Music Banter - View Single Post - Metal Showdown (Round 4)

Two Spirit · 12-26-2015, 03:31 AM

Last round: http://www.musicbanter.com/rock-meta...ce-chains.html

Marilyn Manson finally met his doom last round, with only 2 votes against 5. Ouch. Alice In Chains, however, live to see a second round. And so it goes...

Paradise Lost

The new contender this round is a doom metal group that most people here have probably heard the name of, but not the actual music. Since most aren't familiar with their work, I'll give a simple rundown of their career.

These guys have been around for two and a half decades with their first release back in 1990, and they just came out with their 14th LP back in June, so these guys have proved their worth many times over.

Not only that, but for every time people complain about Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, or any other metal band making drastic changes to their sound with every couple albums would be absolutely infuriated with PL for doing the same thing for EVERY release. And I'm not talking about small changes, either.

Their first two records were largely pure goth/doom metal, their third started incorporating clean vocals, their fourth, Icon, became their first real attempt at a hard-rock/traditional metal album with lead singer Nick Holmes changing his vocal style to a Hetfield-esque growl.

Their fifth and perhaps most significant release of their career, Draconian Times, launched them into the mainstream of the rock world, with 1997's One Second finally stripping away any remaining doom metal influences they may still have had at the time.

After that, they did a complete 180 with 1999's Host and turned themselves into a modern day Depeche Mode and continued this trend with Believe In Nothing, and to a lesser extent on 2002's Symbol of Life.

They started dipping their feet back into their roots on their 2005 self-titled LP, and really came into their own again on what I consider to be their modern trilogy, which consists of In Requiem, Faith Divides Us, Death Reunites Us, and Tragic Idol.

All of this brings us to their newest release, The Plague Within. This album is the closest they've ever sounded like their roots since 1992's Shades of God. I'm personally not the hugest fan of them reincorporating their snarling growls again, but it's still a solid metal release and worthy of being in any PL's fans collection.

I've thought about embedding a track from each album to give you a guys a taste of their evolution, but it would take forever to get all of that to fit nicely as well as there being too many tracks to choose from, so I'll just stick with the standard one song per artist rule that I've incorporated in the past rounds.

Alice In Chains

These guys get their chance at another round against a rather unknown opponent, so I'm curious to see who will win.

My Verdict

I'm going to go with Paradise Lost this round. They've shown so much diversity over the course of their career, and have excelled in every sound they've attempted. That kind of experience overshadows everything that AiC has done, imo.

12-26-2015, 03:31 AM	#1 (permalink)
Two Spirit Music Addict Join Date: Sep 2013 Posts: 332	Metal Showdown (Round 4) - Alice In Chains vs Paradise Lost Last round: http://www.musicbanter.com/rock-meta...ce-chains.html Marilyn Manson finally met his doom last round, with only 2 votes against 5. Ouch. Alice In Chains, however, live to see a second round. And so it goes... Paradise Lost The new contender this round is a doom metal group that most people here have probably heard the name of, but not the actual music. Since most aren't familiar with their work, I'll give a simple rundown of their career. These guys have been around for two and a half decades with their first release back in 1990, and they just came out with their 14th LP back in June, so these guys have proved their worth many times over. Not only that, but for every time people complain about Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, or any other metal band making drastic changes to their sound with every couple albums would be absolutely infuriated with PL for doing the same thing for EVERY release. And I'm not talking about small changes, either. Their first two records were largely pure goth/doom metal, their third started incorporating clean vocals, their fourth, Icon, became their first real attempt at a hard-rock/traditional metal album with lead singer Nick Holmes changing his vocal style to a Hetfield-esque growl. Their fifth and perhaps most significant release of their career, Draconian Times, launched them into the mainstream of the rock world, with 1997's One Second finally stripping away any remaining doom metal influences they may still have had at the time. After that, they did a complete 180 with 1999's Host and turned themselves into a modern day Depeche Mode and continued this trend with Believe In Nothing, and to a lesser extent on 2002's Symbol of Life. They started dipping their feet back into their roots on their 2005 self-titled LP, and really came into their own again on what I consider to be their modern trilogy, which consists of In Requiem, Faith Divides Us, Death Reunites Us, and Tragic Idol. All of this brings us to their newest release, The Plague Within. This album is the closest they've ever sounded like their roots since 1992's Shades of God. I'm personally not the hugest fan of them reincorporating their snarling growls again, but it's still a solid metal release and worthy of being in any PL's fans collection. I've thought about embedding a track from each album to give you a guys a taste of their evolution, but it would take forever to get all of that to fit nicely as well as there being too many tracks to choose from, so I'll just stick with the standard one song per artist rule that I've incorporated in the past rounds. Alice In Chains These guys get their chance at another round against a rather unknown opponent, so I'm curious to see who will win. My Verdict I'm going to go with Paradise Lost this round. They've shown so much diversity over the course of their career, and have excelled in every sound they've attempted. That kind of experience overshadows everything that AiC has done, imo. Last edited by Two Spirit; 12-26-2015 at 03:36 AM.