The Greatest Metal Song Cup - Part II, Round 4, Matches 28-33

[Mosh]

I think all the correct picks here are pretty obvious. Savatage and Diamond Head are both examples of absolute classics going up against mid tracks from generally stronger/more well known bands.

Edit: Also RIP to Primordial. Great track in an impossible contest.

 

[LooseCannon]

Edit: Also RIP to Primordial. Great track in an impossible contest.

Exactly how I feel. I really hope it is the other song to come out of the group. I think it has a good chance.

 

[srfc]

Rising from Ruins youtube link goes to Freewheel Burnin'

 

[LooseCannon]

Rising from Ruins youtube link goes to Freewheel Burnin'

Thanks for the heads up. I've been using copy & pastes rather than manually entering the links every time, so I don't want a copy & paste error to get worse down the road.

 

[srfc]

Primordial - The Coffin Ships vs. Judas Priest - Beyond the Realms of Death
The Coffin Ships is a great track but not great enough to beat one of Priest's best Beyond the Realms of Death

Y&T - Don't Be Afraid of the Dark vs. Metallica - Blackened
I enjoyed Y&T every time they've come up but they're out of their depth here Blackened

Porcupine Tree - Arriving Somewhere Not Here vs. Opeth - Blackwater Park
Neither track was to my liking, but not entirely shit either. The part I liked best in the two tracks was the Bill Gould style bass bits in the middle of Opeth so that takes the win Blackwater Park

Black Sabbath - The Mob Rules vs. Diamond Head - Am I Evil?
The Mob Rules is great, but not what I'd nominate off that album (The Sign of the Southern Cross) and not better than Am I Evil? Am I Evil?

Helloween - The Dark Ride vs. UFO - Rock Bottom
The Dark Ride wasn't great, while Rock Bottom has one of my favourite riffs and a great solo from one of my favourite guitarists Rock Bottom

Judas Priest - Rising From Ruins vs. Savatage - Hall of the Mountain King
Rising from Ruins is great but I'm thinking it probably wouldn't break Priest's top 50. Hall of the Mountain King was pretty good, bar some hammy stuff around the "madness reigns" section, and that section where he makes a load of seagull noises for ages Hall of the Mountain King

 

[Detective Beauregard]

The part I liked best in the two tracks was the Bill Gould style bass bits in the middle of Opeth so that takes the win Blackwater Park

I love the bass playing there. It takes what would otherwise be a wall of sound and adds a lot of color to it.

 

[JudasMyGuide]

a wall of sound

BTW anybody else feels the similarity between certain parts of Blackwater Park and certain parts of Wreath or is it just me?

 

[Black Bart]

The obvious (for me at least )
Judas Priest
Metallica

The "Let's vote something" match
Opeth (I'm not interested in either band, but I just don't like Steve Wilson's hipster look )


The tough one
Savatage (I prefer JP overall, but here we have one of Savatage's best songs against a good but not vital song from JP)

The really tough ones
Black Sabbath (because Dio was above competition then + because of this:

). I recognize the importance of "Am I Evil?" though, even if Diamond Head was more or less a "one-hit wonder" (just an observation, not criticism)

Helloween, with a truly underrated song from a band who was then burned out from five years of striving to become great again (though the UFO song is, in my opinion, a top 20 from the 1970-1999 period in the Hard Rock genre). Helloween never relented from 1994 to 2001 and it finally took its toll with the exclusion of two key writers. Though I like them a lot, they had not become that relevant ever since, until the reunion (and then, one may prefer The Time of the Oath to the self-titled album).

 

[Shmoolikipod]

The Coffin Ships is cool and memorable, I just like Priest better

I like Don't Be Afraid of the Dark a lot, Blackened is a top Metallica song

Steven Wilson, but the one with growls

Am I Evil, easily

I care more about The Dark Ride

No-o, noo...

Spoiler: This is an automatic win

EH! EH! EH! EH!
EH! EH! EH! EH!
EH! EH! EH! EH!
EH! EH! EH! EH!

 

[JudasMyGuide]

@Magnus I'm one of the few lone rangers who voted for Primordial, would you possibly consider voting for Helloween at their darkest, so that it's at least a tie?

 

[KidInTheDark666]

I'm not interested in either band, but I just don't like Steve Wilson's hipster look

That's why it took me so long to get into Porcupine Tree. It's easy to say now, but I should've done it sooner.

Arriving Somewhere But Not Here is arguably their most well liked song among the hardcore fanbase, I'm surprised it's getting murdered like this.

 

[JudasMyGuide]

That's why it took me so long to get into Porcupine Tree. It's easy to say now, but I should've done it sooner.

You know, I've been a fan for quite some time, but I still kinda hate Steven. Love him, but hate him. He's just such an epitome of a hipster. The face, the tone, the glasses, the barefoot, the audiophilia... I don't know, it just arouses some kind of bully within me I never even knew I had. Like, I want to buy his record and I would love to go out to have a beer with him sometime, but I also feel this deep need within to hurt him somehow. He's very cool and fascinating and even ingenious, to a degree, and yet I'd like to punch him in the face, sometimes.
Wifey is a huge fan and I alway kinda make fun of him, because I can't really help myself.

Needless to say, I'm on a spectrum, though high-functioning, so there's a bit of a Jungian shadow archetype or some kind of self-hatred there as well. Like, a knee-jerk reaction to people who embrace their inner hipsterdom instead of trying to overcome it at least a little bit.

Sorry, this was probably weird. I'm somewhat drubl, I'll delete this in the morning, if I'll remember.

 

[Magnus]

Black Metal Matters!

(I suppose @Magnus appreciates)

Yes he does!

I feel really bad about picking Beyond the Realms of Death over The Coffin Ships, which is a song I have come to truly love, and big thanks to @Magnus for nominating it and letting me get to know and enjoy it. But that's my favourite Priest song and probably a top 10 or 15 song for me all time. Tough, but there we go.

I'm really glad you liked it, LC. I'd have voted for Realms myself over quite a lot of other songs. Still, The Coffin Ships, not because it's my nominee, nor because of that time many years ago when I was drinking vodka with the Primordial guys (plastic cups, Goth shop, Sofia ) but because it just feels more "from the heart" to me.

I don't know Primordial

Your loss.

Edit: Also RIP to Primordial. Great track in an impossible contest.

Well it's not direct elimination yet.

@Magnus I'm one of the few lone rangers who voted for Primordial, would you possibly consider voting for Helloween at their darkest, so that it's at least a tie?

 

[Magnus]

that section where he makes a load of seagull noises for ages

 

[Shmoolikipod]

that section where he makes a load of seagull noises for ages

My body was so ready, but it actually felt very short this time. I coulda sworn it's twice as long

 

[JudasMyGuide]

Ever since I became a fan of Floyd back in secondary school (including Echoes), well... just don't sell "seagull noises" to me anymore. I'm bound to be disappointed.

 

[Confeos]

Getting some votes in right at the end!

Priest and Metallica take the first two matches with some of their absolute best tunes, respectively. "The Coffin Ships" is very cool, though, and I would've voted for it had it been in any of the other ties.

I find "Arriving Somewhere But Not Here" dull, dull, dull. "Blackwater Park" has some nice riffing and an overall great, sinister vibe, so Opeth wins this one.

"Am I Evil?" has never impressed me that much, and neither did "Rock Bottom", honestly. Easy votes again for Sabbath and Helloween - even if neither song in this round represents them at their strongest.

And finally, "Rising from Ruins" is not bad, if pretty generic, but "Hall of the Mountain King" is on a different level entirely. Plus, there's still an abundance of Priest songs in the game. So, Savatage.

 

[LooseCannon]

The coffin ships sank when they tried to go beyond Judas Priest's realm of death. Metallica shows that you should be afraid of the dark. Opeth has asked Porcupine Tree to arrive somewhere other than Blackwater Park. Diamond Head has, with their evil plan, overthrown the mob. UFO is hitting rock bottom on Helloween's dark ride. And Judas Priest will not rise from their ruins within the hall of the mountain king. Savatage.

---

Part II, Round 3, Matches 121-126
​

Group Stage - Round 3	Match 121​	Rock in Rio Division​
Enforcer - Undying Evil	vs.​	Dream Theater - A Change of Seasons​
@Perun	Nominators​	Popoff 500 @The Dissident, @Stardust, @____no5​
0-1-0, 0 pts, -3	Record​	1-0-0, 2 pts, +8​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon	Links​	Youtube | Spotify | Amazon​

Group Stage - Round 3	Match 122​	Best of the Beast Division​
Linkin Park - Crawling	vs.​	Accept - Metal Heart​
Youtube 50	Nominators​	Popoff 500, Best Music Art 100 @Kalata, @____no5​
0-1-0, 0 pts, -2	Record​	0-1-0, 0 pts, -5​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon	Links​	Youtube | Spotify | Amazon​

Group Stage - Round 3	Match 123​	Death of the Celts Division​
Nazareth - Hair of the Dog	vs.​	Motörhead - Ace of Spades​
Popoff 500	Nominators​	Popoff 500, Rolling Stone 100, DigitalDreamDoor 100, Radio EHS 100, Rate Your Music 100, VH1 40, Best Music Art 100 @DJMayes​
0-1-0, 0 pts, -2	Record​	1-0-0, 2 pts, +12​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon	Links​	Youtube | Spotify | Amazon​

Group Stage - Round 3	Match 124​	Live After Death Division​
Rudra - Avidya Nivrtti	vs.​	Accept - Fast as a Shark​
@Perun	Nominators​	Popoff 500, DigitalDreamDoor 100, Rate Your Music 100, Best Music Art 100​
1-0-0, 2 pts, +10	Record​	1-0-0, 2 pts, +11​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon	Links​	Youtube | Spotify | Amazon​

Group Stage - Round 3	Match 125​	The Red and the Black Division​
Rammstein - Sonne	vs.​	Fates Warning - Guardian​
@Poto	Nominators​	DigitalDreamDoor 100, Rate Your Music 100 @The Dissident​
0-1-0, 0 pts, -6	Record​	0-1-0, 0 pts, -11​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon	Links​	Youtube | Spotify | Amazon​

Group Stage - Round 3	Match 126​	Only the Good Die Young Division​
Extreme - Play With Me	vs.​	Angel Witch - Angel Witch​
@Stardust	Nominators​	Popoff 500 @Mosh, @Perun​
1-0-0, 2 pts, +5	Record​	0-0-1, 1 pts, +0​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon​	Links​	Youtube | Spotify | Amazon​

 

[Midnight]

Noooo! I logged on to the forum for the first time in ages, saw this, and the poll was over before I could even vote in it! I wanted to put my vote in for The Coffin Ships over Beyond the Realms of Death. Priest's song never quite clicked with me, while I was swept away by Primordial's the moment I heard it. I want to listen to all of The Gathering Wilderness sometime.

I'm going to hold off on voting in this round because I know fewer than half the songs and I barely have the time to listen to new music this week.

 

[LooseCannon]

Well, the good news is that it will be back up for two more rounds.