Shadowdoom9 (Andi)'s Forum Replies
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!
I agree with what you think of "I", Daniel. That's a true 21-minute djent epic!
There's more Christian metalcore coming your way when August Burns Red releases their new album Guardians this April. Here's an intense sneak peek single:
Considered the big amount of metal albums I enjoy, decided to extend my list to top 30. Here's my new bigger revised list:
#30: The Ocean - Pelagial (2013)
#29: Rivers of Nihil - Where Owls Know My Name (2018)
#28: Vektor - Black Future (2009)
#27: Parkway Drive - Horizons (2007)
#26: Septicflesh - Codex Omega (2017)
#25: Paradise Lost - Draconian Times (1995)
#24: My Dying Bride - The Angel and the Dark River/Like Gods of the Sun (1995-1996) (both albums fit together and edited to play at 2x faster tempo)
#23: Before the Dawn - Rise of the Phoenix (2012)
#22: Nightrage - Sweet Vengeance (2003)
#21: Underoath - Lost in the Sound of Separation (2008)
#20: In Flames - The Jester Race (1996)
#19: Mastodon - Leviathan (2004)
#18: Edge of Sanity - Crimson I+II (1996/2003) (both work better as one full 2-part suite)
#17: August Burns Red - Constellations (2009)
#16: Tiamat - Wildhoney (1994)
#15: Ne Obliviscaris - Portal of I (2012)
#14: Persefone - Spiritual Migration (2013)
#13: Cynic - Focus (1993)
#12: At the Gates - Slaughter of the Soul (1995)
#11: The Dillinger Escape Plan - Calculating Infinity (1999)
#10: Meshuggah - Catch Thirtythree (2005)
#9: Darkest Hour - Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation (2003)
#8: Amaranthe - Amaranthe (2011)
#7: Bullet for My Valentine - The Poison (2005)
#6: Gojira - L'Enfant Sauvage (2012)
#5: Between the Buried and Me - Colors (2007)
#4: Nevermore - Dead Heart in a Dead World (2000)
#3: All That Remains - Overcome (2008)
#2: Lamb of God - Ashes of the Wake (2004)
#1: Trivium - In Waves (2011)
Better revised version of my 1990+ best of each year metal list (including albums I've previously forgotten about and bands I've just started listening to):
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
1998: Meshuggah - Chaosphere
1999: My Dying Bride - The Light at the End of the World
2000: Nevermore - Dead Heart in a Dead World
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
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
2014: Ne Obliviscaris - Citadel
2015: Bullet for My Valentine - Venom
2016: Vektor - Terminal Redux
2017: Trivium - The Sin and the Sentence
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)
The masters of modern groove metal are back with their new self-titled album coming out in May! Check out this sick single for a sneak peek:
Here's my own best of each year list, containing albums from my own playlist (since 1990):
1990: Paradise Lost - Lost Paradise
1991: Meshuggah - Contradictions Collapse
1992: Edge of Sanity - Unorthodox
1993: Cynic - Focus
1994: Tiamat - Wildhoney
1995: At the Gates - Slaughter of the Soul
1996: Edge of Sanity - Crimson
1997: In Flames - Whoracle
1998: Meshuggah - Chaosphere
1999: My Dying Bride - The Light at the End of the World
2000: Nevermore - Dead Heart in a Dead World
2001: Gojira - Terra Incognita
2002: Shadows Fall - The Art of Balance
2003: Edge of Sanity - Crimson II
2004: Mastodon - Leviathan
2005: Meshuggah - Catch Thirtythree
2006: Persefone - Core
2007: Between the Buried and Me - Colors
2008: All That Remains - Overcome
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: Persefone - Spiritual Migration
2014: Ne Obliviscaris - Citadel
2015: Bullet for My Valentine - Venom
2016: The Dillinger Escape Plan - Dissociation
2017: Trivium - The Sin and the Sentence
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
Lamb of God (self-titled album)
I love one of The Ocean albums (NOT this one) so much when doing The Infinite Modern Era Clan Challenge. This is full-on oceanic progressive sludge metal at its best! Can't wait to listen to more of this collective..
A pleasant piece of the folk/power metal jigsaw puzzle that I've locked away in my metal storage room (I would say attic but my house doesn't have one) over two years ago:
Another killer song from Vektor's Black Future! This album is so awesome that I can show you the entire thing, but I won't. Please listen to the album yourself and vote in the Hall of Judgement if you haven't already. I know I sound a little desperate, but this album is so close to its fate in the Hall!
Another notable metaller who passed away this month is Joe Payne, former bassist of Nile (as a touring member) and Divine Heresy, and he was a bit younger (age 36, or 35? I don't know). It's sad when some of the best metal band members leave the world behind, but we all have to go some time...
Some bright times come with dark times. Yesterday on almost the same day as my birthday (January 25), Cynic drummer Sean Reinert passed away. Cause of death not yet revealed. His drumming skills were impressive, switching from metal to jazz at the right times in the band's cool debut Focus. May his drumming memories live on.... RIP
Thanks guys!
One of the greatest Nevermore albums, Dreaming Neon Black is currently #1 in our chart site rating! And today (January 25) is the 21st anniversary of its release, which also happens to be my 21st birthday! So that's two things to celebrate turning 21. I wasn't originally intending on revealing my birthday, but since you now know my Instagram account and my mom's probably gonna make me do a birthday Instagram post, might as well... I'm a full legal adult now!! Anyway, here's an awesome song from that album:
Vektor's first 1-minute interlude in a decade (and likely last because David DiSanto is the only member left and he's facing legal troubles involving domestic abuse), but sadly "Mountains Above the Sun" just doesn't fit so well with the rest of the album. The acoustic first minute is kinda bland, and the 15-second heavy ending sounds too bluesy. I think this interlude and the ballad/jazzy-prog first half of "Collapse" are what make Terminal Redux not reach the awesomeness of the other two Vektor albums.
Classic early 90s progressive metal is excellent, but so is mid-2000s extreme progressive djent!! This song is from the Catch Thirtythree suite and the only one there that can stand alone:
Excellent song choice, Daniel! A true progressive anthem from one of the greatest bands of progressive metal.
Great, thanks Ben!
Two words: clan challenges!!
I saw a guy wearing a Rivers of Nihil shirt last month and that made me interested in this band, but I didn't get to listen to them due to other busy stuff....until now. Djenty progressive death metal with a bit of saxophone!
Great song choice, Daniel! True Swedish melodeath from one of the originators of that genre.
I finally became interested in Vektor. F-tuned shrieking progressive thrash metal! Vektor's album Black Future now has 13 votes in the hall of judgement. 2 more until voting is complete! Please vote right now if you haven't already, so the hall can choose its fate.
Proper groove metal at its best, with the most METAL acoustic intro you would ever hear.
Children of Bodom is another melodeath band that I haven't listened to for so long. This song is from their earlier epic black/death days. If Alexi Laiho can no longer legally use the "Children of Bodom" name, why not revert back to the original name, Inearthed? Just askin'... RIP COB classic lineup
I already did my review on its album page, but I'll just write a small summary here.
Images and Words was my favorite progressive metal album in my earlier epic metal taste. It is absolutely perfect with never any failure to deliver. The impeccable music of this album shines far more than most of the other Dream Theater albums. It has everything including emotional vocals that range from mid to high, powerful guitar with amazing soloing, top-notch bass lines, awesome drum power, and epic keyboard synths. The songs range from beautiful balladry to progressive madness. Almost no subsequent work from Dream Theater or any other band can knock this album off its throne. You can never overthrow these Images and Words. This album shall keep its awesome reign!
An essential part of my earlier epic folk metal taste, mainly because my brother, who is usually a rock fan, was listening to this band at the time. Too bad not a lot of us here can get along well with this Celtic melodeath style...
This song is from Blind Guardian's old thrashy speed metal era, and they made it more majestic with their newer epic metal sound live. One of the rare instances where live sounds better than studio! But I'm still showing you the original (remastered). That circus organ intro though, what's up with that!?
I did it! I listened to Blind Guardian's Live album, and it was awesome, except... I'm sorry, Bard fans, but I actually think "The Bard's Song (In the Forest)" is overrated. I mean, I still like it, but only when it's part of the 2-part "The Bard's Song" suite. I consider "In the Forest" the acoustic part and "The Hobbit" the heavier part. And as a heavier metalhead who's tired of acoustic ballads from metal bands being more popular than their other songs (Def Leppard, Extreme), it seriously p*ssed me off when they did NOT play "The Hobbit" part of "The Bard's Song", and instead those last 4 minutes is just crowd cheer! I hope my opinion doesn't get me back-turned by some Blind Guardian fans.
My brother is, like I said before, a fan of hard rock and alternative metal, and one of the bands he listens to is Lacuna Coil. I also started listening to this band a few years ago after finding out that band's female vocalist Cristina Scabbia was in The Theory of Everything by progressive rock/metal project Ayreon, and that's what made me interested in Lacuna Coil, and for the first time, gothic metal. Here's one of the songs from their alt-metal present:
Apparently, this is a nod to Lord's older songs, but this sounds a lot like a nod to old school power metal in general, from like 25 years ago. Hail the Lord!
Thanks Daniel!
I already did my review on its album page, but I'll just write a small summary here.
The moment this album started playing, it's as if I am being welcomed back into my earlier power metal taste. Lord still has their original power metal sound, but each of these 10 songs really do feel like a welcome back to the power metal bands I used to enjoy. Many songs have tempo ranging from mid to fast, killer guitar shredding, and fantasy lyrics. There are even some symphonic background keyboards in a few songs. Some songs are chill, others are chaotic. Once again, this album shows how much Lord is influenced while staying original and is an awesome comeback tour through the sounds of many power metal bands I used to listen to during my epic metal taste a few years ago. Praise the Lord!
I already did my review on its album page, but I'll just write a small summary here.
This album can be considered the transition point between the death-doom style of Clouds and the progressive psychedelia of the band's next album A Deeper Kind of Slumber, while keeping their signature gothic metal. The lyrics deal with occult, nature, and acid. Some songs have strong guitar work that is sometimes, edgier growling together with clean singing, and outstanding drumming. A few highlights I enjoy include; "Whatever That Hurts" which starts strong but tones down to the calm without losing its punch, "Gaia" a mesmerizing song with powerful keyboards and phenomenal lyrics, and the 8-minute finale "A Pocket Size Sun" which is probably the most melodic and most progressive song of the album. The song segues are so perfect that it sounds like a story with a different topic each chapter. Wildhoney is strongly recommended for gothic/doom metal listeners and progressive fans, and shall remain a gothic metal classic for many ages to come!