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

Lampwick 43 said:
I can't speak for everyone else, but I've been listening to several songs from each album so far to make sure the better album gets my vote each time.

I'm also trying to avoid a situation where between the posted songs, say one of the better songs of a worse album is up against one of the worse songs of a better album, and trying not to let that influence things. In other words, in Maiden terms, if Piece of Mind was against Virtual XI, but the posted songs were Quest for Fire and The Clansman. The Clansman is the better song between those two, but Piece of Mind is the better album.

That situation hasn't come up so far, but I'm sure it will at some point.
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Yep that's my thinking, so far there hasn't been a need for me to listen much further than the videos posted, but when it becomes a tougher choice later in the game I'll listen to more.

Incidentally, how are the videos chosen?
 
I'm using the most popular song on Spotify, followed by a tiebreaker criteria of "title track", followed by "first track of some length".
 
I guess anyone can always add another (meaningful) track themselves (in a post) if they feel it enriches the album greatly.
 
Forostar said:
I guess anyone can always add another (meaningful) track themselves (in a post) if they feel it enriches the album greatly.
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And some people can. This isn't supposed to be a deep dive, and that's fine. We're in this weird intro period where we're dipping our toes into some very, very silly shit.
 
Never heard of Ecstatic Fear before. I immediately thought of Opeth. Or maybe it's just the image on that video that made me think that. I think I would have got bored if it was the female vocalist throughout, she's a very understated singer, so I was glad when the growling started. Odd but not unpleasant band with some nice sounding music. I'd prefer it if they threw more heavy bits in, and earlier, rather than restricting most of the 'plugged' and 'growling' bits until later in each song, and overdoing piano, flute and fake strings. This is an album I'd listen to as background music, more than anything. Still pleasant.

I'm not a fan of Destruction's vocals, and thrash isn't my favourite thing, so I'm voting for Ecstatic Fear in this pair.

Baron Rojo are enjoyable in a dated-sounding Priesty way. I didn't get tired of them listening through a few tracks, which is always a plus point. It's probably a fair match to put them up against Saxon, being of the same era. I found Saxon a lot more wearing to listen to, with less variation, and they sounded a lot more dated here, even though this album is only two years older. Also wish they'd shut up about motorbikes. A vote for Baron Rojo here.

I think Mandrake is the first album in this game I actually have a copy of. Nicely put together, tuneful metal songs, with clear direction. I enjoy this album start to finish. Heaven's Gate are decent and in the same vein, but I somehow only a couple of their songs really gel with me. Definitely Edguy here.

Last pair is more difficult. I find Savatage do very little for me, and have a lot of hard rock, rather than metal, character about them. I can't listen to more than a couple of Deicide tracks without thinking of Dethklok, except that I vastly prefer Dethklok. I'm choosing grit over mediocrity and going for Deicide.
 
I had more time this round, so I listened to
(at least) the first half of every album. Two albums I ended up listening to in full because I enjoyed them so much.

Estatic Fear was the biggest surprise for me. Based on the name and the album cover, I was expecting shitty death metal music, but what I got instead eneded up being a very pleasant listening experience. I enjoyed every song that I listened to, and I wouldn't mind checking out some more of them in the future. Destruction just didn't do it for me at all.

The second match was the hardest one. I decided to go with Baron Rojo because they sounded slightly more interesting, and less dated, that Saxon.

Heavens Gate was harmless, but Edguy was awesome. I listened to Mandrake in full because it was too good to turn off.

I also listened to the entirety of Edge of Thorns by Savatage. Another really great album. The less said about Deicide, the better.
 
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One of the most interesting rounds yet! I'm completely unfamiliar with these bands (besides knowing some names).

Destruction is black metal-tinged generic thrash. No thanks. Estatic Fear was incredibly interesting. I listened to the whole album and found it really enjoyable and dynamic.

Saxon and Baron Rojo could be the same band in terms of what they're attempting to do. Both are enjoyable enough, B/C-grade Judas Priest clones with average vocalists, but I'll go with Baron Rojo cause I enjoyed the music a tad more.

Heavens Gate and Edguy are pretty evenly matched and both enjoyable enough. I find Edguy to be a little catchier and dynamic, so I'll go with them.

Deicide is actual garbage compared to the musical talent in the ever-so-cheesy and pompous-yet-fun Savatage. I accidentally voted for Deicide but it won't matter :bigsmile:
 
MrKnickerbocker said:
I accidentally voted for Deicide
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When I was first getting into Iron Maiden and checking out similar major bands of the same era, Saxon was one of the first that I came across. I thought they were a giant band like Maiden were.

Then I found out.
 
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