If Hell Is Empty gets more than 2 votes (me and
@Perun for sure, maybe
@Diesel 11 surprises me too considering he liked the Powerslave cover), I'll consider it a win.. A fucking masterpiece of extreme metal. A soundtrack to the fucking apocalypse. Musical equivalent of drowning in mud and once in a while getting to breathe a bit before getting submerged again. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
While they probably got even heavier after this album, it's still their most balanced and catchiest album. Easy listening. Production is pretty perfect for AN's standards. Drums are programmed yet it's barely noticeable, probably because it's the best fucking drum programming in metal. Irrumator kicks ass on guitar. I doubt anyone goes past this one song but the album is actually quite melodic in parts. There are some quite Maiden-ish guitar melodies/harmonies in parts, and even the solos are quite good. Obviously first thing that will put off people are the vocals but they aren't supposed to be pretty or intelligible or accessible - after all, they don't release the lyrics and the vocals are meant to be more of an instrument, rather than something that drives the album story/lyric wise. Either way, choruses are all super catchy, obviously the ones with clean vocals the most.
The Final Absolution is IMO the most accessible song on the album, with the best chorus so that's why I picked it. However, I think that the centerpiece of the album is the closer Castigation & Betrayal, which is without a doubt the heaviest song in all of metal ever.
Do yourself a favour and listen to it too:
Anyway, while I really do love Ayreon, I'm not much of a fan of The Source, so easy vote there. Other votes: DT over Dio-less Rainbow, Those Once Loyal (2nd best album in this round and Nuclear Assault should've been gone rounds ago), and Sabbat because I never cared for Anthrax.
