Avantasia – “Avantasia”
From the album: Avantasia: The Metal Opera – Part I

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Why this song doesn’t suck:
Sure, power metal has a tendency to be over the top and corny at times, but if done right it can be some of the most (for lack of a better word) powerful music ever perceived by human earholes. In 1999, Edguy frontman, Tobias Sammet, began writing the songs for what would become his Avantasia side project’s first release, 2000’s aptly titled The Metal Opera. This album contained some of the best power metal to be released in recent memory, my favorite of which happens to be the band’s self-titled track, “Avantasia”. This is power metal done right.

Opeth – “The Grand Conjuration”
From the album: Ghost Reveries

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Why this song doesn’t suck:
From the first moment to the last, “The Grand Conjuration” cannot be described as anything but one huge, angry metal-to-the-bone song. Progressive death metal giants Opeth have always been a band to expand on their sound and create music of epic, sprawling proportions, and this song is no different. One of my favorite tracks off their 2005 album, Ghost Reveries, this song is 10 and a half minutes of creative and haunting guitar licks, intense drumming and a mix of ominous to absolutely brutal vocals as provided by band mainman, Mikael Akerfeldt.