The 2012 Arsies: January 16, 2012

January 16, 2012

Welcome back, you fancy bastards! Let's get right into today's battle, which is... well, problematic.
Let's have some real talk for a minute. “Digital Veil” wins today. “Digital Veil” had to win today. It's a neoclassical metal masterpiece. It's got everything that I want, need, and cherish in metal: epic scope, prog leanings, grossness, guitar virtuosity (“Antebellum”, my early pick for Best Metal Song of 2011, finally made me embrace the less-than-subtle technique of crazy, nonstop guitar sweeping). And most tellingly, when I'm not listening to “Digital Veil”, I'm thinking about it. Instant classic? Maybe so (especially given the poignancy of this album allegedly being the band's last).
But do you know how good Revocation's “Chaos Of Forms” is? It's unapologetically thrashy, in the best and cheesiest tradition of bands like Forbidden and Exodus. Pretty much every song on the album showcases how comfortable the band is vacillating between the realms of cock rock, death metal, and thrash. “Chaos Of Forms” is such a singular force to be reckoned with, that in any other contest Revocation might have taken the day.
But not today. Revocation's loss isn't a matter of the album being outgunned, so much as being outclassed. The Human Abstract trounces an otherwise excellent opponent, and proceeds to the next round.
Tomorrow, we take a trip to bucolic Sweden, pit Scar Symmetry against Amon Amarth, and see who emerges victorious.