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 .
Indians is not a very good song, I will state that. [...] But it's not KISS.
I don't like Kiss either, but come on -- "Detroit Rock City" actually has hooks and some presence, while "Indians" pretty much sucks. Unless this was a pure band hate vote on your part.
 
This ain't it, chief. "Indians" is a contender for their best song.

I don't like Kiss either, but come on -- "Detroit Rock City" actually has hooks and some presence, while "Indians" pretty much sucks. Unless this was a pure band hate vote on your part.
I don't like Kiss. I don't particularly like this Anthrax song either. But I like Anthrax better than Kiss. Ergo, I like this Anthrax song better than Kiss, who I do not like.
 
You can't have "Electric Eye" without "The Hellion", sorry. Including it wouldn't even break the rules of the game because on the European edition of The Best of Judas Priest: Living After Midnight they are combined as one song, and this is the form they're available as on streaming. Anyhow, Judas Priest, obviously, this is one of their coolest songs with absolutely ripping guitar performances. Thorns isn't bad, it's just very samey.

"Cowboys From Hell" crushes "Whiplash". One of Pantera's best songs.

"Detroit Rock City" is an awesome song. Has a fantastic groove, a gripping narrative, an anthemic hook, and an awesome dual guitar section akin to Thin Lizzy. "Indians" is also an awesome song. It's a bit of a protest song, with earnest lyrics about the plight of Native Americans. "WAR DANCE!" is fucking cool as shit. Both tracks are great so I'll just vote for the one that's currently losing (Kiss).

"Neon Knights" is a pumping Dio Sabbath track, but Iced Earth is better.

I've heard so many people on here rave about Dio songs like "Stargazer" and "Heaven and Hell", but I could honestly leave both behind for a lot of Holy Diver tracks. "Rainbow in the Dark", "Straight Through the Heart", and the title track are all fantastic. "Holy Diver" belongs in the Metal Top 10 without a doubt and I would vote for it over, frankly, any Linkin Park song. Dio.

"Rapid Fire" is pretty cool but I was really vibing with "You Can't Bring Me Down". Gonna give this one to Suicidal Tendencies.
 
I like some of what I've heard from Thorns, but come on, it's Judas Priest and Electric Eye.

I'm fairly ambivalent on both of these songs. I know that Cowboys From Hell is considered a classic, but I guess I react more to Whiplash. Pity vote for Metallica (because, you know, they need the pity in this).

Easy vote for Indians here. Detroit Rock City is a perfectly fine song, one of KISS's best. Indians is a bit of a mess but the chorus alone shatters all of KISS's catalogue. Anthrax.

Iced Earth with one of their top songs. I like Neon Knights a lot - whenever I play a squad based game and I get to name my squad, I call them Neon Knights - but I remain an Iced Earth sicko.

HOLY DIVER YOU'VE BEEN DOWN TOO LONG IN THE MIDNIGHT SEA

Much like Cowboys From Hell, Rapid Fire leaves me cold. It's fine. You Can't Bring Me Down is really interesting, has some good riffs and not great vocals, but a really good solo. Also, Youtube kept asking me if I was okay while I was searching for it. Suicidal Tendencies.
 
The electric eye, in the sky, has successfully identified the world playground deceit and handed this victory to Judas Priest. Cowboys from hell don't get no whiplash. Pantera. Anthrax's Indians have stormed Detroit rock city. The neon knights have struck down the coming curse for Black Sabbath. You can see a faint victory for Dio over Linkin Park here. And while I couldn't bring down Suicidal Tendencies, Judas Priest did with some rapid fire.




Part II, Round 1, Matches 13-18


Group Stage - Round 1
Match 13
The Writing on the Wall Division​
UFO - Love to Love
vs.
Thin Lizzy - Rosin Dubh (Black Rose) A Rock Legend​
Popoff 500
@The Dissident, @srfc
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 14
Mark Wilkinson Division​
Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell
vs.
Symphony X - Fallen​
Popoff 500, Rolling Stone 100, DigitalDreamDoor 100, Rate Your Music 100
@MrKnickerbocker, @Black Bart, @Wogmidget, @LooseCannon, @DJMayes, @Poto
Nominators
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0
Record
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon
Links

Group Stage - Round 1
Match 15
Live at Donington Division​
Darkthrone - Transilvanian Hunger
vs.
Evanescence - My Immortal​
DigitalDreamDoor 100, Rate Your Music 100
@Perun
Nominators
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0
Record
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon
Links

Group Stage - Round 1
Match 16
Rime of the Ancient Mariner Division​
Anthrax - Caught in a Mosh
vs.
AC/DC - Sin City​
Popoff 500, Rolling Stone 100, DigitalDreamDoor 100, Rate Your Music 100, VH1 40
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 17
Fear of the Dark Division​
Soundgarden - Jesus Christ Pose
vs.
Arcturus - The Throne of Tragedy​
Popoff 500, Rolling Stone 100, Radio EHS 100
@Diesel 11
Nominators
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0
Record
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon
Links

Group Stage - Round 1
Match 18
Murders in the Rue Morgue Division​
Mastodon - The Czar
vs.
Death - 1000 Eyes​
@____no5, @Confeos, @JudasMyGuide
Nominators
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0
Record
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon
Links
 
Voting for the Irish band against @srfc 's nominee is a bit weird but there you go.
Not my kind of Sabbath but SX, come on. Over my dead body.
Darkthrone of course, and no Per bias here, I would have voted for it anyway.
No Mosh bias here either, and not caught in one or more of them hopefully.
Jesus Christ something and lists vs. my own Luciferian nominee? Must think about it.
Mastodons and such have been prominent in my life for decades but that's not a reason to not vote for all them eyes.
 
UFO vs Thin Lizzy is an interesting matchup - classic heavy rock with acoustic parts vs great melodies and riffs. Steve probably loves both songs.

This Symphony X song has really cool riffs, melodies and solos (could be a Tony Martin era song of BS), but Heaven And Hell - the groove, the riff and the vocals are just timeless!

This Evanescence song could easily have been a Nightwish song with Tarja.

Not one of AC/DC's coolest songs vs a wild and somehow catchy tempo.
 
My Immortal beating out Darkthrone in a metal song cup is just… Well, I don’t think I have words for it.
It’s a beautiful song, though. “Transilvanian Hunger” is really classic black metal; frankly not sure which one I’ll end up voting for (brain vs heart - the song that should be here or the one with Amy Lee lol).
 
"Love To Love" gets it on by banging a gong, then giving a nice long creepy buildup with synth and a pulsing groove. The jamminess eventually gives way to some synth orchestration, then a solid odd-rhythm verse and chorus. Nice melodic solo in the middle and a great epic one toward the end. The song's overly drawn out and never quite grabs me by the throat, but it's generally well crafted and well executed. "Rosin Dubh (Black Rose) A Rock Legend" has some pleasantly proggy undercurrents. The vocal melodies sound very similar to pretty much every other Thin Lizzy song I've heard, and the vocal parts feel a bit repetitive to me, but the extended instrumental section has lots of cool elements. Both songs have their merits, but congratulations The Dissrfcent, I think I prefer your nominee. Winner: UFO - "Love To Love"

"Heaven And Hell" has an iconic opening riff, a sweet midtempo gallop and occasional classy E-Bow through the verse, and some nice guitar harmonies under the chorus. The verse vocal line is great, as is the bridge and the variant chorus later on, though the main chorus isn't quite as good. Dio sounds fantastic here. Great atmospheric solo in the middle followed by an epic one, and some great lead fills through the later part of the song. Love the extended acoustic denouement, too. Yep, this one's the real deal, and it deserves to go really far in this game. Excellent stuff. "Fallen" has a nice juxtaposition of haunting synths with chunky and sometimes neoclassical riffage, and I like the interplay between the guitar and vocal rhythms, though the vocal melodies aren't all winners. Love the neoclassical guitar & synth duet and the tradeoff solos that follow, though. Quite good overall, but congratusorrylations @Wogmidget, your solo nominee just got steamrolled by MrBlogoodjoterbartaynnoner's monster of a track. Winner: Black Sabbath - "Heaven And Hell"

"Transilvanian Hunger" leaves me hungering for some dynamic range, melodic singing, and a lot less repetition. This particular permutation of Gollum vocals is less awful than most, I suppose, and the simple melody hiding under the cacophony has some appeal, though it gets beaten so far into the ground that it eventually emerges somewhere in the South Pacific. Yeah, I'm ready to throw in the towel by the 4 minute mark, but I guess this is my crucible. Thank god that's finally over. I've never been a fan of "My Immortal". The verses are pretty good, but that chorus is totally flaccid and it gets repeated way too much. The material doesn't earn the string accompaniment, either. But congratulations @Poto, you got a lucky draw here, as @Perun's nominee set the bar so low that most competitors would be able to step over it easily. Winner: Evanescence - "My Immortal"

"Caught In A Mosh" starts with some simple chords and crunch, then the bass leads into a punky uptempo groove. The punk verses work pretty well, as does the melodic pre-chorus, but the chorus doesn't work for me. The rhythmic change-up for the bridge is nice, though the bridge vocals are iffy. The solo is pretty good, especially the harmonized part, and the riffage is strong throughout the song. Still a bit uneven, but this is definitely one of the strongest 80s Anthrax songs I've heard, and there's a fair amount to like about it. "Sin City" is a perfectly inoffensive, mediocre AC/DC song that does all the AC/DC things in acceptable fashion. I wouldn't turn it off if it started playing, but I'd never seek it out on purpose. Surprisingly enough, an easy call for Anthrax here. Winner: Anthrax - "Caught In A Mosh"

"Jesus Christ Pose" does some bass diddling and annoying repetitive guitar fills before settling into a more interesting urgent groove. Chris Cornell sounds great, and the verse vocal line is strong. I'm less thrilled by the piercing one-note pre-chorus, and the chorus itself is just boring. The rhythmic play toward the end is interesting, though. A very mixed bag overall, though it has its moments. "The Throne Of Tragedy" has great atmosphere, and the distorted whispers aren't bad, but I'm still not keen about Depressed Fred Schneider on vocals. There are some nice melodic lines on the guitar, and the synths provide welcome texture, but the song feels like it meanders a bit. I really like that bizarre jazzy guitar solo near the end, though. But sorry, @Diesel 11, this is still a pretty easy call for @Magnus's nominee. Winner: Arcturus - "The Throne Of Tragedy"

"The Czar" has a lot of cool riffs and proggy bits, but it doesn't feel like it goes to all that many places musically, and the vocals aren't the best. Still pretty good overall, though. "1000 Eyes" has great, interesting guitar work and a nice proggy structure throughout. The vocals are non-melodic and generally bad, though nowhere near as bad as those of a modern extreme vocalist. Y'know, people might assume I'd go a certain way here, but sorry JucondasMy___no5, I think the clear musical strength of @KiDDo's nominee outweighs the somewhat worse vocals here. Winner: Death - "1000 Eyes"
 
Weird round. Those that I thought would be obvious landslides keep falling into ties and those that I thought would be more evened out are curb-stomp battles.

Anyway, voting for Róisín Dubh, because Thin Lizzy are among the best hard rock band of the 70s, but also this folk-influenced medley is something that surpasses any attempt at vision that UFO ever had.

Pity vote for Symphony X, because I really like Fallen, it's one of my favourite short songs of theirs and it should not be losing this hard.

Despite myself I'm voting for My Immortal, although everything I said about it before still stands

Man, besides the fact my wife would probably kill me on the spot if she found out I voted for My Immortal of all things, I still get PTSD from this song since the day it was everywhere and especially on every "I'm so special, running mascara with tears, crying angels" MySpace teenage girl's ringtone.
Which reminds me - have you lot read (or read of) the infamous My Immortal fanfic? Its bile-fascination appeal hasn't been mitigated even with the passing years, really, and
"Hi my name is Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way and I have long ebony black hair (that's how I got my name) with purple streaks and red tips that reaches my mid-back and icy blue eyes like limpid tears and a lot of people tell me I look like Amy Lee (AN: if u don't know who she is get da hell out of here!)."

That said, beyond stating the obvious and overlooking the second life of the song, it's really just a somewhat nice piano ballad that on its own would be pretty inoffensive, but has been overplayed and overused, sucking the subtle charm it once may have had right out of it. For what it's worth, I like Dream Theater's homage Answer Lies Within much more.
Also, I would argue that the passion from Amy Lee is more metal than any single element from the other dummies.
That may be true, but while I rather like her voice and don't mind Evanescence in general, the oversentimentalism here hurts her voice a bit, honestly. Well, maybe it's just me.

Also, nobody will convince me it wasn't Amy Lee in particular (and not, for example, Vanessa Carlton) who was seminal in giving us the likes of Christina fucking Perri, aka the eleventh curse Moses decided not to set loose upon the poor Pharaoh after all, 'cause that'd be too cruel.

Since Evanescence seem to be in the risk of winning, I'll go with the sentimental dudebros (or, eh, ladblokes) here and reluctantly vote for what every woodcutter can only wish he had and that's Five Fingers.

And yet, like I said, I'm really not in a mood for black metal recently, so I'm indulding my kitschy side.

Wifey likes AC/DC, but I'm personally somewhat fed up, to be honest, not even the Bon era is thrilling me anymore - Anthrax I also don't listen to on a regular basis, but as a band - rhythm guitar, rhythm section, etc. - they speak to me much more. Caught in a Mosh is a typical Thrax song, coming off one of their better albums. Anthrax it is.

Sorry, Magnus, my dear, I just feel I need to support Soundgarden on their best album. Jesus Christ Pose - cool lyrics, btw, it somewhat reminds me of We Care a Lot by Faith No More - is not even the best song off that album, but it gets my vote anyway.

My nomination, naturally. Besides that, I genuinely enjoy The Czar more. Well, nowadays I genuinely enjoy Mastodon more than Death. So what.
 
Hot damn the intro to UFO is amazing (and sounds like Symphony X)! Unfortunately, once the vocals come in the vibe is lost for me. They don’t fit the mystique of the music and it just becomes another classic rock song about love. There’s nothing wrong with the performance, I just don’t think the tones match. Roisin Dubh is the opposite: it starts as a storytelling classic rock song and then the music builds on the lyrics. This song just rules. The Celtic melodies are awesome and the whole thing just works.

Fallen is an amazing song off of one of Symphony X’s absolute best albums. I would vote for it over every single song in this round EXCEPT Heaven and Hell. It’s just a perfect classic metal tune from start to finish. I beg forgiveness, oh Russell and Romeo.

Darkthrone has three of my least favorite things: awful harsh vocals, awful production, and pot banging. There’s once again absolutely nothing metal about My Immortal, but it’s a competent singer performing a song well, and hot damn if that isn’t the exact opposite of Darkthrone.

Almost every time I pick up a bass guitar I play the opening riff of Caught In A Mosh. It’s just an infectious tune. The pre-chorus and chorus are awesome, mostly when sung by John Bush, and the bridge is a total smoke show. The verses are quite terrible, I think, and the song is wildly ill-suited for Joey Belladonna’s voice, but it’s still a banger. Certainly better than whatever AC/DC song this is.

How anyone could listen to Jesus Christ Pose and not call it metal is beyond me. The riffs are so heavy, twisty, and awesome. Cornell wails better than literally 99% of metal singers and does so with awesome lyrics and conviction. It’s a killer tune all the way through. Arcturus is cool and wacky in its own right, but I did not give this one a second thought.

The first 3:30 of The Czar do absolutely nothing for me. Annoying vocals, droning riffs, typical Mastodon-isms. Thankfully, it gets much better after that. Most of what comes after is awesome (except when Brent’s Ozzy impression cuts through). Cool riffs, great proggy bits, good melodic vocals and shouty vocals, overall pretty killer stuff….until they reprise the annoying intro. 1,000 Eyes, meanwhile, is more of the same from Death: amazing riffs shoehorned into a song with offputting harsh vocals. I guess I’m going with Mastodon, but only for that middle section.
 
Yeah I hope you guys can forgive me for killing “Rusty Cage” with “Plush” because I had “Jesus Christ Pose” up my sleeve. Possibly the best Soundgarden song, certainly the one in which Chris sounds (and looks, in the music video) the hottest.
 
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