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

It's odd, I always considered Gutter Ballet to be top tier Savatage. Silk and Steel, Of Rage and War, title track, She's in Love, Thorazine Shuffle, and When the Crowds are Gone are some of my favorite Savatage songs. I will admit it falls off a bit after the first side.
 
Oops, I thought it closes at 6:42 PM but it was AM. My picks would have been:

In Flames - I thought on voting Ghost at first but In Flames got stuck in my head, they're actually really good

Devin Townsend - I thought on choosing this album but didn't want to oversaturate my list with Devin (Blaze is a different story :P). A lot of memorable songs: Earth Day, Deep Peace, Nobody's Here, Canada, Mountain... Not my favourite Devin album but really good. The solo on Deep Peace is the best thing in these 8 albums period.

Opeth - The Who were fine but I wasn't ready for it, love Opeth

Can't choose on the last one because I left Psychotic Symphony for today.
 
In Flames busts a Ghost, and moves on to League 10. Tobias Forge & co return in League 6.
Amorphis beats Devin Townsend, who is next up in League 9.
Opeth doesn't have any time for The Who's watershed album. That's it for the British legends in the GMAC, and Opeth will face Nightwish in a Northern battle next League.
Savatage barely squeaks out past Sons of Apollo, who are eliminated from the GMAC. It'll be Savatage vs KISS next round.
 
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Primus - Frizzle Fry (1990)

How it got here
List entries: n/a
Maidenfans Nominators: @Whooten
League 11 - Match 21vs.
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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.
League 12: Defeated The Business - Hardcore Hooligan 16-4.
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Metallica - Death Magnetic (2008)

How it got here
List entries: n/a
Maidenfans Nominators: @KidintheDark666
League 11 - Match 22vs.
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Nightwish - Wishmaster (2000)

How it got here
List entries: n/a
Maidenfans Nominators: @Forostar
Previous Rounds:
League 12: Defeated Blaze Bayley - The Man Who Would Not Die 14-7.
 
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Eis - Galeere (2015)

How it got here
List entries: n/a
Maidenfans Nominators: @Perun
League 11 - Match 23vs.
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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.
League 12: Defeated Suicidal Tendencies - Suicidal Tendencies 18-8.
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Fear Factory - Obsolete (1998)

How it got here
List entries: n/a
Maidenfans Nominators: @Shmoolikipod
League 11 - Match 24vs.
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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.
League 12: Defeated Armored Saint - Symbol of Salvation 13-8.
 
Primus - Track sounds like Frank Zappa playing the groove from Sabbath's Electric Funeral.

Gojira - opinion given before

Primus with the win

Metallica - been a while since I listened to this one, while obviously not their best work it's a decent record, I think turning down the gain on the rhythm guitars works for them, they only real problem I have with this album and HTSD is they really need to take time on the arrangements

Nightwish - video won't show up for me so I went to youtube and picked the title track, phony overproduced sounding but there's a track underneath the sheen, it's a catch 22 situation in all that overblown stuff is obviously what gives them their identity but it's a deal breaker as far as I'm concerned

Metallica with the win, but I'd probably have gone with Nightwish if they were in some of the other ties

Eis - Intro nice atmosphere but a bit too long, riff was more mainstream than I was expecting to kick in (a good thing), vocal was exactly what I was expecting though (a bad thing), blast beat section is where I lost interest

Blind Guardian - Intro good, double bass contributes nothing stealing focus from a decent riff, vocal average

Blind Guardian with the win

Fear Factory - no thanks

Faith No More - opinion given before

Faith No More with the win
 
A real early morning "couldn't be arsed" post alright, after having some cups of tea by now, I will add that I'm not a fan of demanufacture at all but I think it's a good bit better than this album which seems very much influenced by what was popular at the time in 1998 and sounds dated now
 
Diesel 11 said:
Death Magnetic is a snooze fest.
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Your review of it (and its subsequent defense by everyone else) was the reason I listened to that album in the first place. I ended up loving it.
Fun fact: did you know that the version of Death Magnetic on YouTube is the better-sounding 2016 iTunes remaster?
 
We start with the bass virtuoso Les Claypool and company and Frizzle Fry is one hell of a trip. To Defy The Laws Of Tradition sets the tone with its strong pace and dissonant intricate groove, followed by Groundhog's Day schizophrenic take on the blues bathed in funk as usual in Primus. Too Many Puppies is a heavy mid tempo stomper that sounds a bit uninspired while Mr. Knowitall groove is as mind boggling as addictive. Next is the title track: a syncopated crescendo of a song that explodes at the end in a really bogus yet fantastic way. John The Fisherman is a way more heavy yet conventional take on Primus' sound. As the album moves towards its end one can only marvel at Les' godly skills on tracks like The Toys Go Winding Down, to dive in the absolutely huge funky groove of Harold Of The Rocks or let your brain boil in yet another three tracks like Spaghetti Western, Pudding Time or the album's closer. Make no mistake: if you're looking for an easy listening record you won't find it here. But if your thing is a great dissonant groovy record with jaw dropping bass passages and a crap load of curve balls then Frizzle Fry is definitely for you. But even taking into account how great of a record Primus were able to pull out here L'Enfant Sauvage is simply too good therefore Gojira gets my vote.

By 2008 the majority of the big 80's Metal bands were already making a rehashing of their blueprints. All but Metallica... but that was about to change with Death Magnetic. A long (too long IMO) and intriguing intro opens the whole thing and what comes out of it seems like a sort of less technical and watered down Blackened in That Was Just Your Life. And while being far from the band's best track it features some really great passages especially its chorus, soloing and harmonized guitars. So yeah... a cool opener! The End Of The Line is next: a boring track that's kind of "what an And Justice For All song would sound like if it was composed to fit the Black Album" thing (a trait that's present in many of Death Magnetic's tracks). Broken Beat & Scarred is a potent mid pace crusher that mingles that Some Kind Of Monster stomp with 'Tallica's traditional sound and works pretty good while The Day That Never Comes is merely a poor man's uninspired Fade To Black but still has an interesting soloing section. All Nightmare Long is another weird Justice meets Black Album hybrid and although not being bad it's too unfocused to capture my attention. Cyanide on the other hand is a tough as nails heavy rocker where the band takes the inverse road since this seems like a comercial song formatted and steroid filled to sound huge and frighteningly metal (and damn it works). Then we have the unending saga of The Unforgiven and I must confess that, although being far from a stellar song, the bass here is killer and the song is way more somber than its predecessors. Judas' Kiss also has its moments but once again seems like the band is sitting on the fence when it comes to the direction they intended to take. Suicide And Redemption on the other hand is a monster of a song: a Sabbath based instrumental upon which the band delivers an array of great nuances, guitar harmonies and solos (I know it's not as good as its 80's siblings but hey... it's still really good). My Apocalypse is a somehow enjoyable speedster that closes an album where the band played extremely safe after the daring St. Anger. And that's my main concern with Death Magnetic: It seems like a record made solely to recover lost 80's fans without going too much thrashy and frightening their light sounding audience. And by doing so they created a record that seems like a strange mixing between Justice and The Black album (two albums so dissimilar it's virtually impossible to combine them successfully), while also sounding forced and half baked during a considerable amount of its songs. That being said half baked Metallica is still more than enough to beat Nightwish granting my vote.
 
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Gojira isn't my thing and probably never will be. I've tried, I've failed. My loss.
Primus by far!

Death Magnetic isn't even Top 5 Metallica and very boring.
Wishmaster is the pinnacle of Nightwish.

There is a Dutch word "Eikes" that sounds abit like "Eis" and its meaning is not far from what I feel while listening.
Blind Guardian with the easy win.

Fear Factory: No Thanks
Faith No More: Opinion given before
Faith No More with the win
(Trademark by @srfc )
 
Actually, Diesel, you should probably give the remaster of Death Magnetic a shot. It's not headache-inducing anymore, the riffs pop out when they need to, and the vocals sound much cleaner.
 
Midnight said:
Actually, Diesel, you should probably give the remaster of Death Magnetic a shot. It's not headache-inducing anymore, the riffs pop out when they need to, and the vocals sound much cleaner.
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Which remaster? I’ve heard some stuff here and there where people remix what they can. I’m just really not a fan of the material.
 
Diesel 11 said:
Which remaster? I’ve heard some stuff here and there where people remix what they can. I’m just really not a fan of the material.
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The official "Mastered For iTunes" version. It's the one on YouTube (or you could find a rip; the choice is yours). The one on Spotify is the original - it should be avoided.
Also, while the album might not be their best, All Nightmare Long might actually be Metallica's most enjoyable music video.
 
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I own all the early Primus albums, but Frizzle Fry isn’t one that I pull out very often. Not that there’s anything wrong with it, but I’ll pretty much always go for Pork Soda or Sailing The Seas Of Cheese instead. Still, the debut has impeccable lead bass playing, that bizarre alt-funk sound that Primus is famous for, and a number of cool tracks. Meanwhile, Gojira is a bunch of pointless screaming on top of a bunch of pointless chugging. Sorry, @phantomoftheicarus, but this is an easy win for @Whooten ’s nominee. Winner: Primus

The second match-up is the most interesting one, with a solid B+ Metallica album against a pretty decent Nightwish album. The Metallica album feels a bit forced, like they’re adding little change-ups and flourishes because they think they’re supposed to, rather than having them occur naturally; and “My Apocalypse” kind of sucks. But beyond those criticisms, and the obvious mastering problems on the CD, there’s a lot of very solid to strong material on here, and it was definitely the best Metallica album since ...And Justice For All. The Nightwish album is also solid, but aside from a few class tracks like “She Is My Sin” and “Crownless”, this winds up sounding like a bunch of B-sides from the far superior Oceanborn, which I nominated for this contest. Sorry, @Forostar, but I’ve got to go with @KidInTheDark666 ’s choice here. Winner: Metallica

The Eis album has some cool atmospherics and music in places, but too much of it is samey black metal cackling and blast beats, which I’m fresh out of patience for. Sorry, @Perun, but @Night Prowler ’s nominee wins by default. Winner: Blind Guardian

Ugh, Fear Factory. Lots of non-melodic screaming, and the clean parts don’t really make up for it. I just don’t hear much of anything here that interests me. I guess “Timelessness” is OK, and the cover of “Cars” is fine, but it’s cheating when you use the original singer. Sorry, @Shmoolikipod, but this really can’t hold a candle to an album of The Real Thing’s caliber. Winner: Faith No More
 
Jer said:
The Nightwish album is also solid, but aside from a few class tracks like “She Is My Sin” and “Crownless”, this winds up sounding like a bunch of B-sides from the far superior Oceanborn, which I nominated for this contest.
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:(
 
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