Very strong thrash match-up here. "Human Insecticide" is a contender for the best song on
Alice in Hell (alongside the title track); the guitar work is absolutely FURIOUS and I love the way they utilize melody in the brutality. Absolutely takes no prisoners and is a thrash classic. I like "Harvester of Sorrows" more than I remember sometimes, it's quite a song to bob your head to. That said, it's one of those songs where I like the core elements a decent amount but find the way it's assembled to be a little lackluster. Some of those transitions are too much, the start-and-stop motions hurt more than they heal, and the noticeable lack of bass gives it a very demo-like feel. But I mean when James yells "All have said their prayers; invade their nightmares!" I'm so onboard. Ultimately one song here is more well-rounded over all, and that's
Annihilator's. With a little more time in the oven and a little less production fuckery, though, "Harvester" could've eeked out the win.
There were some solid moments in "Against the Gods" and I enjoyed the extended outro, but
Gojira really brought it. "Global Warming" is a very repetitive song, but man I love that swirling guitar that keeps coming back, and the outro refrain is cool as hell. Might not be perfect, but it's up my alley and better than Keep of Kalessin, who admittedly did have a bit more variety.
In the hard rock battle we have, on the one side, AC/DC. A lot of their early stuff gives me the sense that if you've heard one song, you've heard them all, and "Sin City" really has all their usual trademarks. It's fun, but it just doesn't grip me. On the other hand, we've got Queen, one of the classic rock bands that kinda just annoys me. Usually. I'm really surprised at how good "Ogre Battle" is! It's from their second album, and I'm more used to their more polished hits, but I really love Brian May's guitar in this track (kind of feels justified to include this song in the game), and Freddie isn't as grating on me as he usually is. Shockingly voting
Queen here.
The monster centerpiece match-up is a couple of really strong power metal tracks.
@JudasMyGuide had basically convinced me of "Thorn" even before I listened to the song myself, thanks to his really good write-up. My impression is that it's a strong song with a good ballad structure that still knows it's really rocking hard. Didn't blow me away, but I enjoyed it. After the, to be frank, dud of a Gamma Ray track in "Gardens of the Sinner", I was a little skeptical to hear
@Jer 's next power metal nominee, but holy shit was I blown away from beginning to end. My one complaint is that the vocalist is a little thin (shall I jokingly say the song could use some harsh vocals for variety?), but when he sets his mind on something it's fucking cool, and he knows how to layer his voice well, too. I mean the whole thing never stays in one place for very long and keeps you on your toes, and it's already good right from the beginning but after the 9 minute mark it's phenomenal. Everything from the bass interlude to the very end is just...
chef's kiss. Blind Guardian were good, but this is an easy vote for
Sacred Outcry.
After two strong power metal tracks, we now have two...
aight power metal tracks. I think "The Crucifix" was a more interesting song overall, but damn that vocalist sounds like he's a member of a hunting party, it's noon, they haven't caught shit, and he's already layed into the liquor. The instrumental parts are pretty cool, but his voice is just a big nope from me. Andre Matos isn't much better, I know he's a Brazilian legend but he kind of grates on me. The song is more rounded overall, though, and has some higher highs than Jag Panzer, so... yeah, it's a rough vote for
Angra. The guitar and keyboards are really what cinch it for me, very cool shit.
The final match-up is tough. Neither of these songs are my thing, but both have good qualities. Soen's song was a bit boring, I definitely get the Opeth comparisons, but the vocal melodies towards the end were great. Meanwhile Arcturus was just a what the fuck moment from start to finish. I mean, it starts off sounding like a more normal black metal song, but along the way I get this whiplash of smooth jazz, Depeche Mode, and even Russian dancing, all while sounding evil as shit. Crazy song. I was a bit torn, but
@MrKnickerbocker put
Arcturus down so hard that I'm honestly voting for them just in response to his post. Thanks for the help!
(Or perhaps my plea of “Oh, 
