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 .
"The Glass Prison" is among the worst Dream Theater offerings we've had so far. Seven minutes went by before something really caught my attention. This basically sounds like if Slipknot tried to be prog. The production isn't helping either. It's far too stone age for a band like Dream Theater, who need a little gloss so each instrument can shine. On the flipside, we have Opeth with a much stronger offering. I wasn't big on "Harlequin Forest" when I listened to Ghost Reveries in full, but coming back to it it's really good. I think the clean/harsh balance works well here, since Mikael starts off right at the start with his cleans and the harsh ones that come later add so much scenery and depth to the affair. Easy vote for Opeth, really no contest here.

"Stranglehold" is awesome, the best classic Ted Nugent song. The guitarwork is awesome and I love the bridge (which is the only part that Ted himself sings). Witchfinder General weren't bad, very derivative of Sabbath but the chorus was alright. No contest though.

Could go either way with the next matchup, both are pretty strong. Jer's "Muppet vocals" commentary is among the dumbest jokes he's been beating into us long past the death of that horse, but the Enslaved dude really sounds like Fozzie Bear or Sam the Eagle without any oxygen flowing through their voice. I'm somewhere between low-key loving it and also high-key questioning his technique. Borknagar get my vote, though; they started off rough but quickly became more of my thing and are losing badly so what the hey.

"Dynamite" isn't one of the best Scorpions songs, but it's good and has a classic Scorps chorus. "Metal on Metal" is... fine.

I guess Rainbow eek out a win here? "Breadfan" is alright but nothing to write home about. Rainbow had a cool intro and some other cool parts but never really got off the ground fully.

"Atomic Punk" is great early VH with a cool-ass riff. "Dazed and Confused" is great early Zep (even if it was stolen) and better overall. Plant's vocals are great and that riff - with Jimmy Page famously using a violin bow on his guitar - is SO good. Tough but I gotta give it to LZ69.
 
Apart from the glorious intro and the massive riff in the middle, The Glass Prison doesn’t do much for me. It never holds my attention for the whole song.

Harlequin Forest, as the rest of Ghost Reveries, is really damn good. My only wish is that Akerfeldt’s clean vocals sounded a little less gay.
 
Odd way to call the straightest vocals in metal.
Growls, sure, but the cleans get ever so slightly annoying after a while. It’s like Akerfeldt’s almost a great singer but not quite there. I feel the same regarding the vocals when I listen to Porcupine Tree.
 
Running out of time, so I'll have to rush through this one.

As I said during the Crusade Of Epics, “The Glass Prison” has a lot of nice instrumental parts, and it’s not boring; but wow, do I hate it when LaBrie tries to sound “tough”, and the vocal phrasing is pretty awful in a lot of places. I can see how some people could legitimately love this song, but it actually reminds me of many of the reasons why I stopped listening to Dream Theater in the late 90s. "Harlequin Forest" has the same pros and cons of most Opeth, with excellent and challenging music, good clean vocals, and horrifically bad growls that drag down the whole affair. Thankfully the growls are more limited here, and I feel a little bad for shitting all over @The Dissident's nominations lately, so sorry @Mosh, I'm going to throw him a bone here. Winner: Opeth - "Harlequin Forest"

"Stranglehold" is dope, "Witchfinder General" is a nope. Winner: Ted Nugent - "Stranglehold"

"Roots Of The Mountain" starts off with Gollum sounding like he has a cold, accompanied by the sort of spastic drumming that makes me roll my eyes. The clean stuff is much better, though the rhythmic trills get a bit boring; but every time things settle into a good place we soon wind up taking a trip down Sesame Street for some unwelcome Cookie Monster nonsense. There are some nice musical passages for sure, but the extreme vocals are a boat anchor on the whole affair. "The Winterway" has a nice blend of folk and black metal sounds musically, a decent amount of clean vocals, and the inevitable Gollum stuff is buried pretty deep in the mix, which is the best place to hide it if it has to be there at all. The occasional potbanging seizures are unfortunate, and I'd obviously prefer it if all the vocals were clean, but what's here is something I could almost enjoy -- and sorry, @Night Prowler, but that's more than enough for @Magnus's nominee to take this one. Winner: Borknagar - "The Winterway"

"Dynamite" is a solid rocker with strong guitar work, while "Metal On Metal" is lame and cringe-inducing. No contest here. Winner: Scorpions - "Dynamite"

"Eyes Of The World" is strong synth-infused hard rock with great performances, while "Breadfan" is a good riff in search of an actual song. Metallica's cover was miles better. An easy call for @Poto's nominee. Winner: Rainbow - "Eyes Of The World"

"Atomic Punk" has nice guitar parts, but it doesn't really hold together well as a song, and it's not a Van Halen track I would ever feel the urge to circle back to. "Dazed And Confused" is more about creating a mood than about succeeding as a song, but Plant's performance is great, and Alice In Chains' "Hate To Feel" is largely a callback to this track, which is worth something. Not really a fan of either song, but I'll give this one to Zeppelin. Winner: Led Zeppelin - "Dazed And Confused"
 
Jer's description of the Enslaved vocals sounds interesting, but sadly I only made it to 20 first seconds of the song, because I felt such strong anxiety that I couldn't listen any more.
 
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That’s because he’s straight, not gay.
A straight man’s vocals can sound gay and vice versa. Take Rob Halford for an example. It has nothing to do with a person’s sexual orientation.

Is having a jolly gay time together on Maidenfans too much to ask for?
 
A straight man’s vocals can sound gay and vice versa. Take Rob Halford for an example. It has nothing to do with a person’s sexual orientation.
Yes, and what I'm saying is Mikael sounds straight. You literally tapped right into why I'm not a big fan of his clean vocals and yet you misdiagnosed it!
 
Sorry, folks, I just wanted to stir up some chaos to alleviate this wicked hangover of mine. :bigsmile: (Still have no idea what Diesel’s on about.)
 
Didn't get a chance to listen to that round, of the rounds that I already knew both tracks I would have voted for Nugent, Scorpions and Led Zep. Don't know the non-Dio Rainbow track but would suspect it would have had to be great for me to vote for it ahead of Breadfan. Don't know any of the tracks in the other 2 rounds.
 
Deep, deep within the harlequin forest, one will find Dream Theater's glass prison, unbroken. Looks like Ted Nugent has a stranglehold on the Witchfinder General, which is a shame because I really can't wait to make fun of him shitting himself to get out of Vietnam. The winterway leads but to the roots of Enslaved's mountain. Metal can't stand up to Scorpions use of dynamite. In the eyes of the world, Rainbow crushes Budgie. Van Halen is dazed and confused by how they lost this match to Led Zeppelin.

Somehow RNG put three @Shmoolikipod songs in a row. Very random.




Part I, Round 53, Matches 313-318


Play In Round
Match 313
Infinite Dreams Division​
My Dying Bride - The Cry of Mankind
vs.
My Dying Bride - The Crown of Sympathy​
Rolling Stone 100
Nominators
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon
Links

Play In Round
Match 314
Infinite Dreams Division​
Armored Saint - Can You Deliver
vs.
Judas Priest - The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown)​
Popoff 500
Nominators
Popoff 500​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon
Links

Play In Round
Match 315
Infinite Dreams Division​
Leather Nun - No Rule
vs.
Van Halen - Jump​
Radio EHS 100
Nominators
Popoff 500​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon
Links

Play In Round
Match 316
Somewhere Back in Time Division​
Type O Negative - Everything Dies
vs.
Unto Others - Heroin​
Radio EHS 100
Nominators
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon
Links

Play In Round
Match 317
Somewhere Back in Time Division​
Unleash the Archers - Call Me Immortal
vs.
Gamma Ray - Anywhere in the Galaxy​
@LooseCannon
Nominators
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon
Links

Play In Round
Match 318
Somewhere Back in Time Division​
Dream Theater - Voices
vs.
Nevermore - This Godless Endeavor​
@Shmoolikipod
Nominators
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon
Links
 
Priest’s Green Manalishi has one of my favorite riffs ever. That chug underneath the verse along with the drums is just the perfect head banging tempo. I know I’ve probably said this about 20~ songs so far but that’s one I got very close to nominating myself.
 
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