GREATEST METAL ALBUM CUP - Winner: Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son!

Two great albums in the first round. I didn't expect to like Bloodbath that much but it hits hard. In Flames have a melodic edge but I liked the unadulterated death metal of Bloodbath more.

Also I wanted to write this:
1600007036673.png1600007050564.png
Does anybody else think the eye in the top left of Resurrection Through Carnage looks uncannily similar to the eye in Death's Symbolic? Homage?


Second round was tough too. I went with Blind Guardian more because I'm not in the mood for Amorphis...

Third round is ez win for a great Opeth album. I don't think it's quite up there as Blackwater Park or others because Hex Omega and Burden aren't as great but Heir Apparent and The Lotus Eater (which seem to be the two songs dragging the album down for everyone else here <_<) carry it alone to victory over an album that shouldn't have won its league 14 match.

Final round is the infamous Gutter Ballet versus an uninteresting piece of thrash. Whatever, I don't hate that album anymore. It's fine. Corrosion of Conformity Chemistry of Consciousness doesn't bring anything new to the table. The only thing I have to say about it is that the cover art could have been great if the DNA wasn't on that snake. Looks so stupid...
 
In Flames has better vocals, and better music too, so they get the vote over Bloodbath.

Blind Guardian in a relatively easy choice over Amorphis. It's a bit surprising to see that BG probably won't win this one.

Opeth takes it over Sabbath on the strength of Burden alone. If all of their songs were as good as Burden they would undoubtedly be my favorite band.

Toxic Holocaust was some very nice thrash. I wouldn't mind listening to them again if the mood strikes me, but in the end I still gotta go with Savatage.
 
Bloodbath was okay for that style, but that's just not my style. In Flames may not have vocals I adore, but the music is decent. As someone noted, this is one of their masterpieces. Too bad those were only the early albums.

Blind Guardian is a band I always have time for. Amorphis has had some interesting stuff but this album of theirs isn't exactly something I love.

Black Sabbath over Opeth for me. I've listened to a few Opeth albums as part of the prep for this, and I'm just coming to the conclusion that it doesn't matter what particular version of Opeth we get, they just aren't for me.

Savatage. I'm a Jon Oliva stan.
 
Three decently close races and a walk.
In Flames starts a run by beating a challenge from Bloodbath. We'll see Bloodbath again in League 8.
Amorphis continues their strong presence by beating Blind Guardian. BG is still floating around in the active tournament and will show up next round.
Opeth ends this particular Black Sabbath challenge. They're back in League 11.
And finally, Savatage crushes Toxic Holocaust quite easily. TH are done. We'll see if Savatage can beat Sons of Apollo next.
 
3e16d24e06526635ea3f569f4473c1ff.500x500x1.jpg

The Business - Hardcore Hooligan (2003)

How it got here
List entries: n/a
Maidenfans Nominators: @phantomoftheicarus
League 12 - Match 21vs.
Gojira_-_L%27Enfant_Sauvage_cover.jpg

Gojira - L’Enfant Sauvage (2012)

How it got here
List entries: n/a
Maidenfans Nominators: @phantomoftheicarus
Previous Rounds:
League 13: Defeated Thorns - Thorns 15-8.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nightwish_Wishmaster.jpg

Nightwish - Wishmaster (2000)

How it got here
List entries: n/a
Maidenfans Nominators: @Forostar
League 12 - Match 22vs.
Blaze_Bayley_-_Man_Who_Would_Not_Die_cover.jpg

Blaze Bayley - The Man Who Would Not Die (2008)

How it got here
List entries: n/a
Maidenfans Nominators: @Poto
Previous Rounds:
League 13: Defeated Virgin Steele - The Marriage of Heaven & Hell, Part I 20-3.
 
SuicidalTendenciesAlbum.jpg

Suicidal Tendencies - Suicidal Tendencies (1983)

How it got here
List entries: n/a
Maidenfans Nominators: @srfc
League 12 - Match 23vs.
Blind_guardian_tales.jpg

Blind Guardian - Tales From the Twilight World (1990)

How it got here
List entries: n/a
Maidenfans Nominators: @Night Prowler
Previous Rounds:
League 14: Defeated Kamelot - Karma 18-3.
League 13: Defeated Yngwie Malmsteen - Marching Out 16-9.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Symbolofsalvation.JPG

Armored Saint - Symbol of Salvation (1991)

How it got here
List entries: n/a
Maidenfans Nominators: @MrKnickerbocker
League 12 - Match 24vs.
The_Real_Thing_album_cover.jpg

Faith No More - The Real Thing (1989)

How it got here
List entries: DigitalDreamDoor 75
Previous Rounds:
League 17: Defeated Aria - Герой Асфальта 20-5.
League 16: Defeated Testament - Practice What You Preach 14(ET)-13.
League 15: Defeated Yngwie J. Malmsteen’s Rising Force - Rising Force 13-11.
League 14: Defeated Nevermore - Dead Heart in a Dead World 14-7.
League 13: Defeated Motörhead - Orgasmatron 14-10.
 
A fantastic Nightwish album up against one of Blaze’s weakest moments. I was just listening to Wishmaster yesterday and it kicks ass. It was the moment when Tuomas really learned how to craft great hooks into his band’s brand of symphonic power metal. Great submission @Forostar .
 
No One Likes Us...No One Likes Us...Well, at least they have some sense of selfknowledge.
I didn't like the song and I'm not triggered to hear more songs of The Business. :p
Gojira isn't my cup of tea either although there are parts of the song which I like, to my big surprise.
But as whole I don't like the sound though and I'm not planning to hear them again in the future so I'm going to do something I never did in the GMAC. Neither of the 2 gets my vote. Oops..I missed.

The Man Who Would Not Die is one of the weaker Blaze albums. His first 3 are way WAY better.
Wishmaster is an album I enjoyed alot in the past so Nightwish gets my vote.

I get suicidal tendencies from listening to the band Suicidal Tendencies. Next one please.
In the previous round I didn't vote for Blind Guardian, but now they're an obvious choice.

Armored Saint isn't bad but Faith No More is better.
 
Gojira are boring but ooooof it’s an easy win for them.

Definitely Nightwish. Blaze cannot compete with this album.

Can’t stand Suicidal, so I’ll throw a vote to Hansi.

Man, what a shit fucking draw for Armored Saint. Symbol of Salvation is one of the absolute greatest classic metal records of all time. I get that Faith No More are more popular and weirder, and hence perceived as better, but Symbol of Salvation deserves so much more than this. If anyone is voting without listening to the entire album, you’re doing yourself a disservice as a metal fan.
 
The Business - ok oi punk, Millwall due some royalties for the lyrics, I'd be very surprised if a punk band hadn't ripped off "no one likes us we don't care" long before 2003 though.

Gojira - not doing a lot for me

The Business with the win

Nightwish - Just knew that key change for the verse was coming:lol: Riff from No More Lies @1.32 there as well and I know Steve is a fan of these :lol:, vocal a bit more authentic sounding than if it was a standard power metal bloke.

Blaze Bayley - opinion given before

Blaze Bayley with the win

Suicidal Tendencies - I took a risk nominating this album from Suicidal as I reckon Lights, Camera, Revolution or even How Will I Laugh Tomorrow would probably go down better on this forum, but the first album is the more unique of their records. There's lots of humour on the record and the teen angst is authentic, they were still kids at the time as you can see in the video. I'm sure people may already be aware of Institutionalized, but other stand out tracks are I Saw Your Mommy, Subliminal, Suicidal Failure, Two-sided Politics and I Won't Fall in Love Today.

Blind Guardian - A bit more grit than the usual power metal

Suicidal Tendencies with the win, I'm not Anti-Power Metal, Power Metal's Anti-Me!

Armoured Saint - Never heard these before, Bush is a fabulous singer, music sounds a bit like it's earlier than 91 though, a bit of a Crue vibe from it.

Faith No More - opinion given before

Faith No More with the win
 
Last edited:
Laaarndan punk v a current heavyweight of the metal scene is a strange duel. The Business are pretty good for their scene, but The Infant Sausage has a lot more musical skill, energy and creativity to it. Gojira.

Wishmaster is absolutely classic Nightwish, back when they weren't above singing about elves. No disrespect to Blaze here, I have nothing against this album, it's just not as original.

More punk v metal. For some reason this sounds like very modern punk, which it isn't, not as authentic (or cliche, if you like) as older style punk, and with lots of swanky rock thrown into it, which always strikes me as slightly at odds with punk. Power metal is quite a relief after listening to this. Blind Guardian it is.

The last pair took a lot more thinking about. I'm no great fan of Armoured Saint (can't get into any of the tunes and not keen on the hard rock vocals) but I can't help feeling Faith No More have gone as far as they should and are fast being outclassed by the albums in the game. Got to go with Faith No More. At least I enjoy their music more.
 
And we start this round of The Greatest Metal Album with a... Oi/ Punk record. Mmmmmm alrighty then. These guys are veterans at what they do, have some great tunes regarding the genre, never endorsed the far right BS many of those bands did and what else can I say? They really work regarding the stuff they aim to, namely simple sing along stadium hooligan anthems about football. But (besides absolutely unidimensional) there's a problem with Hardcore Hooligan regarding this game: it's a compilation and I don't think it's fair a Best Of going against a "regular" album. Nevertheless, No One Likes Us, Hardcore Hooligan, Terrence Lost Its Soul or Guiness Boys are tracks I wouldn't mind listening to before watching a derby. Apart from that this record offers little to nothing (and neither i think the band wanted it to offer, so fair enough). On the other hand we have one of the most innovative metal albums of the 21st century... Easy: Gojira.

As you probably should expect I really dislike bands that play in the same line of Symphonic Female-fronted Metal of Nightwish. Nevertheless I must give props to the band at least regarding two aspects: a) spearheading the genre to a certain point and b) having Tarja as a vocalist. It does not matter either you like her singing or not (I must confess I'm not a fan of her operatic soprano registry) but fact is It's unbelievable when this women opens that throat (hey! no dirty second thoughts guys... behave!) and unleashes what seems to be the content of air that a regular human being would only amass inside if he had 2 pairs of lungs. This woman can sing, period! And then there's some really interesting compositions (mainly regarding keyboards) here and there like The Kinslayer and its Carl Orff punch, Wanderlust or the title track (this song always makes me laugh because It reminds me a well known misheard lyrics Youtube video). Summing it up: do I like Wishmaster? No. Nevertheless I give it props to a certain point... it's influential and leaves the Within Temptations, Epicas and Evanescences of the world miles below. As for Blaze's album it's a cool tough as nail heavy metal trip (although little more than that) and that's enough for getting my vote.

Next we have Tales From The Twilight World once again and (as I said before) this is the last record where I followed BG linearly. I think Follow The Blind was indeed their highest point and, although its follower is still really good (especially when it goes uptempo in tracks such as Welcome To Dying, Goodbye My Friend and Lost In The Twilight Hall) I can't help but feel the band lost a bit of edge here. Nevertheless its quality is undeniable and remains as one of the references in the power metal genre . As for Suicidal Tendencies' debut it was simply a revolution (without lights and camera for now...) for (IMO) this is the very first crossover record album ever done. Mixing in equal doses the brutality of Earth AD, the Hardcore/ Punk groove of Bad Brains, the more comical side of The Ramones and the rumbling speed of Mothorhead, Muir and company built a testament to non stop energy that would influence so many different sub genres it's ridiculous. From absolute sonic assaults like Suicide Is An Alternative, Subliminal, Memories Of Tomorrow or I Shot The Devil to the psychotic Institutionalized or the twisted humor of I Saw Your Mommy this is a win hands down from start to finish. Only thing holding it down is the production but even regarding that point the band re recorded the songs in their 1993 compilation Still Cyco After All These Years in a stellar fashion that sweeps any kind of rational doubt regarding the immense quality of Suicidal Tendencies' first effort.

Finally we have the last Armored Saint before John Bush left to join Anthrax. And although Bush's voice sounds powerful as ever the album itself kinda lacks that more classic heavy metal/ uptempo takes of past albums (especially Raising Fear). I miss the in-your-face-metal tracks like March Of The Saint, Mad House, Terror, No Reason To Live, Can U Deliver, Crisis Of Life or Raising Fear in Symbol Of Salvation, an album that (like many 80's heavy metal bands) portraits the band in some sort of a crossroad as the Seattle scene started to establish its domination. So yeah... while not being bad I think it's little more than forgettable unlike the classic that is Faith No More's The Real Thing.
 
Last edited:
The Business has no business being here. I don't much care for punk of any stripes, let alone football hooligan punk. I don't even need to apply the @Black Wizard test to this one. It's an easy Gojira win.
I like most of Blaze's solo stuff, and The Man Who Would Not Die is no different, with some really good tracks. But it's not his greatest work, and Wishmaster is an extremely good album from Nightwish, their early apex. Nightwish.
I don't like punk, but this time I will apply the @Black Wizard test and vote simply for the metal band. Also I like Blind Guardian a lot more.
See above for my opinion on Faith No More. Meanwhile Armored Saint pull out an album that, if it was published in 1987, would be a genre cornerstone.
 
The Business is samey, kind of dumb punk, but it has melody and charisma. Meanwhile, the Gojira album is samey chugging with shitty screaming non-melodic vocals. I really don’t understand the appeal of Gojira at all. @phantomoftheicarus, you were guaranteed to both win and lose this one, so...congratusorrylations? Winner: The Business

While this Nightwish album isn’t as good as Oceanborn, which I and I’m sure multiple others nominated for this game, it’s still a very strong album in a similar vein. Although Blaze’s band kills it on The Man Who Would Not Die, Blaze unfortunately also kills it in a different sense with his wildly uncontrolled singing and terrible phrasing. Sorry, @Poto, but @Forostar ’s nominee has yours outclassed here. Winner: Nightwish

Listening to the Suicidal Tendencies album brought back good memories, but aside from “Subliminal”, “I Saw Your Mommy...”, and the brilliant “Institutionalized”, this record is mostly filler. Meanwhile, this Blind Guardian album, while still inferior to Yngwie’s Marching Out, is also still the clear victor here. Sorry, @srfc, but @Night Prowler ’s choice takes this one. Winner: Blind Guardian

This Armored Saint album has good riffage and soloing, and Bush’s voice sounds great most of the time, but what it lacks is memorable vocal lines and songwriting. This sounds like a band with a lot of potential that still has a long way to go. On the other hand, the Faith No More album is great, with limited filler. Sorry @MrKnickerbocker, but I’m not feeling this one. Winner: Faith No More
 
Jer said:
While this Nightwish album isn’t as good as Oceanborn, which I and I’m sure multiple others nominated for this game
Click to expand...
You were the only person to nominate Oceanborn, but it has a list nomination as well so it won't show up for quite awhile.
Once, nominated by @Diesel 11 and @FTB, is the only Nightwish album to get nominated by 2 Maidenfans.
I was shocked too.
 
  • Wow
Reactions: Jer
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top