---ROUND 4 RESULTS---1st Place: Evermind
IQ - The Road Of BonesI see this band sent a lot in roulettes, and if this song is any indication of their quality, I can certainly see why. It starts out very ambient and quiet; the soft synth, strings, and especially the piano create an excellent, spacey atmosphere. The song stays in this vibe for a while, slowly building up by adding new instruments here and there. The xylophone-sounding instrument that comes in every now and then sounds really cool and fits into the atmosphere perfectly. The chorus is also quite good, and after the second one, the song kicks into full gear with distorted guitars and some really dramatic-sounding strings. It's an awesome payoff and a fantastic climax, and the way it retreats back into the ambient sound afterwards to end the song works really well. Great atmosphere in the beginning, great buildup, great payoff… just a great song overall.
2nd Place: Lucien
Blue Man Group - Klein Mandelbrotcongrats lucien you did it
I've obviously heard of Blue Man Group before (I even saw one of their shows when I was super young), but I've always thought of them as more of a performance act than musical artists. Thankfully, this song definitely proves me wrong, as it's incredibly well done. I went in expecting a focus on drums and percussion, and they are definitely one of the major elements. They all sound great, with a lot of power and intricate, skillful playing. What I didn't expect as much was the excellent guitar work. Some of the melodies are incredibly memorable, and the choice of effects and style always fits in perfectly. The instrumentation as a whole is solid; all the different instruments work really well with each other and create a sound with a ton of energy and strong dynamics that give the loud parts a ton of power to them. The song has a great flow for the most part, gradually increasing in tempo and energy before dissolving into a quitter break towards the end. The song then builds up to another brief loud section before retreating again, which works well enough, though I think the song could have maybe used a bit of a stronger climax. Other than that though, I have no complaints. As I said in the write-ups for last round, instrumentals usually have to do something special to really pull me in, and that's exactly what this song did. Good job.
3rd Place: Scorpion
SikTh - TupeloThis is probably the weirdest song I've gotten so far. It has a really unique sound and vibe, with a tribal rhythm and a repetitive bassline that carry the song along quite well and create a dark, murky, somewhat unsettling atmosphere. While the song has some buildup to it, and some sections are much louder than others, it overall feels very restrained, constantly building up tension and releasing some of it every now and then, but never going into full-on craziness. The choruses the most climactic parts of the song, but they all end very quickly, retreating the song back into the more moody verses. Still, they're extremely memorable and even catchy, as they've been stuck in my head quite a lot recently. The vocals are definitely the highlight of the song, as they have a ton of variety and range to them. The vocalist does everything from high-pitched screams to really baritone cleans, often switching between styles with the drop of a hat. I especially like the YAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHs during the choruses.
The one minor drawback to the vocals is that they sound a bit over-the-top and silly at times in contrast to the dark, tense atmosphere of the music, but it's not all that distracting. The main problem I have with the song is its very freeform structure. There's simply way too many verses, and after the umpteenth time the song retreats from the loud chorus back into the quiet verses it feels like the song really isn't going anywhere, just wandering around in the same general area until it feels like stopping. I feel like the song could have used more of a buildup, with a better flow and a bigger payoff, though thinking back on it, that's probably not what the point of the song was. Overall, while this song had its flaws, it's still a great listen and I honestly doubt I'll ever hear anything quite like it ever again, so that's definitely worth something.
4th Place: Sacul
Destiny Potato - Love SongWell, since your David Maxim Micic submission did quite well, I suppose it made sense to send another song with him on guitar.
This song is another good fusion of djent and metal with more poppy and accessible elements, much more directly this time than on Smile. The vocals in particular, minus the background screams, could have easily been taken from a pop song with no metal elements whatsoever. That's not a knock on them or anything, in fact, I think the vocalist is really good, and some of her vocal lines are some of the highlights of the song. The vocal line in the chorus is great and really catchy, and the wordless vocals before the final verse have a ton of power to them. The instrumentation for that section is also great, starting out with clean guitar and a cool bass solo before transitioning into a really climactic and epic progression. The main riff works quite well, though it's not that original sounding or anything. As for the lyrics, there's only one line that really sticks out (anyone who has heard this song once knows exactly what I'm talking about
) though I get the feeling that it's bad on purpose and that this song, and the band as a whole, aren't meant to be taken super seriously. Good song, probably not something I'll come back to super often, but an enjoyable listen nonetheless.
5th Place: mikemangioy
Alter Bridge - The UninvitedThis is a pretty cool hard rock song with some really awesome metal influences. While the vocals and the decently-catchy chorus have an accessible rock feel to them, some of the riffs and sections are pretty damn heavy, and it's those parts that are the highlights of the song for me. The main riff is really kickass and has a great, tight rhythm to it, the section after the second chorus is quite dissonant and heavy, and the riff in the prechorus is very memorable and the way it copies the melody of the main keyboard line is really cool. Speaking of which, that creepy keyboard line sounds great; reminds me of something Kevin Moore would write, for whatever reason. Not much more to say about this one; it's just a cool little song that I enjoyed listening to.
6th Place: senecadawg2
Wayfarer - Children Of The Iron AgeAtmospheric black/post metal songs seem to do quite well in this roulette so far, so I certainly can't blame you for sending another submission in that general category.
This one has a bit of a heavier focus on the black metal elements, especially when it comes to the distorted guitars. I'll be honest though, I'm not a huge fan of the heavier sections in this song. They just aren't all that interesting, and the constant hazy, dissonant guitar gets really monotonous-sounding after a while. The first three minutes of this song in particular are pretty boring, but thankfully things pick up a bit afterwards. The guitar riff/melody before the clean section is pretty cool, and said clean section is very well done. The acoustic guitars sound great, and the section where the drums quiet down before the full band kicks back in is especially nice. I also like the use of gang vocals on this song; they have a powerful effect when used, especially during the climax. But yeah, overall I found this song a bit lacking and kinda boring. It certainly has some elements I enjoy, but said elements are done much better in other music I'm already familiar with.
7th Place: Dr. DTVT
Ice Age - Perpetual ChildThis is a pretty old-school sounding prog rock/metal song that definitely reminds me of some of the big 70s progressive rock bands (especially the keyboards), while still containing some more metal-influenced distorted guitar work. The song has a lot of energy, some great riffs, and some memorable vocal and keyboard lines. The highlights for me would definitely be the chorus and the "lost inside the great divide" sections, both of which are very well done and catchy. The rest of the song is decent, but contains a lot of filler. The song as a whole feels a bit bloated at ten and a half minutes, and I never really found myself looking forward to repeated listens a result. I definitely think it would have benefited from some trimming down; some of the instrumental sections around the middle could have been taken out, and there's one particular riff / verse that gets repeated way too often for my liking (it's the one before the first verse / after the first chorus). Overall, this song was in the same camp as senecadawg's submission this round; I liked parts of it, but as a whole I found it a bit boring and didn't want to listen to it very often.
8th Place: Shadow Ninja 2.0
Justin Cross - Drink The WaterI thought this song was pretty good for what it is. It's a pretty simple folk / country song that could fit right in a soundtrack for an old western movie. The melancholy chord progression and strings do well to create that distinct old west atmosphere, and I can definitely give the song some points for that. I think it's worth mentioning that there seems to be two different versions of this song; the one I heard on Spotify is a bit less stripped-down, with some drums and some added vocal harmonies, and that version, judging from one listen, seems to be the superior one. The additions don't drastically change the song or anything, but I feel like they gave it a bit more substance. Either way, this song is good, but not something that really clicked with me.
Artists banned this round: IQ
THE SCORE SO FAR:Evermind: 31
senecadawg2: 29
mikemangioy: 28
Scorpion: 28
Dr. DTVT: 26
Sacul: 25
Shadow Ninja 2.0: 22
Lucien: 19
Evermind jumps into first place! Who woulda thought? Senecadawg, Mikemangioy and Scorpion are right behind him though! What will happen next?
Time to bang your head and hail Satan, cuz
Round 5 is another
HEAVY round. Get sendin'!