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 .
Honestly, I generally prefer Slayer, but that Sepultura song actually kind of got to me. I'll toss them a bone, as I feel bad for never really getting them as an act.

Bottom quintile Judas Priest vs a very interesting Grand Magus track? Battle Cry, like the rest of Redeemer of Souls, just sounds sad.

Toughest matchup for me. This is the era of Nightwish I don't generally enjoy that much, and I find this song to be decent, without being notable. On the other hand we have a true Rhapsody epic, with all of the strengths and massive, massive flaws of the band. It's too long, it's overblown, and in places it's outright bad, but it has a heart of cheese and some wicked riffs, so I will vote Rhapsody.

Tiamat over a song I found to be actively bad.

Alice in Chains isn't a band I particularly like, but I'm not really a Led Zeppelin guy, and of all the questionable bands in the contest, Led Zep is the one I would have excluded.

Alter Bridge, because Creed is indeed better without Scott Stapp.
 
Slayer - Postmortem vs. Sepultura - Dead Embryonic Cells
Both tracks are great, and I'd rank Dead Embryonic Cells as much, much closer to my faourite Sepultura track than Postmortem is to my favourite Slayer, but Postmortem is the good bit better of this pair of songs Postmortem

Judas Priest - Battle Cry vs. Grand Magus - On Hooves of Gold

I had to give Battle Cry a listen as I don't really recall any track from that album off the top of my head bar the Valhalla one. It's pretty good, a mish mash of Megadeth's Back in the Day and ideas from the Painkiller album. On Hooves of Gold is a solid Grand Magus track, not one that I would be nominating from them, but a good representation of the band nonetheless. And the better of these tracks. On Hooves of Gold

Rhapsody of Fire - Gargoyles, Angels of Darkness vs. Nightwish - Passion and the Opera

I didn't have 19 minutes to spare to listen to all of Rhapsody of Fire anyway and I heard enough to know it wouldn't be the sort of music that holds my attention span for very long. Nightwish was the better track of the two and fairly decent up until the part where she started making bird noises. Passion and the Opera

Paradise Lost - True Belief vs. Tiamat - In a Dream

Neither track did a hell of a lot for me, Paradise Lost was more up my alley. The spoken word "in a dream" in Tiamat reminded me of Beavis and Butthead taking the piss out of Morbid Angel "bow to me faithfully" True Belief

Alice in Chains - Them Bones vs. Led Zeppelin - Rock and Roll

I had this record briefly when I was getting into music before I realised grunge was not for me. Them Bones is a decent enough track with a good riff, but c'mon Rock and Roll man. Rock and Roll

Helmet - Unsung vs. Alter Bridge - Blackbird

Both of these tracks are in the "not bad but don't particularly grab me" bracket. Alter Bridge a good bit better, the singer has a good voice but he usually puts on a strange affectation when singing that doesn't click with me, but this time he's not doing it. Blackbird
 
Match 121 - Sepultura
Holy mother of trash! I thought I was going to vote for Slayer immediately, but I realized I like Postmortem only as a part of the album. Listening to it alone make me automatically continue to "Raining Blood". I never cared much about "Arise" so if somebody asked me to name 10 Sepultura songs, I doubt "Dead Embryonic Cells" would be one of those. Still a better tune than "Postmortem"

Match 122 - Grand Magus
"Battle Cry" sounds like it was released last week, not "Panic Attack". I listened to "Redeemer of Souls" only once, and I remember at the end of the album it felt like a chore. It sounds like Halford was on his deathbed when he recorded this. Never heard Grand Magus and when I saw the name I expected some crossover between Merciful Fate and Manowar. Got neither, thank God. It didn't woo me but I also can't find anything wrong with it so it gets my vote.

Match 123 - Nightwish
Sweet Cheezus, man. I'm gonna admit I didn't pass the 13 minute mark on Rhapsody (the part with the spoken word). But last.fm scrobbled the listen and I did my homework. Those 12 minutes were enough. More than enough. Actually, I heard so much, that I imagined a studio where engineer is laying the tracks and has three monitors to track them aligned vertically. So much stuff going on. Like making a pizza and fries. And then putting those fries onto pizza, fold it and make a calzone. And then deep-fry it. And then add gravy all over it. And sprinkle it with chocolate. If this was a single, it should be sold with a complementary insulin shot. And then came Nightwish and I expected more of the same. But it was only 5 minutes and actually riff-y. Yay Nightwish. I can't believe I was actually happy listening to Nightwish.

Match 124 - Tiamat
Lost Paradise is one of those bands I'd never notice playing in the background. But even if I do, I wouldn't do anything to skip them. Kinda awful thing to be. Tiamat sounded like they would be skippable, but there's just something about that chorus that I found funny. The way he says "In a dream" sounds like a catchphrase from some sitcom, in a vein of "That's what she said" and "The name of your sex tape". Definite vote for them.

Match 125 - Alice in Chains
Any other Alice in Chains song, and it would be a vote for Led Zeppelin, but there is too many GTA: San Andreas in me to turn a blind eye.

Match 126 - Helmet
And again, this one was also in GTA: San Andreas and I think it was in first Guitar Hero or something like that. Also, even if I grew fond of Alter Bridge, their longer songs don't do much for me.
 
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Any other Alice in Chains song, and it would be a vote for Led Zeppelin, but there is too many GTA: San Andreas in me to turn a blind eye.
I'd admit this is at least 50% of me picking AiC, just rolling around San Andreas on a hog with the hard rock station playing.
 
Don't know if most people will have seen this one, up til British Lion came out I think this was the only non-Maiden track Steve played ono_O
 
@Spambot is right that "Postmortem" is better when it flows straight into "Raining Blood", but even on its own this is a classic Slayer track from their best album. Reign in Blood is also the only Slayer record where I think Tom Araya kills it on the vocals. A lot of times he sounds slightly bored, but even on a mid-tempo track like this he's incredibly focused. The riffing and guitar sound on this whole album is like crack to me, it's so good, and then there are some awesome moments throughout as well, like, "Fatality, reality, await the final CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaalll!" So fucking good. Never fails to get me headbanging.

Then on the other side we have one of Sepultura's classics, another track that is absolutely killer in the guitar department, especially when that slower, chugging riff comes in during a lull in the drumming around the three minute mark or so. Super good. Definitely a classic for a reason. I think ultimately I still enjoy Slayer more, so I'll give them my vote here, but this is a really strong matchup and I'll be a little sad for whichever one loses.

Listening to "Battle Cry" makes it clear just how insane it is that Halford sounds as good as he does on Firepower. How did he manage to scale back the years after this record, where he sounds... really lost? Those high notes are really weak. It's not a bad song but it plods more than it should. I'm going with Grand Magus here because they were more consistent, had some good moments, and the singer is pretty good. Nothing mindblowing but it's solid heavy metal.

@JudasMyGuide if Nightwish wasn't winning this match handily I wouldn't be doing this, but I'm actually going to give Rhapsody the vote here. Now, I was totally going to go into this 19 minute song ready with quips about Italians at the ready. My only prior experience with Rhapsody is "Emerald Sword" and I do not have fond memories about that song, especially vocally. So seeing that this was 19 minutes in length I was fully prepared for the dumbest shit I'd ever heard in my life. I have to retroactively apologize for doubting you because this song is more than worthy of being here. Okay, after the ten minute mark it starts to lose itself, with all the spoken word stuff and whatnot - a lot of that could've been cut down (unless it works better when listening to the album as a whole). But those first ten minutes? Fucking fire. What the hell.

I mean it feels more like Symphony X than I was expecting from a more typical power metal band. There's a lot of proggy nods thrown in, I love how the guitar and keys mesh together; I also wasn't expecting Fabio Lione to actually sound even half-way decent, but he's actually got it together on this track. Some of the vocals feel like Russell Allen (only I still can't understand a goddamn thing he says). The fucking choirs out of nowhere??? GARGOYLES. GARGOYLES. GARGOYLES. It's so dumb but it works so well and it adds such a dark addition to it. I could totally see myself coming back to this, maybe even checking out the whole album. That's some great power metal music.

Again, I wouldn't vote for them if Nightwish wasn't going to take this anyway - I think "Passion and the Opera" is super underrated and is one of Tarja's definitive performances in the band. The playful verses, the majestic chorus, and then the vocal run at the end is just so fucking good. I still think she's the best Nightwish singer. And Emppu's guitarwork just sounds so good, running underneath the orchestral tinges and keyboard flurries like a locomotive. It's a great song and an awesome submission from @Jer . But since Rhapsody is losing and they really impressed me, out of solidarity since a lot of people just wrote the song off for its self-indulgences, I will be voting for it. Another really, really good matchup here.

And another super strong matchup! Paradise Lost do doom with some really beautiful tinges and I need to get into them more. @srfc is absolutely right that Tiamat sounds like they're doing their own take on Morbid Angel's "God of Emptiness", I knew it sounded familiar. I really liked both these tracks for different reasons, but vocally Tiamat are certainly weaker and there are melodies that stick out more from "True Belief". Paradise Lost.

Goddamn, what is it with this incredibly good matchups this round? Pairing off a classic rock staple like "Rock and Roll" against a raging grunge monster like "Them Bones" is wild but both these songs are so good. I haven't actively wanted to listen to "Rock and Roll" in ages because, yeah, it's just a silly '50s tribute from the biggest rock band of the '70s and the radio overplays this one a lot. But I really, really forgot just how good this song is. Everyone on here is giving 110%. Bonham is flying on the drum kit. Jones is absolutely driving the song's backbone. Page is gliding with ease, especially in the solo. And Plant is fully dialed-in and focus without his usual over-the-top noises. The whole thing feels like a labor of love and it's no wonder that it's such a beloved song. Every year my local classic rock station polls its listeners to compile their Top 500 list for Memorial Day weekend, and this one is almost always in the top 10 or floating nearby. "Rock and Roll" really is one of the ultimate rock and roll songs, because it's incredibly tight and incredibly fun at the same time.

Okay, now that I've given my full support to Led Zeppelin, I will go ahead and vote for "Them Bones" anyway because it's still the better song and also, actually is metal. Love both these tunes for different reasons but I still think the choice here is obvious.

Helmet really remind me of early, Opiate-era Tool with a bit less prog and not-as-good vocals. It's not bad. Ended pretty suddenly. "Blackbird" is a beast of a song though. The guitar is super engaging; the vocals are incredible. That long held note at the end is utterly insane. @Ariana has always been the Myles Kennedy stan of the board and based on this track alone I totally get it. Beautiful melodies. Maybe I need to listen to Alter Bridge more...
 
I'm surprised at the generally negative opinion of Fabio Lione on this forum. Of course this forum isn't representative of the metal community as a whole, but he's a pretty highly rated vocalist in many circles. I admit that he's not the easiest singer to understand though. Either way, Nightwish is a tough opponent to face, and I hope that my Rhapsody nomination will do better.
 
At best I felt people tolerate Fabio because he's got a sound that's iconic for his genre.
 
Well, Sepultura didn't get away with freezing their embryos, as a postmortem has been done on this match by Slayer. Grand Magus's mighty charge lacked a battle cry, as Judas Priest wins handily. Gargoyles and angels may fly, but they can't elevate Rhapsody above Nightwish's operatic passion. Tiamat's hopes were just a dream, as Paradise Lost gets the forum's true belief. Rock and roll? More like roll them bones for Alice in Chains. And the blackbird's cry leaves Helmet's chances unsung as Alter Bridge wins promotion.






Part I, Round 22, Matches 127-132


Play In Round
Match 127
Hallowed Be Thy Name Division​
Crossfire - Atomic War
vs.
Venom - In League with Satan​
@Magnus
Nominators
Popoff 500​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon
Links

Play In Round
Match 128
Killers Division​
Angra - Carolina IV
vs.
Running Wild - Riding the Storm​
@Black Bart
Nominators
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon
Links

Play In Round
Match 129
Killers Division​
Type O Negative - Christian Woman
vs.
Lacuna Coil - Daylight Dancer​
@Diesel 11
Nominators
Best Music Art 100​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon
Links

Play In Round
Match 130
Killers Division​
Sabaton - En Livstid I Krig
vs.
Stratovarius - Babylon​
@Poto
Nominators
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon
Links

Play In Round
Match 131
El Dorado Division​
Sodom - Magic Dragon
vs.
Anthrax - Armed and Dangerous​
@Magnus
Nominators
Popoff 500​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon
Links

Play In Round
Match 132
El Dorado Division​
Van Halen - Mean Streets
vs.
UFO - Lights Out​
Popoff 500
Nominators
Popoff 500​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon
Links
 
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I mean it feels more like Symphony X than I was expecting from a more typical power metal band.

office-michael.gif

Finally someone else noticed that.

Also, thank you for the open-minded assessment.

I could totally see myself coming back to this, maybe even checking out the whole album.

If you decide to do so, for what it's worth, I would indeed recommend to anyone trying out this album in particular. It was my first by them and I still think it might be the best. Also, one of those that led me into power metal as a whole.
(I remember being 12, on a three-week holiday with my father and his new wife in France and having only, like 7 or 8 songs on my phone (memory cards weren't as great back then) - this was the only band that I had more than one track by with me, I think it was three and they all came from this album. Nightwish, Freedom Call and others only got one.
I repeated these three ad nauseam, just like the rest of them. Still haven't overplayed them, 20 years later)


Anyway, I think it is one of their heavier albums in the early period and there is a lot of their typical Medieval and Baroque influnece, producing quite atypical harmonies - indeed reminding the listener of Symph X probably more often than not. A lot of sublime neoclassical guitarwork and a lot of colourfulness, I'd say - the almost-thrashy verses of When Demons Awake, culminating in a massive, again, harmonically untrivial bombastic chorus that sounds like a horror-movie soundtrack (but in a good way!) or March of the Swordmaster, which incorporates actual specific late-Medieval/early-Renaissance song (Quand je bois du vin clairet, also known among the general public as "Tourdion", but that's the type of the dance, not the title of the song) to great effect, are certainly pleasant detours.

As for Fabio, I also didn't like him at first. But I started listening to them because of the other stuff and over time, I became accustomed to him and nowadays I may say that I actually like him very much. He takes some getting used to, but IMHO not as much as some other vocalists in the metal game.
With that said, you'l probably hate Lamento Eroico for a very long time.

And Turilli might be a one trick pony, but that trick is perfectly done and the pony is the size of a small elephant. Meaning, he might be a one trick pony, but that doesn't change the fact he's among my favourite guitarists and will probably remain so.
 
Yet another round I missed it seems.
Was going to vote for Layers, Drag Magnus (yay!), Tatami and Deep Zen Pill but it is what it is you know.
Will vote the new stuff tomorrow after hearing them all.
 
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