The Greatest Metal Concept Album Ever Tournament: Big Eight
Wow, this thing is getting wild. The sweet sixteen saw some decisive victories as well as unprecedented upsets. Did your favorite concept album survive the onslaught? Get in here to find out, then keep stabbing that vote button.
It wasn’t that surprising to see Toilet favorites like Leviathan and Abigail edge out their competitors, but the narrow margins for Operation: Mindcrime and Still Life were far harder to predict. Vertikal and The Key just keep on trucking! Mad about it? Cast your vote then get angery in the comments. There can be only one!
Remember, your goal is to not just choose the album you like the most, but to try to pick the album whose concept best fits the music. Y’all did pretty well with the first 16, so let’s see how strong your resolve is in the right side of the bracket. Be judicious as you cast your stones below.
Mastodon’s Leviathan vs. King Diamond’s Abigail
Moby Dick vs. Spooky Ghosts
Cult of Luna’s Vertikal vs. Nocturnus’s The Key
Self-Alienation in Metropolis vs. Sci-Fi Occultism
Queensryche‘s Operation: Mindcrime vs. Iced Earth’s Night of the Stormrider
Disillusioned Junkie Turned Revolutionary vs. Pagan Earth’s Revenge
Opeth’s Still Life vs. Blind Guardian’s Nightfall in Middle-Earth
Oppressive Religion vs. How Melkor Lost All His Friends