Shadowdoom9 (Andi)'s Forum Replies

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!

Here's my suggestion for the May Gateway playlist:

Devin Townsend - "Awake!!" (from Addicted, 2009)

Here are my suggestions for May's Revolution playlist:

Bleeding Through - "Shadow Walker" (2:01) from This is Love, This is Murderous (2003)

Converge - "Hell to Pay" (4:32) from Jane Doe (2001)

Demon Hunter - "My Destiny" (4:15) from True Defiance (2012)

God Forbid - "Wicked" (3:52) from Determination (2001)

Shadows Fall - "The Light That Blinds" (4:58) from The War Within (2004)

Unearth - "The Chosen" (3:53) from The March (2008)

Winds of Plague - "Approach the Podium" (3:40) from The Great Stone War (2009)

Total length: 27:11

My thought on one more track:

Midnight – “You Can’t Stop Steel” (from “Satanic Royalty”, 2011)

3/5. But can steel stop ME?! Satanic heavy metal just isn't my thing, but this song is good for metalheads who like this kind of style.

My thoughts on a couple more tracks:

Pan.Thy.Monium – “The Battle Of Geeheeb” (from “Khaooohs & Kon-Fus-Ion”, 1996)

5/5. A weird yet relaxing yet extreme great work of art!

Holocausto – “Regimento de Morte” (from “Campo de exterminio”, 1987)

3/5. I had to search through YouTube for THIS!? Good for old-school death metal fans though. Vinny, you're welcome!

Well I admit that the amount of Sphere tracks I've commented was a very short amount, so that proves my lack of familiarity with the clan besides those two bands (Godflesh and Strapping Young Lad). Until I find more industrial metal bands that appeal to me, I'm gonna take a break from submitting one track per month submissions to Sphere playlists and listening to Sphere playlists. I'll also listen to a couple more tracks from the Horde playlist to level up its value a notch and see if there's one more death metal band I can tolerate before I start moving out of the rest of my death metal arsenal (official announcement coming tomorrow). Stay tuned for a couple more comments...

Here are my suggestions for May's Infinite playlist:

Dream Theater - "Repentance" (10:43) from Systematic Chaos (2007)

Haken - "Invasion" (6:42) from Virus (2020)

Kamelot - "The Great Pandemonium" (4:24) from Poetry for the Poisoned (2010)

Meshuggah - "Acrid Placidity" (3:15) from Destroy Erase Improve (1995)

Seventh Wonder - "By the Light of the Funeral Pyres" (3:54) from Tiara (2018)

Total length: 28:58

Here are my suggestions for May's Guardians playlist:

HammerFall - "The Dragon Lies Bleeding" (4:22) from Glory to the Brave (1997)

Nightwish - "Endless Forms Most Beautiful" (5:07) from Endless Forms Most Beautiful (2015)

Riot - "Out in the Fields" (4:03) from The Brethren of the Long House (1995)

Running Wild - "Bad to the Bone" (4:46) from Death or Glory (1989)

Sonata Arctica - "Don't Say a Word" (5:48) from Reckoning Night (2004)

Within Temptation - "Jillian (I'd Give My Heart)" (4:47) from The Silent Force (2004)

Total length: 28:53

Here are my suggestions for May's Fallen playlist:

Isis - "Constructing Towers" (8:24) from SGNL>05 (2001)

My Dying Bride - "A Secret Kiss" (6:22) from Macabre Cabaret (2020)

Theatre of Tragedy - "Storm" (3:46) from Storm (2006)

Tiamat - "Divided" (5:18) from Prey (2003)

Total length: 23:50

Here are my overall ratings for the playlists I've reviewed this month (April):

1. Fallen playlist - 4/5 (number of songs commented: 7)

2. Guardians playlist - 4/5 (number of songs commented: 12)

3. Horde playlist - 4/5 (number of songs commended: 7)

4. Infinite playlist - 4.5/5 (number of songs commented: 9)

5. Revolution playlist - 5/5 (number of songs commented: 10)

6. Sphere playlist - 5/5 (number of songs commented: 2)

Another rewarding playlist month for me, though this time it's more about the quality than quantity. The ones for my clan list that aren't the ones that I've had with me since the beginning (Fallen, Guardians, Horde, Infinite) have a decent average 4/5. The Infinite playlist has a better amount of tracks I've commented with an average total of 4.5 stars. The amount of tracks in the Revolution playlist (by average) and the Sphere playlist are perfect, though the latter is only two tracks I've commented. Yep, good month! My submissions for next month's playlists coming soon...

Just two days into April, and I managed to review this month's feature releases for all my clans plus The Gateway and The Horde. Here are my ratings and a quick summary:

The Fallen: Within Temptation - Enter (1997) - 4/5

The Gateway: Devin Townsend - Addicted (2009) - 3/5

The Guardians: DragonForce - Inhuman Rampage (2006) - 5/5, maybe even 6/5

The Infinite: Evergrey - Escape of the Phoenix (2021) - 4.5/5

The Revolution: The Dillinger Escape Plan - One of Us is the Killer) - 4.5/5

Another great month for feature releases, again probably because of the releases submitted by us Metal Academy members (including myself). The ones for my two original clans (Infinite, Revolution) have an excellent 4.5/5. My feature release submissions for The Fallen and The Guardians were the first my first ever times listening to an album from each of those two clans and are responsible for how my metal interest is today, especially the DragonForce album that marked the perfect complete start of my metal interest that I would recommend to any power metal fan. However, The Gateway feature release, Devin Townsend Project's Addicted, is the only album that I've reviewed in the list to be even a slight dud. Thanks for these amazing feature releases, everyone! Looking forward to more of this cool activity, what you all think of my submissions, and feature release submissions for next month coming in via private message...

I did my review, here's its summary:

Deep in the underground beneath New York City lies a band in UNIFORM. Since forming in 2013, before this album, Uniform released 3 studio albums, 3 collaborations with The Body (who had too much drone for me to stand), and one EP. This album, Shame continues the band's brave evolution. To answer their question "What if the antihero in your favorite film or book had no chance to repent, reconcile, or redeem himself?" A bleak yet captivating 34-minute industrial metal story, that's what! Shame marks the second album with a real drummer instead of drum programming. The drummer for this album is Mike Sharp. With live drums, there's more heaviness in the oppressive industrial sound of the group. The consistent elements bring together various styles to find here, not just their trademark industrial noise-metal, but also the atmospheric black metal of early 2000s Solstafir, the thrashy hardcore of 80s Neurosis, the doomy riffs of early 2000s Grand Magus, and a bit of melodic post-punk. Those influences are scattered around different songs, each of which using one of those outer styles, before mixing them in the 8-minute epic "I am the Cancer". One minor thing to criticize is the lack of dynamic variation, but that's OK because of the album's short runtime. The range of influences and genres keep Shame interesting and never sh*tty. Listeners will be rewarded even after just first listen. Uniform have made an impressive part of their catalog to bring excitement from the underground!

5/5

Review for their other metal album, The Long Walk, to be made soon...

I did my review, here's its summary:

It was around 2014, at the time when Hymns for the Broken came out, that I first started listening to Evergrey. What sets them from other bands apart is the unique progressive power metal sound with slight doom elements, filled with melody and drama. It might not be for everybody, but I kinda selectively like some songs and albums, some of which have more emotion than their prog-power metal roots. From beginning to end, most of the songs show the band picking up the dark aggression and heavy energy from The Atlantic, including the down-tuned guitar. There might be slower songs to come in better pace than the half-boring half-incredible The Storm Within, but not as perfect as The Atlantic. The balance between heavy songs and ballads works so well, though a couple ballads in the middle mark a niche weak side of the album. Is there any other band that can greatly balance powerful songs and ballads? Probably not. Escape of the Phoenix might not be perfect but it made a great impact for metal this year!

4.5/5

I did my review, here's its summary:

Well, here we are, the album that began my metal path. Without it, my metal interest wouldn't have existed... unless it starts different. Inhuman Rampage!! Despite being out of my earlier epic power metal taste that includes this band, DragonForce is a band I would always love in my heart and appreciate. It's really cool how they're called "extreme power metal" even though they're power metal but not extreme metal. The label makes sense because of the band's extremely cheesy lyrics (the type of cheese I like), extremely fast guitars, and extremely fun choruses. The haters think DragonForce make the same d*mn song over and over, but I don't think so. The songs only sound same-ish, which doesn't bother me. This is the first album where the band experimented with a nice touch of harsh vocals, performed Lindsay Dawson of Demoniac (the former band of guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman before DragonForce). There's nothing else different about the album, but that's fine because it still rules, slightly better than the slightly generic Sonic Firestorm. The album kicks off with their most popular song, and the complete start of my entire metal interest... "Through the Fire and Flames"!! If it wasn't for this song, or for my dad and brother both finding it, I wouldn't have been interested in metal, or maybe I would via a different song. Yes, this is indeed my own metal "big bang" (NOT the K-pop boy band, the universal beginning I mean). From the intricate guitar lines and solo plus strange Pac-Man noises to the amazing vocals and fantasy lyrics, this song burned away my horrid radio-pop future and replaced it with a glorious metal one. And I can't believe it was just 8 years ago when it all started. So thank you DragonForce, along with my dad and brother! And the rest is power metal history, with most of the songs being the best I've heard in power metal with speedy intensity and catchiness, along with the incredible signature guitar soloing, all summing up my first ever journey as a metalhead. I can recommend Inhuman Rampage to any power metal fan. It can hypnotize anyone who doesn't like metal to enjoy that genre, at least from my experience. And even though their best albums are with ZP Theart, I enjoy the later albums with Marc Hudson. I love you, DragonForce!

5/5 (maybe even 6/5)

Recommended songs: "Through the Fire and Flames", "Revolution Deathsquad", "Operation Ground and Pound", "The Flame of Youth", "Lost Souls in Endless Time"

For fans of (this album is so perfect that it can be for everyone, but just in case...): Riot, Helloween, Power Quest (the latter being DragonForce's "spin-off" band)

Good arrangement, Daniel! Here are the amounts of songs I'm gonna submit (tomorrow or sometime this weekend or next week) for both clans based on this condition:

The Fallen: 4 tracks in 24 minutes

The Gateway: one track only

The Guardians: 6 tracks in 30 minutes

The Infinite: 5 tracks in 30 minutes

The Revolution: 7 tracks in 30 minutes

The Sphere: one track only

PS: Sonny, I'm sorry to hear that your clans have a shorter time limit for your song submissions, but I wish the best for your songs to be worth those 24 minutes in each clan!