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

This Bloodbath album is yet another slog through the extreme metal space, replete with blast beats and shit vocals and some Zakk Wylde pinch harmonics. Some of the song structures are interesting, and a few of the solos are cool, and this vocalist is more bad laryngitis than Cookie Monster, but I’d have no reason to ever want to listen to this again. Put this up against a really good Testament album and it’s not much of a contest. Sorry, @The Flash, but @Black Wizard ’s nominee is the superior one. Winner: Testament

I never really got into The Warning. “Take Hold Of The Flame” is a great song, but it’s the only one on here. There are a few more solid tracks on offer, but then there’s pointless stuff like “Deliverance”, and some so-so garage band material to fill in the rest of the runtime. Not impressed. Plus it’s up against probably the second or third best Megadeth album of the 21st century, so it didn’t really stand much of a chance. Sorry, @Poto, but @Lampwick 43 ’s choice takes this one pretty easily. Winner: Megadeth

Speaking of the best Megadeth albums of the 21st century, I would say that Endgame is at the top of that particular pile. Chris Broderick came out of the gate with something to prove, and he elevated Mustaine’s playing as a result. From the searing “Dialectic Chaos” (an instrumental counterpart to “Into The Lungs Of Hell”) through the midtempo anthem “The Right To Go Insane” there’s not a single mediocre or bad song on offer here, and the tracks cover a good spectrum across the band’s thrashier and more commercial sounds. And Andy Sneap produced it, so it sounds fantastic. Contrast this with The Final Frontier, a middle-of-the-pack Iron Maiden album with one of the weakest first halves in the band’s entire history, and a questionable production job with an extremely dry vocal sound. This is another case where if this were the Greatest Three Songs On A Metal Album Cup, it would be a much tougher choice — but comparing full album to full album the decision here should be pretty obvious. Sorry, @Collin, but @KidInTheDark666 left Bizarro World long enough to demonstrate good judgment here. Winner: Megadeth

I’m not super keen on Avantasia, as it’s a bit overblown; but it’s still consistently high quality theatrical power metal with an entertaining string of guest appearances. Compare that to this Deep Purple album, which is...fine. I totally wouldn’t turn it off if someone else put it on. I don’t think I remember any of the songs on it after listening to it a couple of times, but it’s an album and it’s not bad. Sorry, @matic22, but I think @Black Wizard ’s choice is more up my alley. Winner: Avantasia
 
Last edited:
The Warning is fantastic. It doesn’t get as much attention as the self titled EP and probably isn’t as well known, but it is by far the best representation of pre-Mindcrime Queensryche. I love the raw sound and the songwriting is top notch. It reminds me of early Maiden, the attitude combined with great musicianship and thoughtful lyricism.
 
It starts with two albums I somewhat never got into. I'm not a big fan but still like some stuff from Bloodbath and although The Fathomless Mastery surely has its moments and is quite in the same vein of Nightmares Made Flesh (my fav) I get a bit tired listening to it. Still some great good old school DM in the likes of early Entombed and Dismember. The Formation Of Damnation was a bit of a disappointment but that's only because when compared with the best works by the band it's a bit flat, especially when it created such expectation by being the result of the seminal lineup reunion and had to fill in the shoes of a masterpiece such as The Gathering. But hey... it features The Evil Has Landed and the title track so I'll go with Testament.

As I said before I'm not much of a fan of the compositions on Dystopia (the execution and details are top notch though) but neither am I of pre Rage For Order Queensryche. Nevertheless The Warning features N M 156, Child Of Fire and Roads To Madness and was a decisive step in the band's development so I'll give this one to Queensryche.

We all know (or should know) that Rust In Peace is insurmountable when it comes to Megadeth's discography but apart from that... well ok I'm going to say it: Endgame is probably the band's second best record. Damn, if not it's at least on the same level of excellence as Peace Sells But Who's Buying and So Far So Good So What as far as I'm concerned. Dialectic Chaos is one hell of an opening spurt of masterful solos and stunning riffage and without a break we're thrown into the brutality that is This Day We Fight and man: THIS IS MEGADETH! The Megadeth I loved so much in my teens (namely portraited in the 3 albums I mentioned before) and that ever since only one album tried to embrace it even if i a superficial fashion (The System Has Failed). This thing is vicious, fast, heavy, intricate and absolutely controversial and unapologetic. 44 Minutes is lighter but still displays a awesome balance between heaviness and melody. 1,320 seems something the band would make back in 1988 and by now by the first time I heard this damn album I was already 100% sold on it. And if we exclude the meh-ish Hardest part Of Letting Go the remainder of the album is absolutely no filler top notch Megadeth at its purest form. Ah but then there's Head Crusher... and what can I say? The stunning beginning, the restless pace, thundering chorus... wow! What a monster! Make no mistake: Endgame is not a gem... it's a 2 ton diamond like hammer heading straight to your eardrums. And while I really love The Final Frontier this vote belongs to Megadeth.

I'm not really into Avantasia nor into Avanteurope nor Avant other continent... but surely would thank if someone would rent "A Van Ta get 'em outta my sight". Deep Purple.
 
Last edited:
Gonna go with Bloodbath, even though Formation is a better album and I don't rate Fathomless Mastery at all, but I also can't tolerate Testament after the bullshit show from 2019. Megadeth because I don't care much for non O:M Vestryche. TFF, although Endgame is cool too... And actually gonna go with Avantasia, I liked this album when it came out.
 
Night Prowler said:
Gonna go with Bloodbath, even though Formation is a better album and I don't rate Fathomless Mastery at all, but I also can't tolerate Testament after the bullshit show from 2019. Megadeth because I don't care much for non O:M Vestryche. TFF, although Endgame is cool too... And actually gonna go with Avantasia, I liked this album when it came out.
Click to expand...
What happened with Testament in 2019?
 
Testament
Queensryche
Maiden
Avantasia

although perfect strangers is a good album I listen to things from The Wicked Symphony more frequently.
 
Bloodbath vs Testament - I like the intricacies of the classic Testament albums, but this is one is really just the numb noughties shred-and-shout crap that so amply displayed why thrash was the one classic metal genre that had such a hard time getting a revival. Meanwhile, everything it once stood for had been developed further by death metal, so expertly embodied by Bloodbath. While I think this band doesn't stick out as much as some of their fans believe, this is great stuff for when you need extreme music.

Queensrÿche vs Megadeth - Queensrÿche made some immortal classics, but this is not really one of them. Even on the great albums, Mindcrime and Empire, I tolerate Geoff Tate more than I really enjoy him. Here, he is much more in the foreground and far more annoying. He almost drowns out the excellent guitar work, and the band was also still experimenting with songwriting rather than mastering it. However, I have no clue what this Megadeth album is doing in this game. It's just a record full of plodding, run-of-the-mill Mustaine with nothing that sticks out whatsoever. A somewhat painful vote for Queensrÿche.

Megadeth vs Iron Maiden - This Megadeth album, on the other hand, truly deserves to be here. I was all over it when it was released, and songs like 44 Minutes, How the Story Ends, The Right to Go Insane and This Day We Fight stand with the very best Megadave ever made. The complete conspiracist meltdown this album represents lyrically is almost endearing in its complete ignorance of its inconsistencies or self-contradictions. By contrast, the Iron Maiden album was a bit of a let-down to me when it was released. It's still a Maiden album and there is a reason why they are my favourite band, that being that even their low points are head and shoulders above most other music out there. And there is no doubt that the high points of this album are above Endgame. The low points don't sink too much beneath Megadeth, but I don't know if this is enough to save the album in this round. Somewhat surprising to me, I will vote for Megadeth over Maiden here.

Avantasia vs Deep Purple - Avantasia is what happens when a vision of grandeur is executed by a person with no special talent. It is just average power metal, no matter how much of his ego Sammet pumps into it. Heard now, forgotten in a minute. I like the Deep Purple album, although I'm not really excited by it, but there's no contest.
 
Even average Testament is better than most things. Bloodbath is cool, but I like Testament.

Ugh. Yes, I'm voting for Megadeth because even Dave Mustaine's voice is more palatable than Geoff Tate.

Lower tier Maiden beats lower tier Megadeth.

Purple, I guess. I don't love either of these.
 
The only vote I put any effort into was the one for TFF. My favourite part of Endgame is its opener, "Dialectic Chaos/fffFFF/This Day We Fight!".
 
Perun said:
I like the intricacies of the classic Testament albums, but this is one is really just the numb noughties shred-and-shout crap that so amply displayed why thrash was the one classic metal genre that had such a hard time getting a revival. Meanwhile, everything it once stood for had been developed further by death metal, so expertly embodied by Bloodbath.
Click to expand...
This is a big part of why thrash does nothing for me. Aside from it being so repetitive, and having a habit of attracting both meatheads and impossibly cool alternative types who are too cool (and too stoned) to do anything except stand still and occasionally shout "yeah man" in response to political comments/lyrics.

It so often sounds like a halfway house between old style heavy metal and death/black metal, which long since went darker, lower, more maudlin, faster in some cases, took vocals harsher, and generally took the 'extreme' chalice from thrash.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top