Shadowdoom9 (Andi)'s Forum Replies

My thoughts on some tracks (including my suggested ones):

Haken – “Invasion” (from “Virus”, 2020)

5/5. Starting this playlist perfectly is a song to end my interest in this band in a djent-ish progressive metal bang! It's quite a shame that I'm not feeling interested in this band, because one of the best songs of Haken's newest album (this one) has earlier Leprous vibes that would make some thing of what Gentle Giant sounds like in modern times. This beautifully wonderful songs has lyrics that very well synchronize with the djenty beat, though it might cause some to think of the verses of Billie Eilish's "Bad Guy", which isn't the kind of relation I wanted to think of. The Virus album is great but I actually like their earlier albums more such as Aquarius. But still, good job, guys!

Meshuggah – “Acrid Placidity” (from “Destroy Erase Improve”, 1995)

4.5/5. Wow, an incredible ambient interlude! You might expect Kidman to sing nicely like Burton C. Bell in some Fear Factory ballads, but nope. I guess Kidman just wanted to stay shouting in most of the band's other tracks.

Dream Theater – “Repentance” (from “Systematic Chaos”, 2007)

5/5. This one is suitable for when I feel some slight regret over my recent change of metal interest, like a part of me wishes I hadn't made that move. The low strumming over the 7-minute mark is pretty d*mn chilling. The magical soloing from John Petrucci is one of my favorites from him! This impressive song has still made me grateful for this band to be around to launch my interest in progressive metal. Some might be reminded of Eloy due to the genre's brilliant genius. The song is from the 5-song "Twelve-Step Suite" which chronicles drummer Mike Portnoy's battle against drug/alcohol issues. The concept is so touching, along with song's beautiful simplicity, from the first verse to Pink Floyd-like great ending, all of which are something to love! This is also perfect for helping depressed/suicidal people get better and enjoy life more. I might definitely go listen to the second part of the suite "This Dying Soul" when reviewing this month's Infinite feature release (Train of Thought). Around the 3-minute mark, the instrumentation reminds me of Opeth, before giving me goosebumps with that solo a minute and a half later. Speaking of Opeth, I almost forgot, that band's lead singer Mikael Åkerfeldt, along with Pain of Salvation's Daniel Gildenlöw, Transatlantic's Neal Morse, and various other fellow musicians all speak their own apologies, regrets, and sorrows.

Liquid Tension Experiment – “Hypersonic” (from “Liquid Tension Experiment 3”, 2021)

5/5. John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy, and Jordan Rudess, I salute your astonishing talents in both Dream Theater and this instrumental band Liquid Tension Experiment! I might listen to more of this band and write my own lyrics to the music, and this band has awakened the instrumental progressive metal scene while Animals as Leaders is asleep.

Seventh Wonder – “By The Light Of The Funeral Pyres” (from “Tiara”, 2018)

4.5/5. A kick-A song from a masterpiece album! Nothing else to say there...

Entropia – “Poison” (from “Vacuum”, 2018)

3.5/5. Good attempt at an extreme progressive metal epic, but slightly poisonous to me. Again moving on...

Kamelot – “The Great Pandemonium” (from “Poetry For The Poisoned”, 2010)

4/5. This song is from Kamelot's last album with Roy Khan before he left the band, and it has guest growls by Björn Strid from Soilwork, along with some of the best guitar soloing from the band. Those make the song one of the greatest of the album, though the album doesn't quite reach the epic heights of the surrounding symphonic power metal albums. Good to know that this progressive experiment is a one-time move for this band.

Voivod – “Technocratic Manipulators” (from “Dimension Hatröss”, 1988)

5/5. This is pretty short for a progressive metal song, just as long as that Kamelot song, both each 4 and a half minutes, but this Voivod song demonstrates highly creative originality, packing powerful metal punches. Why did I mention the lengths? Because it can be progressive without turning into a 15-minute epic! After a calm dark ambient intro with a few bass touches, the crossover-ish dynamics erupt with speedy riff rhythms and signature snarling vocals. Near the two-minute mark, the song makes a weird evolution into old-school Hawkwind-like spacey guitar rhythms. Many styles and influences all in dexterous textures in only under 5 minutes. A truly awesome feat!

Symphony X – “Evolution (The Grand Design)” (from “V: The New Mythology Suite”, 2000)

4.5/5. Speaking of great feats, this song would make you want more of this band. Great job!

My thoughts on some tracks (including my suggested ones):

Tiamat – “Divided” (from “Prey”, 2003)

5/5. So here I am in a new world without any of that music from a brutal murderous Hell (you know which metal genre I'm referring to), which includes bands like the first two albums of Tiamat along with Hypocrisy and Samael (the latter being more of an industrial black metal band). I still remember this song from the band's later gothic metal era, and it has placed a sad yet pleasant touch into my heart whenever one of my relatives passed away or if I hear about a relationship breaking up, the latter being what this song is about, and kind of a fitting metaphor for my breakup from death metal. Those melodies truly feasted on my soul with the impressive deep vocals in this work of art that is one of my favorites from Tiamat. It's so perfectly expressive, yet I'm already turning away! Moments like the keyboard fiddling and climatic final chorus during the last couple minutes made me wanna reconsider my move out of death metal (which the band was for their first two albums) even though it's too late for mind-changing. The divorce theme fits great in this sad yet remarkable song. That's the gothic metal I like that I can find in other bands, though I miss the gothic metal of Tiamat. A super excellent song to play on both piano and guitar. I'll keep you in my memories, gothic Tiamat....

The Gathering – “Nighttime Birds” (from “Nighttime Birds”, 1997)

4.5/5. Now this is an atmospheric way to close off the metal part of The Gathering's discography, featuring Indian flute especially in that sample in the middle, followed by a slow soloing march. That's the last bit of heaviness you would ever hear from The Gathering.

Corrosion Of Conformity – “Psychic Vampire” (from “Corrosion Of Conformity”, 2012)

4/5. Normally, I'm not into stoner Southern sludge metal, but this song has some good points. Mike Dean's vocals are so underrated! Y'know, if we ever do include Southern Metal as one of the main metal genres but The Fallen having 6 genres is too much and we end up moving Southern Metal along with Sludge Metal and Stoner Metal into a new clan titled The South, Corrosion of Conformity would be a prime example of that clan. We'll see when we get to that bridge, but for now that's not really my style to hold...

Theatre Of Tragedy – “Storm” (from “Storm”, 2006)

4.5/5. This is a great gothic metal song to listen to. The male vocals are wonderful and the female singing is pretty, the latter being good inspiration for Delain whose debut came sometime after this Theatre of Tragedy album. I might be able to sing the male parts if I can ask one of my female friends in the outside world to sing the female parts.

My Dying Bride – “A Secret Kiss” (from “Macabre Cabaret” E.P., 2020)

5/5. I'm glad to submit this song as well, the usual death-doom can help you remember the band's great earlier era. I just realized I haven't done a review to the Macabre Cabaret EP, I should do that soon...

Isis – “Constructing Towers” (from “SGNL>05” E.P., 2001)

4/5. Interesting sequel to "Deconstructing Towers" from the Celestial album. Enough said!

Here's a vote tab similar to my DIS vs DAT threads, based on each member's opinion on what Nintendocore sounds closer to from those 3 tracks:

Metalcore - 1

Non-metal - 1

For those other two tracks, the Sky Eats Airplane track has a nice balance of metalcore and video-game synths in the same way as Horse the Band, and that makes me feel up to checking out more material from Sky Eats Airplane. That band still has good metal points! However, that F***ing Werewolf Asso track is f***ing annoying, basically screaming video-game-synthesized experimental noise. If that band was added to Metal Academy, and I listen to the rest of whichever album has that song and it has the same style as that song, that album would be going to the Hall of Judgement for sure. So... that FWA track is not metal!

Nintendocore: metalcore tracks - 2, non-metal tracks - 1

There might still be hope for Nintendocore to stay in this site! Please feel free to try my trancecore/trance metal experiment, Daniel...

I gave the HORSE the Band track a listen (please disregard the 4 minutes of silence at the end), and sure they have a lot of the video game synths that make Nintendocore, but it still sounds to me like the metalcore that I'm used to, so it might still be metal.

Sorry, Daniel, even then it would take many months to get two small votes. I personally don't mind Possessed staying in The Pit, because while indeed only a few songs are full-on speed metal, some of those elements spread on to the other songs and keep Venom's reign of sound that has inspired the development of black metal up to that point.

Thanks Ben! And good timing too, my departure from death metal (https://metal.academy/forum/10/thread/748) is only a couple days away. All that's left is my submission for Persefone's Core to be removed from the Horde (https://metal.academy/forum/28/thread/688), could you please add that to the Hall during your next judgement submission addition round? Thanks again!

Thanks Ben!

My favourite track from German power metal icons Gamma Ray's highly regarded 1995 fourth album "Land Of The Free". For fans of Helloween, Blind Guardian & Judas Priest.

An epic dynamic classic from an already classic German power metal masterpiece album!

RIP Warrel Dane, still missing you....

Ben, please add the sole Bodom After Midnight EP, Paint the Sky With Blood.

RIP Alexi Laiho

Sometimes a band's vocalist can do so well on his own while still staying in that band. Thrashy heavy metal to delight fans of Queensrÿche, Judas Priest, and Nevermore:

Iced Earth founder Jon Schaffer's arrest and being deemed guilty made me remember this alt-rock band my brother and I used to listen to before my "real" metal interest, in which they ended when their lead singer was arrested and sent to prison for nearly 3 decades for some severely obscene crimes. More info in my reply to this thread: https://metal.academy/forum/9/thread/652?page=1&#topic_6477

One thrash band's end can sometimes be another band's new beginning with the same lineup. Dutch progressive thrash to please fans of Vektor, Coroner, and Megadeth:

My usually alt-rock/post-grunge-loving brother has been enjoying this Trivium song lately, and why not? This song really kicks things up to high gear and has a darker thrash metal-influenced sound:

Darkspace - Dark 4.20 off Darkspace III I (18:24)

Lol! Right on the day 4/20!!

Hey there, Xephyr! Good reviews for my April featured release submissions (DragonForce and Within Temptation), though for the former, your review shows that I was wrong about you enjoying the DragonForce album and you've fallen into the group of Metal Academy members who do not like it as much as I do. Oh well, sometimes I can't please everyone... For the latter, I see you like the Within Temptation album Enter in almost the same level as I do, and while I agree that the instrumental "Blooded" is a fine transition in the middle part of the ending trio of songs, it's quite a struggle for me. Anyway, seeing how you haven't listened to any of their pre-The Silent Force material before your encounter with Enter, there is one album I think you might very well enjoy, Mother Earth! I strongly suggest giving their grand second album a listen, maybe even a review. Maybe you would enjoy this epic masterpiece...

Rip-snorting New Jersey mathcore for fans of The Callous Daoboys, Botch & Rolo Tomassi.

Even though this track is not a highlight for me, it's close to one, being an outstanding sludgy track to have a good grip on you and shake you hard like an earthquake.

OK, one more track from me then that's it for now. If there's one thing anyone who has listened to Devin Townsend doesn't know, unless they're a super-fan who has built up their collection into completion, well here it is: Before his solo debut progressive metal masterpiece Ocean Machine - Biomech, Devin Townsend made up a fictional punk rock band named Punky Bruster and hired a drummer and bassist to bring this story to life in an album titled Cooked on Phonics. The album was later re-issued with the two names combined as Punky Bruster - Cooked on Phonics as a Devin Townsend album, thereby technically being his first solo album! In the story, they started as a death metal band from Poland named Cryptic Coroner, but when disaster strikes at a pub they were performing in, in a hurry they improvised by transforming into the punk band Punky Bruster. The concert became an enormous commercial success and so did their punk music. I would tell you more, but I don't wanna spoil a lot for anyone who hasn't heard it yet, so here's a good song from that album that shows the beginning of the story like I just told you about. Consider this introduction and punk-rocker your sneak peek:

Now I'm gonna answer some not-yet-asked questions in advance here. Q: Do you really think this is one or one of a few songs you like from an album you think is a poor one? A: As a matter of fact, it is, along with "Metal Dilemma". The album itself I would give 2.5 stars because for the music, I'm a metalhead who prefers to listen to anything metal (but not too extreme or mainstream), and if I want something punk, or at least hardcore punk, I have metalcore. For the lyrics, yes they are ridiculously cheesy and comedic for the most part (don't get me started on the toilet humor in the song that has the last 4 letters of the 7th planet in the Solar System in the title), but the concept seems relatable to any band who starts extreme then sells out with a lighter melodic sound thinking they might regret it but the change really pays off, though the success depicted here seems exaggerated compared to most rock bands in the world. It also seems relatable for my own "metal dilemma" right now, but we'll get to that soon. Bonus points!

Q: Isn't this a non-metal album? A: Yes, but it's from a metal artist.

Q: What made you think of this album all of a sudden? A: Well remember that I'm currently planning my departure from death metal forever? Yeah, that reminded me of this album's concept, but instead of turning from death metal to punk in just one concert, I'm currently in the midst of a month-long plan to remove any trace of death metal from my current metal interest so it can be less brutal and more melodic without losing my metal, this whole plan being orchestrated just from the safety of my home. So yeah, that's one part of my personal connection to this concept. The other part is the name, Cryptic Coroner. That reminds me of a real band, Coroner! Sure that band Coroner is from Switzerland (not Poland, but they're both part of Central Europe) and they're tech-thrash instead of death metal, but with their split-up being near the same time as the release of the Punky Bruster album, I started formulating a theory about the end of Coroner's original run (hey don't criticize me, I'll be writing just a theory). And with those two parts of my personal connection, I feel the need to share them to this site, so I'm gonna write a long review for this album based on the release itself, the concept, and my personal connections, and since the album isn't on the site because it's not metal, it would be a separate thread. The review shall be ready to go around early May, so stay tuned...

There were a couple of real duds on Within Temptation's 1997 debut album "Enter" however I have the most issues with this one:

Surprisingly, this song I still think of as one of the most epic pieces of gothic doom I've heard since first listening to this band in my earlier epic metal taste 7 years ago. I guess this is another one of those examples of our metal interests being different from what we are each used to, Daniel.

Dutch gothic metal for fans of Draconian & 90's Theatre Of Tragedy & Tristania.

As one of the only two songs of their debut with only Sharon den Adel on vocals (the other song being "Restless"), those female vocals and symphonic elements helped the band in their direction out of the gothic doom in Enter to the symphonic metal of Mother Earth and most of their subsequent albums...

When I was doing the modern groove metal part of my Ultimate Metal Family Tree band challenge, my Machine Head reviews show that despite a bit of good material, I'm just not really into the band or genre. Not even The Blackening could change my mood, though that album has a few great highlights such as this thrasher written by Robb Flynn to say "Thank you, Dimebag Darrell" and "F*** you, William Grim" (the latter having written an article disrespecting the former):

Thanks Ben!

"Reload" is an even worse album for mine & I think only "Carpe Diem Baby" & "Devil's Dance" are at a reasonable level. Interestingly I actually rate "Fixxxer" as one of the weakest tracks on the tracklisting & for Metallica as a whole.

"Carpe Diem Baby" and "Fixxxer" still remain two of my favorite tracks from Reload, though "Devil's Dance" comes out as just OK for me.

Accept's 1980 sophomore album "I'm A Rebel" was a bit of a dud when taken holistically however the one-two punch of "Thunder & Lightning" into "China Lady" right in the middle of the album is nothing short of magic in my opinion:

I agree that the first two Accept albums are slight duds compare to the rest of their discography, but I give I'm a Rebel a few extra points for beginning the band's transition from the hard rock-like sound of their debut into the sound we consider classic heavy metal in Breaker and especially their perfect album trilogy (Restless and Wild, Balls to the Wall, and Metal Heart). Those two songs above are nice upbeat rockers, though they never reach the fast speed of the band's subsequent albums...

Good review, Daniel! I've struggled a bit with the "Blooded" instumental as well, but "Gatekeeper" was one of my very earliest encounters with the epic slow melancholy of gothic doom at its fullest, along with many other songs in the album, hence my April Fallen feature release submission. I'm also looking forward to seeing what you think of the Dillinger Escape Plan April Revolution feature release, if that's what you're going for next...

Ben, please add the Today is the Day album Temple of the Morning Star. Its avant-garde metal tag now fits the 2:1 RYM ratio (For - 28, Against - 11).

Here's my only favorite from The Body's droning drone album I've Seen All I Need to See. There's still a bit of metal in this song with its heavy riffing, and it could work as part of the Invader Zim soundtrack, much better and doomier than that so-called "Doom Song".

I normally don't listen to too many of our playlists but I'm slowly coming around to checking them out every now and again, and yeah this was an extremely good one. Sadly I had to listen to it on shuffle so it lost a bit of its charm but looking at the listing here I can see that Daniel did a fantastic job structuring it. 

I wouldn't get your hopes up for Accept or Todd La Torre Vinny, "Zombie Apocalypse" is good and is a decent showcase of how modern Accept sounds, but I personally found the rest of the album to be an awkward slog. There's still a few killer tracks in there though. Same with Todd La Torre, "Hellbound and Down" is an obvious highlight along with 2 or 3 other tracks but then it gets a bit monotonous. 

The only thing I'll say on my end is that I was really surprised by "Symptom of the Universe", couldn't believe I was listening to Sabbath when it came on, and apparently I rated Sabatoge a 3.5 when I went on my short Sabbath kick? That just doesn't seem right, gonna have to go back and fix that sometime this month. 

I sense a few good songs for you to share in the new "Great Tracks On Poor Albums" thread, Xephyr... https://metal.academy/forum/23/thread/750

Hey there, Xephyr! You seem like the kind of person who would appreciate the speedy power metal of DragonForce. Why not give their third album Inhuman Rampage (this month's feature release) a listen, maybe even a review? Maybe you would enjoy this as much as I do...

A terribly misguided commercially focused ballad from Devin Townsend Project's 2009 alternative metal album "Addicted".

Agreed!

This track was comfortably the highlight of Devin Townsend Project's alternative metal focused 2009 "Addicted" album in my opinion. The chorus hook is nothing short of spectacular & the way to song-writing builds up to a spine-tingling wall-of-sound crescendo pretty much blew my mind.

One of the few true highlights of the album for me! I definitely enjoy the serene beauty of Anneke van Giersbergen complimenting Devin's melody-craft.

Am I seriously the only Metal Academy member who enjoys this album?! Jeez... Well I’m still happy that my DragonForce submission for this month’s Guardians feature release made it and I get to see what other members of the site think of it, despite the honest yet poor feedback. I’m gonna make sure that while my later feature release submissions have similar historical value for my experience, they would greatly appeal to everyone else. I would sure like to find out Xephyr’s opinion on this DF album.

Thanks Ben!

Interesting suggestions, Theo! Unfortunately, Daniel doesn’t accept Horde suggestions from non-clan members, though I say the idea of two Horde submissions from each non-member might be possible in the future depending on how well the “one Gateway/Revolution/Sphere from each non-member” thing turns out. Or if you feel passionate about The Horde enough to feel like joining, you can ask him or Ben to let you join The Horde so those submissions can be used. Or since Darkest Hour is known for this mix melodeath and metalcore, feel free to change your Darkest Hour submission into a song from one of their Revolution albums to add to your Revolution suggestion list if you have space left in your 30-minute list. And if you think of any good Gateway song suggestions, please add them to the Gateway thread. Sounds good?

This band Persuader, has pleased heavier power metal fans with their sound combo of Nevermore and Blind Guardian, the latter any of those fans know why:

Here's a drawing I've made to show you what I mean in my last comment:

I agree that this isn't really the best song of the album (not even close to "Through the Fire and Flames"), but I actually don't mind this ballad because it ends the album beautifully, unlike the ballads from the first two albums that are each in the middle of the album causing the speedy flow to be disrupted (I still like those two ballads slightly better than this one though).

Blazing English power metal.

My second favorite song of the album besides the one that fully launched my metal interest ("Through the Fire and Flames")!! I think I made the right choice of submitting this blazing track to the April Guardians playlist.

I've made my Spotify playlists available to the public! They're all in this list: https://open.spotify.com/user/5upavy3bbufengo1z9egrpoos/playlists

Here you can find a variety of different playlists I've made including a list of all my playlist suggestions per month (including an epic to bring the length up to two hours), my last ever death metal playlist (reason for why it's the last to be announced soon), a few best of playlists for my Spotify top 4 bands (which also happen to be my all-time 4 favorite bands), a playlist of songs from the newest albums from those 4 bands, a best of playlist for Linkin Park containing the entirety of both their nu metal albums and heavier favorites from their later material, a best of playlist for a couple bands celebrating their anniversaries for their more notable albums, and the best of a few albums that I enjoy along with a fellow Metal Academy member. If you'd like to suggest any changes to a few of these playlists, please let me know. And I appreciate any "likes". Enjoy!