Dr. DTVT
Band: Dimension Act
Album: Manifestation of Progress
Song: Industrial Evilution
Dimension Act is a Norwegian melodic progressive metal band. Their debut album, "Manifestation of Progress" was released in 2012 and if the submitted track, "Industrial Evilution" is representative of what is on that album, I'd say they've hit the scene with a bang. The music is tight and crunchy with plenty of keyboards to enhance the texture. I hate making comparisons to Dream Theater because it's almost a cliche, but it reminded me a bit of Awake-era Dream Theater. That's not to say they are clones. Far from it. While they certainly are delivering fairly typical music for the genre, it's definitely well-crafted and performed by skilled musicians. My only slight criticism, and what I would consider the weak spot in this band, is the vocalist. The vocals are OK, but I tend to be a little on the fussy side when it comes to vocals and there was something about the timbre of this guy's voice that didn't sit well with me all the time. That said, the backing vocals helped quite a bit to make up for that. All in all, a very good submission.
Score: 7.5
Elite
Band: Touchstone
Album: Wintercoast
Song: Original Sin
Touchstone is a progressive rock band from Hertfordshire, England that formed in 2001. "Wintercoast" is the band's second full-length release (2009) and has been compared stylistically to Marillion, but also features some heavier, guitar-driven music which sometimes garners the band a "heavy metal" label. "Original Sin" is the 6th track on this album and is a ballad. It's a nice song with nice melodies and good instrumentation. The vocalist, Kim 'Elkie' Seviour, has a beautiful voice. And the lyrics seem spiritual, which makes sense given the title. I like a good ballad and this one is decent, but I didn't really connect with it all that much. I often found myself wondering if it was almost over so I could get to the next song.
Score: 6.5
ich bin besser
Band: Diablo Swing Orchestra
Album: Pandora's Pinata
Song: Voodoo Mon Amour (Pandora's Pinata)
Diablo Wing Orchestra is a Swedish avant-garde metal band formed in 2003. "Pandora's Pinata" and in fact all of their music is a mix of influences ranging from progressive and symphonic metal to classical to jazz. The instrumentation is an interesting mix of traditional metal pieces (distorted guitar, bass, keys) and horns (trombone and trumpet). I have to be honest: My first impression was along the lines of WTF? But it grew on me after a few listens. I'm not too crazy about the female lead vocals in the beginning of the song, but she dialed back the operatic style as the song progressed, so it was OK in the long run. The musicianship here is off the hook. These people can definitely jam. And I am very impressed on that front. I don't know that this is a style of music that I'd actually have any long-term interest in listening to, but in the context of this competition, it was a pretty cool submission that came with some risk, given that ich bin besser has known me for the better part of a decade, perhaps longer.
Score: 7
jingle.boy
Band: Powerworld
Album: Human Parasite
Song: Human Parasite
Powerworld is a German power metal band and "Human Parasite" is their second album, released in 2010. This is straight-up, hard rocking power metal with all of the trimmings. Heavy, guitar-riff-driven music, acrobatic guitar solos, a big, huge sing-along chorus. There really isn't too much more to say about a band like this. Quality music, quality vocals, great instrumentation. Probably my only slight beef with the track would be that it gets just a tiny bit repetitive with the chorus, but that's just nit-picking.
Score: 7.5
lonestar
Band: Karnya
Album: Coverin' Thoughts
Song: When The Silence Remains
"Coverin' Thoughts" is the debut album from Italian Power/Progressive Metal band Karnya. I am, in a word, blown away by this band. Definitely going on my list to buy this album. The guitars are crunch as hell and the keyboards are also smokin'. Guitar solos, keyboard solos, amazing dual harmony keyboard/guitar solos, and the vocalist delivers too. I really can't wait to hear the rest of this album. Quite an incredible piece of work, especially for a debut. Everything about this reeks of quality and craftsmanship. The song feels almost like a journey and its abrupt ending leaves me feeling spent and frankly wanting more.
Score: 9
nekov
Band: Aghora
Album: Formless
Song: Open Close The Book
Aghora is a Miami, FL based progressive metal band with two albums, the first of which featured two member of the progmetal band Cynic. Their second album "Formless" was released in 2006 and that is where this track came from. The music is dense with pounding double-bass/heavy riffing intermixed with ambient passages with a female vocalist singing a lead melody in what sounds like either Phrygian or Harmonic Minor mode, which gives her vocals an exotic slant. She's certainly a decent vocalist, but perhaps a bit one-dimensional. The guitarist in this band is absolutely incredible. A listen or two with headphones uncovered a few more layers to this music that were not immediately apparent when listening on the car stereo. It's got a subtle complexity to it that I find compelling, but I found the non-stop double-bass drum to be somewhat distracting at times.
Score: 6.5
obscure
Band: The Great Gamble
Album: Book 1
Song: Breach At Fort Mycenae
This.Fucking.Band.Rocks. Hard to believe they're not signed. In a crowded genre full of Dream Theater wannabees and progmetal cliches, somehow this band manages to sound fresh and different. Part of it probably has to do with the vocalist, who is, so far in this competition, the best pure vocalist I've heard. There are almost no effects on the vocal tracks on this album. Just a pinch of reverb. Dude has awesome pipes and great, bold texture. The music is sophisticated, but not overly so. I absolutely LOVE the use of solo violin in spots. The stripped down production manages to sound robust on the strength of the performances, songwriting and musicianship. Stellar stuff here.
Score: 9.5
Scorpion
Band: Ring of Fire
Album: Dreamtower
Song: Until The End of Time
Ring of Fire is an American neoclassical progressive/power metal band from California that formed in 2000, fronted by former Yngwie J. Malmsteen collaborator Mark Boals after the release of his solo album "Ring of Fire," the band also included guitarist Tony MacAlpine, "Planet X" drummer Virgil Donati, grammy-award winning bassist Philip Bynoe, and keyboardist Steve Weingart. Ring of Fire released three studio albums between 2001 and 2004. This particular song reminded me quite a bit of early Symphony X, but the extremely high-pitched vocals were a bit distracting. Tony MacAlpine is a killer player and naturally the drumming was great as well. I found the lyrics here to be a bit on the goofy/cheesy side, which I sometimes actually enjoy, but somehow the mixture of neoclassical themes, ball-pinching vocals, and lyrics about journeys to distant stars didn't really add up for me.
Score: 6
TAC
Band: Odd Dimension
Album: Symmetrical
Song: Light Speed Journey
Odd Dimension is a progressive metal band from Italy. Plenty of keyboards and crunchy guitars in the 3+ minute intro to the submitted track. Musically, I loved it, but the vocals (here I go again!) would definitely be an acquired taste for me. I admit that I am a bit fussy when it comes to vocals. But vocals aside, this music is very nice with great melodic sensibilities and some very good instrumentation. I really enjoyed the piano refrain of the main melody around the 6:45 mark. Not much else to add here. I think if I can wrap my head around this vocalist, I'd definitely want to further explore this band.
Score: 7.5
wolfking
Band: Eyefear
Album: The Unseen
Song: The Unseen
Eyefear is a progressive metal band from Australia. Musically, I was reminded of Evergrey. And the vocal melodies definitely helped with this as did the dark imagery of the lyrics and the dark mood of the music....bordering at times on an almost doom-ish sound. About 1/2 of the vocals are delivered in harmonies. Some pretty killer guitar and synth solo trade-offs in the middle of the song prevent it from getting a bit too repetitive. All in all, I enjoyed it, but wasn't blown away. I actually really liked the riff that was used as an outtro and sort of wanted to hear that expanded upon.
Score: 7
Leader Board:
obscure - 17.5
lonestar - 17
TAC - 15.5
Dr. DTVT - 15
wolfking - 15
scorpion 14.5
jingle.boy - 14
Elite - 13.5
nekov - 13.5
ich bin besser - 13.5
Topic: KirksNoseHair's Simple Roulette v. And The Winner Is..... (Read 40266 times)
