Round 3 Results
First, let me say this: Folks, this was a STRONG round. There is no shame in finishing in the bottom half here. Every song had some really good stuff going for it. And so I don't have to say this in every song blurb, it's too bad I had to rank most of the songs where I did, but I am beholden to the rules I set forth. The awesomeness begins early in this list and gets better as it goes down the ranks. Now, on with what you came here for.
Rank #9, 1 point: Lolzeez - Faith No More - Land of Sunshine - The only FNM song I think I've ever heard is the wackiness of "Epic", so I wasn't sure what to expect. While I really like the sung portions, there are a lot of spoken word/sample/laughing parts I can best describe as "cornball" that kind of throw me off. It's a good song, but unfortunately this round was so strong it gets pushed to the bottom. My guess is that this song is much better when listened to in the context and flow of the album it appears on.
Rank #8, 2 points: kári - Jeff Buckley - I Know It's Over - Such a delicate song. So much so that it's hard for me to compare it to the rest of the entries in many ways. It's a very haunting mix of song and vocals. Ultimately I think it boils down to there not being enough changes throughout the song to place it higher, in that way it is kind of similar to the next song in the ranks. The climax near the end is pretty much the only part that really grabs me.
Rank #7, 3 points: Dark Castle - Periphery - Scarlet - High energy song. High energy condiments as well. At some points the vocalist makes me feel like I'm listening to Protest the Hero again form the last round. He covers quite a wide range of styles, unless there are more than one vocalist in the band - not sure. The clean vocals are great and I can get into the harsh vocals as well. In the end I would have liked a bit more variation in what is happening in the song. I felt like the only real change was in that brief break about 3/4 of the way through.
Rank #6, 4 points: jingle.boy - Neonfly - The Messenger - Good vocalist. He has kind of an 80s-metal quality to his voice. Nice heaviness throughout most of the song. I especially like the thrashiness that commences around 3:30 - and the brilliant solos contained therein. But in the end, not quite enough standout moments for me to rank it higher.
Rank #5, 5 points: Elite - Royal Hunt - Tearing Down The World - Nice symphonic opening that pretty much carries throughout the entire song. I feel like I should like this one more, but something about it just isn't fully clicking yet. Definitely has my interest, but the song/band will require further research. (I thought something similar after first hearing parts of Images and Words, and that became a top 5 album/band for me.)
Rank #4, 6 points: Onno - Flying Colors - Blue Ocean - Really good proggy, kind of poppy, rock song. I like the active bass line (sorry jingle!). It's Dave Larue, so it's going to be good. Really catchy chorus in this one, and I like the background vocal "ahhhs". I also like those syncopated keyboard-led hits in the pre-chorus. I hear Neal Morse's fingerprints on this song.
Rank #3, 7 points: LieLowTheWantedMan - Ours - Fallen Souls - Wasn't quite sure about the song at first with those moody vocals at the start, but things really picked up from there. Definite Bono/U2 vibe from this guy. He definitely brings it. I'm catching a slight Porcupine Tree vibe at times, not so much with the vocals, but with some of the instruments - it's not overt, but something about the song makes me think of PT.
Rank #2, 8 points: Scorpion - Accept - Shadow Soldiers - Cool intro and transition to an even better grooving riff. The singer doesn't have a great voice by any stretch, but he fits this band/song perfectly. This sounds really weird, but he kind of sounds like a cross between Jorn Lande and Lemmy. The song is a bit repetitive, but I don't mind due to the awesome sounding guitars and great riffs. Really strong entry.
Rank #1, 9 points: MoraWintersoul - Wolverine - A House of Plague - Holy cow! This was awesome. Nice brooding song, great vocals. Kind of Opethy in the guitars at times. Kind of a Gothic sounding at times as well. I'm thinking I need to get to know this band a little better, like right now. Just ordered their latest album.
Ranking after Round 3
Elite - 21
LieLowTheWantedMan - 21
MoraWintersoul - 20
Onno - 15
Scorpion - 15
Dark Castle - 14
jingle.boy - 14
Lolzeez - 8
kári - 7
Topic: Big Hath's Roulette The 1st - Final Results! (Read 27834 times)
