411 Music March Mayhem Tournament: Round 2 – Metal

Posted by Mitch Michaels on 03.13.2009

The 411 readers have made their feelings known and now we are on to Round 2, where Ozzy takes on Dream Theater, Disturbed goes against AX7, Metallica faces Sepultura and more. Who will win? YOU VOTE! YOU decide!



Welcome music lovers to Round 2 of the inaugural 411 Music March Mayhem Tournament, already rolling as one of the biggest annual events in music history.


VOTE FOR THE ROCK SIDE HERE.

It's the second week and, thanks to the thousands of votes we received via the comments and emails during the Opening Round, it's clear to see that March Mayhem is poised to become an annual clash of titans.

ROUND 1 WRAP-UP


If you missed the Round 1 matchups, just click on the bracket above to see the full line-up.

The Rock side of the tournament had some very close match-ups, but no real surprises. That wasn't true for the Metal side, as fans rose up and pushed four bands to what we would consider upset victories. Sepultura proved that they're still a force to be reckoned with by taking down the red hot Lamb of God in a close match-up. Sepultura walked out with 56% of the vote, moving on to the Round 2. In a battle of Hair Bands vs. Death Metal, the dark horse death metal prevailed in brutal fashion, as "Metalocalypse"' Dethklok annihilated 80's bangers Ratt with 2/3rds of the popular vote. Other upsets included Kreator's dismantling of Psyopus and Soilwork riding a groundswell of metal support to fell Saliva in another close match-up.

Aside from the Soilwork and Sepultura wins, two other contests were decided by the narrowest of margins. 80's metal act Tesla got past Christian metalcore band Haste The Day by only 4 votes, while Disturbed escaped defeat by Apocalyptica by only 3.

The biggest squash matches came from the veterans, as the mighty Iron Maiden went over Cannibal Corpse and Heaven & Hell spanked August Burns Red, both waking out with over 90% of the vote.

THE RULES

The rules for each round of March Mayhem are simple: two bands place two albums against each other. Fans vote which album is better. The loser walks. The winning band advances and places a different album into competition in the next round. Bands must use a different studio album in each round until they have exhausted their catalog.

There was also a lot of speculation last week as to HOW these bands were selected. Let me add a little insight. Bands on both the Metal and Rock side were selected via recent activity. The goal is to choose a March Mayhem Champion who represents the giants of the music world as it stands right now. We poured over Rock and Metal charts, tours and news to determine what bands would be used.

The 64 bands/artists were then placed into the tournament bracket into four different divisions – two for Rock and two for Metal. The brackets were set up by seeds, and seeding was determined by total US album sales.

And that's all. Next year, depending on activity, some of these bands will return, while some will not. Others, who weren't busy as of March 2009 (ie, Green Day or Megadeth), could show up to compete.

But enough about the rules, let's get to it. Check out the match-ups. Make your vote in the comments below or by emailing [e-mail] with the subject "Round 2 Vote".

It's time to make your decision. Who rocks? Who sucks? Who brings the MAYHEM? You vote. You decide.

ROUND 2: METAL

Metallica - Ride The Lightning Matt Shoemaker: The band's second album saw a bit of progression from the almost entirely thrash efforts of Kill ‘Em All, with amazing results. "Fade to Black" has become a staple Metallica "ballad", if you will, "Ride The Lightning" is one of the best pure heavy metal songs ever made, in my eyes, and the fact that the band drew inspiration from other sources (Lovecraft (a Cliff Burton tradition), Hemingway, and even the Bible) just help to accentuate the band's creativity. "Call of Ktulu" is, pound for pound, one of the most solid metal instrumentals in the genre.

VS.

Sepultura - Chaos A.D. Ben Czajkowski: Metallica can only wish, only dream on a good day to be half as brutal as Sepultura. If only Hetfield learned how to growl and vocalize decently he could hope to come close to a true metal album like Chaos A.D. instead of some mainstream crap like…well, anything Metallica has done. Sepultura defines their sound with this album, revolutionizing this chaotic breed of metal in the early 90's, proving that they were going to be a tour de force to reckon with and providing a path for mooching, marketable bands like Metallica.

Iron Maiden - Powerslave Matt Shoemaker: As Dan Haggerty pointed out last week, this album is from Maiden at the peak of their game. I couldn't agree more with that. "Aces High", "2 Minutes To Midnight", and "Flash of the Blade" are all classic Maiden, and the inclusion of "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" live is awesome. This ranks towards the top of my top metal albums of the 80's.

VS.

Slipknot - Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) Ben Czajkowski: These Iowa metalheads redefined what it meant to be metal in the mainstream with Vol. 3 with such epic tracks as "Vermillion", "Duality", and "Before I Forget". What's Iron Maiden good for? Fetching my paper and telling me what denture cream is in style this week (Yes, I'm saying they're washed up. Hate me; I'm okay with it).

Disturbed - Indestructible Ben Czajkowski: Indestructible is clearly the nickname for David Draiman's voice as he sells this album from start to finish, with his patented growls and gullet-stomping lyrics. This makes Avenged Sevenfold look like the fairy faggots that they really are with their self-titled disc, a desperate attempt to prove they still had mainstream pull. Bury these fuckers.

VS.

Avenged Sevenfold - Avenged Sevenfold Matt Shoemaker: A lot of people tend to gravitate away from AX7 around the time City of Evil came out, but I really don't understand why. The band really hasn't lost a step, musically, and Shadow's new vocal style, while it does sound a bit emo at times, is still pretty intense. It's not his fault he can't scream anymore, and people can't seem to get over that. The first four tracks on this album alone should be enough to make you vote for it, but the rest of the album's pretty bitchin', too. Not to mention Indestructible just goes to show how far Disturbed has fallen when it comes to metal. All that album is is radio friendly nu-metal.

Ozzy Osbourne - Diary Of A Madman Matt Shoemaker: I don't know much about this album, but anything Ozzy did back in the 70's/80's was solid, and this is no exception. "S.A.T.O."'s acoustic intro sounds awesome, and the rest of the song doesn't let up. "Flying High Again" kicks all kinds of ass as well.

VS.

Dream Theater - Awake Ben Czajkowski: Awake was the album that turned me even remotely on to progressive metal. With such amazing, epic tracks as "Caught in a Web" and "Innocence Faded", Dream Theater showed what it was like to put together an album with class, style, true instrumentals, powerful vocals, and meaningful lyrics. Ozzy Osbourne bit the head off of a dove to get noticed; the man is clearly insane, as shown with Diary of a Madman.

Dethklok - The Dethalbum Ben Czajkowski: William Murderface Murderface Murderface wants to know: Who the fuck is Kreator and how did they get to the second round? Vote for Dethklok or the world's economy will continue to collapse. Thank you for giving them something to hate this far in.

VS.

Kreator - Enemy Of God Matt Shoemaker: Again, a band I don't know much about, but I've already talked about Dethklok in my column, so I figured a change of scenery would be interesting. After listening to a few songs off of this album, I'm hooked on this band. Slayer immediately pops into mind, which is definitely a good thing. Crushing riffs, insanely fast drums, and vocals that just gush pure evil make this a truly awesome album.

Soilwork - Sworn To A Great Divide Ben Czajkowski: I'm going to use my opponent's words against him because he makes my case for me: Sworn To A Great Divide represents "an incredible album, not just by the standards Soilwork has set for themselves, but as a metal album overall. The production is perfect, the music is absolutely phenomenal, and the vocals are a step above whatever I could have dreamed for Soilwork." This album absolutely and brutally stomps the shit out of Faith No More.

VS.

Faith No More - King For A Day…Fool For A Lifetime Matt Shoemaker: Honestly, I'd rather have written about Soilwork, especially because my experience with Faith No More is limited to one album, but honestly, this album turned out to be really good. In typical Faith No More fashion, there are influences from a bevy of different genres, which makes for some interesting tracks. The music on "Evidence" is hauntingly beautiful, and their cover of "I Started a Joke…" is pretty cool. This album is something everyone can enjoy, due to the wide range of sounds.

Tesla - Psychotic Supper Ben Cxajkowski: 16 million albums worldwide. Wow. That is simply amazing. Tesla was well ahead of their time with Psychotic Supper, setting themselves up to be a huge powerhouse in the early 90's. They were doing that while Black Sabbath was shitting themselves in hopes of finding a decent replacement for the Captain of the Good Ship Lollipop. Yeah, they really failed with Dio and Heaven and Hell.

VS.

Black Sabbath (Heaven & Hell) - Mob Rules Matt Shoemaker: The Dio era of Sabbath is, to me, a lot different than the Ozzy era. And it's really only because of Ronnie James Dio. His creepy, fantasy-land themes fit in nicely with Sabbath, turning out some really dark imagery that is nicely portrayed here. And like the title track says, "If you listen to fools, the mob rules". Well, I've never been one for Tesla's music, so listen to the fools, and let the Mob Rule on this one.

Queensrÿche - Rage For Order Ben Czajkowski: This is the quintessential heavy and progressive metal band that is one of the few good things to come out of the 1980's. While the kids in Mastodon were eating sand on the playground in elementary school, Queensrÿche was putting together three gold albums, such as Rage For Order. Mastodon will be lucky if they're ever remotely that successful, especially with stylistic garbage like Blood Mountain.

VS.

Mastodon - Blood Mountain Matt Shoemaker: One thing that's undeniable about Mastodon is they're different. Not as different as, say, Faith No More, but there's a definite type of swagger in their music, that they know what they're doing is a little more on the unconventional side, and they kick ass doing it. From the incredible drum fill that starts the album on "The Wolf is Loose" to the 22 minute epic "Pendulous Skin", this album is one of the most articulate, experimental albums I've heard in a long time. The metal genre needs more bands willing to take all the weird risks Mastodon does.

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There you have it. The match-ups for Round 2. Now it's time for your voice to be heard. Use the comments below (or send an email to [e-mail] with the subject "Round 2 Vote") and pick your winner for each of the eight matchups.

Just to refresh, here they are again:

1. Metallica, Ride The Lightning or Sepultura, Chaos A.D.
2. Iron Maiden, Powerslave or Slipknot, Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)
3. Disturbed, Indestructible or Avenged Sevenfold, Avenged Sevenfold
4. Ozzy Osbourne, Diary Of A Madman or Dream Theater, Awake
5. Dethklok, The Dethalbum or Kreator, Enemy Of God
6. Soilwork, Sworn To A Great Divide or Faith No More, King For A Day…Fool For A Lifetime
7. Tesla, Psychotic Supper or Black Sabbath (Heaven & Hell), Mob Rules
8. Queensryche, Rage For Order or Mastodon, Blood Mountain

Who rocks? Who shreds? And who just plain sucks? Tell us now. The results and the Sweet 16 will be up next week. The first battle is over. The war is far from through.