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

[Jer]

1.) the band is instrumentally/technically/production-wise on a different level than most of their peers, especially those of Poison, Bon Jovi (and I like Bon Jovi quite a lot), Def Leppard, Whitesnake and others ... and even their writing is rather solid in general. In fact, out of the general glam idiom, only Extreme come to mind as a more technically proficient band... and that's mostly down to the talents of Nuno Bettencourt.

Weird to hear that Def Leppard’s production supposedly doesn’t hold up, since their three best albums were Mutt Lange productions.

Also, Dokken easily bests Mötley Crüe as a contemporary, Ratt is probably on par with Crüe, and if you’re going to judge based on virtuosity you’d even have to give a nod to Winger there. IMO.

EDIT: That said, I nominated songs from Def Leppard, Dokken, Ratt, and Crüe for the GMSC...

 

[srfc]

Avenged Sevenfold - Afterlife vs. Buckethead - King James
Avenged Sevenfold has a good intro but is too choppy and changey for my tastes after that, pick a groove and don't change it every twenty second please, the over production doesn't help in that regard. Buckethead's track is pretty good, but the lack of vocals is a deal breaker for me in regards to wanting to check out anymore stuff. Some of the melodies are not a million miles away from Maiden. King James

Megadeth - The Conjuring vs. Sepultura - Inner Self
I like Sepultura's run from Beneath the Remains to Chaos A.D. but lost interest when they went fully nu-metal and never followed anything since then. Inner Self is one of the best tracks on Beneath the Remains, but I think I prefer the other two albums now, back in the day BTR was my favourite and I didn't get Arise at all. Not voting for it over my own nomination though. The riff around the 3 minute mark is my all time favourite riff, but it's not the only great one in the track, the one just before it is no slouch either, most other bands would milk a career out of a riff that good, Musty just slaps it in as a bridge before an even better riff. The intro is a classic eerie build up, into another classic riff, lets be honest, all the riffs in this are classic, and the arrangement is brilliant, can a chorus be a chorus if it's only played once? The Conjuring

Death - 1000 Eyes vs. Fear Factory - Demanufacture
Death track is pretty good, probably on the threshold of something I'd listen to, not a million miles away from Kreator for example, certainly more in my ball park than other tracks that I'm aware of like Pull the Plug. Only major gripe is on occassion the overboard double bass steals focus. I remember the big single off that Fear Factory album being out, wasn't keen at the time, not too keen on this track now. It's not awful, the big issue is the vocal, not only is it not great but the couple of lyrics that I could make out sounded a bit too bro-dudey for me, I imagine many's a budweiser can has been crushed against Fear Factory fan's own heads 1000 Eyes

Mötley Crüe - Dr. Feelgood vs. Bon Jovi - Livin' On a Prayer vs. Skid Row - Monkey Business
Three hair metal classics in this round, I could keep up a pretense of being cool by voting for the track with the most cred from the 3 (Monkey Business) but the simple fact is that Livin' On a Prayer is a classic hit for a reason Livin' On a Prayer

Monster Magnet - Powertrip vs. Korn - Right Now
Monster Magnet was alright, the description from @MrKnickerbocker of them being like Foo Fighters if they didn't care about hits is absolutely spot on (for this track anyway). Korn are the worst band of all time, in any genre of music. This track isn't as shit as their usual stuff for the first half of it, the riff, while bad, at least resembles a riff instead of their usual squeeks and rubber band slapping on a corn flakes box sound. Then Davis kicks in around the mid point. It's funny enough that he's frequently aggressive or threatening sexual violence in his lyrics when the reality is it's only in his mind these things happen (hopefully) Powertrip

Turmion Katilot - Sikio vs. Tool - The Pot
First track is pretty bad, it's like Scooter with a guitar and some guy shouting. Tool track is decent enough, a lot of good riffs. I know their schtick is odd time signatures etc. but you can't tell me this track wouldn't be improved immensly if they just locked into a head nodding groove? The Pot

 

[LooseCannon]

Why is there nu-metal in this game? And so much of it?

Every tale needs a villain.

 

[____no5]

Nu Metal >>>> Hair Metal

 

[Detective Beauregard]

If Bon Jovi, G’nR, Motley Crew, AC/DC etc., are good for this game, so is Korn.
At least there is Nu before Metal unlike Hard. Or Rock.

I’ll admit it; I’d take Korn over Mötley Crüe. But comparing those other three bands to nu-metal? Nope. I’d rather listen to my sink’s garbage disposal than nu-metal. At least sometimes the disposal has a faint trace of melody emanating from it.

Nu Metal >>>> Hair Metal

Aside from the previously mentioned Crüe, no. At least hair metal has guitar solos and melody. The one thing they both have in common, though, is their comedy factor.

 

[KidInTheDark666]

I'm definitely a fan of both, but nu metal was my entry point back in the day.

 

[LooseCannon]

Most of the nu-metal comes from the Youtube list, which I included specifically to make sure we got some nu-metal in the game. The reasons are 1) it's always fun to dumpster nu-metal and 2) I think we need to consider the genre in order to make the game complete. The chances that more than 2 nu metal songs makes the double-elimination tournament are slim to none, and I'm fine with that. But I don't want someone to say the game isn't valid because everything wasn't considered.

And we are considering everything. Proto metal, hard rock, some punk, classic metal, NWOBHM, NWOAHM, power, speed, thrash, death, black, symphonic, orchestral, prog, neoprog, melodeath, rap, funk, southern/stoner, so yes, we needed nu as well.

 

[JudasMyGuide]

I dislike nu metal and its general aesthetics and I have a hard time listening to it, with certain exceptions:

- some of the bands generally put in the genre are much better than their brethren and in fact it could be argued whether they are nu metal at all, like System of a Down (one of my personal favourite bands) or Deftones

- Sepultura's Roots is also actually really good, primarily because of the folklore infusion - stuff like Ratamahatta

sounds almost Pattonesque, IMHO.

- Although I'm not a fan, I am giving a begrudging respect to both Slipknot and Korn, the former because they are rather creative within the paradigm, over time they moved outside the genre altogether, methinks, and I found stuff like their semi-official debut Mate.Feed.Kill.Repeat rather fascinating; the latter because they managed to more or less start the whole genre, for better or worse.

Weird to hear that Def Leppard’s production supposedly doesn’t hold up, since their three best albums were Mutt Lange productions.

Also, Dokken easily bests Mötley Crüe as a contemporary, Ratt is probably on par with Crüe, and if you’re going to judge based on virtuosity you’d even have to give a nod to Winger there. IMO.

E. g. - Hysteria is Mutt Lange, indeed, and it is an album that sounds absolutely atrocious, the sound is utterly ghastly and to enjoy the album, I had to overcome the horridness of it all. It was probably acceptable for its time, I understand that, but it sounds like an 80s nightmare.
(I have since decided to assess each production job on its own, there are other aspects than just the name of of the producer, but to each his own I guess)

As for the rest, you are right about Winger and Dokken, that's a fine counter. I admit, I didn't think of them at first.
Ratt, well, I don't consider them to be on that level, at least from what I've heard, but okay.

 

[Diesel 11]

E. g. - Hysteria is Mutt Lange, indeed, and it is an album that sounds absolutely atrocious, the sound is utterly ghastly and to enjoy the album, I had to overcome the horridness of it all. It was probably acceptable for its time, I understand that, but it sounds like an 80s nightmare.

Meanwhile I love that production, lol. It’s studio magic but it sounds so clean, so sparkly, so, well, magical.

As for nu metal, I generally find that most of the bands in the genre have SOMEthing to offer, for better or for worse, and the best ones are validly heralded (SOAD, Deftones, even Korn). Overall it just comes down to the individual songs; some I like, some I don’t. The one band that I think does not deserve any heralding whatsoever is Limp Bizkit. I don’t even hate them, they’re just laughable. Buncha white guys trying to be tough in the pussiest fashion IMO.

 

[JudasMyGuide]

Meanwhile I love that production, lol. It’s studio magic but it sounds so clean, so sparkly, so, well, magical.

I think I know what you mean, but to me they hit that acceptable balance last on Pyromania - Hysteria is too cold, too artificial, too empty and overstuffed at the same time. The worst thing are probably the drums, though. I hate this type of sound.

 

[MindRuler]

@Lamia020281 that´s pure Suomi bias in that final match!

 

[Mosh]

Most of the nu-metal comes from the Youtube list, which I included specifically to make sure we got some nu-metal in the game. The reasons are 1) it's always fun to dumpster nu-metal and 2) I think we need to consider the genre in order to make the game complete. The chances that more than 2 nu metal songs makes the double-elimination tournament are slim to none, and I'm fine with that. But I don't want someone to say the game isn't valid because everything wasn't considered.

And we are considering everything. Proto metal, hard rock, some punk, classic metal, NWOBHM, NWOAHM, power, speed, thrash, death, black, symphonic, orchestral, prog, neoprog, melodeath, rap, funk, southern/stoner, so yes, we needed nu as well.

sites like Metal Archives should take note - this is the way to go.

 

[DJMayes]

Match 1 - Avenged Sevenfold - Afterlife

This song came out slap bang in the middle of my teens and I've always considered it a (relatively) iconic song from that time. Buckethead is perfectly enjoyable too, but ultimately I want something I can sing along to.

Match 2 - Megadeth - The Conjuring

I just don't really like Sepultura, and this song didn't convince me otherwise.

Match 3 - Fear Factory - Demanufacture

It's got a pretty groovy riff, and whilst I wouldn't say I enjoyed the vocals I preferred them a bit to the Death ones.

Match 4 - Bon Jovi - Livin On A Prayer

I like all three songs, but come on now. You could probably count the number of people in the world who can't sing this chorus on one hand.

Match 5 - Monster Magnet - Powertrip

This was a pretty nice gem to unearth here! Controversial opinion though: I don't really mind the Korn I've listened to, and would still take it over the vast majority of thrash, death, and black metal I've heard.

Match 6 - Tool - The Pot

The other song is strange; the music video initially elicited a laugh for how absurd it was and for the keyboard behind the shouting but by the second half it was less funny and more unsettling. Tool is Tool; they're good at what they do and good enough for me to vote them here but I'll be the first to tell you I don't really get them at all.

 

[JudasMyGuide]

So, part 2 out of 2

In another trio match there's a band I used to love (Bon Jovi), a band I used to hate (Motley Crue) and a band that I couldn't be more neutral about and apart from hearing Slave to the Grind maybe twice in my life, I don't know and I don't feel the need to know.

However - I've already written that on this forum, but I probably never heard the album Dr. Feelgood (or the title track) before. And I'm completely taken away by this very track. Now, I suppose people hate Crue much more than the other bands of the era for various reasons - I'd guess overexposition for the Americans, distaste for their personalities (which I certainly understand) and so on, but fuck the band itself - this song is perfect. It's slick, but doesn't sound artificial, it has a groove tighter than almos anything I've heard in this game so far, it is ridiculously catchy, but in a subtler way than for example the Bon Jovi song is... this deserves recognition. This deserves love. I'm serious. I may dislike glam in general, but this is glam perfectly done. This is the song that convinced me there might be more to the Crue than I thought and that I should probably check them out sometime.

And then there's Bon Jovi. You know, first of all, Bon Jovi might possibly be my biggest "guilty pleasure" - meaning the band I don't necessarily respect musically (apart from the undeniable penchant for melody in both songwriting and the guitars and Bongiovi's quite admirable pipes), and yet which I loved since I was a kid, I can enjoy even now and I take much more interest in than I probably should. I don't mind they started out in glam (New Jersey is probably my peak decadence - an album I wholeheartedly love from start to finish, inane as it might be), I don't mind their switch into "spiritual housewife rock" in the 90s, I don't mind they became the geezers beloved by youngsters on the turn of the millennium (It seems to me rather bizarre that the crowd that partied to You Give Love a Bad Name and the crowd that partied to It's My Life are more or less a generation apart - and I was, at times, a member of the latter), I didn't mind they turned to this Americana/country/whatever they're doing now.
In fact, this very song might be the first rock song I remember hearing as a kid, it was either that or Aerosmith's Eat the Rich - it was the first song on their best of album Crossroads



which was, along with Aerosmith's Get a Grip the first CD I learned to put on myself when I was 2? 3? Not sure, nonetheless the song still brings back memories of the earliest days of my childhood, these urexperiences that create a rather incomplete and fleeting tapestry, as they are cherished for their rarity.

So, that's it, then, right? It's Bon Jovi all the way, right? Don't even need to listen to the Skid Row track.

Well, not exactly.

See, the song brings back memories, but I never voted purely on nostalgia. I love Bon Jovi, but I find their biggest hits kinda overplayed and this one in particular... didn't age well for me. Partially, it's the production (again, on New Jersey I would find it somewhat more palatable, it's the mid 80s that I find most challenged in this regard), partially it's the gung-ho chorus, partially it's the talk box...

...and laddys, since you started bringing lyrics into it, well, this is one of the tracks I can't not notice the lyrics myself.
I mean, Bon Jovi were always this kinda dumber and less poetic variation on Springsteen - and I think it was quite intentional, because the themes, the fact you call your biggest album New Jersey, the fact you borrow the melody of The River for Born to Be My Baby... it's just all too much, to borrow the quote from George Harrison - but with this track, it reaches its peak. Well, this one and the "bonus" song Someday I'll be Saturday Night, which they released only on the aforementioned best of album.

You know, the poor couple, down on their luck, trying to get by, living on a prayer, you know... but it's duuuuuuumb. It's a chestnut, it's tired, hackneyed, clichéd, it's like a food bite that's been in too many mouths. And it's mostly the execution, not the idea - the aforementioned River by Springsteen is more or less thematically identical and it genuinely might be among my top 10 tracks of all time. I don't even like Springsteen much anymore, but that sentiment still stands. Bon Jovi not only are much more on the nose, less poetic, more didactic... but they were never really believable. They always felt like a manufactured band, even though they weren't. Springsteen, now a lot of his street machismo just as much as his older, more "spiritual" self of the wise elderly American stateman were just as much an act and were also obnoxious, but he's much more believable. When his voice cracks during that "Now those memories come back to haunt me" during that

"But I remember us riding in my brother's car
Her body tan and wet down at the reservoir
At night on them banks I'd lie awake
And pull her close just to feel each breath she'd take
Now those memories come back to haunt me
They haunt me like a curse
Is a dream a lie if it don't come true
Or is it something worse
That sends me down to the river
Though I know the river is dry
That sends me down to the river tonight"

you have a tendency to believe it. It feels vivid, it feels like something that happened to someone. The Bon Jovi song hasn't happened to anyone, definitely not any "Tommy" and "Gina".

(BTW I already mentioned this is one of the problems I have with certain Dream Theater lyrics - however nice it may be they are spreading the awareness about certain mental diseases, apart from Portnoy's 12-step-suite, which is at times maybe a tad too much journal-like, their songs always feel as if someone took a lecture book or an encyclopedia and went through it in verse form.

I mean, holy schmoley, Trucci, could you be somehow more on the nose in your description of a panic attack?

"Why do I feel so numb
Is it something to do with where I come from
Should this be fight, or flight
I don't know why I'm constantly so uptight"

I think some of the blokes in the back row might have missed the message!)

In short, this is a singer-songwriter song (and not a particularly good one), performed by One Direction. Please, don't.


As for Skid Row, I know I must have heard this track before, since it's from the only album of theirs I ever actively listened to, but I don't remember it at all. It's more guitar-based, which is a good thing, it also has a rather tight groove, but something's slightly off for me. First, the song is absolutely unmemorable, even as they try some of the melodicisms that feel inspired by Mr Bongiovi himself; Sebastian Bach has the dubious distinction of being obnoxious and rather bland at the same time and the tough guy posturings belie the fact that they seem much more insecure in their glam attitude - they somewhat feel much sillier than some of the other bands that, well "I may be a whore but at least I admit it". At least subconsciously.

In the end it's not offensive at all, but all things taken together, Crue need more love around here and they'll get it for me.

-----

On paper, I always thought I would be a huge fan of stoner rock - not because of any preference for mind altering substances on my behalf, merely because of the origins and influences, sound and overall pizzazz of the subgenre - but somehow it never happened. I like Mastodon, who have been trying to become a full-blown stoner band almost since The Hunter, I enjoyed Kyuss quite a lot, there's also Cathedral and Conan... but apart from Mastodon, I almost never come back to these bands to replay them. I like Orange Goblin to a degree, I like Spirit Caravan to a degree, I enjoyed some Clutch albums, I was fascinated by Sleep somehow and so on, but it was never enough for me to become a fan.

Monster Magnet, for what it's worth, are definitely among the lesser-tier bands. The sound is rather tinny (and not in a good way), the song's not very memorable, the oppressing atmosphere of desert heat is nowhere to be found. The funky guitar riff is okay, I guess, but overall this is a mid track by a mid band, I can't help it.

That said, I know I said this

- Although I'm not a fan, I am giving a begrudging respect to both Slipknot and Korn, the former because they are rather creative within the paradigm, over time they moved outside the genre altogether, methinks, and I found stuff like their semi-official debut Mate.Feed.Kill.Repeat rather fascinating; the latter because they managed to more or less start the whole genre, for better or worse.

but I guess it's not enough. This is... pretty bad. I mean, the whole songs sound like someone was trying to make an aural representation of a shitpost. It's just... inane. Do you realise this is from their sixth album? This came out nine years after their self-titled was released. And this is the best thing that made the cut? No fucking way.

I reluctantly support the terribly pedestrian Monster Magnet song, but really, in this match, there are no winners.

-----

Seriously, what is this?
I love Kid, don't want to offend him, so let's just say Turmion Kätilöt is absolutely the opposite of what I might actually like and let it be.
I actually deleted my original comment, then rewrote it, then deleted again... because I don't want to feel like a cunt just because I don't like a song that's probably really precious to someone.

Don't want to feel like


all the time.

So let's put it this way KidintheDark, I love you mate, I have always respected your musical taste, we have agreed upon many things in the past, but after the In Flames song and this one now, there is an altogether different side to you and I'm somehow unable to even meet you halfway there. Really, I mean no offence and I hope none will be taken, it's just I don't get the appeal at all. Sorry!

Tool are better, definitely, I am not a huge fan; though funnily/weirdly enough, their Pneuma was actually the track I deleted from my nomination list the latest, as I whittled it down to the required amount, right before I sent the list to Loosey. Here there's Carey, of course, some crunchier riffs, cool bassline, overall it's rather catchy. Not one of their most stellar moments, probably, but decent enough.

Tool. No contest.


BTW

sites like Metal Archives should take note - this is the way to go.

Tool are also among the bands that MA don't consider "metal". Just like medieval metal bands (In Extremo) and others. Rammstein I don't even like, but not having them on self-proclaimed "metal" archives is just silly.

Really, I appreciate Prog Archives and the fact they seem to be operating under the mantra "in doubt, add it", so for example Blind Guardian are there. Yep. I love it.

 

[KidInTheDark666]

Seriously, what is this?
I love Kid, don't want to offend him, so let's just say Turmion Kätilöt is absolutely the opposite of what I might actually like and let it be.
I actually deleted my original comment, then rewrote it, then deleted again... because I don't want to feel like a cunt just because I don't like a song that's probably really precious to someone.

Don't want to feel like

View attachment 29933
all the time.

So let's put it this way KidintheDark, I love you mate, I have always respected your musical taste, we have agreed upon many things in the past, but after the In Flames song and this one now, there is an altogether different side to you and I'm somehow unable to even meet you halfway there. Really, I mean no offence and I hope none will be taken, it's just I don't get the appeal at all. Sorry!

It's quite alright haha, this is the sort of stuff that you're either really into or not at all. Turmion Kätilöt are really popular among younger metal fans here. They are essentially our answer to Rammstein with their often brutal lyrics and even very brutal live shows in the past. They used to be a bit more of a typical industrial metal band in the 00s but then moved on to this really eccentric disco metal style with even more violent lyrics than before.

So yeah, I'm not surprised that they aren't getting any votes, TK vs Sunn-O would've been a more interesting pairing. I'm also afraid that this probably isn't my final shitty nomination, even though the list I submitted this time would by most be considered better than the one in GMAC. This song here however is certainly the rock bottom! I wanted to add a couple of oddballs to the game instead of some of my more typical options that just missed the cut such as Accept or Running Wild.

 

[JudasMyGuide]

I wanted to add a couple of oddballs to the game instead of some of my more typical options that just missed the cut such as Accept or Running Wild.

I understand this - to be truthful, some of the first tracks I added to my nomination list were UneXpect's Feasting Fools

Pain of Salvation's Fandango

and something off Atheist's Unquestionable Presence, probably Mother Man

Precisely in order to keep things interesting.

And yet, in the end I decided to delete all three. As I get older, I get probably more sentimental and I couldn't help but go with my heart's choices, meaning a preference for the kitschy rather than a preference for the weird, although both are quite present within me.

It's cool you were more courageous than me, actually.

 

[Mosh]

Those are actually cool bands that make quality music though. The Atheist album in particular is an undisputed classic.

 

[Diesel 11]

A7X vs Buckethead is really one of those battles that just... what a match-up, right? I spent a long time disliking Avenged Sevenfold, but within the past year or two I've finally started coming around on them. The guitars are fucking great, The Rev was talented as hell certainly, and even M. Shadows has his pros. "Afterlife" is definitely a classic, maybe it goes off the rails a little in the middle, but the dual riff is fucking cool, that verse kicks in fantastically, and the chorus is oddly but wonderfully melodic. The whole thing is stuck in my head as I type this and against some other song I'd happily vote for it. But I'd forgotten just how fun "King James" is. Probably my favorite Bucket song, it's got this flow from section to section that just douses me in some incredible joy, all his guitar tricks are a bit reined-in here to give maximum wow factor, and like... from beginning to end it's just such a good song. Possibly his definitive killswitch song, too. I hate voting against "Afterlife", but Buckethead has to get my vote, bias be damned.

Riff-wise, "The Conjuring" is a juggernaut. When I was getting into metal, hearing Dave talk about how he wrote hexes into the song definitely made it feel like forbidden fruit. All these years later I don't exactly think it's one of the best Megadeth songs, but it's certainly fiery (that riff around the 3-minute mark is awesome). My biggest issue nowadays is that Dave sounds like he's dying while shitting himself and trying to sing the song at the same time. Not my favorite of his vocals, yeah. But "Inner Self" isn't one of Sepultura's best and kinda just... is, so I'll have to vote for Megadeth regardless. If this was something like "Arise" it would've gone the other way.

A bit of Diesel trivia: If I'd joined MaidenFans a little later than I did, I'd probably have signed up with the name "1,000 Eyes". It's such a cool title! The song has a slightly awkward sort of start, but the whole track just steamrolls through. As I've gotten older, the band's flaws become a little more apparent to me (Chuck has absolutely no melody or even showmanship in his singing, and every song is basically verse-bridge-bridge-chorus-solo-verse-bridge-bridge-chorus), but songs like this fucking smoke. I liked "Demanufacture" too, but it has a great start and then sort of lessens over time. Death's is more interesting and I have a stronger history with it, so that's what I'm voting. WE. ARE. EN. SLAVED. NOOOOOOWWWWWWW!

The glam three-way is certainly the big match this round. You guys are nuts and @JudasMyGuide is about the only person with any sense here. I agree almost completely with his points on all three songs. "Dr. Feelgood" is, in many ways, THE Mötley Crüe song. That intro is just fucking awesome, what a skull-crusher. This is not your average glam song, this is the Crüe's ticket into the hallowed halls of metal as a whole. They mix catchiness with heaviness fantastically, and it's just a banger from beginning to end. Now, "Livin' on a Prayer" is a classic and super catchy, but - and Judas pointed it out already - there's something hollow about it that means that once it's over, it's like it was never there. It's also just not metal. Bon Jovi is probably the single hair band that should not be considered at all in metal terms. I mean this song itself is barely even rock. Not that it's a bad thing, but you've got a completely rockin' song about a drug kingpin vs American dreamers Gina and Tommy. I want some ass-kickin', dammit! Meanwhile Skid Row have the best singer here, Bach is of course the George Michael of glam metal, but "Monkey Business" isn't one of their best songs. ;tldr I'm voting Mötley Crüe and it's insane to me that so many people are skipping over this one. There are plenty of dumb songs by that band but "Dr. Feelgood" ain't one of them.

I like aspects of both Korn's and Monster Magnet's songs here while also recognizing that they're not my thing. I'm gonna vote Monster Magnet just because I think it feels like the more complete song overall, Korn get too edgy here IMO.

"Sikiö" is another one of those wtf songs. Rammstein meets Eurovision with super angry harsh vocals, and I think I've heard this chorus in a Sabaton song before? It's one of those inclusions that I really respect a lot and might have voted for with my impishness against a lesser opponent. But Tool are one of my favorite bands, so this is a pretty easy vote for them. "The Pot" isn't my favorite song of theirs, I don't think it even makes my Top 3 from 10,000 Days itself (too much "indigo"), but it's still a really tight, proggy rocker. And it's a song that casual fans and new fans can latch onto, so that's cool! And there are some really sweet lines throughout and the ending kills, so... Tool!

 

[Siddharth]

Afterlife - Avenged Sevenfold without a doubt. One of my favourite bands of all time and Afterlife was the first song I listened by them. Love how they keep their traditional influences intact while still experimenting. The guitar melody right after the intro is bomb! My favourite is the middle part where The Rev also provides vocals and finally leads to the solo.

Match 2 was most difficult. Though Megadeth is my 2nd favourite next only to Maiden, I went for Inner Self - Sepultura. Beneath The Remains is one of the best records in the genre, awesome riffs, full intensity. The Conjuring is a great song too from an already awesome album with a unique intro and then the drumming which follows suit but for Sepultura I will give the above reasoning.

Fun fact: In Sepultura's video for Inner Self, the bassist can be seen wearing a Megadeth shirt.

Death - Symbolic my favourite song off of Symbolic, one of the best albums ever! Not to mention, Chuck's-Orwellian lyrics are on. The later albums had some really good songwruting by him. But lets not discard Fear Factory' influential record. I don't know if mentioned before but I feel Demanufacture pretty much laid the foundations of Djent along with Meshuggah.

I wonder why Glam metal is hated that much, it gave some really cool bands. My vote is for Dr. Feelgood- Motley Crue, as already mentioned, the drums do have that huge 'Black Album' sound and the song overall has some really cool parts. Livin' On A Prayer is always a fun listen but the real contender was Skid Row with a really awesome song. They were too close to making it for me.

This actually this is for the first time I heard Monster Magnet - Powertrip and they do have an interesting sound so I went for them. While I may not be biggest KoRn fan but I do appreciate their style. I just think MM has a lot going on.

Tool - The Pot. While I'm still a bit new to Tool's music, I understand, the hype is real. The guitarist (Adam Jones) is using a really cool technique here, while he plays one string, his fret hand skips further to the lower strings which creates a unique sound (as I once saw in a video explaining it). Again, first time listening to Turmion. Got a unique style but maybe sometime later...

 

[Lamia020281]

@Lamia020281 that´s pure Suomi bias in that final match!

Not really, I just don't like Tool. Pity most of you don't understand the lyrics of the Turmion Kätilöt song, they are quite fun In a way. I googled To find out if Turmion Kätilöt is in fact a humour band, but I didn't find the answer. There's something very familiar about the name, maybe my ex listened to the band or something.