Themed Mixtape Game

[Master_Yoda77]

Mekong Delta - Heroes Grief 5/10

Skelator - Elric the Dragon Prince 7/10

Fuck off haters. Skelator rules.

Crypt of Kerberos – Stormbringer 7/10

Holy shit it's been a while since I blasted this. This is how you do Swedish death metal. None of that buzzsaw Entomed bullshit. You get really weird.

Wolfbane - Elric of Melniboné 8/10

I forgot that I owned this album. Shit, this is right up my alley. I definitely need to revisit it.

Stormbringer - Tales of the White Wolf 9/10

What the fuck is this? Unheard of epic metal from bullshit Rockford, IL? This shit is just absolutely awesome.

At the Gates - City of Screaming Statues 8.5/10

Only Alf Svensson is real! This is really the only AtG that I really need and hearing this reminded me why it's such a pinnacle of the genre.

Diamond Head - Borrowed Time 9/10

I admit it, I've only ever heard Am I Evil by this band. I know, shame on me. This is everything I want in my music these days. Excellent vocals, delicious guitars with damn near perfect distortion, and that fucking artwork. Holy shit.

Sacramentum – Overlord 6/10

Not bad, but ultimately pretty forgettable. I'm sticking with Far Away from the Sun.

Domine - The Freedom Flight 7/10

Not sure I get all the hate here, this is fucking awesome power metal. Fuck off haters.

Apollo Ra - Bane of the Black Sword 8.5/10

Woah, dat first fucking riff. I could hear that for days. Seriously, this is awesome.

 

[CiG]

This is how you do Swedish death metal. None of that buzzsaw Entomed bullshit.

Strappado mate.

 

[Master_Yoda77]

Slaughter are one of the few exceptions to that rule. Same with early Gehennah. I actually still quite like early Dismember, but I find the whole style inferior compared to their Finnish neighbors.

 

[CiG]

Nihilist were the fucking shit though.

 

[Talos of Atmora]

Very happy to see these guys here, that intro/chorus melodic riff is just so pleasing and the verses have that crunch and sneer that gives me a big 80s Savatage chubby. One of my favorites on this album, and because I hadn’t even thought about them for the theme I’ll add a bonus point because it’s a really great song anyways.

Great playlist, definitely one of the best.

Coincidentally, the first time I listened to Hall of the Mountain King was a bit of time after Ra Pariah. First Savatage album I ever listened to.

 

[no country for old wainds]

Mekong Delta - Heroes Grief
the vocal line in the verses seems particularly forced to me, and while the rest is fine i'd like it to go somewhere rather than just disappearing into a long, barely related outro. said outro is also fine but eerie soundscapes aren't something i generally get excited about. 6/10

Skelator - Elric the Dragon Prince
this was my first choice pick (which i didn't get). 8/10

Crypt of Kerberos - Stormbringer
sup david. the first section is clearly the best, builds beautifully and the sense of melody reminds me a little of eucharist. around the 2 minute mark it starts to become more traditional swedish fare, and the solo is a bit wanky. 7.5/10

Wolfbane - Elric of Melniboné
one of my picks. would benefit from clearer production but it's classy sabbath worship regardless, not aiming high but it hits the spot. lazily awesome musicianship in a pagan altar kinda way. 8/10

Stormbringer - Tales of the White Wolf
meat and potatoes in some ways, but man what a sweet chorus. 7.5/10

At the Gates - City of Screaming Statues
NOT one of my picks but i knew you'd fall into this trap mwwhehehee. this is the most obvious thing here, but also underrated in the context of that album so i'll allow it. not as good out of context as it culminates the album's psychological journey beautifully, but it's still an instant 10. 10/10

Diamond Head - Borrowed Time
one of my picks. in places it's a bit overwrought and trying too hard for atmosphere, but retains enough of what makes peak diamond head so great (most notably the incredible vocals and some really tense, slippery melodies). it helps that the production owns and they keep returning to the chills-inducing verse. fucking amazing ending too. 8.5/10

Sacramentum - Overlord
also NOT one of my picks. i like post-FAFTS sacramentum, the middle album's fun too. the section at 1:33ish (and again in the last 20 secs), which is the best part of the song along with the subsequent solo, sounds exactly like the debut actually. i mean, this obviously doesn't overwhelm with feeling in the way that FAFTS does, but i'll take it. 8/10

Domine - The Freedom Flight
slightly surprised pompey shat on the chorus as there's a touch of the adramelch about how it concludes (maybe it's just the vocal timbre), although yea it's cheesier and pretty awkward. still a fun tune. 7.5/10

Apollo Ra - Bane of the Black Sword
one of my picks. meh verse, ace everything else. best chorus of the playlist. 8/10

definitely one of the most coherent and consistent playlists for me. reviews are pretty lazy sry, wanted to get this done.

 

[Elric of Melniboné]

That makes nine. I think that @Serjeant Grumbles is the only player left who hasn't rated.

 

[Phylactery]

He's always one of the last to rate, I'm sure his ratings will be in soon.

This is the lowest score I've ever given to my own pick and the only time I submitted a song I don't really like. It's doing quite well, though.

 

[Elric of Melniboné]

That is correct.

Are you tracking the ratings or something?

 

[Serjeant Grumbles]

Go on without me, I've got a lot under my plate right now.

 

[Elric of Melniboné]

You must be a messy eater if it's under your plate.

Let me count these up.

 

[no country for old wainds]

technically having things under your plate makes things easier because it makes the plate closer to your mouth.

 

[Elric of Melniboné]

Mekong Delta - Heroes Grief @HamburgerBoy 6.66
Skelator - Elric the Dragon Prince @CASSETTEISGOD 7.5
Crypt of Kerberos - Stormbringer @Internally Deformed 6.38
Wolfbane - Elric of Melniboné @no country for old wainds 7.38
Stormbringer - Tales of the White Wolf @Master_Yoda77 8.22
At the Gates - City of Screaming Statues @Vegard Pompey 9.27
Diamond Head - Borrowed Time @Serjeant Grumbles 7.5
Sacramentum - Overlord @Phylactery 7.38
Domine - The Freedom Flight @H.P. Lovecraft 6.88
Apollo Ra - Bane of the Black Sword @Talos of Atmora 8.83

Congratulations to @Vegard Pompey for winning the round!

I also wanted to congratulate a few other people...

@HamburgerBoy for getting the Mark of the Beast as his average rating.

@Talos of Atmora for having my favorite song of the round and introducing me to a new band.

@Internally Deformed for complaining about the theme, rating like a shithead and clearly not knowing the author that inspired the theme.

Oh and here are my ratings.

Mekong Delta - Heroes Grief 6/10
Skelator - Elric the Dragon Prince 8/10
Crypt of Kerberos - Stormbringer 5/10
Wolfbane - Elric of Melniboné 7.5/10
Stormbringer - Tales of the White Wolf 9/10
At the Gates - City of Screaming Statues 7/10
Diamond Head - Borrowed Time 8/10
Sacramentum - Overlord 7/10
Domine - The Freedom Flight 7/10
Apollo Ra - Bane of the Black Sword 10/10

 

[no country for old wainds]

whoooa that threw me, everyone else has listed them in order lol. i assumed ATG had won by miles. also lmao pompey totally threw me off the scent with those comments about ATG being obvious, what a dick.

 

[Elric of Melniboné]

Sorry. I got lazy about changing the order to match the ratings.

 

[no country for old wainds]

COME ON POMPEY WHERES THE NEW THEME FOR FUCKS SAKE

 

[Phylactery]

Crypt of Kerberos - Stormbringer @Internally Deformed 6.38

Crypt of Kerberos – Stormbringer: Pretty good shit. The riffs are a little repetitive for my liking, but it's made up for by some neat lead work and a dark atmosphere. Whoever submitted this obviously has pretty good taste, so I'm guessing they'd have submitted something even better had the theme been a little less restrictive. 8/10

Hahaha. I was actually wondering who picked this song. I didn't think it would be him after reading the review so I thought it might've been CIG. Anyway you should all be ashamed that it came last.

 

[CiG]

In our defense this was a pretty Godly playlist.

 

[Vegard Pompey]

I feel a bit bad winning with such an obvious song, especially over such a good pick as that Apollo Ra. But I had a theme in mind that I wanted to try, so I was feeling competitive.

Since my previous theme was a bit abstract and gave many players difficulty, this one's more "concrete". The new theme is BUILDINGS. You know, walls, temples, castles, monuments, etc. Songs about cities or towns probably don't fit unless there is an especial emphasis on the buildings themselves.

 

[Serjeant Grumbles]

Ah, that's a good one. A theme limited to just castles would have yielded plenty of results, and I know just what I'd pick for such a theme. But, since it's broader than that, I'll have to look through other possibilities as well.