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

Trivium, because Toni Kakko doesn't sing for them.

Rhapsody. because Ministry blows.

Tough call, but hatred for post-Matos Angra prevailed, so Twisted Sister it is.

Buckethead, because Atheist is good, but it also makes me dizzy.
 
Oh man! Trivium vs Sonata Arctica. As Black Adder would say: "Ah... the agony of choice". Flip coin... tails SA, heads Trivium. Heads. Ok it's Trivium.

Another D&D cheesy symphonic power metal versus the most influential Industrial Metal act of all times and arguably Ministry's best record and an habitue on the many alternative (not just metal) top album lists of the 90's ? Sure...

Angra is one of the few Prog/Symphonic/Power metal bands that I could bear and Rebirth was the last album I listened from these guys. Unlike what many others think IMO Edu was a great replacement (RIP André). And the album itself has a couple of really great songs (Nova Era and Acid Rain) while the rest is a bit uninspired and far from being the band's best record (Holy Land IMO). As for Twisted Sister I was never a fan and although the band plays a genre of music I normally detest, from time to time they manage to pull really enjoyable tunes from beneath all that immense layer of cheese (like the more than known I Wanna Rock to others not so popular as The Price or You Can't Stop Rock N' Roll). But the band's debut is a really meh when it comes to standoff tunes so I'll go with the Brazilian.

Buckethead is a great musician, composer and one hell of a guitar virtuoso that (unlike the majority of other guitar virtuosos) extends his discography to a plethora of diverse musical areas. But Atheist's Unquestionable Presence along with Piece Of Time and especially Elements were absolute game changers. By the early 90's bands like Atheist, Death, Cynic and Pestilence started recording this Fusion/ Prog Death mash up. And that movement would influence zillions of bands and the majority of those albums are an absolute beauty.
 
Last edited:
Hadn’t heard the Sonata Arctica album before. The music is consistently great power metal, pushing all the right buttons. The problem is the heavily accented vocals and awkward lyrics, which are a bit of a turnoff. Trivium was also new to me, and the music is actually a pretty interesting mix of thrash, power, and poppy post-punk, but half the vocals are awful non-melodic yelling, which is a non-starter for me. Winner: Sonata Arctica

I actually own this Ministry album, and while I’ve never liked them as much as other industrial bands like Nine Inch Nails, I thought they did some interesting things here with grooves, and some avant-garde structure in tracks like “TV II”. A lot of the vocals are non-melodic, but the extra distortion and effects make them more of a rhythmic element to me than the annoying bro-yelling of nu-metal and beyond. I also noticed upon this relisten that Ministry is probably the band Rob Zombie always wanted to be. Then, Rhapsody. I will say that I enjoy Luca Turilli for the most part — I can totally get into that cheesy neoclassical stuff with harpsichords and dueling guitar/synth solos a la Yngwie Malmsteen. But I’ve always hated Fabio Lione’s thickly accented voice, and the synth horns and some other choices here obscure the mostly strong songwriting beneath the stench of Limburger. Don’t worry, Luca, I nominated one of your solo albums for this contest instead. Winner: Ministry

This Angra album is another one that I hadn’t fully listened to before, and it’s pretty solid power metal with some cheesy synths and weird wimpy moments mixed in, similar to their previous album Holy Land, but without as many of the neat folk elements that album had. The singer sounds like a better version of Andre Matos, whom he replaced in the band. I can dig it. The Twisted Sister album I also hadn’t heard before, and unfortunately the best description I can offer is that it’s basic bitch metal. Uninspired, boring three-note trash. When the best track is a blatant attempt to rip off AC/DC (“Shoot ‘Em Down”), you know you’re in bad shape. No contest here. Winner: Angra

I’d never heard Atheist before, but I was expecting death metal and what I got instead was pretty interesting prog-thrash with not-too-extreme vocals. It’s a bit cacophonous, but the title track was strong and there were cool elements throughout. Buckethead was also new to me, and while I hate his guitar tone, he delivered a solid set of interesting guitar instrumentals. Atheist outperformed expectations, but the competition was more enjoyable. Winner: Buckethead
 
Missed the previous round, unfortunately.

Sonata Arctica - Ecliptica vs. Trivium - Ascendancy

The first four tracks of Ecliptica reminded me pretty clearly why I never cared for power metal. The "epic" vocals that don't sound epic, the weird juxtaposition of soft melodies with aggressive playing, cheesy soft breakdowns. This one is a particularly bad example of those common symptoms though. Metalcore is another genre I don't generally care for and the bands of the genre generally sound very samey to me. Ascendancy is no exception here, the sound doesn't appeal to me and the vocals are pretty weak. They win on the virtue of not being as annoying and having some decent riffs.

Ministry - Psalm 69 vs. Rhapsody - Symphony of Enchanted Lands

Psalm 69 is the best one of the three Ministry albums that I've heard. The raw industrial sound is pretty good and on this record they're listenable even when the songs don't quite come together. Stuff like 'TV II' and 'Jesus Built My Hotrod' are very entertaining. Psalm 69 could've been a favorite of mine had the second half of the album not been so inferior to the first half. I went into the Rhapsody album with a fair bit of prejudice and it was actually even worse than I expected. Take my critique of Ecliptica and multiply it by two. One of the more lopsided matchups so far for me.

Angra - Rebirth vs. Twisted Sister - Under the Blade

More power metal? The best of Rebirth sounds like the type of Dream Theater material that I find corny, the worst of it sounds like your average symphonic power metal band - and it should be established by now that this is not good. Kiko Loureiro and Aquiles Priester are good players, but elsewhere. Twisted Sister does nothing for me, they sound like late 70s-early 80s Judas Priest without the great vocals, bright guitar leads and the occasional compelling ballad. They take it because their sound doesn't annoy me.

Atheist - Unquestionable Presence vs. Buckethead - Pepper's Ghost

Unquestionable Presence was one of my biggest disappointments when I heard it for the first time three years ago. It's a much celebrated record of a time and genre where I've found many records I enjoy - the early 90s Florida death metal scene. It ranges from unmemorable to annoyingly incoherent. Buckethead is someone whose discography I shied away from because it's so extensive. I didn't know where to begin, so I just haven't. I like what he's doing here though. It sounds unpolished for a shredder record, which I like. The lack of vocals and exciting drum and bass parts hurt, but this is pretty good.
 
I have listened to most of Trivium's albums a few times so this was an easy refresher. Not a great album, or a great band, but this is far more listenable than the really lame vocals of Sonata. A vote for Trivium.

Ministry is annoying as hell. "Hey guys, I just discovered the loop pedal! Let's make an album!" Rhapsody is lame, but fun. I could at least make it through the whole album.

That Angra album was a pleasant surprise. Highly enjoyable despite some intense cheesiness. Twisted Sister is pedestrian by comparison.

Atheist is annoying and I couldn't get through even that song. The chord part in Peppers Ghost sounds like the water level in Mario 3, so I'm going for Buckethead.
 
Sonata Arctica finds that happy middle ground between Savatage and Celine Dion. Styx must be proud. And if I am damning with faint praise, they are much better than Trivium, who - despite some decent metal chops - features some of the most forced harsh vocals in this game.
 
Ministry finds a cool groove, wraps ten boney fingers around its throat and squeezes, ignoring any possible diversion until every last bit of snot and spittle has evaporated. I heard less repetition when my vinyl version of Angel and the gambler started skipping while I was still in the shower.

Rhapsody is overwrought and overdone, it’s like the audio version of a He-Man cartoon. It‘s ridiculous, but still kinda fun and doesn’t seem to take itself too seriously. Which makes it better than Ministry.
 
Maybe I have Angra confused with another band, because that was not what I was expecting at all. The production treads too closely to Disney, but the core music seems have as much in common with early Priest and Triumph as it does lush post-millennium power metal. I liked it, and am curious to see what other colours they offer.

Seem to be getting a heavy dose of theatrical music in this round, and not much is as theatrical as the Alice Cooper meets Rocky Horror sounds of Twisted Sister. Very simplistic stuff, but I do like the raw sound and the menace in Snider’s voice. Going to have to dive beyond the teaser tracks and look at this match up more deeply.

EDIT: If you could combine Sister‘s attitude with Angra‘s ability you’d have a pretty fine band. Angra’s edge and Sister’s ability would belong in a middle school recital hall.Two efforts that have things I like but fall short overall. Sister’s bite edges Angra’s earnestness.
 
Haven't got the time to listen to more than just the posted songs this time around.


Match 1:
I’m not the biggest fan of Tony Kakko’s vocals, though I can’t really explain why – it seems to be an opinion shared by a few on these forums. Out of what I’ve heard previously by Sonata Arctica, this is actually one of the better songs (despite the annoying “run away” part).

Trivium’s albums are mostly hit and miss – I love “The Crusade” and “Vengeance Falls”, but an album like “Silence in the Snow” is bland and boring. I can’t decide which group “Ascendancy” belong to based on just one song, but it was a lot more interesting than “Full Moon”.

Voting for Trivium.


Match 2:
Ministry’s song is a very strange offering. Weird, looping noises, repetitive riffs and drums and annoying vocals? No thanks.

Rhapsody didn’t impress me much, but at least it was a fun listen, almost uplifting compared to the mess of Ministry, pronunciation mistakes aside.

Rhapsody gets my vote.


Match 3:
Angra was great. If a band wants to make power metal that isn’t overly cringey, this is definitely the way to do it. Sure, it’s still kinda cheesy, but then without it wouldn’t be power metal, now would it? I’ll definitely give this album a proper listen later.

Twisted Sister always makes for an enjoyable listen. Not much to comment on – though I did get a heavy Judas Priest-vibe from this track, which I didn’t expect.

Honestly, I’d be happy to let both of these albums progress, but seeing that it isn’t a possibility, I’m voting for Angra as I found their track a bit more promising.


Match 4:
My initial reaction to Atheist wasn’t good, yet I found myself rocking along as the song progressed. Definitely some interesting stuff going on there. Is it death metal, progressive metal, "jazz" metal, or everything combined? I can’t really make it out, but I’m somewhat interested in finding out more. The production is pretty bad, though.

I don’t really get Buckethead’s music. Is there a proper backing band behind it? It sounds like MIDI drums to my ears. Oh, well.

I’m going against the majority and voting for Atheist. Not that it seems to make any difference.
 
Started off thinking I was going to hate Atheist. Not just the singer pretending to Be the Mouth of Sauron, but the track seemed more of a loose collection of pieces than an actual song. But as it went on the shifting time changes and grooves started to grow on me. Still not my thing.

The competing song is similar in the sense that it is a collection of parts more than a song. Buckethead isn’t an artist Ive invested a ton of time in, and I wasn’t exactly “wowed” but this is definitely a sound that has a lot more appeal to me, and it easily gets my vote.
 
Sonata Arctica for a musical style I find infinitely more enjoyable than Trivium's. Similar reasoning in pair 2, although Rhapsody are bordering on cheese, but I don't enjoy Ministry's music.

Angra for a full album of completely respectable and nicely written (musically) metal, if on the softer side. I'm not much of a fan of Twisted Sister's dated hard rock/hair metal sound or lighthearted take on music.

Last pair is hardest. Buckethead's tendency to sound like a bloke messing around with a guitar on his own and going off at tangents can be wearing to listen to, but then Atheist give the impression it's all about experimentation too, and that got tiring to listen to. At least I like the sound of Buckethead's guitaristry.
 
Sonata Arctica vs. Trivium: Both choices kinda suck. But SA was really really lame and cheesy, while at least Trivium was trying to be badass, even if they fell short. So, my vote goes to Trivium, but it doesn’t feel good. Can’t we just eliminate both and advance both from another pair? :smartarse: For example...

Ministry v. Rhapsody: I like both of these better than Trivium. Ministry is hardly lame, but their songs can get monotonous, like the exemplar song chosen here, which is 2 minutes too long. Rhapsody is unbelievably cheesy but for some reason I like it. Sounds like a poor man’s Blind Guardian. Fun, folky sound.
 
Angra vs. Twisted Sister: I find the raw, almost amateurish sound of the TS album rather endearing. Angra, I dunno. I’ve heard of them, but they sound like fairly generic power metal to me. Totally random thought about Angra: the androgynous angel figure on the cover has a physique that immediately made me think of a female swimmer I went to college with. (Google Jenny Thompson, one of the most decorated Olympians ever.) Oh, I vote for Twisted Sister.

Atheist v. Buckethead: Atheist could possibly grow on me if I could get past the screeching vocals. Buckethead is interesting and (like Atheist) has some nice riffs, but I don’t really detect any songwriting here, just cool sounds. It’s close, and I don’t plan to buy either, but I’ll give a slight edge to Buckethead.
 
I must be in a power metal kind of mood, because I'm going with Sonata Arctica, Rhapsody, and Angra. And Buckethead.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top