I somehow completely missed Power Trip during my thrash phase and it's a pity, I think I would have liked them then. The sound is rather good and the vocals remind me of another thrash singer, but I can't now put my finger on it (it's been 10 years or so since I was a fan of the subgenre),
anyone cares to help?
I'd almost be tempted to throw them the pity vote, but no, not really -
Call of Ktulu is a fucking classic, beautiful and hypnotic, a haunting closure to still probably the overall most solid Metallica album. I didn't even need to listen to it, but then I put it in the background as I was writing this paragraph and shit, nothing's written, but five minutes into the track and here I am. Well done, you wankers, well done.
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Fuck,
@Mosh , why did you have to do this to me? I first came across the band Cynic when I was a huge Atheist fan (heh, heh) and it seemed like a match made in heaven - a similar cult tech-death band with possibly even more proficient musicians, with possibly even bigger genre variation in the cocktail? Awesome, I'm a fan already...
on paper, that is. I can't help it, but the band's releases are incosistent as fuck...
when they actually release something, that is.
However, that's not the case here - Veil of Maya is indeed probably one of their best (and deservedly best-known) songs - I love the weird vocals (remind me of uneXpect, a bit) and the electonic drone of a chorus is actually suprisingly catchy. Rhythmically, it's also great. The guitar runs are fun.
It tries to tug at the completely opposite heartstrings than Borknagar, of whom I wrote (and it more or less applies to this song as well)
Borknagar are the prime example of what I've already written about, the "post-black metal" band that started in the subgenre, but over time developed into something much grander and more universal, yet haven't ever lost their original touch. It is no coincidence or accident that Vintersorg himself (who represents the very idea thereof, ever since his debut) was a member of the band for quite some time, including on this album.
When the Winter Thrice album (whose omission I lamented in the Greatest Metal Album Cup, since I missed the nomination round) came out, all the raving perfect reviews seemed suspicious (I speak mainly of the magazines I was reading back then, although the album still has 96 % on Metal Archives), but it was one of the cases where I had to reluctantly agree at first and wholeheartedly support the notion later; the album itself made me reevaluate the band as a whole, in fact.
It is just immaculately crafted - there's the remaining black metal influence, but the band has developed into this weird hybrid of black metal remnants (the blastbeats, the atmosphere and the harsh vocals), a strangely injected folk metal influence (which quite uniquely shows much more in the melodies and harmonies than in the instrumentation, unlike with a lot of the folk metal bands which concentrate mainly on the latter), quite surprising pop sensibilities (most of the songs on the album are immensely memorable), all packed within this modern metal idiom (mainly in the production and instrumentation). And I just can't help but wonder at how substantial the end result feels.
I suppose you could still say it's Moonsorrow for the casuals and the plebes, and it probably is, but I can't help it, I really, really love the album and can't get enough of it.
In the end, I guess I'm more for the songwriting and the atmosphere of
Borknagar, but honestly, if Cynic won, I wouldn't be
too pissed off about that.
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Ah, two melodeath legends in the next match. I like both songs, but honestly, the vocals, the riffage, the atmosphere and the general band preference makes me go with
Amon Amarth here.
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Just quickly, I want to go lie down.
The
Dark Millennium song is actually really great! Hey,
@Magnus , cool pick,
Nazgul are the joke band from before, right? I admit, they are still funny, but I won't be trolling and vote for them again, because the opposing song honestly captivated me.
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I've already said that
Preseverance is a bit too overcomplicated for my tastes and that it's a step-down from the perfect
Symbolic.
Entombed's first records are absolutely classic and fact that this totally catchy and awesome Swedish buzz is losing (even with the hauntingly atmospheric movie score interlude) is a travesty.
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OMG, really?
Sorry, but
Working Man is one of the few Rush songs I genuinely like. Otherwise I'd go with the old school three-second hilarity.
