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

[MrKnickerbocker]

Are we voting for best punk song? Best indie alt-rock song? Nothing wrong with Search and Destroy. It’s a good garage rock anthem. It actually rocks pretty hard, especially the solo over the high energy ending. Also, Gene Simmons ripping off Foxey Lady can shut up and die. Stooges win by default.

What tuning is this Bolt Thrower song in? H-Flat? It’s a mess. Not gonna lie, I couldn’t make it through the whole thing. Bloodbath is so dirty and nasty sounding, too. But, damn, Akerfeldt is at the peak of his growlies, and this song is pummeling as all hell with a killer lineup of musicians. I don’t really like it, but I respect it. Double time chorus at the end is nice.

I like the pieces of Cold Runs the River more than the whole. The music is pretty awesome, the clean vocals solid, even the harsh vocals are okay, the groovy verses are cool, the chorus is decent in an Amorphis-sort-of-way…but man I hate those blast beats. Always a fan of a good DOUBLEDOUBLEBASS “ahhh!” The song is just okay. Dan Swanö’s breed of death metal is so much more melodic (and yeah, definitely cheesy) but also much more my style. By the time he gets into the soulful clean vocals I’m fully onboard with Add Reality.

Bring Me The Horizon can fuck off with their bush league Linkin Park copycatting. More Human Than Human isn’t perfect, but it’s memorable in Rob’s caveman horror movie sorta way.

A7X are making vote for Breaking Benjamin here because their vocals suck, their melodies are awful, and also my ears are bleeding from listening to M. Shadows’ play acting. Puke.

Surprise Your Dead is kinda fun, but Fortress beats it by a mile.

 

[Kalata]

After Priest's Hellrider, I can't believe Digger's Lionheart lost, especially with its opponent's chorus. Some (even a lot, iirc) surprises so far for me.

If the KISS song loses this round, then I will say the same (given its opponent). Probably their most Black Sabbath-esque song.

 

[MindRuler]

What a poor round...apart from FNM not any song I´m keen to check out.

 

[JudasMyGuide]

Good news @JudasMyGuide! Satan is vanquished!

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The Stooges are among the bands which I don't usually think about or remember to put on, but most of what I've heard by them is pretty solid. Fun House is probably better as an album, even sound-wise, but I have no problem enjoying this punk rock/hard rock hybrid that Popoff picked for us (though once again, this is not metal even in the broadest sense of the term I could possibly conjure). Nothing particularly memorable, though.

I've already mentioned (probably several times, too) that Kiss' are at their strongest when they lean into the power pop sensibilities (did I mention the phrase "Cheap Trick with makeup" already?). She is not one of those cases and it's not therefore much fun, despite some solid riffage. That said, its sound and its atmosphere is probably closer to what I'd call metal, so I guess it edges out the competition a bit.

Kiss, although I'd rather vote for neither.

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Ah, Bolt Thrower vs Bloodbath. Both are classics of the genre and on various days I could see myself voting for either band. Buried by the Dead has more variation throughout and Akerfeldt on vocals, but Bolt Thrower have a much fuller sound and less of the "death'n'roll" influence I can't help but hear in the work of the Swedes.
Honestly, I like both and for different reasons; in other circumstances I would wait and see which one is losing, to support the underdog, but unfortunately I have no time for that. As of now, the only vote went to Bloodbath so far, so I'm voting for Bolt Thrower, although either of the songs could (should?) win as far as I'm concerned.

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So, another of my nominations, and one I hope will make a good showing.

Borknagar are the prime example of what I've already written about, the "post-black metal" band that started in the subgenre, but over time developed into something much grander and more universal, yet haven't ever lost their original touch. It is no coincidence or accident that Vintersorg himself (who represents the very idea thereof, ever since his debut) was a member of the band for quite some time, including on this album.

When the Winter Thrice album (whose omission I lamented in the Greatest Metal Album Cup, since I missed the nomination round) came out, all the raving perfect reviews seemed suspicious (I speak mainly of the magazines I was reading back then, although the album still has 96 % on Metal Archives), but it was one of the cases where I had to reluctantly agree at first and wholeheartedly support the notion later; the album itself made me reevaluate the band as a whole, in fact.

It is just immaculately crafted - there's the remaining black metal influence, but the band has developed into this weird hybrid of black metal remnants (the blastbeats, the atmosphere and the harsh vocals), a strangely injected folk metal influence (which quite uniquely shows much more in the melodies and harmonies than in the instrumentation, unlike with a lot of the folk metal bands which concentrate mainly on the latter), quite surprising pop sensibilities (most of the songs on the album are immensely memorable), all packed within this modern metal idiom (mainly in the production and instrumentation). And I just can't help but wonder at how substantial the end result feels.

Cold Runs the River (which is my first pick off the album; there's going to be another song later in the cup) has less of the folklore and more of the general "modern metal" (and also it feels like it has a bit more harsher vocals overall than the average song on the album, but I didn't count it)... but its thumping tempo and the catchiest chorus on the album immediately made it my (and my wifey's) favourite. I can't get enough of how the harsh vocals subtly switch into the melodic ones (BTW, at this point, the band had three vocalists, which helps with the variation), I like the OG-Vintersorgian folky "whoahs", I love the lyrics also

Ice draped rocks, flesh cover bones
The cabals of eternity burn in the night
As the watercourse that rinses all stones
Unify my path with the river site

Man, such a cool track. I can't get enough of it ... and the album's seven years old!

The opposing song by the "Swedish death metal's Todd Rundgren" is no slouch either - I like his solo record probably the most out of his production I've heard so far - in a way it's more cerebral and varied (the strange hits in the "chorus" are rather fascinating and I love the piano throughout)... but it doesn't have the "oomph" factor, which is one of my general problems with him overall - just like Rundgren, he's incredibly talented, but also a "jack of all trades, master of none" in a way - he does so much stuff that is generally very good, he can't seem to produce things that would be genuinely great ... at least in my eyes. Also, the cold Swedish sound is really easy to overplay.

Borknagar.

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Let it not be said that I haven't tried - I have. Bring Me the Horizon are among the metalcore bands I actually tried to get into, back in the day, but I just can't. I don't remember how the rest of their work sounded, but this particular song, which sounds most like a misbegotten mutant child of Coldplay and Linkin Park (well, with something shouty included as well) is just something I can't even enjoy, let alone like. And I actually like Coldplay - I actually saw them live in 2012 or so.

On the other hand, Rob Zombie and especially White Zombie is something I genuinely like. I like the grooves, the sound, the kitschy package and the fact most of this stuff is memorable for me, even though it also dabbles in electronica and comes from a subgenre where memorability isn't your typical virtue. And Sean Yseult was really hot. There, I said it.

Zombie all the way, baby.

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Another match for the kids, huh? Breaking Benjamin are fucking terrible and annoy me to no end. Once again something that vaguely sounds like Linkin Park, though this time infused with something that sounds like 00s era pop punk (think American Pie II soundtrack), which is just taking the worst of both worlds. Also, it must be a mondegreen, but I could swear I heard "diarrhoea" somewhere in the lyrics, which is fitting.

I'm not all that crazy about the A7x track either, all their most annoying tendencies are up to full display here, but it is much more creative and weirdly endearing in that Broadwayish histrionics, more varied and fascinating. It's really not hard to go with The Rev here.

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I don't know what it is that makes people overrate The Real Thing by FNM so much, but let me just say I don't succumb to this tendency at all. Never would have thought I'd vote for the "better Creed" radio rockers over Faith No fucking More, but Suprise, You're Dead always felt like a joke track at best, whereas Fortress sounds much more substantial (and is one of the better tracks ... off one of the better albums by the band). The instrumental part is really sweet and the riffage is rather driving.

Alter Bridge.

 

[KidInTheDark666]

The Diary of Jane is honestly one of my all time favorite songs, definitely one that I forgot about while composing my list of nominees. A Little Piece of Heaven is a big classic too but I got tired of it years ago.

 

[DJ James]

I’m not even a big groove metal guy but More Human Than Human is a favorite of mine. I can’t remember the name of the bassist for White Zombie but she really killed it with that group before Rob went solo.

 

[JudasMyGuide]

I can’t remember the name of the bassist for White Zombie but she really killed it with that group before Rob went solo.

And Sean Yseult was really hot. There, I said it.

 

[Diesel 11]

Gotta say, “A Little Piece of Heaven” was the song that made A7X finally click for me, years after I first heard them. Up till that point I found them annoying, since then I’ve found myself enjoying a lot of their elements, even the vocals. The chorus in that song is a monster.

 

[Jer]

"Search And Destroy" is super raw, and not in a good way. There are a few good vocal melodies here, and the guitar work is surprisingly great, but otherwise the performances aren't anything special. "She" is...fine. The riffs are serviceable, the vocal melodies aren't bad (though they aren't really memorable either), and the solos are thoroughly OK. The bridge with the call-and-response with the guitar fills is moderately more interesting than the rest of the song, but that's still not saying much. I don't know, I guess the Kiss song is technically better on paper, but it's just so uninspiring. While the Stooges song is kind of a mess, at least the guitar work stays fiery throughout and has some actual passion behind it. Gonna go with the heart instead of the head on this one. Winner: Iggy And The Stooges - "Search And Destroy"

"Through The Eye Of Terror" certainly brings the mega-downtuned crunch, and the riffage is generally good. The vocals are terrible, of course, but in a breathier style that's less annoying than the worst of the Cookie Monster types. The cut-time drumming sections are bad, but they're thankfully rare. I'm not sure the song has a coherent through line, but most of what's here aside from the vocals is pretty solid. "Buried By The Dead" has an actively irritating (as in headache-inducing) distorted tone from the jump, and Åkerfeldt's vocals are just about the most annoying ones on offer from Sesame Street. There were a couple of interesting rhythmic things going on underneath all the noise, I suppose. Needless to say, I wasn't a fan of either track, and while @Night Prowler's nominee is certainly guaranteed to annoy your parents more than its competitor, this is still an incredibly easy win for @DJ James's choice. Winner: Bolt Thrower - "Through The Eye Of Terror"

The Borknagar album from the GMAC was the closest I've ever come to being able to get into a black metal album to date. I wasn't quite able to get over the hump, but it earned my respect at least. "Cold Runs The River" is from a different album, and the vocals are higher in the mix than I'd prefer, but the cackles are only in the moderately annoying part of the spectrum. The inclusion of clean vocals is a surprise. The vocal phrasing and the accent make them feel a bit weird, but they're obviously preferable to the Gollum stuff. There are some nice melodies here, and the song goes on an interesting journey. A good song aside from the cut-time drumming sections and the extreme vocals. "Add Reality" is more or less early Dream Theater with more repetition and crappy Cookie Monster vocals. That one synth lick feels like late 70s Genesis. The piano section leading into the clean vocal outro with the melodic guitar lead is the highlight of the song, and if the rest of the track had followed its template I'd have been much happier. Both songs have their merits, and they both have a mixture of crappy vocals and clean ones. The Swanö track probably hits the highest highs, but for a woefully short stretch of the song, and the songwriting is clearly superior in the Borknagar track. So, sorry @Night Prowler, but I've got to go with @JudasMyGuide's nominee here. Winner: Borknagar - "Cold Runs The River"

"Throne" is pretty naked Linkin Park worship with more pop-punk flavor. I kind of like how the vocal blends and disappears into the sample at the end of the chorus, but otherwise it's hard to take this sort of me-tooism seriously. "More Human Than Human" has a dope synth-infused groove. Zombie's voice sucks, there's barely any melodic line at all, and the song is repetitive as shit, but at least it carved out a semi-unique sound for him. This one's kind of a hard call, as the Bring Me The Horizon track is pretty clearly a better song, but it's just so fucking derivative, while the White Zombie track has an earworm of a groove but never goes anywhere with it. I guess the fact that White Zombie conned me into buying their shitty album back in the day on the appeal of this track alone is probably reason enough to give them the nod here. Winner: White Zombie - "More Human Than Human"

Breaking Benjamin is a band I've often heard of, but never actually heard. Until now. The melancholy opening of "The Diary Of Jane" is pretty good, but the rest is a weird melange of Linkin Park, pop-punk, and hints of alt-rock. The vocal lines are good, but feel focus-grouped, and the occasional growls come off as completely disingenuous. Oh god, more Avenged Sevenfold. "A Little Piece Of Heaven" has some surprising Mr. Bungle-esque carnival shit going on, but not in a good way. The softer vocal sections are surprisingly decent when the singer is avoiding his whiny tone, but the screamy, sweary parts are poser garbage, and the song is a train wreck from a songwriting perspective, especially when it starts aping the Beatles' "I Want You", then randomly throwing in female vocals for a bit, then going sort-of neoclassical, then choral, then Coldplay. It's pretty incoherent, and the horns and wind instruments don't really work with the other elements at all. Sorry, @Stardust, but the list nominee was less annoying to me. Winner: Breaking Benjamin - "The Diary Of Jane"

"Fortress" is like most of the other Alter Bridge songs I've heard -- on paper it checks all the boxes of being a well-written, well-executed song, but there's something about the timbre of Myles Kennedy's voice that doesn't quite work for me, and despite all the overwrought anthemics on display I don't really feel much of anything when I listen to it. The bridges are cool, the solos are great, there's a good amount of variation, and everything's performed well, but it never manages to grab hold of me and actually take me along for the ride. "Surprise! You're Dead!" has great riffs and cool structure, and the half-rapped vocals work surprisingly well. For whatever reason, this song sinks its hooks into me right away and carries me along in a way that the Alter Bridge song doesn't, and for that reason I have to vote for it (though I will certainly understand and not be disappointed if it ultimately loses). Sorry, @The Dissident. Winner: Faith No More - "Surprise! You're Dead!"

 

[Shmoolikipod]

Search and Destroy is just more fun to listen to.

Bolt Thrower don't seem to have too much variety. I can't recall anything from it. But I eat it up. Buried by the Dead isn't peak Bloodbath anyways.

Cold Runs the River is a song I should come back to. Going with Dan Swano because I didn't expect a love song with growls and a keyboard focus. It's just really good in general too you know?

Posers be gone. Alright Throne is okay. It's just not something I see myself ever wanting to hear. More Human Than Human is, though I hate the way he sings the chorus.

The Diary of Jane is fairly good in most aspects. The chorus is whack. I'm just not the audience for this. I feel insulted by Avenged Sevenfold. This isn't good.

I think Surprise You're Dead would make a good rickroll alternative. I found it hilarious the first time I heard The Real Thing. We should really replace a song with Never Gonna Give You Up on April 1st.

 

[Night Prowler]

"Buried By The Dead" has an actively irritating (as in headache-inducing) distorted tone from the jump

Knew you wouldn't like it. This album has my favorite guitar sound ever. It's fuzzy af, but also razor-sharp. Haven't heard anything quite like it.

"Add Reality" is more or less early Dream Theater with more repetition and crappy Cookie Monster vocals. That one synth lick feels like late 70s Genesis.

Swano's goal was to sound like 70's Rush mixed with death metal. I don't hear Dream Theater in this album at all... DT is way more technical.

 

[Diesel 11]

Swano's goal was to sound like 70's Rush mixed with death metal. I don't hear Dream Theater in this album at all... DT is way more technical.

It definitely sounds like Dream Theater.

Knew you wouldn't like it. This album has my favorite guitar sound ever. It's fuzzy af, but also razor-sharp. Haven't heard anything quite like it.

Love you but the guitar was easily the worst thing about that song.

 

[Diesel 11]

Iggy was fine. Kiss were better.

Bloodbath was fine, some moments were great, guitar sound was shit and cannot compare to Bolt Thrower fucking steamrolling it down like a fucking monster.

Tough match. Two really strong songs that aren't perfect but worth coming back to. I loved the melodies and choral bits in the Borknaggar song. The biggest issue were the clean vocals, I'd have been more invested if he stuck to the black metal style the whole time. I probably could've done without the clean vocals in the Dan Swanö song too, but I think they made more sense to me. Super interesting track that sounds like Dream Theater doing death metal with Yes keyboards. A song that only really clicked a third of the way through, but at that point I was super sold. Tough choice but I'll go with Swanö here.

Definitely some Linkin Park wannabes but there was a decent amount to like about the BMTH song. No contender against White Zombie though, "More Human Than Human" is a fucking classic, the whole intro makes me feel so fucking excited and the riff is cool as shit.

This might be the first time I've dedicatedly listened to Breaking Benjamin and it's not a bad song by any means. The chorus is a little weak and I kinda wish they went to some more interesting places but the main melody is super dark and I dig it. Weirdly enough, reminds me of Buckethead's "Soothsayer". But as I said before, "A Little Piece of Heaven" is the song that made A7X click for me. Incredible how much shit they threw into this Tim Burton-esque 8 minutes. The story is so fucked up but I love the way they bring it to life. And the chorus is incredible. Listening to The Rev sing the high notes in the final reprise, listening to him sing the line "Cuz everybody's gotta die sometime!", fucking chills. Of course no one knew at that time that he wouldn't make it to the next Avenged Sevenfold album, but it hits even harder in hindsight. Excellent song, my only complaint is that the mix is shit. Otherwise it's goddamn near flawless.

Faith No More in two minutes were more boring than Alter Bridge in seven.

 

[JudasMyGuide]

MAGNUS, THEY'RE TAKING THE CHILDREN BORKNAGAR, WE HAVE TO SAVE THE CHILDREN BORKNAGAR!

@Magnus you do your thing, capisce?

 

[srfc]

Iggy and the Stooges - Search and Destroy vs. KISS - She
Stooges has an awful tone and is played sloppily, pretty bad. She, as usual for the 70s bands, the better version is on the classic live album She

Bolt Thrower - Through the Eye of Terror vs. Bloodbath - Buried By the Dead
Bolt Thrower, as with the last track from them, the riffs are decent enough thrash riffs in disguise by using the low tuning. The Napalm Death part was a bit shit. Bloodbath, absolutely awful, the guitar tone sounds like a dial up modem, I don't mean that as some smart arse comment, it actually sounds like a dial up modem, Through the Eye of Terror

Borknagar - Cold Runs the River vs. Dan Swano - Add Reality
Borknagar logo looks like the Death Angel logo but cosplaying as a black metal logo. The song is actually pretty decent overall, bar the sections where the drummer decides it's all about him. Dan Swano was a better track all round, the best section of the two tracks being the outro part. Add Reality

Bring Me the Horizon - Throne vs. White Zombie - More Human than Human
Bring Me the Horizon is a bad impression of Linkin Park. White Zombie is pretty bad too, but at least Rob Zombie brings a distinctive voice to the table, he's no singer but at least he sounds like himself. More Human than Human

Breaking Benjamin - The Diary of Jane vs. Avenged Sevenfold - A Little Piece of Heaven
Breaking Benjamin - Intro was ok, verse sounds like the verse of every song this century, just play an open string rhythm, the harmonics brought back nu-metal trauma flash backs, track isn't too bad to be fair bar the open string rhythm, vocals are solid but a bit heavy on the affected pronunciation. Avenged Sevenfold - sounds a bit less over produced than the rest of the stuff from them that's appeared, which seems bizarre given the instrumentation. The Diary of Jane

Alter Bridge - Fortress vs. Faith No More - Surprise! You're Dead!
Fortress is pretty much similar to most of their stuff that's popped up, middle of the road, enjoyable in it's own way but I ain't rushing out to get their back catalogue after listening to it, the tempo shift in the mid section is pretty good. Surprise! You're Dead! is not what I'd be nominating from the Real Thing, but it's good enough to win this tie, plus gotta love Jim Martin's no nonsense metal tone and playing, they lost that contrast with the rest of the instrumentation when they lost him. Surprise! You're Dead!

 

[Spambot]

…is actually a cover itself, lol.

I didn't know that. Though: well, if it isn't The Who, it must be these guys. I also don't know what's so special about this song to be covered by dozen different artists.
@Jer @LooseCannon @MrKnickerbocker
I don't know what I was expecting from Powerwolf, it's not like I was searching for more pop-ier approach, or more guitar driven. I guess I'll put on their latest album and Lupus Dei and see what sticks (I do vaguely remember some video I saw on YT in a manor, but then again, I believe they have a lot of videos shot in some sort of manor)

Now I'm not entirely sure whether he meant that it was a particularly great album, or if it's a great album to have on in the background while using @Niall Kielt's couch, but either way it's a strong endorsement.

Since Niall ascended to Cat Milk Supreme, I believe his couch did also. Or at least became "Futon Supreme".

Oh, and I got to comment on Spinal Tap losing.
There are probably a million entries on IMDb and they are all rated from 0-10, except only one: which is rated to 11. (I'm not shiting you, go and check it)
And you expelled it's only candidate in this tournament.
Shame on you.

 

[Spambot]

Match 175 - The Stooges
This may be as good point as any to admit I never got Kiss and I probably never will. There are some songs I liked some time ago (Detroit Rock City, Strutter etc.) but the overall feeling is that, to me, they just sound "artificial" and this song is probably a nice example of it. Nothing wrong with it musically (lyrics are complete "blargh") but it just doesn't resonate with me. If some band similar to KISS did this same tune, I believe I'd like it much more. I admire Iggy's energy, although this song doesn't do him justice much.

Match 176 - Bloodbath
Bolt Thrower started promising, but it's that obligatory death metal break around 2 minute mark is what put me off. Bloodbath has that also, but it's much more natural, and I got to compliment guitar tone. I can't really put my finger what I like about it (maybe it reminds me of that "Roots" Sepultura sound they did) and at 2 minute mark the song actually gets better, unlike in Bolt Thrower (and what kind of name is that?!)

Match 177 - Dan Swano
Nothing much to write about here, both had great potential, kinda expect more towards the end, Dan Swano's had better flow.

Match 178 - Bring Me The Horizon
I surprised myself and voted for BMTH. "Throne" surely sounds familiar, did they ever open for Maiden in Europe? Also, it sounded like a breath of fresh air considering the last couple of rounds (no matter how much they leaned on Linkin Park). White Zombie was interesting, but I never got why he was so popular. Maybe he's a really great guy and has a lot of friends who owe him favors, so they help him with his various project? Or maybe he really loves it all and people can see it and appreciate it, no matter how much it sucked? Like, you have that one friend who sucks at football, but he's so into it, so you call him every time, and he always comes, full of energy and enthusiasm (although he has two left feet). And it's not out of pity, he really gives 110% of himself and most of the time you can count on him during the game (although he sucks) but at least you know he won't half-ass it. And eventually comes a moment when he scores a goal, and you can see happiness in his eyes, like he's holding his firstborn for the first time. I bet that's how Rob felt with Thunder Kiss '65.

Match 179 - Avenged Sevenfold
There is nothing wrong with the music itself, and I don't find M. Shadows annoying as most people do (although he is currently at second place in the "List of singers who sang 'Don't cry' in most ridiculous way" (You don't have to think much to guess who's at number 1). But this song is purely "Disney Metal" (please don't use this term until I patent it, I've been trying to do that since I've heard The Astonishing from Dream Theater. It's still pending). But their opponent is so bland that I'm still voting for A7X.

Match 180 - Alter Bridge
Alter Bridge works better for me as an album band. When I hear a single song of theirs in a playlist that's this various - it just doesn't work. (And I know I liked "Fortress" album, so I guess I even liked the song.) FNM is not what I expected, and I even got silly, but just isn't my kind of silly.

 

[srfc]

I didn't know that. Though: well, if it isn't The Who, it must be these guys. I also don't know what's so special about this song to be covered by dozen different artists.

It's an old 50s Rock n Roll song, I think Eddie Cochran was the original artist, if not that, he did the definitive version

 

[Confeos]

So, this was pretty much a "filler" round for me. Aside from one very pleasant surprise, and one downright terrible little piece of music (pun intended), I didn't really care for the rest.

And that applies to the first match already - neither song was particularly good, but I'll toss my vote to The Stooges for their energy. Every time Kiss has come up so far, I've felt they sounded extremely dated and uninspired, even against somewhat "weak" opposition. And I usually don't have any problem with Kiss. Oh well.

The Bloodbath song actually wasn't bad at all, but it's ruined by a horrible guitar sound. My vote goes to Bolt Thrower, even if I wasn't blown away by them at all, but at least they sounded a lot better.

The third match was the most interesting - the Borknagar song was very good, but Dan Swanö was just better. I had no expectations for this song whatsoever, but it was really amazing. Both the harsh and clean vocals worked very well. And I agree with the people saying it sounds quite like Dream Theater, maybe something from around Images and Words. Great stuff - I'm definitely gonna check out more from him.

And then we're back to mediocre with the next match. White Zombie had shitty vocals and a song that went absolutely nowhere, so I'll vote for the catchier-but-still-underwhelming Bring Me the Horizon.

Avenged Sevenfold. Oh, boy. Look, we are still looking for the best metal song, right? Not the worst? Okay, I admit I do like a few songs from some of their later albums, but this is fucking horrible. They have got to be the most genre-confused band of all time, and every little thing about this song just rubs me the wrong way. They even managed to make some of the vocals sound even more annoying than they usually do, and that's saying a lot. Sorry, this is such a complete trainwreck of a song that I can't find a single positive thing to say. If it manages to win this match, I'm gonna vote against it by default every time it might pop up later. Fucking hell. Breaking Benjamin is shit as well, but they suck marginally less here and therefore gets my vote.

In the final match, I was a bit surprised (yup) by the heaviness of "Surprise! You're Dead!". Not how I remember Faith No More at all. Eh, I'm quite indifferent to both bands - there was definitely a lot more going on in Alter Bridge's song, but Faith No More felt more metal, so I'm gonna vote for them.

 

[Magnus]

Stoogy and the Iggies, although neither should have been here.
Robert Lowth, Professor of Poetry.
Borknagar.
White Zombie.
Breaking Benjamin is not a good idea in a thread run by LC. Both songs suck majorly though.
Faith No More.