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!

  • Black Sabbath - Hand of Doom

    Votes: 5 62.5%

  • Whitesnake - Walking in the Shadow of the Blues

    Votes: 3 37.5%

  • ----------------------------

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Dark Funeral - Atrum Regina

    Votes: 3 37.5%

  • While Heaven Wept - The Furthest Shore

    Votes: 5 62.5%

  • ----------------------------

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Ted Nugent - Cat Scratch Fever

    Votes: 2 25.0%

  • Guns N' Roses - Sweet Child O' Mine

    Votes: 6 75.0%

  • ----------------------------

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Alien Ant Farm - Smooth Criminal

    Votes: 4 50.0%

  • Moonsorrow - Huuto

    Votes: 4 50.0%

  • ----------------------------

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Symphony X - Masquerade '98

    Votes: 1 12.5%

  • Queensryche - Revolution Calling

    Votes: 7 87.5%

  • ----------------------------

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Slayer - Dead Skin Mask

    Votes: 6 75.0%

  • Mountain - Mississippi Queen

    Votes: 2 25.0%
  • Total voters
    8
  • Poll closed .
The type of snarl that Jeff Walker uses is incredibly hard to pull off without shredding your voice, so the fact that he’s been doing this for 35+ years is crazy. The fact that he still sounds as good as he does is crazy too. One of my favorite vocalists of all, I love that distinctive sound he’s got. You know when he’s behind the mic.
 
Ah, Jer and Diesel, finding common ground as usual

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(I'm somewhere in the middle, I find Jer's obstinate refusal to accept harsh vocals even where they contextually fit ridiculous, bordering on pathological, but honestly, lately I've been listening to such music less and less. Like, Swallow the Sun, Opeth, okay, but otherwise I'm more and more boomery every day. I did play the Carcass track, but I see no reason to return to them - it must be ten years at the very least when I last played Descanting the Insalubrious and I don't really miss it)
 
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Jer said:
The majority of the vocals within the song, obviously. And any presence at all still leaves a fecal aftertaste.
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I used to be like you, not being able to get into Opeth because of this faeces-spewing you describe. Face of Melinda was the only song I liked. Then one bitter autumn day as the smell of burning wooden effigies filled the air, they just clicked. Now I’m a proud Opethophile, and there’s no going back.

Give yourself to them. Let the sweet crooning of Mikael draw you in.

It should be noted that the only harsh vocals I like are these guttural types (see Amon Amarth as well). The shouting, screaming, hardcore crap, and nu-metal bro screams are not for me. I can handle Maynard from Tool when he does it, but that’s quite infrequent.
 
Detective Beauregard said:
It should be noted that the only harsh vocals I like are these guttural types (see Amon Amarth as well). The shouting, screaming, hardcore crap, and nu-metal bro screams are not for me. I can handle Maynard from Tool when he does it, but that’s quite infrequent.
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I can accept most of harsh vocals (I now wonder how many people here actually like Mastodon's early records - I'm a big Blood Mountain fan, that's for sure), but although I had my death and brutal death and black metal period in the past, I now find it rather monotonous, even if I can appreciate it - sometimes it's okay (small wonder that the best death records are on the shorter side, like Unquestionable Presence, Altars of Madness, None So Vile and others - a short punch from the otherworld that doesn't overstay its welcome) but I much prefer it in contrast with clean singing - that's why I namedropped Opeth and Swallow the Sun, two bands that do this "beauty and ugliness" dichotomy realy well. Same goes for Borknagar. It's a spice that can make your dish taste really good... however there's not many people who'd love to eat a pound of pure cumin.
 
Detective Beauregard said:
It should be noted that the only harsh vocals I like are these guttural types (see Amon Amarth as well). The shouting, screaming, hardcore crap, and nu-metal bro screams are not for me
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I'm the complete opposite. I typically like screaming, but Mikael's growls are just too much. Too bad their music itself got worse when the growls stopped...
 
KidInTheDark666 said:
Mikael's growls are just too much
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My mates, I don't know what you're smoking, but I want some too. I mean, my wife is mostly a Porcupine Tree / Keane / Dream Theater / Circus Maximus kind of bird and hates most extreme metal stuff, but she loves Opeth and Mikael in particular and doesn't find it extreme at all.

I mean, like, really, what? What makes Akerfeldt so extreme? Apart from maybe that moment in Master's Apprentices at 7:48 when he suddenly switches from the folksy stuff to a sudden "eeeeeevil" barking croak and the shift is so drastic it borders on unintentionally hilarious.

I genuinely don't get it.

If anything, it's just a gold mine for misheard lyrics, like I already wrote here in this thread

POKING ALL BEARS, WEPT UP THE CAVERNS OF MY PRIDE! BUSHIDO WATER MEANT NOTHING TO A LIFEGUARD!
 
I don't know, maybe it's just his technique that makes him more difficult for me to listen to than other harsh vocalists. Or maybe his growls are just too low pitched in comparison to others? I'm not saying there's anything wrong with anything he's doing.

Edit: You'd think that I would start liking him after 4-5 years of listening, but no.
 
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Never got into Opeth, that guy sounded amazing on that one Bloodbath album though (the one with Eaten on it). Eaten especially has great vocals. For me, there’s two ends of the spectrum I like: 1. I like guttural vocals where the vocals are understandable (how Bloodbath and Bolt Throwers vocals are). 2. I also like when the vocals sound like a drunken, violent mess (early Obituary and Autopsy for the win!)
 
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