The Greatest Metal Song Cup - Part II, Round 4, Matches 82-87

What is your favourite song in each match? Vote in all six matchups!

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  • Total voters
    8
  • Poll closed .
Blackout is an easy win over Kiss Me Deadly, which is literally just straight up pop music. It’s good pop music with good guitar playing, but come on.

I love Soundgarden, but this song is nowhere near their best and intensely overplayed. I simply have to go with Sabbath here for all the same reasons as @Mosh.

Poison is solid. And fun. And dare I say….damn it sounds a lot like modern Ghost. Hell Bent For Leather is a barnburner, though. Halford’s belting at the end is awesome.

I know Walk has an iconic riff, but the song is just five minutes of the same mid-tempo bro metal tuff guy crap. Into The Storm is, as always, a bit of a mess, but it’s so much fun. The guitar leads are awesome and the chorus so triumphant! Definitely Hansi.

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is a masterpiece. Immortal Rites…sure is a death metal song.

Fairies Wear Boots is a decent blues rock song, but I have always felt like it doesn’t do much for the metal brand. It’s kind of out of place on Paranoid. I’ll give a vote to the underdog cause I still kinda dig the Solitude song.
 
"Blackout" has some cool dual-guitar riffage and a punchy verse and pre-chorus. The chorus isn't great, but the little guitar run under it helps. Great solo. The screamy shit at the end sucks, though. Still a very good song overall. "Kiss Me Deadly" is just a pop song playing dress-up in metal clothes with a passable solo at the end, but it's got consistently strong vocal lines and everything about it works well. This may be sacrilege, but sorry @The Dissident, I think the cosplay song is actually slightly stronger here. Winner: Lita Ford - "Kiss Me Deadly"

"Black Sabbath" starts with some rain on the graves (it's just rain, rain, rain), then some sparse atmospheric noodling while Ozzy delivers a decent verse vocal. Man, this song plods -- I'm ready to check out around the halfway mark. OK, finally we get a little pep in the last quarter, but none of this is particularly inspiring. The solo is solid, I suppose. Well, that was a whole lot of nothing. "Black Hole Sun" is an overrated, overplayed grunge ballad, but it does have a great vocal performance and strong vocal melodies. Kim Thayil also gives Kerry King a run for his money as one of the worst guitar soloists in popular heavy music. But despite my criticisms, I do still like the song, so sorry @____no5, but this is a pretty easy call for @The Sentient's nominee. Winner: Soundgarden - "Black Hole Sun"

"Poison" has Desmond Child's fingerprints all over it, which is both good and bad. It's certainly catchy, and it has a nice big chorus, but the backing vocals and synths can be a little cloying. The guitar parts are tasteful, but nothing too special. Still good overall, though. "Hell Bent For Leather" has a bright, driving groove and some nice guitar melodies. The song is only half-sung, and the chorus isn't the best, but the bridges and the first solo are great, and the second solo is still pretty good. Kind of uneven, but still good overall. I could actually go either way on this one, but I assume the board's massive Priest bias will weigh in here, so I'll say congratulations to @DJMayes and support the MaidenFan nomination instead. Winner: Alice Cooper - "Poison"

Pantera fucking sucks. The main riff of "Walk" sounds like some trashy outtake from Reload, and Phil Anselmo doesn't have anything appealing to offer here at all. He sort of meanders around a bad melody when he's not just barking. The solo is technically adept, but has nothing to do with the rest of the song and doesn't follow any kind of coherent through line. Yeah, that was five minutes of my life I'll never get back. Fucking Pantera. "Into The Storm" gets right into the video gamey guitar tones and some pretty catchy vocals. It's all very shrill and frenetic like most Blind Guardian, which is cool for a while until it starts to give me a headache. Something about the production, maybe. Blind Guardian doesn't write the most cohesive songs out there, but this one mostly stays on the rails with a few diversions, and its competitor is so weak that @Spambot's nominee takes this one...in a walk. Winner: Blind Guardian - "Into The Storm"

"Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" has a pretty cool riff and a strong vocal line through the verse. The acoustic part feels a bit incongruous, though, and the vocal melody meanders there. The guitar interlude is also pretty flaccid and off the beat. The chunkier bridge is pretty good, though Ozzy going so high there feels a bit weird. The outro is almost interesting, but the guitar fills there aren't so hot. This ultimately feels like a sketch of a potentially good song that needed more time in the oven, and Bruce's cover with Godspeed is a far superior version, IMO. "Immortal Rites" has overly busy riffage and vocals somewhere between bad non-melodic thrash and very tame Cookie Monster, but at least it keeps new musical ideas coming at a decent pace. Not a fan of either track here, but sorry @Mosh, I think @KiDDo's nominee was more consistent and more interesting. Winner: Morbid Angel - "Immortal Rites"

"Fairies Wear Boots" retreads a lot of little guitar melodies from other tracks on Paranoid, and while the vocal lines are generally solid, they have a weird Zeppelinish affect to them. Most of this track is a big uneven jam, though, with a few memorable parts and a lot of water treading. It's fine in the end, but nothing special. "Destiny Falls To Ruin" sets an effective mood, has interesting-enough guitars, and the vocals and melodies are pretty good. I like the uptempo bridge that leads into the first solo, though the solo itself is merely OK. The second solo is much better. The track didn't wow me, but it was pretty decent overall, and I think it was more focused than its competitor -- and congratulations @MindRuler, that's enough to take this match. Winner: Solitude Aeternus - "Destiny Falls To Ruin"
 
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I would gladly put Tooth And Nail or Back For The Attack up against any Ozzy-era Black Sabbath album on overall musical merit. George Lynch makes Tony Iommi sound like a joke, and Don Dokken in his prime absolutely trashes Ozzy Osbourne. Checkmate on songwriting, too.

Let the self-important tribal “play classics” condescension begin…
 
I think that you can pretty clearly divide the Beatles work into an era of blandness and an era of weirdness, the latter of which is far more fascinating to me personally.
 
UPDATE: Guys we have reached Round 2! Don't forget to take out your lighters (because I don't have any LOL)

 
Won't get a chance again, hard luck to the songs I don't know but don't think they would have stood a chance anyway as most of the ones I do know are great, except Walk which I'd probably still vote for anyway as it's got some hooks + standing in general and I'm guessing Blind Guardian is derivative euro dungeons and dragons shit.

Blackout
Black Sabbath
Hell Bent for Leather
Walk
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Fairies Wear Boots
 
Lita Ford can be so much better than this track, which I have to think is a corporate decision to try to get her some looks rather than anything truly creative. Blackout isn't great, but much better than an avatar of poprock. Scorpions.

I like Black Hole Sun enough. It's a fine song in that alt metal vein, post-grungy and all. I find Black Sabbath, the song, far more interesting. Bigger sounds and concepts, even if it's a blueprint rather than a finished building. Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath (from the album Black Sabbath), easily.

I love Alice Cooper's Poison. One of the few glam songs I really love. Hell Bent For Leather is fine Priest, but I don't think it's their interesting, it's kind of...this basic Priest song, like Breaking the Law.

Blind Guardian of course. One of my favourite songs by one of my favourite bands. Walk is a Pantera song I'm higher on, but that's like saying "this piece of garbage is near the top of the can".

Unlike a lot of people, I don't love Sabbath Bloody Sabbath very much. I find it Ozzy at his worst, even if the guitar sound is getting a little more interesting. Morbid Angel doesn't do anything for me, though, so a reluctant vote for Black Sabbath.

Black Sabbath again, goodness, this is sure a round.
 
In order for Scorpions to kiss me deadly, I'd have to get blackout drunk for sure. The black hole sun cannot shine on the Black Sabbath. Judas Priest barely loses here, but in the end, Alice Cooper is able to serve up his poison. Pantera has walked alright, right into Blind Guardian's storm. Immortal rites are often performed on the sabbath, bloody sabbath. Black Sabbath. Destiny falls to ruin, fairies wear boots, also Black Sabbath.




Part II, Round 1, Matches 55-60


Group Stage - Round 1
Match 55
Rod Smallwood Division​
Queensrÿche - Suite Sister Mary
vs.
Drowning Pool - Bodies​
Popoff 500
@____no5, @Poto
Nominators
Youtube 50​
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0
Record
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon
Links

Group Stage - Round 1
Match 56
Futureal Division​
Metallica - Enter Sandman
vs.
Slayer - At Dawn They Sleep​
Popoff 500, Rolling Stone 100, Radio EHS 100, Rate Your Music 100, VH1 40, Youtube 50, Best Music Art 100
@Black Bart
Nominators
Popoff 500​
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0
Record
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon
Links

Group Stage - Round 1
Match 57
Dave Murray Division​
Rainbow - Gates of Babylon
vs.
Nocte Obducta - Und Pan spielt die Flöte (Desîhras Tagebuch - Kapitel II)​
Popoff 500
@MrKnickerbocker, @Kalata
Nominators
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0
Record
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon
Links
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon

Group Stage - Round 1
Match 58
The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg Division​
Ozzy Osbourne - Mr. Crowley
vs.
Stone Temple Pilots - Sex Type Thing​
Popoff 500, DigitalDreamDoor 100, Rate Your Music 100
@LooseCannon
Nominators
Popoff 500​
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0
Record
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon
Links

Group Stage - Round 1
Match 59
The Clansman Division​
Black Sabbath - N.I.B.
vs.
UFO - Prince Kajuku​
Popoff 500, DigitalDreamDoor 100, Rate Your Music 100
Nominators
Radio EHS​
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0
Record
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon
Links
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon

Group Stage - Round 1
Match 60
Different World Division​
AC/DC - Let There Be Rock
vs.
Ozzy Osbourne - Secret Loser​
Popoff 500, Radio EHS
@The Sentient
Nominators
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0
Record
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon
Links
 
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