JudasMyGuide
The resident reactionary recalcitrant
Blind Guardian!
The Greatest Metal Song Cup - Part II, Round 2, Matches 76-81
- Thread starter LooseCannon
- Start date
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KidInTheDark666
What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine too
Blind Guardian
MrKnickerbocker
clap hands
Goddamnit.
I am bound by the rules to pick Blind Guardian, which has barely won the kick race. Never doubt that I am a fair and impartial arbiter of this game.
MrKnickerbocker
clap hands
They were also both your picks, so you still win.
Detective Beauregard
Leviathan of Doggerland
Unleash the Archers!
Edit: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Edit: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Denim and leather simply don't protect against the teeth and claws of the Tygers of Pan Tang. Nazguls may be Immortal, but at the heart of winter they cannot stand. The pharaoh might be sailing, but he was lured to his doom by The Siren. It's true what they say when you lament your lost love - love bites. Def Leppard. Time indeed stands still for a Blind Guardian tiebreak victory. Apollo 11 discovered one thing for sure - the moon is a blasted Hell scape.
Part I, Round 36, Matches 211-216
| Play In Round |
| Dennis Stratton Division | |
|---|---|---|---|
| King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Mars For the Rich | vs. | The Who - My Generation | |
| @Spambot | Nominators | Radio EHS 100 | |
| Youtube | Spotify | Amazon | Links |
| Play In Round |
| Dennis Stratton Division | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantean Kodex - Sol Invictus | vs. | Candlemass - A Sorcerer's Pledge | |
| @Perun | Nominators | Popoff 500 | |
| Youtube | Spotify | | Links |
| Play In Round |
| Can I Play With Madness? Division | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Megadeth - Into the Lungs of Hell | vs. | Prong - Unconditional | |
| @Jer | Nominators | ||
| Youtube | Spotify | Amazon | Links |
| Play In Round |
| Can I Play With Madness? Division | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caligula's Horse - Graves | vs. | Opeth - Master's Apprentices | |
| @Shmoolikipod | Nominators | ||
| Youtube | Spotify | Amazon | Links |
| Play In Round |
| Can I Play With Madness? Division | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marduk - Fistfucking God's Planet | vs. | Vintersorg - Vidmarkens Förtrollande Stämmor | |
| @Perun | Nominators | ||
| Youtube | | Links |
| Play In Round |
| Brave New World Division | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rhapsody of Fire - Knightrider of Doom (Power of the Dragonflame version) | vs. | Wilderun - Woolgatherer | |
| @JudasMyGuide | Nominators | ||
| Youtube | Spotify | | Links |
Shmoolikipod
Stranger to the Light
Fuck yes, Brave New World Division, my favourite song!
Well, it's the one Megadeth pushes, so it's tough to tell. They promote it as a remaster, not a remix.
Yea, they remixed all those early albums. The sound differences are pretty stark actually and I don’t think any of the originals are on steaming or anything like that.
JudasMyGuide
The resident reactionary recalcitrant
Since there happen to be two of my songs in this round (although I don't think they will be much successful anymore) and they're in the last two matches, I'll start from the bottom this time.
So, remember how I wrote this?
These three were the first three proper songs off Power of the Dragonflame - that is Knightrider of Doom, the title track and March of the Swordmaster. I could have nominated any of these three, because they're indelibly intertwined with my life and with my memories ... and after returning back to power metal after 15 years or so, I've found out time hasn't diminished my love for them in the slightest and that they still kick ass as much as they used to.
In the end, it was actually my wife that helped me to pick Knightrider - from the competition of not only these two other tracks, but also other brilliant stuff like Holy Thunderforce that made it to my shortlist. Yep, it is this song that my wifey considers one of her favourite by the band and in the lack of other ways how to differentiate, I went with it and I'm not disappointed (though I guess Holy Thunderforce would have been also an excellent pick and March has even more of a crossover appeal).
The very first tones, especially the beginning of the verse immediately brings me back to 2004, on that (in many ways unpleasant) trip across France. The highways, the overhead power lines, the mountains, the cities... and
Destino! Mi arrendo
Al tuo dominio del tempo!
is just so, so cool. The chorus is appropriately epic and fitting with everything I look for in the power metal subgenre. You know, the ride. The battle. The glory.
From the chorus to the instrumental part, it is just a perfect opener. Though I admit I can't really take it on its own, not thinking about the intro riff to Power of the Dragonflame following right after.
The Wilderun song is also quite good, I haven't actually heard this last album yet - at times it reminded me most of a combination of Moonsorrow and Heavy Devy ... and I meant that as a compliment.
Comparing these two tracks feels relatively useless, since each has different strengths and each aims at a different listener (although in theory, I am both) but we get what we get.
I definitely won't be voting against Rhapsody, I hope that's obvious.
-----
Although I've previously mentioned Vintersorg (real name: Andreas Hedlund) as being one of my typical go to "developers of black metal" - that is, someone who turned the genre into a different direction, which is what I generally prefer nowadays, he was definitely not the first; some of the other outliers, like Ulver or Arcturus were actually already pushing the genre to its limits by 1998, when he fully arrived on the scene, and already by then they were probably much more ... out there. And even Borknagar - whom he was a member of between cca 2001 and 2016 were already injecting the genre with pop sensibilites and some of the actual heart.
But still, it was Vintersorg whose album Till fjälls I have come across while getting myself acquainted with classic black metal records. There was still this DIY, atmospheric buzzsaw, in a way, but the music itself was completely different - somewhat akin to the aforementioned Borknagar and their final phase of development they've entered in the past few years.
The pop sensibilities, the folky infusion, it was just all too much and I became fascinated with the bloke.
I guess I might have picked the title track
which is in a way a pinnacle of the album and definitely has much more of a crossover appeal. But I couldn't, I had to pick Vildmarkens förtrollande stämmor ("The Enchanting Tunes of the Wastelands"), despite the fact the constant wall of sound/barrage of blastbeats will probably won't get the song much defenders here.
But it's about the vocals and the melodies, see? The song is called Vildmarkens förtrollande stämmor, and for once I have to take into consideration the lyric side as well, because despite these being in a language I have only a limited knowledge of (and which I don't particularly like), they help to make this song beautiful. Enticing. Enchanting.
It is this song that I couldn't get out of my head ever since I've heard it and was depressed I would probably never find another like that, even from Vintersorg himself, let alone others - though it made me discover many great bands that I now count among my favourites, like the already mentioned Moonsorrow and others.
It is indeed one of the songs I don't seem able to overplay to myself - there's just something so primal in both the voice and the melodic sensibilities, it sounds like echoes from the Cosmos itself, like the endless river that Norman MacLean has in his A River Runs Through It - “Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world’s great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs."
With that, I can forgive even the blastbeats, although ... no, not really "forgive" - because the wall of sound that makes everything muffled actually helps the vocals pop even more, for example that bridge part before the final chorus
where the vocals step out of the drone, just to be answered by Andreas' vigorous vocal prancing is incredibly poignant.
The Marduk song is... fine, I guess. I can see how some people will vote for the usual BM sound itself and I admit I'd rather be listening to Marduk than Mayhem, but I can't help it - Vintersorg is unique and although he might be singing afor my ears only, I thank him for that. I'm afraid the song will lose, either now or very soon, but I'm glad I could have nominated it.
-----
Once again, another match where it's mostly impossible to compare the tracks, because they are incomparable even in their genre. Caligula's Horse are actually one of my favourite neo-prog-metal bands I've come across lately - and definitely one of the most consistent. Graves is one of the songs that takes you places and does so quite naturally at that. I really like the soaring guitar parts - sounds like something directly inspired by Oldfield (and once again, I'm saying that as a huge compliment, Mike Oldfield is one of the most underrated musicians/composers/guitarists/whatever ever in my book).
Their style definitely reminds me of another band - and I don't mean from the elder generations, I mean another neo-prog one, but I can't quite put my finger on it.
(Longer songs like these would require a longer writeup themselves, but I'm saving this for later - I'll probably write more about the stuff that goes on further. There'll be a lot of time, I wouldn't worry about that)
Master's Apprentices always felt to me like they get the shorter end of the stick, being from the "pro-forma" album where Mikael "forced it" although "his heart wasn't in metal anymore" (all BS, btw, sorry) and being considered one of their most "brutal" or "dark" songs ever (though I'd contest that notion, but this is neither the time nor place) and therefore being a one trick pony of sorts, I guess?
I admit the main riff might be a bit too repetitive at times, but I like the song very much regardless. I think Mosh might have put it forth the best back in 2016
I'd also add that the switch to the softer section reminds me of Genesis' Firth of Fifth a bit (one of my favourite songs), especially the part where that one switches into the guitar solo. Also, once it gets going as well, I really, really love the instrumental section. The soloing is quite captivating.
Both of these songs are really solid offers, IMHO, and let it not be said that I blindly favour my own bands - I have actually considered voting for Caligula.
But then again, I suppose Master's is going to have a tough time in this (generally very anti-extreme biased) community, especially for example the "Dustman Jer", so I'll be voting for Opeth, since they're probably going to need every vote they'll get.
-----
The Deth vs Prong match is not particularly interesting, there was a time when I was a huge So Far So Good So What fan, but I suppose that is gone with the wind, along with my thrash period. And yet, Lungs is really cool (it's just really intense and complex, yet weirldy catchy at the same time) and although Deth can do even better, Prong are stretching it as is.
Megadave.
-----
Oh, a doomy doominess in the penultimate (or, well, the second) match! I like Atlantean Kodex (haven't I voted for them already in this cup? My memory fails me) and I genuinely like this song as well, but Candlemass is closer to my general mood. Although either song might win, I'd be okay with that.
-----
King Gizzard vs The Who. King Gizzard vs. The Who. Really, I hadn't expected to see these two pitted against each other in a greatest metal song cup of all places, but here you have it.
I'm way past my The Who era, although there was a time I genuinely considered them one of the best bands ever - well, maybe they are, whatever. But my appreciation has always come from a different source - it was mainly the Townsend's ... conceptuality (for lack of a better word), with the mod, punkish band doing first and foremost ART, whether it was the huge rock operas or the tiny rock operas or weird genre mixture or their overall unfittingly high-brow attitude. And of course them kicking some serious arse live.
My Generation, famous as it is, lacks most of it. The message I find cheesier than Rhapsody's "I'll be the son of doom!", because there were knights and warhorses and swords and even dragons... much more than there's been any "my generation", for whomever, but whatever - the stuttering is annoying, the structure and sound is very basic, it's one of those songs that "got away and got FEY-MOOSE, you know" and that's the worst thing that could happen to a mediocre song. Something like with The Number of the Beast, eh?
The King Gizzard song has a cool stoner groove going on at least. It's not on a level of my favourite bands in the subgenre, but I like it enough to award it a vote.
So, remember how I wrote this?
These three were the first three proper songs off Power of the Dragonflame - that is Knightrider of Doom, the title track and March of the Swordmaster. I could have nominated any of these three, because they're indelibly intertwined with my life and with my memories ... and after returning back to power metal after 15 years or so, I've found out time hasn't diminished my love for them in the slightest and that they still kick ass as much as they used to.
In the end, it was actually my wife that helped me to pick Knightrider - from the competition of not only these two other tracks, but also other brilliant stuff like Holy Thunderforce that made it to my shortlist. Yep, it is this song that my wifey considers one of her favourite by the band and in the lack of other ways how to differentiate, I went with it and I'm not disappointed (though I guess Holy Thunderforce would have been also an excellent pick and March has even more of a crossover appeal).
The very first tones, especially the beginning of the verse immediately brings me back to 2004, on that (in many ways unpleasant) trip across France. The highways, the overhead power lines, the mountains, the cities... and
Destino! Mi arrendo
Al tuo dominio del tempo!
is just so, so cool. The chorus is appropriately epic and fitting with everything I look for in the power metal subgenre. You know, the ride. The battle. The glory.
From the chorus to the instrumental part, it is just a perfect opener. Though I admit I can't really take it on its own, not thinking about the intro riff to Power of the Dragonflame following right after.
The Wilderun song is also quite good, I haven't actually heard this last album yet - at times it reminded me most of a combination of Moonsorrow and Heavy Devy ... and I meant that as a compliment.
Comparing these two tracks feels relatively useless, since each has different strengths and each aims at a different listener (although in theory, I am both) but we get what we get.
I definitely won't be voting against Rhapsody, I hope that's obvious.
-----
Although I've previously mentioned Vintersorg (real name: Andreas Hedlund) as being one of my typical go to "developers of black metal" - that is, someone who turned the genre into a different direction, which is what I generally prefer nowadays, he was definitely not the first; some of the other outliers, like Ulver or Arcturus were actually already pushing the genre to its limits by 1998, when he fully arrived on the scene, and already by then they were probably much more ... out there. And even Borknagar - whom he was a member of between cca 2001 and 2016 were already injecting the genre with pop sensibilites and some of the actual heart.
But still, it was Vintersorg whose album Till fjälls I have come across while getting myself acquainted with classic black metal records. There was still this DIY, atmospheric buzzsaw, in a way, but the music itself was completely different - somewhat akin to the aforementioned Borknagar and their final phase of development they've entered in the past few years.
The pop sensibilities, the folky infusion, it was just all too much and I became fascinated with the bloke.
I guess I might have picked the title track
which is in a way a pinnacle of the album and definitely has much more of a crossover appeal. But I couldn't, I had to pick Vildmarkens förtrollande stämmor ("The Enchanting Tunes of the Wastelands"), despite the fact the constant wall of sound/barrage of blastbeats will probably won't get the song much defenders here.
But it's about the vocals and the melodies, see? The song is called Vildmarkens förtrollande stämmor, and for once I have to take into consideration the lyric side as well, because despite these being in a language I have only a limited knowledge of (and which I don't particularly like), they help to make this song beautiful. Enticing. Enchanting.
It is this song that I couldn't get out of my head ever since I've heard it and was depressed I would probably never find another like that, even from Vintersorg himself, let alone others - though it made me discover many great bands that I now count among my favourites, like the already mentioned Moonsorrow and others.
It is indeed one of the songs I don't seem able to overplay to myself - there's just something so primal in both the voice and the melodic sensibilities, it sounds like echoes from the Cosmos itself, like the endless river that Norman MacLean has in his A River Runs Through It - “Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world’s great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs."
With that, I can forgive even the blastbeats, although ... no, not really "forgive" - because the wall of sound that makes everything muffled actually helps the vocals pop even more, for example that bridge part before the final chorus
where the vocals step out of the drone, just to be answered by Andreas' vigorous vocal prancing is incredibly poignant.
The Marduk song is... fine, I guess. I can see how some people will vote for the usual BM sound itself and I admit I'd rather be listening to Marduk than Mayhem, but I can't help it - Vintersorg is unique and although he might be singing afor my ears only, I thank him for that. I'm afraid the song will lose, either now or very soon, but I'm glad I could have nominated it.
-----
Once again, another match where it's mostly impossible to compare the tracks, because they are incomparable even in their genre. Caligula's Horse are actually one of my favourite neo-prog-metal bands I've come across lately - and definitely one of the most consistent. Graves is one of the songs that takes you places and does so quite naturally at that. I really like the soaring guitar parts - sounds like something directly inspired by Oldfield (and once again, I'm saying that as a huge compliment, Mike Oldfield is one of the most underrated musicians/composers/guitarists/whatever ever in my book).
Their style definitely reminds me of another band - and I don't mean from the elder generations, I mean another neo-prog one, but I can't quite put my finger on it.
(Longer songs like these would require a longer writeup themselves, but I'm saving this for later - I'll probably write more about the stuff that goes on further. There'll be a lot of time, I wouldn't worry about that)
Master's Apprentices always felt to me like they get the shorter end of the stick, being from the "pro-forma" album where Mikael "forced it" although "his heart wasn't in metal anymore" (all BS, btw, sorry) and being considered one of their most "brutal" or "dark" songs ever (though I'd contest that notion, but this is neither the time nor place) and therefore being a one trick pony of sorts, I guess?
I admit the main riff might be a bit too repetitive at times, but I like the song very much regardless. I think Mosh might have put it forth the best back in 2016
I'd also add that the switch to the softer section reminds me of Genesis' Firth of Fifth a bit (one of my favourite songs), especially the part where that one switches into the guitar solo. Also, once it gets going as well, I really, really love the instrumental section. The soloing is quite captivating.
Both of these songs are really solid offers, IMHO, and let it not be said that I blindly favour my own bands - I have actually considered voting for Caligula.
But then again, I suppose Master's is going to have a tough time in this (generally very anti-extreme biased) community, especially for example the "Dustman Jer", so I'll be voting for Opeth, since they're probably going to need every vote they'll get.
-----
The Deth vs Prong match is not particularly interesting, there was a time when I was a huge So Far So Good So What fan, but I suppose that is gone with the wind, along with my thrash period. And yet, Lungs is really cool (it's just really intense and complex, yet weirldy catchy at the same time) and although Deth can do even better, Prong are stretching it as is.
Megadave.
-----
Oh, a doomy doominess in the penultimate (or, well, the second) match! I like Atlantean Kodex (haven't I voted for them already in this cup? My memory fails me) and I genuinely like this song as well, but Candlemass is closer to my general mood. Although either song might win, I'd be okay with that.
-----
King Gizzard vs The Who. King Gizzard vs. The Who. Really, I hadn't expected to see these two pitted against each other in a greatest metal song cup of all places, but here you have it.
I'm way past my The Who era, although there was a time I genuinely considered them one of the best bands ever - well, maybe they are, whatever. But my appreciation has always come from a different source - it was mainly the Townsend's ... conceptuality (for lack of a better word), with the mod, punkish band doing first and foremost ART, whether it was the huge rock operas or the tiny rock operas or weird genre mixture or their overall unfittingly high-brow attitude. And of course them kicking some serious arse live.
My Generation, famous as it is, lacks most of it. The message I find cheesier than Rhapsody's "I'll be the son of doom!", because there were knights and warhorses and swords and even dragons... much more than there's been any "my generation", for whomever, but whatever - the stuttering is annoying, the structure and sound is very basic, it's one of those songs that "got away and got FEY-MOOSE, you know" and that's the worst thing that could happen to a mediocre song. Something like with The Number of the Beast, eh?
The King Gizzard song has a cool stoner groove going on at least. It's not on a level of my favourite bands in the subgenre, but I like it enough to award it a vote.
I nominated Master's Apprentices with two things in mind:
1: The assumption that there will be a lot of Opeth in this game.
2: Part of the appeal of this game is discovery and Master's Apprentices is kind of the quintessential Opeth deep cut. It's off an overlooked album that is still part of their golden era.
I think we have seen a pretty big reevaluation of the Deliverance album in recent years. When I made that comment Judas quoted, I was listening to the newly released Deliverance/Damnation remix. Of course, since that release, they played several concerts where Deliverance and Damnation were major focuses of the set, and overall the album has gotten more attention. As I mentioned in that original post nearly 8 years ago, the album is bookended by two weak tracks (and even then, not that weak) which really hurts the overall impression, but the songs sandwiched within are excellent. I also think that as we get further from that classic Opeth period, I feel a nostalgia for even the weakest of the Metal Opeth tracks. Master's Apprentices kinda does everything that I love about Opeth. Relentless heaviness mixed with proggy goodness and some surprisingly psychedelic sounding moments. It really shows how much was possible back then and how one dimensional their music is now.
1: The assumption that there will be a lot of Opeth in this game.
2: Part of the appeal of this game is discovery and Master's Apprentices is kind of the quintessential Opeth deep cut. It's off an overlooked album that is still part of their golden era.
I think we have seen a pretty big reevaluation of the Deliverance album in recent years. When I made that comment Judas quoted, I was listening to the newly released Deliverance/Damnation remix. Of course, since that release, they played several concerts where Deliverance and Damnation were major focuses of the set, and overall the album has gotten more attention. As I mentioned in that original post nearly 8 years ago, the album is bookended by two weak tracks (and even then, not that weak) which really hurts the overall impression, but the songs sandwiched within are excellent. I also think that as we get further from that classic Opeth period, I feel a nostalgia for even the weakest of the Metal Opeth tracks. Master's Apprentices kinda does everything that I love about Opeth. Relentless heaviness mixed with proggy goodness and some surprisingly psychedelic sounding moments. It really shows how much was possible back then and how one dimensional their music is now.
Hey, I'm intending to vote for both of them.
The link works fine for everyone else. Can you give me an idea of what you see when you try?
