Round 5 results.
Shadow Ninja 2.0 vs Big HathShadow Ninja 2.0- Sigur Rós - Varúð
I'm reminded a little of Anathema by this, which is probably the only thing I listen to that is remotely similar. Instrumentally the song is quite nice. It's quite ambient for the most part and has a nice ethereal, dreamy sort of sound to it, thanks in part to the slow pace, minimal instrumentation, and the tons of reverb on everything. The string section was a particular standout (more violins!), as is the vocalist. It's a beautiful song that builds up very well.
On the negative, I really didn't like the excessive distortion on the buildup towards the end of the song, and on the whole the song does drag a bit, although it remains enjoyable throughout for the mostpart. The production is on the poor side and I think it detracts from the beauty of the song (that's not to say it isn't beautiful already, but I think the effect could have been enhanced with cleaner production). The production is good enough in the first half but the song suffers as a result of it more in the second half when the song gets louder.
I thought hard about it and without all that fuzz and distortion on everything at the conclusion to the song that turns it into mostly noise, it more than likely would have achieved silver, because that was the one thing that detracted from the song for me in a really big way and had a huge impact on my overall enjoyment of the song. So while this isn't a bad song, I liked it, and while I will more than likely explore these guys further...I'm going with a bronze here.
Big HathRedemption are unsurprisingly another progressive metal band I tried to get into at some point many years ago, but didn't. So far I've received quite a few submissions along these lines, and some have been hits while others haven't. Question is, where does this song fall?
I'm going with "somewhere in the middle but closer to a miss". This wasn't a bad song by any means and I definitely intend to check the band out after the roulette, but there are no real surprises and not really much to make this stand out above other progressive metal songs, either. The song was a bit of a grower though, so there's that, just not enough of one.
The good: It's nice and heavy, and there's some good riffage here and there. I like the intro with the additional percussion and the bass playing in particular. The breakdown after the second chorus leading up to the guitar solo was quite good, probably my favourie part of the song.
The bad: It's filled to the brim with songwriting techniques I've heard in multitudes of progressive metal songs. The keyboard sounds are likewise something I've heard a lot of in the genre. On the whole the song lacks originality, and it's a little same-y and repetitive. The singer is fairly average, nothing I could get excited about. The production is okay, not bad, but nothing great.
I guess that this song is just a little too familiar, even though I've never heard it before. I will check out the album though.
jingle.boy vs Saculjingle.boyApparently "do the opposite" means "do something that you've already done" to you, because this is now the second time sent you have sent me some 80's pop.
I guess you thought you could match the same success you did in the first round with Duran Duran? Well, I'm afraid not.
While The Reflex had all of the charm of the 80's sound, and is catchy and incredibly well produced, for the mostpart this song seems to contain a lot more 80's tropes and doesn't achieve the same level of charm that The Reflex does. The gated reverb on the snare, the repetitive bassline, the somewhat annoying, straightforward and mechanical hi-hats...sometimes these things work, but there was a severe lack of variation on the track, and it made some of these things stand out more as cons than pros. I think the hi-hats in particular were the worst, because it's the exact same hi-hat sound at the exact same volume on every 8th in every bar for the entire fucking song.
Although to be fair, the other drums don't change much at all either, but the hi-hat stood out the most. Anyway, I liked the bass during the part after the chorus. Synths weren't bad but not great either. The vocalists were capable but nothing special, the delivery of the female vox in particular was average at best and not anything to get excited about.
So all in all there were some things to like here, but it the track was a bit too repetitive and doesn't have the highs or much of the charm that a lot of other 80's pop music has.
I know this was your second resend since I knew the first two songs, but for what it's worth you wouldn't have beaten Sacul with either of those songs, anyway. If you're going to follow the Costanza approach for the remaining two rounds, I've got a suggestion for you...Opposite George probably isn't going to cut it, I'd switch to Marine Biologist George; give no fucks and just climb up onto the whale and pull out the golf ball already.
Sacul- Destiny Potato - Love Song
This is the kind of thing I've been waiting for you to send. What took you so long?
While the song starts out nice and ambiently, it wastes no time getting to the crunchy djent chords.
There's some subtle electronic influence with the synths, during the verses in particular, which I expected since David Maxim Micic is involved here. I love that shit in djent. The song is very strong melodically, which is pretty much a requirement for me with the genre. Vocally things are good; I thought the female vox were pretty decent but nothing overly special at first, but she grew on me the more I listened to the song. She's a lot stronger in the choruses and with her harmonies than in the verses. I did like the first verse though with the combination of autotune and a vocoder for a robotic yet still melodic vocal style. The way her harmonies overlap in places creating a subtle counterpoint sounds a lot like what Micic does in his solo stuff aswell. The harsh screams are the same and add depth to the areas they are used and are again reminiscent of his solo work. Even with all these similarities, it's not exactly the same as that; his solo stuff is far more eclectic, but the more straightforward approach to this song isn't a detraction against it. The blastbeat parts were probably my least favourite thing, but there's only a couple of them and they are short so they don't impact my enjoyment of the song as a whole all too much.
Overall this song is everything I'd expect from something David Maxim Micic is involved in, but with less of an erratic structure and a much stronger pop sensibility about it, masterfully produced so that it is completely seamless. The "screw you, fuck you, I'ma hate you" part was surprising on first listen, because it was so unexpected.
The "I know, you know, yeah we both know" line is good too, and lyrics like this really reflect the playfulness this song exhibits. I like that it doesn't take itself too seriously.
Conclusion: Best song you've sent so far, one of the best of the entire roulette, gold star.
Scorpion vs ParamaScorpion- Savatage - Gutter Ballet
It's funny you should send Savatage, because I've been following TAC's roulette and was thinking about listening to some of their music after my own. Savatage is another band I sampled, but a lot longer ago than the others that I've received. I'm pretty sure Savatage was one of the earlier metal bands I looked into on the cusp of becoming a metalhead. This would have been high school, so around 1999/2000 or so, if I had to guess. I remember liking Hall of the Mountain King a lot (the song) but the album as a whole didn't connect, so I went no further. I was very curious to see how I'd feel about this song - on one hand, I got into metal a lot more in the later of my highschool years and afterwards, so maybe this band would appeal to me more now than they did at the time. On the other hand, as time goes on I become more and more particular about what appeals to me and what doesn't, so there was the possibility that Savatage would have missed their chance already, as it were.
Well, I can tell you now that they didn't miss their chance, because this song is pretty great. It's got a lot of the "classic metal" sound I expected, but is significantly more sophisticated, almost progressive in scope. The piano especially really takes the song to another level that it otherwise would not be able to achieve.
The intro really sets up what is going to come quite well, once the guitar comes in and joins the piano. I like when the guitar plays chords and the piano plays a motiff that will later be a guitar riff prominent in the song - really nice foreshadowing. The verses are a strong part of the song, with the consistently-spaced piano and the guitar intermittently playing chords and being accentuated by the drums. The end of the chorus is another strong point, where everything strips away sans the vocals and piano, and then comes in the part where the guitar plays that previous piano motiff from the intro. This is the big
part of the song. The guitar solo is serviceable, pretty standard classic metal stuff, but the accompaniment is solid and fleshed out a bit more with some strings.
On the whole, this is a great track and one of the better things you've sent me in the roulette. However, Parama has managed to pull out something that is juuuust barely ahead of yours. So, you'll have to be content with a pink star this time.
Parama- Thank You Scientist - Carnival
Some of you probably saw this coming so it's no big surprise, but I'll say it anyway: Congratulations, you've finally nabbed a star!
This song (band?) is quite unique, and in a really good way. What we have is a masterful blend of progressive rock with infusions of jazz through the use of a horn section. There's also some violin, so I can only assume you read the writeups for your competitors last round to try and get something on target. Well, it worked.
The song begins abruptly, and throws the listened in the deep end; the prog rock is here, and so are the horns, no messing around. The song lightens up, held together with a nice fat bass and the horn section becomes more prominent. The verses see the return of the guitar, playing stabbing chords in unison with the horns while the drummer lays out a groove underneath. The chorus rocks a lot harder while the brass flesh out the sound in the background. There's some violin scattered throughout and a violin solo in the latter half. I like how everything is more subdued for the first half of the violin solo but then comes to life for the second. Vocally things are really good aswell, although some of the backing vocals when introduced create a slightly cacophonous sound. Not that big of a deal though.
This song has a lot of variety and originality. The unique instrumentation is utilised well, and the song has dynamic shifts between rocking pretty hard to softer sections driven more by the brass. Overall the originality of the instrumentation, the utilisation of said instrumentation, and the fact that it is catchy and enjoyable to listen to, makes this a really strong submission.
Evermind vs EliteEvermind- Mark Knopfler - Dream of the Drowned Submariner
You noticed that Dire Straits is part of my banned list, but not Mark Knopfler's solo career. That's due to the fact that I'm a casual fan of Dire Straits at best; I've got a compilation and nothing more, although coincidentally I was listening to Brothers in Arms on Spotify a few weeks ago (as part of my following the 80's classic albums thread) and while I don't mind most of what I've heard, it's not something I want to listen to all that often. As such, I've never felt compelled to look into Knopfler's solo stuff at all.
You decided to try your luck with another ballad, but this time it hasn't worked out. Don't get me wrong, this is a good song, but it didn't come even remotely close to matching the quality of the previous ballad you sent me (my opinion, of course).
This is a very calming, relaxing song. It's just acoustic guitar, bass, and vocals for the mostpart, although there are some clean guitar licks intermittently (which I'd expect from Knopfler), some incredibly subtle drumming, and a few string section parts here and there. There's also a clarient, the inclusion of which is probably my favourite thing about the song.
I guess the only thing that detracts from this song is that this is all it is. It's a very nice song, it sounds great (another thing I'd expect from Knopfler) and it is quite beautiful. But I just don't get all that excited about listening to it - not because it's too relaxed and I want it to be more exciting, but because it never really achieves any great highs. Also I'm not sure if it's controversial to say or not, but I've never been a big fan of Mark Knopfler as a vocalist, so there's that.
Overall a very nice relaxing, and enjoyable track. But for me it just doesn't have that "something extra" to make it great.
Elite- Jolly - Where Everything's Perfect
Since Evermind couldn't stop him this round, Elite continues his streak, getting a fourth star in a row.
This song is a different beast from the last two you sent me, which is good. This is more like alternative rock/metal with some progressive rock leanings, and even some grunge vibes. Instrumentally and vocally this is a bit grunge-like during the chorus and the first half of the song. Things take a more interesting turn after the second chorus, where the progressive rock leanings I mentioned come to the forefront - the bass and drums contributing the most to this. There's also cool build up here and some scat before the guitar solo, after which things get a bit heavier. Overall this is a solid instrumental section, which is probably my favourite part of the song. The outro is pretty cool too.
At first I was thinking bronze for this track, but dat middle section & outro...and this song was yet another grower. So a silver star for you (again!).
PARAMA GOT A STAR AND IT WAS A GOOD ONE. Has hell frozen over? Is the world about to end? Elite's hot streak continues, as he receives his fourth successive star. Scrop takes a hit, having the third best song of the round but getting away with only a pink star.
Your rankings for the round:
Sacul
Parama
Scorpion
Elite
Shadow Ninja 2.0 / Evermind
Big Hath / jingle.boy
Round 6: Brawl!Shadow Ninja 2.0 vs
jingle.boyBig Hath vs
SaculParama vs
EvermindScorpion vs
Elite
To reiterate: I'm extending the period between rounds for the final two, so if you want to take some extra time to consider your options, now is your chance. Without giving away too much...there's only one person at the moment who cannot possibly win (sorry Parama
), so even this far in, it's still anyone's game. Those of you who are more competitive might also want to consider who you will play against in these final two rounds - you only play against each of the others once, remember, and now that you see the Round 6 matchups you should all know (or be able to easily figure out) who you are up against in Round 7.
Topic: Bolsters™ The Roulette ★THE CONCLUSION★ (Read 33693 times)
