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

Iron Maiden get my vote in the first round, if only because I'm too tired to appreciate Arcturus. Eh, they aren't winning anyway; I'll check them out later.

Coroner showcases one of my pet peeves in metal. They start with some fast, fun riffing... and then ruin it with the growls. Growls have their place, but this is the sort of song that would work better with harsh singing. Besides, Rush has Animate: a song that I rate 10/10.

Primordial sounds really cool! I've tried listening to The Human Contradiction many times in the past, and it always leaves me cold.

Permanent Waves is probably the better album. On the other hand, The Pacific goes BOOM, so Ahab it is!
 
I really enjoyed Arcturus. Again, not something that I will always pull out, but against a lesser Maiden album with not too many tracks that are still supremely standout, something that is the pinnacle of its craft deserves a vote.

I picked Delain for @Black Wizard.

RUSH BIAS
200w.webp
 
The music on the Arcturus album is consistently interesting, though it veers into carnival territory at times. I’m already on record saying that the main singer is bad, and sounds like a depressed foreign version of Fred Schneider from the B-52s, and I stand by that characterization. He just sounds out of place most of the time, especially when juxtaposed against the female opera singer. There’s an album that I want to like hiding in here somewhere, but it’s too obscured by black metal rock lobster. As much as I would like to vote against Dance Of Death, it would be dishonest of me to vote that way this time. Sorry, @Magnus, but @Black Wizard ’s nominee wins this one. Winner: Iron Maiden

Counterparts is an album I played the hell out of when it was new, and while the production still holds up well today, the songwriting often doesn’t. It’s still a good album, but it’s a bottom 5 Rush album IMO. Meanwhile, the Coroner album has great riffage and soloing, but the vocals are typically bad thrash vocals, and the songwriting itself isn’t particularly exciting. This was kind of a tough call, but in the end I think @matic22 ’s nominee comes out on top. Winner: Rush

Hadn’t heard this Delain album before. It’s pretty much what I expected, sort of an Evanescence meets Nightwish vibe, but the singer is quite obviously not a native English speaker, and her vocals have a “little girl” feel to them that doesn’t sit well with me. But the music itself is pretty strong, albeit predictable. And then we have the better of the two Primordial albums we’ve encountered in the game so far. It also has some weaknesses in the singing, and the songs don’t have as much internal variation as I might like; but the whole affair sounds much more honest and less manufactured than Delain. Sorry, @Black Wizard, but I have to go with @Magnus ’s choice this time. Winner: Primordial

@Diesel 11 has been raving about this Ahab album for as long as I can remember. It has some cool atmosphere, and the harmonized vocals at the end of “The Sermon” and the beginning of “The Hunt” have a sweet Fvneral Fvkk feel to them, but oh my god those digestive gurgle main vocals are a complete nonstarter for me. This album also has a lot of pointless plodding mixed in with the more valuable atmosphere-building parts. I can see how someone could love it if they were into extreme vocals and in the right mood, but this is not at all for me. Plus it’s up against a top 5 Rush album. “The Spirit Of Radio” and “Freewill” are a 1-2 punch that would already K.O. most contenders before we even got into the deep tracks, and the deep tracks on this album are also pretty great. Sorry, @Diesel 11, but I have to go with @mckindog ’s nominee here. Winner: Rush
 
1. I couldn’t figure out the point of the Arcturus track. Seemed like soundtrack background music. Plus, Maiden is gonna win, so why fight gravity?
2. Counterparts is a good Rush album but it’s not my favorite, and (spoiler alert) Rush is going to get my vote in this round anyway. I am digging Coroner’s brand of metal, it’s right up my alley. So I give my vote to the underdog.
3. Delain’s singer is easy on the eyes, but I’m not a big fan of this kind of overproduced keyboard metal. I’ll give my vote to Primordial, as it is more aggressive.
4. C’mon. Whatever merits Ahab may have, Permanent Waves is a stone cold classic. Neil Peart RIP.
 
So let's do this thing telegram like this time:

La Masquerade Infernale is a daring venture by one of Avantgarde Black Metal's big names. Sure I don't like everything on Arcturus and perhaps I enjoy Dance Of Death more (a really underrated late Maiden album)... and I should vote for it as I did against King Diamond's but since I'm predicting a flood of Maiden and Bruce records on this game I'll digress and give my vote to the exotic eccentricity of Arcturus.

I'm not much of a Rush fan and although I love a handful of classic albums counterparts is not one of them. Punishment For Decadence's technical thrash is much more my type of thing so it's Coroner hands down.

WTF is this Delain thing? Primordial.

Ahab features really immersive soundscapes good guitar melodies and bears a face of its own. But as a big fan of classic Doom and early Death Doom I'm a bit picky when it comes to funeral doom... the rhythm normally is overwhelming and I can't help but think the whole damn thing would work way better if it was played some BPM's faster. Perhaps that's the grumpy old doomsterin me. On the other hand we have an uneven Rush album that combines great tunes with meh tracks. So it's technically a tie but since I've already voted against them this round I'll give my vote to Rush this time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top