The 2017 Arsies: February 8, 2017

February 8, 2017

Emotion	●●●	●●○
Memorability	●●○	●●●
Replayability	●●●	●●○
Innovation	●●●	●●○
Pace	●●○	●●●
Shredding	●●●	●●●
Vocals	●●●	●●●
Production	●●●	●●●
	✓

So much cruncy, delicious metal today! If you haven't listened to either of these albums yet then, god, Jed, I don't even want to know you. I've been saying all along that the Anthrax is better than is reasonable to expect (confirmed by the fact that I couldn't get Defend Avenge out of my head the other day and wound up playing the riff at band practice; that's not nothing).
Of course, I would also try playing some riffs off of Akróasis... if I was a far better musician than I am. It's been 4 years since Obscura's last album, and in that time, the boys in the band have settled on one performance setting: Jawdropping. Theirs was always a busy, kitchen-sink sort of prog metal (think BTBAM with actual anger issues), but they've since added a patina of heft to everything they touch. The Anthrax is all fun and games, but Obscura ain't playin'. The Germans triumph over Scott Ian and his band of veterans.
And then there were four: the Semis start tomorrow, with our "western division"^‡ going to either Anciients or Meshuggah. The winner of that contest will secure the first spot in our Final Contest!

‡ I'm toying with the idea of setting up future tournaments with divisions, like Black, Prog, Thrash, and Djent for example. What do you think of that? Leave a comment and let me know....