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

This Sodom album is chock full of good thrash tunes with terrible thrash vocals. Can’t argue with the riffage and soloing, but there’s not a lot of variation and the vocals do grate after a bit. The Annihilator album has slightly better vocals, comparable or better riffage and soloing, and a lot more musical range than the Sodom album. Sorry, @Dityn DJ James, your nominee was worthy, but @Perun ’s was a little bit better. Winner: Annihilator

This next one’s the toughest match of the round. Hadn’t heard this Enforcer album before, and it’s a really strong retro NWOBHM homage. The guitar work is consistently great, the songwriting is strong, and other than the somewhat whiny and accented vocals there aren’t many weaknesses here...other than the fact that the style is 100% derivative. There is no “Enforcer sound” to speak of, this is just a melange of other bands’ styles — but it is an excellently crafted ransom note. It’s up against a classic Satriani album whose songwriting is probably a little bit weaker overall, but has higher highs and more originality. I could probably go either way here, but I’m going to tip my hat to originality in the end. Sorry, Perunoftheicarus, but @MrKnickerbocker ’s choice ekes this one out. Winner: Joe Satriani

This Mastodon album was a surprise — it’s the first album of theirs that I actually enjoyed all the way through. I think it’s because they kept things more melodic and didn’t devolve as far into screamy stoner territory as they normally would. I like the rhythm guitar work and the mildly proggy approach. I’m not super thrilled with the singer, but he’s fine here. I’ll definitely listen to this one some more. It’s up against a solid Blind Guardian album that’s lasted far longer than it should have in this game, and one that built its streak on the carcass of my far superior nominee, Yngwie Malmsteen’s Marching Out, so I’ve been waiting for a reasonable opportunity to vote against it. Sorry, @Night Prowler, but your massive Communist-funded voter fraud scheme that stole my obvious landslide victory won’t be able to keep @Collin ’s nominee from making the GMAC great again! Winner: Mastodon

The last match-up is straightforward — Ten is a great record and Chinese Democracy is a joke. Sorry again, @Night Prowler, but Larianawick 43’s nominee just put your album in a Uighur concentration camp. Winner: Pearl Jam
 
M-16 is my 2nd favorite album of all time, and an unsung hero in Sodom's discography. Their most concise, chaotic, and polished offering of old school Blackened thrash.
 
I also love the German workmanship of the release. It's very blue collar. And you can tell this is music made by guys who would be destined to be coal miners if they didn't make it big or otherwise had found a way out. You're not getting the polished West Coast thrash sounds of Metallica here, Daddy's money doesn't won't cover the cost of production this time! This is just old school, straight shootin, hard working thrash, right to the bone.
 
But Mastodon have three singers + Scott Kelly from Neurosis sings on Steambreather, so that makes it four. Which one do you like? :D
The collage of singers is in the acceptable range on this album. (I wondered why the guy sounded a little different and worse sometimes...)
 
Time is limited, update will go tomorrow sometime:

Annihilator, Enforcer, Blind Guardian, Pearl Jam.
 
this is music made by guys who would be destined to be coal miners if they didn't make it big or otherwise had found a way out. You're not getting the polished West Coast thrash sounds of Metallica here, Daddy's money doesn't won't cover the cost of production this time!
Two different types of animals, the German and California Thrash scenes. But even Sodom went kinda polished when comparing all their following releases with their first two: In The Sign Of Evil and Obsessed By Cruelty (and so did the remainder of the so called German Thrash big bands like Kreator and Destruction). Even the new album that incorporates blast beats a lot and sure is heavy lacks that semi-Black Thrash feel to it. It's a normal process.
 
Sodom gets blown away by Annihilator. They're back once more in League 5.
Joe Satriani barely clips past Enforcer, who are eliminated from the tournament. Next up for Satch: Testament.
Blind Guardian continues their deep run with a strong win over Mastodon. They're back in Match 31.
Pearl Jam holds Chinese Democracy to only 1/2 of ten votes as they advance. GNR has another album in the GMAC, all they way up in the Championship (League 2).
 
Lefthandpath_AlbumCover.jpg

Entombed - Left Hand Path (1990)

How it got here

List entries: Rolling Stone 82, DigitalDreamDoor 93
Maidenfans Nominators: n/a
League 7 - Match 25vs.
Judas_Priest_Nostradamus.jpg

Judas Priest - Nostradamus (2008)

How it got here

List entries: n/a
Maidenfans Nominators: @Night Prowler
Previous Rounds:
League 12: Defeated Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti 16-10.
League 11: Defeated Alice in Chains - Jar of Flies 14-8.
League 10: Defeated Ulver - Bergtatt 14-13.
League 9: Defeated Whitesnake - Whitesnake 16-10.
League 8: Defeated Murg - Varg & Björn 18-7.
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Razor - Violent Restitution (1988)

How it got here

List entries: n/a
Maidenfans Nominators: @Dityn DJ James
League 7 - Match 26vs.
220px-Rainbow_-_Ritchie_Blackmore%27s_Rainbow_%281975%29_front_cover.jpg

Rainbow - Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow (1975)

How it got here

List entries: Metalstorm 49
Previous Rounds:
League 15: Defeated Crimson Glory - Crimson Glory 12(ET)-11.
League 14: Defeated Tony MacAlpine - Maximum Security 20-3.
League 13: Defeated Powerwolf - Lupus Dei 21-8.
League 12: Defeated Thin Lizzy - Bad Reputation 14-12.
League 11: Defeated HammerFall - Crimson Thunder 20-2.
League 10: Defeated Death - Leprosy 20-7.
League 9: Defeated Krokus - Headhunter 21-6.
League 8: Defeated Audioslave - Audioslave 15-10.
 
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Alice_In_Chains-Facelift.jpg

Alice in Chains - Facelift (1990)

How it got here

List entries: n/a
Maidenfans Nominators: @phantomoftheicarus, @Travis The Dragon
League 7 - Match 27vs.
Iron_Maiden_-_Virtual_XI.jpg

Iron Maiden - Virtual XI (1998)

How it got here

List entries: n/a
Maidenfans Nominators: @Niall Kielt
Previous Rounds:
League 10: Defeated Borknagar - The Olden Domain 16-11.
League 9: Defeated Ensiferum - One Man Army 19-8.
League 8: Defeated Bathory - The Return 15-10.
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Linkin_Park_Hybrid_Theory_Album_Cover.jpg

Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory (2000)

How it got here

List entries: n/a
Maidenfans Nominators: @KidInTheDark666
League 7 - Match 28vs.
Deep_Purple_-_Burn.jpeg

Deep Purple - Burn (1974)

How it got here

List entries: n/a
Maidenfans Nominators: @matic22
Previous Rounds:
League 8: Defeated Mekong Delta - Wanderer on the Edge of Time 16-9.
 
I hate this round. The newcomers are great, but they're up against albums whose only strength is their brand value.
 
Voting for all the newcomers.

Left Hand Path isn’t one of my favorite death metal albums, but it’s one of the defining releases in the genre and I have way more respect for it than the bloated Nostradamus.

I’m just giving Razor a pity vote because I don’t really care about which one wins but no doubt Dio will end up taking the lead.

I like Virtual XI more as an album, but it’s not one that I feel really deserves to go far in this game. “Como Estais Amigos” is truly masterful, but besides that, none of the other songs come close to the level AIC reached with “We Die Young”, “Man In The Box”, and “Bleed The Freak”.

“Burn” is one of my favorite DP songs, but I’d rather hear “In The End”.
 
Entombed - Not my cup of tea, but more listenable to me than 99% of the extreme bands in the game, outro section is real good

Judas Priest - opinion given before

Judas Priest with the win

Razor - Sounds kind of like NWOBHM but produced like a contemporary 1988 extreme metal album. Slayeresque breakdown at 2 mins is good.

Rainbow - opinion given before

Rainbow with the win

Alice in Chains - copy and paste my standard grunge comment here

Iron Maiden - opinion given before

Iron Maiden with the win

Linkin Park - not for me

Deep Purple - opinion given before

Deep Purple with the win
 
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