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

Kill switch Engage is a bit of a miss for me. They try real hard to keep one foot in the realm of modern metal and the other in modern commercial hard rock, but they tend to draw on my least favourite elements of each.

I don’t love Coroner, but they are closer match to my sensibilities and get my vote.
 
Primordial has a sound that matches the name and I think they do what they do well. What they do is a little icky, not anything I’d listen to for pleasure.

Dark Angel isn’t stylistically much removed from Coroner to my ears, but they are less proficient at it. Kinda put the mindless thrashing in thrash. Primordial gets my half-hearted vote.
 
The Devin song was good, smart metallic progressive hard rock that had that same soaring quality I’ve heard in a few other examples of his work. He’s someone I could listen to more.

But Black Hand Inn is just a real good, fun unself-conscious B Movie of an album with terrific pace, riffing and melodies and will probably continue to get my vote in these lower leagues for a while.
 
Jer said:
Geez, I’ve only got 13 NP angry faces so far. I thought I was pretty good at being an asshole, but apparently I still need more practice!
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I actually didn't even know that you could see a breakdown of likes per emoji face. Nice find.
 
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I will start giving out love faces from now on to counteract the angry faces.

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Killswitch v Coroner was a battle of two bands that don't really do it for me. Going for Killswitch against my better judgment, mostly because the guitar riffing was more interesting (and played in time).

Primordial v Dark Angel was a tough one. I've long wanted to get into Primordial but very little of their music grabs me. This song has a really nice groove and dynamics. I like the crushing wall of guitars especially. At the end, I have to give it to the sheer energy, power, and riffage of Dark Angel.

I'm a huge Devin Townsend fan, he's probably in my top 5 artists, Christeen in particular is one of his best songs. The Infinity album as a whole though is pretty clunky. Devin had a lot of mental health issues that led to some really questionable production/songwriting decisions. When the album is good, it's some of his best work, but it also has a lot of clutter. So with all that in mind, I'm pretty open to giving the vote to a worthy challenger who I might like less/be less familiar with. Running Wild is such a band. I'm not familiar with them at all. However, with only the one song to go off of, I have to give it to Dev. It's decent but ultimately pretty forgettable. It is similarly marred by low budget production, but I still prefer Devin's wall of sound.
 
Finally getting around to listening to more from Black Hand Inn, and what can I say it's good metal.

While loving Devin, I don't like Infinity as much as his other albums... It's the most mental stuff from him, other than SYL's Alien, but that no the same mental. While Alien is filled with hatred and fury, Infinity is more just legit insanity, and I prefer his other albums most of the time, which are more focused even if they deal with their own troubles.

I was going to vote for Black Han Inn but then heard Infinity again and 1) I LOVE Bad Devil 2) This is still a very unique album, nothing like it and likely we won't get anything similar later either. And because of how special it is, I won't vote for what is for me a good power metal album and nothing more over it. (And also because it rocks hard.)
 
The Samson album was interesting. The first two tracks were almost pure 70s Rush worship, which I wasn’t expecting, but then it went off in some different directions. Bruce’s voice kept veering in and out of recognizability, too — it was weird to hear him singing in a more standard, nondescript way at times. The record as a whole is pretty raw and uneven, but has some enjoyable stuff on it. Meanwhile Dance Of Death is bottom third Maiden, and it has a number of missteps on it; but even weak Iron Maiden is better than many other albums, and I think that’s the case here. Sorry, @Forostar, but I’m going to go with @Black Wizard ’s nominee this time. Winner: Iron Maiden

Killswitch Engage. Apparently the end of their heartache is the beginning of my earache. I can’t stand the constant barrage of non-melodic screaming, mindless chugging, and occasional “hey, why not” blast beats. The singer sounds pretty good when he goes melodic, as does the music, but unfortunately the good stuff is a minor ingredient hiding in the middle of a shit sandwich. Sorry, @Black Wizard, but Coroner takes this one by default. Winner: Coroner

This Primordial album seemed slightly better than the last one in the GMAC. The singer wasn’t as frequently off key, and it seemed like there was a little more acoustic flavor mixed into the heavy grooves; but the tendency to establish one straightforward groove and pretty much sit in it for the entire song is still here, unfortunately. And it seems like the singer is never fully singing — he’s always at least half speaking, and sometimes more than that. And I don’t recall any black metal vocals particularly standing out on the last album, but they seem to pop up more often on this one, and for me that’s not a plus. Then we have the Dark Angel album, which I’m not a big fan of, and getting tired of voting for. That said, their music is more interesting moment to moment, and while their singer offers up typically bad thrash metal vocals, they’re still better on balance than what I’m hearing from Primordial. Sorry, @Magnus, but Primordial is apparently not my cup of tea. Winner: Dark Angel

Hadn’t heard any Devin Townsend before, and this album is completely bonkers. An industrial base with pipe organ, trumpet solos, and plenty of other bizarre choices throughout. This is a challenging listen, but it’s also a surprising and rewarding one (except for “Ants”, which is awful). The noisy, reverby feel of everything was a little offputting at first, but I came around to it pretty quickly. I also like how many of the tracks bleed into each other. The Running Wild album is enjoyable for what it is, but the sheer originality of Infinity is enough to win me over to @karljant ‘s choice here. Winner: Devin Townsend
 
Head On is a fun record. Of course there's a lot of filler but also lots of interesting parts and some really good songs: Take It Like A man and Hammerhead surely stand out while the pompous interlude of Thunderburst and the final stretch with Take Me To Your Leader and Walking Out On You are also ok. There's a lot of 70's hard rock influences that immediately pop to the eye (especially Deep Purple) making it sound a bit derivative but nonetheless I think Head On works for it was meant to: an uncompromising good time spending hard rock album. On the other hand it still sounds naive, uneven and even half baked through some of its parts. Dance Of Death is a good Maiden album featuring a handful of amazing songs, an awful track and a filler. It's "middle of the rank Maiden" at best but that's more than enough to defeat Head On. Iron Maiden once again.

Then we have one of the bands that spearheaded the Metalcore movement and as almost every band in the genre the pros and cons are evident. While the guitar work harmonies are interesting it's obviously too much derivative from the legacy left by In Flames and At The Gates while the breakdown hardcore parts are really reminiscent of more metallic hardcore acts like later Madball or Hatebreed. But what really wrecks my nerves in KSE and the whole genre is the EMO like melodic clean voice refrains: they sound absolutely detached from the rest of the compositions and poppy and plastic as they can get. Don't get me wrong: there's some interesting stuff here in Rose Of Sharyn, Breath Life, Declaration. But even these songs sound really similar to each other rending the whole experience boring. The two tracks that manage to get out of the rigid molde KSE imposes to themselves are the final two and they sound reasonably ok. So, while not being a bad album it's surely one filled with somewhat derivative, similar, predictable tracks with almost every single one featuring those annoyingly out of context refrains. Props to the band for helping to create a sub genre although one that carries some structural idiosyncrasies that really make me cringe. Coroner on the other hand are also one of the first bands that invested strong into the technical thrash route with some really refreshing cuts so my vote goes to them.

Following we have Spirit Of The Earth Aflame and this is where Primordial starts to definitely shaping their unique sound for the following times after a couple of also unique and good records where the band was still trying to define their blueprint. And yeah... what can I say about Spirit Of The Earth Aflame other than it has everything a great record should have? Firstly the uncanny mesh of Folk, Black and Epic metal is absolutely catchy while the pomp and ambiance building each track manages to deliver is really something. Gods To The Godless is an awesomely intimidating opener and The Soul Must Sleep makes you fall into an uneasy trance with its slow build while retaining your attention though every second of its length. The Burning Season is a rougher cut that slows a bit down only to Nemtheanga's voice to emerge beautifully creating a really well achieved contrast and what to say about the Bathory's Hammerheart like take on Glorious Dawn (a recurring influence on the album that's even more evident here)? Finally The Cruel Sea is an outstanding interlude that serves perfectly as a bridge to the closing rumbling epic Children Of The Harvest. To sum it up Spirit Of The Earth Aflame barely enters my Primordial top 5 and I consider it to be an outstanding record on various aspects (that's how good these guys are!). So, while Darkness Descends also has its influence and charm, I think it fall short when compared with Primordial's record.

Last but not least we have Running Wild against Infinity and Dev's sophomore, a record so singular regarding the variety of ways that it still amazes me to this day (21 years after I first listened to it). Firstly, and to put in context, the man had a really rough experience with hallucinogenics and developed some sort of god complex, fed by the continuous use of drugs while a bigger problem started to rear its head, one that would later develop (his bipolar disorder). With that in mind, and although taking a ultimately wrong approach while thinking he was some kind of chosen privileged, this dude worked his tail off to deliver this majestic ultra excessive and disconcerting masterpiece. And truth be told: the majority of great albums I prefer were done under really murky and uneasy moments in the composers' life. This one's no different.

With that in mind allow me to dive into the record itself. Truth breaks down the door with a bang from the get with the immensity of an absurdly epic OST, drowned in a overuse of reverb and endless layers (a trait that is common to every single song - perhaps the only one) working in perfect harmony that falls upon us like a humongous tidal wave as it culminates in a purely transcendent coda. This thing is so damn well composed, intricate and glorious it seems unreal. Then out of nowhere Christeen fastens the pace with its juvenile and somehow poppy feel to it changing completely the direction its predecessor pointed to. Bad Devil follows with a blast, and once again we're thrown into a completely different set as a Jazz big band theme meets a "metalesque" evil Lloyd Webber feel to it lasts throughout the entire track along with some oddities such as low pitch shifted voices and some SYL like mannerisms. War is even more layered than the previous tracks and delivers its load on a repetitive hypnotic mid pace with bellicose references until it explodes in a million hues and directions at its final stretch. By now, the first time I EXPERIENCED this my jaw was on the floor. I've never heard such a unique and diverse approach to music in such a short span of time and little did I knew things were only getting started. Soul Driven starts with an amazing display of Dev's high pitch voice and the remainder is pure Psychedelia (based on a drug inducted funny as hell episode). To make things even more crazy the purely schizophrenic mesh of jazzy prog rock wankery and comical cartoon lullabies comes as foot in your nuts leaving you even more astray if it was even possible... and to scramble even a little more your mind Dev then unleashes Colonial Boy, a waltz based beautiful and brief tune. Dynamics could easily be adapted by an orchestra in its entirety with its larger than life bursts of grandeur until the soothing, harmonious and calmed down Unity is easily the more relaxed track from the lot. To wrap everything Noisy Pink Bubbles starts in a funky and odd happy/sleazy mood until it flows into the absolute opposite pole, ending as a sad, melancholic beautiful song.

So why did I chose this record (Infinity is undoubtedly one of my top 5 all time albums of any genre so no wonder it was one of the first records that immediately came to my mind while doing a my list taking)? Besides knowing it's an hell of a challenge to get into for most people (curiously I was sold from the get go) I seriously can't remember of a more heterogeneous sonic build while maintaining such a strong and unique blueprint. The schizophrenic and over the top overall feel to it can be intimidating but it's 100% honest regarding what Dev was experiencing at the time. And not to mention that the man did EVERYTHING on this damn monster besides the drums (Gene Hoglan) and the whole big jazz crew in Bad Devil. So saying Infinity is overproduced rather than a critic is a huge compliment to a 25 year old guy loaded on dope and going mad while pulling this up. More so when he can reproduce everything the same way he does here live (unlike almost the totality of overproduced bands). Even though being the portrait of a man losing grips with his own reality while trying to put the whole universe in a record, Infinity is a one of a kind disc and one that surely changed the way I regard music: a rare 100/ 100. Thanks Devin Townsend.
 
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Wow, @karljant nice review. Guess it was the SYL factor which was a turnoff in the first place (and Running Wild bias) but now I´ve read your review, I might give this album another (fair) chance. :)
 
MindRuler said:
Wow, @karljant nice review. Guess it was the SYL factor which was a turnoff in the first place (and Running Wild bias) but now I´ve read your review, I might give this album another (fair) chance. :)
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Thanx. But remember: although I really stood in awe before it from the first listen I know it's far from being a easy listening record. ;)
 
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