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General => Archive => General Music Archives => Topic started by: Crow on July 22, 2016, 09:43:47 PM
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Parama’s Roulette v1.5
It turns out that running a roulette sounds pretty fun right now, but I’m still sort of playing catch-up from my last roulette and not looking for a ton of new stuff right now. So I’m running a half-roulette instead and by the time I want to run a full roulette again I’ll probably be near or at the top of the queue. It’s the perfect crime.
Final Rankings:
1st: home
2nd: Evermind
3rd: Tomislav95
4th: 425
5th: Scorpion
6th: Bolsters
7th: Sacul
8th: Train of Naught
9th: Tyrias
10th: LordCost
11th: splent
12th: twosuitsluke
Useful links:
Rules and Round Structure (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=47943.msg2194213#msg2194213)
Banned List (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=47943.msg2194215#msg2194215)
Songs Sent During the Roulette (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=47943.msg2194220#msg2194220)
Tastes (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=47943.msg2194216#msg2194216)
Roulette Grading Scale (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=47943.msg2194221#msg2194221)
Roulette v1 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=44434.0)
Old Top 50 List (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=44367.0)
2015 Retrospective List (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=47258.0)
Round Results
Round 1 First Impressions (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=47943.msg2195519#msg2195519) - Round 1 Results: Part 1 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=47943.msg2197216#msg2197216) - Part 2 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=47943.msg2197218#msg2197218)
Round 2 First Impressions (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=47943.msg2198401#msg2198401) - Round 2 Results: Part 1 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=47943.msg2200169#msg2200169) - Part 2 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=47943.msg2200171#msg2200171)
Round 3 First Impressions (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=47943.msg2200753#msg2200753) - Round 3 Results: Part 1 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=47943.msg2202702#msg2202702) - Part 2 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=47943.msg2202703#msg2202703)
Round 4 First Impressions (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=47943.msg2204111#msg2204111) - Round 4 Results: Part 1 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=47943.msg2206007#msg2206007) - Part 2 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=47943.msg2206008#msg2206008)
Round 5 First Impressions (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=47943.msg2206982#msg2206982) - Round 5 Results (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=47943.msg2208584#msg2208584)
Round 6 First Impressions (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=47943.msg2209519#msg2209519) - Round 6 Results (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=47943.msg2211109#msg2211109)
Round 7 First Impressions (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=47943.msg2214277#msg2214277) - Round 7 Results: Part 1 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=47943.msg2219183#msg2219183) - Part 2 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=47943.msg2219184#msg2219184)
The Winner is... (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=47943.msg2219185#msg2219185)
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Rules:
1. Send songs via PM. I’d prefer mp3 downloads but youtube links are fine. Spotify links are not allowed, and you will be asked to resubmit.
2. The banned list is color-coded for your convenience.
Red means bands I have heard enough from to know I dislike them in general.
Orange means bands I don’t actively listen to or own music from, but find generally alright.
Teal means bands I have looked into and plan to get an album from, or have an album but haven’t listened to extensively yet.
Yellow means bands I like and own music from but don’t quite love.
Green means one of my favorites.
3. In the interest of variety, if the same artist is sent multiple times in one round, only the first two submissions of the artist will be accepted. If the same song is sent by multiple people, only the first submission will be accepted.
4. I reserve the right to reject any song or artist not on the banlist, most likely because I either know the specific song or the band probably should be on my banlist (which I will update if so).
Roulette Structure:
No scores. Every round will be an elimination round.
Round 1:
2 players eliminated. 10 remain.
Song length limit: 10 minutes.
Round 2:
2 players eliminated. 8 remain.
Song length limit: 10 minutes.
Round 3:
2 players eliminated. 6 remain.
Song length limit: 10 minutes.
Round 4:
2 players eliminated. 4 remain.
Players will send two songs. The players who are eliminated will be as follows:
1. The player who sends the worst overall song.
2. The player whose higher-ranking song scores the worst.
3. If these are both the same person, the player who sent the second worst higher-ranking song will be eliminated.
4. Additionally, whoever sends the best overall song will automatically remain in the competition, even if they are the same person who also sends the worst overall song.
Song length limit: 16 minutes total between the two songs, and maximum 10 minutes for a single song.
Round 5:
1 player eliminated. 3 remain.
Song length limit: Minimum 8 minutes, maximum 15 minutes.
Round 6: 1 player eliminated. 2 remain.
Song length limit: Minimum 15 minutes. No fixed upper limit but please try to keep it under 30 minutes. It’s probably in your best interest to not go longer than that, anyways, though if you have a really awesome 45-60 minute epic you just have to share with me, you can try.
Round 7: 1 player eliminated. Remaining player is the winner.
This is the EP round. I’m going to be doing this a bit different from last time.
1. You may send as many songs as you want, so long as the total length of the songs does not exceed 50 minutes. The minimum length is, let’s go with… 30 minutes.
2. You may not send more than 2 songs by the same artist, and the total length per artist must be under 12 minutes. I won’t stop both players from sending two songs each from the same artist, though. That’d be really funny.
3. The ultimate goal is to send as many great songs as possible. I’m less concerned with EP flow and cohesiveness here, but it will be a factor. Please don’t close your EP with an obvious album opener.
4. Though I am not explicitly scoring songs, I will rank every song as usual. The average ranking of all the songs will be calculated and will likely be a factor in determining the winner, though the better-ranking EP may not necessarily be the winner.
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Banned List:
65daysofstatic
A Perfect Circle
Admiron
Agalloch
Agent Fresco
Alcest
Algiers
Alrakis
Alter Bridge
Amadeus Awad
Amplifier
Anathema
Anciients
Animals As Leaders
Arcturus
Arjen Lucassen
Arsaidh
At the Drive-In
Auriga
Avenged Sevenfold
Ayreon
Baroness
Bastille
Being
Ben Folds
Ben Levin Group
Bent Knee
Between the Buried and Me
Beyond the Bridge
Big Big Train
Bing Satellites
Blink-182
Bodies of Water
Brand New
Bruce Springsteen
Burst
Burzum
Caligula’s Horse
Callisto
Canvas Solaris
Casualties of Cool
Cave In
Chelsea Wolfe
Chimp Spanner
CHON
Circus Maximus
Cloudkicker
Cobalt
Codes in the Clouds
Coheed & Cambria
Coldplay
Converge
Crisis
Cult of Luna
Cursive
Cynic
Damien Rice
David Bowie
David Maxim Micic
Day Without Dawn
Deafheaven
Destrage
Destiny Potato
Devin Townsend
Diablo Swing Orchestra
Dire Straits
Don Caballero
Dordeduh
Dragonforce
Dream Theater
Dysrhythmia
Earth
Earthside
East of the Wall
Eight Bells
El Drugstore
Eluvium
Enslaved
Ephel Duath
Esben & the Witch
Exivious
Exotic Animal Petting Zoo
Explosions in the Sky
Fallujah
Fates Warning
Foals
Foo Fighters
Frost*
fun.
GEoRGiA
Genesis
The Gentle Storm
Ghost
Glen Hansard
God is an Astronaut
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Gotye
Grace Cathedral Park
Graviton
Green Carnation
Gregor Samsa
Guilt Machine
Haken
Hammock
Have a Nice Life
He Is Legend
Headspace
Ihsahn
Inter Arma
Intronaut
IQ
Irepress
Iron Maiden
Isis
Jakob
Jesu
Jethro Tull
Jolly
Judas Priest
Julia Holter
Kamelot
Karnivool
Kayo Dot
Kimbra
King Crimson
Kontinuum
Lacuna Coil
Leprous
Lesoir
Levin Minnemann Rudess
Lorde
Mandroid Echostar
Marketa Irglova
Mastodon
maudlin of the Well
Maybeshewill
Megadeth
Merzbow
Metallica
Midnight Odyssey
Moonsorrow
Mono
Mouth of the Architect
Mr. Bungle
múm
Muse
My Morning Jacket
Nadja
Native Construct
Ne Obliviscaris
Negură Bunget
Neurosis
Neutral Milk Hotel
Nightwish
Nine Inch Nails
Nirvana
NY in 64
Oak Pantheon
Obsidian Kingdom
Oceans of Slumber
Oceansize
Ólafur Arnalds
Opeth
opul
Oranssi Pazuzu
OSI
Our Ceasing Voice
Pain of Salvation
Panopticon
Patrick Wilson
Pelican
Periphery
Pink Floyd
Porcupine Tree
Premiata Forneria Marconi
Progenie Terrestre Pura
Protest the Hero
Pyramids
Quandary
Queen
Queensryche
Radiohead
Rage Against the Machine
Red Sparowes
Rishloo
Riverside
Rodrigo y Gabriela
Rosetta
Royal Blood
Rush
Russian Circles
Saor
Scale the Summit
Schammasch
Schizoid Lloyd
Serdce
Seventh Wonder
Shining
Sia
Sigh
Sigur Rós
SikTh
Skyharbor
Slice the Cake
Slipknot
Smashing Pumpkins
Slayer
So Hideous
Sólstafir
Soundgarden
Speaking to Stones
Spectral Lore
Star One
Stellardrone
Steven Wilson
Storm Corrosion
Sufjan Stevens
Swallow the Sun
Taylor Swift
TesseracT
Thank You Scientist
The Angelic Process
The Beatles
The Contortionist
The Cure
The Dear Hunter
The Dillinger Escape Plan
The Fall of Troy
The Hirsch Effekt
The Mars Volta
The Ocean
The Postman Syndrome
The Swell Season
The Sword
This Will Destroy You
Thomas Giles
Thrice
Thumpermonkey
Thy Catafalque
Thy Light
Tool
Toothgrinder
Transatlantic
Ulver
Unexpect
Vanden Plas
Vangough
Vattnet Viskar
Vektor
Vennart
Whispered
Widek
Winterfylleth
Wishbone Ash
Wolves in the Throne Room
Yes
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Tastes:
I’ll keep these brief because the longer these go the more confused people will be. And I’m going to be honest, I am really not looking to expand my tastes at this point in time. This is more to check out cool stuff that already fits nicely into my tastes, that I may not have known about. Sending risky stuff way out of my comfort zone is more than likely going to get you eliminated.
Metal: Oh boy do I like metal. Prog metal, black metal, sludge metal, post-metal, some mathcore, some metalcore, some death metal, some djent, even a little straight-up heavy metal. I don’t like nu-metal, generally not a fan of thrash metal, and I really dislike deathcore.
What’s really important for me with metal is that it’s kept dynamic. Bands that feel the urge to be constantly heavy all the time and give the listener no breathing room are, in all honesty, really damn boring. There’s a lot of ways to win me over, though. Strong melodies, crushing and crunchy riffs, thick atmosphere, controlled frantic energy, just raw power. Of course, with some lighter moments to break up the mood, or at least not a constantly crushing sound.
For me though metal has the most potential to be dynamic and interesting, and metal with influences from other genres (especially electronic as of late) really gets me interested. Metal stuff is probably the safest best for doing well but you don’t have to stick exclusively to it; my favorites from my last roulette were, ironically, not metal at all.
Examples:
Black Metal:
Alrakis – Alpha Eri (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHtN3jOkp90)
Enslaved – Roots of the Mountain (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DULdEgVgY8)
Thy Catafalque – Szervelten (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vKyJ0NI3g8)
Death Metal:
Ne Obliviscaris – Forget Not (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjWky-bnsgM)
Opeth – Ghost of Perdition (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDBykpSXsSE)
Metalcore/Mathcore:
Between the Buried and Me – Disease, Injury, Madness (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_ureUV73mk)
The Hirsch Effekt – Cotard (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zqhcc2uzos)
Post-Metal:
Isis – Grinning Mouths (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVAnKLsaFAo)
Rosetta – Absent (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiISiYK6VXs)
Prog Metal:
Haken – Cockroach King (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjrcXCAeNe4)
Pain of Salvation – Idioglossia (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmrU2NahT2Q)
Riverside – Hybrid Times (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wg-01P_BlPw)
Sludge Metal:
East of the Wall – The Apologist (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZh6INr-KaI)
Intronaut – Fast Worms (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOxxAdRtU1w)
The Ocean – Mesopelagic: Into the Uncanny (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ba7y1ZYFODw)
Prog: My opinion on this has really changed in the past year or two. I’m pretty over the pointlessly technical, showboaty prog that feels far too dominant. I’d rather hear bands come up with cool rhythms, diverse song structures, unique genre fusions. Of course I’m not averse to technicality either if it’s done tastefully.
Examples:
Baroness – The Gnashing (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuG6P-K1Fes)
CHON – Can’t Wait (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hK0dwP9nzJU)
Dream Theater – Take the Time (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvUzTheN-J0)
Oceansize – Trail of Fire (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PpLPx6XvIk)
Thank You Scientist – Carnival (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6dpgF2spAo)
Rock: Straightforward hard rock is probably going to bore me. The rock I tend to like is generally more atmospheric or more rooted in emotional impact. That’s not to say I wouldn’t enjoy a good straightforward rock song, but my definition of good is probably not going to be yours here.
Examples:
Brand New – Limousine (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FfF9fIDqFg)
Coheed and Cambria – Mother Superior (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZaEcRWD4nU)
Cursive – Driftwood: A Fairy Tale (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpBJpsC52Bo)
Porcupine Tree – Trains (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UHwkfhwjsk)
Thrice – Between the End and Where We Lie (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlrq7wle-Ao)
Post-Rock Don’t send this to me, honestly. I like post-rock on a case-by-case basis and especially on an album basis more than a song basis. There’s exceptions, of course, and if it’s like a stunningly good song on its own merits then go ahead, but prepare to be disappointed.
Examples:
Cult of Luna – And With Her Came the Birds (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSde9eP3axM)
Mew – Comforting Sounds (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wSU4adAbSc)
Sigur Rós – Vaka (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQn7kEgskOg)
Sólstafir – Djákninn (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c8inqYAESo)
This Will Destroy You – Villa del Refugio (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2XFaf_5CzE)
Electronic/Pop: Make it atmospheric. I have little use for upbeat, bright pop. Maybe I’ll find it fun for a listen or two but I’ll get bored of it quick. I have little use for lifeless, cold, low-key electronica. It really needs to be evocative to work for me, well-textured and atmospheric, layers of synths, strings, piano, whatever else.
Devin Townsend – The Death of Music (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDm8VrFrUf0)
fun. – Take Your Time (Coming Home) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufO1G9x7Qxk)
Gorillaz – El Mañana (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3yCH5SKN_M)
Julia Holter – Lucette Stranded on the Island (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhBhpQgN0MU)
Lorde – Buzzcut Season (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pstVCGyaUBM)
Djent: If djent is the primary genre tag that applies to a band, don’t send them. If djent is an element used as part of a mix and is used tastefully, go ahead and try, I guess. There have been enough bands that have done this pretty well.
Examples:
Being – Air Atlantic (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7QDKiorgnc)
Caligula’s Horse – Marigold (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3C5qnG0GLfI)
David Maxim Micic – Where is Now? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psDZdQKgzoE)
Leprous – The Flood (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vk8pDqW-dI4)
Skyharbor – New Devil (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0vpm4c0GfQ)
Soundtracks: I’m going to reject this outright, honestly. I have no use for soundtracks outside of their original context. I’m not going to buy soundtracks for movies or games I’ve not seen/played.
Folk/World Music: I pretty exclusively like this as an element in a mix of genres rather than on its own. Folk-tinged rock or metal is pretty rad; standalone bluegrass or celtic music probably won’t do much for me. There are exceptions, as always, however.
Drone/Noise: Do you wanna have a bad time?
If there’s anything not listed here, I’d consider treading with extreme caution. Which is to say, don’t.
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Banned During the Roulette:
Round 1:
Woods of Ypres
Novembre
Susanne Sundfør
Amorphis
Tim Bowness
Phideaux
The Oracle
Symphony X
Bruce Dickinson
Fair to Midland
Jean Luc Ponty
Crowbar
Round 2:
We Made God
Goldfrapp
Dir En Grey
Sonata Arctica
dredg
HAIM
Children of Nova
Dio
AZEDIA
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Round 3:
Wilderun
Spock's Beard
The Old Dead Tree
Totalselfhatred
Biffy Clyro
Dark Tranquillity
Nils Frahm
Projected Twin
Round 4:
The Antlers
Purity Ring
Panzerballett
Pure Reason Revolution
Primordial
Blind Guardian
Caladan Brood
The Flower Kings
Within Temptation
The Human Abstract
Adebisi Shank
CHVRCHES
Round 5:
Elder
Avantasia
Ensiferum
Flying Colors
Round 6:
The Pineapple Thief
Flaming Row
Redemption
Round 7:
Nothing More
Slowdive
*Shels
Primal Fear
Gong
David Gilmour
Temperance
Árstíðir
Trail of Murder
Ludovico Einaudi
Beardfish
iamthemorning
Serious Black
Eluveitie
Mark Knopfler
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Roulette Numeric Score Grading Scale
10: One of the best songs I've ever heard.
9: A fantastic song that I'll return to frequently.
8: A great song that I'll probably keep spinning.
7: Good, but not especially impressive; I may or may not check out the album.
6: Decent, but not particularly memorable or not something I'd keep listening to.
5: Pretty average, but not unpleasant to listen to.
4: Fairly mediocre, generic or uninspired.
3: Evokes little to no positive feelings and a fair bit of negative ones.
2: Yeah, you're definitely getting cut for sending me something this bad.
1: You're probably trolling if you get a score this low.
0: Merzbow is on the banned list.
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Following. I think I'll wait to join your next real roulette.
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please send me a song, bolsters-sama :sadpanda:
also i just realized, i should've posted one more and then reserved a post, the empty one was gonna be used for explaining my scoring system but I can add that to the rules post instead 'cause I need a post for the roulette-banned bands
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Sounds fine by me.
Edit: wait, fuck, I just remember'd I'll be very busy these days, won't be able to be as I should.
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(is that an /in or what? :lol)
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In and ready to lose
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In and ready to lose
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y'all should just be sending me a song, i guess, or something, take your time tho and pick good ones
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Reading through all this I'm pretty confident in the song I sent. Bring it on boys :metal
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I will read your "Tastes" and try to find something then.
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In.
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I think I will do exactly what you did in my roulette, Parama.
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Hi, can I join? Only thing is that I'll be going in holiday next wednesday, so from then on I will not be able to send you mo3s (due to lack of a computer), but Youtube links should be no problem.
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Sent!
Thank you Parama and the participants, it was fun to play in this roulette while it lasted.
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Sent.
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Sent!
Thank you Parama and the participants, it was fun to play in this roulette while it lasted.
:lol
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I'll give it a go. I'll probably find the most obscure metal in my library that I don't really like and send that. If it gets me through the first round then we'll see :corn
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please send me a song, bolsters-sama :sadpanda:
Ok
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I'm in! If I will made it to the final EP round probably I will have finished the artist I like that are not in the banned list, but I've got some bands left from your previous roulette to send :tup
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Sent something doom-y and sludge-y that I probably wouldn't send to anyone else :rollin
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Sent metal.
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everyone who wants to join can totally join, yes
Hi, can I join? Only thing is that I'll be going in holiday next wednesday, so from then on I will not be able to send you mo3s (due to lack of a computer), but Youtube links should be no problem.
it's find to send me youtube links, it's just primarily a convenience step for me to get the mp3's straightaway instead of having to convert videos to mp3s
lordcost needs to resend, but the rest of you are good
also it looks like y'all are thirsty for some numeric scoring. sure.
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Oh, I missed the MP3 part. Have you converted it yet? I can send you an MP3 file, no problem.
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yeah you're fine, already got an mp3 of it.
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Okay, next time you'll get an mp3.
...
Who am I kidding? There won't be a next time. :lol
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that's the spirit :tup
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Can I join? ;D
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Drone/Noise: Do you wanna have a bad time?
Now here's the buzzkiller
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“Zantera / Sacul music”
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Just gonna send something risky, not much lost if you don't like it.
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“Zantera / Sacul music”
If I ever start a band that plays that style of music, I'll call it Zancul. Don't worry, Evermind will get credit.
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Just gonna send something risky, not much lost if you don't like it.
yeah, pretty much the point of round 0 :corn
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“Zantera / Sacul music”
If I ever start a band that plays that style of music, I'll call it Zancul. Don't worry, Evermind will get credit.
Sounds like a new pill comercial.
Zancul, brought to you by the Evermind Corp.
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one zancul a day gives you immense musical power
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You will drop D for 24 hours.
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Drop D doesn't really sound that good for a pill advertisement though.
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Drop D doesn't really sound that good for a pill advertisement though.
It's the quick medical solution to castration. 107% of all doctors recommend it!*
*Not really.
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Drop D doesn't really sound that good for a pill advertisement though.
It's the quick medical solution to castration. 107% of all doctors recommend it!*
*Not really.
Fixed that for you. :lol
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i'm gonna do hangman in this roulette, but I'm going to give everyone The D from the start
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Drop D doesn't really sound that good for a pill advertisement though.
A counter to the blue pill if it lasts for more than 4 hours and you're shooting blanks.
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i have 8 submissions right now, for the record. which means 4-5 of you (still not sure about darkstar?) need to send some songs. with 13 people it's definitely a round 0 so song length limit is 7:30, which nobody has sent over yet anyways so that's good
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also i'm doing first listens in advance so i'll actually have first impressions tidbits up soon after the last song i receive, which should be fun :corn
right now i have 9 out of the 12/13 players who've joined and i'll see if we get anymore in the next day or two
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Omg still no results?
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Train of Naught: Novembre – Umana (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqpQ2Vkr7dk)
it succ
0/10
you brought this on yourself corn
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Wtf I didnt send that song?? :neverusethis:
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i'll probably close signups on like, tuesday or something i guess, that seems like enough time, we already have 12 players anyways so
Elite and Sacul still need to send, also
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yeah, sorry for being an asshole, but I'm going on holiday in less than a day, so it's probably best if I leave this roulette while I still can. I could be able to send songs, but it's not that convenient, not for you or me, if you have a participants that's hard to reach for a full three weeks.
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probably best yeah :lol
you better join my v2.5 tho
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Sent some beautiful art rock
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# of people who explicitly said they expect to be cut after this round: 4
# of people I'd currently be cutting after this round: 3
# of people who are gonna be dead wrong: At least 1.
Speaking of, I do have entries for everyone currently on the signup list, so I'll give this like 24 hours or so if any stragglers wanna sign up, but if not oh well :lol
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I sent something just now. Looking for that sweet participation trophy, probably, more than anything, given Parama's current tastes. :P
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Alright, a few things. Since it's been plenty long enough, I'm going to close signups here.
I'm also going to close the poll, which means that I will be doing numeric scoring.
Give me a minute to post up my ratings scale and then I'll get you guys some delicious first impressions tidbits and probably some hangman too.
EDIT: Grading scale is up here (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=47943.msg2194221#msg2194221).
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Round 1 First Impressions
They’re all talented musicians, but the thing is, it doesn’t really create music I find particularly compelling.
It’s hard to really get enthused about this but it’s a solid track front-to-back, just nothing I haven’t heard done before.
I do like the sound of this in general, but I also feel like it’s a little one-note; I’m not sure it will hold up well on relistens.
There’s some decent riffs and grooves here, but nothing particularly special, and the vocals are just a bit too offputting for me.
This does come to a fairly satisfying climax, but most of the time it feels like the vocalist is outsinging the music here.
I don’t really think the vocalist has enough power in their voice to really sell the climax of the song, though, sounds a bit weak.
It’s the only part of the song that particularly stands out, and while I don’t mind the rest, it feels pretty generic and lacking in any sense of dynamics.
Weirdly, I’m not sure I care for the clean vocals here, but the harsh vocals are pretty solid.
I can’t really say this sounds particularly fresh, and there’s some minor gripes I have with it, but it’s a solid song at the very least.
It makes it a bit hard to ever get into when it shoots off in another direction every ten seconds.
Definitely a fan of the quieter parts of this more than the heavier ones, and I think the vocals are the biggest factor in why.
I’d say this is a song comprised mostly of elements I quite like with one element that I’m not a huge fan of.
Overall: It feels to me like a lot of people played it far too safe this round, giving me a good number of 6.0 entries that I don't mind but couldn't get particularly into either. There's one or two songs I'm pretty sure are going to be the ones to get cut, and a few that are definitely safe, but about half the songs I wouldn't be able to tell you yet. Maybe a lot of them will be growers, who knows.
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And now, the moment you've all been waiting for:
Round 1 Hangman!!!
???: ________ – ____ __ ___ _____
???: ________ – ____ ___ ______ ____
???: ________ – _____
???: _____ __ _____ – _________ & ___
???: ___ ______ – ___ ________
???: ________ _ – ___ ____ __ ______
???: _______ _______ – ____ (____ ____ ___ ______)
???: _______ – ___ _ ___
???: _____ _________ – ___ __ _____
???: ___ _______ – ____ __ __
???: ____ ___ _____ – ____ ____
???: ____ __ _______ – _____ __ ___ _______
To spice things up a little, guessing who sent what is now officially part of hangman :corn
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Amorphis - Sampo
Scorp sent it.
As for the tidbits, I have no idea, almost all of them could apply to my song.
-
Incorrect :corn
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:\
I suppose I should choose a letter. Let's go with G.
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I don’t really think the vocalist has enough power in their voice to really sell the climax of the song, though, sounds a bit weak.
Probably mine, but I love his voice tbh, it fits so well with the ethereal sound of his music.
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Bolsters waits 3.
???: ________ – G___ __ ___ _____
???: ________ – ____ ___ ______ ____
???: ________ – _____
???: _____ __ _____ – __g_____g & ___
???: ___ ______ – ___ ________
???: ________ _ – ___ ____ __ ______
???: _______ _______ – ____ (____ ____ ___ ______)
???: _______ – ___ _ ___
???: _____ _________ – ___ __ _____
???: ___ _______ – ___g __ __
???: ____ ___ _____ – ___g ___g
???: ____ __ _______ – _____ __ ___ _______
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Very generic tidbits to be honest, not even going to attempt guessing which one is mine.
D, obviously.
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C'mon I tried to make them at least a little bit nongeneric but I don't want to give away too much either :lol
Evermind waits 3.
Bolsters waits 2.
???: ___d____ – G___ __ ___ _____
???: ________ – ____ ___ ______ ____
???: ________ – _____
???: ___d_ __ _____ – __g_____g & ____
???: ___ ______ – ___ ________
???: ________ _ – ___ ____ __ __d___
???: _______ ___d___ – ____ (D___ ____ ___ ______)
???: _______ – ___ _ __d
???: _____ D________ – ___ __ _____
???: ___ _______ – ___g __ __
???: ____ ___ _____ – ___g ___g
???: ____ __ __d___d – D____ __ ___ _______
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Fair to Midland - Dance of the Manatee
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one day i'll find out how you do that
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I want the V
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Sacul waits 3.
Evermind waits 2.
Bolsters waits 1.
Letters guessed:
GDV
???: ___d____ – G___ __ ___ _____
???: ________ – ____ ___ ______ ____
???: __v_____ – _____
???: ___d_ __ _____ – __g_____g & ____
???: ___ ______ – ___ ________
???: ________ _ – ___ ____ __ __d___
???: _______ ___d___ – ____ (D___ ____ ___ ______)
???: _______ – ___ _ __d
???: _____ D________ – ___ __ _____
???: ___ _______ – ___g __ __
???: ____ ___ _____ – ___g ___g
???: Fair to Midland - Dance of the Manatee
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Gimme the E.
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Scorpion waits 3.
Sacul waits 2.
Evermind waits 1.
Letters guessed:
GDVE
???: ___de___ – G___ __ __e ____e
???: ________ – ____ __e E____ ___e
???: __ve___e – _____
???: ___d_ __ ___e_ – __g_____g & ____
???: __e _____e – __e ____e_e_
???: ________ _ – __e E_e_ __ _ed___
???: ______e ___d___ – ____ (D___ ____ __e ______)
???: _______ – ___ _ __d
???: ____e D________ – ___ __ ____e
???: ___ ____e__ – ___g __ _e
???: _e__ ___ _____ – ___g ___g
???: Fair to Midland - Dance of the Manatee
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After reading those tidbits I think we are all out in first round :corn
Gimme B.
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You haven't got the full title for mine, may make it harder to guess ???
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Train of Naught: Novembre - Umana
Wow I'm so smart :neverusethis:
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Symphony X - The Eyes of Medusa
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Tomislav95 waits 3.
Scorpion waits 2.
Sacul waits 1.
Letters guessed:
GDVEB
???: ___de___ – G___ __ __e ____e
???: ________ – ____ __e E____ ___e
???: Novembre - Umana
???: ___d_ __ ___e_ – __g_____g & ____
???: __e _____e – __e ____e_e_
???: Symphony X - The Eyes of Medusa
???: ______e ___d___ – ____ (D___ ____ __e B_____)
???: ____b__ – ___ _ __d (_ G_ve)
???: B___e D________ – ___ __ ____e
???: ___ b___e__ – ___g __ _e
???: _e__ ___ _____ – ___g ___g
???: Fair to Midland - Dance of the Manatee
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N
-
Bolsters waits 3.
Tomislav95 waits 2.
Scorpion waits 1.
Letters guessed:
GDVEBN
???: ___de___ – G___ __ __e ____e
???: ________ – ____ __e E____ ___e
???: Novembre - Umana
???: ___d_ __ ___e_ – __g__n_ng & ____
???: __e _____e – __e ____e_e_
???: Symphony X - The Eyes of Medusa
???: ____ne __nd___ – ____ (D_n_ ____ __e B____n)
???: ____b__ – ___ _ __d (_ G_ve)
???: B___e D____n__n – ___ __ ____e
???: ___ B__ne__ – __ng __ _e
???: _e_n ___ __n__ – __ng __ng
???: Fair to Midland - Dance of the Manatee
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Round 1 First Impressions
They’re all talented musicians, but the thing is, it doesn’t really create music I find particularly compelling.
It’s hard to really get enthused about this but it’s a solid track front-to-back, just nothing I haven’t heard done before.
I do like the sound of this in general, but I also feel like it’s a little one-note; I’m not sure it will hold up well on relistens.
There’s some decent riffs and grooves here, but nothing particularly special, and the vocals are just a bit too offputting for me.
This does come to a fairly satisfying climax, but most of the time it feels like the vocalist is outsinging the music here.
I don’t really think the vocalist has enough power in their voice to really sell the climax of the song, though, sounds a bit weak.
It’s the only part of the song that particularly stands out, and while I don’t mind the rest, it feels pretty generic and lacking in any sense of dynamics.
Weirdly, I’m not sure I care for the clean vocals here, but the harsh vocals are pretty solid.
I can’t really say this sounds particularly fresh, and there’s some minor gripes I have with it, but it’s a solid song at the very least.
It makes it a bit hard to ever get into when it shoots off in another direction every ten seconds.
Definitely a fan of the quieter parts of this more than the heavier ones, and I think the vocals are the biggest factor in why.
I’d say this is a song comprised mostly of elements I quite like with one element that I’m not a huge fan of.
Overall: It feels to me like a lot of people played it far too safe this round, giving me a good number of 6.0 entries that I don't mind but couldn't get particularly into either. There's one or two songs I'm pretty sure are going to be the ones to get cut, and a few that are definitely safe, but about half the songs I wouldn't be able to tell you yet. Maybe a lot of them will be growers, who knows.
Probably the first one is mine. The only positive one that could be mine is the last one, but it seems that there aren't much positive first impressions. I hope to be one of the 6.0 that doesn't get cut.
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U
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Mine's probably going to get cut :lol
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BTW I'm at work on phone so no hangmanen updates for about 7 more hours
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Susanne Sundfor - Stop (Don't Push the Button)
Bruce Dickinson - Arc of Space
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also those are both right
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Sacul waits 3.
Bolsters waits 2.
Tomislav95 waits 1.
Letters guessed:
GDVEBNU
???: ___de_u_ – G___ __ __e ____e
???: ________ – ____ __e E____ ___e
???: Novembre - Umana
???: ___d_ __ ___e_ – __g__n_ng & ____
???: __e _____e – __e ____e_e_
???: Symphony X - The Eyes of Medusa
???: Susanne Sundfor - Stop (Don't Push the Button)
???: ____b__ – ___ _ __d (_ G_ve)
???: Bruce Dickinson - Arc of Space
???: ___ B__ne__ – __ng __ _e
???: _e_n _u_ __n__ – __ng __ng
???: Fair to Midland - Dance of the Manatee
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Sorry, Parama, but Zantera/Sacul music occasionally includes something I like. More frequently than Paramacore.
Both pretty much lie outside the bounds of 425 music, though.
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I'll find some paramacore you like in your next roulette then :corn
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Gimme dat A.
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Scorpion waits 3.
Sacul waits 2.
Bolsters waits 1.
Letters guessed:
GDVEBNUA
???: ___deau_ – G___ __ __e __a_e
???: A_______ – ____ __e Ea___ ___e
???: Novembre - Umana
???: ___d_ __ ___e_ – __g__n_ng & ____
???: __e __a__e – __e ____e_e_
???: Symphony X - The Eyes of Medusa
???: Susanne Sundfor - Stop (Don't Push the Button)
???: ____ba_ – A__ _ _ad (_ Gave)
???: Bruce Dickinson - Arc of Space
???: ___ B__ne__ – __ng __ _e
???: _ean _u_ __n__ – __ng __ng
???: Fair to Midland - Dance of the Manatee
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Jean-Luc Ponty - King Kong. I think splent sent it.
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Phideaux - Gift of the Flame
Crowbar - All I Had (I Gave)
-
R
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You explicitly told us that youre not looking to cover new ground musically so of course youll get somewhat 'safe' entries in the first round :lol
Any of those tits could be mine but im guessing its the one where youre not a fan of one element in particular which would be the spoken words sample, I hate it myself too, brings the song down from a 9 to a 8.75.
Why is my song ??? Tomislav 'guessed' correctly that it was me.
Arc of space is 425, has no one guessed this yet?
the crisis
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Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure that Evermind sent Phideaux.
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I'm pretty sure of that too.
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Crowbar - All I Had (I Gave)
I can see why Parama would consider this a safe round... ;) And oops, was guessed already.
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Evermind waits 3.
Sacul waits 2.
Bolsters waits 1.
Letters guessed:
GDVEBNUR
Evermind: Phideaux - Gift of the Flame
???: A__r____ – _r__ __e Ea_r_ R__e
Train of Naught: Novembre - Umana
???: ___d_ __ __re_ – __g__n_ng & ____
???: __e _ra__e – __e __r_erer
???: Symphony X - The Eyes of Medusa
???: Susanne Sundfor - Stop (Don't Push the Button)
???: Crowbar - All I Had (I Gave)
425: Bruce Dickinson - Arc of Space
???: ___ B__ne__ – __ng __ _e
splent: Jean-Luc Ponty - King Kong
???: Fair to Midland - Dance of the Manatee
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Ugh, nevermind.
-
I'm proud and happy to see that Zantera/Sacul music is beating out Paramacore in the poll. More and more people are starting to appreciate the sound of vacuum cleaners and power drills being used to create music. Glorious times. :heart
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Ugh, nevermind.
???
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I'm proud and happy to see that Zantera/Sacul music is beating out Paramacore in the poll. More and more people are starting to appreciate the sound of vacuum cleaners and power drills being used to create music. Glorious times. :heart
I hope this makes a slow but steady acceptance of harsh noise as a legitimate form of music :corn
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ground zero for harsh noise becoming the new pop: my roulette
merzbow hits #1 in the US and goes triple platinum
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Voted for Zantera / Sacul because I'm obviously biased.
I mostly don't give a damn about both genres though, listening to some power metal Mark Knopfler right now and thoroughly enjoying it.
-
Listening to some powermetal aswell
I liked that Rosetta song so Im voting for Paramacore. I have no idea what defines Sacul / Pantera music tbh
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I have no idea what defines Sacul / Pantera music tbh
Vulgar Displays of Power, mostly.
:neverusethis:
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I don't listen to Pantera tbh
-
I don't listen to Pantera tbh
I find it strange that you don't. In my experience Pantera are the band that split opinion least. Also, they are fucking great!! Watch 3 Vulgar videos from Hell then tell me I'm wrong :biggrin:
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I can't stand Pantera.
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I hate the vocals more than anything tbh.
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ARE YOU TALKING TO ME?
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Well at least you don't hate Dimebag, we all know that is blasphemy :lol
But seriously, one of my favourite metal bands of all time!! And probably the band at the top of my list for 'bands I wish I could've seen in their prime', followed closely by Led Zeppelin :metal
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Not to side-rail the roulette completely but interestingly enough I didn't know about Pantera when I came up with the name. They have some classic metal songs though, like Walk.
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I mean odds are I won't have results until Saturday anyways I only have time to listen to songs once a day and I've only done two listens thus far so
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anyways someone should actually guess a letter
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I wanna see an O.
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I'm proud and happy to see that Zantera/Sacul music is beating out Paramacore in the poll. More and more people are starting to appreciate the sound of vacuum cleaners and power drills being used to create music. Glorious times. :heart
Totally not why I voted Zantera/Sacul music but okay. :lol
I was thinking of more like weird-but-sort-of-good things that kinda fall in that category to me. Like that 36 minute instrumental Sacul sent in the championship from Kashiwa Daisuke. As compared to, like, East of the Wall from Paramacore.
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to be fair Underachiever is about the most intense song I like period, so
Scorpion waits 3.
Evermind waits 2.
Sacul waits 1.
Letters guessed:
GDVEBNURO
Evermind: Phideaux - Gift of the Flame
???: A_or____ – _ro_ __e Ea_r_ Ro_e
Train of Naught: Novembre - Umana
???: _ood_ o_ __re_ – __g__n_ng & __o_
???: __e Ora__e – __e _or_erer
???: Symphony X - The Eyes of Medusa
???: Susanne Sundfor - Stop (Don't Push the Button)
???: Crowbar - All I Had (I Gave)
425: Bruce Dickinson - Arc of Space
???: ___ Bo_ne__ – __ng _o _e
splent: Jean-Luc Ponty - King Kong
???: Fair to Midland - Dance of the Manatee
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The Oracle - The something
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The "oops I made a typo but I fixed it now" to be precise.
-
The Sorcerer?
I also see Woods of Ypres, dunno the song though.
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Lightning &
Pot Glow?
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@evermind both correct
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The Woods of Ypres song is Lightning & Snow.
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???: A_or____ – _ro_ __e Ea_r_ Ro_e
If the artist in question is Amorphis, there's something very wrong with the song title :corn
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I like how I unintentionally started a Pantera discussion on one of Parama's threads, I was just trying to make a dumb joke
Cemetary Gates and Cowboys From Hell are :metal and I fucking hate Walk with a passion, don't really know any other songs of theirs :lol
???: A_or____ – _ro_ __e Ea_r_ Ro_e
If the artist in question is Amorphis, there's something very wrong with the song title :corn
Yes, most likely. This looks like "From The Eatrh Rose" or something? Is our host drunk perhaps? It's not even close :corn
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He probably got a Youtube link or something where the title is wrong. The song is actually called "From Earth I Rose".
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My file is tagged "From The Earth I Rose", didn't even realise that was incorrect. Stupid whatever-database-my-ripper-uses.
But it was definitely spelled correctly. :loser:
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Scorpion waits 3.
Evermind waits 2.
Sacul waits 1.
Letters guessed:
GDVEBNURO
Evermind: Phideaux - Gift of the Flame
???: Amorphis – From Earth I Rose
Train of Naught: Novembre - Umana
???: Woods of Ypres – Lightning & Snow
???: The Oracle - The Sorcerer
???: Symphony X - The Eyes of Medusa
???: Susanne Sundfor - Stop (Don't Push the Button)
???: Crowbar - All I Had (I Gave)
425: Bruce Dickinson - Arc of Space
???: ___ Bo_ne__ – __ng _o _e
splent: Jean-Luc Ponty - King Kong
???: Fair to Midland - Dance of the Manatee
so that's only partially my fault :corn
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I'm guessing that Tomislav95 sent Woods of Ypres, and Bolsters sent Amorphis (not much of a guess).
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I'll add home + Fair To Midland to that
Tyrias = Susanne Sundfor and Scorp = Symphony X?
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Yes, I sent Woods.
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Scorpion waits 3.
Evermind waits 2.
Sacul waits 1.
Letters guessed:
GDVEBNURO
Evermind: Phideaux - Gift of the Flame
Bolsters: Amorphis – From Earth I Rose
Train of Naught: Novembre - Umana
Tomislav95: Woods of Ypres – Lightning & Snow
???: The Oracle - The Sorcerer
???: Symphony X - The Eyes of Medusa
Tyrias: Susanne Sundfor - Stop (Don't Push the Button)
???: Crowbar - All I Had (I Gave)
425: Bruce Dickinson - Arc of Space
???: ___ Bo_ne__ – __ng _o _e
splent: Jean-Luc Ponty - King Kong
home: Fair to Midland - Dance of the Manatee
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The crowbar was sent by Scorp.
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Give me the double U
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I don't have a clue what the unknown one is, but deductive reasoning leads me to believe it to be Sacul's song.
-
sacul is wrong, scorpion is right
also I'll update later but the letter after Bo is w
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Tim Bowness - Sing to Me
I had actually heard of the guy before, but I had to look up the song.
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twosuitsluke sent Crowbar, right?
-
yes and yes
Also since exactly two peoples' entries haven't been matched to users and I already said scorp didn't send Symphony x this is basically done now :corn
-
Oh ok
LoCo sent Symphony X and Scorpion sent Novembre, got it
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Okay, so now that we've done our work, WHERE ARE OUR RESULTS
-
Anyone expecting more than a 7?
I anticipate most entries to be met with apathy. Judging by previous Parama comments I've seen on various threads :lol
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I hope I did better than the first round of the first Parama roulette. :lol That was terrible, I honestly don't understand how I didn't end up in last place there.
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Yeah, Parama never likes anything, so I'm happy if I'm above a 6, tbh.
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I'll admit that I'm disappointed in this round but I guess I should have pushed harder that the point is to send the best songs you possibly can (within the time limit ofc) and that entries playing it safe are 1. Really obvious and 2. Likely not going to score great but w/e :lol
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my song is at least 8/10 but i expect 6/10 tbh
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I expect 6/10, but I will probably get 4/10, which is no big deal since it's Parama's roulette after all.
-
my song is at least 8/10 but i expect 6/10 tbh
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Mine is going to be the lowest and I'll be eliminated.
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Evermind: Phideaux - Gift of the Flame
Bolsters: Amorphis – From Earth I Rose
Train of Naught: Novembre - Umana
Tomislav95: Woods of Ypres – Lightning & Snow
???: The Oracle - The Sorcerer
LordCost: Symphony X - The Eyes of Medusa
Tyrias: Susanne Sundfor - Stop (Don't Push the Button)
twosuitsluke: Crowbar - All I Had (I Gave)
425: Bruce Dickinson - Arc of Space
Sacul: Tim Bowness - Sing to Me
splent: Jean-Luc Ponty - King Kong
home: Fair to Midland - Dance of the Manatee
Technically, nobody has correctly guessed the last one :corn
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The last one must then be... Scorpion :o
(https://i.imgur.com/XWOuu8G.gif)
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i did preliminary rankings after the fourth listen and i'm hardcore going "what the hell none of these rankings look right" so i'm basically screwed, everyone's cut roulette's over gg
srsly tho i know absolutely 100% one person who's going to get cut, 90% sure on a second, and i have no clue who the third is. maybe i'll just cut 2 and make this round 0 so i can prolong the minilette :neverusethis:
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I mean you could do that, but then youll have to deal with 10 bad songs next round instead of 9
-
yeah that's the problem, you'd all kill me with cruddy music by round 4 if i gave an extra round
-
Here, I'll make it easy for you.
If I somehow survive this round, I'll send you power metal from 80s.
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i've done three writeups and i'll try to get the rest done tonight but i'm apparently super slow at doing writeups because i elaborate too much lol, took an hour just to write for three songs
if i don't finish tonight i'll definitely have results up tomorrow though
-
its tomorrow
where are my results
-
i have one more writeup to do and then i have to decide between 10th and 9th because i still haven't yet
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okay, i'm legitimately stressing out trying to decide between 8th, 9th, and 10th, i just can't do it, sorry. i may just cut out one of the later rounds? i'll think about it. 7 rounds feels like too much tbh. but yeah, let me polish up the results post, and then it'll probably be like, three posts lol
my ep round results in my last roulette was about 36k characters long, compared to about 32k for this round's results, if you're wondering why it took me so damn long to do writeups lol
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Climbing the Ranks:
#10: home: Fair to Midland – Dance of the Manatee (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjW-j2PAv-I)
First Impressions:
Another band I’ve heard of but never really listened to. I thought these guys were like some kind of indie rock thing. And considering the verse they kind of are, actually. That being said there’s a nice groove and a nice amount of atmosphere to this. The really high vocal notes are maybe a bit grating but generally I’m fine with these vocals. Sort of some nu-metal vibes to this too, which, eeehh. I can’t really say this sounds particularly fresh, and there’s some minor gripes I have with it, but it’s a solid song at the very least.
Final Thoughts:
I’m actually fairly certain I gave this album a listen at some point, or one of their albums, because going on the band’s RYM I totally recognize that band photo from somewhere or other and these album names sound a bit familiar too. Anyways that’s a minor aside.
This is… a song that exists, definitely. Uhh. The groove of the guitar during the verse is pretty nice. The vocal melodies in the prechorus are nice. The chorus is okay, there’s a decent amount of power to it, but that high note is… it sounds off, somehow. The heavy breakdown in the middle feels to me like they’re trying to sound like Disturbed, which is not a good band to try to sound like, I quite dislike Disturbed. Granted it also sounds way better than Disturbed ever have, it’s tolerable and okay enough, but still.
When I turn this up loud enough I notice that there’s like, a lot of weird stuff going on in the background. There’s this weird dissonant piano line and what sounds like some off-kilter strings that are both really low in the mix and I’m not sure why they’re there at all, honestly. I don’t know what they add to the song though I don’t think they take away anything either. Maybe a little unsettling to have at all, I suppose.
It’s a fairly simple, straightforward song on the whole, a basic verse-chorus structure with a bridge in the middle. The kind of song where all the individual elements have to be great because they get reused so much. And here, they’re… fine. The intro riff is a little meh, but I like the verse and the chorus for what they are. At the same time this just doesn’t stick out in any real way to me. It’s possibly the most flavorless song of the entire round. There’s nothing here that I feel like I couldn’t get done better in some other song that I’ve probably already heard.
6.25/10
#9: 425: Bruce Dickinson – Arc of Space (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAyfkSbmKlQ&)
First Impressions:
Mmm… this is just coming off as a pretty bog-standard ballad to me. I mean, yeah, Dickinson is a great singer and injects a lot of power into this, but he’s about the only thing making this feel alive. The strings are nice, I suppose. And the acoustic guitar solo, always a fan of that kind of guitar work. This does come to a fairly satisfying climax, but most of the time it feels like the vocalist is outsinging the music here. And it’s a bit too monotonous front to back. I can like songs like this, and maybe this will grow on me, but it’s a bit… generic.
Final Thoughts:
I think what’s most tragic about this song is that, in the context of the album it’s on, it appears to be the quiet closer of a heavier album, and in that context, I bet it works really well. I have no clue, I’ve never heard the album, but it’s definitely a tried-and-tested formula to end an album with a softer ballad like this.
Dickinson is pretty clearly showing that he’s just a generally good singer here, his vocals being the primary focus of the song, and that chorus being quite strong and powerful. The verses are alright too but the first half of the song is pretty clearly just a buildup to the grander second half. I have no real complaints about the vocals on this track, they’re quite good, though I’m sure that’s not surprising.
It’s just… I’m not sure the music can match him, not at any point of the song. The first half of the song is mostly filled with somber acoustic strumming and a solid melodic bassline backing it. And Dickinson is just belting way over the quieter music, his level of intensity is just too far above the restrained rest of the song. There’s just a disconnect for me there. I wouldn’t want the vocals to tone down, though, so I have to call it a failing of the music. The back half adds some layers of strings to sound fuller and more intense, and at the same time Dickinson’s singing gets even more powerful for the choruses, leaving the music trying to play catchup again.
The second chorus does make for a decent climax, but I still feel like it should’ve gone further. Like, at some point, the drums and crunchy guitars should’ve kicked in, and then maybe the music would be able to match the intensity of the vocals, and it would’ve come together for something really powerful and moving. I see the possibility for a really good song here, but what I’m left with is more like, a decent one that misses out on its potential.
I’ll admit that the “acoustic” album or live performance is something I’ve never been much a fan of, either; it’s toning down songs that were meant to be played with more intensity, and in most cases just really takes away the power they have. That’s the same effect I’m feeling here; almost like there was a proper power ballad version of this with the same level of vocal intensity and I’m listening to the acoustic version of that song.
Perhaps I’m fixating on this one thing a lot, because all the elements of this taken separately are pretty good. As I’ve said, the vocals are great, and I really like the inclusion of strings. The two short guitar solos are also very nice, they fit the somber mood of the music well, and I’m never one to complain about a good guitar solo anyways. The rest is musically a bit generic though, just doesn’t stick with me in any way, but most of the rest has vocals over it, so that’s fair enough.
I wish I liked this more than I do, perhaps more here than any other song in this round. Maybe it just hasn’t clicked for me yet, because I definitely do enjoy this song, but it’s a far cry from what I feel it could’ve been, and it’s not particularly unique for what it is, either, just a decent execution of a decent type of song. I think that’s really the biggest issue I have with this, despite my lingering on other things; it’s nothing I haven’t heard before, and I don’t have any personal connection to it, so I don’t find myself getting a ton out of it.
6.25/10
#8: LordCost: #8: Symphony X – The Eyes of Medusa (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0y12Ori48A)
First Impressions:
The intro riff worries me because it sounds exactly like something I’ve heard a dozen times, but that may be because it’s a solid riff structure, so. I think they’re relying a bit too heavily on “palm-muted chuggy riff” here in terms of guitar work. I can barely even tell the verse and the chorus apart on this one, the first time the chorus happened I wasn’t even aware it was supposed to be the chorus until the next verse started. The symphonic break in the middle is cool, but it kind of just happens abruptly. It’s the only part of the song that particularly stands out, and while I don’t mind the rest, it feels pretty generic and lacking in any sense of dynamics.
Final Thoughts:
Specifically, the intro riff reminds me of part of This Dying Soul, a song that came out after this one, so it’s not like I’m saying it’s a ripoff or anything, just, y’know, not a fairly uncommon riff sound. I’m also not sure if the riffs are actually all palm muted or if it’s just the really muted guitar tone that’s making them sound that way. I am not a fan of that guitar tone, to say the least. It makes everything sound really muddy and muted.
I think my criticism of “not being able to tell the verse and chorus apart” holds up, because the chorus doesn’t feel particularly bigger or distinct from the verses; but, given several listens of it, I’d say it’s definitely a solid chorus on its own merits. The vocal melodies are certainly interesting. There’s not a ton of power in the instrumentation, though; the muted guitars are all crunch and no punch, and the synthstrings are so buried in the mix that they don’t add any power or atmosphere either. Vocals are good though, certainly.
The obvious highlight of this song is that middle symphonic bit, which is really quite great. The dense strings combined with a mournful guitar lead and the drums providing minimal driving accompaniment, it comes together in a really cool way. I definitely want more of that, and less of the chuggy, fairly generic metal that makes up the rest of the song.
That’s basically it as far as the song goes though, there’s not a ton to talk about here. There’s a short, solid guitar solo in there somewhere, I think, but it’s nothing that special either. I don’t mind this, and I probably wouldn’t turn it off if it was playing, but I’m only particularly interested in one minute of this five-and-a-half minute song, and could probably live without the rest.
6.5/10
#7: Scorpion: The Oracle – The Sorcerer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MRXdlGF134)
First Impressions:
Dig the subtle, atmospheric intro for sure. Maybe not so much the harsh vocals on this though. The really raspy style of vocals just isn’t my thing. The production is a bit weird here too, a bit too muddy possibly but then the bass comes through well so I’m not so sure. The one rhythmic riff gets hammered on a bit too much, though it’s pretty solid and groovy otherwise. Definitely a fan of the quieter parts of this more than the heavier ones, and I think the vocals are the biggest factor in why. Still, this is solid enough overall, though probably not a round-winner. I wanna hear whatever song was starting up at the end there too. Sounded like a cool intro to something else.
Final Thoughts:
Black metal vocals, for me, work best as part of the atmosphere. The heavier moments of this song, they don’t really have tons of atmosphere, so there’s no backdrop for the screeching vocals to bleed into, and they’re really raspy even aside from that, which is probably my least favorite style of harsh vocals, aside from maybe metalcore screeches.
The 4-2-4-2-4 riff that a lot of the song is based on is probably not the best base for a song, either. It’s a nice driving rhythm that gets used a lot, and… that’s exactly it, it’s not a particularly fresh musical idea, and while nice in small doses, having good chunks of the song be driven by it means good chunks of the song that don’t particularly stand out.
The moments on this song that are atmospheric, namely the quiet ones, are all quite well done, though. I enjoy the ominous synth intro with the somber vocals, and the really spacey, eerie middle bit with sinister whispering and guitar melodies going on is really quite haunting, I wish it went on for longer. There’s a really intense moment when the song kicks back in after, too, that I quite enjoy, though beyond that the song just repeats ideas from earlier until it hits the segue until the next track.
Looking into this, it seems to be one of those all-the-songs-flow-into-each-other albums, which tends to be something I like a lot, though as a result I’m not really going to consider that last brief bit as part of this song, as cool as it is, because it’s clearly the intro to the next track. On the basis of this song alone, I’m not incredibly enthused about this band, but I like it enough that I’ll probably give the album a spin at some point, for sure.
I feel like I have very little to say about this one, though, it’s just solid in a not particularly unique way; decent riffs, some cool atmospheric breaks, and some raspy vocals that detract a little but not too terribly much. It’s interesting enough and probably the most Parama-targeted song of the entire round, just not really a standout by any means.
7/10
#6: Evermind: Phideaux – Gift of the Flame (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4Xm9RlijCE)
First Impressions:
The way this starts is a bit strange, but in a good way. The measures of free time transitioning right into a straight beat. Oh man this suddenly turned into funk with the sax, nice. Oh, so it’s not an instrumental. Why is this song so spastic. The wacky funk bass sound kind of feels a bit out of place during parts of this. The vocals on this are fine, but don’t really do much for me either way, they’re just… there. This song just kinda seems to want to do its own thing, and while that’s fine it makes it a bit hard to ever get into when it shoots off in another direction every ten seconds.
Final Thoughts:
I really love how this song starts, honestly. The free-time guitar line transitioning into a driving, melancholic beat with some nice guitar lines over it. I kinda wish the song stuck to that vibe instead of veering off into random directions like it seems to enjoy doing, because that was a cool vibe they had going that ends up getting interrupted by funk sax and bass bits that are kinda neat but just feel a bit out of place. The more intense build right before the vocals come in is a nice little bit too.
The bass tone aside, I don’t mind the meat of this song despite it not really being a continuation of the parts of the intro I liked. There’s a fun groove and a lot of life to the song, and it definitely doesn’t get boring. The sax and strings are both always welcome additions and add to the bouncy feel of the song, definitely wouldn’t be as enjoyable a listen without them. That really cheesy funk bass tone is still something I haven’t warmed up to, though, it’s not that prevalent and I’m not too bothered by it, but it is there nonetheless.
Honestly my biggest gripe with this song is more a personal thing, “fun” music like this tends not to hit me as strongly as atmospheric music or powerful, intense music, but there’s still a place for it, certainly. And I do wish the driving, darker feel of the opening bit had taken control of the mood of the song, but. Again, a personal thing. While not my favorite of the bunch, it’s certainly a unique song in its own right, definitely stands out for being one of the most colorful songs in the bunch, and I did always look forward to hearing it come on. So, sorry, but you’re definitely not getting cut that easily.
7/10
#5: Sacul: Tim Bowness – Sing to Me (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBPLwjZ8Vno)
First Impressions:
I get big Steven Wilson vibes off this for some reason. It takes a little bit to get going but it’s nice and pleasant on the way there, at least. Okay, definitely huge Steven Wilson vibes around the four minute mark. I don’t really think the vocalist has enough power in their voice to really sell the climax of the song, though, sounds a bit weak. I can’t find much to say about this except that I like it, and that it’s the kind of song I expect to be a grower on future listens.
Final Thoughts:
I’m not sure this has the same emotional depth or potency as good Steven Wilson ballads. It’s very pretty and there’s a good deal of melancholy, but it’s not trying to destroy me, I don’t feel any agony and I don’t feel my soul dying in any way while listening to this. But I mean, it’s still pleasant in the same ways, at the very least.
I think this takes a bit too long to really get going, there’s not much movement until halfway through when the song really kicks in, but there’s a lot more to it once it does. The chorus gets more powerful, a break for a more somber moment, the incredibly Wilsony la da da bit and a great guitar duet as the song builds up to its climax.
The vocals feel like they let this song down a little though, they are very flat and monotone. There’s exactly the same level of intensity in the quiet opening verses as there are in the climactic last chorus. They’re so unchanging, it almost feels like he just copied and pasted the same chorus bit every time. That’s probably a big reason why the first half fails to grab me as much, the vocals are the primary focus there and they just do nothing for three minutes.
I guess it’s a little unfair to say nothing happens in the first half since really there are a lot of subtle textures and atmospheric things happening, but it’s certainly not enough to keep me interested. And the second half fails to have as much power as it should have due to the vocals letting it down, but musically it’s really nice, for sure. Maybe not the most unique song out there but despite some gripes I still enjoy this on the whole and it’s fairly easy to listen to, it doesn’t feel like it drags and it doesn’t bore me. A pleasant song.
7.25/10
#4: Bolsters: Amorphis – From Earth I Rose (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAdsum5NE7g)
First Impressions:
I’m finding it hard to have much to say about this. I like the huge, grand sound the song has. The vocals are pretty solid, and the song doesn’t seem to stagnate anywhere I guess what I’m waiting for is something really ear-catching or interesting to happen, but if the song wants to stay at this level the entire way through, I wouldn’t complain either. The synth/guitar dual solo thing going on is pretty solid, I guess. It’s hard to really get enthused about this but it’s a solid track front-to-back, just nothing I haven’t heard done before.
Final Thoughts:
I always get these guys mixed up with Scar Symmetry for some reason, which, I mean, they’re proggy melodeath bands I’ve heard of and never really listened to so I guess it makes sense.
The intro guitar melody is… solid. And there’s some nice heavy instrumentation backing it. I enjoy it. I definitely enjoy it more though when it switches to the 3/4 verse. Something about the guitar line and the drums and rhythm here, it creates a cool sound. The clean vocals aren’t my favorite, a bit too bassy, but they’re fine.
The instrumental section here is pretty nice as well, not really particularly unique, but just, solid. There’s a nice build up to it and a lot of small things going on. Like, I somehow didn’t notice that flute at all the first time, but that’s really cool. The way all the lead instruments come together and are all playing at the same time as it builds, makes for a really grand finale.
The way the song is structured is a bit weird when I stop and think about it though… there’s this heavy intro that’s mostly disconnected from the rest of the song; the guitar melody comes back for a moment later, and most of the growled vocals are here, but... it’s weird in that it seems like the kind of thing they’d eventually return to, but never do. This isn’t really even a complaint, since the intro is probably my least favorite part of the song anyways, just an observation.
While I don’t think I feel really strongly about this song, and it never really hits “great” until near the very end, it’s consistently solid front-to-back and I do enjoy listening to it. I would’ve never pinned this as an album closer, though, which it apparently is, feels far more like an opener to me. Huh.
7.5/10
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#3: Tyrias: Susanne Sundfør – Stop (Don't Push The Button) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_JK46Rwda8)
First Impressions:
From the string intro alone I already feel like I like this more than the previous song I heard from her. Though I am much less a fan of the buzzsaw synth. Oh, damn, those vocal harmonies are gorgeous. Yeah, that synth is the only really grating thing here, I’m not a huge fan of the seasick percussion but it doesn’t bother me either. And it definitely feels like this song doesn’t have a climax to hit because it peaks too soon and has nowhere to go after that. I’d say this is a song comprised mostly of elements I quite like with one element that I’m not a huge fan of. I don’t think it’s prevalent enough to be a big knock against the song though.
Final Thoughts:
The strings of that intro give this a real cinematic feel. It’s like the opening credits are scrolling right by every time I start listening to this. Basically, it’s a great way to set a mood. I’m still not a huge fan of that synth, and the first time it happens I think the melody is botched too; the second phrase doesn’t start with a lower note like it sounds like it should. It’s not a huge deal though, it’s such a minor element in the song overall.
I’ll freely admit that I have a weakness for layered vocal harmonies like this, but, I mean, who doesn’t? She sounds awesome here, and having so many different voices to listen to, so many layered melodies and rhythms, keeps things interesting. Trying to take everything in, being overwhelmed by it every time. It’s a lovely sound to get lost in.
I was probably a bit quick to comment about the song not being able to hit a climax, as while it sounds like there are less voices in the second louder moment of the song, the instrumentation swells a lot more to compensate. Perhaps it’s more that the song feels like it just ends abruptly, the individual elements peeling back one at a time until there’s nothing left. It’s a very unsatisfying conclusion to what is otherwise a very big and bombastic track.
The instrumentation itself is generally a minor element here, but it does well to give Sundfør’s vocals room to breathe. The stilted percussion and soft synth harmonizing with the vocals, the harpsichord (?) that kicks in when the percussion drops out, creating an empty, somber feeling, all the twinkly layers of melodies accompanying the build at the end, a really gorgeous soundscape there. It’s all clearly not the focus but it all adds quite a lot.
While I do think the awkward ending does detract from this song a decent bit, the lack of a real final punch leaves it feeling weaker than it should, it’s still a plenty enjoyable track on its own, and considering at this point I’ve enjoyed two different tracks from this artist and album, I probably should go ahead and check her out further.
7.75/10
#2: Train of Naught: Novembre – Umana (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqpQ2Vkr7dk)
First Impressions:
Gorgeous intro with some upbeat drums alongside it, that’s definitely my kind of thing. Not particularly sure the growls are warranted here but they don’t bother me, just don’t feel like they fit that well. Transition is a bit clunky but I’m glad that the song does have more to it. Do like how huge the back half sounds. I do like the sound of this in general, but I also feel like it’s a little one-note; I’m not sure it will hold up well on relistens.
Final Thoughts:
I’m reading over my first impressions tidbit and wondering what song I was listening to there, honestly I have no clue what I’m talking about with a lot of that. The growls are perfectly warranted when they come in. The song isn’t really that one-note at all. Dude, you’re stupid.
The atmosphere on this track is the main draw, it’s a constant wall of noise with plenty of layers of guitars, drums that are relaxed but still plenty upbeat, just a lot of warm, pleasant sounds. The buildup from the middle to the heavy ending is really well-executed too, individual elements coming in one at a time and building up the tension until the song really explodes into full force.
I guess my comment about the song being a little one-note is probably in regards to the last minute and a half of the song, which admittedly does feel a little motionless, but it’s not really that long, and it’s a satisfying climax for the rest of the track, even if it maybe overstays its welcome a little.
In regards to the vocals, I quite like the cleans here, this is probably my favorite style of clean metal vocals in general. Not very harsh but not whiny either, just smooth as silk. The harsh vocals are fairly minimal but they’re solid while they’re around, they bleed into the heavier music of the track rather well too, they fit.
What this reminds me most of is Alcest, really, I can’t say there’s any individual moments of this that really pop out at me but the song as a whole is pretty strong, no weaker moments and it’s a nice journey from beginning to end. I always find it hard to compare atmospheric music against more song-oriented tracks, though, I feel I had this problem with both my original top 50 and my 2015 retrospective, where atmospheric albums were a lot harder to talk about and find the high points of than the more song-focused albums and they inevitably ended up ranking lower than the rest, with a few exceptions.
So I’m worried that in the long run I’m underrating this as-is, because I feel like this is probably the one song in the round I’ll want to come back to the most, but it’s not quite my favorite to listen to, either. I’m stuck between two numeric scores for this but they don’t really matter anyways so I’mma just give you the higher one.
8/10
Slipped and Fell
#12: twosuitsluke: Crowbar – All I Had (I Gave) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82orAnzFuE8)
First Impressions:
Ooh boy, the production on this is… special. Considering I’m not a huge fan of this style of vocals, I really wish they weren’t so high in the mix compared to everything else. The bit that starts at 1:20 is pretty solid. There’s some decent riffs and grooves here, but nothing particularly special, and the vocals are just a bit too offputting for me. I could see myself warming up to this a little on relistens, but I don’t think I’ll be a huge fan either.
Final Thoughts:
Yeah, I just can’t get past the production in this one, first and foremost. It’s really muddy, and the mix is just way too vocal-centric, which is a mistake considering the vocals are easily the weak point of this one. It’s like they’re trying to do the same growly style that got big in the 2000’s, but without any power behind it, so the vocalist ends up just sounding really raspy and unpleasant. Whatever the heck he’s doing at 1:55 especially is eeuugh.
The first half of this song or so is pretty generic and meh, the riffs aren’t anything special, and the high energy feeling clashes with the rest of the song. The drumming here is pretty flat, the bass sounds like it’s just doubling the guitars, and there’s vocals over nearly every second of the first half of the song. If the entire song had been like that, I’d have hated this by the fifth listen.
The breakdown at 1:20 is pretty solid though, the bass starts doing its own thing and I love that kind of tom-heavy drumming. It’s not especially unique, but I don’t mind it. The riff that makes up most of the last minute of the song, though… aww yeah, I can dig that. Really strong sludgy riff right there, heavy and with a good sense of groove. The drums play off the riff well too, and thankfully there’s no vocals in sight. I’d probably get tired of that riff if it went on for too long, and I’ll admit a fadeout is always going to make me disappointed, but on the whole I like the last minute of this song quite a bit.
But on the whole… I really would rather not listen to this, as a song. It gets progressively better as it goes on, sure, but only the last minute really appeals to me in a big way, and it’s still far from the best riff I’ve ever heard. And when it’s both this short, with about half the song being quite unpleasant, unfortunately that means that the bad outweighs the good here.
4.75/10
#11: splent: Jean Luc Ponty – King Kong (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg3e312Svcw)
First Impressions:
I feel like what you get out of TYS and what I get out of TYS are different things, considering you seemed to particularly like Suspicious Waveforms, my least favorite song on their debut. Pure jazz on its own like this is kind of intriguing, but usually ends up boring me. They’re all talented musicians, but the thing is, it doesn’t really create music I find particularly compelling. I think this is basically the parallel to the Gary Clark Jr. song I got last roulette – sounds fine enough and I can appreciate it on a technical level, but I’m just not too into it, it’s not something I’d ever seek out to listen to.
Final Thoughts:
There’s nothing about this I dislike, no second of this that I find unpleasant, no element I find out of place or awkward. It doesn’t overstay it’s welcome, and it doesn’t stay stagnant throughout its entire run. If I judged good as an absence of negative qualities, I’m sure this would score really well.
But as a song I want to listen to… jazz always puts me in a weird place. As music, it’s pretty dang great, and I wish I had half the talent of any of the guys in this band. But as a song? I just… get nothing out of this. It evokes no emotions. It’s a warm white noise that keeps my brain occupied thinking about the technicality of the musicianship, but nothing past that.
I guess, I’m just not the right kind of person to properly critique this kind of music, because I don’t have much worth saying. The horns sound nice, the keys sound nice, the bass sounds nice, the drums sound nice. It’s all very nice. Aside from that repeating motif, though, there’s nothing about this I find memorable, nothing drawing me back into listening to it again. It’s just… not for me.
5.25/10
Standing at the Summit
#1: Tomislav95: Woods of Ypres – Lightning & Snow (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQMvL-ZoZXU)
First Impressions:
You’re lucky I never got around to checking these guys out after Train liked ‘em. Though this is certainly different than what I expected, I thought it was more like doom metal stuff but this is proggy as heck. And black metal-y too. The frantic drumming is the kind of thing I really love, just creates a great sense of manic energy and driving power. Weirdly, I’m not sure I care for the clean vocals here, but the harsh vocals are pretty solid. That’s probably what’s bothering me the most about this.
Final Thoughts:
The drumming on this song especially is just something I’m really biased towards, always. Rhythmic and driving but frantic and manic. And there’s a cool groove going on during the verses, too. The guitars play off the drum groove well on the verses, too, maybe my favorite bits of the song honestly, just really enjoyable to listen to. Just, no complaints about the rhythm section here, for sure.
I haven’t really warmed up to the clean vocals, though. A bit too bassy and weak. And I dunno, something about the harmonies, just doesn’t sit well with me. Probably the only aspect of this that I don’t like at all, really. The harsh vocals though, they’re pretty good. A rare instance of actually being able to understand the lyrics, for one, but they have a nice amount of power to them.
Oh, actually, I’m gonna complain about the guitar solo too, while I have the chance. It’s completely pointless, honestly. Just a basic tapping pattern that sounds okay but isn’t particularly interesting. If it was trying to add to a frantic mood, maybe it’d make more sense, but no, the rest of the instrumentation is too restrained for that to be the intention.
But then, yeah, everything else works. The ascending triplet motif of the intro that comes with frantic drums and returns twice later, that’s a good thing to reuse, certainly. The classy groove of the verses, always a big fan, reminds me of Enslaved in a good way. The more atmospheric chorus (or prechorus? dunno) that has a strong driving feel to it. And the intense bridge following the guitar solo, just a really strong moment, probably the only point of the song the clean vocals work well for me. Oh and the blastbeat-driven outro is a pretty dang intense way to close off a song, too.
Really, the minor gripes I have with this are far too meager to matter against all the stuff I do like here. It’s not a perfect song, but it’s definitely one I’ve enjoyed on every listen and one that makes me interested in checking out this band further (though I’d already intended to anyways, just never actually got around to it, so!) Good stuff, man, keep it up.
8/10
twosuitsluke and splent are unfortunately eliminated, the rest of you can go ahead and send me round 2.
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Well I love Tim's voice but I get your point, I guess listening to him on No-Man biased me :lol
Also it has SW vibes because 1) it's a reworked demo Stevie and Tim wrote in the 90s, and 2) Wilson colaborated a bit on that track.
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OMG! I survived this round! :hefdaddy
Yes it's a generic metal song, but I like a lot every part of it (intro, chorus, symphonic break on its own and the way it leads to the final chorus). I'm still discovering the old albums, maybe now I would choose a different song (this week I've listened to Twilight In Olympus).
Tomorrow I will send a song. It's 2:37 AM in Italy, I waited to see the results before going to bed, thanks :lol
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okay yeah if tim bowness has actually worked with SW before like that much then yes, that makes sense lol
and sorry for keeping you up LC omg :lol
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I think Stevie provides some background vocals on the song as well :P
Sent harsh noise.
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Awesome, didn't expect that after all the teasers to be honest. They remind me a bit of Alcest aswell but I have no idea why, apart from some of the instrumental elements they don't really sound alike. But if you liked the atmospheric elements more I'd start out with their best album, "Materia". The newly released one is really good too though, the one this song is on.
I'll send something today
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Sent my second and likely final song.
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Parama, I definitely understand your feeling that Bruce overpowers the music, even if I don't agree with it myself. Bruce is just such a powerful singer that it's tough to put him on a ballad-type song without there being a sense of contrast there. I feel that on this song it works, but I get not thinking that.
You are correct in your guess that this is the ballad at the end of a heavy album. The album it's on, Accident of Birth, isn't crushingly heavy or anything, but it's probably a bit heavier than Iron Maiden on a normal day and Arc of Space is definitely the calmer denouement. It's a pretty cool album, worth checking out if you're interested in straight-ahead heavy metal. I wouldn't call it the best of the genre, but it's pretty good, with some seriously good songs.
In any case, I survived the first cut, so I'll take that in itself as a badge of honor. I'll figure out something else to send within the next 24 hours.
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Arc of Space is awesome and almost as good as Umana
sent my second and final song, it has been a good run guys, cya
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What the hell? How come I'm still in? Parama is apparently getting soft or something.
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i just really wanted to hear that 80's power metal
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Wow I really didn't expect to be first.
Don't know what to send in 2nd round but I'll probably send something different than this round, something poppy or electronic.
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whatever you send me, make sure it's good
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I never really figured out your tastes but I'll try :P
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Just checked out that Woods song parama, and it's the album that's on my list to check out even though the song Tomislav sent me wasn't off this same album. It's definitely a different sound from them, not nearly as doomy, but I quite like this one too. Seems like I'll like this band a lot.
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Let me run trough their discography for you:
first EP - folk/black metal, in style similar to American BM but actually really unique (at least from what I've heard of USBM)
first album - more doom and folky, cleaner than EP
second album (Woods 3) - similar to Woods 2, just less folky, but really mix of all their styles
third album (Woods 4) - the doom-est album
fourth (Woods 5) - I'd say cleanest album in terms of production and also the one that's the least black-metal of all their albums, the most experimental and diverse
Usually, I like singers with higher pitched vocals more but David's bassy cleans are really cool, his voice is one of the things that got me into Woods of Ypres.
EDIT: this is f'ing bullshit I wanted to send round 2 song but every song on album is so good I don't know which to send :/
-
Nice :) any opinions on spoken world samples in music? Ok if used well or do you just flat out hate them?
-
i generally don't like them but there are exceptions
-
Well I did about as well I expected to do so there's that. You also liked something about the song. I knew the vocals were kind of the deal breaker but that's one of the things I like most about Crowbar. Kirk's voice is...........different.
It may have a slightly dated sound but it's nearly 25 years old (I think). Blame the production on Phil Anselmo, not sure if this was off the first record he produced but it's gotta be one of the first.
I also have a bit of nostalgia linked to this band as they are one of my older brothers favourites (and he shaped a lot of my musical taste). He played Crowbars' debut a LOT.
-
I sent harsh noise for the next round, but I voted "I am".
-
Sent something really bad, you'll like it.
-
I really expected to be last. So that's something. Have fun y'all
-
Thanks for the lengthy write ups!
i generally don't like them but there are exceptions
I hope the song I sent is an exception :lol
-
I so didn't expect to get through that I don't have a song ready. Thought of sending new Fates Warning and just found out they're banned. :lol
Edit: and sent a song from a power metal band. Bye everyone. :lol
-
believe I have 8 songs now and I've listened to five, so the last two should gimme their songs asap :corn
-
Sry, will send in the morning after I wake up (which is all too soon).
-
Sent something a bit outside of what people would expect, both for a Parama roulette and for the artist in question, that I've always kind of wanted to send in a DTF roulette.
-
why are you two both still the judges anyways :corn
9/10 songs, just need green judge's song so i can judge it... greenly
-
Sent a mix between dubstep, drum and base, ambient and pop. with some motivational spoken vocals thrown in.
Yeah, life on the edge.
-
I sent prog, I'm such a risktaker
-
Round 2 First Impressions
You’ve definitely hit upon a sweet spot with heavy, atmospheric music here though, even if there is one glaring flaw.
I like the pounding drums going on here quite a lot, gives the song a big, bombastic feel, and the driving bassline definitely adds to that mood.
This is actually kind of interesting though, it’s a very downbeat, plodding song that still has a nice level of intensity going on.
I quite dig that atmospheric, chaotic bit a bit past the middle of the song, quite intense but also beautiful, in a way.
It’s well-textured and rather pleasant to listen to but not something that hits me too hard on first listen, though I can see it growing on me.
I think what’s sticking out most here is how good the mix is… all the instruments are quite audible and it all comes together well.
There’s a good amount of diversity here and although none of it is really that fresh I can certainly enjoy it for what it is, even if I’m not a huge fan yet.
I honestly can’t tell if this is super pretentious or it’s just that I don’t “get” it but I certainly can’t deny that it’s unique.
Already this feels like it has a lot more personality and originality to it than the genre’s standard.
I liked this more than I expected to, though I don’t like it as much as your first round submission, either.
Overall: I already have a strong feeling of who 10th place in this round is going to be, but that tempting 9th place slot is still up for grabs. This round definitely feels more diverse and probably more interesting for it, though. The highs are likely going to be higher, the lows probably lower. Fun times all around.
-
Round 2 Hangman!!!
???: __ ____ ___ – __
???: _________ – ____
???: _____ – ______
???: ______ – ______ __ ___ ___
???: __________ _______ ______ – ___ ______-______ _________ __ ________ _____ ___ __________
???: ________ __ ____ – ______ _____ ________
???: ______ _______ – __ ______ ___ _ ____ __ ____ ___ _ _________
???: ____ – ___ __ __
???: ___ __ ____ – ________
???: ___ – _____ __ ___ _____
-
Since this is the parama roulette I guess I have to do this:
1. no
2. possibly
3. maybe but i doubt it
4. no
5. dont think so
6. maybe
7. nah
8. no
9. maybe
10. guessing this one
not super confident
give me the D
-
1. no
2. no
3. maybe
4. no
5. if I had to choose one, yes
6. I can't say no
7. no
8. no
9. I don't think so
10. maybe
-
1. no
2. no
3. no
4. no
5. no
6. no
7. no
8. yes
9. no
10. no
"I already have a strong feeling of who 10th place in this round is going to be", "The lows probably lower". Ok, bye to everyone :lol
-
why are you two both still the judges anyways :corn
It's either:
a) Because keeping the judge label reminds everyone that I was once in the privileged position of deciding once and for all whether their songs are good or bad, or
b) Because I keep forgetting to change my avatar and don't know what even to change it to.
Anyway, I think #3 might be mine if you actually like it. Or #9.
-
I honestly can’t tell if this is super pretentious or it’s just that I don’t “get” it but I certainly can’t deny that it’s unique.
Already this feels like it has a lot more personality and originality to it than the genre’s standard.
One of these two is probably mine. Most likely the first one. Ah yes, give me my #10 spot.
Edit: and damn, someone sent a song with a longer title than my song.
-
I'd say mine is probably #4, #9 or #10. Coulf be a few of the others as well, though. I'm really curious for the write-up. Also, try listening to my song loud and in complete darkness at least once, that's the scenario wherr it truly shines.
And I'm just too lazy to change my avatar, no other reason honestly.
-
???: __________ _______ ______ – ______ ______ ________ __ ________ _____ ___ __________
Seriously though, where the fuck have you (whoever you are) found such a long band name and such a long song title? I was sure my song title would be the longest.
Let's see, how about this?
Watermelon Squishy Nature - Better Choose Cucumber or Potatoes While It's Acceptable
-
It's not half as bad as the one sufjan song 425 sent last roulette
good thing we weren't doing hangmanen back then :corn
-
JUST GIVE ME THE D ALREADY JEEZ
-
dude I'm on a phone and the song titles this time suck and I don't have my roulette doc anyways I'll do it in like 5 hours from now lol
-
damn
-
Train waits 1.
Letters guessed so far:
D
???: __ __d_ __d – __
???: ___d_____ – ____
???: D__d_ – ______
???: ___d__ – ______ __ ___ ___
???: __________ _______ ______ – ___ D_____-___d_d _d_______ __ ________ _____ ___ D_________
???: ____d___ __ ____ – _____d _____ ________
???: ______ _______ – __ D_____ ___ _ D___ __ ____ ___ _ _________
???: ____ – ___ __ __
???: D__ __ ____ – ________
???: D__ – _____ __ ___ _____
-
dredg weren't banned? :facepalm:
dredg - Sanzen?
And I guess the bottom one could be Dio but I doubt it :lol
-
dredg weren't banned? :facepalm:
dredg - Sanzen?
And I guess the bottom one could be Dio but I doubt it :lol
Actually, it could be Stand Up And Shout :lol
Parama, I choose T.
-
Tomislav95 waits 3.
Train waits 2.
Letters guessed so far:
DT
???: __ __d_ __d – __
???: ___d_____ – ____
???: dredg – Sanzen
???: ___d__ – ______ __ ___ ___
???: ______t___ _______ ______ – T__ D_____-___d_d _d_______ __ ______t_ _____ T__ D_________
???: ____d___ __ ____ – _____d ____t _______t
???: ____t_ ___t___ – __ D_____ __t _ D___ __ ____ ___ _ ____t____
???: ____ – __t __ __
???: D__ __ ____ – ________
???: Dio – _____ __ t__ ____t
(someone guess F)
-
Then it is Shame on the Night.
Dir En Grey - Vinushka?
-
you are not incorrect
-
It's not half as bad as the one sufjan song 425 sent last roulette
good thing we weren't doing hangmanen back then :corn
Oh, you mean The Black Hawk War, or, How to Demolish an Entire Civilization and Still Feel Good About Yourself in the Morning, or, We Apologize for the Inconvenience but You're Going to Have to Leave Now, or, "I Have Fought the Big Knives, and Will Continue to Fight Them Until They Are Off Our Lands"?
-
i'm a particular fan of And by Our Own Hand Did Every Last Bird Lie Silent in Their Puddles, The Air Barren of Song as the Clouds Drifted Away. For Killing Their Greatest Enemy, The Locusts Noisily Thanked Us and Turned Their Jaws Toward Our Crops, Swallowing Our Greed Whole
-
E
-
Bolsters waits 3.
Tomislav95 waits 2.
Train waits 1.
Letters guessed so far:
DTE
???: _e __de __d – __
???: ___d_____ – ____
???: dredg – Sanzen
???: __ed__ – _e____ __ ___ __e
???: __ee__t__e _______ ___e__ – T_e D___e_-_e_ded _d_e_____ __ ______t_ __e__ T_e D_________
???: ____d_e_ __ ____ – _e___d ____t _______t
???: ____t_ ___t___ – __ D_e___ __t _ D___ __ __e_ ___ _ ____t___e
???: ____ – _et _e __
???: Dir En Grey - Vinushka
???: Dio – Shame on the Night
i am exceptionally disappointed
-
The artist on that long one is Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, but I don't know any of their songs.
-
it probably wouldn't be too hard to find if you googled, but yes correct :corn
-
That would be cheating.
-
oh crap you got a new avi, now i gotta step up my game
uuhh umm
edit: okay new minigame, find the source of my current avatar :tup
i was able to find it on a google image search but it's not quite the original source where i found it :corn
-
I like your new avatar more than the old one :tup
-
W
-
Evermind waits 3.
Bolsters waits 2.
Tomislav95 waits 1.
Letters guessed so far:
DTEW
???: We __de __d – __
???: ___d_____ – ____
???: dredg – Sanzen
???: __ed__ – _e____ __ ___ __e
???: Sleepytime Gorilla Museum – T_e D___e_-_e_ded _d_e_____ __ ______t_ __e__ T_e D_________
???: ____d_e_ __ ____ – _e___d ____t _______t
???: ____t_ ___t___ – __ D_e___ __t _ D___ __ __e_ ___ _ ____t___e
???: ____ – _et _e __
???: Dir En Grey - Vinushka
???: Dio – Shame on the Night
congrats, you got one letter
-
We Mad God - 2
give me P
-
Train of Naught waits 3.
Evermind waits 2.
Bolsters waits 1.
Letters guessed so far:
DTEWP
???: We Made God – __
???: ___d___pp – ____
???: dredg – Sanzen
???: __ed__ – _e____ __ ___ __e
???: Sleepytime Gorilla Museum – T_e D___e_-_e_ded _d_e_____ __ ______t_ _pe__ T_e D_________
???: ____d_e_ __ ____ – _e___d ____t _______t
???: ____t_ ___t___ – __ D_e___ __t _ D__p __ __e_ ___ _ ____t___e
???: ____ – _et _e __
???: Dir En Grey - Vinushka
???: Dio – Shame on the Night
i'm not gonna give you that first one bcuz it's wrong
-
Okay then
Someone guess I trust me, one of the titles only consists of I's
Train of Naught
Evermind waits 2.
Bolsters waits 1.
What's this supposed to mean
-
something abysmal
-
I swear I know the band in the second entry, but it eludes me. :facepalm:
-
Can you give me some M?
-
I swear I know the band in the second entry, but it eludes me. :facepalm:
Goldfrapp, sent by tomislav95 :P
-
this is a correct guess x2
-
Different song this time :tup
-
Also the SGM song is The Donkey-Headed Adversary of Humanity Opens the Discussion. Probably sent by Scorpion.
-
yes, no
-
LordCost?
-
you solved the puzzle
I'll update all this stuff again after work ok
-
I summon Luoto here to guess my song.
-
Oh, I should have said it before, it was probably Scorpion who sent Vinushka.
-
Tomislav95 waits 3.
Train of Naught waits 2.
Evermind waits 1.
Letters guessed so far:
DTEWPM
???: We Made God – __
Tomislav95: Goldfrapp – ____
???: dredg – Sanzen
???: __ed__ – _em___ __ ___ __e
LordCost: Sleepytime Gorilla Museum – The Donkey-Headed Adversary of Humanity Opens the Discussion
???: ____d_e_ __ ____ – _e___d ____t _______t
???: ____t_ ___t___ – M_ D_e_m_ __t _ D__p __ __e_ ___ _ ____tm__e
???: ___m – _et Me __
Scorpion: Dir En Grey - Vinushka
???: Dio – Shame on the Night
-
G
-
Sacul waits 3.
Tomislav95 waits 2.
Train of Naught waits 1.
Letters guessed so far:
DTEWPMG
???: We Made God – __
Tomislav95: Goldfrapp – ____
???: dredg – Sanzen
???: __ed__ – _em___ __ ___ __e
LordCost: Sleepytime Gorilla Museum – The Donkey-Headed Adversary of Humanity Opens the Discussion
???: ____d_e_ __ ____ – _e___d __g_t _______t
???: ____t_ ___t___ – M_ D_e_m_ __t _ D__p __ __e_ ___ _ __g_tm__e
???: ___m – _et Me G_
Scorpion: Dir En Grey - Vinushka
???: Dio – Shame on the Night
-
I
am going to choose C :neverusethis:
-
Bolsters waits 3.
Sacul waits 2.
Tomislav95 waits 1.
Letters guessed so far:
DTEWPMGC
???: We Made God – __
Tomislav95: Goldfrapp – C___
???: dredg – Sanzen
???: __ed__ – _em___ __ ___ __e
LordCost: Sleepytime Gorilla Museum – The Donkey-Headed Adversary of Humanity Opens the Discussion
???: C___d_e_ __ ____ – _ec__d __g_t ___c___t
???: ____t_ __ct_c_ – M_ D_e_m_ __t _ D__p __ __e_ ___ _ __g_tm__e
???: ___m – _et Me G_
Scorpion: Dir En Grey - Vinushka
???: Dio – Shame on the Night
i'm a bad person who just spent like an hour or two listening to songs not sent to me in my roulette because i'm planning another album purchase because i still don't have the new TYS and that's a crime
i will get a listen in tonight and then i have to send train a song or he'll get mad at me or something
-
The Goldfrapp song is Clay.
-
I
-
Sonata Arctica - My Dream's But A Drop of Fuel For A Nightmare
-
Evermind waits 3.
Bolsters waits 2.
Sacul waits 1.
Letters guessed so far:
DTEWPMGCI
???: We Made God – II
Tomislav95: Goldfrapp – Clay
???: dredg – Sanzen
???: __edi_ – _em_i_ __ ___ __e
LordCost: Sleepytime Gorilla Museum – The Donkey-Headed Adversary of Humanity Opens the Discussion
???: C_i_d_e_ __ ____ – _ec__d _ig_t ___c___t
???: Sonata Arctica - My Dream's But A Drop of Fuel For A Nightmare
???: __im – _et Me G_
Scorpion: Dir En Grey - Vinushka
???: Dio – Shame on the Night
-
Haim - Let Me Go
Third from the bottom.
-
indeed it is a truth
-
Azedia - no idea about the song.
-
Is #6 Children of Bodom with a letter missing?
-
ev yes
bolsters no
-
nobody guessed a letter tho, so we're stuck in L I M B O
i'll start doing writeups tomorrow, may or may not finish but i'll def try to
-
F
-
425 waits 3.
Evermind waits 2.
Bolsters waits 1.
Letters guessed so far:
DTEWPMGCIF
???: We Made God – II
Tomislav95: Goldfrapp – Clay
???: dredg – Sanzen
???: Azedia – _em_i_ __ ___ __e
LordCost: Sleepytime Gorilla Museum – The Donkey-Headed Adversary of Humanity Opens the Discussion
???: C_i_d_e_ _f ____ – _ec__d _ig_t ___c___t
???: Sonata Arctica - My Dream's But A Drop of Fuel For A Nightmare
???: Haim - Let Me Go
Scorpion: Dir En Grey - Vinushka
???: Dio – Shame on the Night
-
So I got a total of one letter? :lol
Well, at least that pretty much confirms Children of ____ is one of the bands.
-
results probably won't happen tonight.
my round 4 rankings are turning out to be total gibberish, I'm 100% sure on one person who's getting the boot, but I'm less certain on the other person. it's down to two songs that are both fairly meh for me, but then everything else is at least solid and generally I'd say this round is superior to last round. but yeah, tomorrow. i have half the writeups done, but i've been basically doing nothing but listening to music all day and just need a break :lol
side-note: i did check out the woods of ypres and novembre albums. not really sure I'm a fan of woods of ypres yet, mostly just cannot get into the bassy vocals. novembre was pretty solid but I'd probably need to listen deeper to really find out if I'm in to them on the whole
i've also been checking out some stuff from my first roulette, because why not. already placed an order for the dear hunter act 4, and unexpect, shining, and vangough albums i'm probably all gonna get too (though with unexpect not the one i received a song off of because it's literally impssible to find) so that should be fun to torture myself with
for some reason i'm really digging weird/chaotic prog metal stuff rn tho. just an fyi :corn
-
Cool coolcool, I'm probably eliminatedafter this round but if not i will send weird/chaotic prog metal
-
Shining are great, been digging their two most recent albums a lot over the last few months. Been trying to get my mate, who's a huge NIN fan into them as their most recent has a real NIN vibe IMO. Just with a side order of crazy sax!
-
i also finally determined that i actually kinda like sigh but they fit into what i'm looking for right now apparently, which they did not before
gorguts is unlistenable tho, and i wish i liked cynic more so i could get over how short all their albums are
also ephel duath is like, the best thing???
-
Dammit, there goes my planned Sigh submission.
Also I'm going to guess A.
-
i've also been checking out some stuff from my first roulette, because why not. already placed an order for the dear hunter act 4, and unexpect, shining, and vangough albums i'm probably all gonna get too (though with unexpect not the one i received a song off of because it's literally impssible to find) so that should be fun to torture myself with
for some reason i'm really digging weird/chaotic prog metal stuff rn tho. just an fyi :corn
So I think you have placed an order for the album "In A Flesh Aquarium" by Unexpect. It's even weirder than the last one, I still only know the first half of the album because I'm lazy, but there are enough things going on in the first 5-6 songs. I prefer Fables Of The Sleepless Empire (which I have in physical copy at home, I ordered it two years ago via bandcamp), but there are great songs even in In A Flesh Aquarium. The albums before are more metal and less experimental but I never heard it, I hope you purchased In A Flesh Aquarium.
For Vangough, I only know the last album "Between The Madness", I wasn't much impressed by the previous two, I still have to hear them.
The last sentence gives me a bit of hope I'm safe this round, but I still doubt it. :P
-
Scorpion waits 3.
425 waits 2.
Evermind waits 1.
Letters guessed so far:
DTEWPMGCIFA
???: We Made God – II
Tomislav95: Goldfrapp – Clay
???: dredg – Sanzen
???: Azedia – _emai_ A_ ___ A_e
LordCost: Sleepytime Gorilla Museum – The Donkey-Headed Adversary of Humanity Opens the Discussion
???: C_i_d_e_ _f ___a – _ec__d _ig_t __ac___t
???: Sonata Arctica - My Dream's But A Drop of Fuel For A Nightmare
???: Haim - Let Me Go
Scorpion: Dir En Grey - Vinushka
???: Dio – Shame on the Night
@LordCost i haven't placed an order quite yet, since i buy in bulk from importcds to save on shipping, but i'm pretty set on getting that one, yeah
if fables existed as a physical copy in the year 2016 i might have checked it out too but i just cannot find evidence that i could still get it :P
-
Just end my misery
Azedia - Remain As You Are? don't know if that's a song of theirs but it fits and looks like it.
And give me that S, gonna try to guess my own song now
-
if fables existed as a physical copy in the year 2016 i might have checked it out too but i just cannot find evidence that i could still get it :P
Maybe not as new but I got a second hand copy on Amazon that was as good as new :biggrin:
-
if fables existed as a physical copy in the year 2016 i might have checked it out too but i just cannot find evidence that i could still get it :P
Maybe not as new but I got a second hand copy on Amazon that was as good as new :biggrin:
Actually, ignore me. I'm talking about a completely different album :facepalm:
-
Train of Naught waits 3.
Scorpion waits 2.
425 waits 1.
Letters guessed so far:
DTEWPMGCIFAS
???: We Made God – II
Tomislav95: Goldfrapp – Clay
???: dredg – Sanzen
???: Azedia – Remain As You Are
LordCost: Sleepytime Gorilla Museum – The Donkey-Headed Adversary of Humanity Opens the Discussion
Train of Naught: C_i_d_e_ _f ___a – Sec__d Sig_t __ac___t
???: Sonata Arctica - My Dream's But A Drop of Fuel For A Nightmare
???: Haim - Let Me Go
Scorpion: Dir En Grey - Vinushka
???: Dio – Shame on the Night
nobody is doing enough guessing who sent what, but Train guessed his own
-
Evermind = Sonata
-
Evermind = Sonata
I forgot to say it, it's Evermind for me too
-
I'm guessing that home sent dredg?
-
https://unexpect.ifmerch.com/en/products/unexpect-cd-fables-of-the-sleepless-empire
I ordered it from here, is it not possible to purchase? I added it to the shopping card now.
(I don't know why I cannot send personal messages now..)
-
Azedia is Tyrias has no one guessed this yet?
-
Train of Naught waits 3.
Scorpion waits 2.
425 waits 1.
Letters guessed so far:
DTEWPMGCIFAS
???: We Made God – II
Tomislav95: Goldfrapp – Clay
???: dredg – Sanzen
Tyrias: Azedia – Remain As You Are
LordCost: Sleepytime Gorilla Museum – The Donkey-Headed Adversary of Humanity Opens the Discussion
Train of Naught: C_i_d_e_ _f ___a – Sec__d Sig_t __ac___t
Evermind: Sonata Arctica - My Dream's But A Drop of Fuel For A Nightmare
???: Haim - Let Me Go
Scorpion: Dir En Grey - Vinushka
???: Dio – Shame on the Night
@LC ahh, thanks for that. $15 USD or so with the shipping cost which is maybe a bit more than I'd want to pay but I'll check out the album at some point, especially if I find myself really into the one I'm gonna get, but I'm pretty well committed to getting in a flesh aquarium at this point/too lazy to check out the other one really :lol
also, 6/10 writeups done, get :soon: ed
-
Indeed SA is mine. Was choosing between the one I sent; The Worlds Forgotten, The Words Forbidden; The Harvest or Fly With the Black Swan. Basically I picked the oddest songs on Unia and then had to narrow it down to one. :lol
-
I admit I googled it but hey, the writeups are coming soon and all.
Children of Nova - Second Sight Blackout
-
That reminded me, I like Sonata's debut, used to listen to it in my early metal days and rediscovered it this year. I know they changed since but is there any album you think I'd like?
-
Well their first four albums are all in the same vein, so if you liked Ecliptica, odds are you'll like Silence, Winterheart's Guild and Reckoning Night too. Out of these four, Ecliptica is easily my favourite and Reckoning Night is my second favourite, so if you want some good old power metal, go with Reckoning Night.
Unia (the album from which I've chosen a song for Parama) is definitely the weirdest they've ever recorded, and it's tough to get into, but when you do, it's really rewarding because most of the songs there are complex and brilliant. Took me like six or seven years to get into this one, to be honest.
I would also recommend considering to check out The Days of Grays, which is a follow-up to Unia. It's the darkest Sonata Arctica album, and while a lot of people seem to kind of disregard it and say it's not that good, I think it's up there with their best - but that could be just because I like some sad and dark music (though it's obviously not that dark, it's only dark by SA standards).
So, if you want pure power metal, the best choice is Reckoning Night or Silence, if you want weirdness, go with Unia, if you want something darker, go with The Days of Grays. I can recommend you some tracks to check out (1-3 from each album) in PM if you're interested.
-
Anything up to Reckoning Night would a safe bet if you like their debut, it's pretty much in the same vein. Unia is my favourite of their albums, but it's a lot more experimental and not everyone's cup of tea. After that, things went downhill - I like about half of the songs on TDoG, SGHN and Pariah's Child, but there is a lot of stuff on those albums that I haven't listened to in ages.
-
Now that was a ninja-post if I ever saw one. :lol
-
scores i am really gravitating to in these writeups: 7.25
fortunately i don't have to worry excessively much about the order i want to put these three songs in because they're all safe anyways but i'm gonna try
-
I checked tracklists on rateyourmusic, it seems I know few songs off Silence and other three. Now I want to hear Unia, if it's more experimental.
-
I checked tracklists on rateyourmusic, it seems I know few songs off Silence and other three. Now I want to hear Unia, if it's more experimental.
It's way, way more experimental. Just don't give up on this album after your first listen, if you can.
-
:corn
-
yes, your 5/10 is coming shortly, i'm just relistening to #8 and #9 again to be sure but all the writeups are done
-
Cool, that's better than I expected.
-
I'm just hoping to end higher than #13
-
Digging for Gold
#8: 425: Dio – Shame On the Night (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhaGug8sSpg)
First Impressions:
I will say first and foremost that straightforward heavy metal is uuuusually not my thing, but, we shall see. This is actually kind of interesting though, it’s a very downbeat, plodding song that still has a nice level of intensity going on. I guess my only worry is that I’m not sure how much this justifies being 5 minutes, I feel like I might get a little sick of it on relistens as it doesn’t come off as a particularly diverse song? But I do enjoy it on first listen.
Final Thoughts:
As I predicted, this is probably the song I got the least out of on relistens. Once you’ve heard this once, there’s nothing to really surprise you anymore. That’s absolutely wonderful if you’re trying to appeal to the casual listener or have a radio smash hit – instant gratification that’s just repetitive enough to be catchy but not so repetitive as to get annoying. There is absolutely a place for music like this.
Dio is a great singer, there’s basically no denying that. Unlike Bruce Dickinson last round, he has the music behind him to back up his pipes, too. His vocals are clearly the focus of a lot of the song, and for a good reason. He throws his all into every line, just injects power into every word. I can appreciate that, even if his style of vocals isn’t really my cup of tea, it’s still enjoyable enough to listen to.
But once I get tired of the vocals after hearing this for the fourth or fifth time, the song’s appeal really drops for me. There’s really not a lot to this song. Aside from the quiet intro that gets reprised later, it’s verses and choruses all the way home, with an extended outro fadeout. And it’s all very similar plodding, heavy riffs that are kind of cool but then get so hammered into your head that they start to lose their power after a while. I do appreciate the thick bass on the verses, and the choir vocals on the outro make for a satisfying climax. But as a whole I just get sick of it quickly.
I did specifically warn about this in my tastes post; “Straightforward hard rock is probably going to bore me.” And, yeah, that’s ultimately what it came down to here. I can’t say this is a bad song, and if I only heard it like once or twice a month for a few months and then never again, I’d probably remember it fondly, but listening to it every day for the better part of a week, I’m definitely tired of listening to it and wouldn’t want to return to it.
5.5/10
#7: Train of Naught: Children of Nova – Second Sight Blackout (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdec1Cg4a80)
First Impressions:
A vaguely psychedelic feel to the beginning of this song, probably mostly due to that wah-soaked guitar in the back. And then the song takes a completely different feel when the chorus kicks in apparently, sure. Nice and high energy here, all the instruments are definitely contributing to that. I think what’s sticking out most here is how good the mix is… all the instruments are quite audible and it all comes together well. Pretty intense, manic ending to this one too.
Final Thoughts:
It’s just strange that they spent almost the first two minutes playing one song and then cut to a completely different, basically unrelated song. And I mean, I enjoy both halves separately, but they just don’t go together, the transition doesn’t work. At least for me. Ehh. It’s a small complaint, comparatively, since I can only be bothered by it for about three seconds.
So. The first half is this downbeat, psychedelic type of song. I like it. There’s nice atmosphere to the layers of guitars, it’s very chill stuff. The drums and bass are doing neat, kind of subtle stuff to keep things musically interesting, and the vocals sound fine enough. I’m not sure I’m a huge fan of this vocalist on the basis of this one song, but, solid.
The back half is a high-energy post-hardcore song with a strong emphasis on melodic guitar lines. Well, especially one of them that gets repeated maybe a bit too much, but it’s kind of cool. Definitely feels like they overused it though. The drums here are pretty basic aside from that jagged fill that plays at the end of every phrase, which, again, is pretty cool the first few times you hear it, but once you’ve heard it a dozen times in the same song it might get a bit played out.
The two bits of the song that really stick out are the calmer bridge at around 3:30, returning to the psychedelic vibe of earlier in the song and doing it pretty nicely, it’s a nice breather moment that also is probably the only thing tying the first half and second half together in any real way. And the ending, that’s pretty cool stuff. Blastbeat drumming as the song reaches its close and a fast, frantic guitar line to close things out.
Everything else… well, there’s some solid vocal moments but I never really find them that memorable, just, solid. I could find the chorus powerful and epic, but I only kind of feel that way about it. It doesn’t have as much power as it feels like it should have, and I can’t say why. There’s an intensity to the music and to the vocals and a harmonization going on there, yet it just never clicks into place. I think it may just be the singer. I don’t think he quite sells it, his voice just doesn’t work for me with the more intense stuff.
Honestly I’m still trying to evaluate how I feel about this song, because I like it, but it’s not anything particularly fresh and it isn’t even especially well-executed, just… solid. Again pingponging between two scores here so again I’m just going to give you the higher one, I keep doing this for your songs for some reason.
7/10
#6: Bolsters: HAIM – Let Me Go (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCPtwjozZcc)
First Impressions:
Right away this strikes me as much more of a “Bolsters” song than the last one you sent, whatever that means. The vocal timbre of this comes off to me as “angsty teenager who just started singing but wants to sound really mature”. I like the pounding drums going on here quite a lot, gives the song a big, bombastic feel, and the driving bassline definitely adds to that mood. Oh, it ended. I guess it still felt like this was building to something, but no, it wasn’t. Alright then.
Final Thoughts:
I dunno what I was talking about with the vocals. They just sound very indie-rock-ish. And I can’t tell if the singer is a guy or girl, but I also don’t really care particularly much. They sound fine enough. The harmonizations sound pretty good and make the vocals sound a lot bigger than they otherwise would, at the very least. The vocals are pretty clearly the focus of this song too, lots of jagged rhythms and quirky melodies on the verses and big harmonizations and layers on the chorus.
The music behind the vocals does a good job of building up, too. There’s fairly minimal instrumentation behind the first verse and chorus, and then the thumping bass and drums kick in for the second verse, escalating for the chorus as the guitar comes in. The guitar work is pretty simple here but also really effective. That repeating motif feels like something straight out of a 70’s rock song, or at least that’s the vibe I’m getting, but yeah, I dig it.
The vocals do kind of drop out a bit when the guitar takes center stage, but that may be for the best, I’m not sure where else they could’ve gone at that point, they can’t really effectively wrestle with the booming instrumentation or the swagger of the guitars. The song does reach a solid climax by the time it ends, but it really does feel like it was still building to something. I wouldn’t have minded a huge closing chorus with even more layers of vocals and crunchier guitars, some real power to close off the track that ties everything together. But, no, it just… ends.
And I really dislike that synth thing that happens right at the end, it’s just kind of irritating. But it only lasts like a second so I can’t get too bothered. Ehh. Nitpicking.
I wouldn’t say this is the best-structured song, and it doesn’t quite feel like it lives up to its potential, but it definitely grew on me the more I listened to it; the vocals during the verses especially, there’s just a smoothness to the vocal melody there that I quite like. But no, it’s definitely a solid song, I can definitely dig it. Not outstanding for what it is but it’s more engaging than a lot of indie rock tends to be.
7.25/10
#5: Sacul: dredg – Sanzen (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDTGCHeHZFI)
First Impressions:
DTF really wants to get me to like dredg. I was sent them in my first roulette, almost twice actually, and now here they are here again. The verses are pretty nice and upbeat, between the strummy guitar and fast-paced hihats. And there’s a nice amount of power to the chorus, a nice wall of guitar noise. Weird jagged proggy type break, okay. I quite dig that atmospheric, chaotic bit a bit past the middle of the song, quite intense but also beautiful, in a way. And then… hard cut to some jazzy thing, sure why not. There’s like a whole lot of “stuff happens” in the middle of this song, it seems.
Final Thoughts:
Honestly I don’t even remember what the dredg song I was sent in the first round sounds like. It definitely wasn’t half as good as this song, I’ll say that straight up.
The punchy chords in the verses create a nice bright feel, and the bassline really helps with that, I quite like it. It’s upbeat and enjoyable to listen to. The chorus contrasts with a big, dense sound, layers of tremolo guitar and crash cymbal creating a nice soundscape. I dig it.
Then there’s an abrupt cut to a kind of generic indie rock-ish bit that I don’t really mind but is definitely inferior to the rest of the song. Thankfully it’s over quick and the free time intense swell of noise that hits after is really cool, just a lovely huge sound. And then a brief cut to a jazzy break for some soloing, because the middle of this song is an absolutely mess structurally. Again, this bit I’m not so huge on but I don’t mind it either. It’s pleasant, and it transitions back into the final chorus well enough.
I’m not really sure how to describe the singer’s voice here. It’s like… a singing style I’ve heard before (and no, not just from the other dredg song I’ve heard), but one that I can’t make any comparisons to, either. And I’m neutral to slightly positive on the vocals, all things considered. They feel kind of monodynamic, mostly; there’s basically no variation to the level he’s singing at, except that there’s some reverb on his voice during the chorus that makes it sound slightly bigger. The vocal melodies are solid enough though.
In general I’d say I like the main “meat” of this song, but the random interludes in the middle of the song just don’t work too well; it feels like the attitude was “gotta do random stuff just to be prog” but they didn’t really know how to integrate the random stuff very well so it just happens. But there’s nothing here that’s unpleasant to listen to and it’s generally pretty musically interesting. I like this but I can’t say I love it.
7.25/10
#4: Evermind: Sonata Arctica – My Dream's But a Drop of Fuel for a Nightmare (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5P53ozwaec)
First Impressions:
I’ve known of Sonata Arctica for about as long as I’ve known of Dream Theater, honestly, but as I’ve almost always shied away from power metal I’ve never really checked them out beyond a few songs. Already this feels like it has a lot more personality and originality to it than the genre’s standard. Yeah, the layers of harmonized vocals are definitely making me happy. I guess the biggest issue is that the strings aren’t especially convincing, and looking it up, yeah, they are indeed fake it looks like, but ehh. I feel like your quest to get cut from my roulette is going to need at least one more round.
Final Thoughts:
The way this song flows and the many twists it takes while sounding fairly effortless in doing so. I admire it for that, no doubt. Building up a simple piano line into a heavy, chuggy riff and then taking that to a driving, triumphant feel with a bit of folky stuff creeping in shortly after, none of these would really be that stellar on their own but it’s the way the song is constructed that makes it stand out.
Around 2 minutes the song cuts to a more standard 4/4 power metal feel and the chorus here is… weird, but intriguing. The vocal line has a weird rhythm to it and a strange melody, it’s far from cliché and interesting as a result. 4:30 sees a return to the driving triplet feel with some piano and huge vocals making for an engaging climax, before returning to piano to close out the track. A full circle type of track.
I think one thing that makes this work where a lot of power metal doesn’t for me is that… a lot of power metal feels too clean and structured, calculated. It ends up, ironically, lacking in power; coming off as feigning heaviness that it can’t actually back up. I don’t think that’s the case here. I think this song is very convincingly heavy and it’s very loose, very flowing. There’s no big singalong chorus that the song defaults to, it’s constantly on the move and doing something interesting at every turn.
I will say though that the string sound does hinder this at least a little for me, and it’s not like this song is that old – 2007 from what I could find, newer than the Kamelot stuff I know, but I actually don’t mind the rougher production this has; it really helps with avoiding the “too clean” sound of power metal. But yeah those strings could’ve served to sound better. Just a nitpick, because I have to.
I can’t say it’s the most unique song in the greater scheme of things, but for power metal, it’s definitely above and beyond what I’m used to. Heck, even Kamelot on their more interesting songs still can fall prey to the issues I have with other power metal bands, it’s just that, well, I heard the standard stuff from Kamelot first, which is probably about the only reason I ever got into them. But considering that I’ve known about these guys forever and never got around to checking them out, you may just have convinced me to give them a proper shot sometime.
7.5/10
#3: Scorpion: Dir En Grey – Vinushka (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LmNawNtWIE)
First Impressions:
I feel like at least at the start here the vocals are mixed far too low. That problem goes away quickly enough though so yeah fine. I had to go look up to make sure I wasn’t just imagining that the singer sounds Japanese. And yup. The band is. Didn’t expect that from the name. I uhh. Am not finding much to say about this, other than that it’s solid. Some of the heavier moments of this sound a bit thin, they’re lacking in punch when they should be crushing. There’s a good amount of diversity here and although none of it is really that fresh I can certainly enjoy it for what it is, even if I’m not a huge fan yet.
Final Thoughts:
Let’s face it here, this is obviously a really safe entry. The moment your PM hit my inbox you were basically already safe for at least one more round, even before I’d heard a note. Because it’s heavy prog metal, which I am horribly biased towards.
And uhh. Beyond that, I actually have no clue what to say about this, other than “it all sounds good”. The song builds up nicely to its first chorus during the first two minutes, and the chorus is very satisfying with a strong melody to it. There’s some heavier/harsher points to the song but overall it’s quite dynamic.
I guess, the drumming catches my ear the most here, there’s a lot of tom-heavy pounding moments in the quieter moments of the song and some good driving rhythms through the more intense moments. The guitar work throughout is solid too, if not particularly inventive. Some nice pretty moments and some solid riffing going on too.
The vocals on the whole are fine. Not really a huge fan of the distinctly Japanese timbre on the cleans but they have enough emotion in them that I’m not bothered by it, the final chorus especially has some cool moments. And the harsh vocals, while not really that special, sound find. The really guttural growls are actually kind of cool in a way, usually not my kind of thing but I dig it here.
I can’t really say there’s any part of this that really stands out in a strong way, just that it’s a well-constructed song front-to-back that keeps me interested enough the whole way through. I sort of feel like I don’t have enough time/listens to really “get” this and I may come back and revisit it later. But I’m also not going to stress too hard about underrating this right now when it literally doesn’t matter in the long run, and I know where it stands in comparison to the rest of the songs at this point in time, pretty definitively.
7.75/10
#2: Tomislav95: Goldfrapp – Clay (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVnWQtyJgHI)
First Impressions:
Okay, the decision to have staccato strings going on in the background of a somber acoustic/vocal bit was a good one for sure. Reminds of me Olafur Arnalds’ Old Skin in a way. It’s maybe a bit slow to build or progress but it’s a very pretty song to listen to at the very least. I don’t have much to say about this. It’s well-textured and rather pleasant to listen to but not something that hits me too hard on first listen, though I can see it growing on me.
Final Thoughts:
I don’t know what it is about this one. It’s so simple and lowkey, but quite effective. The way the song builds up from just guitar and vocals at the start to a really full-sounding song with layers of orchestration, and does so smoothly enough that you barely notice it happening. Yeah, that’s the kind of build I enjoy.
This is another singer where I’m not sure if they’re male or female and I also don’t really care because it doesn’t matter, their voice is just a great complement to the music here. And there’s a lot of subtle harmonizing going on in a few places, just another layer added to the whole mix.
The orchestration is definitely what makes this track work, and a good part of that is because it just sounds great. Like, I don’t know if the strings are real or fake but they sound plenty real to me. Between the staccato lines going on throughout most of the song, and the sweeter high tones that add to the texture of the track, it all works really well.
Obviously this did turn out to be a grower, probably even more than I expected it to. I can’t really find any fault with this song. Maybe the ending is a tad abrupt, but only a little? It’s not a perfect song or anything either, it doesn’t evoke any really strong emotions, but it evokes plenty of lighter ones and I quite enjoy it every time I listen to it, so there’s definitely something there.
8/10
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Naught but Pyrite
#10: LordCost: Sleepytime Gorilla Museum – The Donkey-Headed Adversary Of Humanity Opens The Discussion (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExtLHTGMYx8)
First Impressions:
Well, that’s certainly a song title alright. I can see this is going to be pretty heavy on the dissonance aspect. At some point, this kind of dissonance just ends up being a blur to me, there’s not a lot to get out of a total lack of melody. I guess there’s something resembling melody with the flute and strings bit in the middle though. I honestly can’t tell if this is super pretentious or it’s just that I don’t “get” it but I certainly can’t deny that it’s unique.
Final Thoughts:
I just… don’t know how to deal with this song. It’s generally the one I’m most looking forward to showing up when I listen to all these, but then it’s easily the song I get the least enjoyment out of to actually listen to. It’s absolutely the most unique song here, at the very least. I don’t know how you even classify this. Avant-Garde Metal? Kind of?
It’s incredibly complex music. The rhythms are constantly changing, there’s a ton of different instruments in there and everything is doing its own thing all the time, but synchronized well enough that it all clicks into place. On a purely rhythmic level this song is pretty neat. But it’s lacking in melody, and that’s really its downfall. The melodies that do exist here are all strange and twisted, I don’t think this song is played in any scale other than the chromatic scale.
It never gets overwhelming and it’s not lacking in dynamics; there are more than enough breaks and even at its heaviest it’s not particularly crushing, just chaotic and manic. The quieter breaks have some of the more eclectic instrumentation and more melody and they’re generally the highlight of this song for me. They’re playful in an interesting way.
It’s not really too long either and it goes in enough directions that it doesn’t get boring. It repeats some ideas and melodies, but never too often, and reuses them in interesting or clever ways. Everything flows well together, there’s no really awkward transitions, and the climax of the song is satisfying and ends the track well, given everything before it.
On a technical level, everything is basically in its right place.
Except the most important part – I just don’t enjoy listening to it. The heavy parts have no power to them, they feel robotic and jagged in the worst ways, without any real punch, and they all blend together. The quieter moments do have an appealing playfulness to them, but they have no atmosphere and no real emotive presence either. The song is incredibly dry to listen to and just leaves me feeling nothing, and without any memorable riffs or beautiful melodies, with the harsh gruff vocals that have no emotion to them, it’s just unpleasant to listen to.
I guess what I’m trying to say is, as with Jean-Luc Ponty last round, I can see why someone would get a lot of enjoyment out of this, but I just… don’t. There’s not a single passage of this 6-minute track that I find myself wanting to return to.
3.25/10
#9: Tyrias: Azedia – Remain As You Are (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0IoDwBxiCU)
First Impressions:
I am super wary about this from how you described it because it sounds like the kind of thing I’d hate, or at least be super bored by. Thus far it’s… pleasant enough, but the atmosphere isn’t really one I’m finding myself getting lost in. Not actually bothered by the spoken word here, it’s not grating and it mostly is used to fill up the emptier parts of the track. There’s a pretty satisfying climax in the back half and it sounds like some guitar’s crept in there? Awesome. I liked this more than I expected to, though I don’t like it as much as your first round submission, either.
Final Thoughts:
I’m sitting here trying to type up something for this and just realizing that, wow, this is just a really generic song. Like, it’s inoffensive and generally pretty pleasant to listen to, but…
What does this have to offer, really? Definitely not that piano line, which is incredibly standard for this kind of electronic stuff. Or the percussion, which is nothing special. The vocals? They’re alright, I guess, she sounds decent. Not particularly unique and the vocal melodies are nothing special, but, pleasant.
I guess, when the guitar kicks in for the last two minutes and the song gets pretty huge sounding... that’s at least something I can dig. The constant, repetitive ascending synth line that accompanies it is nothing special to start with and gets really tiresome as it keeps going on.
And this song has so few elements to speak of overall. Like, I basically went over everything the song has to offer except the weird dubstep-y synths and the spoken word parts, both of which I’m… pretty indifferent to, all things considered. I guess there’s the warm, droning synths in the background, but that’s just it, they’re in the background, they serve their purpose well but they’re not what you pay attention to.
This is another one that just got less interesting with every listen, because it has so little to offer, and what it does have to offer doesn’t have much power or depth to it, nothing to keep me wanting to return. I would never really seek it out, but I don’t mind listening to it either, and I can’t say I’m eager to return to it.
5/10
Pure Precious Metal
#1: home: We Made God – II (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CboLSfDeBo)
First Impressions:
When the tremolo guitar comes in it’s almost like a chainsaw drowning out everything beneath it, and I can’t tell if I hate it or love it. I am loving how heavy and overwhelming this is though. Hmm… yeah… that sample would probably be better if it was a bit lower in the mix but the music behind it is nice enough that I don’t really mind that much? The buildup from the middle onwards is really well-done and the crushingly beautiful climax makes for a great payoff too. You’ve definitely hit upon a sweet spot with heavy, atmospheric music here though, even if there is one glaring flaw.
Final Thoughts:
I’m really surprised this isn’t tagged as blackgaze anywhere, because that’s really the biggest vibe I get from this track, especially with all the distorted tremolo picking going on and the huge wall of sound it creates. That’s exactly what I like in black metal and blackgaze, and yeah, I am definitely digging it here. The heavier moments of this are as crushing as I’d want them to be.
The quieter moments, too, are well-executed here. The bass and drums carry their weight well and keep the driving feel of the song going while the twinkly guitars provide the texture that allows the song to build back up to a heavier finale.
The vocals here are pretty solid, the clean vocals in the first half sound pretty strained as they’re being crushed by the wall of guitars, and the harsh vocals in the second half are even further crushed to the point where they just provide a layer of rough texture to an already intense atmosphere.
The sample though. I don’t like it, and you knew I wouldn’t like it. Especially the case with the almost 30 seconds of nothing but sample at the end, which I was legitimately tempted to cut off the mp3 because it would improve the song to do so, but even in the middle of the song, at least when it first kicks in, it’s too much. I get so tired of samples like this so easily, I hate when Godspeed does it and I pretty well hate it here. Honestly the last thing I ever want is politics in my music, and I am pretty averse to “angry” music in general, which is what samples like this always make songs feel like. Mix it lower or cut it out entirely, I say. It does end up buried under the music as the song builds back up, but the damage is definitely done. Oh well.
Even sample aside, while I do enjoy this song on a basic level, it isn’t anything especially unique for what it is, just (mostly) well-executed atmospheric metal. Probably not something I’d want to seek out more of but I may at least check out the album, since I do like this.
8/10
LordCost and Tyrias are out, the rest can go ahead and send round 3.
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You mean I could've gone with a worse song and still be in? Damn.
As a massive fan of Second Sight Blackout I think you point out all the flaws in the song very well, and I can see them. Guess the song is incredibly disjointed but it's something I care way less for if I simply like the separate parts enough. The other songs on the EP are not really as disjointed but they don't have as much staying power.
Gonna step up for R3, maybe something riskier IDK yet.
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Well, at least it was no 3.25 :lol. It was fun playing while it lasted, but I wasn't really expecting to make it far.
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I have no problems with #2 :tup
I'm pretty sure I know what to send, something intense and beautiful, and noisy (very noisy). Expect it soon.
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Wow, I actually expected to be out and have no clue what to send now. Will send shortly though, since I am not entirely sure if I have acces to internet in the following couple of days.
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Wow, I barely made it through. One of my bigger concerns was realized to an extent:
I can’t say this is a bad song, and if I only heard it like once or twice a month for a few months and then never again, I’d probably remember it fondly, but listening to it every day for the better part of a week, I’m definitely tired of listening to it and wouldn’t want to return to it.
Because this is definitely not a song and artist that I return to frequently, and I definitely have fond feelings towards this song, but I'm not sure how I'd do if I listened to it everyday for a week.
Well, I made it through, and I'll try to find something different here just to keep things interesting. I can't possibly make it through another round, though, can I?
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send me a better song and you might :corn
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I'm gonna send hip-hop so you only have to beat 1 person
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Wow so my chances of surviving are now up to 10% from 2%.
What I like is how even the song Parama liked best got the "Probably not something I’d want to seek out more of" treatment. :lol
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honestly of the last set, the three bands i'm most likely to check out more from are dir en grey, sonata arctica, and - of course - sleepytime gorilla museum. the last one just to see if their other stuff is that unpleasant, mostly, but :lol
i'll probably get around to checking out everything that scores 7.5 or higher at some point, at the very least
i did check out some amorphis too but wasn't really too into it. basically how i felt about the song i got, it's solid and i like it but it doesn't really stand out or sound particularly fresh.
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i did check out some amorphis too but wasn't really too into it. basically how i felt about the song i got, it's solid and i like it but it doesn't really stand out or sound particularly fresh.
I guess you didn't come across any of their mid-90's stuff then, that's where their widely considered classic material is at. Eclipse onwards is solid-to-excellent on its own merits.
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i checked out skyforger, the album the song i got was on
fwiw i have a hard time with 90's metal albums in general, production is often too muddy or rough for me
especially any black or death metal
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honestly of the last set, the three bands i'm most likely to check out more from are dir en grey, sonata arctica, and - of course - sleepytime gorilla museum. the last one just to see if their other stuff is that unpleasant, mostly, but :lol
i'll probably get around to checking out everything that scores 7.5 or higher at some point, at the very least
i did check out some amorphis too but wasn't really too into it. basically how i felt about the song i got, it's solid and i like it but it doesn't really stand out or sound particularly fresh.
Try to listen to Phtisis, I want to know if I would have passed the round with that one. It's shorter and has a melody (weird, but at least I can say there's a melody) sang by a female voice. Or if you really have time, listen to all the first five tracks of the Natural History album to decide how much you don't like them, to me that sequence of tracks is brilliant.
I was listening to SGM these days, today I tried with Helpless Corpses Enactment of their last album (I only know 1 out of 3 albums). Stay away from that one, it's on the same style of The donkey etc. but more heavy, drier and unpleasant, as you said for my song :lol
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These days I had a reason to listen to music I don't listen often to search for possible submissions, and I probably have found enough songs for 7-8 rounds. It's a shame it's all already finished :facepalm: I will keep them for a future roulette
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there will be another parama roulette, probably earlyish-to-mid-2017 or so i'd guess
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Nice, #5 again. Time to send some modern classical.
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Wow I actually get to send another song? Okay then.
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Wow, there's 3.25 and isn't mine. I've got another SGM song in my roulette and I think it got 4/10. :lol
Check out Unia from SA, I think it will appeal to you the most. I was sure this song was going to get me eliminated though. Now I have to think of another song.
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Sent my last song for real this time probably.
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#10: LordCost: Sleepytime Gorilla Museum – The Donkey-Headed Adversary Of Humanity Opens The Discussion (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExtLHTGMYx8)
[...] The heavy parts have no power to them, they feel robotic and jagged in the worst ways, without any real punch, and they all blend together. The quieter moments do have an appealing playfulness to them, but they have no atmosphere and no real emotive presence either. The song is incredibly dry to listen to and just leaves me feeling nothing, and without any memorable riffs or beautiful melodies, with the harsh gruff vocals that have no emotion to them, it’s just unpleasant to listen to.
I understand why you would find this track unpleasant (and to each is own), but to say it has "no real emotion presence" is misleading. Music isn't just about "beautiful melodies" and simple emotions that can be easily categorized. There is a lot going on here, not only on a technical level. It's just that the internal meaning of the song is less obvious and much harder to grasp than most rock bands. I've come to accept the fact that this kind of music is only accessible if you're used to listen to classical music (especially 20th century classical music) or post 60's jazz, because they work the same way and seek for a more complete human experience, that involves not only emotions (even if subtle ones, and weird and jagged ones too, because the human experience is that way) but also intellect, critical distance, and abstract thinking, than most modern pop/rock music, which is mostly obvious and only seeks an immediate response from the listener.
To put it bluntly, the SGM stuff involves real emotions. The reified version of emotions that most rock and pop music sells you as "honest" or whatever, and is in reality contrived and conventional, does not.
On another note, "The Donkey-Headed Adversary Of Humanity Opens The Discussion" is one of their most accessible tracks, so you can skip the rest.
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Sent some hangmanencore
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Sent some folk metal. According to the first couple of posts, this should be up Parama's alley, but none of his music tastes make sense, so who knows.
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#10: LordCost: Sleepytime Gorilla Museum – The Donkey-Headed Adversary Of Humanity Opens The Discussion (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExtLHTGMYx8)
[...] The heavy parts have no power to them, they feel robotic and jagged in the worst ways, without any real punch, and they all blend together. The quieter moments do have an appealing playfulness to them, but they have no atmosphere and no real emotive presence either. The song is incredibly dry to listen to and just leaves me feeling nothing, and without any memorable riffs or beautiful melodies, with the harsh gruff vocals that have no emotion to them, it’s just unpleasant to listen to.
I understand why you would find this track unpleasant (and to each is own), but to say it has "no real emotion presence" is misleading. Music isn't just about "beautiful melodies" and simple emotions that can be easily categorized. There is a lot going on here, not only on a technical level. It's just that the internal meaning of the song is less obvious and much harder to grasp than most rock bands. I've come to accept the fact that this kind of music is only accessible if you're used to listen to classical music (especially 20th century classical music) or post 60's jazz, because they work the same way and seek for a more complete human experience, that involves not only emotions (even if subtle ones, and weird and jagged ones too, because the human experience is that way) but also intellect, critical distance, and abstract thinking, than most modern pop/rock music, which is mostly obvious and only seeks an immediate response from the listener.
To put it bluntly, the SGM stuff involves real emotions. The reified version of emotions that most rock and pop music sells you as "honest" or whatever, and is in reality contrived and conventional, does not.
On another note, "The Donkey-Headed Adversary Of Humanity Opens The Discussion" is one of their most accessible tracks, so you can skip the rest.
reminder: this is all my opinion, and when i say something has no emotional presence, that's because it makes me feel nothing
this post is literally the pretentious garbage i'm talking about though, can you please get out of my thread? :lol
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this post is literally the pretentious garbage i'm talking about though, can you please get out of my thread? :lol
I'll admit to being no expert in music, but I'm moderately knowledgeable about literature, and in that field it's been in vogue for a while now for people to supposedly find great depth in really bizarre and hard-to-read books or poetry while casting aspersions on "contrived and conventional" works. This seems to me like a similar situation, and I'm deeply skeptical of claims like that.
I only listened to a few minutes of that track, and it's not really anything I would want to listen to. I don't intend to cast aspersions on anyone who likes it—I guess I can see why someone might, for technicality if for nothing else—but I have to agree with what Parama said about pretension.
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tbh, it's mostly that he's trying to tell me my opinion is wrong
oh and i have 5/8 songs now, NUGGETZ
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That too, but what I'm getting at is the particular style of doing that: "oh, you're just used to that conventional, contrived stuff that is all fake emotion, while this thing that an uncultured person like you might find robotic, dry or unpleasant is where true emotion lies."
It's just a particular attitude that I find annoying.
Anyway, let me try and find a song for you.
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I feel bad for people who can't find enjoyment in "Napalm Death - You Suffer", they probably just don't have a human experience as complete as mine
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OMG Train how did you know what my favorite song was?!!
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Educated guess.
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I can't believe I'm going to argue that one, because I'm usually the guy who stays away from all discussion like this since I come here mostly to relax and share my opinion about music and have fun, but something about this just got under my skin I suppose.
To put it bluntly, the SGM stuff involves real emotions. The reified version of emotions that most rock and pop music sells you as "honest" or whatever, and is in reality contrived and conventional, does not.
Stuff like this sounds like you would really benefit to get off the high horse, so to speak. Hell, everyone gets emotional over different things, depending on the life events experienced, the way of living, the way your personality shaped up through all the years. Sometimes it's the simplicity and honesty that does it, where only the piano and the voice behind the song can make you weep because of how personal the subject to you or how stunningly beautiful the vocal melody is, or sometimes it's the outright anger and chaotic nature of the song, or sometimes it's the complexity; I'm fairly sure every person here on DTF is slightly different in this regard. To label some of the music containing and evoking "real emotions" and shrugging off other music (which may or may not be more or less simple than the band/song in question), saying it's "fake" and only "sells you the reified version of emotions as «honest»" is inconsiderate at best, and quite belittling and insulting to other forum users, once again in my opinion.
Short version, I'm with 425 on that matter. But hey, to each their own I guess.
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Ye in arts there's this line between something being a masterpiece or a piece of hipster shit, and music is no different. Some of my friends love SGM just because how weird, creepy and bizarre their music is. I guess his point was that "The Donkey-Headed Adversary..." just explores a different range of emotions than most music does, these being quite dark ones. But they're still human anyway, like sadness or rage, or more typical emotions. Different strokes for different folks I guess.
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:corn
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Again, not saying as a fact that it's emotionless
Just saying that it evokes no emotions for me, other than annoyance :lol
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Anyway, sent my final song! Might as well go out with something different from what I usually send.
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I sent as well. I tried to channel Parama and send something sort of weird, but my tastes are so vanilla compared to the Paramacore side of this forum that I'm half expecting to get a result of "Too normal and generic. 5.5."
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Just missing Sacul it looks like. I can get impressions and hangman up tonight if he sends :corn
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It's already 9.22 PM and I'm going to sleep since hey, getting up at 5 AM isn't fun. Hopefully Sacul will delay this for eight - or better ten :biggrin: - hours or something. I want to get a stab on the unguessed hangman which I seem to be missing lately, always coming in threads when there are already a few letters guessed.
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if it makes you feel better, I won't be home for 6 more hours and will probably not have anything up for 2 hours after that anyways
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Try to guess this one:
_____ _________ - _____ __ ___, ___ __ ________
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Green Carnation - Light of Day, Day of Darkness? :D
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The official roulette song of Parama.
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I literally sent it once ever sheesh
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Green Carnation - Light of Day, Day of Darkness? :D
Are you a real life superhero and this is your power? Still better than Superman.
That's impressive in the nerdiest way.
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Well that's one of the most popular roulette songs so I could understand that.. but through PM Evermind has just shown me his supernatural powers, he guessed the song I sent this round without ANY letters, on top of which: I've never sent this band before and never posted about them (I think). I made a deal and unfortunately lost, so if I make it to round 4 Parama will get something from me that'll surely get me booted.
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Let's make it that way, if I'm eliminated in Round 3, you don't have to send that song.
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But apparently you weren't even sure whether that was the song, how did you come to the conclusion? Tell us the secret
Bet you've never heard of it either
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I'm almost never sure when I'm guessing. That's kind of why it's called "guessing". :biggrin:
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tbh i am thinking of trying something different than hangmanen this time but there will still be a guessing game regardless
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Give us an E
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I liked Trains 'guess the album cover' but it looks like a ball ache to set up.
Use only emojis to write the band/song? Like modern day hieroglyphics, but it will make you dumber!
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Yeah that was a bitch to make, once but never again.
I also had a draft going on where I would use 0's and 1's to indicate consonants and vowels, I was gonna reveal some letters along the way or something but it all seemed a bit sloppy.
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I'm just gonna do like band/song hints tbh :lol
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Just to say my opinion and conclude the debate, I've listened many times the SGM songs I know. I believe that the replay value of those songs comes half for the genius of the band and half for the """catchiness""" and atmosphere that the music conveys.
I know by heart only six tracks of SGM (first five of Of Natural History plus Babydoctor) and based on those songs I can say that the album is a work of art that has to be shared and remembered for many years. I'm going to discover the rest of the album, but I remember that I saved only those songs in my player because the others were interesting only at a conceptual level and nothing more. The first tracks were instead more rock and metal oriented and I enjoy them.
I knew my submission was either a 2 or 9, so there's no problem :)
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i have all 8 songs, and have listened to 0 of them yet because i've been busy
i'll just try to barrel through them all tonight and hopefully have tidbits and hangman or something ready before i sleep :lol
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Round 3 First Impressions
It’s actually an interesting contrast between the bright instrumentation and the darker vibes here, and the instrumentation itself is solidly interesting on its own too.
The strings are a nice touch, the riffs have a lot of power and energy to them, the drumming is pretty solid. I’m not so sure this song can sustain its length, though.
A bit into this and I’m finding that while this isn’t really standing out as anything particularly unique, there’s some cool riffs going on and it’s far from boring.
There’s a grandness, a sense of raw power to this track. It’s a basic song but really effective in what it does.
The wall of sound created by the guitars and strings is wonderfully dense and fuzzy, the drums aren’t destroying it by being too active and the vocals blend right in.
The back half has a more standard sound to it and inevitably a sound I like a lot more, it’s very spacey and ethereal.
There’s not much about this that I find myself interested in, and with how long it takes to really get going that’s not a great sign.
The intro of this is kind of haunting and when the vocals come in it definitely seems like it’s trying to veer in that direction.
Overall: Okay, this is blatantly the best round of the roulette thus far, which should be expected after cutting a third of the participants away I guess, but it's the best in a "almost every score of this round would be at or above the median score of the previous rounds" kind of way, or at least that's how I'm feeling on first listen. I won't judge too quickly either and maybe all of them could even end up in the 7+ range, and I wouldn't doubt the best song of the roulette thus far is in this round, nor would I be able to tell you just which one it is yet.
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Round 3 Hangman!!!
???: ________ - ___ ______ __ ____
???: _________ ____ - ___ _____ ___ _____
???: _____ _____ - _/_____
???: ______ _____ - _______
???: ___ ___ ____ ____ - _____ ____ __ ____
???: _______________ - _____________
???: ____ ___________ - _______
???: ____ _____ - ____
I'm too tired/lazy to put together the other thing I wanted to try, maybe I'll do it next round when I only have 6 songs :lol
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There’s not much about this that I find myself interested in, and with how long it takes to really get going that’s not a great sign.
Mine.
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The back half has a more standard sound to it and inevitably a sound I like a lot more, it’s very spacey and ethereal.
Maybe mine.
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1. no
2. no
3. maybe
4. maybe
5. no
6. no
7. no
8. maybe
Also, give me the D.
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Tomislav95 waits 3.
Letters guessed:
D
???: ___d____ - ___ ___d__ __ ____
???: ________d ____ - ___ _____ ___ _____
???: _____ _____ - _/_____
???: ______ ____d - _______
???: ___ __d D__d ____ - _____ D___ __ D___
???: ______________d - _____________
???: D___ ___________ - ___d___
???: ____ _____ - ____
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There’s a grandness, a sense of raw power to this track. It’s a basic song but really effective in what it does.
Could be mine, also G
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home waits 3.
Tomislav95 waits 2.
Letters guessed:
DG
???: ___d____ - ___ G__d__ __ ____
???: ________d ____ - ___ _____ ___ _____
???: _____ _____ - _/_____
???: ______ ____d - ____g__
???: ___ __d D__d ____ - _____ D___ __ D___
???: ______________d - ____g________
???: D___ ___________ - ___d___
???: ____ _____ - ____
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Gimme the O.
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There’s a grandness, a sense of raw power to this track. It’s a basic song but really effective in what it does.
There’s not much about this that I find myself interested in, and with how long it takes to really get going that’s not a great sign.
Leaning towards the first one but I'm not sure
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Wilderun - The Garden of Fire
ToN had the same song in his roulette, can't remember who sent it though. Boss track anyway.
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Scorpion waits 3.
home waits 2.
Tomislav95 waits 1.
Letters guessed:
DGO
???: Wilderun - The Garden of Fire
???: __o_____d ____ - _o_ _____ ___ __o__
???: _____ ____o - _/_____
???: __o___ ____d - __o_g__
???: ___ O_d D__d ____ - _____ Do__ __ Do__
???: _o____________d - ____g________
???: D___ ___________ - ___d___
???: ____ _____ - _o__
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The Old Dead Tree - What's Done Is Done, Tomislav?
I would normally say Scorpion but
Wilderun - The Garden of Fire
ToN had the same song in his roulette, can't remember who sent it though. Boss track anyway.
That was him.
Oh and give me some S
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Scorpion waits 2.
home waits 1.
Letters guessed:
DGOS
Scorpion: Wilderun - The Garden of Fire
???: __o_____d ____ - _o_ _____ ___ S_o__
???: _____ ____o - _/____s
???: S__o__s ____d - __o_g_s
???: The Old Dead Tree - What's Done Is Done
???: _o___s________d - ____g________
???: D___ ___________ - ___d___
???: ___s _____ - _o__
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Are there any Ms?
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Tomislav95 waits 3.
Train of Naught waits 2.
Scorpion waits 1.
Letters guessed:
DGOSM
Scorpion: Wilderun - The Garden of Fire
???: __o_____d ____ - _o_ _____ ___ S_o__
???: _____ ____o - _/____s
???: S__o__s ____d - __o_g_s
???: The Old Dead Tree - What's Done Is Done
???: _o___s________d - ____g____m___
???: D___ ___________ - ___d__m
???: ___s ____m - Mo__
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H
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Bolsters waits 3.
Tomislav95 waits 2.
Train of Naught waits 1.
Letters guessed:
DGOSMH
Scorpion: Wilderun - The Garden of Fire
???: __o_____d ____ - _o_ _h___ _h_ S_o__
???: _____ ____o - _/____s
???: S__o__s ____d - _ho_gh_s
???: The Old Dead Tree - What's Done Is Done
???: _o___s___h____d - ____gh___m___
???: D___ ___________ - ___d__m
???: ___s ___hm - Mo__
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W
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there is a single w, it is the 5th letter of the second word of the second song title
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Y
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there is a single w, it is the 5th letter of the second word of the second song title
Theres another one in the second word of that band :corn
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this is why I don't update hangmanen at work :lol
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Sacul waits 3.
Bolsters waits 2.
Tomislav95 waits 1.
Letters guessed:
DGOSMHW
Scorpion: Wilderun - The Garden of Fire
???: __o_____d _w__ - _o_ _h__w _h_ S_o__
???: _____ ____o - _/____s
???: S__o__s ____d - _ho_gh_s
???: The Old Dead Tree - What's Done Is Done
???: _o___s___h____d - ____gh___m___
???: D___ ___________ - ___d__m
???: ___s ___hm - Mo__
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I only see Train's song and mine.
P
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Evermind waits 3.
Sacul waits 2.
Bolsters waits 1.
Letters guessed:
DGOSMHWP
Scorpion: Wilderun - The Garden of Fire
???: P_o_____d _w__ - _o_ _h__w _h_ S_o__
???: _____ ____o - _/____s
???: Spo__s ____d - _ho_gh_s
???: The Old Dead Tree - What's Done Is Done
???: _o___s___h____d - ____gh___m___
???: D___ ___________ - ___d__m
???: ___s ___hm - Mo__
i'm really surprised one of these hasn't been guessed, but i'm pretty sure it's going to be guessed right away after that
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Spock's Beard :P
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Spocks Beard - Thoughts would be my gueas, but it's missing 1 letter between Sp and o then
So I will guess Spoocky Beard - Thoughts
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what extra space are you talking about
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The one you edited out. :loser:
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If a certain someone were to send Gojira in this roulette, are they automatically removed from the roulette or will you atleast try to like it. It's in my nature to fill big holes.
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gojira scored like a 6.5/10 in my last roulette, and i've never really cared for a single song i've heard from them
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Gimme dat A.
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Scorpion waits 3.
Evermind waits 2.
Sacul waits 1.
Letters guessed:
DGOSMHWPA
Scorpion: Wilderun - The Garden of Fire
???: P_o_____d _w__ - _o_ _h__w _h_ S_o__
???: _____ ____o - _/____s
???: Spock's Beard - Thoughts
???: The Old Dead Tree - What's Done Is Done
???: _o_a_s___ha___d - ____gh___m___
???: Da__ __a________ - ___d__m
???: ___s __ahm - Mo__
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I
-
I
This is going to give away my band and my song completely. :lol
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#10: LordCost: Sleepytime Gorilla Museum – The Donkey-Headed Adversary Of Humanity Opens The Discussion (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExtLHTGMYx8)
[...] The heavy parts have no power to them, they feel robotic and jagged in the worst ways, without any real punch, and they all blend together. The quieter moments do have an appealing playfulness to them, but they have no atmosphere and no real emotive presence either. The song is incredibly dry to listen to and just leaves me feeling nothing, and without any memorable riffs or beautiful melodies, with the harsh gruff vocals that have no emotion to them, it’s just unpleasant to listen to.
I understand why you would find this track unpleasant (and to each is own), but to say it has "no real emotion presence" is misleading. Music isn't just about "beautiful melodies" and simple emotions that can be easily categorized. There is a lot going on here, not only on a technical level. It's just that the internal meaning of the song is less obvious and much harder to grasp than most rock bands. I've come to accept the fact that this kind of music is only accessible if you're used to listen to classical music (especially 20th century classical music) or post 60's jazz, because they work the same way and seek for a more complete human experience, that involves not only emotions (even if subtle ones, and weird and jagged ones too, because the human experience is that way) but also intellect, critical distance, and abstract thinking, than most modern pop/rock music, which is mostly obvious and only seeks an immediate response from the listener.
To put it bluntly, the SGM stuff involves real emotions. The reified version of emotions that most rock and pop music sells you as "honest" or whatever, and is in reality contrived and conventional, does not.
On another note, "The Donkey-Headed Adversary Of Humanity Opens The Discussion" is one of their most accessible tracks, so you can skip the rest.
reminder: this is all my opinion, and when i say something has no emotional presence, that's because it makes me feel nothing
this post is literally the pretentious garbage i'm talking about though, can you please get out of my thread? :lol
Agree that it should be obvious that you were talking about your own opinions so fair enough, but you didn't need to be quite so mean in response.
Digging your writeups by the way. Just started following roulettes again!
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Luoto waits 3.
Scorpion waits 2.
Evermind waits 1.
Letters guessed:
DGOSMHWPAI
Scorpion: Wilderun - The Garden of Fire
???: P_o_____d _wi_ - _o_ _h__w _h_ S_o__
???: _i___ ____o - _/____s
???: Spock's Beard - Thoughts
???: The Old Dead Tree - What's Done Is Done
???: _o_a_s___ha___d - ___igh___m___
???: Da__ __a___i_i__ - I_idi_m
???: _i_s __ahm - Mo__
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PSA that I updated the round structure after thinking about it for a bit longer.
Next round will be the two-song round, because the way I'm eliminating people that round requires at least two sacrifices. To make up for that, I changed the round after to be a semi-epic round, where you can send me any of those sweet 10 to 15 minute songs you've been holding. And then the epic round after that as usual.
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Dark Tranquility - Iridium
I wouldn't say Evermind but
I
This is going to give away my band and my song completely. :lol
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Nils Frahm - A Middle Of The Road Song That Will Pull Sacul Through To The Next Round
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Dark Tranquility - Iridium
I wouldn't say Evermind but
I
This is going to give away my band and my song completely. :lol
:tup
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Dark Tranquility - Iridium
Tranquillity* ;)
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Excuse my French ;D
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Dark Tranquility - Iridium
Tranquillity* ;)
Wow, I haven't ever noticed that. I think I provided the wrong name in PM too.
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Nils Frahm - A Perfect Song That Will Pull Sacul Through To The Next Round
Yup.
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Shame On The Night is all kinds of awesome. 425's score needs to be adjusted.
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changed to a 4.25/10
also nobody guessed a letter so i haven't updated hangman sorry but nils frahm and both parts of dark tranquility and everminding and all are right
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L, when you can be bothered.
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Bolsters waits 3.
Luoto waits 2.
Scorpion waits 1.
Letters guessed:
DGOSMHWPAIL
Scorpion: Wilderun - The Garden of Fire
???: P_o_____d _wi_ - _o_ _h__w _h_ S_o__
???: _i___ _l__o - _/____s
???: Spock's Beard - Thoughts
???: The Old Dead Tree - What's Done Is Done
???: _o_als_l_ha___d - __ligh___m___
Evermind: Dark Tranquillity - Iridium
Sacul: Nils Frahm - Mo__
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Projected Twin - You Threw the Stone
And one of the songs looks to be titled Enlightenment
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B
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yes, yes, and the first letter of the third band is the only b
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So it's Biffy Clyro sent by home, don't know the song though
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Perhaps you should guess numbers instead of letters ::)
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Perhaps you should guess numbers instead of letters ::)
9/15ths
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Perhaps you should guess numbers instead of letters ::)
9/15ths
:tup
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all the things are right
just need one band name and a number of who sent whats
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425 = Mr. Spock
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I'm guessing Tomislav sent The Old Dead Tree.
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yes and then no, someone already guessed that :lol
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results when tho
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The Nils Frahm song is More, I'm guessing?
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yes
Also results Saturday probably I won't have energy to do all the writeups Friday night
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Bolsters = The Old Dead Tree
ToN = Projected Twin
me = _o_als_l_ha___d
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might as well guess your own band name tbh
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I'm on fire today. (I should really get a life)
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The Nils Frahm song is More, I'm guessing?
Yup, and I absolutely recommend it to you (and anybody tbh).
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There's one band name missing, right? Give me the E.
The Nils Frahm song is More, I'm guessing?
Yup, and I absolutely recommend it to you (and anybody tbh).
I agree. :)
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Oh, it's Totalselfhatred (Finnish band). Apparently the official song title is Enlightment.
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Yes, it is. Wow I didn't notice it's Enlightment :lol
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Scorpion: Wilderun - The Garden of Fire
Train of Naught: Projected Twin - You Threw the Stone
home: Biffy Clyro - 9/15ths
425: Spock's Beard - Thoughts
Bolsters: The Old Dead Tree - What's Done Is Done
Tomislav95: Totalselfhatred - Enlightenment
Evermind: Dark Tranquillity - Iridium
Sacul: Nils Frahm - More
it's done
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half the writeups done. i have a good feeling of who's going to be cut but the average score is skewed waaayy higher this round so they shouldn't feel too bad about it imo. results tomorrow for sure, having less songs to review makes this a bit quicker/less stressful than like round 1 or 2 was and also having the songs be generally better helps too. so yeah :soon:
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It's me isn't it
FeelsBadMan
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It's me isn't it
Me and you both, probably.
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I'm definitely out though.
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darn, you spoiled the results. everyone is out. the roulette is over
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I expect to score quite high yet it wouldn't surprise me I'm out of this :P
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I expect to score quite high yet it wouldn't surprise me I'm out of this :P
wow you're really sure of yourself
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I like how pretty much everyone except Sacul thinks they're going to be cut.
It's totally going to be me.
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It's easier to accept being eliminated if you half except it :corn
I would say my song matches Parama's taste but maybe he appreciates risking and exploring new territories more than sending atmospheric bm :lol
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I can definitely see me being sacked this round
if Parama has no emotions at all and is not moved by my beautiful song.
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the highest score on any of my writeups thus far is 8.75, and i was tempted to make it a 9 but i don't think it's quite there for me yet. though it's really hard for a song to hit 9 when i only give it 5 listens to be fair but some songs could do it, being human would've prob been a 9 or 9.25 when i originally scored it and limousine a 9.5 or 9.75, maybe even a flat 10, it's just that good :lol
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Don't eliminate me and you're getting a 10 song next round :P
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:corn :corn :corn
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:corn :corn :corn
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:corn :corn :corn
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i may go back and revise the score of the amorphis song to 7.75 because it is not a 7.5 at all and it's throwing off my arbitrary scoring scale by being too good for the number i gave it
this is why scoring scales suck but i will continue to use them regardless :lol
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Floating Like a Feather
#6: Evermind: Dark Tranquillity – Iridium (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFtTYkG1hYE)
First Impressions:
I don’t know what Celestial Violence without Einar would be. Just the growly parts? That sounds very un-Evermind-y. Jokes aside. I feel like you meant that as a “contrast between quieter, atmospheric parts and heavier, more explosive ones”. Regardless, having growls at all makes for one weird entry coming from you. There’s a grandness, a sense of raw power to this track. It’s a basic song but really effective in what it does. I don’t know what else to say about it.
Final Thoughts:
I still kind of feel like you were bribed into sending something like this but whatever haha. I’m glad you did regardless, it’s a pretty rad song. Has the growlies instant 10/10.
Anyways. The quiet intro is solid but it doesn’t really have the emotional depth of the song you directly compared it too, but it’s solid nonetheless. When the song really kicks in though, that’s what I’m talking about. Just a pure power to it. Crushing guitars, booming drums, the synths providing a melodic background. It all sort of blends together into a wall of sound, but in a good way, the kind that overwhelms you as you listen to it.
The rest of the song is kind of just there in comparison to the chorus, really. The second verse has a bit more power behind it, the bridge has a solid guitar melody going on but it’s repeated a bit too much, and the outro is… well, a bit too long for sure, but there’s some nice, subtle melodic stuff going on there. It’s all okay, but the chorus really outshines the rest of this. I don’t dislike the rest but I find it all “okay” at best.
I think I had a pretty positive kneejerk reaction to this one, and then on relistens noticed how little it really had to offer as a whole… it’s solid, there’s no doubting that, and that chorus is killer, but not especially unique either. I definitely enjoy it, there’s no doubt about that, but I feel like if I keep listening to this one I’d start to lose interest in it. Kind of like what happened with Celestial Violence and most of Arktis, to be honest, so I guess hey the comparison works! Just not in the way you wanted it to, perhaps.
7.5/10
#5: home: Biffy Clyro – 9/15ths (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYRZA_U1kDc)
First Impressions:
This is the band that Mike Vennart played with for a bit, and also I’ve heard a few songs by as well. And is apparently djent, according to Evermind. The intro of this is kind of haunting and when the vocals come in it definitely seems like it’s trying to veer in that direction. Okay, and when the heavy guitars kick in it’s just crushing and intense. The climax is utterly massive, too. Shame it’s so brief, though, but that definitely makes it concise.
Final Thoughts:
I kind of saw this coming, but the main issue of this song is pretty apparent; repeating one line over and over makes for a repetitive song, no matter how much you build up that one line. It’s not a particularly deep or interesting lyric to begin with, either. I do get tired of it, I wish there was more variety to the lyrics. There’s like one bit that has different lyrics but it’s short and they go back to the main line right after.
Musically though this is great. The somber guitar in the intro and the unnerving strings backing it. The crushing and punchy guitar when the song really kicks in, The bass and drums synchronizing with the rhythm to give it that much more punch. The choir that comes in to back the vocals, and then takes center stage at the end. The way the first loud bit doesn’t quite go over the top so that they have something to top it later.
I really like the bridge between the two “choruses” of the song too, the crash cymbal rolls and fuzzy guitar and guitar noise creating this massive wall of sound that builds perfectly to the climax. And the screeching strings that come in over the final heavy bit to make it all that more powerful, just wonderfully epic.
I’m almost wondering if the song’s length works in its favor to some extent, as it’d be exponentially more repetitive if it were twice as long and I’d probably get tired of it, but at under 3 minutes it’s kept concise and relistenable, even if I’m slightly bothered by the lyrics. But it’s really only slightly, and overall this is a killer track. Maybe one day I’ll actually look deeper into these guys, I’ve known about them forever, so, yeah.
8/10
#4: Tomislav95: Totalselfhatred – Enlightenment (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu2-8m9k51E)
First Impressions:
Pretty distinctly getting a “nothing especially unique, but just rather well done” vibe from this one right away. The wall of sound created by the guitars and strings is wonderfully dense and fuzzy, the drums aren’t destroying it by being too active and the vocals blend right in. It definitely fits in with the kind of black metal I enjoy; intense and beautiful, crushing and gorgeous, and not really concerned with being br00tal or dissonant.
Final Thoughts:
I guess if I had to pick out a fault in this track, it’s that all the louder parts sound the same, as far as I can tell there’s not much variation outside of the vocals and the drums changing a few times. That being said, what gets repeated is plenty good and it’s atmospheric in a way such that I don’t really get tired of it, so that’s more of a nitpick than anything.
I think the MVP of this track are the strings that show up in the quieter places. They really help keep the song sounding dense and haunting, they provide a darker texture that plays well off the guitar and piano melodies, creating a chilling mood that I quite like. The guitar and piano lines during the quieter moments are both solid too, they serve their purpose plenty well.
Surprisingly, considering this is a black metal track, the bass is pretty audible throughout the louder moments of the track. Not that it does much special other than a few melodies towards the end of the song, but it’s nice to hear regardless. The drums also mostly change by adding double-kick bass to the same straightforward rhythm which drives the energy of the song up ever so slightly while not really breaking the atmosphere.
It’s really hard to describe this song in ways other than “everything works” and “it all sounds good”. I can’t say this is as spacey or easy to get lost in as Alrakis tends to be for me, but it’s a similar sound in a lot of the same ways and definitely a sound I can get behind. I’d definitely listen to a whole album of songs like this, absolutely. Not a standout track but certainly an enjoyable one regardless.
8.25/10
#3: Bolsters: The Old Dead Tree – What’s Done is Done (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPhWdYkiR3k)
First Impressions:
A bit into this and I’m finding that while this isn’t really standing out as anything particularly unique, there’s some cool riffs going on and it’s far from boring. That weird disco guitar that pops up in a few places is a strange choice though. I’m not sure why it’s there or what it’s supposed to add. The calmer break in the middle is solid. This is one of those songs that doesn’t have anything really standing out on first listen but is just all-around solid, and I’m fine with that.
Final Thoughts:
This song is kind of all over the place. The intro guitar tone is something straight out of some kind of mid 2000’s indie rock track. Then the song kicks in with a driving, slightly heavier pop rock style riff and death metal growls. And that random funk/disco guitar that happens on the chorus. And then 1:30 there’s the slower bit that has this feeling of impending doom about it, it’s macabre in a way. And THEN a cut to a quieter middle. And there’s a piano in there too, just for good measure?
Honestly as simple as the guitar riffs in this song are, I quite like them. They have a lot of groove to them but also a driving force when it’s needed. They keep the song’s energy high but they’re crunchy enough to have power too. The slower, heavily melodic parts are probably my favorite bits though, I just like the atmosphere they have, it’s dark in an interesting way. There’s not really anything new that shows up past the halfway mark aside from a guitar solo and an intense riff accompanying it as the song builds up to its climax, but there’s enough to the song that it doesn’t get stale either.
The growls are a bit underplayed here, only showing up a few times, but they’re pretty solid, and the song gets suitably intense to match them whenever they show up. The cleans are solid too, not exceptional but plenty serviceable and the vocal melodies are pretty good on the whole, no real complaints on that front. Really the only nitpicks I have are that disco guitar that I’m just not a huge fan of, same with the tone of the guitar during the intro. They’re both just too fuzzy and thin sounding, I suppose.
I still wouldn’t say that this is especially a “standout” song in any way, but one that covers all its bases well and has very little about it I find unappealing. It’s just a very enjoyable listen. I can dig it. Another case where I’m ping-ponging between two scores so I’ll just give you the higher one, sure.
8.25/10
#2: 425: Spock’s Beard – Thoughts (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzfxmGD033c)
First Impressions:
I found myself able to predict some of the repeating melodies in the intro after hearing the first bar of the phrase, which isn’t exactly the greatest thing for something that’s trying to be unpredictable prog, but it’s not like I see most of it coming anyways. I can see where you’re coming from with the weirdness, between the noises in the intro and the a cappella-feeling vocal bits. Beyond that though it’s a fairly standard prog rock type of affair with a dark mood going through it. It’s actually an interesting contrast between the bright instrumentation and the darker vibes here, and the instrumentation itself is solidly interesting on its own too. It definitely feels like you’ve really stepped up your game after the past two rounds, at the very least.
Final Thoughts:
Out of all the songs in this roulette so far, this is probably the most memorable and the catchiest. Obviously that’s not a bad thing in and of itself, but if what’s catchy is something annoying or unpleasant then it can make a mediocre song awful. That’s an effect a lot of pop has, it’s bad but also catchy and thus way worse than it should be.
I’m going off on a tangent for no real reason though because this song rules, actually. There’s just something about… the goofy synth sound and the melodies, contrasted with the dark feeling the song has as a whole. It turns something bouncy and playful into something really unsettling, like it’s mocking the singer in some way or another. I don’t know. It works, but I can’t explain quite why. And it’s maddeningly catchy, but in a good way.
I like how they have multiple singers and all of them are doing something, even if the backing singers don’t really sound all that great, the way they all play off each other and interact makes the vocals more interesting than they otherwise would’ve been. And I guess the lead singer is Morse? I don’t actually know but I’d assume so. Whoever it is, they do a killer job selling the emotion of the song, both in the somber moments and the more intense moments, I dig their vocals especially. The only one who doesn’t really sound so great is whichever one is panned to the right speaker and starts out each phrase, I guess. Not a huge deal, doesn’t sound awful either.
Probably my favorite parts are the more straightforward and driving bits that bookend the song, that guitar line combined with that bass and those drums, it just all comes together in a really great way. Especially with how unhinged everything gets at the end of the track, drums and guitar both going off onto chaotic tangents. And the way every phrase ends with the brighter and jagged guitar line just to break things up and keep you on your toes. I dig it.
Honestly at some point this was my favorite song of the round, and I have no clue why I’ve never looked into these guys before considering I’ve known about them forever, but I probably will give them at least a listen or two following this.
8.5/10
Forgot Their Parachute
#8: Train of Naught: Projected Twin – You Threw the Stone (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9x4mCZYf3bc)
First Impressions:
It feels to me like the singer can’t really hit those long notes very well. They sound a bit off and a bit drab, not even the slightest vibrato on them. Right now I’m waiting for this to really kick into full gear and I’m worried it’s not actually going to do so at over halfway into the song. It builds up and finally does at almost 4 minutes in, which really does feel a bit too late. There’s not much about this that I find myself interested in, and with how long it takes to really get going that’s not a great sign. It’s just… a song that exists.
Final Thoughts:
I think my problem with the song kicking in so late was only a first listen problem. I was anticipating something that seemed like it didn’t want to happen, and by the time it did happen it didn’t feel satisfying. But having a better grasp of the song’s overall structure, it’s fine the way it is. Just a little offputting on first listen.
What has not improved is the vocals, unfortunately. The singer does most of the notes just fine, but he absolutely cannot sustain those long ones. There’s no vibrato on them and they always end up veering slightly flat. It’s weird especially because there’s light vibrato on some of the shorter ones? But the end result is that the long notes just sound grating once they’ve gone on for two or three seconds. I really can’t get past that.
Musically, it’s certainly solid. It’s again mixed nicely, everything comes through pretty clear. The bass doesn’t really do much more than double the guitar a lot of the time but it’s audible enough to hold its own weight. The drums are all-around pretty solid, they help with the build later in the track and there’s some neat stuff during the climax. The guitar lines I do like, the very dreamy main guitar melody that goes on through a lot of the song, and the riff at the end is actually quite strong, I dig it. And there’s even horns that creep in around 1:30 for a little bit, it’s a nice touch.
I would definitely say that on the whole this song did grow on me, and I don’t really think anything about it got worse; the vocals I wasn’t much a fan of at all on first listen but by my final listen I was only really bothered by the long notes, and even then not as bothered. But bothered nonetheless. It’s just a bit too much to get past. As well, it’s not like the song is anything particularly fresh or unique, just a solid song for the most part with a bit of an issue regarding the vocals. But it’s hard to be too harsh on it, it’s still an enjoyable track, just a bit flawed.
7/10
#7: Sacul: Nils Frahm – More (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH2IVFKAx9M)
First Impressions:
“Zantera / Sacul Music” this definitely is. About half this song is holding on the muted sound created by that weird recording technique you mentioned, there’s a twinkly feel to it. But also a kind of stunted one. I’m not sure I like how wooden it makes everything sound – literally wooden, I mean. The back half has a more standard sound to it and inevitably a sound I like a lot more, it’s very spacey and ethereal. This song is destined to stand out from the rest of the songs this round by sheer virtue of not being rock or metal, as well. I’m not sure I’m a huge fan but it’s certainly pleasant to listen to, and easy to listen to as well.
Final Thoughts:
Honestly, I’m having trouble finding much to say about this. It’s calming, relaxing music. Music to zone out to, music I’d honestly enjoy more in the background than as the main attraction. But when you sit me down and force me to focus on it, all that ends up happening is that my mind starts to wander while I’m listening to it. And while I generally would say that I do indeed like this I can’t say I feel too strongly about it. I’d rather be listening to Hammock. I always want to be listening to Hammock, though, so maybe that’s a bit unfair.
The first half of the song is basically just one idea played for four and a half minutes. It evolves slightly and in subtle ways, with new layers of texture coming in and out, but I can never really say it noticeably changes or moves forward in any real way. I’ve warmed up to the sound, I think it does add a nice layer of texture to the whole thing and that the first half wouldn’t be as interesting as it is without it, so yeah, I guess it works in that regard. I guess though, the pacing is just too fast for me to really find this that calming, but it’s certainly pleasant.
At about the halfway point the song cuts out for some melancholic piano. I like this part. It doesn’t go on for too long and it’s a nice melody. The piano sounds a lot more full and organic here too, which is definitely a sound I appreciate. My favorite phase of the song though is probably the ambient last few minutes, with a gorgeous, thick soundscape and some gentle piano going on under it. That’s a sound that I really find I like. It’s relaxing.
I do find this pleasant to listen to, obviously, but it just doesn’t really stand out in any way. The recording gimmick is kind of neat and unique, but the sound it creates isn’t really that new, just a bit different than what you’d expect a piano track to sound like. It’s hard for me to really “love” this, though I definitely at least “like” it. And it’s probably something I’ll put on in the background at least a few more times in the future.
7.25/10
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Soaring Like An Eagle
#1: Scorpion: Wilderun – The Garden of Fire (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1DOGUgPy7c)
First Impressions:
Ahh, this is definitely the kind of growls I’m just never really a fan of. They sound really… forced is the only way I’ve ever been able to describe them. But then everything about this is pretty cool so far. The strings are a nice touch, the riffs have a lot of power and energy to them, the drumming is pretty solid. I’m not so sure this song can sustain its length, though. Halfway in and my attention’s starting to waver. And then the song goes and turns folky for a moment just to yell “hey! pay attention!” at me I guess. I feel like they should’ve played up the folky elements of this a bit more, they seem a bit too downplayed throughout most of this. Yeah, maybe I’ll warm up to this on relistens because it’s still pretty cool, but I am definitely not feeling a full 9 and a half minutes of this yet.
Final Thoughts:
Okay, that intro is just dang cool, first and foremost. A cool drum fill followed up by this intense and grand sound, intense drums and guitar with strings providing a strong melody, every phrase ending with a pause to keep the song hitting you over and over again each time it starts back up. It works really well.
There’s a lot of moments to this song, and they just… work, in a very nondescript way. The groovy heavy riff of the early verses, it just works. The moment when clean vocals kick in over a nicely-textured backdrop, it works. The burst of intensity that follows immediately after, it contrasts nicely and just plain works. It’s hard to really talk about stuff like this in a meaningful way other than that I like it.
And now that I’m more familiar with the track, I don’t really find it that samey at all; if anything, it’s a pretty diverse song that goes in a lot of different places while still reusing what it does reuse in an interesting way. The folky breakdown in the middle, it reprises the string melody from the very start, and that melody is weaved through the next heavy bits of the song too.
Probably the passage at 5:15 or so onwards is my favorite moment, some really pretty strings mixed with intense guitar and the folky plucking going on in the background, it’s a really gorgeous moment. There’s actually a lot more folky moments than I originally noticed, they’re just downplayed a lot and not usually the center of attention; the plucked instrument they use here is present in quite a few places in the background. What instrument is it anyways, I kind of want to know but I have no clue. And when the purely folk moments do pop up, the song is sure to continue their melodies into the more explicitly metal moments of the song, everything just ends up having a great flow to it.
The end result of this all is that the song just has a ton of power and a real epic sound to it, there’s a sense of progression throughout and there’s almost always something new and interesting happening every 30 seconds or so. I don’t think any of my complaints in my first impressions writeup really hold up at all anymore. the only thing I can really fault here is that I don’t think I have the time to listen to this enough to really take it all in.
8.75/10
Train and Sacul are out, everyone else gets to send 2 songs for Round 4! Just make sure to adhere to the length limits.
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haha ok now post the real results
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the real results are your results, post them
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Yes, I'm not out yet.
Don't know to try to send the best and the worst song or the two worst songs :corn
Seriously, I probably won't send soon, I'm not home.
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:soon:
I understand your complaints about the vocals, I personally love it because it sounds so overly dramatic. I'm not an expert on vocal techniques but I guess it's personal preference, though I wish he would make more use of vibrato on the long notes yeah, I would dig that.
Guess I won't be sending my punishment entry for losing the bet against Evermind then. It was going to be Mary Fields - Kim Jong Was Ill (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBWnMfqaxm0#t=1m20s) and would surely get me kicked but I just now noticed that it was going to be a 2-song round anyway. The guitarist in the striped shirt is all kinds of awesome though.
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Wow, I mean... I'm still in? :lol
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i almost cut you in favor of sacul but listening to both songs i determined i liked yours just a bit more
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Wow, my strategy actually worked? Parama liked my song? Insane.
Yeah, I also like that it's kind of quirky but also has a darker edge. And Neal Morse is indeed the lead singer on that track. I haven't fully explored Spock's Beard yet, but I know that the first six are the ones with Neal on them. Their debut, The Light, is really quirky and has a lot of different styles kind of thrown in together (which works surprisingly well on the title track of that one), and then starting with Beware of Darkness they started moving in more of a normal prog direction as near as I can tell (I only have their first three).
And now, wow, I have to send two songs? Let's see how things go with this new challenge.
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:sadpanda:
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Wow, I mean... I'm still in? :lol
What's going on
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it's basically an episode of the twilight zone at this point
only two people from my original roulette are left now, i just noticed
dang
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Sent my last round.
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I don't remember if you mentioned it (and it isn't in the rules post) but are these two songs supposed to be from the same artist or not?
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They don't have to be related songs in any way.
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I will send tomorrow. I really didn't expect to make it to this round so I didn't have songs prepared. :lol
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only have one person's songs atm, no real rush but i'd like to have everything by tomorrow evening or tuesday at the absolute latest
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Sent. I'm definitely out this time, I've pushed the envelope too far.
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1. The player who sends the worst overall song.
2. The player whose higher-ranking song scores the worst.
3. If these are both the same person, the player who sent the second worst higher-ranking song will be eliminated.
I just love how Parama predicted my result in this round in the very first post! :lol
Sending in a few minutes.
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You're predicting your elimination since round 1. I don't believe you.
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To be honest, I just wanted to get into Round 4 so I could send two power metal songs instead of one. I'm definitely going out this time.
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I'm the least confident about this round tbh. But you never know.
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Went ahead and sent my two best songs that aren't banned and aren't things that I'm 80% sure Parama won't like.
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I’m almost wondering if the song’s length works in its favor to some extent, as it’d be exponentially more repetitive if it were twice as long and I’d probably get tired of it, but at under 3 minutes it’s kept concise and relistenable, even if I’m slightly bothered by the lyrics.
I also think the short length works in it's favor, I can't really imagine this song being longer without getting boringish, eventhough I can't get enough of the "epic" part.
And is apparently djent, according to Evermind.
:o
I'll send tomorrow morning, sorry for the delay
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oh man yeah you probably don't know the injoke of evermind and what he thinks djent is :corn
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oh and if home sends me something before i sleep tonight or if i have enough time to listen tomorrow morning then i'll have some juicy first impressions and hangmanen for you all
EDIT: ok didn't get around to listening to two of the songs i already have anyways so impressions and hangmanen will be tuesday night sorry :lol
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oh man yeah you probably don't know the injoke of evermind and what he thinks djent is :corn
Nope, but I am curious now...
Sent two instrumental songs :hat
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Tyrias: Biffy Clyro – Stingin’ Belle
First thought: this is damn heavy. This riff is so pounding, and I guess it’s djenty too? I don’t actually know how exactly djent sounds, but if I hear the weird riff and dislike it, I assume it’s djent, sorry.
...
3/10
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Tyrias: Biffy Clyro – Stingin’ Belle
First thought: this is damn heavy. This riff is so pounding, and I guess it’s djenty too? I don’t actually know how exactly djent sounds, but if I hear the weird riff and dislike it, I assume it’s djent, sorry.
...
3/10
:rollin Well it's a pretty low rif with only two powerchords... That's a ridicolous low score though :P
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Yeah, I mean even Native Construct song got 3.5.
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Sent this track: https://youtu.be/MNyG-xu-7SQ
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Round 4 First Impressions
I get that the focus of this is definitely meant to be the vocals, and yeah, the singer sounds pretty good, but everything else here is just not working for me.
Sure takes its time kicking in for real but I don’t mind the atmospheric intro anyways so it’s all good.
Yeah, considering this climax they are pretty much wearing their influences on their sleeve, but I don’t really mind, it’s a nice and beautiful climax with enough power behind it to feel satisfying.
I have no clue how to feel about this, actually. There’s a nice 6/8 feel to this and the melodies are alright but not really gripping me.
This is definitely hitting all the right points with me for this kind of music; atmospheric and gorgeous and easy to get lost in.
It’s definitely a technical whirlwind but they have enough intelligence to break things up with some more chill moments every now and then.
This is probably the first song of the roulette that just feels like a bit much, and it’s not even that wacky or weird, or even really that long, just… too much.
But at the same time, without all the lead playing, this song would probably be really boring, the actual metal on display here is not that impressive.
I don’t know, on first listen this sound both a bit sparse and a bit played out. And the mixing really isn’t helping matters.
My impressions from the intro: “what the hell is this”. And then it kicks in for real and I’m like “oh. that’s what this is.”
It doesn’t really feel like it ever hits any sort of climax, just that it builds to something and then ends.
I think I like the vocals, but I’m not so sure they fit in with the style of music here. It sounds like he should be singing over Iron Maiden-style heavy metal, not what this actually is.
Elite why
Overall: Honestly not feeling a lot of these songs on first listen, there's some good stuff here and a few songs I feel will be growers but there's also several songs from multiple people that just aren't doing much for me at all, or even actively turning me away. We'll see how this turns out, I guess :lol
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Round 4 Hangman!!!
???: ___ ______ - ______
???: ____ ______ __________ - _______ _______
???: ___ _____ ________ - _____
???: ________ - ______ ___
???: ______ __________ - _______
???: ______ ____ - _____ _____
???: _______ _____ - _ _____ ____ __ _____ ___ ____
???: ___ ______ _____ - _____ __ _______
???: _______ _____ - _____________ _________
???: _____________ - ___ ___________
???: _____ ________ - _____ __ ____
???: __________ - ______ _____
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I don’t know, on first listen this sound both a bit sparse and a bit played out. And the mixing really isn’t helping matters.
It doesn’t really feel like it ever hits any sort of climax, just that it builds to something and then ends.
All potentially mine.
Give me all the D's.
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Bolsters waits D.
Letters guessed so far:
3
???: ___ ______ - ______
???: ____ ______ __________ - _______ D______
???: ___ _____ ________ - _____
???: ________ - ______ ___
???: ______ __________ - ___d___
???: ______ ____ - _____ _____
???: ____d__ ____d - _ _____ ____ __ _____ __d D___
???: ___ ______ _____ - _____ __ _______
???: _d_____ _____ - _____________ D________
???: _____________ - D__ ___d_______
???: ____d ____d___ - _____ __ ____
???: ______d___ - ______ _____
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M
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425 waits 3.
Bolsters waits 2.
Letters guessed so far:
DM
???: ___ ______ - ______
???: ____ ______ __________ - _______ D_m____
???: ___ __m__ ________ - _____
???: ________ - ______ ___
???: ______ __m_______ - ___d___
???: ______ ____ - _____ _____
???: ____d__ ____d - _ _____ ____ __ _____ __d D___
???: ___ ______ _____ - _____ __ _______
???: _d_____ _____ - _____________ D___m____
???: _____________ - D__ ___d_______
???: ____d ____d___ - _____ __ __m_
???: ___m__d___ - _m____ _____
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I'll take the T.
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Scorpion waits 3.
425 waits 2.
Bolsters waits 1.
Letters guessed so far:
DMT
???: T__ __t___ - ______
???: ____ ______ __________ - _____t_ D_m____
???: T__ __m__ ___t___t - ____t
???: ________ - ______ ___
???: __t___ T_m_t_t___ - ___d___
???: ____t_ ____ - _____ _____
???: ____d__ ____d - _ _____ ____ __ _t___ __d D__t
???: T__ ______ _____ - T____ t_ _______
???: _d_____ _____ - __t____t_____ D___m___t
???: ___________tt - D__ ___d__t_t__
???: ____d ____d___ - _____ __ T_m_
???: ___m__d___ - _m____ _____
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E
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It’s definitely a technical whirlwind but they have enough intelligence to break things up with some more chill moments every now and then.
My impressions from the intro: “what the hell is this”. And then it kicks in for real and I’m like “oh. that’s what this is.”
These two could be about the songs I sent ::)
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Elite why
This one's mine
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Are you sure? It's quite ambiguous.
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The Human Abstract - Faust
Probably sent by Scorpion.
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Panzerballett - Der Saxdiktator
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Pure Reason Revolution - Bullits Dominae
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Luoto waits 3.
Scorpion waits 2.
425 waits 1.
Letters guessed so far:
DMTE
???: T_e __t_e__ - _____e
???: Pure Reason Revolution - Bullits Dominae
Scorpion: The Human Abstract - Faust
???: ______e_ - ______ ___
???: __t___ Tem_t_t___ - ___d_e_
???: ____t_ ____ - _e___ _____
???: ____d__ ____d - _ ____e ____ __ _t__e __d D__t
???: T_e ____e_ _____ - T____ t_ ____e_e
???: _de____ _____ - __te___t_____ D_e_m_e_t
???: Panzerballett - Der Saxdiktator
???: ____d ____d___ - __ee_ __ T_me
???: ___m__d___ - Em___e _____
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J
-
taste the sweet breath of failure, as there are no J's
-
taste the sweet breath of failure, as there are no J's
:emo:
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There's Within Temptation though.
-
that is a factual truth that is correct
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The song is Caged
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loud blaring buzzer signifying that you are incorrect
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whoops, is it candles?
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The song is Caged
I have no idea how you came to the conclusion it's Caged, really. :lol
But yeah, probably Candles.
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In fact, screw that.
Caladan Brood - A Voice Born of Stone and Dust
O
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maybe I'll give you the C anyways, but yes
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You should update it as soon as possible because I've half a mind to change it to H now. :lol
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The song is Caged
I have no idea how you came to the conclusion it's Caged, really. :lol
Well I didn't look very well cause it doesn't even fit closely :facepalm:
-
as soon as possible is in about 7 hours so go ahead
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I'll stick with O.
Also, I googled it, but
Adebisi Shank - International Dreambeat
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Evermind waits 3.
Bolsters waits 2.
Luoto waits 1.
Letters guessed so far:
DMTEJO
???: T_e __t_e__ - _____e
???: Pure Reason Revolution - Bullits Dominae
Scorpion: The Human Abstract - Faust
???: ______e_ - _o__o_ _o_
???: Within Temptation - Candles
???: ____t_ ____ - _e___ _____
???: Caladan Brood - A Voice Born of Stone and Dust
???: T_e _o__e_ _____ - T____ to _o__e_e
???: Adebisi Shank - International Dreambeat
???: Panzerballett - Der Saxdiktator
???: ____d ____d___ - __ee_ o_ T_me
???: ___mo_d___ - Em___e _____
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You suffer, but...
Y
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Sacul waits 3.
Evermind waits 2.
Bolsters waits 1.
Letters guessed so far:
DMTEJOY
???: T_e __t_e__ - _____e
???: Pure Reason Revolution - Bullits Dominae
Scorpion: The Human Abstract - Faust
???: ______e_ - _o__o_ Yo_
???: Within Temptation - Candles
???: ____ty ____ - _e___ _____
???: Caladan Brood - A Voice Born of Stone and Dust
???: T_e _o__e_ _____ - T____ to _o__e_e
???: Adebisi Shank - International Dreambeat
???: Panzerballett - Der Saxdiktator
???: ____d ____d___ - __ee_ o_ T_me
???: ___mo_d___ - Em___e _____
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Blind Guardian - Wheel of Time
Evermind, welcome to the group of losers
-
yes, yright yon yboth yaccounts ybut ycan you yguess ya yletter ytoo
-
U
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425 waits 3.
Sacul waits 2.
Evermind waits 1.
Letters guessed so far:
DMTEJOYU
???: T_e __t_e__ - _____e
???: Pure Reason Revolution - Bullits Dominae
Scorpion: The Human Abstract - Faust
???: ______e_ - _o__o_ You
???: Within Temptation - Candles
???: _u__ty ____ - _e___ _____
???: Caladan Brood - A Voice Born of Stone and Dust
???: T_e _o__e_ _____ - T____ to _o__e_e
???: Adebisi Shank - International Dreambeat
???: Panzerballett - Der Saxdiktator
Evermind: Blind Guardian - Wheel of Time
???: ___mo_d___ - Em___e _____
nice job
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Caladan Brood wasn't banned? :(
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i think i listened to the album like once a year ago and barely remembered it so i didn't ban them no
there's like 5 bands this round i've heard at least a song or two from before tbh
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Blind Guardian - Wheel of Time
Evermind, welcome to the group of losers
Well, I did say I'll be sending power metal, after all.
-
Caladan Brood = Scorpion?
Also: K
-
Bolsters waits 3.
425 waits 2.
Sacul waits 1.
Letters guessed so far:
DMTEJOYUK
???: T_e __t_e__ - _____e
???: Pure Reason Revolution - Bullits Dominae
Scorpion: The Human Abstract - Faust
???: ______e_ - _o__o_ You
???: Within Temptation - Candles
???: _u__ty ____ - _e___ _____
Scorpion: Caladan Brood - A Voice Born of Stone and Dust
???: T_e _o__e_ K____ - T____ to _o__e_e
???: Adebisi Shank - International Dreambeat
???: Panzerballett - Der Saxdiktator
Evermind: Blind Guardian - Wheel of Time
???: ___mo_d___ - Em___e _____
k
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One band is Purity Ring?
-
as it is said, so it is
-
Purity Ring seems like a poor choice for a Parama roulette.
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Never heard of them :lol
-
Purity Ring seems like a poor choice for a Parama roulette.
to be fair, running this roulette was a poor choice on my end, so it's thematically appropriate
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The Flower Kings - Train to Nowhere
A
-
Luoto waits 3.
Bolsters waits 2.
425 waits 1.
Letters guessed so far:
DMTEJOYUKA
???: T_e A_t_e__ - _a_a_e
???: Pure Reason Revolution - Bullits Dominae
Scorpion: The Human Abstract - Faust
???: ______e_ - _o__o_ You
???: Within Temptation - Candles
???: Purity Ring - _e___ A_a__
Scorpion: Caladan Brood - A Voice Born of Stone and Dust
???: The Flower Kings - Train to Nowhere
???: Adebisi Shank - International Dreambeat
???: Panzerballett - Der Saxdiktator
Evermind: Blind Guardian - Wheel of Time
???: ___mo_d_a_ - Em___e _a___
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Q
-
Q are gonna have to guess a different letter
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The Antlers
Primordial
-
yeah, yeah
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Results when
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saturday or sunday. basically don't expect them earlier than 4-5 days from when i post first impressions, this is going to stay consistent
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just did preliminary rankings, looking at who's on line for elimination this round... very :corn
it is also possible that the edge case of "same person sent the worst and best songs of the round" is going to be hit :lol
this is actually the case in my preliminary ranking and miiight change when i do writeups but who knows?
(on top of that, #2 and #11 are the same person, which means at least two of you had an incredibly inconsistent round)
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Thats's not me because no way any of my songs are #1 or #2 :P
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Primordial
Empire Falls?
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The Antlers - Palace
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it is also possible that the edge case of "same person sent the worst and best songs of the round" is going to be hit :lol
My bad.
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Luoto waits 3.
Bolsters waits 2.
425 waits 1.
Letters guessed so far:
DMTEJOYUKA
???: The Antlers - Palace
???: Pure Reason Revolution - Bullits Dominae
Scorpion: The Human Abstract - Faust
???: ______e_ - _o__o_ You
???: Within Temptation - Candles
???: Purity Ring - _e___ A_a__
Scorpion: Caladan Brood - A Voice Born of Stone and Dust
???: The Flower Kings - Train to Nowhere
???: Adebisi Shank - International Dreambeat
???: Panzerballett - Der Saxdiktator
Evermind: Blind Guardian - Wheel of Time
???: Primordial - Empire Falls
nobody guessing who sent what but you'll find out tomorrow.
i've done 11 of 12 writes at time of writing and don't really feel like tackling the last one tonight, then I have to go and relisten to a few of the songs (namely; #1 and #2, #6 and #7, and #11 and #12) to pick between them and determine who is getting cut for certain. should be fun times.
-
The Antlers: Tomislav :corn
Within Temptation: Evermind :corn
Panzerballett: home :corn (didn't I say this already)
Train to Nowhere: 425 :corn
-
Luoto waits 3.
Bolsters waits 2.
425 waits 1.
Letters guessed so far:
DMTEJOYUKA
Tomislav95: The Antlers - Palace
???: Pure Reason Revolution - Bullits Dominae
Scorpion: The Human Abstract - Faust
???: ______e_ - _o__o_ You
Evermind: Within Temptation - Candles
???: Purity Ring - _e___ A_a__
Scorpion: Caladan Brood - A Voice Born of Stone and Dust
425: The Flower Kings - Train to Nowhere
???: Adebisi Shank - International Dreambeat
home: Panzerballett - Der Saxdiktator
Evermind: Blind Guardian - Wheel of Time
???: Primordial - Empire Falls
you didn't say it already
______e_ - _o__o_ You is gonna go unguessed at this rate
-
L
-
who cares about the waiting at this point
Letters guessed so far:
DMTEJOYUKAL
Tomislav95: The Antlers - Palace
???: Pure Reason Revolution - Bullits Dominae
Scorpion: The Human Abstract - Faust
???: ______e_ - _ollo_ You
Evermind: Within Temptation - Candles
???: Purity Ring - _e___ A_a__
Scorpion: Caladan Brood - A Voice Born of Stone and Dust
425: The Flower Kings - Train to Nowhere
???: Adebisi Shank - International Dreambeat
home: Panzerballett - Der Saxdiktator
Evermind: Blind Guardian - Wheel of Time
???: Primordial - Empire Falls
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Well, it's obviously Follow You but I have no idea about the band.
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R
-
R for results.
-
Trudging Through the Valley
#11: home: Adebisi Shank - International Dreambeat (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tt8PIg5yBE)
First Impressions:
My impressions from the intro: “what the hell is this”. And then it kicks in for real and I’m like “oh. that’s what this is.” It’s alternating between the heavier bits and the synth-driven quieter bits and I absolutely prefer the heavier bits, by a pretty big margin actually. Though there’s some horn stuff that comes in a bit later that I think is pretty alright at least. It’s… a fun song, which is something I always have to tread lightly around because a lot of the time “fun” music doesn’t really do a lot for me. And I’m not really feeling this one on first listen, but it may grow on me.
Final Thoughts:
Okay, actually, I simply can’t stand the synth-driven bits of this after more relistens. That tone… it’s awful, I legitimately do not understand the appeal of it. It’s like nails on a chalkboard to me, I absolutely do not want to listen to it at all. There’s some okay stuff going on behind it at points, sure. Some of the guitar stuff is cool and the horns that come in in the back half of the song are nice, though. That noodly synth fill that transitions the song to louder moments is also nice.
The loud parts of the song are solid, but never really change. It’s the same thing every time melody and rhythms, maybe a slightly changing drum line but it’s not a world of difference. There’s a nice energy to it though and it’s bright and fun. I don’t mind it but it doesn’t have huge appeal for me either.
I just overall can’t really say this song is for me though. About half of it has that annoying synth thing going on throughout it and it maintains a consistent fun, bouncy vibe that is usually not really my thing, and doesn’t quite work for me here. I don’t hate this, there’s about half the song I like and a few moments that are pretty cool, but overall it definitely doesn’t work for me.
5.25/10
#10: Scorpion: The Human Abstract – Faust (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pz8gAmfRXOY)
First Impressions:
I vaguely remember these guys too, I think I listened to their first album once or twice? This is basically what I expected, somewhere between prog metal and metalcore. Can’t say I’m a huge fan of this style of harsh vocals but it doesn’t sound awful, at least. There’s a good bit of noodly guitar stuff going on here and it’s all fine and melodic but I’m kind of not really feeling the point of a lot of it. But at the same time, without all the lead playing, this song would probably be really boring, the actual metal on display here is not that impressive. It’s a solid song with enough twists and turns to at least be interesting but it’s not that unique and it’s not that exciting, either.
Final Thoughts:
I don’t mean this as an insult or anything but, to me, this sounds like djent if djent replaced the djenty parts with noodly lead melodies. I mean I know that’s a thing some djent already does but these guys, they just don’t do much beyond noodly leads, like, at all. Or at least it certainly feels that way. And there’s certainly a place for noodly leads, but when they’re your entire song, they kind of lose both the “wow that sounds cool” factor and the “wow that’s impressive” factor, which are about the only two reasons why you’d ever use them.
Vocals, hmm. They’re okay. The growls are fairly generic but serviceable, the cleans are a lower-pitched post-hardcore style of thing. Post-hardcore is probably what these guys fit into more than anything else, I guess, somewhere between that and metalcore with guitar leads all over the place for good measure. I can’t really say any band sounds like them, but I can say that they sound like quite a lot of other bands; they’re unique, but nothing they’re doing is particularly unique.
Some of the guitar stuff is just overly simplistic too. I wrote some music like 5-6 years ago that used leads exactly like this. Very basic 0-2-4 sweeps that sound very by-the-numbers. It sounds cool when you first discover in but when you realize how melodically dull it is it just stops having any impact.
And that’s this song as a whole. This song just has no impact for me. I don’t find any of it particularly memorable, I don’t find the melodies moving, I don’t find the riffs crushing. The song doesn’t have a very strong sense of energy to it either, it feels like the song wants to be more energetic than it is but it stays at a lumbering pace the entire way through and just ends up feeling sluggish. The closest thing to anything interesting happening in this song is the carnival bit about 2/3rds through but I’ve heard other bands do carnival bits plenty of times now and even that doesn’t sound very fresh anymore.
I feel like I’m being pretty down on a song that is, for all intents and purposes, “fine”, but it doesn’t strike a chord with me in any real way and doesn’t stick with me at all. Even 5 listens later I can barely remember what any of this sounds like. It’s just running on a “ehh, it’s okay” feeling the whole way through.
6.25/10
#9: Evermind: Within Temptation – Candles (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0Lk_D92xYM)
First Impressions:
The video I linked is a live performance because nothing else was on youtube, but the Evermind sent me a link to the album version so it’s all good. Actually really liking that quiet synth blending into the somber atmosphere of the intro. At least I think it’s a synth. It could also be a bass? I have no clue. Actually it’s probably a bass. I like it. Sure takes its time kicking in for real but I don’t mind the atmospheric intro anyways so it’s all good. When did you become such a big fan of the growls anyways. The guitar riffs here are kind of standard basic stuff but they’re effective enough, sure. Piano sounds a bit stiff though. The big “climax at the end of the song” doesn’t strike me as very dissimilar from what they did before either but it’s solid. A solid song.
Final Thoughts:
I’m sitting here listening to this song and finding… I don’t really have much to say about this that I didn’t already in my first impression, I think. Uuhh. The vocals are pretty solid. The female singer sounds nice but doesn’t really have a unique voice either. The choir vocals in the intro create some nice atmosphere. The harsh vocals are passable. Not great, they sound a bit forced, but alright.
The piano that transitions the song from light to heavy is a bit meh. It’s not a very compelling piano line and the tone of it feels a bit stiff. It sounds a bit better when the heavier instrumentation comes in to back it but I still wish it wasn’t given center stage like it seems to be getting. The buildup from light to heavy is otherwise handled pretty well though. The driving guitar riffs help with that a lot.
I guess, what the climax of the song does that they didn’t do earlier; first, bury the piano a bit more, which I approve of, second, add some female vocals going on in the background when she’s not taking the lead, which is nice, and third, the production turned to crap suddenly, it sounds really compressed and muddy which hurts the power a little bit, but it still sounds pretty fine.
I think… I would’ve liked this more without that piano, honestly, it just doesn’t sound good and isn’t doing anything particularly interesting. Even then while it’s a solid song it’s not one that particularly catches my interest either. Quiet bit, loud bit, quiet bit, loud bit. Very basic elements arranged in a way that is lacking a bit of a sense of progression, the last few minutes sort of feel redundant because of how little new they do. But it’s pleasant to listen to, I probably wouldn’t turn it off. Probably wouldn’t come back to it either, though.
It’s a very “there” kind of song. Ehh.
6.75/10
#8: 425: The Flower Kings – Train to Nowhere (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bjaOgUqSjc)
First Impressions:
I’ve known about these guys forever but never actually listened to them, I think. That seems to be standard regarding a lot of prog rock bands apparently. They are definitely, absolutely going for Pink Floyd here, that’s pretty obvious. The vocals sound kinda like late-era Roger Waters, the synths and guitar leads evoke the same atmosphere as well. Really digging that melodic bassline when it comes in. This song seems pretty well-mixed, everything is coming through clearly. Yeah, considering this climax they are pretty much wearing their influences on their sleeve, but I don’t really mind, it’s a nice and beautiful climax with enough power behind it to feel satisfying.
Final Thoughts:
Okay, well, for one, the vocalist is definitely no Roger Waters. He sounds like, really old. No offense. I have no clue how old he is, I was too lazy to look it up, but he sounds like he’s in his 50’s or 60’s. Just an observation. It certainly doesn’t sound as smooth or powerful as a younger-sounding voice would be. Beyond that though, the vocals are fine, and they better be since they’re definitely the main selling point of the song.
The rest of the music is just a backdrop for the vocals, but one that accompanies them well and all comes together well. The synths and the strings provide a warm flavor to the track, the bass and drums are restrained but driving, and the piano and guitar leads provide some nice melodic flourishes. The song builds up basically the whole way through and does so slowly enough to feel natural and flowing.
It’s basically just two verses and two choruses with the last chorus being extended, really basic structure, but there’s enough evolution between the two to make it all work well enough. The extra layers of vocals, the wailing guitar leads, and especially the wall of organ and strings on the climax, it creates the power the song needs to end on. And there’s a brief cooldown afterwards to keep it from ending too abruptly, as well.
I don’t really know what else to say here. It’s solid on all fronts. It’s not especially memorable or unique, but it knows what it wants to do and does it well enough that I don’t really mind if it’s nothing too special. Just a pleasant song.
7.25/10
The Bottom Rung
#12: Bolsters: CHVRCHES – Follow You (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ieASpHKfbs)
First Impressions:
I know this album was pretty popular and all last year but seeing as it’s synthpop, yeah, never gave it a listen. Right away I’m finding that I’m not a fan of the electronic percussion here, especially the bass; it’s just such a limp, wooden sound. Never a fan of that kind of sound. Uhh. The vocals are pretty solid and there’s decent atmosphere. It is what it is. It doesn’t really feel like it ever hits any sort of climax, just that it builds to something and then ends. It’s kind of a non-entity of a song for me, to be honest, it doesn’t really stand out amongst the many similar-sounding songs I’ve heard, but it’s pleasant enough to listen to, at the very least.
Final Thoughts:
Someone really needs to explain to me what the appeal of the percussion sound like this song has is. I don’t get it. Why would you intentionally make your percussion sound this awful and lifeless, downright robotic and dry. The bass sounds like someone tapping on a desk really loudly. I know they’re fully capable of picking a better bass sound. I know they’re not limited by their tools here. It’s like that by choice and I just can’t comprehend why. Ehh, whatever though.
About the rest. Ehh, it’s fine. It never really grabbed me in any real way. The vocals are… fine. They don’t really have much presence to them though, or anything that really makes them stand out. They sound fine, and that’s the end of it. Musically it’s okay, aside from the percussion. There’s a lot of bassy and textured synths going on throughout to build a nice atmosphere throughout, but… it never builds to anything. The song does not ever reach any sort of peak and it ends incredibly unceremoniously right before it should’ve kicked into full gear. Even mellow pop songs usually hit some kind of emotional climax, but it’s just not here.
Other things I mildly dislike are that vocal-y sounding synth that pops up in the chorus, can’t say I’m really a huge fan of it. Uhh. Actually, I guess that’s it. Like Azedia two rounds ago there’s not much to this song. Two verses and two choruses. This doesn’t even have the climax that one at least had. It sounds nice but it’s forgettable and basically devoid of any real substance, honestly. I can’t find much about this that appeals to me in any real way.
4.5/10
Pushing For Glory
#5: Tomislav95: Primordial – Empire Falls (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxPSygSH2v0)
First Impressions:
I think I like the vocals, but I’m not so sure they fit in with the style of music here. It sounds like he should be singing over Iron Maiden-style heavy metal, not what this actually is. That is to say; the vocals are pretty powerful but feel detached from the music. I don’t know. On the subject of the music itself… yeah, it’s fine. I might be getting a little burnt out on folky black metal like this, Moonsorrow I did enjoy but it hasn’t really stuck with me at all, just enjoyable music. This isn’t really too dissimilar from Moonsorrow; some cool riffs and a folky undertone throughout while still keeping a distinctly black metal feel. And it’s absolutely fine for what it is, but not particularly unique outside of the vocals.
Final Thoughts:
At the end of the day, the vocals are mostly just… different than the norm. They sound just fine, they’re just different. After getting used to them, they don’t sound that out of place here. There’s an edge to them most of the time that fits in with the black metal aesthetic well enough.
The production on this is pretty solid too. A little muddy as most black metal tends to be but not quality-destroying or anything, it just gives the song a rougher sound that tends to work well. The guitar, drums, and vocals all come through clearly enough.
The music on this is pretty fine, too. The drums do well to keep a driving mood going throughout while still doing enough to remain interesting regardless, lots of small fills and variations. The guitar work varies between some rockin’ riffs and some fairly hypnotic melodies; nothing that’s all too unique for the genre, but just executed well enough to be enjoyable. It’s nothing for me to get especially excited about, but it’s enjoyable on a base level. Like, the same level that people enjoy hard rock and heavy metal, even when a lot of it sounds the same.
I guess that’s me with regards to vaguely folky black metal with a rockin’ edge to it like this has, like Moonsorrow has. I just enjoy it on a pretty basic level, regardless of whether or not it really stands out. There’s just a nice groove to the song that keeps itself going start to finish without ever really needing to stop and take a break, it flows well and passes a lot faster than you’d think it would. I just like it. I don’t love it, I don’t know if I’d seek out an entire album of this, but maybe.
7.75/10
-
Running Through the Mountains
#6: Evermind: Blind Guardian – Wheel of Time (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNnhhejBkW8)
First Impressions:
Well, yeah, this pretty quickly takes a turn for the cheesy. But in a cool way? The singer is good, he sells it. The middle-eastern influences in the melodies are pretty obviously apparent. At least I think that’s middle-eastern. I could be completely wrong and look the fool. It’s some kind of folk to me, good enough. It feels like it’s going to stick to doing the same general thing, just in slightly different ways, though. At least, that’s how it sounds thus far. I sort of wish this song would stop to take a breath at some point, it’s just “go go go power and energy and grandness” and it doesn’t want to let up at all. Well, okay, I guess it finally made it there at the 5 minute mark. The percussion is still kind of high energy but I think it works in context, it’s still relatively chill in comparison with the rest of the song. I kind of ran out of things to say after that. This is probably the first song of the roulette that just feels like a bit much, and it’s not even that wacky or weird, or even really that long, just… too much.
Final Thoughts:
This song is a song where about 75% of the song is the climax of the song. There are very few parts of this song that don’t sound like they’re trying to be the biggest, grandest part of the song. This is pretty much why the song exhausted me on first listen. Most of the song is turned up to 11, which leaves very little room for the listener to breathe. Maybe this is just what people who really enjoy power metal like, I have no clue.
I really think the orchestral elements and choir vocals and everything else that makes the song continuously sound like it’s so grand and epic should’ve been used more sparingly. I think it would’ve made the parts with the orchestral bits hit with more punch and power. Because as it stands, with most of the song trying to be “the big epic part”, none of it ends up standing out. I guess the chorus where they sing the title of the song is a bit more noticeable.
The quiet break ends up being my favorite part of the song because it’s more subtle than the rest of the song and really piles on the folk sound strongly. There’s a sense of tension here, and the song actually has something to build to as a result. When the big guitar chords and horns and stuff kick in they actually hold power, it’s actually effective. When they get back to the chorus, it’s after a satisfying build up and it hits harder than before because it’s not surrounded by moments trying to be as huge and powerful as the chorus was.
I’m basically just diagnosing why the song feels fundamentally broken to me here, I guess. It’s a bit trivial because at the end of the day, even with its problems, it still ends up being a generally enjoyable track. I pretty much enjoy the entirety of the last four minutes of the song, and the intro build is pretty cool, I just wish that nearly half the song wasn’t one long chunk of in-your-face metal and orchestra swell and intense energy.
7.5/10
#4: 425: Pure Reason Revolution – Bullits Dominae (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxTwa3TTHNA)
First Impressions:
I’ve seen this one thrown around a lot, and I had a song from these guys in my first roulette that was pretty okay, so let’s see how this goes, sure. As this is going on, I’m finding… hmm. I have no clue how to feel about this, actually. There’s a nice 6/8 feel to this and the melodies are alright but not really gripping me. When the song really kicks in about halfway through though I find it a bit more interesting. Much like Goshen’s Remains though this song just doesn’t really grab me in any way, or at least not on first listen, and I just find it… nice, solid, plenty listenable, but kind of forgettable. Maybe it will grow on me though, who knows.
Final Thoughts:
This is definitely a song that basically rides on its vocal melodies and little else. They’re definitely the most interesting thing about this. Both the male and female vocals, though the former seems to get more of the spotlight, doing the verses solo, and most of the prechorus, and both voices on the chorus though the female vocals definitely have a larger presence here. I can definitely say this one grew on me though, those vocal lines are pretty catchy.
The musical background is basically just setting the stage for the vocals, and it’s a job done pretty well. The song has a really good sense of build, starting out plodding and calm, and gradually escalating to an intense and grand finale, and it does it so smoothly that you barely notice it happening.
I didn’t really notice it the first time, too, but there’s a ton of different instruments adding to the mix here. Acoustic and electric guitar, bass, drums, of course. Piano, organ, and strings all playing some moderate role in the track, with the strings really being given a lot of weight during the louder parts of the track especially, pretty essential to the track’s climax. And there is actually a lot going on musically too, but it kind of takes a few listens for all the layers to really peel back. There’s driving guitar lines, upbeat drums, and wailing strings all fighting with the vocals for dominance during the climax, for example. It works well.
Won’t be going out and preaching to the masses that it’s the best song ever or anything, sure, but yeah, this was definitely a satisfying grower and leaves a much better impression with me than Goshen’s Remains. It’s certainly a satisfying listen. Not especially unique, but does what it wants to do and does it well, can’t fault it for that.
8/10
#3: home: Panzerballett - Der Saxdiktator
First Impressions:
I absolutely cannot find this online anywhere so no youtube link, sadly. Oh yeah, this is that jazz-metal thingy isn’t it. I legitimately enjoyed the first 10 seconds of this more than the entirety of the other song you sent. They’re definitely not lying about the saxophone, to be certain. Always appreciate that in my metal. It’s definitely a technical whirlwind but they have enough intelligence to break things up with some more chill moments every now and then. They play up both the metal and jazz elements to a fair degree, though it sort of sounds a bit too clean to really have a ton of power. But I certainly enjoy listening to this, or at least I do on first listen.
Final Thoughts:
I’m finding that my biggest problem with this is that the main motif that keeps popping up throughout the song… isn’t very appeal. It sounds off-rhythm and seasick. Like legitimately, feels like it’s off the beat of the song. It just doesn’t hold much appeal to me, regardless. And considering how much the motif pops up throughout the song I would consider that a bit of a problem.
On a technical level this is definitely a pretty satisfying song, too. The drums and bass both provide a solid and interesting backdrop for the rest of the instruments and they’re both plenty interesting even taken on their own. There’s guitars providing some ominous melodies in the quieter moments and some crunchy riffs during the heavier parts. Some parts of the song also give off a definitely djenty feel too, but not really in a bad way? It’s kind of jagged but it feels like it works because there’s no straight rhythms to keep the jaggedness feeling forced, it just flows.
And of course you have the saxophone and horns and lead guitars and whatever else showing off throughout a lot of this but not just in a “playing solos everywhere” kind of way. There’s a lot of moments of harmonization and texture. Especially in the middle where the lead instruments all chill together and let the rhythm elements take the foreground. It never really feels too showboaty or over the top.
I will say that this song definitely feels like it’s lacking some kind of hook to really draw me in and keep me interested; but this may just be because I’m not a huge fan of the main motif that’s supposed to serve as the hook here. And it can be a bit hard to tell parts of this song apart, it’s just a long string of ideas that never really shift too wildly but things keep getting done in different enough ways to not bore me either.
It really feels like a case of a song needing more listens to really sink in for me, because I’m not quite sure I’m sold on it yet, but I still do enjoy this a good bit regardless. It definitely has a strong jazz aesthetic going on without just simply sounding like “jazz, but louder”. I’d definitely be interested in checking out more from these guys at the very least.
Except I can’t freaking find any songs on this album online anywhere, so, there’s that :V
8/10
#2: Bolsters: Purity Ring – Begin Again (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjf9s5EvIfE)
First Impressions:
Begin Again is a DT song, banned. Really though this sounds even more mainstream pop to me. They could play this on the radio and it wouldn’t really sound that out of place. At the same time, I probably wouldn’t notice it? The main motif feels played out and kind of generic. I get that the focus of this is definitely meant to be the vocals, and yeah, the singer sounds pretty good, but everything else here is just not working for me. The watery and droning bass, the sparse percussion, the blaring synths playing the main melody. The only thing about the music that I like is the piano that creeps in at times. And yeah, the vocals are cool, I just wish they were on a different kind of song. They fit in fine here, sure, but I just don’t have interest in something like this.
Final Thoughts:
Nothing about the production in this song really stands out in any way. The drums are so minimal, they serve their purpose, they build up to the chorus as the rest of the song does, just fine. The droning bass provides a solid melodic backbone but doesn’t do much else. The piano sounds alive enough to have decent power to it but the melodies it’s stuck playing aren’t especially unique. And the synth line behind the chorus is just the same melody that the piano plays right before it.
But goddamn, do I love the singer here. I didn’t, on first listen. Honestly on first listen this was my least favorite track of the entire bunch. But then I listened to it again and realized, oh dang, she’s a great singer. And the vocal melodies on this are fantastic. Like, ridiculously catchy. Especially, especially, on the “I need not one thing more” part of the verse. The slight rhythmic variations there, on top of just how natural and flowing those melodies are. Pop perfection to be honest. The prechorus/chorus is second place here, with the first half of the verses probably being the least compelling melodies by a sliiight margin, but really,
I just adore all the vocals in this song. They pretty much carry this entire song and they do it well enough that I’m not bothered at all by the production. It works, it serves its purpose, but it lets the real star of the show here shine. This song’s basically up this high for the catchiness factor of it, and damn am I glad to hear a decent pop song in 2016 because have you looked at the charts this year, they’re absolutely abysmal. Christ. Totally aware that, yes, this is a 2015 song, but it’s the listening to it in 2016 part that’s important. Anyways. Yes. Good stuff. Surprisingly. Thankfully.
8.25/10
The Lowest Peak
#7: Scorpion: Caladan Brood – A Voice Born of Stone and Dust (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv0SNi6fXoU)
First Impressions:
I think I listened to these guys once but all I remember is “folky black metal” and that describes about a dozen bands I’ve listened to so yeah, sure. I think I vaguely remember this one though because the mixing is absolutely awful? The tambourine sound is like the only part of the percussion you can really hear and the vocals seem keen on drowning out a lot of the guitar and bass. This has been rather motionless for several minutes straight at this point as well, past the synth orchestra intro. Okay, it does break for some more strings and a solid plucked melody going on. I don’t know, on first listen this sound both a bit sparse and a bit played out. And the mixing really isn’t helping matters.
Final Thoughts:
Oh god that tambourine. It’s not quite as bad as the Dead Can Dance song from my last roulette and its infernal beeping, but damn has the mixing really done a number on this song’s potential, and the tambourine is like the driving force of the problem. Why is that the only percussion I can hear besides the snare. Why are the buzzsaw tremolo guitars completely buried in the mix. Why are the vocals this loud. I guess you can hear the bass drum at times and the guitar is audible when it’s doing that palm-muted guitar thing, but. There’s a difference between bad audio quality (which is also kind of the case here, but not enough to be distracting) and just downright being mixed wrong, constantly trying to draw the listener’s attention to the wrong things and destroying a lot of the punch the song could have had.
That being said, the hook of this song is actually pretty dang strong. An atmospheric black metal song with a discernable, catchy chorus. Who would’ve thought. The harsh vocals sound raspy, sure, but in a way that works. They sound otherworldly and not just like a person who really needs a glass of water like Agalloch always, -always- sounds to me. They work quite well. The hook is really memorable, despite the vocals not having any melody to them. The guitar melody being drowned out helps too, the same melody as the start of the song and all.
I don’t really mind how blatantly fake the orchestral elements sound because they still serve their purpose just fine. They create a nice wall of texture and play some simple but effective melodies. There’s enough subtlety to the quieter moments and they carry enough emotional weight to be effective. Also, that bit around the 7 minute mark is just fantastic. The guitar chords with the shreddy solo buried under them. Creates a nice big epic feel, even if the guitar solo itself is pretty meaningless and generically shreddy. It works, regardless. And the drums build up a really intense climax at the end of the song too.
Like, really, once you get past the mixing and that goddamn tambourine, this is actually a pretty cool song all around. Everything else works, it just could’ve worked so much better with a little more time put into the production here. I actually poked around to see if it was just a fluke and the video I was sent just had an audio error, and, no, all the versions I could find of this basically just sound like this, so I assume it sounds like this on the album too. Which is a shame, really. I may peek at this album again but if it all has the same mixing issues I’ll probably end up skipping it. Solid song, just a bit frustrating to listen to.
7.25/10
Star in the Sky
#1: Tomislav95: The Antlers – Palace (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9afJSKCOQQ)
First Impressions:
Pretty shortly into this and I already like it more than Parade, the music just has more atmosphere to it. This music fits the vocals a lot more, too, especially with that reverb on his voice. This is definitely along the same song as the Goldfrapp song you sent, though a bit slower-paced and more ethereal in sound. The horns are a really nice touch too, they fit right in and give the song a really grand feel. And it builds to a satisfying climax, too. This is definitely hitting all the right points with me for this kind of music; atmospheric and gorgeous and easy to get lost in.
Final Thoughts:
What a freaking gorgeous track this is. Like damn. Right from the moment that piano line comes in, gentle and melancholic and with a great tone to it. And I just really like the horns. It’s really nice to see them used in a way that isn’t just “make this part sound epic”. They have subtlety and real emotive presence, they’re an integral part of the atmosphere here. There’s so many different melodies going on as the song builds up, just creating a really pleasant twinkly soundscape. It’s… very pleasant.
The vocals aren’t really that impressive on their own but they just blend in with the sound of this song so very well. Ethereal and distant, just another layer of melody to add to the mix. They’re plenty pleasant and they escalate as the rest of the song does; a few layers going on in the climax of the song to give them more depth, too. It works well.
I just… don’t think there’s a lot that needs to be said about this. It’s straightforward but complex enough musically, and just, it just sounds so nice. It’s not a huge emotional gutpunch or anything but it’s a well-crafted song that I enjoy quite a lot each time I listen to it.
8.5/10
So, at the end of the day... Bolsters and Scorpion are out. The rest can send me Round 5.
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Wow. I'm still in Parama's roulette? It's a miracle!
Totally not voting for myself in the poll though. :lol
This is definitely a song that basically rides on its vocal melodies and little else.
...
The rest of the music is just a backdrop for the vocals, but one that accompanies them well and all comes together well
Lol this is something I personally don't mind at all—a song can completely win me on vocal melodies alone if they're strong strong enough. I understand why not for others, though. Glad you liked both the songs at least somewhat, particularly the PRR.
Okay, well, for one, the vocalist is definitely no Roger Waters. He sounds like, really old. No offense. I have no clue how old he is, I was too lazy to look it up, but he sounds like he’s in his 50’s or 60’s. Just an observation. It certainly doesn’t sound as smooth or powerful as a younger-sounding voice would be. Beyond that though, the vocals are fine, and they better be since they’re definitely the main selling point of the song.
Lol Roine was like 38 when this album was recorded. He's in his late 50s now and still sounds pretty much the same. I guess I get how it sounds like he's old, but I'm pretty sure it's just his vocal style. It's kind of a Bob-Dylan-esque thing, IMO, though certainly not as Bob Dylan as Bob Dylan. I thought it was kind of weird at first but grew to really like it. If you captured my life on hidden camera you'd definitely find me absentmindedly doing my Roine voice.
EDIT: Parama, am I correct in saying that Round 5 (which is listed as "Round 4" in the OP) has a length limit of between 8 and 15 minutes?
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Yeah, I fixed it.
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Yay, I'm still in! Have no idea what to send though :justjen
On The Antlers: I was seeing their albums Hospice on shit ton of lists on RYM and it was on my wishlist when Seneca sent Palace in Evermind's roulette. I liked the song and been obsessed with them (especially Hospice :hefdaddy) ever since. Familiars (album) is not really that interesting all the way through IMO but there are some great songs, Palace being one of the best.
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I'm kind of disappointed I was eliminated now, mostly because Purity Ring did pretty well. With the CHVRCHES song I thought I was trying to appeal to what I thought you'd like and I went with an unusual choice, because most of the band's music is upbeat stuff which you said doesn't do much for you. But ironically I think I probably would have done better if I'd sent a more typical CHVRCHES song because your biggest complaints about Follow You wouldn't apply. :loser:
I'll see you again in your real roulette then.
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i actually thought up a pretty neat concept for my v2.5 but i'm going to keep it under wraps until i actually run it, whenever that is. mid-2017 or so.
also i'm sorry. pop is basically always a risk with me tbh, some songs/artists click with me and others just don't
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Yeah I went with two risks this round because with two songs, I saw it as two opportunities to be eliminated and lost all confidence (not that I had much playing in a Parama roulette to begin with).
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i mean, evermind made it to my top 4 so anything can happen :neverusethis:
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It's kind of magical that I made it to your top 4, tbh.
I think this kind of roulette has something kind of like the thing that happens in some survivors, where a song that isn't really loved, but isn't really hated either, manages to sneak through and end up rating really high.
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Hahaha, wow.
Nice to see the whiskey and cat song won the round too, I really liked it in my roulette.
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It's kind of magical that I made it to your top 4, tbh.
I think this kind of roulette has something kind of like the thing that happens in some survivors, where a song that isn't really loved, but isn't really hated either, manages to sneak through and end up rating really high.
well, i mean, you sent what i'd currently call the third best song of the roulette :lol
but scorp sent the best so yeah. i can see what you mean.
also was that the whiskey and cat song? i forgot about that. nice.
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Yeah, that went how I thought it would go tbh, especially after you said that you had heard stuff from both those bands and they didn't make an impression. Oh well. Thanks for having me anyway.
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I'm liking my chances in this roulette :) I have 3 votes and tomislav aswell so technically I'm tied for first right?
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I'm liking my chances in this roulette :) I have 3 votes and tomislav aswell so technically I'm tied for first right?
I just voted for myself :loser:
In other news, still didn't find the song to send.
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I mean, I just realized that I've sent Sonata Arctica and Blind Guardian in Parama's elimination-based roulette and I'm still in. That wasn't what I expected when I joined this one.
And since Parama set the minimum length limit for this round to 8 minutes, he just condemned himself to another solid slab of power metal right here. :lol Sending in a few minutes!
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I voted for myself but I think Evermind will win :corn he's unstoppable right now, providing Parama with power metal and still nailing it :P
Also, sent. I'm not too confident about this song, and this band wasn't big success any time I sent them :-\
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I voted for myself but I think Evermind will win :corn he's unstoppable right now, providing Parama with power metal and still nailing it :P
Also, sent. I'm not too confident about this song, and this band wasn't big success any time I sent them :-\
I'm 99% sure I won't win, but I won't give you any particular reason yet. :biggrin: Also, I voted for you, too!
Sent my favourite power metal song.
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It's kind of magical that I made it to your top 4, tbh.
I think this kind of roulette has something kind of like the thing that happens in some survivors, where a song that isn't really loved, but isn't really hated either, manages to sneak through and end up rating really high.
well, i mean, you sent what i'd currently call the third best song of the roulette :lol
True! :lol
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I'm preparing myself for the worst :corn
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Definitely a good call. Me too.
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I'm rooting for Evermind or 425 to win this, just because their tastes are the furthest away from what I perceive Parama's musical taste to be and that would be hilarious.
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oh and I'm probably not going to do hangmanen this round I have something else in mind, only 4 songs anyways
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So you're doing hangmanen deluxe then :corn
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I'm rooting for Evermind or 425 to win this, just because their tastes are the furthest away from what I perceive Parama's musical taste to be and that would be hilarious.
:emo:
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I hope me and 425 both get to the final round and then I beat him by half a point. :biggrin:
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I'm just rooting for a Train of Naught disciple to win it. And from those 5, 1 of them is the host, 1 of them didn't participate and 2 of them are eliminated. So my vote goes to Tomislav :metal
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I'm just rooting for a Train of Naught disciple to win it. And from those 5, 1 of them is the host, 1 of them didn't participate and 2 of them are eliminated. So my vote goes to Tomislav :metal
You gave me vote because my EP will end up last in you roulette, won't it? :emo:
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I'm just rooting for a Train of Naught disciple to win it. And from those 5, 1 of them is the host, 1 of them didn't participate and 2 of them are eliminated. So my vote goes to Tomislav :metal
Who do you consider to be Train of Naught disciples?
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:emo:
I know just as much about the standings as you do
The only thing I have right now is a rough ranking of the songs and a vague idea of flow score, and songs are changing like 1 or 2 spots pretty much every listen at this point, it's really hard.
I'm just rooting for a Train of Naught disciple to win it. And from those 5, 1 of them is the host, 1 of them didn't participate and 2 of them are eliminated. So my vote goes to Tomislav :metal
Who do you consider to be Train of Naught disciples?
You, Bolsters, Tomislav, Parama, Elite
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Yes, I understand. It looks pretty tough too rank so many songs alone and with whole EPs it's even worse.
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Has there actually been a score above 9 so far in this roulette? I haven't been following that closely since I got thrown out, but it seems like no one really managed to get a home-run so far. I'm not really surprised about that, I have a pretty hard time pinning down what Parama will like myself. Still, feels like there is some potential for improvement there :lol (that, or Parama is just really strict).
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8.75 is the highest thus far.
9+ has to really click with me and tbh it's a bit hard for that to happen in a roulette format but there are some songs that could score that high here from my first roulette
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K, it's your ride.
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that would've been like a 9.75 when I scored it and a 10 now
any of the 9.5's would've been probably at least 9.0 here. 8.75 at the very lowest.
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I hope me and 425 both get to the final round and then I beat him by half a point. :biggrin:
Tbh I kind of hope this happens too.
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last round is gonna be splent vs. train and they'll both lose because i hated every song on the ep
anyways i have 2 songs and need 2 more. would like to get them tomorrow but tbh there's no rush
they're banned.
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Guessed both snippets correctly :hat I guess I can understand why you find the synth sound annoying, thanks again for the lengthy write ups!
Except I can’t freaking find any songs on this album online anywhere, so, there’s that :V
They are on Spotify...
I am really running out of good songs to send now :lol Sent some Stoner/Doom metal.
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I don't use Spotify :lol
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BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn8a8Mwyz08)
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I don't use Spotify :lol
But it is so usefull :P
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Round 5 First Impressions
Honestly this is actually more appealing than the proggier earlier bits to me, it’s very straight and to the point with actual emotional impact.
There’s definitely a sense of scale to this song, even besides its runtime, at half its length it’d still be nailing an epic and majestic sound quite well.
Yeah, the groove of the riffs is definitely the strongest point of this for me, mostly because they’re present through a lot of the song – so I like a lot of the song because of them.
The guitar work on this song is pretty colorful throughout and easily the most enjoyable aspect of this song for me.
Overall: Yeah, I liked all four of these. No further comment.
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And I hoped someone would screw up. Looks like this will be my final round then.
Where's our hangmanen deluxe though?
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Round 5... Hangman?!?
Actually, nah, doing something different this time.
I picked out basically random 5-second clips from each track and now you get to find the songs using them as your guide.
The file with all the clips back-to-back is here. (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9d7IxfLKyorZDRYSkFReUFQNm8/view?usp=sharing)
The audio clip changes every 5 seconds on the dot, and there's 12 clips in all, 3 for each song.
Match each clip to a song title and each song title to a user, go go go.
1: ???: ???
2: ???: ???
3: ???: ???
4: ???: ???
5: ???: ???
6: ???: ???
7: ???: ???
8: ???: ???
9: ???: ???
10: ???: ???
11: ???: ???
12: ???: ???
hold your horses, evermander
also obviously don't guess the clips from your own song, unless you really want to
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I only recognized mine. 425 is going to guess them in a heartbeat.
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1/5/11 = Flying Colors - Cosmic Symphony
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Oh, right. I thought it sounds familiar. That's probably 425.
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Did you send the Jorn song?
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The one with Jorn on vocals is mine, yeah.
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Clips. (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9d7IxfLKyorZDRYSkFReUFQNm8/view?usp=sharing)
1: 425: Flying Colors - Cosmic Symphony
2: ???: ???
3: ???: ???
4: ???: ???
5: 425: Flying Colors - Cosmic Symphony
6: ???: ???
7: ???: ???
8: ???: ???
9: ???: ???
10: ???: ???
11: 425: Flying Colors - Cosmic Symphony
12: ???: ???
well that was quick :lol
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Avantasia - The Scarecrow. I knew it'd come to me eventually. :lol
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yeah, but which ones :corn
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3/6/12
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Clips. (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9d7IxfLKyorZDRYSkFReUFQNm8/view?usp=sharing)
1: 425: Flying Colors - Cosmic Symphony
2: ???: ???
3: Evermind: Avantasia - The Scarecrow
4: ???: ???
5: 425: Flying Colors - Cosmic Symphony
6: Evermind: Avantasia - The Scarecrow
7: ???: ???
8: ???: ???
9: ???: ???
10: ???: ???
11: 425: Flying Colors - Cosmic Symphony
12: Evermind: Avantasia - The Scarecrow
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I'm surprised Evermind didn't recognize my song :huh:
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I'm at work and I only listened to it once, so there's that.
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Oh, ok. Tbh I almost missed one part of my song :lol
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Okay, got it.
Ensiferum - Heathen Throne
2, 7 and 8.
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Clips. (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9d7IxfLKyorZDRYSkFReUFQNm8/view?usp=sharing)
1: 425: Flying Colors - Cosmic Symphony
2: Tomislav95: Ensiferum - Heathen Throne
3: Evermind: Avantasia - The Scarecrow
4: ???: ???
5: 425: Flying Colors - Cosmic Symphony
6: Evermind: Avantasia - The Scarecrow
7: Tomislav95: Ensiferum - Heathen Throne
8: Tomislav95: Ensiferum - Heathen Throne
9: ???: ???
10: ???: ???
11: 425: Flying Colors - Cosmic Symphony
12: Evermind: Avantasia - The Scarecrow
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I only recognized mine. 425 is going to guess them in a heartbeat.
You vastly overestimate me. I only recognized mine and yours. Which is what I suspected you would send this round.
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I only recognized mine. 425 is going to guess them in a heartbeat.
You vastly overestimate me. I only recognized mine and yours. Which is what I suspected you would send this round.
I meant "them" as "my snippets".
The Scarecrow is the best choice, because even if I get eliminated in this round, I honestly can say I've sent the best power metal available.
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Okay, that makes more sense! I have to agree, it was right of you to go big with that one. If Parama doesn't like it, you can't be faulted for having made a questionable power metal choice.
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oh man, this is the best power metal ever? :corn
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Well, it's my favourite power metal song, so yeah, for me it is indeed. Power metal can be different, there is that classic 80s power metal which you can hear on Helloween first two Keeper albums, and there are some killer songs; first two Avantasia albums, The Metal Opera pt. 1 and 2 both have that classic power metal feel as well, with some killer tunes like Reach Out for the Light, The Tower and The Seven Angels, but if we're talking modern power metal, this song is where it's at. I wouldn't even wholly label it "power metal", but it's damn close, and it's damn perfect for me.
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so who's up for guessing home's song tho
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should i just do hangmanen for the song left :lol
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You should indeed, give me the D.
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__d__ - ______d___
did this from memory so it might be wrong lol
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__d__ - ______d___
did this from memory so it might be wrong lol
It's correct ;)
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T.
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You should indeed, give me the D.
By the way, this is what I had in mind when I posted this.
I know that it's haaard (https://vocaroo.com/i/s07XjkBXco7q)
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there is no T
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B
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Bbdbb - Bbbbbbdbbb
jk there's no B's
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R
When can we expect results?
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__d_r - ______d___
let's go with "today" with a side of "but maybe tomorrow"
i'm actually thinking i need to give these all an extra listen which would push things from "probably today" into "maybe today but more likely tomorrow"
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L
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_ld_r - ______d___
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Alder?
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Elder?! I love that band, but never really mentioned them on here
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Elder - ______d___
yessir
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Compendium??
Home youre the fucking man I had no idea you were into this
Btw Sacul check out this song, this band is like Kyuss + Mastodon
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Home of Naught
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Btw Sacul check out this song, this band is like Kyuss + Mastodon
Will check.
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One of my best discoveries of the year tbh, I'm loving all the stoner metal type stuff right now.
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One of my best discoveries of the year tbh, I'm loving all the stoner metal type stuff right now.
Someone could use that in your roulette :-X
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Btw Sacul check out this song, this band is like Kyuss + Mastodon
Will check.
It was ok :P
One of my best discoveries of the year tbh, I'm loving all the stoner metal type stuff right now.
Someone could use that in your roulette :-X
I'd have sent Dopesmoker (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIw7oeZKpZc) tbh.
I can recommend you some stoner if you want to explore some more, Train ;)
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i tried listening to dopesmoker at some point
i have no clue how anyone ever coudl enjoy it, but i don't drugs
also i haven't started on writeups, i may try to hammer them out tonight but damn am i really not feeling like writing atm, i'll do them tomorrow for sure if i don't tonight
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well holy mountain is better, faster and groovier i guess.
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Lore is a pretty cool record, something like 8-/10.
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Lore is pretty great indeed ;D I do feel the album could do with some quiter parts as it is quite tiring to listen to.
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Give me R.
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yeah, i have three of the writeups done and i can tell you with pretty strong certainty who's getting cut so you'll get them today
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Riding Gloriously Into Battle
Tomislav95 – Ensiferum – Heathen Throne (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mowu8AP2owA)
First Impressions:
The drumming on this feels really simple, but it does well to keep a driving mood going so I think it works. Beyond that I don’t actually have a lot to say on first listen, at least halfway through the song I don’t? It’s solid folky metal that goes through enough changes to keep me interested. There’s definitely a sense of scale to this song, even besides its runtime, at half its length it’d still be nailing an epic and majestic sound quite well. Not a standout song on first listen but it’s plenty enjoyable enough, yeah.
Final Thoughts:
Listening to this more, it’s standing out as a bit weird to me that the harsh vocals on this track are closer to metalcore than anything else. Or at least that’s what I hear. Not really a positive or negative in either way, just an observation. Another observation: the folky main motif that pops up a number of times in this song always brings weird rhythms with it. It’s hard to get a grasp on what the time signature is for parts when this is playing because all the other instruments keep steady until the phrase ends, at which point there’s a bit of awkwardness to get back on track.
The song succeeds at a really driving feel during its heavier moments, and I’d attribute a lot of that to the drums; they’re straightforward enough to not detract but build enough momentum for the song to keep the driving feel going. And there’s definitely a very grand feel to the song as well. The first time the big group vocals kick in over the folky motif, just a really powerful and cool moment. I’m fairly certain that’s the chorus of the song too? It repeats several times and contains a title drop so. Yeah, that’s a good thing to have as your chorus.
The transition into the guitar solo around 6 minutes and the solo itself are both strong moments too, the song builds up momentum so quickly and just explodes as the solo enters, and it’s a pretty solid solo over a nice reprise of an earlier moment as well. And then the song really lets loose, changes into something more akin to thrash metal with a really fast and intense pace for a brief moment. It just kind of comes and goes at first but then the song goes through a few slight transitions to smoothly work its way back to this intense feel… which is kind of what I wish it’d done in the first place instead of having awkward transitions to begin with, but ehh. The intense, double-time reprise of the chorus really sells the climax of this song, it brings everything full circle in a cool way.
My thoughts on this song are that it’s… pretty cool, it does a lot right and does enough to both keep itself interesting and keep itself grounded. It takes a lot from various styles of metal and melds it all together into a mostly cohesive whole with a few bits that could probably use a bit of work to make them flow better but on the whole, yeah, a pretty interesting song. I wouldn’t really say it’s something that’s blowing me away at the moment but I enjoy it every time I listen to it and all the gripes I do have feel pretty minor overall.
8.25/10
Evermind – Avantasia – The Scarecrow (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-PkfKZAT6E)
First Impressions:
The folky violin in the intro is used pretty well. I’m failing to have much to say about this about 4 minutes in. Uhh. The vocals are pretty solid. The guitar riffs have a nice groove to them. Wish there was more drums/bass presence. The calm break in the middle makes for a nice change of pace. The tradeoffs between all the instruments over the chill and ethereal atmosphere works really well. Yeah, the groove of the riffs is definitely the strongest point of this for me, mostly because they’re present through a lot of the song – so I like a lot of the song because of them. Honestly this might be accidentally a really wise choice, because a good bit of the power metal I have liked in the past was the more downtempo stuff that had groove to it like this. Maybe the ending goes on a touch long though. I feel like this could serve to be about a minute shorter.
Final Thoughts:
I really like the chorus of this song, first and foremost. It’s really grand and powerful but really simple, pretty decisively focused on the vocals with the rest of the instruments just providing a heavy backdrop. It’s pretty memorable as a result and hits hard, it’s just really satisfying.
The main folk motif that pops up throughout a lot of the song is pretty strong too, though I wish there was slightly more movement in the motif itself; it repeats basically the same phrase three times each loop and only resolves on the fourth bar. But I mean it’s memorable and pretty effective. And it’s used in different ways, the violin and guitar both getting a lot of moments with the motif for different levels of intensity. I also really dig the guitar riff that’s going on under the heavier reprises of the melody, there’s just a cool jagged groove to it.
The atmospheric break in the middle is great too, lots of small things going on, the swelling strings, the bells and piano providing gentle melodies, the percussion keeping a tempo going, and a pretty solid guitar solo mixed in there as well. It’s a nice calm moment even if the song as a whole isn’t especially intense to begin with. The guitar solo that comes in later is pretty strong too, I enjoy it.
Around the 8 minute mark is probably my favorite moment of the song, everything builds to boiling point and the vocals are a bit over the top but in a fun way, the guitar and drums have a solid groove going and there’s a fullness to the song’s sound. And then the same theme is built into a driving, double-time feel building up to one final chorus. I dunno what I was saying with the ending going on too long though, maybe it felt longer than it is for some reason but the final chorus isn’t really that long and it ends on a final reprise of the folky motif.
I will say that the vocals as a whole aren’t really standing out to me; the rougher-edged vocals serve their purpose but I don’t find them especially powerful, and the real strength of the more melodic moments are the melodies and harmonizations. Not that the vocals are bad, either, they’re plenty solid. More just a pretty inconsequential nitpick. If I can also nitpick, I suppose it does feel like, while no one moment of the song goes on too long, maybe the song as a whole feels a bit stretched out, that may be what I was trying to get at in my first impressions writeup. At the same time, I’m not really sure what here could be cut? It’s a really cohesive song in its simplicity. There’s no one moment that really feels disposable. It’s probably fine as it is all things considered.
I’m going back and forth trying to figure out exactly where this one stands in my mind. It’s just a very solid song on all fronts that doesn’t really have any major faults. It’s pretty memorable with two big hooks and a lot of smaller things. It doesn’t strike me as hard as I feel it should but it’s still pretty darn strong. Again pingponging between scores so I’m gonna “whatever” it and give the higher one because, again, it doesn’t matter.
8.5/10
Fallen and Slain
425 – Flying Colors – Cosmic Symphony (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUYEWrsRSU4)
First Impressions:
My first impression with this is that… the production just isn’t doing it for me. Everything sounds… robotic, like a slight phaser effect was thrown over the entire audio track. Also I already know this is freakin’ Neal Morse again, but sure. And Portnoy’s here too. I know about Flying Colors. The drumming here is unsurprisingly really good. Very tasteful. The vocals are… not appealing to me here much, actually. The middle of this song sounds like… an indie country song or something. No, wait, he sounds like. George Ezra. The guy who sang that Budapest song that was pretty alright. Honestly this is actually more appealing than the proggier earlier bits to me, it’s very straight and to the point with actual emotional impact. It does sound completely detached from what came before though. This song is… strange. It’s kind of like two different songs loosely stitched together. Ehh. Sure.
Final Thoughts:
The start of this song. It sets up a really ominous vibe between the piano line and the strings, as well as the vocal melodies. But this is all contrasted with this really straightforward drum beat. Literally the most simple drum beat possible. And the song just… holds on this for a good while. It’s an okay sound to hold on, sure, and I quite like the bass solo that comes in, but the song feels a bit motionless for its first three minutes. There’s a slight sense of progress, I guess. I’m mostly nitpicking, I’m not really bothered by it that much.
The second phase of the song is proggier in nature, weirder time signatures, more interesting and tasteful drumming, the very proggy synth sound. It’s a more interesting sound and feels less stationary. And I do enjoy how the main motif of the first quarter of the song joins back in after a while. The guitar solo is okay, a bit too shreddy I suppose but it helps build a solid climax.
Most of the back half of the song just goes in a completely different direction that only vaguely feels like it follows from the rest of the song. I definitely like the vocals here a lot more than on the first half. Honestly the back half of the song is the only part of this I ever remembered after the fact, the first half of the song is maybe more “interesting” from a technical perspective but the back half is just a lot more enjoyable to listen to.
The vocals are the centerpiece here but the instrumentation plays off them really well. Somber and melodic guitar lines that are constantly changing, warm organ lines, drums that evolve alongside the music and vocals without ever being distracting. The guitar solo in this half of the song is a lot more compelling too, more of a melodic and emotive edge to it. When the backing choir comes in at the climax of the song, with the powerful vocals over them, it’s just a really strong moment and a great way to punctuate the song.
The issue with this song that I simply can’t shake. It’s two songs. The only slight relation between the front and back half of this song is that the intro motif comes back at the very end, but nothing else ties them together at all. The vocalists are different, the atmosphere is a lot more relaxed and straightforward on the back half, and it’s all the better for it. I don’t mind the front half of this track, but it’s nothing special; the back half isn’t exactly unique either but it’s much better executed and just generally more enjoyable. It’d definitely rate a lot higher on its own, but unfortunately it’s attached to an inferior front half and as a result the song just feels frustratingly split and brings the whole thing down a notch for me. I still like this track a fair bit though, it’s far from bad, it’s actually pretty good, but not quite great.
7.75/10
Leading the Charge
home – Elder – Compendium (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYhXBP6rFBk)
First Impressions:
Okay, when I think of stoner metal, the guitar noodling this starts off is about the last thing I think of. But I kind of, adore it? And there’s a riff that reminds of some Led Zeppelin song I can’t put my finger on. It feels like it may get a bit repetitive though? At least the first third or so, seems to be retreading a lot of the same ground. The guitar work on this song is pretty colorful throughout and easily the most enjoyable aspect of this song for me. The rest doesn’t really have a chance to match up; drums are solid, bass maybe a bit underplayed, and I’m not sure I care much for the vocals. Especially with how low they’re mixed and you can kind of barely hear them. I think I already like this a fair bit on first listen though and I feel like it’ll probably grow on me on relisten too.
Final Thoughts:
There’s just something about the kind of guitar noodling that’s present throughout a lot of this song. I can’t really specifically say why I like it a lot, I just do. Sometimes I don’t really like guitar noodling, but often that’s just because it sounds generic and pointless. I’m not sure I can say it does have a huge point here, but it definitely sounds far from generic, maybe because of the harmonization going on, and that it’s not just basic, palatable melodies, it has flavor.
The riffs in this song are pretty cool too, I especially like the 3/4-feeling riff that’s interspersed between some of the guitar noodling. It’s got a nice power to it and it creates an interesting jagged feel whenever it shows up. The drums also, I dismissed them a bit on my first listen but they drive a strong groove and they’re definitely an important factor as to why the song works as well as it does.
The more chill passage in the middle of the song serves as a nice break from the higher energy of the rest of the track, too, it’s a nice well-textured and flowing moment that doesn’t drag on too long but still serves its purpose well.
I’m finding it hard to really have a lot new to say about this. Still not a huge fan of the vocals but they’re on so little of the song that I don’t have time to be bothered by them either, there’s a lot of instrumental passages here and they’re all plenty interesting on their own, and even the music behind the vocals tends to be strong enough that I can still enjoy the bits with vocals. The bass probably should have more presence, it’s hard to tell there’s a bassist at all on this track and I am almost positive I’d enjoy this song some more if there was a lot of interesting bass work going on that I could hear. But I can’t really hear it much if at all.
I do think the one thing this song lacks is an emotional power, or at the very least I don’t get much emotive presence out of this song aside from that one riff I mentioned. But on a technical level this is the kind of stuff I love, the guitars are doing so many cool and different things and there’s a hypnotic groove to the long instrumental passage that makes up most of the back half of the song, slowly going through a lot of small phases and evolving while lots of different flourishes and melodies drive the foreground. It pleases the music theory side of my brain far more than it pleases the emotive side of my brain, but regardless that still does mean that I enjoy it a fair bit.
So yeah, overall, this was definitely the most interesting song of the round for me, and I feel like this is the track I’m most likely to return to out of the entire bunch, just for how much it has going on, how many little details there are to pick out musically. I still am finding new things with every listen. I don’t know whether or not I’ll lose interest once I’m better able to wrap my head around all the things happening here but I kind of hope not, and that doesn’t particular matter for now anyways.
8.5/10
Smells like 425 is out, and the rest of you can send for the round I am severely going to regret oh god why do I do this to myself
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Cool cool cool.
I'm not sure what to send yet but I think it won't be anything too long, I don't want to torment you (too much) and I'm not really a big fan of too long songs.
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thank you, 10/10, you win the roulette by default gg
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that's cool
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Heathen Throne and The Scarecrow are two great songs, props to Evermind and Tomislav. :metal :metal :metal
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I really need to check Avantasia. 6 month ago or so I asked someone to recommend me an album and Evermind described few of their albums for me to pick what suits my tastes. And I DIDN'T check them. I hope I will before my roulette starts :corn
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I'm
offended surprised Evermind has been sending mostly power metal and is still in Parama's roulette. like wtf :lol
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i mean i like some power metal but it generally bores me. evermind's just been doing good to send songs I actually like
in retrospect wheel of time probably should've scored a quarter point lower but i still think it's better than the caladan brood song by a slight bit.
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Ah well. I honestly didn't expect to make it nearly this long anyway. It was a fun ride of sending random things and not having Parama totally hate them! This has actually been one of the more fun roulettes I've done recently; I think the sudden death element adds some excitement to waiting for/reading the results, because you never know when you're gonna get booted.
I have only two regrets: That I didn't get to send Parama an inordinately long song in long-overdue retribution for LoD,DoD, and that I didn't get to lose to Evermind by a half-point in the final. So please someone send something that's like an hour long kthx and then Evermind will have to just get his revenge on me some other time. Weird that all my regrets are roulette-revenge oriented, but ok lol
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i'm mildly satisfied with how the results are going but i regret having to cut scorp since he did send me the best song of the roulette (actually went back to listen to it to compare the 8.5's of this round against it and yeah, it's definitely a step up above them, though i am also satisfied with not giving it a 9.0, it's not quite that good... yet)
but i prob won't run this kind of roulette again. i actually have a neat concept in mind for my next roulette that should hopefully be pretty fun.
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I think it's hilarious I'm still in, but I kind of expected to get through with The Scarecrow, this song is just too good. Shame about 425. :-\
I don't even have an epic lined up for this round, never thought I'll actually get this far. :lol
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Wow, didn't expect to still be in either ;D. Parama, can you give me a brief opinion on (20th century) classical music?
I don't even have an epic lined up for this round, never thought I'll actually get this far. :lol
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John Cage is not banned? Sending right away! :P
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Normally I would've sent either Need or Dimension Act, but I think I've recommended both of them to Parama and he wasn't impressed, so they're out.
Guess this is going to be more difficult than I initially thought. I don't even have a lot of epics to choose from! :lol
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Sent some prog metal.
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And Thick as a Brick is banned too. This is no fun.
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Wow, didn't expect to still be in either ;D. Parama, can you give me a brief opinion on (20th century) classical music?
don't
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Another fun fact: the 425's losing song in this round scored higher than any of my songs in the first four rounds. The highest score I've ever got there was 7.5. :lol
Alright, now that I'm back from work, I'll go pick some epic for you.
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Wow, didn't expect to still be in either ;D. Parama, can you give me a brief opinion on (20th century) classical music?
don't
Damn, I'd have sent Rite of Spring, really no clue what to send now :lol
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Too bad Green Carnation is banned :P
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Hey, Parama, can you list your Top 5 epics here? One epic per band in the list please.
Also, hey, let's do preliminary hangman.
Tomislav: Redemption - At Day's End
Probably wrong but what the hell.
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I haven't looked at the song title yet but that is probably correct since he sent redemption :lol
also I'll do it when I get home, which will be when you are asleep most likely
also @ home to be fair I dunno what 20th century classical implies but "classical" is generally something that will make me turn away from something in general
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Hey, Parama, can you list your Top 5 epics here? One epic per band in the list please.
Also, hey, let's do preliminary hangman.
Tomislav: Redemption - At Day's End
Probably wrong but what the hell.
You're wrong! There are two more 15+ min Redemption songs :P
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i bet you sent something wicked this way comes
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i bet you sent something wicked this way comes
Did I? :corn
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Sapphire then?
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man now I'm curious as to which one he sent too but I'm not opening a YT video on my phone
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Sapphire then?
Yep. It's probably contender for winning the survivor. My 4th favorite Redemption tune.
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I listened to it just yesterday (so I could vote in the survivor), yeah, great song. I actually thought of sending it and then realized you probably sent something by Redemption. :lol
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also @ home to be fair I dunno what 20th century classical implies but "classical" is generally something that will make me turn away from something in general
Well `classical music from the 20th century` is actually way to broad to really mean anything. :P But I guess it implies more experimention and dissonance and also sometimes more focus on rhythm instead of melody like in a lot of older classical music.
Perhaps I should just send the piece to torture educate you :lol
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Yes you should. I could use a free spot in the final round too.
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I'll look it up, I really don't suggest sending something waaayyy out there in the epic round :lol
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I'm kind of glad I'm already eliminated. I just looked up what options I would have, and it would be between post-rock, weird post-rock and a prog song that's somehow in my library but I never listened to.
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have some epics or something
Dream Theater - A Change of Seasons (8.75)
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Sleep (8.5)
Green Carnation - Light of Day, Day of Darkness (9)
Haken - Celestial Elixir (9.25)
Inter Arma - The Cavern (8.5)
Intronaut - The Reptilian Brain (8.75)
Ne Obliviscaris - Painters of the Tempest (8.5)
Obsidian Kingdom - Mantiis (does this count? irdc) (8.5)
Thy Catafalque - Molekularis Gepezetek (8.5)
these are like the only 9 in my entire library that i really like, apparently, like, a lot. only counting 15+ minute songs here
maybe uhh. the third track off Sgurr too? something like that. maybe that's #11 or so i dunno
tbh i didn't think about those numbers that much so you shouldn't either.
the point is i shouldn't be doing an epic round but here i am anyways
also evermind i actually don't remember a single thing about dimension act or need fwiw
and i've listened to thick as a brick like once and just remember it not being my thing but tbh i don't remember it well either. but jethro tull is just. an artist everyone already knows about. there's a few that are on the list just because of that, i know about them and if i ever wanted to get into them i don't really need a roulette entry to do it for me. i guess
edit: i only listened to the one need song also so idunnolol
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also i listened to about 13 minutes or so of rite of spring so i can decisively say:
don't send this to me. it's in the same category as jazz, which is to say: "i can appreciate the talent it took to write/perform this but it does absolutely nothing for me"
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I have enough prog rock epics in my library, probably more than ten I could send, but any of them will probably just get me eliminated. :lol Maybe I should just send At Day's End.
I'll send something in a few hours.
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also i listened to about 13 minutes or so of rite of spring so i can decisively say:
don't send this to me. it's in the same category as jazz, which is to say: "i can appreciate the talent it took to write/perform this but it does absolutely nothing for me"
I can understand, I have that with some songs too. Glad you listened and saved me from getting a 1 :lol
Sent a song that's barely long enough but quite beautiful I think. Probably the most soft/mellow song I sent so far, I hope this does do something for you :azn:
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However I look at it, I'm going to be eliminated anyway. So I'm going to send a song I've never sent before in the roulettes. Good luck to remaining participants in the finals.
Sent.
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Alright have all the songs
Might do hangmanen before impressions because I may or may not do all the impressions tonight, depends on how long the songs are
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They're all under 20 minutes I think. Sapphire is 15-something, mine is 16-something and home said his song is barely long enough.
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Yeah mine's 16-something too. We're way too nice for you :laugh:
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Sapphire is the shortest then. We were to gentle with Parama.
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the ideal scenario tbh
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Round 6 Hangman!!!
Tomislav95: Redemption - Sapphire
???: ___ _________ _____ - ________ __
???: _______ ___ - ______ - _ _________ __ _______ - ____ _
okay like seriously though you could've sent songs of any length and all three of you sent songs within 30 seconds length of each other :lol
i haven't listened to any of them yet but i'm gonna sit down and do at least one of them right now
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Y
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Tomislav95: Redemption - Sapphire
???: ___ _________ _____ - ________ __
???: _______ ___ - ______ - _ ______y__ __ _______ - ____ _
y do u do this 2 me
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Green Carnation - Light of Day, Day of Darkness
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i'm going to take that as guessing G
Tomislav95: Redemption - Sapphire
???: ___ _________ _____ - ________ __
???: ______g ___ - ____g_ - _ ______y__ __ __g____ - ____ _
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The Pineapple Thief - Remember Us
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savage. who sent it tho :neverusethis:
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Probably Train, back from the dead. :neverusethis:
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H
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Tomislav95: Redemption - Sapphire
???: The Pineapple Thief - Remember Us
???: ______g ___ - ____g_ - _ ______y__ __ __g____ - ____ _
H says: no
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:\
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what if i did hangmanen for my first impressions tidbits :neverusethis:
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Round 6 First Impressions
I think this song is a little confused about what it wants to be but most of the time what it wants to be is something I really like and I don’t dislike the rest either, so.
There’s kind of a brightness to the vibe of the song even with these jagged guitar lines going on and the vocals sound decisively less bright, like the music is just putting up a façade.
I’m finding my mind wandering as this goes on, honestly. It’s competent enough for the genre, but it’s just failing to grab me in any real way.
Overall: I feel like I already know who's getting cut here because on first listen I quite liked two songs and was pretty meh on the third, but things can certainly change; I mean, Purity Ring went from dead last on first listen to #2 by my final results, so :lol I probably shouldn't have done an epic round to begin with because it's a very un-Parama thing to do but I don't think I'll end up unsatisfied with the result, at the very least.
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Hell yeah I'm getting cut. Should've sent Need to be honest.
First one is Redemption and the second is Pineapple Thief.
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Evermind: ______g ___ - ____g_ - _ ______y__ __ __g____ - ____ _
song of the year, i love it
0/10
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I really hoped to get to EP round since I've made it that far, but hey, it was fun anyway.
B
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wow! no B! who would've guess
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Nobody even wants the D?
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S
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______g ___ - ____g_ - _ ______y__ __ __g___s - ____ _
after three listens the standings are exactly the same as they were after my first listen, with about the same relative distance between the three. maybe slightly more between #1 and #2 than before, or slightly less between #2 and #3, one of the two. i think it's that #2 i haven't liked as much on relistens as i did first listen but it's still pretty solid.
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Just get on with it and eliminate me already. :D
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Nobody even wants the D?
Give me that D
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There's no D. :lol
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:facepalm:
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considering how many common letters there are in a song title this long it's surprising nobody's getting any of them :lol
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A?
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May as well do this while Parama's not here.
__a___g ___ - ___ag_ - A _____aya_ __ __g___s - _a__ _
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Gimme the E.
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I think it's pretty obvious right now.
AEDBSGHY
__a___g ___ - ___age - A _____aya_ __ __g__es - _a__ _
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Third word = Ownage
I thought afterward came "A Betrayal of..." but thats not possible with the amount of spaces and letters given
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Flaming Row - Mirage - A Portrayal of Figures - Part I
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flaming row succ, listen to mantiis :neverusethis:
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Yeah, I saw this too. It's a wonder I'm not leading in the poll right now. :lol
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Yeah, I saw this too. It's a wonder I'm not leading in the poll right now. :lol
That was probably just to mess with our heads :P
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:jamaritard:
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Wow @ only I think I'm out this round.
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Wow @ only I think I'm out this round.
Atleast your not the only one voting for yourself :lol
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tbh just not feeling up to listening to 2 of the 3 songs tonight so i'm gonna listen to 0 of them, results will be sunday
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how have you still not guessed:
Flaming Row - Mirage: A Portrayal of Figures, Part 1
or part 2
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Flaming Row - Mirage - A Portrayal of Figures - Part I
oh oops missed this post.
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Stop Sending Me This Crap in Roulettes by The Hosts
:lol
Points have slipped through my fingertips
And the finals melted from my hand
I'll never forget the look in your eyes
When you lied and said this wasn't ending.
:emo:
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Good to see "Parama, for hosting this round" is winning the poll.
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Ready…
#1: home: The Pineapple Thief – Remember Us (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWzmVEn0M3U)
First Impressions:
Very gorgeous and soothing music at the start of this, I’m liking it. I actually am kind of wishing there weren’t vocals now but I’ll probably be used to them by the time I’ve heard this a few times so whatever. Just the way this track flows, it’s so… natural. I’m probably biased while listening to this right now because chill music is absolutely what I’m in the mood for, but. I think this song is a little confused about what it wants to be but most of the time what it wants to be is something I really like and I don’t dislike the rest either, so. I have… very little to say about this on first listen, other than that I like it. The ending felt a little abrupt, though.
Final Thoughts:
The intro of this is so gorgeous. That simple guitar lead and the layers of strings. I just adore the whole vibe of it, very warm and pleasant in the best way. And it keeps itself from dragging on for too long, as well. There’s small shifts and additions until the vocals come in at about 2:30. I’ve grown to like how the song really kicks in here, the drums provide a nice driving feel and the vocals are really pleasant while fitting into the sound of the song naturally.
The whole vibe of this song that I get while listening to it is that it’s “nice”. And I definitely don’t mean that in a bad way because I definitely get a lot of enjoyment out of it because of its general vibe. It’s the kind of music that I’m basically always in the mood for.
And it’s just executed well, too. After the vocal bit there’s this nice build on one theme that’s great, the drums pick up a bit, the guitars pick up a bit, the background strings swell, it hits a peak briefly but doesn’t draw it out, then backs off a little as the ambient middle section kicks in.
The ambient middle section itself is… fine enough. It’s not as lusciously textured as the denser ambient stuff I like, and not as subtle as the more tender ambient I like, but it hits a solid middle point. I think the quietly roaring guitar in the back is what really pulls it together for me. It’s a subtle harshness that gives the sound of the section a bit more weight. I don’t think it transitions back into the meat of the song very smoothly though, not as smooth as the transition into the ambient section at least.
It continues to be much easier to talk about this song by sections since they are all pretty cleanly divided up, heh. The next section is a more straightforward section that mostly exists to build tension, driven by a repeating piano and guitar motif with some synths and vocals coming in and out while the drums keep a steady, straightforward groove going. It’s a solid section but probably the weakest of the entire song, really, and they hold on to it for maybe a bit long. Near the end it fades out to just the main motif before a brief build into the final section of the song.
Which happens to be a nice reprise of the earlier chorus with a bit more life and energy put into it, making for a pretty effective climax, albeit one that feels maybe a bit too brief. The song repeats a similar kind of build after to close out the track, with a decent guitar solo going on as it builds. It does feel like it drops off a bit unceremoniously after it hits its peak though.
This writeup feels like a bit of a wreck honestly, it’s not how I’d like to talk about music but it’s easier to express my thoughts about this song this way, I suppose. It’s a song that has its ups and downs and documenting them in such a way probably effectively conveys my feelings towards this track. Some of its highs are pretty dang high, but there’s also some moments where the song meanders a bit and a few places that feel like outright misfires or poor songwriting choices that do detract from the overall piece. I like this song, but I definitely can’t say that I love it.
8.25/10
Set…
#2: Evermind: Flaming Row - Mirage - A Portrayal of Figures - Part 1 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrN-LTbFRe0)
First Impressions:
I’ve heard of fake endings before but this has like two fake openings, haha. The guitar work going on here reminds me of, funnily enough, Native Construct. Like honest to god that’s what I thought. There’s kind of a brightness to the vibe of the song even with these jagged guitar lines going on and the vocals sound decisively less bright, like the music is just putting up a façade. Okay. That piano bit, it’s kind of funny but also kind of works pretty well. I like the instrumental work of this track, a lot, apparently, the sax is great too. And apparently there’s like a hundred vocalists or something on this too. There’s one or two I’m not a huge fan of but they’re generally alright, though not great either. The song maybe jumps around a bit much but it flows well enough that I don’t feel like it detracts.
Final Thoughts:
Out of the three songs in this round, this is definitely the one that had the strongest “scope” to it, the one that most decisively felt like an “epic” and not just a long song. After a whole minute of noises, the song comes in right away with its main motif, one that appears enough so that you recognize it but not one that feels like it ever gets too hammered in or worn out.
This song definitely has its fair share of cheese going on, that much is certain. I have no clue what the story here is but having one of the main characters be named “John” (presumably the everyday average guy who gets caught up in something fantastic) is a bit silly. I cannot take John seriously. I dunno who the sleeper is, or whether or not he’s the good guy or the bad guy because I’m getting mixed signals. And there’s a lot of over-the-top-ness to this song. I’m not really bothered by most of it though? It fits in with the “epic” theme they’re going for here well enough.
What this song has going for it is that it’s constantly in motion and really feels like it, but it doesn’t ever feel spastic or incohesive. There’s a lot of distinct moments to this song – that piano break immediately comes to mind before anything else but I can pretty decisively tell apart all the moments of this song – but all the moments are woven together well that it still feels like one song, just one that goes through its movements without ever needing to dig in its feet and rest on one idea for too long.
And while there are definitely a number of really wacky moments here, there are just as many grand and powerful ones – the chorus right in the middle of the song for example, playing off that main motif with a huge choir of voices and a massive wall of sound behind it, it works quite well.
Most of the vocalists I do like a fair bit, but I’m gonna pick on John again, because he’s a loser and his vocal bits sound pretty bad to my ears. It’s this goofy rough-edged sound that thinks it sounds way cooler than it actually does, which may be in line with his character, I have no clue, but it just sounds bad. Pretty much all the other vocalists nail it though, even if they’re maybe not all so distinguishable (I went and looked up the lyrics and was surprised at how many figures were meant to be portrayed here, probably twice as many as I thought).
There’s some mildly eclectic instrumentation throughout a lot of this but never anything too off-the-wall; the piano and saxophone break, the flute solo, some solo violin at the climax of the song. All small little things that aren’t exactly recurring but all add a lot when they show up. And that’s on top of the diverse and pretty interesting base musicianship throughout; the guitar work has a lot of different moods to it, the drums provide some solid bombast, the bass may or may not be present though, I have no clue. I wouldn’t say there’s anything that unique or unexpected for a prog metal song but it’s all solidly executed and doesn’t sound recycled or tired, at the very least.
I definitely don’t feel like, after only 5 listens, that I’ve gotten everything out of this that I could be getting, it’s definitely the most complex track of the songs in this round, and probably the one that feels like it most merits more listens, which it probably will get. The gripes I have about the song are relatively minor compared to how much I do like, and while I wouldn’t really say I love any moments of this song, nor are there many moments that hit me particularly hard, it’s interesting and enjoyable throughout.
8.25/10
Gone.
#3: Tomislav95: Redemption – Sapphire (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6oZPCSqRBk)
First Impressions:
To be fair I know exactly who Redemption is but I’ve never been able to get into them whenever I’ve tried checking them out. My first thought: I don’t really like the vocals, at least not at the start of this. There’s something about the tone of his voice. It’s really breathy in an irksome way. Musically thus far, it has been… solid but not really noteworthy prog metal. I’m finding my mind wandering as this goes on, honestly. It’s competent enough for the genre, but it’s just failing to grab me in any real way. Maybe it’ll open up to me on relistens but I am just rather underwhelmed by this one, and I honestly didn’t have very high expectations to begin with. The vocals are really the big problem with this one for me though. I just… I don’t like them. It’s that simple. I dislike this vocalist.
Final Thoughts:
Man, I just… cannot get past the vocals. I figured out why. The way he sings, this vocal style… he tries to belt almost every word, even during the quieter moments. It’s a lack of dynamics that just makes it fairly exhausting and homogenous to listen to. Even throwing aside that I don’t like the tone of his voice to begin with, as I said in my first impression, the vocals just are not very pleasant to listen to here, with basically no exceptions.
I didn’t put these guys on the banned list because in all fairness I’d barely checked out any songs by them; maybe two or three ever, and all shorter ones. And I got the same impression from them as I get from this: They’re fine. They don’t really do anything unique or interesting that makes them stand out as a band though, and they really just aren’t for me. The other two tracks in this round are pretty striking and immediately memorable. This, after four listens… I could not remember a single moment of it.
The guitar lines are… serviceable. There’s no really memorable melodies from them. The cleaner guitar work creates an alright atmosphere. The riffs are bog-standard, a lot of chugging and some more chordy stuff. The drums are pretty okay really, plenty of interesting rhythms and satisfyingly technical playing that still has impact. The bass is… vaguely present but mostly just seems to be doubling the guitar. The fast noodly synth lines drive a solid mood whenever they show up, and the synth strings add some texture to the atmosphere.
There’s just nothing for me to grasp onto here though. The chorus would be passable if I liked the vocals more but they really do irk me. The song generally feels like it’s lacking dynamics, aside from a few scattered quieter moments it feels like it’s trying to drive this big-but-not-quite-grand sound a lot of the time; again, distributing its weight too thin and lacking any real hard-hitting moments as a result.
And yeah. The song does have a pretty solid focus on its vocals. They’re not the only aspect, of course, but they’re a big one, they’re driving most of the emotional crux this song is trying to have, and… well, if that fails for me, it’s gonna be hard for the rest of the song to compensate. Yeah, there are some moments to this that have a decent amount of power to them, and perhaps I’m overexaggerating my distaste for the vocals since there are times when they sound fine enough, but the moments are far and few between.
And for a 16 minute song, this really feels stretched thin, too. I feel like I’m hearing a lot of the same riffs and themes over and over. Who knows if I actually am; but if I’m not, that almost makes it worse, it just means all the diversity the song is trying to have gets buried in how plain and uneventful it is. Uhh. I guess some of the solos here are solid, a bit noodly at times but there’s one of the guitar solos in the last third that I like and there’s a solid piano moment in there too?
At the end of the day, this is simply just a song that doesn’t have a lot to offer me. If I was just getting into prog metal and had gotten into these guys early on, I’d probably have loved this, but this is just not where I am musically right now, and I’m not sure it’s somewhere I’ll ever be again. It’s a shame to see you cut after a really consistent run the rest of this roulette, but that’s the way things are. I haven’t even done the other two write-ups yet, as of time of writing, I just already know without a doubt this is the weakest of the three.
6.5/10
I think the worst part about this cut is not only that it's the player with (still) the highest average score in the roulette, but that it was so damn decisive of a cut that I can't even argue against it. Oh well. Such is roulette life :lol
home and Evermind, I'm steeling yourself for the carnage that is your EPs :corn
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And just for clarification on the EP round:
1. Thinking something like 75%/25% split on how much song quality vs. EP flow matters. Decisively put an emphasis on the individual quality of songs themselves but don't weight flow so lightly to the point where it gets outright ignored.
2. The more important part; Ace Attorney 6 comes out Thursday and I'm gonna be playing the heck out of it so odds are I'll only be listening to one EP a day from that point onward. I'm not holding anyone's roulette back now that we've entered the final round so forgive a bit of slowness on this last round, thanks.
3. Seriously though just send me good songs (that fit within the rules of the EP round as defined in the round layout post).
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Sent!
Thank you Parama and the participants, it was fun to play in this roulette while it lasted.
this is so funny in hindsight :corn
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It's 4 AM and I ain't even mad :corn
It was really fun, this roulette, I'd like to play in finals but yeah, this type of roulette doesn't forgive one mistake so it's cool. If I didn't send Redemption it would probably be YOB and I'm not sure what score I'd get because I still don't get your tastes but maybe it would be far worse than 6.5 :lol
Sorry home but I want to see Evermind's power metal EP winning :lol
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what's YOB?
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what's YOB?
Doom metal band. Their every song is (too) long, repetitive but very atmospheric.
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Ooookay. :lol
Sad to see Redemption losing this round, I've listened to Sapphire a few times and I think it's a great song.
Totally agree with you about John, each time the name is used in the actual lyrics is :lolpalm:
Sent a question via PM.
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no you didn't. i did not get any PM :lol
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Because it wasn't you who I sent the question to. :lol
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wow okay fair enough then :P
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Alright, got an answer and I'm ready to start making my EP. I'll probably have it by Wednesday.
I mean, it's such a unique opportunity. I can't imagine any other chance where I can send Parama 50 minutes of power metal and he'll have to repeatedly listen to it. This is like Christmas came early.
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I'm not holding anyone's roulette back now that we've entered the final round so forgive a bit of slowness on this last round, thanks.
Plus with the select group of the same participants every time it's only a matter of time before roulettes as a whole will be dying out. We need a new DT album fast to gain new DTF members :corn Dream Theater get your shit together please The Astonishing was more than half a year ago.
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The intro of this is so gorgeous. That simple guitar lead and the layers of strings. I just adore the whole vibe of it, very warm and pleasant in the best way.
The intro might just be my favourite bit of the song :tup
Sent!
Thank you Parama and the participants, it was fun to play in this roulette while it lasted.
this is so funny in hindsight :corn
And now he's even going to win since I already ran out of songs to send five rounds ago :lol
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The intro of this is so gorgeous. That simple guitar lead and the layers of strings. I just adore the whole vibe of it, very warm and pleasant in the best way.
The intro might just be my favourite bit of the song :tup
Sent!
Thank you Parama and the participants, it was fun to play in this roulette while it lasted.
this is so funny in hindsight :corn
And now he's even going to win since I already ran out of songs to send five rounds ago :lol
I wanted to just give him 50 minutes of power metal, but then I asked Bolsters and apparently this mini-roulette still counts to the number of our total victories, and I tried to compose an EP with lots of power metal and it just doesn't work that well.
So I'm playing this absolutely serious.
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to be fair this mini-roulette is about as long as some full roulettes have been, but i consider it mini because i'm keeping the total number of songs fairly low (49 thus far)
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Yeah, that's fair and I'm not complaining. I wouldn't want to receive an EP with 50 minutes of djent in my roulette, for example.
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darn, i had already been planning a great one for your next roulette... :'(
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Can I put a live version of a certain song in my EP?
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I mean sure but I tend to prefer studio versions + might hurt ep flow or cohesiveness score a little
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But don't worry, I'm listening to my first two EP-songs punch and you'll get more points for flow and cohesiveness than me in any case.
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Nobody wins this roulette anyways really so :corn
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Nobody wins this roulette anyways really so :corn
I'm still expecting your response about The Origins of Ruin by the way. ;)
And I keep changing songs and swapping their places on my EP. Just had to take away another power metal song, it didn't fit. This became way more difficult when I decided to play serious.
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I listened to it but it just seemed like an intro track building to something else and I didn't have anything worth saying about it
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I listened to it but it just seemed like an intro track building to something else and I didn't have anything worth saying about it
If I use an "intro track" (which it isn't actually :lol ) like this in my EP, would you score it or what? How will these kind of tracks reflect on the score?
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I'm scoring every track but scores are also proportional to overall EP length (see my first roulette)
Note that final score may not even be the determining factor it's just gonna be whichever EP I like more (but highest scoring very likely should be??)
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Alright then. It's just I've got the 1:30, 1:41, 2:51 and 3:13 tracks in my current draft you will probably all call "intro tracks" if that's what you thought of The Origins of Ruin. :lol
By the way it's highly unlikely I'll send something until Friday, and it's way more likely I will deliver my EP on Sunday. I want to take time with this one.
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Totally ok with that tbh
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Yeah, I also remembered I've got a tennis game scheduled on Friday and I'm probably going to be too tired and aching in all places after that so definitely Sunday.
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I mean sure but I tend to prefer studio versions + might hurt ep flow or cohesiveness score a little
There isn't any kind of flow atm anyway so :lol But seriously the live version is so much better that it's worth putting in even if it hurts the flow a little.
I think I know which songs are in, but I really need to change something so there is at least some flow. I'll probably send in the next couple days.
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tbh i usually cheat and add crossfades and stuff and I'm OK with people doing that to me too if it helps flow :lol
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The Origins of Ruin definitely belongs to the Biggest music teases ever thread.
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just put in an order for Elder - Lore making it the first purchase from this roulette for me :corn
admittedly, i haven't listened to a lot of the roulette albums yet, everything 8.0+ i'll def check out and maybe/likely the 7.5-7.75's too
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tbh i usually cheat and add crossfades and stuff and I'm OK with people doing that to me too if it helps flow :lol
Can confirm. It was much appreciated. Made an already really good EP even better.
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i was thinking of the EP I sent train mostly
he never sent out everyone's EP's though, that loser
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I never sent out everyone's EPs, but I think I invented the EP or something so maybe I can be excused for that.
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Well I think I got 3/6 of my EP's on spotify, I can send you Scorpions electronic EP if you want Parama? :corn Or Tomislav's EP :corn
Still making that post-roulette playlist though I'm just lazy
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(https://s15.postimg.org/p2li2czob/image.png)
wow, he's right
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I'm a pioneer. Also I'm over 100 years old.
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Alright, so this day my EP-composing session ended with a 54-minutes long EP. :facepalm: The only things I'm sure of are the first two opening songs and the closer, and I'm not sure about the scores at all, I just know I want to have these on my EP. Seriously, this is probably the most difficult time I have putting an EP together.
home, are you doing better than me on that front?
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I feel like a true supervillain right now :corn
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Still, I've got three power metal songs out of ten as of now.
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if both of you max out your 50 minutes I probably won't have results up for two weeks after I get the EPs :lol
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home, are you doing better than me on that front?
Not so much I guess, mine's at 44 minutes now. I probably keep it at this length though, Parama's banned list is way too big (is he compensating for something?) :laugh: Perhaps I'll just send it like it is now, there are at least some good songs on it I guess.
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Not so much I guess, mine's at 44 minutes now. I probably keep it at this length though, Parama's banned list is way too big (is he compensating for something?) :laugh: Perhaps I'll just send it like it is now, there are at least some good songs on it I guess.
:lol gold
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remind me to put agora on the banned list when I get home btw, they should be there now tbh
and the banned list is so long because last time I left off a lot and ended up getting a lot of bands I couldn't really reject because they weren't banned but that I knew a decent amount of stuff from already
granted dire straits was among that category so :lol
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Do you know that song...what it's called? Sultans of Swing, right! It's pretty good. Their guitar player has potential.
EDIT: I don't know where to write about this so I'll put it here: I just returned from Agent Fresco show. Don't miss those guys if you have chance to see them! They are really something :)
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did you see see hell
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Yep. I believe setlist was the same https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/agent-fresco/2016/elektropionir-belgrade-serbia-3bfc584c.html
They just changed order of Wait for Me and Destrier because singer announced wrong song :lol
Really cool guys, hanged out with us after the show. I got Destrier CD signed by all of them :)
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Not so much I guess, mine's at 44 minutes now. I probably keep it at this length though, Parama's banned list is way too big (is he compensating for something?) :laugh: Perhaps I'll just send it like it is now, there are at least some good songs on it I guess.
:lol gold
:lol
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(:soon: me up)
:soon: ME UP INSIDE
(i can't :soon: up)
:soon: ME UP INSIDE
(:corn me)
:corn MY NAME AND
:neverusethis: ME FROM THE DARK
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Agent Rolado - See Parama
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Evanescence :metal
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I think I've finalized my EP at last. 10 songs, 49 minutes, it's more like an actual album than an EP. I'm sure I won't win (you'll see why when you guess some bands during hangman :lol ), but I can proudly say I'm indeed playing serious on that one and I don't regret anything. I mean, this is Parama's roulette. I just have to send him some cheesy metal, even if it brings my EP down. That's just how life works.
I'll send the EP in a few hours. I still have to think about the title and I want to do the write-up justice. Parama, you're in for a treat.
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send me a delicious 9.0+ song
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Well, if any of my songs are going to score 9.0+, this is the time. I'm sending some absolute best songs I know.
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the more you build me up, the more you're gonna break me down
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Meanwhile, I've just listened to See Hell and hell, it's quite good. SeeeEEeEeEE hell. Quite good.
Your EP is in the works.
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The way he sings the chorus reminds me of Bjork.
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i mean, it's a pretty alright song
never got around to the album tho and at this point probably won't either
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There are better songs on album IMO. And two of my favorite songs of theirs are on the first album.
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There are better songs on my EP too!
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like slint - don aman?
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Washer is the best Slint song tbh.
Btw, can I send a post-roulette EP? Just some songs I didn't get to send :P
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sure, but i'm not train and i'm not gonna include it in my results and prob won't listen to it the requisite 5 times either (at least not now)
might include it in hangmanen tho
i was actually gonna make a random ep out of stuff not on the banned list myself and put that into hangmanen to confuse people but having you make it for me is probably better
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Okay, I definitely have the EP composed, but I don't have a write-up ready because I spent the time I planned on writing it chatting with 425 on Skype instead. So I will send my EP on Sunday, as promised.
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considering saturday is the day when i put new albums into rotation that's fine, gotta listen to two-three albums today to begin with :P
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Okay, I definitely have the EP composed, but I don't have a write-up ready because I spent the time I planned on writing it chatting with 425 on Skype instead. So I will send my EP on Sunday, as promised.
;)
I'll try follow the EP rules, but will probably include a 15-min closer :lol
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Okay, I definitely have the EP composed, but I don't have a write-up ready because I spent the time I planned on writing it chatting with 425 on Skype instead. So I will send my EP on Sunday, as promised.
;)
I'll try follow the EP rules, but will probably include a 15-min closer :lol
This wasn't EP-related, by the way.
And don't let him send 15-min closer. I wanted to send three songs by one band (within 12 minutes limit, and one song is under two minutes), but the rules didn't allow this so, well, tough luck.
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if you send a 15-minute closer, i won't listen to it :corn
you could send me a 15-minute song separate from your EP though, in which case, i might listen to it
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Well, I hope you end up checking the album then, it's pretty paramacore (and I think I recommended it to you along with lots of weird metal).
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i haven't gotten around to checking out everything on that list quite yet but i know i've checked out a few besides the ones i already knew :lol
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EP finished, will upload it later today. Too lazy to make crossfades/edits/etc but since I'm not participating on this, I won't miss those flow points :lol
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i mean, that's assuming i can even be bothered to score it. maybe i'll score it lazily but not gonna be doing writeups
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Sent my EP! I ended up not doing any crossfades or edits too. I wanted to make my EP as eclectic and natural as possible, so my songs flow together well enough without any effects. I picked them with this in mind.
Looking forward to hangman and whatnot.
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Also just sent! Also didn't do crossfades, most songs end and start quietly anyway so they wouldn't have much effect I think.
Parama, I really hope you enjoy and aren't bored by these nearly 50 minute in total length of songs. Brace yourself ;D
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i have received both EP's alongside evermind's essay
gonna do first listens before i start hangmanen tho :corn
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gonna do first listens before i start hangmanen tho :corn
>:(
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i have received both EP's alongside evermind's essay
It's like every person ever who I sent my EPs to said this to me. :lol
gonna do first listens before i start hangmanen tho :corn
>:(
You should be able to guess a lot of my songs, actually.
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Since hangmanen takes its sweet time to arrive, I decided to release a single from my EP. I went on to say:
I wanted to kick my EP off with an energetic power metal song. I actually considered to omit the first intro track and start my EP with this one, but I thought the transition between the beauty of the first track and the in-your-faceness or this tune would be hilarious, so I went ahead and put those tracks on the EP as they are now. I admit, it still makes me smile.
Overall, this song is straight-forward quality power metal, and it fits with what I wanted to do with my EP. I was sure I will use it from the very beginning, so I mentioned a few times in the roulette thread I'm taking this completely serious.
Head over to the link below to hear the single!
Link (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnO-uRsdIgg)
Read what some credible sources had to say about the EP:
"Sounds like a good/amusing EP that Parama won’t like." — 425
(more to be announced)
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Is it reference to Harry Potter? Pfff, they are such nerds :P
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I think it is indeed. I'm taking bets for how Parama will rate this one. Anything more than 5/10 will get the favourable odds.
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Not going to lie, that would be a 6/10 at most for me. It feels very much like power metal by the numbers and doesn't bring anything new to the table that I haven't heard done better in lots of other power metal songs. Plus, I'm not a huge fan of the vocals and the ending is really abrupt.
The guitar solo is killer though, I'll admit. Definitely my favourite part of the song.
But then, we all know that Parama's taste in music is super weird, so I could see this getting anything from a 3/10 to a 9/10.
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If you look at it like this, none of my songs bring anything new to the table, actually. Except maybe my EP closer which is currently fighting with The Light And Shade Of Things and Lucifer for my song of the year.
I don't think you even can bring anything new to the table in a standard power metal setting. Perhaps that's why I actually like this genre so much. :lol
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There's no end
Wheel of time
It keeps on spinning
There's no beginning
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Exactly.
Wheel of Time isn't exactly clear power metal though, it's leaning to symphonic part of the genre.
Come on, we all need hangman to begin.
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I don't think you even can bring anything new to the table in a standard power metal setting. Perhaps that's why I actually like this genre so much. :lol
I don't know if I agree with your assessment. While most power metal bands have certain musical elements in common, no other band really sounds like Avantasia, Helloween, Blind Guardian or Angra, for instance - they all have a distinct identity to their music that I find missing in bands like Hammerfall, Powerwolf or, as it is, the Serious Black song.
But I'll shut up now, don't want Parama to go into your EP with pre-conceived notions. Probably too late for that now, but oh well. :lol
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evermind wrote me an essay about his ep and every song on it so i already have preconceived notions :loser:
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I like new poll.
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I wouldn't even say Avantasia belongs to power metal genre right now. First two Metal Opera albums, sure, The Scarecrow and everything that came after it? No way. They have two or three power metal songs on each albums, and everything else is ranging from hard rock to heavy metal.
Helloween and Angra sounds just like any other power metal band for me now, to be honest, especially now that Angra signed Fabio Leone. Secret Garden was very standard power metal stuff as far as I'm concerned. They're just very good at it.
Blind Guardian are indeed unique (even though last album wasn't up to par with the rest of their discography), but they're honestly more like an exception from the rule. That's probably why I love them so much too! :lol
evermind wrote me an essay about his ep and every song on it so i already have preconceived notions :loser:
Yep, but most of the writeups said "this song is awesome", so it's not like they were any useful for you anyway.
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I like new poll.
Jeezus, how is "it" not completely crushing it? You guys have terrible taste, seriously.
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For instance, I voted "hide" because that's what Parama would want to do when he listens to my EP.
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Sent a bunch of awesome songs.
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Padadaa padam! Welcome back to the Evermind and home show!
Whoa Evermind just released a song from his EP? I can't stay behind!
Here is a waaaaay better song for you to enjoy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_0yuWbh8mw (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_0yuWbh8mw)
All I want say about it is:
Dudu dudum, Occupy! Dudu dudum, Occupy!
Dudu dudum, Occupy! Dudu dudum, Occupy!
Well boys and girls, that was the show for today, time to go to bed now.
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You just linked the entire playlist though
:biggrin:
LEAKED
-
yeah, nice job there :lol
-
You just linked the entire playlist though
:biggrin:
LEAKED
:facepalm: Whoops I'm tired. Changed it, be quiet Train ;D
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I will keep silent like the grave
Songs 4 and 5 are both awesome though :metal, #5 is my favorite from that band
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:rollin
I'm kind of glad I missed it. :lol
-
so it looks like this one venue here is going to have
Oct 13: Leprous + Earthside
Oct 14: Devy + BTBAM + Fallujah
Oct 15: Intronaut (+ Gorguts but I dunno them that well)
Nov 3: The Ocean
i need to figure out how to get to this venue lol i want to see every single one of these shoooows
also i've listened to evermind's EP but not home's yet and i'm too lazy to start up hangman right now. it'll be like, two weeks or so before results go up anyways probably so w/e :lol
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Final Round First Impressions
This definitely just struck on a mood really well and I’m kinda wishing it was twice as long as it is, but oh well.
It’s got this “not quite metal but still a bit heavy” vibe to it. Maybe not so sure about those vocals, they kind of lack presence or power.
The song does a solid job of being dynamic enough even when maintaining a quiet mood.
I think Train really liked this one if I’m remembering correctly. I can see it really being up his alley, yeah.
The riffs and groove of this one are pretty solid and there’s a nice amount of dynamics to it. It doesn’t feel particularly fresh but it’s fine on the whole.
Despite its length it goes quite a number of places and I quite like where it does go.
The strings and piano and whatnot are all used pretty well and give the song a really organic feel that I quite like.
On the whole I like this, though there are some weird choices and it feels like it lacks… something, to make it really work.
This is basically the kind of song that I don’t mind listening to but doesn’t stand out enough in any way for me to really remember much about it, I feel.
Yeah, I really feel the power behind this one, whew. The singer nails it during parts of this one and the music’s doing a good job of backing him up.
Musically this song is fine enough, pretty solid though not hitting me especially hard, so hopefully the vocals grow on me because they’re not doing much for me right now.
It’s again a pretty mellow song and again feels like it’s missing a real climax, but it’s pleasant enough regardless?
This song, for one, has riffs! And the riffs have a strong groove to them, which I dig. Also really liking that chorus.
I guess that’s just what the song is though. Gentle, subtle, somber. That’s fine to be.
I don’t know what to say about it, it’s well orchestrated of course and sounds pleasant enough, but it just feels like it’s missing an emotional factor to me.
This feels like the kind of song that works better in the context of an album than as a song on its own, really, but for what it is I do enjoy it regardless.
Oh man. I haven’t had this strong a positive reaction to any other song in the roulette this far. I already have the feeling. I’d bet this is the highest scoring song of the roulette. Let’s see if it holds up.
The vocals are maybe a bit shrill for my tastes but on the whole this is pleasant enough.
Overall: One of you has a great three-song run on your EP (including, yes, that tidbit of particular note), I'll say that much right out of the gate. Like, easily three of the best songs in the roulette. And I'd say that on first listen one of the EPs definitely stood out more than the other, but I have at least 4 more listens to give each and that could easily change. We shall see. Corn. Soon. Results when splent.
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Three best songs run can't be me. Literally every third song on my EP is a cheesy metal one. :lol I bet all the tidbits about "this is pleasant but there's no climax" are mine too.
Congrats home!
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Three best songs run can't be me. Literally every third song on my EP is a cheesy metal one. :lol I bet all the tidbits about "this is pleasant but there's no climax" are mine too.
Congrats home!
Well it can't really be me either :lol
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I'm not kidding, you'll understand it when hangman is up. :lol
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Final Round Hangman!!!
ALRIGHT here's the rules this time around.
You have to guess. Everything. What are the song and artist names? What are the EP names? Which EP has which name? Which songs are on which EP? What order are all the songs in on each EP?
Note: There are four dummy songs that nobody sent me. Just for fun. Also that other rule was dumb I'm ignoring it actually.
Sacul's EP is in there too but honestly I haven't listened to it yet :corn
Evermind’s EP: ???
<songs go here>
home’s EP: ???
<songs go here>
Sacul’s EP: ???
<songs go here>
EP Titles:
___________
_________ ___ ____
____ _______ ___ ___ _____
Artists & Songs:
____ - ______
_______ - ____
_____ - ______
______ - _______
_________ - _____
__________ - ______
_______ _____ - ____ ___
_______ _______ - ______
______ - ____ _____ _______
_____________ - __________
________ - ______ ____ (____)
________ _______ - _________
_______ ____ - ___ ____ _____
__________ - ______ ___ _____
_______ - ___ ____ ___ ___ ___
_________ - _________ _______
_____ __ ______ - ____ _______
_____ _______ - _____ __ _____
______ ________ - ___ __ ______
____ ________ - _______ __ ____
_______ _______ - ____ _ ________
_____ - ___ __________ __ ___ ____
_______ _____ - _ ____ __ _____ ____
________ - _________ _____ _________
_____ _______ - _ _________ __ ______
_____ __ _____ _________ - ______ ____
______ ____ - ____ _____ _____ ________
_______ ____ - ____ __ ___ ____ (_______)
______ & ___ ____ __ ____ - ________ _____
_____________ - _ ____ ______ ___ _____ (____ _)
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Sacul: Bohren & Der Club of Gore tbh
-
Evermind’s EP: ???
<songs go here>
home’s EP: ???
<songs go here>
Sacul’s EP: ???
?. Bohren & Der Club of Gore - ________ _____
EP Titles:
___________
_________ ___ ____
____ _______ ___ ___ _____
Artists & Songs:
____ - ______
_______ - ____
_____ - ______
______ - _______
_________ - _____
__________ - ______
_______ _____ - ____ ___
_______ _______ - ______
______ - ____ _____ _______
_____________ - __________
________ - ______ ____ (____)
________ _______ - _________
_______ ____ - ___ ____ _____
__________ - ______ ___ _____
_______ - ___ ____ ___ ___ ___
_________ - _________ _______
_____ __ ______ - ____ _______
_____ _______ - _____ __ _____
______ ________ - ___ __ ______
____ ________ - _______ __ ____
_______ _______ - ____ _ ________
_____ - ___ __________ __ ___ ____
_______ _____ - _ ____ __ _____ ____
________ - _________ _____ _________
_____ _______ - _ _________ __ ______
_____ __ _____ _________ - ______ ____
______ ____ - ____ _____ _____ ________
_______ ____ - ____ __ ___ ____ (_______)
_____________ - _ ____ ______ ___ _____ (____ _)
that's not a letter tho
-
Gimme dat E.
-
Scorpion waits 3.
Letters guessed: E
Evermind’s EP: ???
<songs go here>
home’s EP: ???
<songs go here>
Sacul’s EP: ???
?. Bohren & Der Club of Gore - _____e__ __ee_
EP Titles:
_______e_e_
_________ __e ____
__e_ _____e_ ___ ___ ____e
Artists & Songs:
____ - ______
_______ - __e_
_____ - ______
______ - ____e__
E___e___e - _____
__________ - ____e_
___e__e ____e - ____ ___
_______ ______e - _e_e__
______ - ____ _e___ ____e__
_____e_______ - _________e
_______e - ____e_ ____ (___e)
________ E______ - ______e__
_______ ___e - ___ _e__ _____
_e__e____e - _____e __e ____e
_______ - ___ ____ __e ___ ___
_e_______ - _________ ____e__
_____ __ ____e_ - ____ ___e__e
_____ _______ - ___e_ __ ____e
____e_ ________ - _e_ __ ____e_
____ ______e_ - _______ __ ____
_______ ______e - ___e _ _____e__
__e__ - __e ____e_e__e __ __e ____
_e_____ _____ - _ _ee_ __ ___e_ ___e
________ - __e__e_e_ _____ _________
_____ _______ - _ ____e____ __ ____e_
_____ __ _____ _e__e_e__ - ______ ____
______ _e__ - __e_ _e___ ___e_ ________
_______ ___e - ____ __ __e ___e (_______)
_____e_______ - _ ___e _e___e __e ___e_ (____ _)
oh god
-
I'm all about dat A.
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Bolsters waits 3.
Scorpion waits 2.
Letters guessed: EA (challenge everything)
Evermind’s EP: ???
<songs go here>
home’s EP: ???
<songs go here>
Sacul’s EP: ???
?. Bohren & Der Club of Gore - _a___e__ __ee_
EP Titles:
a______e_e_
__a______ __e ____
__e_ _____e_ a__ _a_ ____e
Artists & Songs:
____ - ______
A______ - A_e_
__a__ - __a___
___a__ - _a__e__
E___e___e - __a_a
__a_______ - ____e_
_a_e__e ___ae - ____ _a_
_a____a _a____e - _e_e__
______ - ____ _e___ ____ea_
_a___e_______ - _________e
_______e - ____e_ _a__ (___e)
________ E__a___ - ____a_e_a
_______ ___e - ___ _e__ _____
_e__e_a__e - __a__e __e ____e
_______ - A__ ____ __e ___ ___
_ea______ - ______a__ __a_e__
__a__ __ ____e_ - ____ ___e__e
_a___ _______ - _a_e_ __ ____e
____e_ ________ - _ea __ ____e_
_a__ ______e_ - _______ __ ____
_a____a _a____e - ___e a __a__ea_
__e__ - __e ____e_e__e __ __e ____
_e_____ __a__ - _ _ee_ __ ___e_ ___e
_a__a___ - __e__e_e_ _____ _________
_a___ _______ - A ____e____ __ ____e_
_____ __ _____ _e__e_e__ - ______ _a__
____a_ _ea_ - __e_ _ea__ ___e_ ________
_______ ___e - ____ __ __e ___e (_a__a__)
_a___e_______ - _ _a_e _e___e __e _a_e_ (_a__ _)
you're literally killing me i need to sleep good night
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Temperance - Change The Rhyme belongs to Ruslan.
I don't actually know the song though, I don't have the latest album yet.
-
it's the only song between the two EP's I couldn't find a youtube link for too :lol
but all correct yeah
-
They aren't too popular, so some songs could be missing from YouTube.
-
home: Eluveitie - Isara
home: Ludovico Einaudi - Primavera
-
S
-
Beardfish - Voluntary Slavery
Probably also home's.
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Luoto waits 3.
Bolsters waits 2.
Scorpion waits 1.
Letters guessed: EAS
Evermind’s EP: ???
?. Temperance - Change the Rhyme
home’s EP: ???
?. Eluveitie - Isara
?. Ludovico Einaudi - Primavera
?. Beardfish - Voluntary Slavery
Sacul’s EP: ???
?. Bohren & Der Club of Gore - _a___ess S_ee_
EP Titles:
a______e_e_
__a______ __e ____
__e_ _____e_ a__ _a_ ____e
Artists & Songs:
____ - ______
A_s____ - A_es
S_a_s - __a___
___a__ - _a__ess
__a_______ - S___e_
_a_e__e ___ae - ____ _a_
_as___a _a_s__e - _e_e__
______ - ____ _e___ ____ea_
_a___e_______ - ________se
S______e - ____e_ _a__ (___e)
_______ ___e - ___ _e__ _____
_______ - A__ ___s __e ___ ___
__a__ __ ____e_ - ____ S__e__e
_a___ _______ - _a_es __ S___e
____e_ _____s__ - Sea __ ____es
_a__ ______e_ - _______ __ ____
_as___a _a_s__e - ___e a S_a__ea_
S_e_s - __e ____e_e__e __ __e ___s
Se____s __a__ - _ See_ __ ___e_ ___e
_a__a___ - __e__e_e_ _____ ________s
_a___ _______ - A ____e____ __ S___es
_____ __ _____ _e__e_e_s - ______ _a__
____a_ _ea_ - __e_ _ea__ ___es ________
_______ ___e - ___s _s __e ___e (_a__as_)
_a___e_______ - _ _a_e _e___e __e _a_e_ (_a__ _)
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Sacul: Swans - no idea about the song
R
-
Evermind: Serious Black - That One Song Ruslan Released As A Single Release
-
both person and artist combos are right and I'll do the hangmanen in 5 hours when I'm home
-
?. Bohren & Der Club of Gore - _a___ess S_ee_
Pretty sure this is like Stainless Steel only something else. Pick one:
Railless Steel
Gainless Steel
Tartness Steel
Mayoness Steel (I know it's technically mayonnaise but it didn't fit)
Baroness Steel
I have no idea. :lol
-
all of those are wrong :corn
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Shit, have another five then.
Careless Steel (this one must be right, actually)
Mainless Steel
Cartless Steel
Painless Steel
Waveless Steel
I can provide another five if needed. Unless the second word isn't actually steel. :lol
-
one of those is right but I'm not gonna tell you which one yet
-
Okay then, I'm off to sleep. Happy guessing. My bet is on Careless Steel.
-
Evermind waits 3.
Luoto waits 2.
Bolsters waits 1.
Letters guessed: EASR
Evermind’s EP: ???
?. Temperance - Change the Rhyme
?. Serious Black - _ See_ __ ___er ___e
home’s EP: ???
?. Eluveitie - Isara
?. Ludovico Einaudi - Primavera
?. Beardfish - Voluntary Slavery
Sacul’s EP: ???
?. Bohren & Der Club of Gore - Painless Steel
?. Swans - __a___
EP Titles:
a______ere_
__a______ __e ____
__e_ _____e_ a__ _a_ ____e
Artists & Songs:
____ - ______
Ars___r - A_es
__ra__ - _a__ess
__a_______ - S___er
_a_e__e ___ae - ____ _ar
_as___a _a_s__e - _e_e_r
___rrr - ____ _e___ ____ea_
_a___e__r____ - ________se
S______e - ____e_ _a_r (___e)
_______ __re - ___ _e__ __r__
_______ - A__ ___s __e ___ ___
_ra__ __ __r_er - ___r S__e__e
_a___ ______r - _a_es __ S___e
__r_er R____s__ - Sea __ ____es
_ar_ ______er - _______ __ ____
_as___a _a_s__e - ___e a S_ar_ea_
S_e_s - __e ____ere__e __ __e __r_s
_a__a___ - __e__ere_ _____ ________s
_a___ ______r - A ____e____ __ S___es
____r __ _____ _e__e_ers - ______ _a__
_r__a_ _ear - __e_ _ea__ ___es ________
_______ __re - ___s _s __e ___e (_a__as_)
_a___e__r____ - _ _a_e _e__re __e _a_er (_ar_ _)
-
___rrr - ____ _e___ ____ea_
Who could this possibly be?? :neverusethis:
Sacul: Igorrr - Tout Petit Moineau
also give me d D
-
Train of Naught waits 3.
Evermind waits 2.
Luoto waits 1.
Letters guessed: EASRD
Evermind’s EP: ???
?. Temperance - Change the Rhyme
?. Serious Black - _ See_ __ ___er ___e
home’s EP: ???
?. Eluveitie - Isara
?. Ludovico Einaudi - Primavera
?. Beardfish - Voluntary Slavery
Sacul’s EP: ???
?. Bohren & Der Club of Gore - Painless Steel
?. Swans - __a___
?. Igorrr - Tout Petit Moineau
EP Titles:
a______ere_
__a______ __e ____
__e_ _____e_ a_d _a_ ____e
Artists & Songs:
____ - ______
Ars__dr - A_es
__ra__ - _ad_ess
__a______d - S___er
_a_e__e ___ae - ___d _ar
_as___a Da_s__e - _e_e_r
_a___e__r____ - ________se
S___d__e - ___de_ _a_r (___e)
_______ __re - __d _e__ __r__
__d____ - A_d ___s __e __d ___
_ra__ __ __rder - ___r S__e__e
Da__d ______r - _a_es __ S___e
__r_er R____s__ - Sea __ ____es
_ar_ ______er - ____d__ __ ___d
_as___a Da_s__e - ___e a S_ar_ead
S_e_s - __e ____ere__e __ __e __rds
_a__a___ - __e__ered _____ ____d___s
Da__d ______r - A ____e____ __ S___es
____r __ _____ _e__e_ers - ______ _a__
_r__a_ _ear - __e_ Dea__ ___es ________
_______ __re - ___s _s __e ___e (_a__as_)
_a___e__r____ - _ _a_e _e__re __e _a_er (_ar_ _)
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Sacul: Kashiwa Daisuke - I don't know the tracks
Also, Myrath - Madness. Could be either home or misleading track.
-
artist and artist/song are correct
i'm going to say no more on the rest tbh
which kd song is sacul's, or are they both his? do you think it's home or do you think it's a dummy track? questions that must be answered
-
Low-hanging fruit, but the Serious Black song is I Seek No Other Life.
Gimme dat T.
-
Scorpion waits 3.
Train of Naught waits 2.
Evermind waits 1.
Letters guessed: EASRDT
Evermind’s EP: ???
?. Temperance - Change the Rhyme
?. Serious Black - I Seek No Other Lifee
home’s EP: ???
?. Eluveitie - Isara
?. Ludovico Einaudi - Primavera
?. Beardfish - Voluntary Slavery
Sacul’s EP: ???
?. Bohren & Der Club of Gore - Painless Steel
?. Swans - ___a__
?. Igorrr - Tout Petit Moineau
EP Titles:
at_____ere_
__a______ t_e ____
__e_ _____e_ a_d _at ___te
Artists & Songs:
____ - ______
Arst_dr - A_es
Myrath - Madness
__a______d - S___er
_a_e__e ___ae - ___d _ar
Kashiwa Daisuke - _ete_r
_a_t_e__r____ - ____t___se
S___d__e - ___de_ _a_r (___e)
__t____ __re - __d _e_t __rt_
__d__t_ - A_d ___s T_e __d ___
Tra__ __ __rder - ___r S__e__e
Da__d ______r - _a_es __ St__e
__rter R____s__ - Sea __ ____es
_ar_ ______er - ____d__ __ ___d
Kashiwa Daisuke - ___e a Star_ead
S_e_s - T_e ____ere__e __ T_e __rds
_a__a___ - __e__ered ____t ____d___s
Da__d ______r - A ____e____ __ S___es
____r __ _____ _e__e_ers - ______ Ta__
_r__a_ _ear - __e_ Deat_ ___es ________
__t____ __re - T__s _s T_e T__e (_a__ast)
_a_t_e__r____ - _ _a_e _e__re T_e _ater (_art _)
i'm surprised that one of the songs here hasn't been guessed at all, all things considered
-
It's probably the one home released as a single.
Sacul: Kashiwa Daisuke - Meteor
-
L :loser:
Is the second one supposed to be Arstidir?
David Gilmour - Faces of Stone
David Gilmour - A Pocketful of Stones
Both Ev's.
-
Primal Fear - When Death Comes Knocking
-
Primal Fear - When Death Comes Knocking
:facepalm:
-
So I broke a rule, I guess. Apologies.
-
Sacul: Kashiwe Daisuke - Like a Starhead :angel:
Also Myrath - Madness was probably sent by Evermind
-
Nah, I think that he was just kicking himself for not noticing that.
Also, Primal Fear was sent by Evermind, 100%.
-
Nah, I think that he was just kicking himself for not noticing that.
Also, Primal Fear was sent by Evermind, 100%.
Yes and yes.
-
There's
No surrender
I know I'll never give in
I won't stop fighting
:metal
4.5/10 from Parama.
-
Bolsters waits 3.
Scorpion waits 2.
Train of Naught waits 1.
Letters guessed: EASRDTL
Evermind’s EP: ???
?. Temperance - Change the Rhyme
?. Serious Black - I Seek No Other Life
?. David Gilmour - Faces of Stone
?. David Gilmour - A Pocketful of Stones
?. Primal Fear - When Death Comes Knocking
home’s EP: ???
?. Eluveitie - Isara
?. Ludovico Einaudi - Primavera
?. Beardfish - Voluntary Slavery
Sacul’s EP: ???
?. Bohren & Der Club of Gore - Painless Steel
?. Swans - L__a__
?. Igorrr - Tout Petit Moineau
?. Kashiwa Daisuke - Meteor
EP Titles:
at_____ere_
__a______ t_e _l__
__e_ _____e_ a_d _at ___te
Artists & Songs:
____ - ______
Arstidir - A_es
Myrath - Madness
_la_____ld - S___er
_a_elle ___ae - __ld _ar
_a_t_e__r____ - L___t___se
Sl__d__e - __lde_ _a_r (L__e)
__t____ __re - __d _e_t __rt_
__d__t_ - A_d ___s T_e __d ___
Tra_l __ __rder - ___r S_le__e
__rter R____s__ - Sea __ ____es
_ar_ _____ler - ____d__ __ ___d
Kashiwa Daisuke - Like a Starhead
S_els - T_e ____ere__e __ T_e __rds
_a__a___ - __e__ered L___t ____d___s
____r __ _____ _el_e_ers - __ll__ Tal_
__t____ __re - T__s _s T_e T__e (_allast)
_a_t_e__r____ - _ _a_e _e__re T_e _ater (_art _)
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I'm seeing Janelle Monae, Shels and Trail of Murder, but I don't know the songs.
-
Did Evermind sent Like a Starhead?
-
Janelle Monae will be Sacul.
The Trail of Murder song is Your Silence. More of the Evermind MP.
-
Slowdive - Golden Hair (Live), sent by home.
-
Sacul, I am sending you an internet high five for submitting Bohren.
o/
Treasure it, this currency is precious.
-
Bolsters waits 3.
Scorpion waits 2.
Train of Naught waits 1.
Letters guessed: EASRDTL
Evermind’s EP: ???
?. Temperance - Change the Rhyme
?. Serious Black - I Seek No Other Life
?. David Gilmour - Faces of Stone
?. David Gilmour - A Pocketful of Stones
?. Primal Fear - When Death Comes Knocking
?. Trail of Murder - Your Silence
home’s EP: ???
?. Eluveitie - Isara
?. Ludovico Einaudi - Primavera
?. Beardfish - Voluntary Slavery
?. Slowdive - Golden Hair (Live)
Sacul’s EP: ???
?. Bohren & Der Club of Gore - Painless Steel
?. Swans - L__a__
?. Igorrr - Tout Petit Moineau
?. Kashiwa Daisuke - Meteor
?. Janelle Monae - __ld _ar
EP Titles:
at_____ere_
__a______ t_e _l__
__e_ _____e_ a_d _at ___te
Artists & Songs:
____ - ______
Arstidir - A_es
Myrath - Madness
_la_____ld - S___er
_a_t_e__r____ - L___t___se
__t____ __re - __d _e_t __rt_
__d__t_ - A_d ___s T_e __d ___
__rter R____s__ - Sea __ ____es
_ar_ _____ler - ____d__ __ ___d
Kashiwa Daisuke - Like a Starhead
Shels - T_e ____ere__e __ T_e __rds
_a__a___ - __e__ered L___t ____d___s
____r __ _____ _el_e_ers - __ll__ Tal_
__t____ __re - T__s _s T_e T__e (_allast)
_a_t_e__r____ - _ _a_e _e__re T_e _ater (_art _)
i can't wait to get to the part where people remember you have to guess the EP track order too :corn
-
i can't wait to get to the part where people remember you have to guess the EP track order too :corn
I hadn't forgotten, but it seems kind of pointless to start guessing that when we don't have all the songs in each EP.
I'm guessing that home sent Arstidir by the way.
-
I want the V.
-
The Janelle Monae song is Cold War, and the Arstidir song is Ages.
-
Sacul: Kashiwe Daisuke - Like a Starhead :angel:
Did Evermind sent Like a Starhead?
It must be Sacul or Evermind, I did not sent it :p
-
Sacul waits 3.
Bolsters waits 2.
Scorpion waits 1.
Letters guessed: EASRDTLV
Evermind’s EP: ???
?. Temperance - Change the Rhyme
?. Serious Black - I Seek No Other Life
?. David Gilmour - Faces of Stone
?. David Gilmour - A Pocketful of Stones
?. Primal Fear - When Death Comes Knocking
?. Trail of Murder - Your Silence
home’s EP: ???
?. Eluveitie - Isara
?. Ludovico Einaudi - Primavera
?. Beardfish - Voluntary Slavery
?. Slowdive - Golden Hair (Live)
Sacul’s EP: ???
?. Bohren & Der Club of Gore - Painless Steel
?. Swans - L__a__
?. Igorrr - Tout Petit Moineau
?. Kashiwa Daisuke - Meteor
?. Janelle Monae - Cold War
EP Titles:
at_____ere_
__a______ t_e _l__
__e_ _____e_ a_d _at ___te
Artists & Songs:
____ - ______
Arstidir - Ages
Myrath - Madness
_la_____ld - S___er
_a_t_e__r____ - L___t___se
__t____ __re - __d _e_t __rt_
__d__t_ - A_d ___s T_e __d ___
__rter R____s__ - Sea __ V___es
_ar_ _____ler - ____d__ __ ___d
Kashiwa Daisuke - Like a Starhead
Shels - T_e ____ere__e __ T_e __rds
_a__a___ - __e__ered L___t ____d___s
____r __ _____ _el_evers - __ll__ Tal_
__t____ __re - T__s _s T_e T__e (_allast)
_a_t_e__r____ - _ _a_e _e__re T_e _ater (_art _)
-
Nothing More - This Is the Time (Ballast)
iamthemorning - someoneelsepleaseguessthesong
Both by home
Also: I
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iamthemorning - someoneelsepleaseguessthesong
Definitely my favourite of their songs, great choice. :D
-
One of the songs could be Sea of Voices.
If home didn't send Arstidir, the next most likely is Sacul.
-
iamthemorning - Lighthouse sent by Evermind
I can't see Sacul sending Arstidir but its possible. Most likely Evermind though, guessing him.
-
Luoto waits 3.
Sacul waits 2.
Bolsters waits 1.
Letters guessed: EASRDTLVI
Evermind’s EP: ???
?. Temperance - Change the Rhyme
?. Serious Black - I Seek No Other Life
?. David Gilmour - Faces of Stone
?. David Gilmour - A Pocketful of Stones
?. Primal Fear - When Death Comes Knocking
?. Trail of Murder - Your Silence
?. iamthemorning - Lighthouse
?. Arstidir - Ages
home’s EP: ???
?. Eluveitie - Isara
?. Ludovico Einaudi - Primavera
?. Beardfish - Voluntary Slavery
?. Slowdive - Golden Hair (Live)
?. Nothing More - This Is the Time (Ballast)
Sacul’s EP: ???
?. Bohren & Der Club of Gore - Painless Steel
?. Swans - L__a__
?. Igorrr - Tout Petit Moineau
?. Kashiwa Daisuke - Meteor
?. Janelle Monae - Cold War
EP Titles:
at_____ere_
I_a_i_i__ t_e _l__
__e_ __i__e_ a_d _at __ite
Artists & Songs:
____ - ______
Myrath - Madness
_la___i_ld - S___er
__t_i__ __re - __d _e_t __rt_
I_d__ti - A_d ___s T_e __d ___
__rter R__i_s__ - Sea of Voices
_ar_ _____ler - _i__d__ __ ___d
Kashiwa Daisuke - Like a Starhead
Shels - T_e ____ere__e __ T_e _irds
_a__a___ - __e__ered Li__t __i_di__s
___ir __ _____ _elievers - __ll__ Tal_
iamthemorning - I _a_e _e__re T_e _ater (_art _)
which iamthemorning song is home's? :corn
leaving for work btw so no updates for a while
-
I can't see Sacul sending Arstidir but its possible. Most likely Evermind though, guessing him.
I didn't think Arstidir would fit very well with what other things there are in his EP though, that's what threw me off.
-
Definitely didn't send Arstidir :P
-
I can't see Sacul sending Arstidir but its possible. Most likely Evermind though, guessing him.
I didn't think Arstidir would fit very well with what other things there are in his EP though, that's what threw me off.
This song actually fits IMO. Especially considering the song that follows it.
Both Kashiwa Daisuke and Myrath songs are duds.
-
yup, 2 of the dummy songs :corn
-
The other iamthemorning song is I Came Before the Water (Part I), I think. If you're going with numbers instead of numerals, it could also be Part II, no way of knowing that.
The *shels song is The Conference of the Birds, maybe? I have no idea, those seem to be only words that I can think of that fit and don't have any letters missing.
Also, some more low-hanging fruit: home's single release was Gong - Occupy.
-
all of that is right
-
ahh man, no more letters, wow
new poll, wow
-
One of the EP titles begins with Imagining the...
-
B
-
Evermind waits 3.
Luoto waits 2.
Sacul waits 1.
Letters guessed: EASRDTLVIB
Evermind’s EP: ???
?. Temperance - Change the Rhyme
?. Serious Black - I Seek No Other Life
?. David Gilmour - Faces of Stone
?. David Gilmour - A Pocketful of Stones
?. Primal Fear - When Death Comes Knocking
?. Trail of Murder - Your Silence
?. iamthemorning - Lighthouse
?. Arstidir - Ages
home’s EP: ???
?. Eluveitie - Isara
?. Ludovico Einaudi - Primavera
?. Beardfish - Voluntary Slavery
?. Slowdive - Golden Hair (Live)
?. Nothing More - This Is the Time (Ballast)
Sacul’s EP: ???
?. Bohren & Der Club of Gore - Painless Steel
?. Swans - L__a__
?. Igorrr - Tout Petit Moineau
?. Kashiwa Daisuke - Meteor
?. Janelle Monae - Cold War
Portishead: Dummy (Songs)
Myrath - Madness
Kashiwa Daisuke - Like a Starhead
EP Titles:
at_____ere_
I_a_i_i__ t_e _l__
__e_ __i__e_ a_d _at __ite
Artists & Songs:
Gong - Occupy
Bla___i_ld - S___er
__t_i__ __re - __d _e_t __rt_
I_d__ti - A_d ___s T_e __d ___
__rter R_bi_s__ - Sea of Voices
_ar_ _____ler - _i__d__ __ ___d
Shels - The Conference of the Birds
_a__a___ - __e__ered Li__t B_i_di__s
___ir __ _____ Believers - __ll__ Tal_
iamthemorning - I Came Before the Water (Part 1)
-
Shels song is home's. And Gong is obviously too.
Swans song is Lunacy.
Continuing on Sacul's train of thought, the EP title is Imagining the Flow maybe?
Also, Blackfield - Summer, let's say it's Sacul's.
And there's another Nothing More track but I don't know its name.
-
Evermind waits 3.
Luoto waits 2.
Sacul waits 1.
Letters guessed: EASRDTLVIB
Evermind’s EP: ???
?. Temperance - Change the Rhyme
?. Serious Black - I Seek No Other Life
?. David Gilmour - Faces of Stone
?. David Gilmour - A Pocketful of Stones
?. Primal Fear - When Death Comes Knocking
?. Trail of Murder - Your Silence
?. iamthemorning - Lighthouse
?. Arstidir - Ages
home’s EP: ???
?. Eluveitie - Isara
?. Ludovico Einaudi - Primavera
?. Beardfish - Voluntary Slavery
?. Slowdive - Golden Hair (Live)
?. Nothing More - This Is the Time (Ballast)
?. *Shels - The Conference of the Birds
?. Gong - Occupy
Sacul’s EP: ???
?. Bohren & Der Club of Gore - Painless Steel
?. Swans - Lunacy
?. Igorrr - Tout Petit Moineau
?. Kashiwa Daisuke - Meteor
?. Janelle Monae - Cold War
Portishead: Dummy (Songs)
Myrath - Madness
Kashiwa Daisuke - Like a Starhead
EP Titles:
at_____ere_
Imagining the Flow
__e_ __i__e_ a_d _at __ite
Artists & Songs:
Blackfield - Summer
Nothing More - __d _e_t __rt_
I_d__ti - A_d ___s T_e __d ___
__rter R_bi_s__ - Sea of Voices
_ar_ _____ler - _i__d__ __ ___d
_a__a___ - __e__ered Li__t B_i_di__s
___ir __ _____ Believers - __ll__ Tal_
iamthemorning - I Came Before the Water (Part 1)
i'll give you an update for getting enough stuff right
-
I updated my previous post with more.
-
i, the same
-
Sea of Voices is by somebody Robinson, Carter maybe? Or Porter? Can't think of any other names that would fit other than those two.
-
pick one and stick with it :corn
-
Okay, I'm guessing Porter Robinson.
-
you guessed the right one. congrats
-
:victorydance: :victorydance:
-
Indukti is in there.
-
what are the general fan favorites for act iv btw I've been listening to it and I wanna see how weird my picks for favorites are because I feel like my picks are probably not the general consensus :corn
-
Not sure what's the general consensus, my favourites are Waves, Remembered and Wait.
-
My favourite is The Congregation and The Sermon in a Slit or whatever it's called, but I've heard only two songs from the album (the other one being King of Swords), so yeah. But I ordered it and it's somewhere on the way to me from Amazon.
Blackfield is a dummy track.
Tomislav should come here and guess one of my unguessed tracks.
iamthemorning song is mine, in case it isn't obvious yet.
-
you are pretty good at finding the dummy songs :lol
what's the last one then? :corn
-
Evermind: Mark Knopfler - Kingdom of Gold :D
I'm so bad at this I don't even bother unless someone point me the obvious :P
-
Evermind waits 3.
Luoto waits 2.
Sacul waits 1.
Letters guessed: EASRDTLVIB
Evermind’s EP: ???
?. Temperance - Change the Rhyme
?. Serious Black - I Seek No Other Life
?. David Gilmour - Faces of Stone
?. David Gilmour - A Pocketful of Stones
?. Primal Fear - When Death Comes Knocking
?. Trail of Murder - Your Silence
?. iamthemorning - Lighthouse
?. Arstidir - Ages
?. iamthemorning - I Came Before the Water (Part 1)
?. Mark Knopfler - Kingdom of Gold
home’s EP: ???
?. Eluveitie - Isara
?. Ludovico Einaudi - Primavera
?. Beardfish - Voluntary Slavery
?. Slowdive - Golden Hair (Live)
?. Nothing More - This Is the Time (Ballast)
?. *Shels - The Conference of the Birds
?. Gong - Occupy
Sacul’s EP: ???
?. Bohren & Der Club of Gore - Painless Steel
?. Swans - Lunacy
?. Igorrr - Tout Petit Moineau
?. Kashiwa Daisuke - Meteor
?. Janelle Monae - Cold War
Portishead: Dummy (Songs)
Myrath - Madness
Kashiwa Daisuke - Like a Starhead
Blackfield - Summer
EP Titles:
at_____ere_
Imagining the Flow
__e_ __i__e_ a_d _at __ite
Artists & Songs:
Nothing More - __d _e_t __rt_
Indukti - A_d ___s T_e __d ___
Porter Robinson - Sea of Voices
_a__a___ - __e__ered Li__t B_i_di__s
___ir __ _____ Believers - __ll__ Tal_
i kept thinking indukti was on evermind's ep but it's not, his ep actually has all the songs on it now :corn
-
Yeah, come on guys, try to put them in order.
Imagining the Flow is home's EP.
-
__e_ Whiskey and cat __ite
Ev's EP.
-
You got that but you didn't get the other two words? :facepalm:
-
it's actually just The Antlers - Palace nine times
-
I'm guessing that Serious Black is the opener on Ev's EP. :neverusethis:
If I were making an EP with the songs that are on Evermind's, then I'd follow that one up with a calm song, but there's quite a few there. I'm guessing that maybe iamthemorning - I Came Before the Water (Part I) is the second track? And maybe Kingdom of Gold as the closer? I'm literally just guessing here.
On home's EP - which is again, based on what I would do - I'd open the whole thing with Ludivico Einaudi and close it with Slowdive, because I find that live tracks in the middle of an EP rarely work and I can't see Golden Hair as an opener. Since Gong was released as a single, I'm guessing it's track 2, maybe? Not sure if home thinks like many bands do who put their single-y track as the second on the album.
-
I'm guessing that Serious Black is the opener on Ev's EP. :neverusethis:
This is close, but not exactly right.
-
I'm guessing that Serious Black is the opener on Ev's EP. :neverusethis:
This is close, but not exactly right.
Right, you said something about a short intro track. Then... just going by track lengths, I'm guessing that iamthemorning - I Came Before the Water (Part I) is the opener and then segues into I Seek No Other Life.
-
"Segues" is a mighty word for that transition, to be honest. :neverusethis:
-
When Whiskey and Cat Unite.
-
Evermind waits 3.
Luoto waits 2.
Sacul waits 1.
Letters guessed: EASRDTLVIB
Evermind’s EP: When Whisky and Cat Unite
1. iamthemorning - I Came Before the Water (Part 1)
2. Serious Black - I Seek No Other Life
?. Temperance - Change the Rhyme
?. David Gilmour - Faces of Stone
?. David Gilmour - A Pocketful of Stones
?. Primal Fear - When Death Comes Knocking
?. Trail of Murder - Your Silence
?. iamthemorning - Lighthouse
?. Arstidir - Ages
?. Mark Knopfler - Kingdom of Gold
home’s EP: Imagining the Flow
1. Ludovico Einaudi - Primavera
?. Eluveitie - Isara
?. Beardfish - Voluntary Slavery
?. Nothing More - This Is the Time (Ballast)
?. *Shels - The Conference of the Birds
?. Gong - Occupy
8. Slowdive - Golden Hair (Live)
Sacul’s EP: ???
?. Bohren & Der Club of Gore - Painless Steel
?. Swans - Lunacy
?. Igorrr - Tout Petit Moineau
?. Kashiwa Daisuke - Meteor
?. Janelle Monae - Cold War
Portishead: Dummy (Songs)
Myrath - Madness
Kashiwa Daisuke - Like a Starhead
Blackfield - Summer
EP Titles:
at_____ere_
Artists & Songs:
Nothing More - __d _e_t __rt_
Indukti - A_d ___s T_e __d ___
Porter Robinson - Sea of Voices
_a__a___ - __e__ered Li__t B_i_di__s
___ir __ _____ Believers - __ll__ Tal_
-
C
-
Nothing More - God Went North
That and Porter Robinson are on home's EP.
-
That and Porter Robinson are on home's EP.
Nah I guess Porter Robinson is a dummy song :P
-
it is, and the only dummy song I actually know :lol
its pretty good btw
-
Someone guess my EP title and remaining song pls :corn
-
Bolsters waits 3.
Evermind waits 2.
Luoto waits 1.
Letters guessed: EASRDTLVIBC
Evermind’s EP: When Whiskey and Cat Unite
1. iamthemorning - I Came Before the Water (Part 1)
2. Serious Black - I Seek No Other Life
?. Temperance - Change the Rhyme
?. David Gilmour - Faces of Stone
?. David Gilmour - A Pocketful of Stones
?. Primal Fear - When Death Comes Knocking
?. Trail of Murder - Your Silence
?. iamthemorning - Lighthouse
?. Arstidir - Ages
?. Mark Knopfler - Kingdom of Gold
home’s EP: Imagining the Flow
1. Ludovico Einaudi - Primavera
?. Eluveitie - Isara
?. Beardfish - Voluntary Slavery
?. Nothing More - This Is the Time (Ballast)
?. *Shels - The Conference of the Birds
?. Gong - Occupy
?. Nothing More - God Went North
8. Slowdive - Golden Hair (Live)
Sacul’s EP: at_____ere_
?. Bohren & Der Club of Gore - Painless Steel
?. Swans - Lunacy
?. Igorrr - Tout Petit Moineau
?. Kashiwa Daisuke - Meteor
?. Janelle Monae - Cold War
?. Indukti - A_d ___s T_e __d ___
?. _a__ac__ - C_e__ered Li__t B_i_di__s
?. C__ir __ _____ Believers - __ll__ Tal_
Portishead: Dummy (Songs)
Myrath - Madness
Kashiwa Daisuke - Like a Starhead
Blackfield - Summer
Porter Robinson - Sea of Voices
moved everything because it's all obvious now. also woops forgot to update this when i got home rip
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The Indukti song is ...And Who's the God Now?, which I did look up, sue me. This wasn't advancing anyway.
Also, some random guesses as to ordering.
Eluveitie is #2 on home's EP.
One of the two Nothing More tracks is #3 on home's EP.
Gong is #4 on home's EP.
*shels is #6 on home's EP.
Trail of Murder is #3 on Evermind's EP.
Lighthouse closes Evermind's EP.
Lunacy is #1 on Sacul's EP.
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the only things correct in that post are the song title and that lighthouse is evermind's closer
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I really recommend you that Indukti song, Scorp. Seems up your alley.
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what are the general fan favorites for act iv btw I've been listening to it and I wanna see how weird my picks for favorites are because I feel like my picks are probably not the general consensus :corn
i forgot to follow up on this, but rn my faves are if all goes well, wait, and waves in that order
ouroboros would be great if the last two minutes weren't a really disappointing ending to the album too
-
four listens into both EPs so i might do writeups on next listen.
fairly sure who's gonna win the whole thing at this point though. wouldn't say i really love either of the EPs but one of them I do like a decent bit more than the other, at this moment in time, and I find that unlikely to change too dramatically with only one more listen so.
probably won't have results up until wednesday at the earliest, since tuesday i'm going to see haken + tys
-
ok i'll do this soon i swear.
have really been feeling exhausted today, and writing is actually pretty tough when you are exhausted
hopefully friday i can have results up ???
-
Just end my misery already.
-
it's my fault for hosting an EP round tbh. the one in my first one didn't go spectacularly and i can't say i'm particularly impressed by either EP this time either but w/e my fault for hosting this thing.
i dunno if i'll even run a roulette next year at this rate, it's really draining and this one's been relatively disappointing all things considered
-
So basically one of us just screwed up a little more than the other? :lol
-
Evermind: When Whiskey and Cat Unite
iamthemorning – I Came Before the Water (Part 1) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGgXJ08FQ7k)
First Impressions:
Well, it’s a simple and brief intro. The vocals are maybe a bit shrill for my tastes but on the whole this is pleasant enough. Not really… much else to say, especially on a time crunch!
Final Thoughts:
As an intro track, I’d say this does set the tone pretty well. Some lovely string-heavy textures and a lonely vocal line. Very brief though. I’m still not sure I’m a huge fan of the vocals, but they’re… alright. But as a song by itself, this really just doesn’t have much time to even offer much, unfortunately. And I don’t have the time to say much more, either. This would probably work better in the context of its own album, and it feels a bit unfair to judge it here on its own, but that’s the roulette format, I suppose.
5.5/10 (#17 of 18)
Serious Black – I Seek No Other Life (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnO-uRsdIgg)
First Impressions:
I legitimately can’t tell these vocals apart from Avantasia or Blind Guardian. It sounds like the exact same singer. I’m not particularly noticing any other qualities about this song at all, either. The vocals take center stage pretty heavily. Most of the guitar work is background chugging, the drums are straightforward and energetic but pretty standard. Well okay there is one solid riff and the guitar solo’s fine enough. This is basically the kind of song that I don’t mind listening to but doesn’t stand out enough in any way for me to really remember much about it, I feel.
Final Thoughts:
Yes, the contrast between the previous song and this one is suitably jarring and I know you did that on purpose. As for the song itself. Uhh. I said… basically everything there is to say in my first impressions writeup. There’s a decent amount of power and energy to this that I can kind of get caught up in if I don’t think about it too much. But if I do think about it too much I tend to notice how spectacularly standard this song is in every way.
I won’t say that’s necessarily a bad thing to be, but for me, yeah… you know I like my unique, memorable stuff quite well and this just doesn’t do it for me in any real way. But I mean, I don’t particularly dislike it either, it’s just unlikely I’ll ever remember it.
6/10 (#15 of 18)
Árstíðir – Ages (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMycpTRoInE)
First Impressions:
Really liking the vocal harmonies at the start here for some reason, can’t put my finger on why but they’re nice. The song does a solid job of being dynamic enough even when maintaining a quiet mood. The strings help too, always nice. A bit of a simple track and maybe not especially satisfying as a ballad but it’s nice enough.
Final Thoughts:
Yeah, the vocals are the clear highlight of this track, the harmonizations are pretty strong and both voices are rather pleasant on the ears naturally. And the vocals have a nice build to them throughout, while still being anchored on a main melody.
The repeating guitar line throughout this is probably the element I like the least, it’s a bit too repetitive in its structure and a bit generic too. It’s the kind of guitar line always used to give things a bit of a folky feel, which it accomplishes here I suppose, but it isn’t especially interesting on its own. The strings and horns and piano and everything else though, they create a great atmosphere for the vocals to play off of.
It does feel like the track ends a bit anticlimactically, or ends before it really hits its stride, or something along those lines. It doesn’t have any climax to build to, I suppose, which is probably its biggest failing, but that aside it’s an enjoyable enough track, though I can’t say it hits me especially hard.
7.25/10 (#9 of 18)
David Gilmour – Faces of Stone (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MlGYgmzk9Y)
First Impressions:
The somber piano intro is pretty effective if I say so myself. I really like that kind of sound in general, though. I thought this was going to be a straightforward ballad at first but there’s circus music or something in the background for some reason? Which is… an interesting choice. I guess it’s more like polka though? Or something? I dunno. The guitar solo is, unsurprisingly, pretty great. I mean, it’s David Gilmour here. The song feels like it lacks a climax though, and ends a bit unceremoniously. On the whole I like this, though there are some weird choices and it feels like it lacks… something, to make it really work.
Final Thoughts:
Honestly that verse is so out of place here. What’s that weird melody doing anywhere near the rest of this song? Why is there polka? This doesn’t even work with this part of the song, much less the rest of the song that surrounds it, which is a more straightforward ballad track. Sure, the weird bits give it flavor, but… flavor in a bad way, I’d say.
The rest of the song though is quite good, really. I really like the piano intro, probably more than any other part of the song, and I can’t put my finger on why. The guitar solos are both quite solid, especially the longer one near the end, and there’s a pretty solid moment of build after the first brief solo. I think that bit was supposed to serve as the climax? But it comes too early and doesn’t hit hard enough. The outro solo could also be the climax, but it never feels like it reaches the peak of what it’s building too and fades out before it gets the chance.
It’s a bit of a malformed song in that regards, and with regards to the random polka on the verses as well. There’s parts of this song that I like, but it just doesn’t feel particularly well thought-out or stitched together right.
Also, I never commented on the vocals I guess. They’re fine. Never been a massive fan of Gilmour as a singer, but he’s fine here, sure.
6.75/10 (#12 of 18)
Primal Fear – When Death Comes Knocking (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji69bBD2lEs)
First Impressions:
Yeah, will already agree with what you said in your essay, this is much more up my alley than Serious Black. This song, for one, has riffs! And the riffs have a strong groove to them, which I dig. Also really liking that chorus. Though I’m not finding much else to talk about here. The sitar (?) bit in the middle is fine albeit maybe a bit cliché at this point really. On the whole it’s a solid metal tune though, sure. May need more listens to really pick it apart though.
Final Thoughts:
The transition from the previous song into this one works pretty well with that quiet intro. It gives a bit of breathing room before the song kicks in. Though honestly this isn’t especially heavy, but that main riff does have a really nice groove to it.
I said I might need more listens to pick it apart, but… no, this is definitely a “what you see is what you get” kind of song. There’s not a ton of meat on the bones of this track, but I’m alright with that when the main basis of the song, namely that main riff and that chorus, are both pretty strong.
The only bit of flavor comes in the sitar bit in the middle and the way the crushing guitars play off it, and while, yeah, it’s a bit standard for this kind of power metal track, it’s executed well enough to be interesting regardless. The guitar solo is pretty solid too, though there’s a weird bit where it sounds like it’s about to end but then goes on for a few more measures, and those last few measures are maybe a bit disposable in comparison to the rest.
But yeah. Pretty basic song structure here and I could see myself getting tired of this one if you gave me more time to spin it, but as it is I do like this a decent bit.
7.5/10 (#5 of 18)
Mark Knopfler – Kingdom of Gold (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5s2NDV1Nhg)
First Impressions:
Folk music wasn’t what I expected from this artist but sure I can roll with it. Ahh, hmm. This is probably a very nitpicky thing and it came up with The Flower Kings before but. Vocalists that just sound really… old, I always have trouble with. It’s just simply not a style I like. And I worry that’s going to hold true here. Musically this song is fine enough, pretty solid though not hitting me especially hard, so hopefully the vocals grow on me because they’re not doing much for me right now.
Final Thoughts:
…nnnnnope. Don’t like those vocals at all. Just doesn’t do it for me. It doesn’t help that the vocal melody itself is reeeally repetitive, and the same melody that the flute and violin around it plays too. That melody is the only thing I ever remember about this because it’s a bit hammered in. But really the problem here is just the timbre of his voice. It’s too gravelly and deep for me, it’s just specifically a style that has little appeal to me. I wouldn’t say he’s a bad singer or anything, just not what I’m looking for.
Of course, the vocals dominate a lot of this song, and what they don’t dominate is mostly dominated by the flute and violin line that, while it has a decent amount of swell to it, gets old pretty quick on multiple listens. There’s a lot of parts of this song that sound fairly empty and only a few points where the song really builds to anything; the bit near 4:15 has a nice build going, a climax that some of the other songs on this EP have lacked, but it’s pretty brief.
I just don’t feel there’s much about this song that makes me want to come back to it. Musically it’s little else besides flute and violin driving one melody and the occasional buildup, and the vocals are simply not my style. Gonna have to call this one a definite miss, I think.
4.5/10 (#18 of 18)
David Gilmour – A Pocketful of Stones (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6f5xUpyUY0)
First Impressions:
Gilmour really likes his stones, huh? Comedy. Musically this is leaning more towards… classical than anything else. Piano and strings and all. Though the strings especially are what makes me feel that, with the way they’re arranged. It’s again a pretty mellow song and again feels like it’s missing a real climax, but it’s pleasant enough regardless? Again the guitar solo is pretty solid, as well.
Final Thoughts:
This song has one major thing over the other Gilmour song on this EP: no polka. Nothing to break the mood or feel horribly out of place. I already like it more simply on that basis alone.
There’s an… interesting atmosphere to this song. It’s very tense, I’d say. The slow atmospheric buildup, the very melancholic strings and pianos behind the vocals, the vocal melodies that sound kind of like a ballad track from a stage play, in the sense that there’s some kind of hopeful sound to them, that the music significantly undercuts in the best way.
Again though this is definitely lacking a climax to tie everything all together. It does build up at a few points and the guitar solo has some swell behind it, but it never feels like it reaches the peak that it should, and cuts off kind of abruptly at the end.
I would say I do like this, but it again doesn’t hit me especially hard and I’m not sure I’m going to remember it very well. Pleasant enough song though, sure.
7.25/10 (#7 of 18)
Trail of Murder – Your Silence (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNimW2q1yRU)
First Impressions:
What is it about power metal singers that make them all sound so similar? That holds for both male and female vocals by the way. This guy sounds really similar to the Vanden Plas guy. I mean, I don’t really mean that as an insult as he sounds fine enough, but… ehh, whatever. Anyways. The riffs and groove of this one are pretty solid and there’s a nice amount of dynamics to it. It doesn’t feel particularly fresh but it’s fine on the whole. Not much else to say.
Final Thoughts:
This song finds a nice balance between the Serious Black song and the Primal Fear song, in that its riffs have a nice amount of groove, but also more energy than the latter. The drums kind of keep that energy going throughout the verse, too, even with the quieter, more subtle sound. And I also really dig the punchy chugging that cuts through the atmosphere of the second verse. It’s a neat way to mix things up a little.
The chorus of this one is a little underwhelming though. Doesn’t really feel like it has much power to it, the vocal lines aren’t very memorable, it’s basically overshadowed by every other part of the song. The guitar solo here is pretty tasteful, a decent balance of shred and melodic hooks, doesn’t go on too long and isn’t overindulgent, I dig it.
As with all the other metal tracks here, there isn’t a ton to this one, it’s pretty simple, but as a straightforward metal song I’m pretty fine with it. I feel like I’d grow tired of this one a little less quickly than Primal Fear but I also don’t like it quite as much at the moment.
7.25/10 (#10 of 18)
Temperance – Change the Rhyme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zxx24ajvck8)
First Impressions:
Second time I’ve been unable to find a song anywhere online (edit: the album is out now so never mind), though that could be because this album’s not out yet apparently. Anyways. Big bombastic intro you got there, huh? This is like the first song to have female vocals since the iamthemorning track, I think, a surprising lack of those coming from you. I uhh. Can’t find much else to say about this though. It’s a pretty solid symphonic metal track. The strings and piano and whatnot are all used pretty well and give the song a really organic feel that I quite like. Don’t know if it will be particularly memorable though.
Final Thoughts:
Actually, the vocals on this track are probably my favorite on any track here besides the Árstíðir track, given further listens. The chorus here is a bit strange and ends on this kind of jagged melody that I weirdly dig.
It’s cool how this song continues building up every moment until about the midpoint; the first chorus outdoing the first verse, the second verse outdoing that chorus, and then the second chorus really exploding into life. It gives the song a really strong sense of direction. And the bridge that follows the chorus is pretty solid too, having a second singer in there helps. The little break before the final chorus, that little bit of breathing room, really helps the final chorus hit with more power, too. Without that it’d just be a wall of sound from the middle to the back of the track. Smart touch, that.
What I wish this song did better was its riffs, though, I can’t say there are any compelling riffs here. The piano and strings do help carry the song musically, and the quieter moments have some neat touches as well, but it’s a very vocal-centric song by design. Still like it a decent bit, but like the other metal tracks here, would probably get tired of it given more listens. Solid.
7.25/10 (#8 of 18)
iamthemorning – Lighthouse (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Os3OLXT02hg)
First Impressions:
So this is the song your competition gave a 9.25, huh? Let’s see then. The freeflowing piano work here at the start is pretty nice. Thus far though I’m kind of… waiting for the song to really start? Thus far it feels a bit empty, I suppose. I guess that’s just what the song is though. Gentle, subtle, somber. That’s fine to be. Oh, never mind, the song does kick in when Mariusz joins the party. Will freely admit he’s never been one of my favorite singers or anything but he’s fine and he creates a nice counterpoint to the female vocals here. The last two minutes here are definitely more my style than the first four but it’s solid on the whole. Probably not a 9.25 though, sorry.
Final Thoughts:
I can see the appeal of this, sure. I guess, for me, the watery piano throughout a lot of this song, the lack of any consistent rhythm, doesn’t particularly work for me though. Especially when a lot of it feels like, not a unison between the piano and vocals, but a tradeoff, two elements not really working in harmony in any real way.
The song does come together a bit more on the chorus, having a consistent rhythm and a solid vocal melody. And the chorus at the end with drums and strings and the addition of a second singer, it works pretty well. The two vocalists work off each other pretty well and the vocal melody the chorus is based around is really pretty nice, yeah. And the song gets points for actually having a solid climax to make the song really feel complete.
But as a whole… most of this just kind of bores me, sadly. I’ll gladly listen to the last two minutes but that leaves an entire third of the song that just doesn’t do a ton for me. And even the last two minutes aren’t spectacular, just pretty good. I do wish I liked this more than I do, it’s a bit unfortunate really.
6.5/10 (#14 of 18)
Overall EP thoughts:
I can kind of see where you’re coming from with this EP; the quieter tunes are all diverse enough to stand out, and the metal tunes are all diverse enough to stand out, nothing here ever really got too confused in my mind. It’s mostly just a shame that not a single track on this EP really does a lot for me, though there’s only one I actively dislike, and it’s not, awful or anything.
As far as flow and structure goes, I think you did a pretty decent job. The brief intro track sets the stage, and, well, the Serious Black song kind of destroys it, but the rest of the songs flow together pretty well, and there’s a balance between the quieter and louder tracks to keep things dynamic.
It’s a pretty well-constructed EP, I wouldn’t say there’s any one song here that feels like a notable outlier from the rest, though obviously there’s a bit of a gap between the metal tracks and the ballads, but not one wide enough to create a disconnect, and it mostly just creates a nice sense of dynamics.
8/10
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home: Imagining the Flow
Ludovico Einaudi – Primavera (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmxFAT581T4)
First Impressions:
It’s really impressive that you managed to send not one but two songs from artists I received in my first roulette’s EP round, and on top of that two of the lowest scoring ones, so uhh, hopefully these are better songs? Anyways, for classical-type stuff this is pretty fine. I’ll fully admit that this isn’t my usual fare though. And it serves as a pretty nice intro too. I don’t know what to say about it, it’s well orchestrated of course and sounds pleasant enough, but it just feels like it’s missing an emotional factor to me. Which is a feeling I often get from classical music, don’t really know why but. Yeah.
Final Thoughts:
All things considered, this seems like a weird thing to send me in particular. But, maybe not that weird, since seneca sent the same artist as the opener of his EP and he won the roulette. Not because of the Ludovico Einaudi song he sent me though, in fact it was one of my least favorite tracks of the round. I wouldn’t say the same about this track though.
I do think this song does have a pretty nice sense of build to it, it starts off soft and somber and gradually builds up to, for classical, a pretty satisfying level of intensity. There’s definitely some degree of power to it, for sure. The fast string lines build a great sense of tension when the build reaches its peak.
It is definitely a bit longer than I’d want it to be though; cut the length of this track in half and I’d like it a lot more, especially since a lot of the second half feels like retreading ideas from the first half in a not particularly interesting way. The climax at the end of the track is a bit bigger than the one near the middle of the track, but not by a lot, and it’s a lot of the same general string lines.
That’s about as many coherent thoughts as I think I’ll be able to put together for this. Like I said, not really my genre, but this is certainly fine enough, I wouldn’t mind listening to it again, though it sort of feels like I listen to it twice every time I listen to it once, so…
7/10 (#11 of 18)
*Shels – The Conference Of The Birds (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlHSEiociJs)
First Impressions:
Transition to this from the previous track works really nicely. And I’m pretty okay with how this starts, a straightforward post-rock feel but it’s got a nice amount of texture to it. Yeah, definitely feels pretty straightforward and pretty simple thus far about halfway in. And then oops it’s a lot heavier all of the sudden, sure. This feels like the kind of song that works better in the context of an album than as a song on its own, really, but for what it is I do enjoy it regardless.
Final Thoughts:
I feel like I have little to say on any part of this song, as it makes more sense to just discuss the track as a whole.
Mmm, yeah, I really find myself digging this the more I relisten to it. It’s got that great, majestic sound that I like in my atmospheric music, and it has that sound rather effortlessly, or at least feels that way. It’s really a pretty simple track. Straightforward rhythm, lots of basic guitar chord strumming and straightforward drumming. Yet it all works pretty well together.
And the way the song flows is really well-executed; there’s that initial build to a satisfying atmosphere that backs off for a shorter build until the song really explodes into life; there’s a great sense of tension when you know the song is building to that burst of heaviness but hasn’t quite reached it yet and it’s conveyed pretty well through the music.
I kind of wish there were more of the ethereal, drowned-out vocals on the track, because they work pretty well here, just naturally sliding in beside the instrumentation and creating another layer of texture that adds some emotional depth to the song.
I will say that the horns that come in during the later parts of the song don’t sound spectacular, and they end up a bit unfortunately drowned out when the song reaches its loudest, but it’s a nice touch to have regardless. The song also feels like it could hold on its final climax a bit longer, but it doesn’t overstay its welcome at the length its at nor does it really feel over too soon, so that’s more of a nitpick than anything.
The biggest knock against this song is that it isn’t really particularly special for what it is, and while I do enjoy listening to it I worry if I’ll remember it in a few months’ time. Perhaps I’ll check out the album and see if it really sticks then, we’ll see.
8/10 (#3 of 18)
Eluveitie – Isara (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ufk7uoVyOMI)
First Impressions:
Short little folk track here. With the addition of some drums in the background that make it a bit unique, it’s kind of folk rock but really mostly the folk? Despite its length it goes quite a number of places and I quite like where it does go. Not much to say beyond that at this point, out of time.
Final Thoughts:
Honestly, I’m not sure what to say about this one regardless. It’s… a fine little folky interlude and a pretty nice breather track after two lengthier tracks on the EP. But… there’s not much too it besides that one leading melody, and a bit of buildup when the drums come in. It’s… fine, but it doesn’t particularly interest me, on a stylistic level as well as on a song level. Not much to say, really. It’s fine? Way past out of time to write on this one though.
5.75/10 (#16 of 18)
Nothing More – This Is The Time (Ballast) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo5fE-Zl-V4)
First Impressions:
The production on this for the first minute is reeeally strange. That vocal effect, the weirdly muted bit before the song really kicks in that just sounds… unfortunately muddy. I don’t think it sounds awful either but they’re definitely some weird production choices I’m not sure I agree with. When the song kicks in it’s… pretty solid metal, yeah. The singer sounds really poppy, but more in a phrasing/rhythmic way, the way the vocal melodies are structured especially. Probably the kind of song that needs more listens but I’m pretty okay with this as is, yeah. I think Train really liked this one if I’m remembering correctly. I can see it really being up his alley, yeah.
Final Thoughts:
I vaguely like this up until the 1:30 minute mark, which is the first point where something really cool happens in the song for me. Still can’t say I dig the production on the first minute, though the part that bugs me the most is the bit right before the heavy riff kicks in, it just sounds bad.
But yeah at the 1:30 minute mark there’s a really catchy vocal line that comes in and a noodle guitar line that plays off the energy of the vocals quite well. And the chorus is pretty dang strong too, the singer sounds really into it and sells the power of the chorus pretty well.
The one thing that bugs me about this the most is the vague influence of nu-metal that creeps throughout a lot of this track; it explains the weirdly electronicized bits and the main riff definitely has traces of that sound. As well the timbre of the vocals could be described as “a bit whiny”.
But in the end I suppose it’s all little things that don’t add up to a bad song, rather a pretty solid one. It doesn’t feel like there’s a ton to this one either, though. Probably because of how long it takes to get started? After that it’s verse chorus verse chorus bridge chorus end. Still. It’s fine enough, yeah.
7.75/10 (#4 of 18)
Beardfish – Voluntary Slavery (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3Ylnewb3Ic)
First Impressions:
So as long as this isn’t a jokey song about a misrepresentation of homosexuality with annoying moments of rotten cheese I’ll hopefully be fine with this, because I was pretty okay with South of the Border musically for the most part but just eeeuugh to the vibe of the song in general. This definitely sounds more like a real song I’d actually want to listen to right off the bat though. It’s got this “not quite metal but still a bit heavy” vibe to it. Maybe not so sure about those vocals, they kind of lack presence or power. I feel like the mixing or production of this really lets it down. Everything kind of feels like it blurs together, it seems really muddy.
Final Thoughts:
Kind of feel like I haven’t given this one enough listens yet, it comes off as pretty interesting stylistically; there’s a rough sound to the whole song, with a lot of palm muted guitar bits, and a big bass presence throughout. And there’s all these little background flourishes that are slightly unsettling. I think that’s the attitude they were going for with this song though.
The vocals, too, have a bit of a rough edge to them, though in that case I’m not sure they quite work in the songs favor, since I can’t say I’m a fan of the vocals. Maybe it’s something about the vocal melodies, too, they don’t particularly grab me, but I think it’s more the rough-edged timbre of the vocalist. He just doesn’t sell that style for me very well.
The song also definitely feels a bit meandering. I sort of just… spaced out listening to this because there’s this stretch in the middle where… not a lot happens musically. The song hits upon that one jagged riff with some not particularly interesting soloing going on for a while.
I definitely feel it’s a bit premature of me to judge this since of all the tracks here I feel like this is the one I have the weakest general grasp on, but, I don’t know. I don’t mind this but it’s not making me want to go out and listen to a lot of Beardfish either.
6.75/10 (#13 of 18)
Gong – Occupy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_0yuWbh8mw)
First Impressions:
Okay my immediate vibe from this one is “Shining, but not as heavy/abraisive”. But daaang this hits on a mood for me. Chaotic, jazzy, rigorously tight prog with delicious saxophones. It looks like this is a pretty old band that’s still making music to this day? It kind of shows, there’s definitely a sense of experience to this song. This definitely just struck on a mood really well and I’m kinda wishing it was twice as long as it is, but oh well.
Final Thoughts:
Okay, giving this one more listens, I definitely feel the initial shock of it wore off a little and the curtains drew back to reveal that there’s not exactly a ton of depth to this song. There’s some degree of chaos, but it’s very organized and very predictable once you know what the song’s going for. There’s two main sections to the louder parts and then the cooldown bit that follows.
The sax wailing throughout is probably the most interesting thing overall, since it’s far less predictable, and I suppose the drums keep the energy and frantic feeling going quite strong. Even if it feels a bit stretched thin, I’d definitely say I’m still onboard with this song stylistically. I just wish there was a bit more too it.
It sort of feels like… an idea for a really cool song that they didn’t really flesh out and just left as this short little proof of concept track, that’s pretty neat to listen to on its own, sure, but wears out its welcome pretty fast and leaves you craving something meatier. I like it, sure, but I’d love to like it more, and I feel like the potential was there for something cooler and more interesting. But ehh.
7.5/10 (#6 of 18)
Nothing More – God Went North (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKmU9sIb_uw)
First Impressions:
That intro buildup is already giving me better feelings about this one than the other song you sent from them. The middle of this song too, with the multiple layers of vocals going on, that’s a pretty cool moment. Yeah, I really feel the power behind this one, whew. The singer nails it during parts of this one and the music’s doing a good job of backing him up. I don’t think this song is firing on all cylinders throughout its entire runtime but when it’s on it’s pretty dang on.
Final Thoughts:
So uhh. On first listen I liked this. On relistens… geez. The entire build of this song. So well-paced. It starts out quiet and ambient, and just keeps building and building, to the point where only a really grand climax would be satisfying and anything else would be underwhelming.
There’s this break from the song’s flow at 1:40 that’s just utterly haunting. The vocals sound so strained, it feels like all hell is about to let loose. And well, it doesn’t quite there, but I mean, it gets there eventually. I just really like that particular bit.
And from the halfway point the song is just… great, really. The big high note at 3:30 that transitions into the big climax of the song is utterly breathtaking, honestly. There’s a sense of vertigo right when he hits that high note and the crushing layers of guitars come in. The song maybe doesn’t quite hold up the climactic feel until its end but it’s a very satisfying climax for the build before it, regardless.
And the song maybe could’ve ridden its high out a bit longer, but I do like where they went with it instead, this really quite cooldown that has its own build into a gorgeous choir of voices. Works really well.
If every part of this song was as good as the best parts of the song, it’d easily be my favorite song of the whole roulette, but even as it is it’s still a damn strong song and one I enjoy listening to every time.
8.75/10 (#1 of 18)
Slowdive – Golden Hair (Live) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1DkfphhRFw)
First Impressions:
Yeah, having a crowd noise at the start might not be the best for flow but WHATEVER. Peeking at this band on RYM and they seem like Zantera/Sacul music more than anything else, hipstercore that’s pretty highly rated. Time to hate on them ahahehehe. Not really though. This has a nice, ethereal sound to it that I’m generally a fan of. It’s very chill, very pleasant. And the way it builds up to a really dense, fuzzy atmosphere. And the drums, doing their own thing during it all. I like it. Sort of hits upon… Oceansize vibes, I think, this is such an Oceansize closer track, I can definitely see why you put it as your closer for sure. Hot damn, that ending. Oh man. I haven’t had this strong a positive reaction to any other song in the roulette this far. I already have the feeling. I’d bet this is the highest scoring song of the roulette. Let’s see if it holds up.
Final Thoughts:
I think the biggest flaw of this song for me is that it takes a little bit to get going. The dreamy, ethereal vibe at the start is nice, but it doesn’t really pull me in until the 2 minute mark when the full band enters.
What really ties the song together for me for the next phase is that driving drumline, with the bass accompanying it; they tie the twinkly guitar lines and warm ambience of the track together and give it a sense of direction.
As well, the drums are the main driving factor into the build of the song, which is, for lack of a better word, awesome. Like, the way the song starts building at the 4 minute mark to eventually reach this roaring wall of sound, dense guitar lines practically screeching out of my speakers, with the drums continuing to tie everything together, and picking up the momentum of the guitars as the song goes forward.
I’ll be honest, I have a weakness for the spastic, chaotic drums like the final climax of this song and a bit of the earlier section has. But especially the drums at the end, they are just plain awesome. It’s basically exactly what Train said about Djakninn in his roulette; the drums have such an emotional charge to them that it’s almost impossible to not get caught up in them, and they have a really intense wall of sound in the background to play off of, so it’s not just like they’re going crazy for nothing. It all comes together for a really, really satisfying finale, both to the song and the EP.
If the entirety of this song were as good as its best moments, again, it’d easily be my favorite of the roulette. As it is, I think it’s juuuust edged out by Wilderun, and maybe the previous song on your EP as well (2 in one EP though, wow) but it could overtake them if I gave this a few more spins, I’d bet.
8.75/10 (#2 of 18)
Overall EP thoughts:
Some of the track placement on here feels really well-thought out; especially God Went North as a second-to-last track. It has a really grand and massive climax to it, but ends with that quieter phase that doesn’t quite resolve the EP on its own. And then throwing the relatively chill but still pretty grand Golden Hair after to really bring things to a satisfying conclusion, it’s a one-two punch of great songs that play off each other really well.
Primavera also makes a solid opening track and I think Shels was the right choice to follow it with, they flow into each other well and having a bit of a bigger song following the intro track is always a solid structure. Everything else in between feels… a bit there, in comparison, Eluveitie is a nice interlude I suppose, and the next three tracks could basically be in any order and it’d hardly matter.
I’m not especially sure all of the songs here particularly feel like they go together, as well; Ludovico Einaudi and Beardfish are about as stylistically opposite as possible without going full grindcore or something ridiculous, and the Gong track feels a little out of place as well, even if it’s a fairly solid song on its own merits. It sort of just feels like a collection of songs you liked more than a really cohesive EP during the middle stretch, but I mean, I kind of said that the EP score would be relatively minor compared to the individual song scores, so that’s fair enough.
It’s still pretty functional as an EP regardless, and considering the quality of a good chunk of the songs, I can’t really complain.
7/10
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Considering those scores, it's really not hard for me to pick a winner for this round, and this roulette as a whole...
home!!!
I couldn't even be bothered to do the math and sum up all the scores, what's the point, it unfortunately wasn't really that close, ehh.
Honestly this roulette was particularly exhausting for me and maybe a bit underwhelming as a whole but there are definitely still a number of bands I'll be looking into further that I wouldn't have checked out otherwise. This format probably did nobody any favors though, definitely wouldn't run it again.
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I feel like I kinda underrated Golden Hair in my roulette even though I admitted many times that I loved it. Unlike you, I was more about that dreamy intro, with the climax complementing it rather than taking over the attention.
I don't remember liking that Nothing More album a lot but based on those comments on God Went North I should check it out again.
Also I know Evermind kinda went above and beyond with the comfort-zone breaking thing but it's still pretty disappointing to see such scores for Faces of Stone and the Mark Knopfler song :(
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Primal Fear ended up being the best song on my EP? Okay. :rollin
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Wowa, thanks! Two songs scoring a 8.75 is way better than I expected ;D I should have sent the single version of This is the Time without that intro part (I think I sent Train the version without it) ah well, I thought that intro part was a pretty cool addition. I didn't check with songs you got in your previous roulette EP's, I considered sending South of the Border too :lol Glad I didn't. I didn't recon that that Primavera would score higher than a 7 btw, I still had some time left on my EP and thought it'd be a nice opener (and I really love the song myself) Thanks for hosting this Roulette! I enjoyed playing in it :azn:
It sort of just feels like a collection of songs you liked more than a really cohesive EP during the middle stretch
Hence the title ;p
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some quick writeups on sacul's ep or something i dunno
Igorrr - Tout Petit Moineau (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKp30C3MwVk)
Honestly I don't really care for breakcore. The only reason it works for me in that Destrage song is because there's this build to it that it capitalizes on and there's a driving melody throughout the whole thing. Here it just sounds like someone inserted spammy drums on top of an unrelated song. The track doesn't reach any sort of intensity until over halfway through the song, at which point it does get kind of cool, yeah, but it doesn't last long and the stuff I dislike about this definitely overtakes the stuff I like. It's not awful on the whole or anything, I like the base of the song, but I just don't get the breakcore stuff at all.
Swans - Lunacy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-P7fBUDkb90)
I feel like these guys work better in small doses than they do long periods of time, so I have no bloody clue why they make all their albums so damn long. Like, this song has a nice build to it and eccentric enough instrumentation to at least be interesting throughout. I like it. I wouldn't say I love it, but it's solid. Not really a fan of the deep male vocals here, though, but you already knew that. I've complained about that like three or four other times in this roulette, I think. I don't know what else to say about this track. It's fine but it's not going to make me run back and see if I missed something after like 3-4 hours of trying to get into these guys in the past.
Bohren & der Club of Gore - Painless Steel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VA4jpq8Q128)
What can I say about this. It's a nice little ambient piece with some nice saxophone going on throughout. I'll probably check out the album??? I like it. It's pleasant. Saxophone is good. It's hard to write any decent kind of writeup for this.
KASHIWA Daisuke - meteor (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhqRaPud8JE)
I like this more than the long program music 1 track I heard, but probably because this is a lot more concise and, well, more to my taste. It's a nice upbeat piece and the strings really add a lot. Sounds like something out of a video game kind of. It's pretty pleasant overall. Also I forgot to write something while the song was playing because I got distracted and I bet it shows in this writeup but I mean this is a lazy sort of writeup to begin with.
Choir of Young Believers - Hollow Talk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy7yuj-UrNI)
I don't really have anything to say about this song one way or another. I'm sitting here trying to think of any words at all but this is just the most "there" song I've heard recently. No real negative qualities and some mildly positive ones, but... nothing that really catches my interest or makes me want to return to it. I've listened to this EP three times now and I couldn't remember a second of this one before this relisten. I guess this is just not for me in the most literal sense of the word.
Gazpacho - Chequered Light Buildings (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4bHnj674BY)
This song starts off pretty unassuming and kind of in a similar vein as the previous track on your EP but it builds up a lot better and reaches a pretty satisfying climax by the end. I feel like this is one of the tracks I definitely haven't listened to enough to really be writing anything significant about, but here we are.
Janelle Monae - Cold War (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1xaya28by4)
If you were officially in the finals I'd have rejected this, since I've heard it before and found it pretty solid when I did, though that was like, 5 years ago? But uhh yeah I only kind of liked it before but it's definitely a "wow this is my jam" kind of song these days. Monae's a great singer and the instrumentation is a nice balance of a semi-retro feel with a more modern pop atmosphere. And I dig how organic everything sounds. I don't really know what else to say, it's just a tight, enjoyable little song.
Indukti - ...And Who's the God Now!? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ua_K6UJgco0)
This is the other song here I don't feel like I have a very good grasp on after only three listens, but to be fair this song is just a lot more complex than the rest of the songs here. I can definitively say I like it though, it's an interesting kind of metal song on the whole. I get a ton of pain of salvation vibes from this honestly, between some of the vocals and the instrumentation. It definitely gets heavier than they ever really get though. It's an adventurous song while still sticking to a pretty consistent main rhythm throughout, not relying on "prog wackiness" to be interesting. The kind of track I'll probably revisit or check out the album for. Honestly probably the best straight prog metal song of the entire roulette too, or as far as I can remember it is.
Overall:
The EP as a whole sort of feels a bit slapdash, the Igorrr song has nothing to do with the rest of the EP and the last two tracks are kind of off in their own little world too. But the stuff in the middle all feels pretty cohesive and well-paced, the slow build of Swans, the brief break of Painless Steel, the brighter jolt of energy from meteor, and then the two kind of similar but different enough songs that follow. And it definitely ends with a bang, the last two tracks easily my favorite on the whole thing. Wouldn't grade it especially well for flow since the transitions into the last two tracks are a bit weird as is the really abrupt ending of the closer here, but. Yeah. 'Tis a solid EP on the whole.
I'm also going to try and throw together a "best of" album for this roulette this weekend but it will probably be a bit slapdash and not especially well thought-out, most likely just throwing a lot of the songs in the 8 to 8.75 range together until I hit 60-70 minutes or so :P
Then I can let this thread rest in peace, not having a writeup for this EP was bugging the hell out of me tbh.
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Yeah the Igorrr track was mostly out of curiosity, to see how you'd react :P
Yeah check that Bohren album, the sax is porn on it.
For Swans, go with Soundtracks for the Blind, only got a handful of long songs, many short tracks, quite experimental and ambient, it's great. You'll also hear where much of modern post-rock comes from and how it influenced GYBE!
Gazpacho's Night is definitely more cohesive and intense than Demon, you'll dig it.
The ArchAndroid goes through many styles it never gets boring. Very pleasing album.
Glad you ended up liking some of the stuff on my EP. Looking forward to that Best of Roulette thing :tup