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

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Van Halen - Fair Warning (1981)

How it got here
List entries: Metal Rules 96
Maidenfans Nominators: @Mosh
League 5 - Match 5vs.
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Unleash the Archers - Apex (2017)

How it got here
List entries: n/a
Maidenfans Nominators: @LooseCannon
Previous Rounds:
League 8: Defeated Black Sabbath - Headless Cross 16-14.
League 7: Defeated Paradise Lost - Draconian Times 14-13.
League 6: Defeated Spinal Tap - This Is Spinal Tap 15-10.
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Behemoth - The Satanist (2014)

How it got here
List entries: Metal Kingdom 71
Maidenfans Nominators: @phantomoftheicarus
League 5 - Match 6vs.
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Pantera - Cowboys From Hell (1990)

How it got here
List entries: Metal Rules 85, DigitalDreamDoor 53
Maidenfans Nominators: n/a
Previous Rounds:
League 6: Defeated Scorpions - Lovedrive 16 -9.[/TD]
 
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Sabaton - Carolus Rex (2012)

How it got here
List entries: n/a
Maidenfans Nominators: @Diesel 11, @LooseCannon, @Midnight, @MrKnickerbocker, @Poto
League 5 - Match 7vs.
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Amon Amarth - Twilight of the Thunder God (2008)

How it got here
List entries: n/a
Maidenfans Nominators: @Night Prowler, @Perun
Previous Rounds:
League 6: Defeated Iced Earth - Incorruptible 12(ET)-12.
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Carcass - Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious (1991)

How it got here
List entries: DigitalDreamDoor 87
Maidenfans Nominators: @karljant
League 5 - Match 8vs.
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Symphony X - The Divine Wings of Tragedy (1997)

How it got here
List entries: n/a
Maidenfans Nominators: @Lampwick 43
Previous Rounds:
League 12: Defeated Accept - Blind Rage 17-5.
League 11: Defeated Haken - Affinity 14-5.
League 10: Defeated Moonsorrow - Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa 16-7.
League 9: Defeated Primordial - To the Nameless Dead 15-9.
League 8: Defeated Queensrÿche - Queensrÿche 16-14.
League 7: Defeated In Flames - Battles 23-5.
League 6: Defeated Neurosis - Through Silver in Blood 17-7.
 
Ugh the last round is hard. I know I like The Divine Wings Of Tragedy more than Necroticism: Descanting The Insalubrious, but the songs on the latter are among my favorites in the death metal genre. “Corporal Jigsore Quandary” would likely make my Top 10. Jeez, rough match.
 
MrKnickerbocker said:
Unleash the Archers
Pantera
Sabaton
Symphony X
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Decided to vote these with the exception of Carcass instead of Symphony X. It’s really just a pity vote because I know it’s unlikely to get very far cuz, yknow, extreme metal, but it does deserve to go further in the game IMO. Both do.

Also: Jeff Walker might be my favorite death metal vocalist. Man’s a fuckin’ surgical butcher at the job, slicing and dicing it all up with precision and grit. Love it.
 
Unleash the Archers, easily. I'm not knocking Van Halen, but I never really "got" him. I know he popularized certain guitar techniques that the guitarist in the final band of this round is pretty familiar with, but he never struck a chord with me. I'm just not much of a classic rock guy. However, Apex and Abyss are two outstanding albums. I wish more people knew about that band.

Pantera's album is a metal classic with sick riffs and killer groove, so this one was easy. That Behemoth track wasn't what I was expecting, though. Knowing next to nothing about them, I browsed their Wikipedia page and discovered that the band consists of Nergal, Inferno, Orion, and... Seth. Maybe if Seth ever leaves they can recruit a Steve or a Dave.

Both Sabaton and Amon Amarth are pretty much one trick ponies, but I like Sabaton's tricks better. Or their... illusions. Sabaton's ponies are tanks.

I decided to give the Carcass song a spin even though I had already made up my mind beforehand. Not my cup of tea. Symphony X is tied with Opeth as possibly my favorite artist, and this album is one of progressive metal's crowning achievements. The title track is my favorite song of theirs, although I have about 15 favorite songs of theirs that constantly rotate. And if you like The Witching Hour, you're definitely guaranteed to like the rest of the album even more!
 
Fair Warning is my favorite album of the bunch. So, if you don't mind, I'm going to gush about it (I also nominated it so there's an obligation there).

Some context: The fourth Van Halen album came as interpersonal conflicts within the band were starting to reach a head. Van Halen was an overnight sensation and they all hated each other, particularly the VH brothers and Roth. That might've worked with a bar band doing gigs on weekends, but not so much with a group of touring superstars. Egos were starting to sneak in and stardom was getting to them.

So, like any great band, they found a way to channel it into the music. Fair Warning is a dark album, the lyrical content is a little darker but without losing the personality of the first three VH albums. The guitar tone is warmer, being the fullest development of that "brown sound" that Eddie is frequently praised for. The soloing becomes more sophisticated. Eddie continues to break ground with his guitar playing, with virtuosic moments like the beginning of Mean Street and more tasteful use of effects.

And it's not just Eddie, everybody's playing took a step up on this album. Van Halen always had a fantastic rhythm section and a really tight drummer, but this album goes even further. Some of the rhythmic parts are really quite complicated. Unchained for example has a pretty tricky polyrhythm in the prechorus. Despite this, the song was a big hit and is a classic rock radio staple. Even Roth turns in a more competent performance than what we're typically used to.

The album also marks the beginning of synths in Van Halen, although it is only in two songs (the last two on the album). It's like a preamble for things to come and doesn't really fit the rest. The remainder album is the raw meat and potatoes Van Halen sound, taken to its logical conclusion. They would never go back to this. This was their last outing as a rough but highly accessible California rock band.

Favorite songs: Mean Street, Dirty Movies, Hear About It Later, Unchained

Otherwise, The Satanist is a fantastic album. Great pick, and I urge everyone to give it a fair shake.
 
Fair Warning is probably Van Halen’s second best album to me, behind MCMLXXXIV (which I nominated for the GMAC). The guitar work is stellar, there’s nice variety in the songwriting, and “Unchained” is a monster classic from them. “Mean Street”, “Hear About It Later”, and “So This Is Love?” may also be familiar to people, but I also like the deep cuts like “Sinner’s Swing” and the porn rock of “When Push Comes To Shove”. Really the whole album is strong, and I’m glad it was nominated. This Unleash The Archers album has its appeal, but it falls down in the songwriting realm in a way that the Van Halen album doesn’t, so this is a pretty easy choice for me. Sorry, @LooseCannon, but I’m going with @Mosh ’s nominee here. Winner: Van Halen

Most of this Behemoth album is pointless, samey cacophony with a few moments of clarity that have some nice music. “Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel” and the title track felt more like songs, though, which was welcome. The Cookie Monster vocals are terrible throughout, of course. When put up against the least terrible of Pantera’s screamy phase albums, I must accept my duty and do the unthinkable here. Sorry, @phantomoftheicarus, but the list nominee is less unappealing to me. Winner: Pantera

Haven’t listened to much Sabaton in my day, and Carolus Rex is the album that I’ve often heard cited as their best. The singer isn’t great, with his weird rolling R’s and husky tone, but this is otherwise a high-quality slab of power metal from start to finish. I will definitely be listening to this some more. While the Amon Amarth album has some cool music on it, I think the songwriting is a bit better on the Sabaton record, and Sabaton doesn’t suffer from shitty extreme vocals either. Sorry, Night Peruler, but MrMidnickerdieseloopotocannon 187’s choice is the clear victor here. Winner: Sabaton

The music on this Carcass album is actually really good technical thrash with some nice songwriting detours in places. The production isn’t great, and obviously the extreme vocals suck, but the vocals are on the more tolerable end of the extreme spectrum for me, verging on something like bad thrash vocals. With an actual singer and less absurd lyrics this could have been a great album, but as it stands this is an easy pick. Sorry, @karljant, but @Lampwick 43’s nominee takes this one. Winner: Symphony X
 
Jer said:
The music on this Carcass album is actually really good technical thrash with some nice songwriting detours in places. The production isn’t great, and obviously the extreme vocals suck, but the vocals are on the more tolerable end of the extreme spectrum for me, verging on something like bad thrash vocals.
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If that’s the case — and since you like The Jester Race — you may enjoy (to some extent) the follow-up album Heartwork, which is like Necroticism, but with a greater emphasis on melody.
 
Diesel 11 said:
If that’s the case — and since you like The Jester Race — you may enjoy (to some extent) the follow-up album Heartwork, which is like Necroticism, but with a greater emphasis on melody.
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Funny you should mention that. I bought Heartwork back in college when it was new, having not heard anything from it in advance (remember, this was before the web existed), but going off of a bevy of glowing reviews like Kerrang’s 5-star that called them “the next Megadeth”. I put it on and as soon as the vocals started I couldn’t believe the bullshit I was hearing, and that no one bothered to mention the vocal approach in their reviews. I’ve never made it all the way through that album, though the GMAC has probably steeled me enough now to make the attempt if I ever feel so inclined.

That might have been the initially scarring event that put me off so much on extreme vocals. Or maybe extreme vocals are just fucking awful in general, and that’s the root of the problem.
 
Eddie Van Halen is generally praised for his soloing but, in my opinion, the man's true talent lies in his riffs. The way he combined rhythmic playing with melodic licks was quite unparalleled at the time, as much as I'm aware. Amazing guitar tone on Fair Warning. The first palm-muted low C# notes in Unchained - that's the sound! In a way, the bands in the first pair are almost polar opposites. One is funky, raspy, old-school rock with tons of feel, the other is a super-polished modern melodrama (no negative connotation intended). Both can be lots of fun but the VH album feels much more real to me.
 
Van Halen - I'm not a huge VH fan and it's usually the first album or 1984 I listen to, but if I don't listen to one of them, then it's this album I'll pick. I listened to it not too long ago so it's fairly fresh in my memory too. It's kind of like an album full of the tracks a hard core fan would love but casual fans would be unfamiliar with, maybe it's Van Halen's SIT?? The last two tracks and Push Comes to Shove are a bit iffy but the rest is solid as fuck.

Unleash the Archers - This is pretty good but the polished drum sound doesn't work for me.

Van Halen with the win

Behemoth - video won't play, picked the title track from youtube, music is pretty good, vocals only slightly outside my comfort zone

Pantera - opinion given before

Pantera with the win

Sabaton - Don't see the appeal of these, euro bands peddling this sort of stuff are ten a penny, is it something I'm missing? Why are these the great white hope when it's all been done many times before?

Amon Amarth - opinion given before

Amon Amarth with the win

Carcass - Not my cup of tea, saw them at Knebworth when Maiden played, frontman came off as a bit of a cunt

Symphony X - Witching Hour? I'm going to listen to Slayer's cover of Venom's song with the same name.

Carcass with the win.
 
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