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 .
So that guy doing a really terrible whisper growl is considered the best of extreme vocals to you? Your shitometer is inverted based on empirical facts.
Not "best" -- just least annoying. Åkerfeldt's growls are the most annoying I've ever heard, while Nikolov's whispers only barely annoy me. See?

And I can guarantee the shitometer is accurate, at least on my machine!

I'mma feckin kill meeeself
If it helps, I heard all of your all-caps comments in my head in Åkerfeldt's couldn't-be-more-annoying growl voice!
 
Alright, let's get the FML round over with.

First, let's calibrate the shitometer for extreme vocals:


Alright, class, let's review our shitometer readings for today!
  • 100% - Michael Åkerfeldt of Opeth
  • 85% - Amon Amarth fellow
  • 70% - Chuck Schuldiner of Death
  • 70% - Borknagar bro
  • 60% - Dark Millennium dude
  • 60% - Brutal Truth guy
  • 55% - Entombed gentleman
  • 50% - Hypocrisy chum
  • 45% - Nazgul buddy
  • 40% - Cynic man
  • 30% - Power Trip brother
  • 10% - Nikolay Nikolov of Aegonia
  • 0% - Geddy Lee
  • 0% - James Hetfield on mute
I read this with Jack "Mr. Shneebly" Black´s voice in my head. Hilarious!
 
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The Call Of Ktulu is one of the best instrumentals! Riffs, melodies, solos - all great. Sometimes I wish it had lyrics, I think it would be even stronger...

Maiden's Losfer Words too, methinks.
 
Power Trip - Executioner's Tax (Swing of the Axe) vs. Metallica - The Call of Ktulu
Discovered these lads in the GMAC, first impressions were "i've heard all this before" but as they progressed through a few rounds I kept enjoying it more, and in the end bought the album, and have since bought the rest of their catalogue. Never been a huge fan of Ktulu, Mustaine obliterates what Metallica did with that riff with Hangar 18, and it kind of trails off at the end with loads of tacked on false endings. Going to be controversial and give the win to Power Trip Executioner's Tax (Swing of the Axe)

Cynic - Veil of Maya vs. Borknagar - The Rhymes of the Mountain

Cynic is not for me, and I especially found the bass tone really clashing with the rest of the sounds. Borknagar, again not for me, but, and I think I thought similar of one of their other songs that's appeared, it was quite accessible for this sort of music. The Rhymes of the Mountain

Hypocrisy - Fire in the Sky vs. Amon Amarth - The Pursuit of Vikings

Right, obviously the vocal and the "wasps in a jam jar" guitar tone are deal breakers for me, but I think there's a decent song that could be covered by a normal band under all that. I was trying to think of who could cover it, and then the synthy breakdown outro brought to mind Megadeth. Megadeth could definitely cover this in an Almost Honest or Angry Again style and it would be a great track. Amon Amarth is alright bar the vocal. Fire in the Sky

Dark Millennium - Beyond the Dragon's Eye vs Nazgul - In Summis Montibus

Dark Millennium was decent enough, Nazgul is one of the most laughable that's been in the game, the vocal, the trumpets, the drums, the cliched Lord of the Rings name, nothing about it can be taken seriously in any way. Beyond the Dragon's Eye

Death - Flesh and the Power It Holds vs. Entombed - Left Hand Path

Not mad about the prog riffs at the start but decent when it kicks in. The breakdown riff before the solo is good, but the solo is bad as is the bass section, would have been better if they just went from the breakdown back to the next verse. Entombed has a terrible guitar tone and vocal, but the riff is good enough and if Slayer covered it I might enjoy it, but they'd need to get rid of the superfluous outro Flesh and the Power It Holds

Brutal Truth - Collateral Damage vs. Rush - Working Man

Obviously Rush win this, but I wonder how they can tally lyrics like "It seems to me I could live my life, A lot better than I think I am" with " And the trees are all kept equal, By hatchet, Axe, And saw…" Working Man
 
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@JudasMyGuide

Thank you for this. I’ve not heard these Deliverance and Harlequin Forest… “interpretations” before, but now it’s all I’ll be able to hear. The thing with misheard Opeth lyrics is that they’re extra effective due to the brutality and conviction in Mikael’s voice as he growls them.

Hope you feel better soon.
 
Melinda is the reason why I cum
smiling-bill-gates-gif.4459852
 
From a mediocre Metallica instrumental to an amazing one - the vibe and mood of "The Call of Ktulu" is just unmatched. Wonderfully dark and unsettling, it's engaging from start to finish. Power Trip are fun and entertaining, but they are no match for Metallica here.

Something about the vocals in "Veil of Maya" really rubs me the wrong way. The music, despite some twists and turns, doesn't grab me either. "The Rhymes of the Mountain" is definitely more straightforward, but also a lot more enjoyable. Going with Borknagar.

Musically, I think "Fire in the Sky" is a bit better than "The Pursuit of Vikings", but Hypocrisy's vocals are definitely the worst in this round. It might be the production, I don't know, but they really cut into my ears. I think Amon Amarth has better songs than this, but they still win this one.

I don't know if "Beyond the Dragon's Eye" is supposed to be a song or more of a narrative soundscape, but I'm absolutely onboard. It's grim, ugly, evil and cool as hell. I really like it. Nazgul's song would have been a lot better without the synths and orchestration - I guess it's supposed to make it sound more epic, but it doesn't work for me. Dark Millenium, please.

We've had quite a lot of Death songs so far, and rightfully so. They put out some amazing material, and it's hard to pick just one definitive tune. I chose "Flesh and the Power It Holds" because it's so unpredictable, yet without being incoherent. I love how manic the solo sounds over the very laidback, melodic picking. And Chuck's change in vocal style for this album is very interesting too. As for "Left Hand Path", I like how brutally heavy it is, and the instrumental is very good. Some of the riffs sound a bit iffy, though, so it's not enough to make me vote against my own nominee. Death.

Rush, obviously. Come on, Brutal Truth, Napalm Death already did "You Suffer" before you came up with "Collateral Damage".
 
I somehow completely missed Power Trip during my thrash phase and it's a pity, I think I would have liked them then. The sound is rather good and the vocals remind me of another thrash singer, but I can't now put my finger on it (it's been 10 years or so since I was a fan of the subgenre), anyone cares to help?

I'd almost be tempted to throw them the pity vote, but no, not really - Call of Ktulu is a fucking classic, beautiful and hypnotic, a haunting closure to still probably the overall most solid Metallica album. I didn't even need to listen to it, but then I put it in the background as I was writing this paragraph and shit, nothing's written, but five minutes into the track and here I am. Well done, you wankers, well done.

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Fuck, @Mosh , why did you have to do this to me? I first came across the band Cynic when I was a huge Atheist fan (heh, heh) and it seemed like a match made in heaven - a similar cult tech-death band with possibly even more proficient musicians, with possibly even bigger genre variation in the cocktail? Awesome, I'm a fan already... on paper, that is. I can't help it, but the band's releases are incosistent as fuck... when they actually release something, that is.
However, that's not the case here - Veil of Maya is indeed probably one of their best (and deservedly best-known) songs - I love the weird vocals (remind me of uneXpect, a bit) and the electonic drone of a chorus is actually suprisingly catchy. Rhythmically, it's also great. The guitar runs are fun.

It tries to tug at the completely opposite heartstrings than Borknagar, of whom I wrote (and it more or less applies to this song as well)

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.

I suppose you could still say it's Moonsorrow for the casuals and the plebes, and it probably is, but I can't help it, I really, really love the album and can't get enough of it.

In the end, I guess I'm more for the songwriting and the atmosphere of Borknagar, but honestly, if Cynic won, I wouldn't be too pissed off about that.

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Ah, two melodeath legends in the next match. I like both songs, but honestly, the vocals, the riffage, the atmosphere and the general band preference makes me go with Amon Amarth here.

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Just quickly, I want to go lie down.



The Dark Millennium song is actually really great! Hey, @Magnus , cool pick,

Nazgul are the joke band from before, right? I admit, they are still funny, but I won't be trolling and vote for them again, because the opposing song honestly captivated me.

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I've already said that Preseverance is a bit too overcomplicated for my tastes and that it's a step-down from the perfect Symbolic. Entombed's first records are absolutely classic and fact that this totally catchy and awesome Swedish buzz is losing (even with the hauntingly atmospheric movie score interlude) is a travesty.

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OMG, really?

44759926_1841328182662554_5715890181442109440_n.jpg

Sorry, but Working Man is one of the few Rush songs I genuinely like. Otherwise I'd go with the old school three-second hilarity.
 
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Power Trip’s offering had a solid groove until the singing started. While Ktulu is my least favorite of the three classic ‘tallica instrumentals, Hetfield & Burton (along with special guests “I just want world peace, man” and “it’s just so fukkin… stock”) grab my vote here.

While technically proficient, this Cynic song is all over the place. Meh. With Borknegar, imagine my surprise when I saw the band’s unreadable logo only to be greeted with clean vocals! The extreme vocals here aren’t quite Akerfeldtian, but the song is more interesting to me than Cynic’s effort. Borknegar it is!

Hypocracy’s vocals are a bit too pterodactylish for me, but musically this track is cool (that orchestral-themed part just after three minutes is catchy as hell). Still, Valhalla is calling – my vote must go to my raiding brothers in Amon Amarth and their Akerfeldtalicious vocals, even though the band has far better tunes than this.

This Dark Millennium tune has a unique feel to it, and while it definitely has vocals that aren’t to my liking, the music is so demonically cool. “Reign of immortality! Yaaaaarrrgh!” LOL. I’ll admit that when this Nazgul track started I began to laugh, but I actually like the cheesy video-gamey orchestration. Still, it can’t compare to Dark Millennium’s output here.

I’m still struggling to understand Death. I know the metal world raves about them, and their music is fine, but outside of a few riffs or passages, they’ve never clicked with me. A big part of it is the vocals, which, let’s admit, aren’t quite up to the level of our prophet Mikael of Akerfeldtius. Musically this song has some neat bits (the part at 6:00 says hello), but I can’t help but feel that everything this band does sounds identical. Yet Death it is, since those Entombed vocals remind me of some sort of woodland creature regurgitating their meal for their young.

Can someone explain to me how this Brutal Truth, um… song, has four votes? These are pity or humor-based votes, right? Or people who just hate Rush? As unpopular of an opinion as it may be, I’ve never cared much for most of ‘70s Rush, but people, come on.
 
I’m still struggling to understand Death. I know the metal world raves about them, and their music is fine, but outside of a few riffs or passages, they’ve never clicked with me.

In a way, I get this. Death were my "first" death metal band - oh, sure, I've known Cannibal Corpse and Morbid Angel and Suffocation, but I mostly put them on to shock others, by then there wasn't yet the enjoyment of the music itself - and luckily enough, the first album I got was Symbolic. It was when I got to the third track, Empty Words


when it suddenly clicked - I "got" death metal. And I absolutely loved that track, for the complexity, the badass riffs, but also the weird type of emotionality that Schuldiner really nails... if he wants to.

But I admit that for all their qualities, Death might probably seem a bit "tame", nowadays, in more ways than one. More intense band would start to appear very soon after, same goes with technical bands and after quarter of century of various death-doom bands, Opeth and what gives you even the Schuldiner sentimentality doesn't probably feel as unique as it once had.

I am also more in the "respectful" mode nowadays - when Chuck clicks, he clicks, but when he doesn't, the overall reverence they get also kinda irks me. It's deserved, I'm talking from a purely subjective standpoint, but... you know?
 
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