Round 2: For Those About To Rot!

Round 1 Winners:

Paradox - Heresy (7 points)
Mystic Force - Shipwrecked With The Wicked (7 points)
Iced Earth - Burning Times (6 points)
Metallica - For Whom The Bell Tolls (6 points)
 
Round 2:

1. Anthem - Venom Strike

(Nominated by - @Siddharth)


Vs.

Judas Priest - Invincible Shield

(Nominated by - @Kalata)



2. Legion Of The Damned - Malevolent Rapture
(Nominated by - @Clairvoyant Parchment)


Vs.

Carcass - The Scythe's Remorseless Swing

(Nominated by - @Shmoolikipod)



3. Evergrey - Solitude Within
(Nominated by - @MindRuler and @Vaenyr)


Vs.

Pagan's Mind - Supremacy, Our Kind

(Nominated by - @Siddharth)



4. Tool - Forty Six & 2
(Nominated by - @Diesel 11)


Vs.

The Contortioinst - Language I: Intuition

(Nominated by - @Shmoolikipod)

 
Fun Fact: Anthem is the only Japanese band in the tournament and the song you are listening to by them is from the album 'Domestic Booty' (LOL) which has been produced by the same person who produced 'Painkiller' by Judas Priest. Its often compared with Painkiller and the modern Priest albums also draw comparison from the same, hence I decided to put them both against each other.
 
0 Anthem - Venom Strike
0 Judas Priest - Invincible Shield

0 Legion Of The Damned - Malevolent Rapture
0 Carcass - The Scythe's Remorseless Swing

0 Evergrey - Solitude Within
0 Pagan's Mind - Supremacy, Our Kind

0 Tool - Forty Six & 2
0 The Contortioinst - Language I: Intuition
 
1 Judas Priest - Invincible Shield +1
0 Anthem - Venom Strike

1 Legion Of The Damned - Malevolent Rapture +1
0 Carcass - The Scythe's Remorseless Swing

1 Evergrey - Solitude Within +1
0 Pagan's Mind - Supremacy, Our Kind

1 The Contortioinst - Language I: Intuition +1
0 Tool - Forty Six & 2

Anthem's song does indeed sound and feel very Painkiller-era Judas Priest-ish. But to me it lacks a real standout moment and feels a little chaotic, whereas the Priest song flows in a much more melodic and satisfying way. I'm a sucker for moments like that instrumental harmony section in Invincible Shield. Absolute delight - so tasteful and genuinely memorable.

I chose Legion of the Damned's song over Carcass's because it's much more unrelenting and pure thrash-death. It immediately makes you want to headbang and jump into the cockpit moshpit.

Evergrey over Pagan's Mind because I liked the song's bleakness and overall style. Pagan's Mind, to me, felt much more like a standard, middle-of-the-road type of song. I also didn't like the synth style very much.

The Contortionist over Tool because, after Tool's opus, that song felt like a breath of fresh air. I don't know why, but Tool's song definitely played with my psyche. I felt uneasy, almost claustrophobic. That bass line certainly feels iconic, but the overall song gives me bad feelings - something bordering on a panic attack. Fuck. After those last two songs, I feel exhausted, ha ha.
 
2 Judas Priest - Invincible Shield +1
0 Anthem - Venom Strike

1 Legion Of The Damned - Malevolent Rapture
1 Carcass - The Scythe's Remorseless Swing +1

2 Evergrey - Solitude Within +1

0 Pagan's Mind - Supremacy, Our Kind

2 The Contortioinst - Language I: Intuition +1
0 Tool - Forty Six & 2
 
3. Evergrey - Solitude Within
(Nominated by - @MindRuler and @Vaenyr)


Me and MindRuler:
tenor.gif


:D
 
2 Judas Priest - Invincible Shield
1 Anthem - Venom Strike +1

2 Legion Of The Damned - Malevolent Rapture +1

1 Carcass - The Scythe's Remorseless Swing

3 Evergrey - Solitude Within +1

0 Pagan's Mind - Supremacy, Our Kind

2 The Contortioinst - Language I: Intuition
1 Tool - Forty Six & 2 +1

Decent Priest song but I found Venom Strike way more fun.

Went for Legion because of the groovy section but neither of these bands do it for me. Carcass bored me by the end. But yeah, not my scene.

Went for Evergrey due to the bit near the end with the fiddles and Maiden-esque riff even though it felt like it didn't really suit the song. Evergrey had some melody and epic feels but just didn't click. B Level stuff. Pagans Mind was odd, there's metal bits, rocky bits, some melancholic cheese and even a bit that reminded me of Electric 6 (I love Electric 6 btw). Didn't get through this whole song, the vocal melodies and attendant chord changes quite annoyed me.

Tool wins out over Contortionist just about. I like Tool but this song isn't top tier for me. Contortionist has nice parts, love the intro but as soon as the vocals start I'm out. Again the melodies and chords underneath irritate me but I like the instrumental sections.

Song of the round is Anthem by a mile. I'd not come back to anything on show here apart from that. In fact, I'm listening to the Venom Strike album now, never heard of them before. Actually never heard of exactly half the bands in this round.
 
2 Anthem - Venom Strike +1
2 Judas Priest - Invincible Shield

3 Legion Of The Damned - Malevolent Rapture +1

1 Carcass - The Scythe's Remorseless Swing

3 Evergrey - Solitude Within
1 Pagan's Mind - Supremacy, Our Kind +1

2 Tool - Forty Six & 2 +1

2 The Contortionist - Language I: Intuition

A much better round than the first as I enjoyed every song!

"Invincible Shield" is a solid classic metal style song. I'm more interested by Anthem though. That production really elevates the furiousness of the music.

I'm more of a classic Carcass fan but "Scythe" is a pretty solid song. Kind of a heavy Britpop opening which is interesting. Legion of the Damned was pretty strong though, musically at least. The vocals are somewhere between Chuck Schuldiner and Dani Filth and I think they suck, but the track felt like Bolt Thrower, Cryptopsy, and Lamb of God all melded into one. I dig it.

"Solitude Within" was a standout when I tried and failed to listen through Evergrey's discography last year. That said, the Pagan's Mind track was really cool musically. Vocalist is like a worse Geoff Tate, but since the song is losing right now I'm keen to give it some support.

Tool bias wins out. Probably my favorite song by them. I did like "Language I" though, albeit I don't fully know if it's metal and it's clearly only the first part in a much larger piece.
 
Tool bias wins out. Probably my favorite song by them. I did like "Language I" though, albeit I don't fully know if it's metal and it's clearly only the first part in a much larger piece.
Ya know, I never even though about the non metallic vibes, was too busy tripping out on the music and hating the vocals. Prog metal, I suppose. A broad church.

And so I just listened to it again. I enjoyed it. I retract my previous statement about vocals and whatnot. Maybe I was just fatigued after listening to 8 random songs in a row and picking winners. So now I've just put the album on from the start.

I'd probably still vote for Tool though. Maybe.

Maybe next round I'll take my time and digest the music rather than racing to some self constructed finish line ho ho ho.
 
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