THE CRUSADE OF EPICS: Results -> A Change Of Seasons wins!

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Results of Round 56:
Atlantean Kodex - Sol Invictus
Genesis - Firth Of Fifth

Riverside - Second Life Syndrome (Nominated by @Lampwick 43)
vs.
Stratovarius - Visions (Southern Cross) (Nominated by @KidInTheDark666)
 
“Second Life Syndrome” has excellent atmosphere, from its melancholy intro through its many proggy instrumental sections. I’m less enamored of the flaccid, somewhat accented vocals, but they’re not bad. The music is consistently great, but the vocal melodies and phrasing didn’t really grab me — and while I was never bored listening to the track, it wound up feeling like a lot of meandering rather than a song with a clear through line.

“Visions (Southern Cross)” serves up very familiar old school power metal with all the pluses and minuses that go along with that. The Kiske-alike singer is a little too close for comfort on the higher notes, and the spoken word interludes are really cringey, but the slower parts are quite nice. Not as keen on the rote faster parts, though there are some nice bits here and there. I suppose this song is structured a little more coherently than the Riverside song, but the quality vacillates a lot more here, with some parts being great and others being power metal by the numbers.

This is another one where I could go either way, but sorry @KidInTheDark666, I’m going to give the edge to the musical finesse displayed by @Lampwick 43 ‘s nominee here. Winner: Riverside
 
Considering the fact my obsession with power metal is bigger than my obsession with prog metal (although I'm also pretty fanatical about the latter) and considering the fact Riverside are, just like Marillion or Porcupine Tree precisely not enough my cup of tea, I'll go with the Timo2 classic.
 
The me of today would've rather picked a couple of other epics from Stratovarius instead, but whatever. I think most of my nominations would be different now compared to when this game began.
 
Jer said:
“Second Life Syndrome” has excellent atmosphere, from its melancholy intro through its many proggy instrumental sections. I’m less enamored of the flaccid, somewhat accented vocals, but they’re not bad. The music is consistently great, but the vocal melodies and phrasing didn’t really grab me — and while I was never bored listening to the track, it wound up feeling like a lot of meandering rather than a song with a clear through line.

“Visions (Southern Cross)” serves up very familiar old school power metal with all the pluses and minuses that go along with that. The Kiske-alike singer is a little too close for comfort on the higher notes, and the spoken word interludes are really cringey, but the slower parts are quite nice. Not as keen on the rote faster parts, though there are some nice bits here and there. I suppose this song is structured a little more coherently than the Riverside song, but the quality vacillates a lot more here, with some parts being great and others being power metal by the numbers.

This is another one where I could go either way, but sorry @KidInTheDark666, I’m going to give the edge to the musical finesse displayed by @Lampwick 43 ‘s nominee here. Winner: Riverside
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Second Life Syndrome is Riverside's weakest album that isn't named Wasteland, IMHO.

The vocal issues you've mentioned are corrected - and set to soar - on their next 3 10/10 albums (Rapid Eye Movement, Anno Domini High Definition, Memories in My Head).

SLS was their first album with keys/synth wunderkind Michal Lapaj, who was just getting his footing and wasn't really knocking any of his synth lines out of the stadium, yet ...

try this one on for size - the song below is as heavy as Dream Theater, but far more cohesive and affecting than most DT tracks, IMHO:

 
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I always appreciate a bit of what Primordial brings to the table, but this song does not measure up in any way to the juggernaut that is The Glass Prison.
 
Summarily blown away by Primordial - first time hearing them.

Incredible build to several mini (and maxi) climaxes. Impressed by the melodic vocals and the ringing/chiming and harmonic qualities of the guitar.

A much more enjoyable listen than any DT song from 6DOiT that isn't named "Blind Faith" or "Misunderstood".
 
The Primordial song has its moments, but for me it has zero chance against one of Dream Theater's heaviest monsters. The Glass Prison has everything - killer guitar arpeggios, crushing riffs, wailing vocals, a big epic finish, two standout bass parts... there's just no comparison for me. The song hit me hard when I first heard it back in 2002, and it changed the way I looked at heavy music in general. It is unquestionably the song that opened the door (it's wide open!) for progressive music for me.
 
I prefer This Dying Soul over The Glass Prison, and I prefer The Coffin Ships to both of them. Primordial just has this raw emotion that Dream Theater doesn't have despite being superior musicians (except for LaBrie).
 
Detective Beauregard said:
This was excellent! I'll check out those three albums you mentioned.
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Riverside is a gem, glad I picked up a used copy of SLS at a Thrift Store (on a whim) back in 2016 - Mariusz Duda's compositions have seriously enriched my life.

Be wary of some rather long intros in many Riverside songs though- I love their intros, but it often takes 1-3 minutes to get to the heavy rocking bits.

Anno Domini High Definition is the one to listen to while you're angry or bitter, Rapid Eye Movement is the one to listen to when you're feeling a bit trippy and unsteady/uncertain, and Memories in my Head is the one to listen to when you're feeling nostalgia and thinking of love's and life's passed by.

All three albums are absolute masterpieces IMHO, every song is either a 9/10 or a 10/10 on all 3.
 
“The Glass Prison” has a lot of nice instrumental parts, and it’s not boring; but wow, do I hate it when LaBrie tries to sound “tough”, and the vocal phrasing is pretty awful in a lot of places. I can see how some people could legitimately love this song, but it actually reminds me of many of the reasons why I stopped listening to Dream Theater in the late 90s.

I like the vibe of “The Coffin Ships”, but as with most of the Primordial songs I’ve heard, it kind of slips into a single groove and stays there for most of the song. The gentler break about 2/3 of the way through the track is a nice change, though, and the song is enjoyable enough.

The Dream Theater track has superior music; but if I’m honest with myself about which song I’d rather listen to again, I have to say sorry, MrKidderDocker333, but I’m going with @Magnus ’s nominee here. Winner: Primordial
 
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Results of Round 58:
Primordial - The Coffin Ships
Dream Theater - The Glass Prison

Sons Of Apollo - God Of The Sun (Nominated by @Jer)
vs.
Virgin Steele - Veni, Vidi, Vici (Nominated by @Perun, @Wogmidget)
 
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