Rainbow - Gates of Babylon
restraint? who needs restraint?! such a ridiculously extravagant epic, they don't make 'em like this anymore. probably my favourite rainbow song. you guys who said you haven't heard this album need to hear '
kill the king' too.
9/10
Tyrant - Babylon
glen may is a GOD x2. he has it all, man: the insane adams wail, an almost candlemass-worthy deep falsetto, quorthon's warrior roar. honestly tyrant would be a lot more legendary if they didn't bury him in the guitar maelstrom so much, he tends to sound a little suffocated by the mix and it makes the music seem more lethargic in general. they also stray too close to stadium fodder at times and i can imagine people saying the same about this song, but it's just so expressive and passionate. if i was new to this i'd be sold on that reflective opening 30 seconds alone, it's a really simple but cultured and emotionally charged melody, the stuff of deeply felt myth. there's no better song for arguing that the american tyrant are one of the most worthy descendants of manowar/bathory. check out their masterpiece '
legions of the dead' (as in the song not the album) if you haven't heard it.
8/10
Nile - Lashed to the Slave Stick
this is totally fucking rifftacular and don't let anybody tell you otherwise. i'm also not aware of anything quite like it, and it's frustrating because nile can be kinda samey and generic so much of the time but every so often they show they're capable of much more. it's easy to underrate their best stuff because they're so overrated by the mainstream but i'm 100% behind this one.
8/10
Iron Maiden - Powerslave
one of the greatest choruses of all time. even at the height of my maiden cynicism i could never deny that, and i'm mostly out the other side of that nonsense these days. the bit that links verse and chorus is pretty lame, and i suspect the reason for that is there was no particularly good way of making these verses and this chorus go together, but then the chorus hits and i don't give a shit about any of that stuff anymore so whatever. the loooong instrumental centrepiece is consistently delightful too, flies by.
9/10
Magister Templi - Horus the Avenger
man, this whole list so far is just balls out epicitude. what can i say about this that isn't fucking obvious? the vocals are positively erotic. i need to listen to this album more.
8/10
Arghoslent - The Nubian Archer
yall are offending me with your arghoslent disdain. GALLOPING THROUGH THE BATTLE RUINS is a masterwork you goddarn peasants, they did actually used to write great songs before they went more superficial and riff salady. even in their latter period this band has written some of the most gorgeous, strange, emotionally charged melodies of anybody after the 1980s, and some utterly horns-raising riffs to boot. not to mention some of the most well written solos in the business. history oozes from their whole style, moreso than pretty much any other band i can think of. they're perfect for the list even though this definitely isn't the song i'd have chosen. 'tis a shame they had to replace their vocalist, other guy was better.
7/10
Zemial - Ή Ταν Ή Επί Τας
more totally rousing shit right here. this is a really coherent playlist in that regard, you could work out to it if you were some kind of dull gym-going buffoon. this song is so full of attitude and bloodlust, amazingly vivid. i need to listen to zemial more, teh kiwi is never wrong.
9/10
Adramelch - Zephirus
i do sometimes wish the production was more immersive despite the unique and otherworldly vibe it brings, and ya they can be a little awkward in places, but when you're making music on a completely different plane from other bands - the stuff of dreams and other worlds, overflowing with desperate emotion - you can get away with that. vocalist is an angel so shut it - i'd understand being annoyed by john arch more than ballerio actually, but they have similar strengths. the solo at 4 minutes gives my eardrums a pair of erections, and the ending makes them jizz wax across the room. this is also inextricably linked to the black company books for me, which ain't a bad thing.
10/10
Macabre Omen - An Ode to Rhode
david and i have been hyping up this album forever, it's great that they're suddenly getting their due after the new one landed. this was the first band i thought of when i saw the theme.
8/10
Ares Kingdom - Descent of Man
only problem with ares kingdom is i'd like them to be a bit more economical. i'm certain a fully honed five minute version of this song would sound more epic to me, and i've always felt this was a great album trapped inside a good one in general. solos are a bit flashy here too methinks. good band though; huge sound, evocative riffs, contagious energy, vocalist has great presence.
7/10
Meads of Asphodel - My Psychotic Sand Deity
great song title, great cover art. shame about the song. i don't mind metal with elements borrowed from a diverse range of genres, as long as they're actually integrated into something that has focus, unity. this.... is not that. some ok individual sections, i.e. the cathartic power pop bit at 5:15ish, are the only reason i'm not marking it even lower. actually those pink floyd noodlings are really cringeworthy maybe i will anyway. this is basically an even more spazzy opeth. also lmao i just realised that awful cheeseball melody in the BM sections (i.e. 6:28) sounds like the UBOS theme.
3/10
Yngwie J. Malmsteen - Dark Ages
literally had no idea malmsteen did stuff like this wtf. this is possibly the closest i've ever heard metal sound to what random old school bargain-bucket fantasy novels feel like to read. total fucking nerdcore. simplistic, amateurish, nothing subtle about it, but it's soooo authentic somehow, a fucking wizard made this in some castle many centuries ago. and that bassline is a PEACH, not sure i've ever heard a bassline in that style in this context before but it totally works. is there more like this?
8/10
Manilla Road - Rome
GATES OF FIRE is an album experience that doesn't really benefit from sampling; you need to let it gradually soak in. that said, eleven minutes is long enough to be mesmerised by its slow burn at least a little. love the leads in this, and that section around the seven or eight minute mark.
8/10
Doomsword - Varusschlacht (Varus Battle)
ahhh i knew this was gonna be a perfect segue - doomsword have taken on quite a bit of manilla road influence just lately, and they kick our playlist up a notch while retaining that patient, searing, hypnotic quality of the previous song. i think this album may be the definitive 'epic metal' record of this decade so far, not the ironsword one. pretty much exactly what i want out of the so-called sub-genre here.
8/10
Slough Feg - Hiberno-Latin Invasion
may be the most gorgeous and graceful slough feg song.
9/10
Primordial - As Rome Burns
it's aight, but not enough layering or restraint for my tastes, just very on the nose and in your face, a little like latter era immortal. guitar tone is too watery also, and the middle section drags.
5/10
Reverend Bizarre - Caesar Forever
if you love doom, you love this. if you love this, you love doom. simple. perfect outro btw, idk if that was intentional.
9/10
lol i liked over half the playlist more than my own pick, that's kind of depressing and kind of awesome. i was making a conscious effort to rate more discriminatingly here btw, believe it or not.