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 .
To be clear, my post was more about hating Linkin Park (and by proxy what they stand for) than disliking their music. Totally valid! I just don’t get the hatred is all.
 
The amount of harsh vocal hatred around here is really wild. I admit to disliking a good majority of extreme vocals, but it's crazy to me that so many folks refuse to accept any music with any extreme vocals whatsoever
Well, it’s like Brussels sprouts — to some people they taste like any other vegetable, while others have a gene that makes them taste like skunk juice. If you have a perfectly prepared dish but you douse skunk juice all over it, it’s going to be impossible to enjoy.

People contorting their throats to sound like Cookie Monster or Gollum, or trying to sound like they’re vomiting into the microphone, and delivering all of this in a very intentionally non-melodic way, is a huge, annoying distraction to me that only detracts from the music. It’s like watching a glorious opera, but regularly having some naked guy run on stage grunting and defecating everywhere during the show. It’s cringe-inducing. Awful. Embarrassing.

Obviously many modern listeners disagree, but that doesn’t affect the visceral reaction it provokes in me.

We'll get you one day...
Nope.
 
It’s like watching a glorious opera, but regularly having some naked guy run on stage grunting and defecating everywhere during the show. It’s cringe-inducing. Awful. Embarrassing.
If done right that could be a very interesting aspect of the show, though... :ninja:
 
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Reactions: Jer
People contorting their throats to sound like Cookie Monster or Gollum, or trying to sound like they’re vomiting into the microphone, and delivering all of this in a very intentionally non-melodic way, is a huge, annoying distraction to me that only detracts from the music. It’s like watching a glorious opera, but regularly having some naked guy run on stage grunting and defecating everywhere during the show. It’s cringe-inducing. Awful. Embarrassing.
:rolleyes:
 
The Guns N' Roses train has thundered through, last call for Ratt and Poison. Thank god, Five Finger Death Punch was washed away in an incredible torrent and Faith No More was declared the real thing. In the meantime, it's this time for Life of Agony. The templars of steel barely are delivered from their gods as HammerFall squeaks through. It's Opeth who gets the blessed touch in the fifth matchup. And finally, it's the end indeed for Limp Bizkit, who are eaten alive by Linkin Park.






Part 1, Round 14, Matches 79-84


Play In Round
Match 79
Lord of the Flies Division​
Gamma Ray - Valley of the Kings
vs.
Sonata Arctica - The Cage​
@Black Bart
Nominators
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon
Links

Play In Round
Match 80
Lord of the Flies Division​
Slipknot - Duality
vs.
Slipknot - Before I Forget​
Youtube 50
Nominators
Youtube 50​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon
Links

Play In Round
Match 81
Lord of the Flies Division​
Death Devil - Love
vs.
Motörhead - Love Me Like a Reptile​
Best Music Art 100
Nominators
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon
Links

Play In Round
Match 82
Melvyn Grant Division​
Sepultura - Territory
vs.
Megadeth - Countdown to Extinction​
Popoff 500
Nominators
Popoff 500​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon
Links

Play In Round
Match 83
Melvyn Grant Division​
Van Halen - Jump
vs.
Foo Fighters - All My Life​
Popoff 500
Nominators
Radio EHS 100​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon
Links

Play In Round
Match 84
Melvyn Grant Division​
AC/DC - Walk All Over You
vs.
Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak​
Popoff 500
Nominators
Popoff 500​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon
Links
 
Wow, me again? Okay. Looking forward to this.

Also, as we have 2 Spliknots against each other in the second match, I've decided to put forth the proposition to accept a new unique dual plural form for "knot", for example 1 knot, 2 "knoddens", more "kneed".

So, out of the two Slipknoddens, we shall pick only one and quietly hope there are no more Slipkneed in the game? No?
 
The amount of harsh vocal hatred around here is really wild. I admit to disliking a good majority of extreme vocals, but it's crazy to me that so many folks refuse to accept any music with any extreme vocals whatsoever (even when they are done perfectly, as in Opeth). Having no actual way to calculate, I would say 50% (or more) of all metal music features extreme vocals in some way.

It's nice to see some people looking beyond those sections to the music. Opeth was my gateway drug into harsh vocals. We'll get you one day...
There are some good bands who use harsh vocals, but none who wouldn't be improved by having an actual singer. That's my take on this.
 
What about bands, like Opeth, who have one singer doing both? Who is actually quite a good clean singer and uses harsh vocals as a technique for emotional emphasis?
They'd be better if they did the harsh less and the clean vocals more.

My closest comparison would be Seven Spires; I adore their clean songs but the moment she starts screaming it ruins the whole thing.
 
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Valley of The Kings is some more quality cheddar from Gamma Ray, with a typical power metal driving rhythm, low-rent-but-fun synths, a catchy-if-pedestrian chorus, and a great bridge section with multiple decent leads. Sonata Arctica up this tempo by 510 bpm and employ the same low rent synths. I really cannot stomach the vocals here, though. The melodies are so cluttered and the singing quality is just absolutely not for me. Going with Gamma Ray here.

It seems @LooseCannon has found a clever way to force me to vote for Slipknot. Great. Well, anyway. Duality has a good enough chorus and the music is twisty and pummeling, but those talking verses are trash. Before I Forget also has a good chorus (gee I wonder if this band wanted attention) and the verses are far more metallic and rhythmically diverse, even if the two parts are sewn together worse than one of Slipknot’s masks. Once again, the emotional tough guy talking in the pre-chorus is stupid, but at least the bizarre melodic bridge makes up for it a little bit. Taylor’s vocal modulation in the final chorus is nice. Before I Forget is the better song here.

The music in Death Devil’s Love is actually solid in a throwback sort of way, but the production is so ridiculously compressed that it doesn’t even sound real. Maybe it isn’t. IDK. It’s such a massive wall of sound that I have a hard time picking anything out. If I could make out the notes I would say the solo rips. Love Me Like a Reptile is Motorhead being Motorhead…and it’s fine, I guess. Heavy rock ’n’ roll with Lemmy drunkenly yelping innuendos over it. Eh, I’m not feeling this today. I’ll throw a sympathy vote to Death Devil for at least being more metal, I guess.

Territory has good percussion, pedestrian harsh vocals, and average riffs. Sepultura doesn’t really interest me. Though that “guitar solo” is intriguing. Countdown To Extinction, however, is a juggernaut. It’s a tour de force of melodic heavy metal songwriting. The chord progression is memorable, Ellefson’s jangling bass line is iconic, and Mustaine’s vocals aren’t even that annoying! I absolutely adore this chorus, especially that second guitar line underneath the vocals. Just a real work of musical prowess. The harmonized section before the solo is amazing, the solo is amazing, it’s a killer track. Countdown wins by a mile.

Jump, and all prior or subsequent DLR Van Halen, can fuck off forever. All My Life is a cool (rock) song and wins by default.

Walk Over You is only slightly different from your average AC/DC song. The chorus change is cool and the solo is particularly interesting for Angus Young. But Jailbreak is just superior in every way. Classic Thin Lizzy tune that exudes awesomeness from beginning to close.
 
15 years ago, power metal was by far the genre I listened the most to, and both Gamma Ray and Sonata Arctica were in heavy rotation. Fast forward to the present, and I rarely find myself putting anything by Tony Kakko and his gang on, while "Valley of the Kings" still has a spot on my regular playlist. "The Cage" is a great song, but I definitely prefer Gamma Ray here.

I don't like Slipknot very much, and I would happily vote for a few other songs in this round over both of these. "Before I Forget" sounded familiar, so that's gonna be my pick here.

Japan has spawned more than a few all-female power metal bands over the last few decades, and while some are beyond amazing in my opinion (re: Lovebites), others not quite as much. I initially thought Death Devil was one of these, and then it turns out it's a virtual band made for a Japanese anime series, so I guess that explains a lot. Ah well, the song is fine, but nothing special, so I'm gonna fancy myself some classic Motörhead here.

"Territory" has to be the least interesting Sepultura song I've heard so far. It's like they're trying to (and failing miserably) to sound like Pantera. The riffs are boring, the vocals monotone - in short, it's nowhere near the quality of "Countdown to Extinction", with its cool bassline and catchy chorus. Easy vote for Megadeth.

I won't lie; I like Foo Fighters more than I'd usually like to admit, but "All My Life" simply can't compete with a classic like "Jump". Van Halen.

"Walk All Over You" is really just AC/DC doing what they always do, though it is probably one of their more interesting songs. However, I adore Thin Lizzy much, much more, and "Jailbreak" is absolutely amazing; I love the riff, the lyrics, and, as Live and Dangerous makes very clear, it has to be one of the very best concert openers by any band. Thin Lizzy.
 
Opeth is a band I've never really gotten into, but I have a suspicion that it might be time for me to take the plunge. A lot of my tastes have been arcing in that direction and I enjoyed this track. Certainly moreso than the Evergrey track, although it wasn't bad.
Start with Blackwater Park and go from there. Enjoy the journey!
 
I just saw Sonata live once again on Saturday and The Cage was the main highlight of the show, as it usually is for me. An excellent pick from @JudasMyGuide!

Also two fantastic songs from Slipknot which didn't even require my participation to be here.
 
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