The album is called Hunter.
Ah, RJ, ever so modest and humble.
Alright, just one more thing before we begin.
I hope you guys realize I don't want to offend you tastes or anything with my write-ups and ratings, it's just I have my own tastes too, and if I don't like the song, I can be respectful yet quite blunt on that matter. Please, don't take any offense either with my write-ups or with my ratings.
Round 1: Results
Shadow Ninja 2.0: Keldian – Journey of SoulsSo, you’ve surely noticed I enjoy power metal, and you went with an obvious power metal choice for this round. But you know, the thing is, there are several things I appreciate in my power metal, one and probably most important of them, a seriously vital part, is the distinctive, preferably clean vocals. A lot of musical collectives (especially the Italian bands) tend to overuse the choirs and over-edited vocals, mostly in the choruses, and they all sound basically the same for me. Unexciting verses, bloated choruses, double-bass beat underneath, well, you know (maybe) what I’m talking about. My dislike, or better to say indifference, about this particular approach is fueled by the fact I seem to receive loads of the similar stuff from some labels sending promos for the magazine I’m writing for. Well, there are some good elements in this song, namely the main driving riff and the instrumental part, and the ending is quite good too, but other parts are just too generic and boring. I would say the song lacks direction and punch. By the way, I do like some generic stuff, but this is too much, too over-the-top even for me.
4.5/10
ErHaO: For All We Know – Down On My KneesAlright, this is the longest song of the round. I have some quirks with the long songs, they have to be good enough to interest me, they have to justify their right to be long, basically. It all depends on how the song grabs my attention, really, sometimes four minutes long song can last an eternity, and sometimes a sprawling twenty minutes epic can be so captivating I barely notice how much time has passed. Unfortunately, this song is rather from the former category. The first part of it has quite a bunch of vocals, and it’s Wudstik, and to start with something, I never liked Wudstik on 01011001, E=mc2 is probably my bottom three from the album, along with Connect The Dots and Web Of Lies; I really hope he steps up his game on The Theater Equation for that matter. So, well, he ain’t doing much better here, the vocals in the first part are the weak link here for me, they’re just so dull and ordinary they do not fit the song at all, in my opinion. It’s just a generic pop/rock style for the first four minutes. But then, it’s where the advantage of the long songs comes into play. Being nine minutes long, this track has enough time to breathe and to develop its instrumental parts into something beautiful. The calm break with clean electric guitar is really good, and I actually enjoy the vocals after it, and the quiet ending is great too. It’s a pity the song takes nearly five minutes to get good, but when it does, I can’t deny it has a few moments of glory.
5.5/10
bl5150: Trail of Murder – Your Silence“Humble submission”? Well, humility is good sometimes, but when you’re sending this killer of a tune, it sounds a bit untruthful, I don’t know. This is undoubtedly one of two best songs of this round, and I just can’t get enough of it. Well, speaking of the tune itself, I had two associations immediately. First four acoustic guitar notes reminded me of Judas Priest’s Dreamer Deceiver a bit, and after seeing the band’s name I was subconsciously reminded of recent Serious Black song with the same name. I haven’t liked that Serious Black song a lot, though the album was indeed alright, and thankfully, this is much different and much better. This track actually has a bit of Savatage vibe to me, and obviously, that’s an awesome thing. I found myself headbanging instantly to the opening riff after the slow part, and I loved this slurred vocal delivery with the nice drum beat and subtle atmospheric keyboard touches beneath in the verses. When the song explodes just before the chorus, it gets on some other level just beyond my grasp of imagination. The singer is insanely good and fitting, and I just can’t help to admire the whole composition. The second verse is a bit heavier with that riff going under “hesitant but slowly” part. After that great amount of awesomeness I expected the kickass guitar solo and I definitely wasn’t disappointed; and the bridge is magnificent too, I love how the vocalist rolls his tongue with “It’s incentive enough” line. Overall, this is just excellent; I will totally purchase this album right after the roulette without any second thought. Out of curiosity, what’s your rating for this album?
9/10
lonestar: Absolute Priority – Fear of the NightYou probably have an upper-hand here in the whole roulette, because you’re the one who’s most accustomed to my tastes. And this works the other way too, so in fact I expected to get some solid progressive metal from you, and hell, I wasn’t disappointed. Sending me a song from the concept album was clever too, it’s fairly known I adore concept albums, so, well, your submission just couldn’t go wrong. The intro is chilling indeed, and I love how the acoustic guitars, keys, bass and drums are all contributing to this ominous atmosphere. When the heaviness kicks in, I once again find myself in a headbanging heaven. I love how determined and calm the singer sounds before he goes into this soaring mode with ringing keyboards beneath, and then insanity just takes control (I’m not good at making puns, you know.) Well, whatever, I like how second verse gets more intense after the keyboard solo, and of course I love how this chorus rolls. I can’t help but feel it just sets the mood and paves the way for something epic coming my way. The spoken part and the spectacular solo fly by in just a moment, and the apex of this tune (and as I suspect, apex of the whole album) makes its entrance. This multilayered set of desperate and reckless vocals, supported by the instrumental brilliance in the background just hooks my very soul and doesn’t release it until the strangely appropriate fadeout finishes this glorious, incredible number. Do you by chance still have a promo of it?
9/10
Tyrias: Biffy Clyro – Stingin’ BelleFirst 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. This album is called “Opposites” and I guess it’s really fitting, seeing how the riff forms a rather stark contrast with the rockish vocals with a pronounced bassline underneath. Cheerfulness in the vocals unites with the incredible heaviness of the main riff, and sadly, it doesn’t work for me at all. I have to admit though, the mix is tight and clear, but unfortunately, it just helps me to hear all the things I dislike about the first half of this song. I rather enjoy the second, instrumental, half, and the riff at 2:42 – 3:05 reminds me of Gamma Ray – Time To Break Free chorus a bit (Now it’s time to breathe in the open air), but that’s about it. The whole song just doesn’t appeal to my tastes. I’m willing to hear some new music, and I’m willing to discover new genres and some awesome stuff, but, sorry, this just isn’t for me.
3/10
TAC: Enbound – Combined The SoulsI’m going to assume the actual song starts at 0:03, because otherwise it would be really weird. Whatever, when the first scream comes up, I know I’m in for a treat. This way of starting songs may be old, and I’m not even a fogey, but I really love those things. They never get old. Anyway, the song starts off in a fine way (as you’ve probably guessed already), but the prechorus is a bit awkward to my taste. However, the chorus is alright and I love the high-pitched backvocal delivery of the title line. Also, I try not to watch the video, because these gilded men are a bit revolting. So, well, this song is a nice contrast to Shadow Ninja’s submission. Again, pretty genetic power metal, but except the prechorus, I enjoy this a lot more. Pronounced bass, crunchy guitar, good old school vocals, every attribute I tend to like is there. The guitar solo is short and sweet, the last few choruses have a nice twist to it, and the abrupt ending is quite fitting to this song. These guys are clearly don’t joking around, the song is short and right to the point, and I like it. Definitely good stuff.
7.5/10
mikemangioy: Evile – Infected NationSo, I explicitly wrote I don’t like thrash and you send me some thrash? Bold move, that is. But you really should’ve known better. I’ll be honest, because I hate being dishonest (haha), I’ve listened to this song four times, and I think if I gave it a few more spins, I would’ve get a headache. I really don’t mean to offend you in anyway, man, I respect your musical tastes, but I just can’t stand thrash. Well, I can stand some of it, like some of Metallica or early Blind Guardian (though that’s more like speed metal), but it’s just too intense and too random for me. There were good parts in the song, like nice ominous acoustic intro, fine instrumental parts sometimes, decent transition from instrumental to the chorus, but other stuff was downright unlistenable for me. I’m sorry, but, well, apparently thrash is not my thing.
3/10
senecadawg2: Helker – No Chance to Be RebornYou caught my interest instantly saying the vocalist sounds like Dio, and when he comes in after the heavy riff, yeah, he really damn does. And even more, the melodies during the verse are very similar to what Dio would write, so the similarity is striking. The prechorus is a bit weird until “and now it’s too late!”, and the chorus has a standard awesome heavy metal fare, until this Dio-kind-of-guy goes into more like Halford mode with his pretty unexpected high-pitched scream on “to be reborn” part. The song is a bit samey, but the vocalist kicks so much ass I’m willing to forgive everything, hell, he is really good. Even as the instrumental break is all kinds of good, the singer outshines everything on this track, just like Dio used to do in his solo band (because it was kind of hard to outshine Iommy or Blackmore). You said you like sending this song in the first rounds to ease into the competition, I think you’ve achieved your goal right here.
8/10
Parama: Diablo Swing Orchestra – Lucy Fears the Morning StarThis song wins the Most WTF Song of the Round award without any doubt. It is just that weird and quirky all the way through, and the most incredible thing is I actually like it overall, despite some weak moments. I like the whole riff and how it’s done, great transition to electric guitars too. However, something in the vocals just doesn’t work for me. I like her voice when she’s going all operatic, but her staccato style (I think it can be called like that, but if not I’m sure you nerds will quickly correct me) doesn’t appeal to me. But it has really grown on me through the subsequent listens. In fact, the whole song is a huge grower, and it’s kind of hard to digest on the first listen, but it’s quite rewarding when you dig deeper in it. I also love the instrumental ending with jazzy parts, a definite highlight of the song. I still don’t like the part between the first and the second verse (2:30 – 2:50), but other than that, it’s quite an interesting song. Not something I usually listen to, but enjoyable enough. I’ll check this album out of curiosity.
7/10
Sacul: Throne of Chaos – The WindowI have to ask: did you send this song because you actually like it, or was it because you just thought I’ll like it? This is probably irrelevant, but I was wondering. Anyway, I really like the riff, because it’s just awesome, but the thing is, I don’t really like those vocal melodies and the vocals, they feel quite contrived, and the singer sounds a bit off for me. But the riff is great, they’re wise enough to insert it wherever they can. To be honest, I just don’t know (ha), I enjoy the calm break, I enjoy the riff itself. the guitar solo too, and I totally think this should’ve been an instrumental. The band has potential, but they just can’t convince me with the vocals. I don’t feel like checking out the rest of the album because of that. It’s basically the growls debate for me once again: should I listen to the magnificent, amazing instrumental parts even though I can’t stand the way the vocals (growls) are handled? (see most of the Opeth albums.) Well, I think I shouldn’t. Now, yes, this song has no growls, but in my opinion, it doesn’t have good vocals either. But it’s still better than average, I’ll give you that.
6/10
Dr. DTVT: Wolverine – Your Favorite WarSo this is how you start the kickass, epic song. Just a overwhelming wave of sounds right from the beginning, and I’m already immersed in the tune. The vocals are just fine to my taste, and also there’s great, pronounced bassline and the keys are also good. I’ve probably expected the pace quicken up in the chorus, but it doesn’t, and I like that. The song feels pretty restrained, relaxed, and at the same time it’s obviously tragic. The singer seems like he’s pulling the vocals effortlessly, and his voice reminding me of Tom Englund from Evergrey a bit, but with the less strain. I definitely enjoy the instrumental break a lot, with the nice guitar solo, and overall, this song is quite good. A bit generic, maybe, but as they say, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, so I’m totally alright with that. It even gets more intense in the end, gaining momentum, but I think it’s just a little bit dissatisfying in the very end, the way how it finishes on “me”. A small complaint, true, but it’s something. And, also, while we’re at it, the production is just amazing. Enjoyable song for sure.
8.5/10
wolfking: Last Tribe – Wash Your Sins AwaySo, I’ve heard a bit of Magnus Karlsson songwriting, and I enjoyed it. I don’t know why I didn’t check it out further, but now you gave me a good incentive to do it, because this song is quite good. It has a standard Magnus’ fare, as far as I can tell, and I’m obviously fine with that. Crunchy guitars, good vocals, exciting prechorus and chorus, this song has nearly everything I can hope for, but to be truly awesome it just lacks some kind of spark. I really can’t explain it, because, well, I like the song indeed, especially “bringing all out” part every time it comes in, but something is off here. Something very small, and I can’t put my finger on it, just… well, something. Hey, I’ve never said I’m going to be rational in judging the songs. Anyway, it’s still really good.
8/10
Standings with a cut line,
which doesn't matter until we get past Round 6, so don't worry about it now (the second post in this thread is also updated):
bl5150 - 9
lonestar - 9
Dr. DTVT - 8.5
wolfking - 8
senecadawg2 - 8
TAC - 7.5
___________
Parama - 7
Sacul - 6
ErHaO - 5.5
Shadow Ninja 2.0 - 4.5
mikemangioy - 3
Tyrias - 3
Additions to the banned list: Trail of Murder
Absolute Priority
Wolverine
Last Tribe
Free Fall (and any Magnus Karlsson work, for that matter)
Helker
Enbound
Roger Waters (I forgot to add his solo work at the start
)
Scroll down to the next post for the Round 2!