version of the first post above.

I'm also not a fan of genres like country, hip-hop, or R&B, but if that's what some of my friends in the outside world are into, I'll go with it. And the band that I like from that small list of "favorite bands" is Blind Guardian, which was from my earlier epic metal taste, but I might come back to listening to that band someday, now that I'm in The Guardians. Thanks again for that clan change, Ben!