Round 3: Metal Up Your A$$!

[Siddharth]

Fun Fact(s):
Sacrifice is among the "Canadian Big Four" of Thrash metal alongside Annihilator, Voivod and Razor.

Corrosion Of Conformity started as a Hardcore punk band but changed their style to a more Black Sabbath-style doomier Sludge metal when Pepper Keenan joined.
Keenan also auditioned for bassist in Metallica. Though he didn't join but played a crucial role in getting Jason Newsted in the band. No to mention, James Hetfield has lended his vocals on couple of Corrosion Of Conformity songs as well.

 

[MindRuler]

Holymo! Bruce´s Tower against Blaze´s epic masterpiece. Tough!

 

[Kalata]

1 Blaze Bayley - Stare At The Sun +1
0 Bruce Dickinson - The Tower

1 Metallica - Disposable Heroes +1
0 Sacrifice - Forward To Termination/Terror Strikes

1 Primal Fear - Eden +1
0 Avantasia - Avantasia

1 Ghost - Cenotaph +1
0 Corrosion Of Conformity - Albatross

-The first matchup is really tough for me. Stare At The Sun is probably Blaze's best solo song, I nominated it because of the huge emotion and nostalgic vibe it contains. It could have been a Maiden song with him. Great instrumental section. On the other hand, Tower is a classic solo Bruce with a better chorus, love the overall vibe, vintage harmonies. Normally I would vote for Tower (the better song), but I almost always put the emotional vibe over the rest.
-Disposable Heroes riffing is top, effective chorus/lines. Forward To Termination/Terror Skies is vintage thrash, but with almost no singing.
-Avantasia's song is really cool, love the chorus, awesome verses/pre-chorus, cool keys and solo. Classic power metal and it should be my pick. But Primal Fear's Eden is already one of my favorite ballads, the chorus carries so much emotion, it's touching. It also has a bit of a Nightwish vibe. As with the 1st matchup, I chose the emotion.
-Ghost's Cenotaph is a nice 80s-esque fun rock vibe, Albatross is typical of its genre, I just prefer the other vibe.

 

[Azas]

Three of my nominated songs in one round.

 

[Azas]

1 Blaze Bayley - Stare At The Sun
1 Bruce Dickinson - The Tower +1

2 Metallica - Disposable Heroes +1
0 Sacrifice - Forward To Termination/Terror Strikes

1 Primal Fear - Eden
1 Avantasia - Avantasia +1

2 Ghost - Cenotaph +1
0 Corrosion Of Conformity - Albatross

So, I voted for all three of my nominations because those songs are very dear to me - not only because I nominated them. There's greatness in every one of them.

Bruce's "The Tower" is great overall and sounds very Maiden to me. Metallica is Metallica, one of my favorite bands, and "Disposable Heroes" is definitely better to my ears than Sacrifice's song.

Avantasia's "Avantasia" is a window into the magical world for me. It touches my inner self's child and invites me on an adventure. Also, great overall production.

Ghost's "Cenotaph" is a great song from a great album of recent times. Already a classic, and I think it will remain one for years to come. Great overall feel and great sound, and it shows Forge's great taste as a human being.

 

[MindRuler]

1 Blaze Bayley - Stare At The Sun
2 Bruce Dickinson - The Tower +1

3 Metallica - Disposable Heroes +1
0 Sacrifice - Forward To Termination/Terror Strikes

1 Primal Fear - Eden
2 Avantasia - Avantasia +1

3 Ghost - Cenotaph +1
0 Corrosion Of Conformity - Albatross

 

[Siddharth]

3 Bruce Dickinson - The Tower +1
1 Blaze Bayley - Stare At The Sun

4 Metallica - Disposable Heroes +1
0 Sacrifice - Forward To Termination/Terror Strikes

3 Avantasia - Avantasia +1
1 Primal Fear - Eden

3 Ghost - Cenotaph
1 Corrosion Of Conformity - Albatross +1

The Chemical Wedding is a great album with The Tower being one of it's highlights. Love the Wratchild-like intro, the main groove and most importantly Bruce's vocal delivery on it. Blaze's song starts in 'The X Factor' like fashion then jumped into some solid riffage. Nice solos and cool breakdown in the mid-section but The Tower is the obvious highlight for me.

The toughest for me was the 2nd match. Sacrifice with their song is awesome. Great Thrash riffing on it but the thing is, on it's opposite is the giant Disposable Heroes displaying Metallica's raw and unadultred energy showing a legend in the making.

Did not like either of the songs enough to be considered the 'Greatest Metal Song'. But the most decent out of the two I found is Avantasia. Eden is a poor representation of Primal Fear. Speaking of which, I ALMOST had this song of theirs in my nominations but removed it in the last moment. Did I make the right decision?

The last match was easy. Albatross is a Metal gem and is among my favourite songs ever! The main riff, the way the vocals are delivered and mainly the solos (the outro solo is like a nod to Free Bird).
Although I quite liked Cenotaph by Ghost in the most recent listen...

 

[Vaenyr]

Huh, funnily enough I didn't even consider nominating Bruce and Blaze songs. My brain went "no Maiden, yup, no solo albums either" lol

 

[Kalata]

Eden is a poor representation of Primal Fear.

Wow. A typical ballad style for them. I wouldn't nominate a ballad, but I wanted something different.

Speaking of which, I ALMOST had this song of theirs in my nominations but removed it in the last moment. Did I make the right decision?

Riding The Eagle is one of their best songs. Melodic anthem.

 

[MindRuler]

When I think about Primal Fear: Judas Priest worship.

 

[Azas]

When I think about Primal Fear: Judas Priest worship.

Personally, I try to avoid thinking about fear, especially primal fear... Yikes.

 

[The Dissident]

4 Bruce Dickinson - The Tower +1
1 Blaze Bayley - Stare At The Sun

5 Metallica - Disposable Heroes +1
0 Sacrifice - Forward To Termination/Terror Strikes

4 Avantasia - Avantasia +1
1 Primal Fear - Eden

4 Ghost - Cenotaph +1
1 Corrosion Of Conformity - Albatross +1

 

[Diesel 11]

4 Bruce Dickinson - The Tower
2 Blaze Bayley - Stare At The Sun +1

6 Metallica - Disposable Heroes +1
0 Sacrifice - Forward To Termination/Terror Strikes

5 Avantasia - Avantasia +1
1 Primal Fear - Eden

5 Ghost - Cenotaph +1
1 Corrosion Of Conformity - Albatross

As everyone knows, The Chemical Wedding is my favorite album of all time, and "The Tower" is fucking awesome, a killer anthem with a great bassline and swirling guitar leads. The chorus is a belter, the twin guitar instrumental is gorgeous, I love it. But "Stare at the Sun" is about on the same level, with an added emotional layer to it. I love the way this song progresses through each section. The build-up is definitely inspired by Steve's songwriting on The X Factor, but Andy Sneap's production is so much heavier. A whirlwind of a track and man are the guitar solos also fucking fire. I think what it comes down to is that there are a few songs on TCW that are better than "The Tower", but "Stare at the Sun" is probably Blaze's magnum opus. It was his submission to the annals of metal history to be remembered as more than just the interim singer for Iron Maiden.

I really liked the riffs in the Sacrifice song, but against the best Metallica song of all time? As I've said many times, "Disposable Heroes" is like "The Trooper" on steroids - a raging anti-war song that musically throws you onto the battlefield. So much bite, so much anger, while also being epic as fuck.

I was really surprised by this Avantasia song! Killer chorus. Primal Fear's was good too, albeit a little overlong and overblown.

"Albatross" is alright, but I prefer "Clean My Wounds". I was kinda vibing with "Cenotaph". Incredible intro, love the way the layers roll in. Pretty strong chorus as well. "Peacefield" was really the only song from this album that stuck with me, but maybe I need to give it another chance.

 

[Siddharth]

Update: I have sorted all the rounds for this cycle and when it ends, a Top 26 shall be selected based on the number of votes they received. While the remaining will fight again to avoid elimination. Next round starts from: 23rd Aug. I will be posting a scoreboard after every four rounds.

The Carcass song was really not what I expected. Really enjoyed how melodic it was overall. The guitar sound is pretty refreshing as well, compared to the majority of metal albums released in the last decade. I like the harsh vocals as well and the variety is pretty nice.

Check out their 'Heartwork' album bro, you may like it!

Wow. A typical ballad style for them. I wouldn't nominate a ballad, but I wanted something different.

Getting you! I thought I went too harsh on them with that description...

When I think about Primal Fear: Judas Priest worship.

I think they are much more than just that!

"Stare at the Sun" is probably Blaze's magnum opus. It was his submission to the annals of metal history to be remembered as more than just the interim singer for Iron Maide

Nice description.

 

[MrK]

5 Bruce Dickinson - The Tower +1
2 Blaze Bayley - Stare At The Sun

7 Metallica - Disposable Heroes +1
0 Sacrifice - Forward To Termination/Terror Strikes

6 Avantasia - Avantasia +1
1 Primal Fear - Eden

5 Ghost - Cenotaph
2 Corrosion Of Conformity - Albatross +1

Stare At The Sun is a good song and Silicon Messiah is great, but, come on: we're talking about an amazing track from one of the greatest albums Bruce has ever written. Easy vote for The Tower.

Same goes for the second match. I know it feels like a lot of these classic songs are foregone conclusions as winners but sometimes it's very justified. Master of Puppets is a masterpiece and Disposable Heroes rules. Sacrifice has no chance of comparison here.

Avantasia delivers their manifesto of cheese, their maniqueso, and it's perfectly enjoyable. The chorus is catchy and it's a fun time despite Tobias' annoyingly try-hard voice. The doubled up and harmonized solo is perfectly silly. Primal Fear's song is just overlong and plodding by comparison. It's fine, but it doesn't do much.

Cenotaph is an okay Ghost tune making Children of the Grave somehow sound like 80s radio pop for riding jet skis, but Albatross is up there as one of COC's greatest of all time. If I was making a list of the Top 20 Ghost songs this one wouldn't even come close. The best part is Fredrik Åkesson's fun solo. Albatross is certainly on the southern, sludgey side of the metal spectrum but it is vastly heavier, groovier and all around superior to the competition here. Ghost running away with this match is definitely just Ghost favoritism.

Corrosion Of Conformity started as a Hardcore punk band but changed their style to a more Black Sabbath-style doomier Sludge metal when Pepper Keenan joined.

I still don't get along with any of their punk material and their newer stuff that feels like Pepper singing over some weird blend of groove metal and punk does nothing for me. Those middle albums full of bluesiness were their peak for me.

Keenan also auditioned for bassist in Metallica. Though he didn't join but played a crucial role in getting Jason Newsted in the band. No to mention, James Hetfield has lended his vocals on couple of Corrosion Of Conformity songs as well.

Not to mention Metallica spent Load and ReLoad trying to sound like COC.