Whooten
Ancient Mariner
I think Yellow is great, Green not so much. Didn't like much of Gold & Grey either.
GREATEST METAL ALBUM CUP - Winner: Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son!
- Thread starter LooseCannon
- Start date
I think Yellow is great, Green not so much. Didn't like much of Gold & Grey either.
Midnight
The Ever-Present "It"
Deafhaven still fails to grip me. Gorgoroth takes the vote for being good solid black metal.
Heavens Gate have a better-sounding singer than Children Of Bodom.
Ozzy is Ozzy.
Kvelertak is great... except for the vocals. Persefone gets my vote due to both the album name and crunchy prog.
Heavens Gate have a better-sounding singer than Children Of Bodom.
Ozzy is Ozzy.
Kvelertak is great... except for the vocals. Persefone gets my vote due to both the album name and crunchy prog.
I quite like the Deafhaven music, and the terrible vocals are pushed back enough in the mix to make them tolerable. The lack of melodies meant I got bored.
The Gorogroth groove was good to start. The vocals were not pushed back enough to make them tolerable. Then the groove disappeared andthe vocals continued to vomit all over my ears. There are actually moments where I go “Oh, this is kinda cool...” but no, more vomit.
I dont like either, but Deafhaven easily gets my vote.
The Gorogroth groove was good to start. The vocals were not pushed back enough to make them tolerable. Then the groove disappeared andthe vocals continued to vomit all over my ears. There are actually moments where I go “Oh, this is kinda cool...” but no, more vomit.
I dont like either, but Deafhaven easily gets my vote.
Heaven‘s Gate is absolutely fine. Inoffensive and predictable and memorable as mashed potatoes.
Children of Bodom has a bit more edge, but they get tripped up by their bad singing and lack of melodies. Another generic bunch of headbangers saying “look we can sound just like Megadeth but faster!” Again, it’s fine but not special. The things I don’t like tend to outweigh the things I do.
I was going to go with Gate, but Bodom passed them at the end with a tasty instrumental part.
Children of Bodom has a bit more edge, but they get tripped up by their bad singing and lack of melodies. Another generic bunch of headbangers saying “look we can sound just like Megadeth but faster!” Again, it’s fine but not special. The things I don’t like tend to outweigh the things I do.
I was going to go with Gate, but Bodom passed them at the end with a tasty instrumental part.
Nevermore is the best song I’ve heard so far in this round. Which isn’t a surprise since they are very clearly following a Priest/Iced Earth template and the slow part is very Degarmo-era Queensryche. Not revelatory, but not bad either.
I don’t like Ozzy. Post-Rhoads he‘s a product, manufactured for a specific demographic. However the people assembling that product tend to hire good people to write and and produce and play for them, and I’m on the fringes of the demographic they are trying to reach. The song is fine, crunchy and catchy.
This is the first match-up I’m going to have to dig deeper Into the album to make a call. TBD.
Edit: Ozzy it is. The album has a handful of good songs. Nevermore got kinda tiresome the deeper I went.
I don’t like Ozzy. Post-Rhoads he‘s a product, manufactured for a specific demographic. However the people assembling that product tend to hire good people to write and and produce and play for them, and I’m on the fringes of the demographic they are trying to reach. The song is fine, crunchy and catchy.
This is the first match-up I’m going to have to dig deeper Into the album to make a call. TBD.
Edit: Ozzy it is. The album has a handful of good songs. Nevermore got kinda tiresome the deeper I went.
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Shmoolikipod
Stranger to the Light
Nevermore were on my list for probably longer than Opeth, so basically since I began listening to metal. I had only heard This Godless Endeavor (song), read about them a bit and forgot. Super heavy, actually sounded aNew Bermuda is even better than the already good Sunbather. Felt more heavy, less pop (and apparently, "shoegaze"). The opener "Brought to the Water" was killer. Baby Blue was also very good.
Antichrist also had some interesting ideas and rhythms, overall very enjoyable. I'm also assuming that's my first step into actual black meta, considering the ridiculous "True Norwegian Black Metal" writing on the album, I trust them. Like we're talking about wine or some shit.
Deafheaven win by a comfortable margin.
Heavens Gate was a mixed ride. I didn't really care for the first tracks, it sounded too open. I imagined them (the band) as a bunch of farmers.
But starting with the 5th track (The Children Play) I warmed up to it more. Rebel Yell, Black Religion and Animal were awesome, and Noah's Dream was simply phenomenal, and at this point I was convinced the singer is the man from this gif: https://www.gif-vif.com/gifs/Infinite-watermelon. And the cover at the end was darn good.
Children of Bodom had some good death metal, but the thing is it will probably take some time to digest it. Both of those albums are potential growers imo. For what it's worth, Needled 24/7 and Bodom Beach Terror were very strong songs, and "Somebody Put Something in My Drink" was hilarious. But I give it to Heavens Gate.
And at the time I sat to listen to the rest of the albums, it was already midnight and currently it is 1 in the morning, so I decided there's no way I'm sitting till the sun rises listening to those albums. And I decided to vote based on the preview songs. Of course they end up sounding like the best albums here so far...
Nevermore were on my list for probably longer than Opeth, so basically since I began listening to metal. I had only heard This Godless Endeavor (song), read about them a bit and forgot. This song was THE SHIT. Best one so far, no contest. Super heavy, actually made me think of Blaze's Tenth Dimension as I was listening, but more extreme. And of course Warrel Dane had an incredible voice. I really wanted to listen to the album after this one.
Going against them is Ozzy, who came in with a great banger of his own. I really liked the song, but I'm going to be honest and say that I was still astonished from Beyond Within while listening. That's the game!
50 second break (because Kaveret decided to pop up while searching for the interesting name).
Kvelertak's song was very fun r&r, but Persefone had a nice proggy touch. In this case especially I'd probably need to listen to the whole albums but too late. I'm going with Persefone.
Antichrist also had some interesting ideas and rhythms, overall very enjoyable. I'm also assuming that's my first step into actual black meta, considering the ridiculous "True Norwegian Black Metal" writing on the album, I trust them. Like we're talking about wine or some shit.
Deafheaven win by a comfortable margin.
Heavens Gate was a mixed ride. I didn't really care for the first tracks, it sounded too open. I imagined them (the band) as a bunch of farmers.
But starting with the 5th track (The Children Play) I warmed up to it more. Rebel Yell, Black Religion and Animal were awesome, and Noah's Dream was simply phenomenal, and at this point I was convinced the singer is the man from this gif: https://www.gif-vif.com/gifs/Infinite-watermelon. And the cover at the end was darn good.
Children of Bodom had some good death metal, but the thing is it will probably take some time to digest it. Both of those albums are potential growers imo. For what it's worth, Needled 24/7 and Bodom Beach Terror were very strong songs, and "Somebody Put Something in My Drink" was hilarious. But I give it to Heavens Gate.
And at the time I sat to listen to the rest of the albums, it was already midnight and currently it is 1 in the morning, so I decided there's no way I'm sitting till the sun rises listening to those albums. And I decided to vote based on the preview songs. Of course they end up sounding like the best albums here so far...
Nevermore were on my list for probably longer than Opeth, so basically since I began listening to metal. I had only heard This Godless Endeavor (song), read about them a bit and forgot. This song was THE SHIT. Best one so far, no contest. Super heavy, actually made me think of Blaze's Tenth Dimension as I was listening, but more extreme. And of course Warrel Dane had an incredible voice. I really wanted to listen to the album after this one.
Going against them is Ozzy, who came in with a great banger of his own. I really liked the song, but I'm going to be honest and say that I was still astonished from Beyond Within while listening. That's the game!
50 second break (because Kaveret decided to pop up while searching for the interesting name).
Kvelertak's song was very fun r&r, but Persefone had a nice proggy touch. In this case especially I'd probably need to listen to the whole albums but too late. I'm going with Persefone.
A tasty harmony lead over an AC/DC rhythm? Sold. I don‘t care if kvelertak (Whatever the heck that is) is generic. Sweaty bar band hard rock almost always works for me. Too bad the singing sucks. I’d check this out more.
Oh, nice matchup here, LC. It’s my other wheelhouse, Proggy Metal. Persefone sounds a lot like Symphony X. Too bad about the vocal. This one is a shame, because I like the music a lot and the song has a lot going on.
These are the two most interesting bands in the round. I’m voting Kvelertak because of the Persefone harsh vocals force me out of the song, and because I suspect Persefone will advance and Ill get a chance to dig into them a little deeper. It’s times like theseI wish I had better tolerance for guttural vocals.
Oh, nice matchup here, LC. It’s my other wheelhouse, Proggy Metal. Persefone sounds a lot like Symphony X. Too bad about the vocal. This one is a shame, because I like the music a lot and the song has a lot going on.
These are the two most interesting bands in the round. I’m voting Kvelertak because of the Persefone harsh vocals force me out of the song, and because I suspect Persefone will advance and Ill get a chance to dig into them a little deeper. It’s times like theseI wish I had better tolerance for guttural vocals.
Hoping for a vote to break the tie on the first pair!
The Flash
Dennis Wilcock did 9/11
I unfortunately haven't been able to check out the albums in three matchups, so I'll put in the tie-breaker vote on the one matchup where I did listen to both albums in full.
Deafhaven - New Bermuda vs. Gorgoroth - Antichrist
I listened to both albums in full and enjoyed both of them. New Bermuda is a massive improvement over Sunbather - it's far less shoegazey and that seems to do the trick in terms of getting the balance between the contrasting styles right. The production was crisp, very nice sound - some excellent drumming as well. Definitely an album that I will revisit outside of this game. Antichrist is better than most stuff I've heard from Gorgoroth thus far - which includes two full albums. I recognized Frost (from Satyricon) on the drums right away and the guy just seems to give the albums he's on a different type of rhythmic pulse. The sample track was especially great. I ultimately went with New Bermuda which I found more interesting.
Deafhaven - New Bermuda vs. Gorgoroth - Antichrist
I listened to both albums in full and enjoyed both of them. New Bermuda is a massive improvement over Sunbather - it's far less shoegazey and that seems to do the trick in terms of getting the balance between the contrasting styles right. The production was crisp, very nice sound - some excellent drumming as well. Definitely an album that I will revisit outside of this game. Antichrist is better than most stuff I've heard from Gorgoroth thus far - which includes two full albums. I recognized Frost (from Satyricon) on the drums right away and the guy just seems to give the albums he's on a different type of rhythmic pulse. The sample track was especially great. I ultimately went with New Bermuda which I found more interesting.
Congratulations to the Match 5-8 winners!
Deafheaven squeaks it out vs Gorgoroth by a point!
Children of Bodom barely beats Heavens Gate!
Ozzy has a strong victory over Nevermore!
Persefone also wins quite handily!
Deafheaven squeaks it out vs Gorgoroth by a point!
Children of Bodom barely beats Heavens Gate!
Ozzy has a strong victory over Nevermore!
Persefone also wins quite handily!
Welcome to League 17! This round will have the most albums enter the game fresh - but we'll give you some time to catch up with the first winners from League 18. I have a sense that a lot of those winners won't become minnows and plunge an extra round forward.
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AC/DC - Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (1976) How it got here List entries: Metal Rules 71 | |
| League 17 - Match 1 | vs. |
Korn - Follow the Leader (1998) How it got here List entries: DigitalDreamDoor 100 Previous Rounds: League 18: Defeated Sunn O))) - Monoliths & Dimensions 15-14. |
Soundgarden - Louder Than Love (1989) How it got here List entries: Rolling Stone 69 | |
| League 17 - Match 2 | vs. |
Death - The Sound of Perseverance (1998) How it got here List entries: Metal Kingdom 94 Previous Rounds: League 18: Defeated Deafheaven - Sunbather 28-2. |
Megadeth - Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! (1985) How it got here List entries: Metal Rules 85 | |
| League 17 - Match 3 | vs. |
Evanescence - Fallen (2003) How it got here List entries: Rolling Stone 99 Previous Rounds: League 18: Defeated X Japan - Blue Blood 20-9. |
Van Halen - Van Halen II (2013) How it got here List entries: Metal Rules 72 | |
| League 17 - Match 4 | vs. |
Accept - Blood of the Nations (2010) How it got here List entries: Metal Storm 99 Previous Rounds: League 18: Defeated Morbid Angel - Blessed Are the Sick 21-10. |
srfc
Ancient Mariner
AC/DC - my least favourite of the Bon Scott records but still good. The title track is obviously one of their most well known tracks, Ride On, Problem Child and Rocker are all great (I prefer Rocker from if you want blood though), but the rest is a bit fillery and Big Balls is ridiculous, I'm not a fan of jokey novelty tracks as the joke goes stale very quickly.
Korn - I already gave my opinion on these
AC/DC wins this one
Soundgarden - I'm familiar with all their hits from their heyday, but never heard this before. I like it but maybe not enough to check out anymore of the album. The vocal is great.
Death - Liked it more than the previous track, the vocals not a deal breaker for me, but the arrangement is too disjointed for me to pay attention to.
Soundgarden wins this one
Megadeth - Their weakest album up until Risk came out, it's not terrible but there's nothing particularly great on it, although I think Chosen Ones is a bit of a hidden gem. I already mentioned earlier my opinion about novelty tracks and These Boots is just that
Evanescence - yeah this is not for me
Megadeth wins this one
Van Halen - The video posted is not the album version, here's a better link
, I'm not a huge VH fan and usually only listen to the first album and 1984 but this is a decent record. Gotta love Michael Anthony's backing vocals
Accept - As I previously said, it doesn't sound bad but there's nothing we haven't heard a million times before on this
Van Halen wins this one
Korn - I already gave my opinion on these
AC/DC wins this one
Soundgarden - I'm familiar with all their hits from their heyday, but never heard this before. I like it but maybe not enough to check out anymore of the album. The vocal is great.
Death - Liked it more than the previous track, the vocals not a deal breaker for me, but the arrangement is too disjointed for me to pay attention to.
Soundgarden wins this one
Megadeth - Their weakest album up until Risk came out, it's not terrible but there's nothing particularly great on it, although I think Chosen Ones is a bit of a hidden gem. I already mentioned earlier my opinion about novelty tracks and These Boots is just that
Evanescence - yeah this is not for me
Megadeth wins this one
Van Halen - The video posted is not the album version, here's a better link
Accept - As I previously said, it doesn't sound bad but there's nothing we haven't heard a million times before on this
Van Halen wins this one
DJ James
A coma stole my name.
AC/DC wins it for me. Korn blows chunks.
Death wins the next round as I've liked more of what I've heard from Death than I have Soundgarden.
Megadeth wins because... I mean are you kidding me?
Van Halen II wins by an inch. That's actually a really good matchup of two albums I'm really familiar with. Blood of the Nations is a strong comeback album with a great production though.
Death wins the next round as I've liked more of what I've heard from Death than I have Soundgarden.
Megadeth wins because... I mean are you kidding me?
Van Halen II wins by an inch. That's actually a really good matchup of two albums I'm really familiar with. Blood of the Nations is a strong comeback album with a great production though.
Jer
A window to the west, a blazing star above
AC/DC delivers a solid effort with a few classics, while Korn delivers a steaming pile of sonic diarrhea. Not even close. Winner: AC/DC
I’ve never really been a Soundgarden guy. Chris Cornell is a great singer, but Kim Thayil tends to sit in the same groove until it’s time for a solo, and then he just plays random notes without a through line. I appreciate that they try to mix up time signatures and structure, but I just don’t enjoy most of their songs. “Loud Love” was pretty good, I guess. Returning champion Death is just the opposite — the music and songwriting are pretty great, but it’s the vocals that stink. In the end, the songs and music win the day here. Winner: Death
This next one is rough — the weakest of Megadeth’s classic metal albums against Evanescence’s best album. I relistened intently to both of these because I wasn’t sure which way I was going to break. The Megadeth album is pretty raw and overly speedy in places, but it’s got great riffs and some really good songs, alongside some filler. I really love “Chosen Ones” and “Looking Down The Cross”. Meanwhile, the Evanescence album has great vocals, strong production, and a load of good to great songs without any real stinkers. As much as my heart wants to go with Megadeth, if I do an honest assessment on the merits, the scale tips in the other direction. Winner: Evanescence
I actually wasn’t that familiar with Van Halen II aside from “Dance The Night Away” and “Beautiful Girls”. While I wouldn’t put this at the top of the Roth era albums, there’s some excellent musicianship on display here from every band member, and this is a strong record overall. Accept, meanwhile, is merely serviceable, by-the-numbers hard rock with some power metal flourishes, and it's not in the same league as its competition. Winner: Van Halen
I still can’t believe I’ve voted for a death metal album two rounds in a row.
I’ve never really been a Soundgarden guy. Chris Cornell is a great singer, but Kim Thayil tends to sit in the same groove until it’s time for a solo, and then he just plays random notes without a through line. I appreciate that they try to mix up time signatures and structure, but I just don’t enjoy most of their songs. “Loud Love” was pretty good, I guess. Returning champion Death is just the opposite — the music and songwriting are pretty great, but it’s the vocals that stink. In the end, the songs and music win the day here. Winner: Death
This next one is rough — the weakest of Megadeth’s classic metal albums against Evanescence’s best album. I relistened intently to both of these because I wasn’t sure which way I was going to break. The Megadeth album is pretty raw and overly speedy in places, but it’s got great riffs and some really good songs, alongside some filler. I really love “Chosen Ones” and “Looking Down The Cross”. Meanwhile, the Evanescence album has great vocals, strong production, and a load of good to great songs without any real stinkers. As much as my heart wants to go with Megadeth, if I do an honest assessment on the merits, the scale tips in the other direction. Winner: Evanescence
I actually wasn’t that familiar with Van Halen II aside from “Dance The Night Away” and “Beautiful Girls”. While I wouldn’t put this at the top of the Roth era albums, there’s some excellent musicianship on display here from every band member, and this is a strong record overall. Accept, meanwhile, is merely serviceable, by-the-numbers hard rock with some power metal flourishes, and it's not in the same league as its competition. Winner: Van Halen
I still can’t believe I’ve voted for a death metal album two rounds in a row.
karljant
Ancient Mariner
First off the obvious: Megadeth and AC/DC. Then must say I'm a huge Soundgarden fan but Louder Than Love is by far my least favorite album by the band (and by far I really mean by far). On the other hand Death's Sound Of Perseverance is an excellent record. Finally both Accept and Van Halen are great bands I'm not a huge fan of but my respect towards them is undeniable. But I think Van Halen's sophomore is way more iconic than Accept's contender.
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Shmoolikipod
Stranger to the Light
@LooseCannon you forgot to change the title
AC/DC is better than Korn. They may have only one song and one album, but it's infinitely better than whatever shit Korn ever did.
Death is another band I have for a long time really tried to like but that never clicked with me. Maybe it will happen tomorrow, but it's not happening today. I'm not a big fan of Soundgarden but I like them well enough to not get annoyed when hearing them.
Megadeth is no contest.
I never really liked either Van Halen or Accept. But I find Accept generally more tolerable.
Death is another band I have for a long time really tried to like but that never clicked with me. Maybe it will happen tomorrow, but it's not happening today. I'm not a big fan of Soundgarden but I like them well enough to not get annoyed when hearing them.
Megadeth is no contest.
I never really liked either Van Halen or Accept. But I find Accept generally more tolerable.
I'll take pre-Chipmunk AC/DC over Korn.
Death's album is a strong one, I find it a lot more enjoyable than Soundgarden's.
The third match is trickier. I like individual Megadeth tracks a lot, but tire of the sound and the lack of variation in pace and lose interest if I listen through the full album. I've never had this problem with Fallen. Going for Evanescence.
I don't get a whole lot out of Van Halen. This sounds so dated, and the songwriting just isn't my thing. Accept's offering is a lot more enjoyable start to finish.
Death's album is a strong one, I find it a lot more enjoyable than Soundgarden's.
The third match is trickier. I like individual Megadeth tracks a lot, but tire of the sound and the lack of variation in pace and lose interest if I listen through the full album. I've never had this problem with Fallen. Going for Evanescence.
I don't get a whole lot out of Van Halen. This sounds so dated, and the songwriting just isn't my thing. Accept's offering is a lot more enjoyable start to finish.
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