Shadowdoom9 (Andi)'s Forum Replies

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!

A coronavirus song parody about the situation in my country and what we should do there:

DragonForce Coronavirus parody - Through the Virus and Plague
=======================

On a warm Asian morning, in the time before the light
A virus of death internally reigns, invisible from sight
When the virus is coming down, then the times are tough all right
The storm of evil sickness falls around the world tonight

Striking hard, infecting many people, the world ain’t safe no more
The scattered souls all over the beach will be wasted on the shores
It’s a blackening plague, for heaven’s sake, don’t stay, we have to go
Before the pain, we’ll find our way back home

So now we’re finally home free
We're safe before the viral storm
Close the doors and windows now, our lives shall carry on
Everyday at sundown, everyday at moonlight
Protecting our hearts and all our souls

So far away we wait for the day
For the virus to be wasted and gone
We feel the pain of a thousand lives lost in a matter of days
Through the virus and the plague we carry on

As a new day is dawning
And you’re back home with a sigh
You should watch your hands, 20 seconds or more
Don’t touch your nose, mouth, ears, or eyes
Running home from the mid-morning light
With the virus in your heart
You’re banished far away from our falling land
To a hospital so far

It’s no darkened dream, can you believe?
We still don’t wanna die
And there’s no way we'll ever be free tonight

And when you think it’s all a dream, you face the dark reality
All alone in isolation, time has come and gone
Stuck inside, the virus won’t find, stuck at home for your life
Day after day this misery will go on

So far away we wait for the day
For the virus to be wasted and gone
We feel the pain of a thousand lives lost in a matter of days
Through the virus and the plague we carry on

[Whoa-oh Choir]

[Solo showdown]

Now here we stand as we’re washing our hands
We cleaned so hard now can we understand?
I wish this sickening curse can just possibly end
For freedom of every man

So far away we wait for the day
For the virus to be wasted and gone
We feel the pain of a thousand lives lost in a matter of days
Through the virus and the plague we carry on

Testing out some cross-clan posting, this is for The Sphere members. Two industrial metal classics released in 1992! Which one has the greater edge? Choose one and explain the reason!

Even though I'm out of The Horde now, I'm still gonna make occasional throwbacks to my melodeath times, like this killer Arch Enemy classic:

Advice against the virus:

I don't know about you, but I'm feeling a bit anxious and delusional from the coronavirus pandemic, losing some sense of what's real and fake in the news. This is a well-fit song for the situation happening to me and others:

An utterly amazing 37 minute single-track ambient sludge/doom metal excursion from this Washington-based grindcore outfit.

I keep meaning to listen to this one: I'm not a big grindcore fan, so I don't normally  go for Pig Destroyer, but this one always sounds fascinating to me.

And RIP Pete Steele indeed! I think that was the first Type O song I ever heard, while out drinking at a club at University.

Agreed with both points, Tymell!

I'm not a big grindcore fan which is why The Horde is now becoming a less suitable clan for me. Even with that 37-minute ambient sludge/doom metal track, I still won't go for that band because they have like the second-most offensive metal band name, behind A.C.

"I Don't Wanna Be Me" was also the first Type O Negative song I've fully listened to because of Trivium's cover of that song.

The Type O Negative song I chose for the Track of The Day Fallen Edition was "I Don't Wanna Be Me", mostly because Trivium did a cover of that song which I've shared below. Once again, RIP Peter Steele and Type O Negative...

RIP Peter Steele and Type O Negative. The dream is dead since exactly 10 years before today, but at least the music will live on. And it's on my mom's birthday (please don't ask about her age).

A brilliant metalcore/mathcore offering! 5/5. Cheers for that, Daniel!

Update on my list (it's been a couple months):

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: Katatonia - Brave Murder Day

1997: In Flames - Whoracle

Old-school but newer:

1998: Meshuggah - Chaosphere

1999: Nevermore - Dreaming Neon Black

2000: In Flames - Clayman

2001: Gojira - Terra Incognita

2002: Shadows Fall - The Art of Balance

2003: Darkest Hour - Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation

2004: Mastodon - Leviathan

2005: Protest the Hero - Kezia

Higher original quality:

2006: Persefone - Core

2007: Between the Buried and Me - Colors

2008: In Mourning - Shrouded Divine

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

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 (so far): My Dying Bride - The Ghost of Orion

2020 albums I'm looking forward to getting:

Trivium - What the Dead Men Say

Katatonia - City Burials

Lamb of God (self-titled album)

Paradise Lost - Obsidian

Make Them Suffer - How to Survive a Funeral

Update on my list (it's been a couple months):

#30: Katatonia - Brave Murder Day (1996)

#29: Protest the Hero - Kezia (2005)

#28: In Mourning - Shrouded Divine (2008)

#27: The Ocean - Pelagial (2013)

#26: Vektor - Black Future (2009)

#25: Parkway Drive - Horizons (2007)

#24: Septicflesh - Codex Omega (2017)

#23: Paradise Lost - Draconian Times (1995)

#22: Before the Dawn - Rise of the Phoenix (2012)

#21: Nightrage - Sweet Vengeance (2003)

#20: Underoath - Lost in the Sound of Separation (2008)

#19: In Flames - The Jester Race (1996)

#18: Mastodon - Leviathan (2004)

#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)

Update on my 2005 list because of discovering and rediscovering other great metal albums from that year:

#10: Arch Enemy - Doomsday Machine

#9: Dark Tranquillity - Character

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

#7: Gojira - From Mars to Sirius

#6: Bullet for My Valentine - The Poison

#5: Between the Buried and Me - Alaska

#4: Nevermore - This Godless Endeavor

#3: Meshuggah - Catch Thirtythree

#2: Protest the Hero - Kezia

Honorable mentions: August Burns Red - Thrill Seeker, Parkway Drive - Killing With a Smile, Nightrage - Descent Into Chaos, Darkest Hour - Undoing Ruin

And finally, #1: Trivium - Ascendancy

Well that was too easy. At that rate, Slaughter of the Soul would remain on top, so I declare Slaughter of the Soul the winner of part 1, three to none!

I definitely agree with you here, Daniel. However, I discovered each band in different times. When I was first starting to like melodeath about 4 years before today, one of the first actual melodeath bands I listened to was Dark Tranquillity, and I was a big fan of that band including The Gallery. That album was one of my favourite melodeath bands back then. Two years later, I discovered At the Gates and their album Slaughter of the Soul, and I’ve never looked back. I was like “Move over Dark Tranquillity, At the Gates is the real deal!” Slaughter of the Soul has a greater balance of melodic and extreme, and it’s been of my favourite melodeath albums ever since. I’ll add in my vote along with yours, Daniel:

Slaughter of the Soul - 2

The Gallery - 0

Well one of the bigger genre differences is the vocals, mostly death growls in Brave Murder Day and all clean vocals in October Rust. But I chose them anyway because they’re both great Fallen recommendations that made me more interested in these two bands than I would’ve been a few years ago, all thanks to you Daniel. Anyway, even though they’re both excellent albums, I actually like Brave Murder Day slightly more because many of its tracks are 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 pointless interludes October Rust has. I’ll add in my vote along with yours, Daniel:

Brave Murder Day - 1

October Rust - 1

After commenting on that Britney Spears April Fool's joke, here's a kick-A metalcore cover of her hit, "Baby One More Time":

A gothic metal classic! 5/5. Cheers for that, Daniel!

Good point, Daniel. I'll just take out the nu metal list and replace it with power metal instead. Revised subgenre list coming soon!

LOL!!! APRIL FOOL'S!!!!! You didn't think I would choose the site's least popular clan that has nothing to do with my metal taste, did you?! Oh man, that's hilarious!!

All jokes set aside, thank you guys for all those votes, but I actually have one plan up my sleeve to prove my ultimate place in either The Fallen or The Guardians. In case you didn't read my lengthy story post above, let me summarize it for you:

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. So starting later today, I plan on doing my unofficial Metal Evolution band challenge (https://metal.academy/forum/23/thread/318), 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'm gonna do that unofficial challenge myself to see which genre I enjoy the most. Since of those 4 metal genres/scenes is Goth Metal, it might just be my greatest chance to prove myself worthy of locking in The Fallen clan in one of that clan's official challenges. OK, time for my unofficial band challenge. Onward to my true passion!

The time has come for me to choose which clan I'm gonna start locking in as my 4th. After all those votes, I decided that the clan I'm going for is...

THE SPHERE!

(wait for next post)

I just did my review! Here's my short summary:

There are a few bands that have the idea of a making a single long song throughout an entire album thinking it would be a great as a Great American/European Novel. On the one hand, there's the fear of getting a crawling try of patience that would be much better lasting just 5 minutes instead of 50. On the other hand, a group can have so many ideas that can turn a single-song album in an ultimate masterpiece. The latter example is used in this release. This is I! You can hear almost everything Meshuggah had done so far in this EP, including downtuned riffs, rampaging drums, vicious growls, chaotic solos, crushing breakdowns, strange reverb, and dark arpeggios, all in 21 minutes of djent! "I" is a tremendous metal achievement for Meshuggah, a really long song that helped popularize djent. There are heavier extreme metal albums out there but nothing can beat the cerebral nature of this music. Enjoy the masterpiece of perfect apocalyptic destruction that is I!

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: