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

Fear_Factory_-_Demanufacture.jpg

Fear Factory - Demanufacture (1995)

How it got here
List entries: n/a
Maidenfans Nominators: @karljant
League 14 - Match 3vs.
Combat_KIMB.jpg

Megadeth - Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! (1985)
How it got here
List entries: Metal Rules 85
Previous Rounds:
League 17: Defeated Evanescence - Fallen 22-6.
League 16: Defeated Helmet - Meantime 22-2.
League 15: Defeated Jason Becker - Perpetual Burn 20-5.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Samael_-_Above.jpg

Samael - Above (2009)

How it got here
List entries: n/a
Maidenfans Nominators: @karljant
League 15 - Match 4vs.
Seven_Churches_%28Possessed_album%29.png

Possessed - Seven Churches (1985)

How it got here
List entries: DigitalDreamDoor 42
League 16: Defeated Van Halen - Van Halen II 14-10.
 
Katatonia - was ok till the vocal came in, in fairness to them this is 10 years or so before a lot of the other similar bands that have been in this game. I've said it about a few other of these type of bands, if you stripped out the good riffs and arranged it into a 3 minute goth single and got a singer in it would be more like something I'd listen to

AC/DC - opinion given already

AC/DC with the win

HIM - I've been aware of these but never really listened to them, key change for the verse is my pet hate, otherwise not awful, better than I was expecting, bring the guitars up in the mix and maybe sing with a bit more conviction,

Death - opinion given a few times, I'd heard this cover before, it's better than the other tracks from the album that have featured

Death with the win

Fear Factory - Another from the 90's MTV days, wasn't a fan then, chord sequence isn't bad, real overproduced sound

Megadeth - opinion given before, Chosen Ones a nice deep cut, very NWOBHM

Megadeth with the win

Samael - not for me

Possessed - neither is this

I can make out a bit more of what's going on in the Possessed track so they get the win
 
srfc said:
if you stripped out the good riffs and arranged it into a 3 minute goth single and got a singer in it would be more like something I'd listen to
Click to expand...
So if it was completely different, then you'd like it? :lol:

I'd like AC/DC more if they had longer songs, double bass, longer guitar solos and female vocals and some growls, and if the lyrics were about the apocalypse.
 
Yay, Katatonia! Early, raw, scratchy, dark and low fi material, this, I prefer their lighter and proggier material, but still no competition, I vastly prefer it to AC/DC.
srfc said:
if you stripped out the good riffs and arranged it into a 3 minute goth single and got a singer in it would be more like something I'd listen to
Click to expand...
They did get a singer in. His name is Mikael Åkerfeldt. You might have heard of him. :p

I'm okay with HIM, but Death have a classic album here. (I'll ignore Painkiller)

Megadave all the way. How come this album is so far down the list? It outclasses Demanufacture.

Possessed are perfectly respectable death type metal, however, they sound terribly dated here - probably the production as much as anything, but I enjoyed Samael a whole lot more, more modern sounding, dynamic, and bordering on melodic. I haven't heard them before, will be giving them another listen.
 
Painkiller as the example of The Sound of Perseverance. :bigsmile:

Voting for Katatonia, Death (I enjoyed the HIM album as well), Megadeth and Samael.
 
Brigantium said:
They did get a singer in. His name is Mikael Åkerfeldt.
Click to expand...
Hmm. Is that Akerfeldt on vocals in this album? Still, not a fan of growls, though the music sounded pretty good. (Basically how I feel about early Opeth, no coincidence I guess.) Bon Scott-era AC/DC is one of my favorite bands, and even though this is unquestionably the weakest of the albums from his era, it still gets my vote, just because Big Balls. Sophomoric and vulgar? Yup. But it still makes me smile every single time I hear it!

Death and Megadeth are easy choices for me here.

Not a fan of either of the last two matchups, but
Possessed gets the edge because it was a pioneering album of that sungenre
 
Last edited:
Death’s “Painkiller” is one of the best covers ever and a surprisingly fitting close to their career. One more example of why TSoP is so good.
 
For that type of music, Katatonia is kinda cool, atmospheric and dark without sounding too forced and silly.
But I prefer the sweaty cheek of AC/DC, even on a subpar album.
 
Very competent version, but Im not sure what Death brings new to Painkiller. To me it’s just more evidence that they are a technically gifted act whose material doesn’t quite match their chops. They have my respect, but not my vote.

HIM was a lot more accessible than I was expecting. I liked the melodies, the tone and the general atmosphere. I have some fear that I might consider them too commercial with a deeper dive, but they’re getting my vote based on this song and my previous exposure to the Death album.
 
Already gave my two cents on AC/DC. As for Katatonia's sophomore, it's a beautiful example of extremely tight and well composed meldodic Death Doom. Not a particular fan of the band (don't know why there's something between me becoming a fan from either early or later records... a strange lack of affinity). But man... this is the confirmation that these guys would go far. And little we knew back then how much the band's sound would reshape. They surely get my vote.

What is this? Pseudo Pop Goth Metal versus am all time Death classic? Having to vote on this particular match is almost offensive.

Demanufacture was one of the records I picked for my 25 list. It could also be the band's debut for some reasons I'm about to mention but it was not as revolutionary as its sucessor. Everything in Demanufacture reinforced the idea that Soul Of A New Machine gave to the public in general: mixing elements of Napalm Death, Godflesh, Ministry and Head Of David these guys were onto something really unique. But, either you liked the band or not, nothing could have prepared us for what was to come. First and foremost: the drum kick triggered sound machine gun effect so many bands adopted ever since. Back in 95 no one has ever heard anything like that (to the point of saying was Herrera using doubling pedals... a stupid theory that would be easily proven wrong live). This barrage in perfect synchronicity with Wolbers' undertones and Cazares's 7 sting tight as nails riffage created a mechanized sound that was influenced by various acts but sounded refreshingly uncanny. The band became less focused on heaviness. Burton softened a bit his harsh vocals and increased focus on his melodic singing (sometimes things tended to go a bit wrong live regarding the later but whatever). Furthermore they introduced a myriad of moods into their sound: more groove, more industrial traits, sometimes some techno and even ambient with every single song portraying a powerful, apocalyptic yet with some melancholic beauty always lurking in the background. Plus the sampling and production of Richardson and Fulber while sounding average today was something off the charts back in the day. Believe me when I say: back in 95 when this thing came out it was a complete game changer and I believe that are moments and records like this that really give meaning to the words absolute classic. Of course Killing Is My Business was also a mega impactful release, a great album and a classic of its own as you can easily deduce from my earlier praises on the album. But Fear Factory's Demanufacture was simply (and allow me the punning cheesiness) an augmentation on the Metal machinery cogs no one even imagined a year before it came out.

Finally another one of my picks. Perhaps the last in the rank but nevertheless a deserved one. Too bad it had to face another great record. It is still debated to this very day if is it either Seven Churches or Death's Scream Bloody Gore the proper first Death Metal album (IMO it's neither... it was only when Death released Leprosy but that's just my opinion and another story). And no matter what's your opinion fact is Possessed's debut was extremely influential on the genre: the thing is heavy, fast and dark as hell. Plus although it's a bit sloppy, it is full of cool brutal riffs to sink your teeth in. Just check The Exorcist, Death Metal, The Pentagram or Evil Warriors. As for Above it has a great story. As some of you know Samael started as a Black metal band, started evolving their sound from album to album and by their 4th album (Passage) they were dwelling into something somewhere between Dark/ Symphonic/ Industrial Metal. The guys from Switzerland followed this path in the next releases, with each one becoming more accessible and soft than the previous. They even released a piano version of an entire record (Xy is one hell of a piano player) and a electronic ambiental double album side project. Samael were taking a break and Vorph was working in a side project that was heavy... reaaaaaaally heavy. And as in any band that changes their sound there's always that horde of elitist dudes with their "I bought thir first demo 100 years ago and these guys are selling out with this techno metal shit and can never create anything as brutal as their first album" mantras. So the guys decided to release it as a Samael album. So... yeah. Those first heavier album? Forget about them regarding heaviness, brutality, speed, energy. Let me put it simple: This is like Ceremony Of Opposites' Samael loaded themselves on Black Metal steroids and started eating times ten whatever Devin eats when he does SYL albums. Songs like Under One Flag, Virtual Wars, On The Top Of It All and especially the phenomenal Black Hole are bursts of megatons of energy feeling like a supernova blasting a couple of feet from your eardrums yet filled with melody which enhances the experience even more. This album appeared as an accident and was the perfect slap in the face in the proverbial "they sold out" idiot. After that they returned to softer landscapes. But nevertheless, Above is yet another of those albums that no one expected. And although I love almost all the band's work IMO this was Samael's zenith so far in a career as diverse as rich. So I'll have to vote for them.
 
Last edited:
Fear Factory was fine, very ‘90s. I liked the energy and the grooves make up for the shouty vocals.
I prefer Megadeth’s “garage band outcasts loving the BNWOHM”
 
Sammael took a core element of a Killers-era Maiden song, stripped it of all its warmth and melody and repeated that ar endlessly. I’ll take it over Possesed’s full-blast-firehose-in-the-face stylings. Not A fan of either of these.
 
I like the music and the tone of this Katatonia album a lot. The vocals are terrible, but about half the vox are in the “not quite so annoying extreme vocals” category, and the few spots of clean vocals are a nice respite. Meanwhile the AC/DC album is solid with a few classics, but not particularly inspiring overall. I’m teetering on the edge, but I’m going to throw @The Flash a bone here and vote for the album with more interesting music. Winner: Katatonia

On paper I should probably like HIM better than Death — it’s melodic and varied, and ought to be more in my wheelhouse. But the singer’s delivery is just flaccid, and I don’t like their melodic choices, and I really don’t like that fat, dumb guitar sound. (Sorry, @Travis The Dragon .) While Death’s vocals stink, they’re also in that “not quite so annoying extreme vocals” category, and I like the music and the overall sound better. This streak is bound to end eventually, but for now I have to vote for Death yet again. Winner: Death

The core of Fear Factory’s sound on this album is some guy screaming on top of non-melodic palm muted guitar chugging. Yes, there are exceptions and even full deviations from that core sound for significant parts of some songs, but not enough to get away from its DNA in the end, which I find completely unappealing. Even Megadeth’s worst album would beat this one in my book (and I’m not saying KIMB is their worst album). Winner: Megadeth

The last matchup is another lose-lose for the listener. Both of these albums are songwriting train wrecks. I was unable to find the complete Samael album on YouTube, but I was able to sample 9 of the tracks. I don’t know if it was a bad translation to YouTube, but everything sounded horribly hot and clipped. Since I don’t know if that’s representative of the album’s actual sound, I tried to ignore it in my assessment. There were bits of cool ideas in some of the Samael riffs, but the vocals are awful. The Possessed vocals are also really bad, but not quite as bad, and the cacophonous guitars at least had an “early days of thrash” feel to them that I could sort of latch on to. Again, there are no actual winners here, but for the purposes of the game... Winner: Possessed

Sorry @karljant , but it looks like our tastes are on opposite ends of the spectrum.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top