Themed Mixtape Game Mk. 2

Antidote - Symphony of Death

Generally prefer my thrash meaner and uglier, but this is solid stuff nonetheless 8/10

A Canorous Quintet - Dream Reality

Last minute is top tier No Fashion core 9/10

Metallica - Fade to Black

I've never been much of a Metallica fan so this wasn't at all obvious to me. I don't give a shit anyway, song undeniably rules 9/10

Death - Denial of Life

Yeah near perfect death metal, fair to call this an all time favourite at this point 10/10

S.O.D. - Kill Yourself

Fucking years since I've heard this, gotta revisit 8/10

Death Squad - Bless Me When I Die

Damn, don't think I've even heard of this before. Some megaton riffs in the first half, melodic sections were unexpected too 8/10

Fear of God - Red to Grey

I used to own their next album on tape, hated it so I never checked this out. Great atmosphere, some killer riffs, excellent vocals, will definitely check it out 9/10

Headhunter D.C. - Suicidal Soldier

Never can have too much unhinged Brazilian deathrash. Not quite brain crushing nuclear drums territory, definitely bars the false from entry 8/10

Woods of Ypres - By The Time You Read This (I Will Already Be Dead)

Kind of impassive for how personal it comes across. Wimpy but inoffensive, and at the very least 10,000 times better than Ice Nine Kills 4/10

Deicide - Sacrificial Suicide

A much needed satanic bludgeoning 8/10

Harvey Milk - I Did Not Call Out

Has the passion the Woods of Ypres song lacks, isn't wimpy at all, still not really my kind of thing 6.5/10

Gorefest - Horrors in a Retarded Mind

Haven't listened to this for a few years at least. Could've been a 10 if the demo version was chosen. Monstrous song anyway 8.5/10

Mayhem - Life Eternal

I don't worship this, give me Deathcrush over it any day, but it's status as a classic is warranted by the music alone. Great closer too 8/10
 
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Antidote - Symphony of Death 9/10
Great fucking album. All bouncy and bassy with shrieking riffs and schizo vocals. Never liked the kick drum sound though but it's not a big deal. The backing vocalists sound brutal as fuck too. Just an all around crusher.

A Canorous Quintet - Dream Reality 6/10
Not bad, I dunno. Felt kinda whiny without interesting riffs to pull me in. Maybe I'm just not in the right mood. Definitely one that brings all the boys to the yard. The final minute was pretty killer though.
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Metallica - Fade to Black 10/10
80's Metallica forever.

Death - Denial of Life 10/10
Blew my skull apart when I first heard this record and this song in particular was my favourite to do vocal warm-ups when I was still in a band. Absolutely devastating metal.

S.O.D. - Kill Yourself 9.5/10
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This song is dedicated to the bastard that submitted it before I could. God-tier crossover!!!!!!!!!

Death Squad - Bless Me When I Die 7.5/10
Don't think I've ever heard this before, was fucking sick! Pummelling drummer too, need to look into this shit. Loved the big chunky thrashy riffs that transition into more melodic black metalish shit. Interesting yet accessible.

Fear of God - Red to Grey 8.5/10
What a fucking album man. Huge paranoia-induced riffs that plod and thrash. Draped in a crushing atmosphere. RIP Dawn Crosby!!!

Headhunter D.C. - Suicidal Soldier 9/10
Fucking DEVASTATING! An absolute fucking steamroller of riffs and ugly vocals. Even the drums almost feel drowned out by the violent recording lmfao.

Woods of Ypres - By The Time You Read This (I Will Already Be Dead) 7.5/10
Awesome TONcore shit. Little on the fucking nose to the point of almost being corny, but it works. Nicely evocative.

Deicide - Sacrificial Suicide 9.5/10
Father! Satan! Hold my drink while I rate!!!!!!!

Harvey Milk - I Did Not Call Out 8/10
Sludge for people who hate sludge. Good shit though. Never actually heard this album, only their earliest stuff. I bet this sounds so oppressive with a headset on. The drumming is lovely. Also lol that Metal Archives refuses to admit this band is metal.

Gorefest - Horrors in a Retarded Mind 8/10
Crushing gory chunky mid-to-slow paced death metal with choppy riffs and a big fucking drum sound. Just monstrous.

Mayhem - Life Eternal 10/10
What @challenge_everything said! Feels like such a descending journey and Attila's vocals are a fucking highlight for me, he sounds like Quorthon's viking era but from an alternate dimension or some shit. Pure cold fucking black metal perfection. When that chainsaw riff roars into prominence after the drumfill at 3:09 it's fucking like nothing else man! There's so much going on instrumentally without sacrificing any of the atmosphere. (un)Godly.

Could've been a 10 if the demo version was chosen.

A little birdy told me they considered the superior demo version but felt like there's a stigma against demos on this site. :unsure:
 
TechnicalBarbarity and arg. I'll post my ratings, which won't be included in the end result, after they have posted their ratings.
 
Antidote - Symphony of Death
I was somewhat hopeful during the intro but then he opened his mouth - 5

A Canorous Quintet - Dream Reality
Theoretically good if you're into this type of music but I'm not - 5

Metallica - Fade to Black
Legendary song every uber driver and plebeian in a bar knows - 9

Death - Denial of Life
Dribble my nuts on a hooker's asshole - 10

S.O.D. - Kill Yourself
Inbred white trash twerking in my face - 9

Death Squad - Bless Me When I Die
My head nodded in approval - 8

Fear of God - Red to Grey
Redneck stripper grinding on my crotch in a shithole club - 8

Headhunter D.C. - Suicidal Soldier
Should have invested in better equipment - 6

Woods of Ypres - By The Time You Read This (I Will Already Be Dead)
Drag my balls through a cheese grater - 3

Deicide - Sacrificial Suicide
Dribble my nuts on a hooker's tongue - 9

Harvey Milk - I Did Not Call Out
Fondle my balls with Blurry's feet - 2

Gorefest - Horrors in a Retarded Mind
Not sure what they were going for - 4

Mayhem - Life Eternal
Some grim frostbitten riffs but wtf is up with the talking frog vocals - 5
 
Clearly not, since TechnicalBarbarity hasn't posted his ratings yet. Maybe he got stuck in something similar to this:

 
OK, while we are still waiting for TechnicalBarbarity's ratings - if I shouldn't get a reply from him, I'll post the results not later than 2 p.m. CET on Sunday -, I might as well post mine now, since they don't have any influence on the outcome of this round anyway.

Antidote - Symphony of Death
Nice audible bass sound. Some parts somewhere in the middle remind me a bit of Mekong Delta. Vocals remind me (most of the time) of John Connelly. Since there are a lot of changes within the song, I might like it even more upon further listening. So far, I'll go with 8.5/10

A Canorous Quintet - Dream Reality
Even if this was an instrumental, I wouldn't listen to it again. If it wasn't for this game, I'd have immediately stopped the song once the vocals set in. 2.5/10

Metallica - Fade to Black
One of my favourite songs from my favourite Metallica-album, which was like a musical revelation to me back in 1984. Even though I rarely listen to it nowadays, it still remains metal in perfection! 10/10

Death - Denial of Life
A good song, but it doesn't come anywhere close to my favourite on the debut (which would be "Evil Dead") or any song on "Leprosy", therefore only: 7.5/10

S.O.D. - Kill Yourself
Short and rather simple, but I find it very enjoyable! 8.5/10

Death Squad - Bless Me When I Die
I don't mind the vocals. The song itself is a bit above average for me, but nothing I'd return to. Gets a slight deduction because of the blastbeats. 5.5/10

Fear of God - Red to Grey
As no country for old wainds correctly assumed, this was indeed my pick, also easy to tell from my top 10 albums of the 90ies. The lyrics are about the suicide of a girl whom Dawn Crosby (RIP) was friends with when she lived on the Philippines in her adolescence. I absolutely love Dawn's vocal work not only on this song, but on the entire album, as well as the music. One of my favourite songs on "Within the Veil". 10/10

Headhunter D.C. - Suicidal Soldier
I like the music of this song slightly better than Death Squad, but even if the sound was better, the vocals make it still unlistenable for me. 3/10

Woods of Ypres - By The Time You Read This (I Will Already Be Dead)
Until 1:17 I thought that this could turn into a song I might like, but even if they had stuck to clean vocals throughout the entire song, I wouldn't want to listen to it again (though I did in the context of this game). The parts with the harsh vocals didn't really fit in for me (not just because of the vocals) and the middle part was rather uninteresting. 3/10

Deicide - Sacrificial Suicide
Vocals are for the most part still bearable for me, but in connection with the clichéd lyrics they sound simply artificial. The song itself does nothing for me. Even without regard to their image, I don't rate this higher than 4.5/10

Harvey Milk - I Did Not Call Out
The vocalist sounds like a drunk football fan. After the first time listening, I was about to say that the music is absolutely not my cup of tea, but after the third time listening to it, my impression has changed. It's still not something I'd actively seek out to listen to, but not something I'd turn off, either. 6.5/10

Gorefest - Horrors in a Retarded Mind
Music was nothing to write home about. And outside of this game, I'd have stopped the song after 25 seconds. 2/10

Mayhem - Life Eternal
I'm surprised. It seems that Black Metal with vocals which do not get on my nerves actually does exist! I found the vocals bearable throughout the entire song, and without the blastbeat parts, I might have rated this song even slightly higher than 6/10
 
And the winner is




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1 - Death - Denial of Life - 102.5 (9.32) @arg
2 - Metallica - Fade to Black - 95 (8.64) @EspaDa*
3 - Deicide - Sacrificial Suicide - 92.5 (8.41) @Sirjack
4 - S.O.D. - Kill Yourself - 91.5 (8.32) @TechnicalBarbarity
5 - Death Squad - Bless Me When I Die - 83.3 (7.57) @RadicalThrasher
6 - Antidote - Symphony of Death - 83 (7.55) @Baroque
7 - A Canorous Quintet - Dream Reality - 82.8 (7.53) @Vegard Pompey
8 - Headhunter D.C. - Suicidal Soldier - 80.2 (7.29) @Slayed Necros
9 - Gorefest - Horrors in a Retarded Mind - 80.1 (7.28) @CiG
10 - Mayhem - Life Eternal - 78.5 (7.14) @challenge_everything
11 - Harvey Milk - I Did Not Call Out - 76 (6.91) @no country for old wainds
12 - Woods of Ypres - By The Time You Read This (I Will Already Be Dead) - 61.2 (5.56) @zerostatic

And my pick:
Fear of God - Red to Grey - 83 (7.55)

*I included no country for old wainds' rating in the original post (6/10), because after announcing to change it to 0/10, he didn't change it in his original post. Apart from making "Fade to Black" drop to no. 4 in this list, the 0/10-rating wouldn't have changed the outcome of this round anyway. It only would have mattered, if TechnicalBarbarity had submitted his ratings and rated "Denial of Life" at least 8 points lower than "Fade to Black".

BTW, my alternative picks would have been "Suicidal Nightmare" by Helstar and "Death-Hymn" by The 3rd and the Mortal, but I assume most people here would have disliked the latter and it seems that - for most participants - my choice of "Red to Grey" was a good one and even new to some. A few comments on some of the remarks about the song:

This is interesting, what is this?

In a way the follow-up to Détente. After the original line-up had more or less fallen apart after the release of "Recognize No Authority" and vocalist Dawn Crosby continued with new musicians, the band name was eventually changed to Fear of God. All songs on Fear of God's debut "Within the Veil" were written by Dawn Crosby and guitarist Mike Carlino. Five out of nine songs on WTV appeared already on two demo-tapes still released under the name Détente in the eighties.

This is such a sweet stylistic blend, RYM tags this as thrash but this song sounds like gothic doom most of the time?

IMO, the songs on "Within the Veil" don't fit any subgenre properly, but are some kind of hybrid of different influences. There are parts of some songs which might still qualify as thrash, whereas other parts are doom-like or may have some gothic influences. MA tags the album as "Heavy Metal with Gothic influences" which seems at least more appropriate than "thrash". The only album I know so far which sometimes reminds me at least vocal- and atmosphere-wise of "Within the Veil" is "Servus" by Bathsheba, but the music on "Servus" is less diverse, since it's mostly doom metal (I still like it very much, though).

I used to own their next album on tape, hated it so I never checked this out.

I assume you mean "Toxic Voodoo", right? Except for Dawn Crosby, the line-up on that one was entirely different from "Within the Veil". Compared to the latter, I found TV quite disappointing. The atmosphere was gone, the songs sounded more generic, the guitars seemed to be mostly tuned down and even Dawn's vocal performance lacked IMO the variation and intensity it had on WTV, though this might already have been a consequence of a deteriorated health condition.

BTW, only two days ago, I discovered a live-recording of a show from June 1991 featuring the original line-up of WTV which has a good picture- and very good sound-quality (soundboard-recording):



There's another clip with the same video-footage on YT (uploaded 6 years earlier than this one), but sound- and picture-quality are terrible - probably because it was just a copy of a copy of the original recording. For those interested, here's the setlist of the songs featured in this live-clip:

All that Remains
Love's Death (with additional improvised? part in the middle)
Diseased
Red to Grey
Betrayed
Coming Down (a song from the 1989-demo by Détente which was never officially released, though the demo is included on a special double-CD release of "Recognize No Authority")
Drift