ok, been slacking, going to listen to both of these today. I would hate to rant about how people sit out and then miss my chance to post.

I listened to the first 2 Iced Earth albums, the more Speed Metal stuff... but I am going to get to the album in question, Power Metal is not usually my thing, but I am going to do it.

edit: Half way through Nevermore.... jesus, could you pick albums that are any longer.... haha.

@Batlord Yep Matt Barlow is a beast and the SWTWC album showcases his vocal ability perfectly.

@Bastard Yep its a long album and over an hour.

But I`ve got to go with the Nevermore album here, not only do I love the concept of the album but the mixture of agressive stuff combined with the slower more melodic stuff works to perfection and the album captures a real mood. For a number of years now its been one of my all time favourite metal albums, I know its probably not everybody`s cup of tea but thats the beauty of modern metal and its great diversity.

Nevermore 3
Iced Earth 2

It's kinda weird that Nevermore get totally overlooked by the metal community. They were one of the few bands still flying the flag back in the 90s. You'd think they'd be considered gods just like Pantera, Iced Earth, and Sepultura.

Well, I am nearly half way through the Iced Earth album after listening to Nevermore... and I think I can already say with certainty.

Nevermore - 4
Iced Earth - 2

So far, nearly half way through and this Iced Earth album is just not grabbing me... the ballad so far has seemed cheesy, and this whole album to me so far has been less than interesting. The Nevermore album was alright, not the best I have heard from them, but an interesting album that atleast was able to hold my interest for an hour and a couple minutes, while this Iced Earth album is already starting to lose me.

As I say, Power Metal has never been my favorite style, I am more into Thrash Metal, Death Metal, Black Metal and Doom Metal... so it is also a case of just something outside of my zone of interest... I can appreciate what goes into it, and it is not a case of a bad album, just not one I find much interest in. I Liked Iced Earth's "Night of the Stormrider" album though, was more to my liking, but not so much what else I have heard from them outside it, at least not as a whole. "Something Wicked..." has those moments where it picks up for a few and then goes back to mehness for me.

Most people know of Pantera and Sepultura, but Iced Earth are really only known by more serious metal fans and even more serious fans know Nevermore. Nevermore started to become better known after the release of This Godless Endeavour album which was featured in the Guitar World magazine where they rated it in the list of the greatest 100 guitar albums of all time.

heya folks sorry for the late reply, the line at my workplace broke down

having heard both:-

Iced Earth

I kinda hate it that most songs have riffs that mix in Aiyarn Maydarn with B.O.C., despite "Consequences" being the best of its kind (power ballads), so pass, i actually like their covers album better

Nevermore

Now, this is excellent. All that most melodeath strive to be - heavy and melodic. I'm in love.

Nevermore - 5
Iced Earth - 2

@ Il Duce glad you loved the Nevermore album.

Nevermore win that battle 5-2. Next up thanks to Janszoon are these two interesting metal releases. Ones a technical death metal album and the other is an experimental metal album. I love the Gorguts album but I don`t know the Shining album, but its going to have to be impressive to beat the Gorguts. Also take a few lines explaining your choice.

have to sit this one out

ofis line is not working and my home line is too slow for downloading the Shining one

and it'll definitely not be in the stores here

Just get the song listing off wiki and play all the songs on the album through Youtube.

yeah i can do that as well

still be lag in the stream, though

Never liked Gorguts, even in my angst-filled teen years they never clicked with me. That said though, that Shining album is pretty esoteric and the planets have to align right for me to listen to the whole thing. The song "Fisheye" is pretty badass though and their cover of "21st Century Schizoid Man" is bold to say the least. That said though, I can't really say I'm a huge fan of Shining, but as with politics, Shining is the band I hate the least so I'll vote for them.

Shining - 1
Gorguts -0

line working today so got Shining

Gorguts

love the tme signature jumps and disconnected bits but i have to dock points off the vocals which sound pretty comically angry

Shining

electicism is good, if it works, here it does not, it just sounds a total mess, and only Healter Skelter really works, however, if the strangled vocals were on Gorguts, there is really no battle for me

so to play it safe,

Gorguts - 1
Shining - 1

Not surprisingly this is a tough one for me. I picked these two albums because I think they're both fantastic. I also find them interesting because they're such different takes on the idea of experimental metal. Not only do they sound completely different from each other but the two bands are coming at this from very different points of origin. Gorguts, as most of you probably know, started off playing more conventional death metal and eventually veered into experimentalism. Shining, on the other hand, started off as a a straight-up free jazz band—saxophone, flute, upright bass, the whole works—and slowly evolved into the metal-ish style heard on here. In many way Blackjazz is one of their least experimental albums.

All of that said, I think I'm going to vote Shining. There's something about the sleekness of this album that I just love, maybe because it's such a rare quality for experimental music. It also always impresses me that Blackjazz, as quirky and off-kilter as it is, manages to be surprisingly hook filled.

Gorguts - 1
Shining - 2

I'll have to go with Gorguts. There's just something totally unhinged about Obscura. The music is just all over the place without sounding pointless, and the vocals just sound deranged.

Gorguts - 2
Shining - 2

Downloading Shining now. Good choice with Gorguts, was think I should listen to that album again and now I have a reason to do so.

See how it goes with Shining, I already know Obscura is a great record. See how it lives up to it.

the exact opposite here :)

downloading Gorguts now....good choice with Shining....that album blew me away last year.....

I`m most of the way thru the Shining album and my mind is already made up. Its a great album full of eclectic ideas especially the jazz influences that are mixed in densely with metal, also the King Crimson influence on the album is huge and its an album that impresses, but the Gorguts album is still a notch ahead, that album is just one total brainfuck of mindblowing complex death metal.

Gorguts 3
Shining 2

I'll vote once if I find time to listen to the Shining album. I already know I like the Gorguts one quite a bit, but I haven't heard anything from Shining at all

I hadn't either. At first I thought it was from the black metal band The Shining.

I also thought it was the Swedish band as well.

I thought the Swedish one was just "Shining" as well. There's a UK band called The Shining though I think.

...and a film with an axe grinding maniac.

...and a Violent J solo album.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ceoHGeCbxm...%2BShining.jpg

Why?

You thought right. Swedish Black Metal band is just Shining as well... and yeah, the UK band which is made up of a few former members of The Verve are The Shining.

Anyways, listening to "Blackjazz" now, just listened to "Obscura" again..

I am about half way through the album and I think I too can say with certainty that "Obscura" beats it out for me. Not that this album is bad, just there is something that is not clicking with me and it feels more one dimensional than "Obscura" to me. I like the concept and how at times it feels like some sort of forgotten John Zorn band... but it just doesn't do as much for me.

so

Gorguts - 4
Shining - 2

Relistened to Obscura via Youtube. The top comment on "Faceless Ones" sums it up for me - "This shouldn't work. It shouldn't work AT ALL. But it does and it makes sense...". I agree completely. I expected this to go to Gorguts.

BUT

I absolutely LOVED Blackjazz when I heard it. I mean, wow! The vocals, synths, synthy-sounding guitars, and the production quality are all great, all while retaining the brutality. I mean seriously this album was great.

Shining - 3
Gorguts - 4

Glad to hear you enjoyed it! I'm a big fan of the production too—it's just so sleek and black sounding that I feel totally immersed when I'm listening to it. Basically I feel like the album cover looks exactly like what the album sounds like.

Couldn't agree more. I quite like the album cover. Modern and simplistic. Much better than the ridiculous covers of most of those death/thrash/black metal albums.

Ok Gorguts win that tight battle 4-3. Next up thanks to The Batlord are the first of two Swedish death metal double-headers!!! Reason for this, is that he submitted 4 albums and this is probably too many albums especially if the voter doesn`t know the albums, so I`ve seperated them into two seperate battles. Swedish melodic death metal gets mentioned a lot on this forum, but actual Swedish death metal seldom gets mentioned. Personally I`m looking forward to hearing these 4 albums, as all are described as death metal classics. The first two up are:

Both I have listened to, but not recently. Will have to refresh them in my mind and vote when I do.

They also have nothing to do with this battle...

LHP is easily my favorite swedeath album.

Entombed 1
Unleashed 0

Like An Ever Flowing Stream owns that Unleashed album imo.

I enjoy the riffs more in the Unleashed album than in the Entombed (especially the one in "Before the Creation of Time").

Unleashed - 1
Entombed - 1

I'm also glad he didn't pick Wolverine Blues as the Entombed album. That album gets more praise than it deserves IMO.

The Unleashed album was solid death metal but I found Entombed to just have a grittier, more evil, menacing sound. The grooves were epic as were the guitar leads. Both bands serve as fine examples of Swedish death metal but I give the edge to Entombed.

Unleashed - 1
Entombed - 2

naw, Wolverine Blues is a great record, but wouldn't make sense to put it against Unleashed, as Wolverine Blues dropped most of the Death Metal and focused on grooves. Pretty much the defining Death n Roll album.

For what it is, it is amongst the best of its kind and deserves it's praise.

Early Entombed is a better match up. "Left Hand Path" is amongst the best to come out of the Swedish scene, as said before only album I would rank above it for the bigger name bands to come out of that scene is "Like An Ever Flowing Stream" by Dismember.. possibly even "Dark Recollection" by Carnage.

Would be like pitting Six Feet Under "Haunted" against Cannibal Corpse "The Bleeding". Better off picking 2 albums that would work as companion peices.

Just because it is the "defining" death n roll album doesn't mean it is good. It may be the best of its kind, but it isn't hard to be the best turd in a pile of feces. And I don't remember saying that the album should have been picked for the battle

I listened to both albums a couple of days ago and just couldn`t decide between the two, so did the logical thing and listened to them again and things became a lot clearer. The Entombed album is death metal classic and is the business from beginning to end. Especially liked the soundtrack insert from the "Phantasm" film on the title track and the closing track sounds like it could be a Sepultura song (sounds like a homage song). I was initially impressed by the death growl of the Unleashed vocalist and the more crisper production sound of that album, but on second listen the songs are not as consistently as good as the Entombed album.

Entombed 3
Unleashed 1

fixed.

tricky

seriously though. It is a great album.

also, go to your local community college and ask them how much they charge for reading classes. sign yourself up.

I never said it should be a match up, you pulled that out of thin air, i was furthering on your comment when you said you were glad he did not pick that album by saying why would they anyways, not a good match that would make no sense.

the rest was just to further add to my own point which was expanding on what you said.

anyways, why is it not good?