Jer
A window to the west, a blazing star above
"The Cry Of Mankind" kicks off with a nice melancholy groove and some interesting drumming. The mostly-spoken vocals come off as more bored than depressed, which isn't great, and the groove starts to drag a bit before the change-up at the halfway mark. Then the repetitive hurdy-gurdy(?) part during the 6+ minute outro really wears out its welcome too. In the end this is a 12+ minute song that probably should have only been 4-5 minutes long. "The Crown Of Sympathy" is more direct and off-kilter out of the gate. The vocals are a little more convincing here, but still not very good. Not sure how I feel about the super-brief violin accents, but the longer violin passages work well. The atmospheric interlude with the bells is pretty good too. Everything seems to drag on and on, though, burning up way more time than the musical ideas deserve. Not a fan of either track, but @Magnus's nominee seems a little more interesting overall. Winner: My Dying Bride - "The Crown Of Sympathy"
"Can U Deliver" has solid riffs, good solos, and a reasonable vocal performance, but the song itself is just mediocre, derivative NWOBHM worship. "The Green Manalishi (With The Two Pronged Crown)" has some nice guitar bits, and some nice bass and drum moments as well, but as a song it isn't particularly special. It's...fine. Still, that's enough to eke out this match-up, as much as that may draw @MrKnickerbocker's ire! Winner: Judas Priest - "The Green Manalishi (With The Two Pronged Crown)"
"No Rule" is so lo-fi that it makes most black metal bands hang their heads in shame. I mean, this sounds like a dude went into a toilet stall, played the backing tracks on a mono tape recorder, and recorded himself singing on top of them on an even crappier mono tape recorder. That said, the song does have some pep, but it's very repetitive. And here comes Van Halen's "Jump", like the 18-wheeler smashing the bed in Metallica's "Enter Sandman" video. Bright, hook-laden, poppy hard rock perfection with great guitar and synth solos. No contest whatsoever. If you vote against Van Halen here you're just a sour old fart who hates music in general. Winner: Van Halen - "Jump"
"Everything Dies" has a weird, queasy, fascist chant of an opening, then goes extremely gentle with some bursts of heaviness for the chorus and the bridges. I kind of like the vibe here, though it's a little repetitive. The outro is cool, too. Pretty good overall. "Heroin" has cool riffs and a nice driving pace. The singer is a bit odd, like an 80s new wave vocalist with constipation or something, but he's fine. The harmonized interlude and the solo are pretty good, though the song does get a little repetitive. I could go either way on this, so congratulations @srfc, I'll break the tie in the direction of the MaidenFans nominee. Winner: Unto Others - "Heroin"
"Call Me Immortal" has good riffs, nice bass fills, and solid but not great vocal lines. Really good solos, though, and a nice outro. Pretty good overall, but not super memorable. "Anywhere In The Galaxy" has a moody intro, then kicks into full overblown bombast. The driving groove is nice, and the verses work well, but Kai's singing is a bit behind the beat on the pre-chorus and chorus. The vocal melodies are strong, though the Queeny harmony bits could be handled better. Great solos, and the riff under the first part is particularly cool. Kai's singing is uneven here, showing off all his pros and cons, though he's generally effective and sounds quite good in parts. I wouldn't have personally picked this Gamma Ray song for the GMSC, but it certainly has more character than its competitor and lots of other strong elements, so sorry @LooseCannon, but I have to go with @Shmoolikipod's nominee here. Winner: Gamma Ray - "Anywhere In The Galaxy"
"Voices" has some dope bass noodling and nice distorted accents rolling into a more driving rhythm. It leans a little heavily toward the theme from "Powerhouse" in places (think Rush's "La Villa Strangiato"), but mostly maintains its own identity. LaBrie gets to go all breathy, which is where he shines, and then waily to the point of losing his enunciation, which is unfortunately "the full LaBrie". The vocal lines are generally strong here, and even the stream of consciousness interlude works pretty well. Nice wah-laden solo (take notes on how to do this properly, Kirk Hammett). Very good stuff overall. "This Godless Endeavor" starts with some nice gentle 12-string action, and the singer sounds alright, though he has a weepy timbre to his voice. The shift to epic heaviness works well, though the vocal melodies aren't all that memorable. There are also some overly busy, less melodic sections that don't work as well. Pretty cool riffage around the 6 minute mark, though, and some nice neoclassical leads in the section that follows. I'm not sure that it holds together all that well as a song, and it runs a bit longer than it needs to, but there are lots of nice bits to it. Still, congratusorrylations @Shmoolikipod, this is an easy call for Dream Theater. Winner: Dream Theater - "Voices"
"Can U Deliver" has solid riffs, good solos, and a reasonable vocal performance, but the song itself is just mediocre, derivative NWOBHM worship. "The Green Manalishi (With The Two Pronged Crown)" has some nice guitar bits, and some nice bass and drum moments as well, but as a song it isn't particularly special. It's...fine. Still, that's enough to eke out this match-up, as much as that may draw @MrKnickerbocker's ire! Winner: Judas Priest - "The Green Manalishi (With The Two Pronged Crown)"
"No Rule" is so lo-fi that it makes most black metal bands hang their heads in shame. I mean, this sounds like a dude went into a toilet stall, played the backing tracks on a mono tape recorder, and recorded himself singing on top of them on an even crappier mono tape recorder. That said, the song does have some pep, but it's very repetitive. And here comes Van Halen's "Jump", like the 18-wheeler smashing the bed in Metallica's "Enter Sandman" video. Bright, hook-laden, poppy hard rock perfection with great guitar and synth solos. No contest whatsoever. If you vote against Van Halen here you're just a sour old fart who hates music in general. Winner: Van Halen - "Jump"
"Everything Dies" has a weird, queasy, fascist chant of an opening, then goes extremely gentle with some bursts of heaviness for the chorus and the bridges. I kind of like the vibe here, though it's a little repetitive. The outro is cool, too. Pretty good overall. "Heroin" has cool riffs and a nice driving pace. The singer is a bit odd, like an 80s new wave vocalist with constipation or something, but he's fine. The harmonized interlude and the solo are pretty good, though the song does get a little repetitive. I could go either way on this, so congratulations @srfc, I'll break the tie in the direction of the MaidenFans nominee. Winner: Unto Others - "Heroin"
"Call Me Immortal" has good riffs, nice bass fills, and solid but not great vocal lines. Really good solos, though, and a nice outro. Pretty good overall, but not super memorable. "Anywhere In The Galaxy" has a moody intro, then kicks into full overblown bombast. The driving groove is nice, and the verses work well, but Kai's singing is a bit behind the beat on the pre-chorus and chorus. The vocal melodies are strong, though the Queeny harmony bits could be handled better. Great solos, and the riff under the first part is particularly cool. Kai's singing is uneven here, showing off all his pros and cons, though he's generally effective and sounds quite good in parts. I wouldn't have personally picked this Gamma Ray song for the GMSC, but it certainly has more character than its competitor and lots of other strong elements, so sorry @LooseCannon, but I have to go with @Shmoolikipod's nominee here. Winner: Gamma Ray - "Anywhere In The Galaxy"
"Voices" has some dope bass noodling and nice distorted accents rolling into a more driving rhythm. It leans a little heavily toward the theme from "Powerhouse" in places (think Rush's "La Villa Strangiato"), but mostly maintains its own identity. LaBrie gets to go all breathy, which is where he shines, and then waily to the point of losing his enunciation, which is unfortunately "the full LaBrie". The vocal lines are generally strong here, and even the stream of consciousness interlude works pretty well. Nice wah-laden solo (take notes on how to do this properly, Kirk Hammett). Very good stuff overall. "This Godless Endeavor" starts with some nice gentle 12-string action, and the singer sounds alright, though he has a weepy timbre to his voice. The shift to epic heaviness works well, though the vocal melodies aren't all that memorable. There are also some overly busy, less melodic sections that don't work as well. Pretty cool riffage around the 6 minute mark, though, and some nice neoclassical leads in the section that follows. I'm not sure that it holds together all that well as a song, and it runs a bit longer than it needs to, but there are lots of nice bits to it. Still, congratusorrylations @Shmoolikipod, this is an easy call for Dream Theater. Winner: Dream Theater - "Voices"
