Round 5 ResultsScorpion: Sigh - AmnesiaAt this point I didn’t think it would be possible, but you actually weirded me out with the vocals at some points, and I’m a recent casual Devil Doll listener so that says a lot
That main riff is fucking catchy and one of the best hooks of the round to be honest, but I really think you passed the weird-meter with the vocals for me. It’s still a good song though but I can’t help but be turned off by it at some points.
I will say though, that this is a very cool, interesting mix of styles that I never expected. But, it does go on and on for ages I feel, I feel like I’ve heard it all after a couple of minutes and while the piano and guitar jams are very cool they’re on the loose end of a cohesive piece, giving it a bit of a live extended jam feeling. Those have their moments but in a song like this it sounds a bit off to me. It’s funny I end up not really minding the weird vocals but the length ended up being my only
real) issue, as I still quite like songs that I rate with this score.
7.0/10Sacul: Zardonic - VigilanteThis song man, it sure has its great moments, it got me headbanging unvoluntarily, it’s actually quite progressive sounding opposed to most of the Zardonic I’ve heard before, but it still suffers a bit from the “repeated sample syndrome“ I explained in the Electronic topic. I can’t give it my full admirations because of it.
This would surely be a blast in a live setting, but right now I find it ‘solid‘, with the addendum that it would improve to my enjoyment if it was slightly shorter too.
7.25/10Twosuitsluke: Chthonic – Supreme Pain For The TyrantSo.. Taiwanese deathmetal is what this is right? You said it was symphonic blackmetal but to me it has more of a deathmetal vibe to it. Anyway, it sounds kinda rad, totally going for the extreme asian metal because of the success Dir En Grey got
When he sings “Swallow the sun“ and the way they phrase it, it keeps reminding me of “follow the straight line“ in BTBAM’s Obfuscation.
Enough BS, time to discuss the song. It’s a blast. Great how they pulled off making the vocals sound somewhat diverse, I would say that these are, technically speaking here, the best growls I’ve heard in a good while. Though I think you would understand where I’m coming from when I say they are a bit tiring at first to get through, and it makes the song sound a lot longer than 4 minutes and 45 seconds.
I don’t know if they’re my favorite but you can’t deny the talent these guys (+ babe) share. My favorite thing about this song is still the symphonic stuff thrown in though, it adds a nice elegance to the whole thing even though the song is agressive as fuck and they probably sing about death or something.
Could say your confidence paid off here, great band I would probably never have heard of in my life if it wasn’t for you.
8.0 + (1.0) = 9.0 Splent: Scorpions – No One Like YouSo after a Scorpions cover you go with a Scorpions song
I gotta say, with this song, I know exactly what I’m going to get and that’s fine. I wouldn’t say I know a lot of Scorpions music but I know enough to see that they’re some pretty straight to the point rockers. And with this song it’s the same, great rocking riffs, nice vocals in the verses especially though not nearly on the same level as Still Loving You IMO. But overall it’s not the kind of thing I would keep on listening to after having heard it a few times, does not have the same musical impact on me that it had for the first listen, like it did with you probably.
7/10Elite: maudlin of the Well – Heaven And WeakI don’t know if it was Kayo Dot or motW, but I’ve tried 1 song from either (or maybe 2), turned it off before it was over and never looked back. What. This is awesome why did I do that?
Like, it starts out very calmly, I think the Kayo Dot I heard sounded kinda similar stylistically, and it has kind of an ominous horror vibe to it almost
and then at the same time it’s pretty beautiful. The best part though is when all hell breaks loose and the song becomes heavier. I guess that’s the part I never got to because I stopped listening to the songs halfway through.
Had “Bath“ on my list before but now I’m definitely checking it out.
8.25/10Shadow Ninja 2.0: Dark Tranquility – What Only You KnowSomehow you seem to alternate between the alright and the great more than anyone, and so far they have all been either very high or low, by my standards atleast, but I think this is neither. Just a very good metal song alternating between melodic deathmetal and some kind of alternative metal sound to it in the verses. The chorus, like most melodeath choruses I’ve heard, sounds very euphoric and big, exactly how I like it, similar to the In Flames song from last round for example.
But I think I like this one just a tad bit better because of the ominous evil harsh vocals, they’re not just evoking agressiveness but also kind of a cold feeling you get from black metal. Pretty cool tune dude.
8.0/10Tomislav95: Amorphis – Under The Red CloudWell for an album that seems to be very loved around DTF I guess I can see why, this song really has a huge epic sound to it, starting from the very beginning with that guitar melody, and I just love the sheer intimacy of the piano. The singer sounds like he could be on a progpower band, and those usually have very strong vocals, but now I can’t help but be interested in what’s to offer harsh vox-wise, I know I wasn’t impressed when I tried out this album for the first time but I’d probably like it more now.
The guitar solo is magical. It ties the song together quite nicely, the way it flows perfectly into that one last chorus. Yeah I love this, it’s actually not too far off my favorite song of the round, since this one grew on me a lot.
9.0/10Bolsters: Hybrid – Break My SoulAnother band I’ve never even heard of from you and it seems to be a blend of some kind of slowed down version of neurofunk, along with orchestral elements and female vocals. The chorus is catchy, and the vocals definitely do fit the style of the song, but I still feel like they lack some power.
But I really wouldn’t mind, it’s a relaxing vibe and I can dig it. But the pause in the middle kinda bothers me, it kills the mood and feels like the entire song has to start up again.
The orchestral elements are very present and I love them, they sound very dramatic, but it does kinda meander for a couple of minutes I feel, and because of that I can’t say I enjoy it as much as a whole, not a bad song but I bet you hoped for more.
7.25 + (1.0) = 8.25Evermind: ReVamp – The Anatomy Of A Nervous Breakdown: NeurastheniaWith all the new Devin album hype and more tours coming up I bet everyone is looking forward to some more music from him. But he really fulfills the role of ‘guest vocalist‘ perfectly here, meaning he is not in the spotlight at all. He just adds some cool atmosphere to the song with his raspy voice. But the girl singer is so damn good! “And I’m losing ground!“ is one of the most epic lines of this roulette. Actually the whole chorus is damn perfect.
Actually the parts I like least are the ones where Devy does take over the spotlight, just give me more of those female vocals.
But there’s not much of him on the foreground which is fine, because from what I understand he is only on this one song so I could totally get into this band and it would be totally fresh.
In the end I got more and more theatric vibes from this song, actually has a very strong Devin Townsend vibe to it even on the parts that don’t include him.
8.5/10Home: Nothing More – This Is The Time (Ballast)I don’t know if you realize this, but this band (or song, atleast)
totally sounds like something Bolsters would send. That said, I fucking love it. Something a bit heavier from you this time around as I didn’t even know this almost djent-y prog metal kinda stuff was in your library at all.
The chorus is catchy, energetic and straight to the point, and the harsh vox really pump it up. I can always appreciate some nice clean/harsh transitions mid-sentence aswell and this guy knows what's up with that.
This song reminds me of so much different stuff but I can’t name a single one of them, like a combination of the pop-metal stuff of Periphery and pretty much any of the electronic metal/djent bands Bolsters would send. But I’m not entirely sure.
Anyway, screw it, I’m not hesitating, this is the best song of the roulette so far! Not by much, but yeah.
9.5/10Parama: Rosetta – Absent / Beta AquilaeOut of everything you’ve sent, this is actually the first piece of harsh noise!
But nah for real though, I would’ve hated this last year, like really hated it, but now after multiple listens I can truly appreciate it. Almost for the exact same reasons that I liked the Obsidian Kingdom song so much, it’s like the abstract art form of music, have no idea of the underlying meaning of any of this but it sounds pretty amazing and all kinds of different emotions come to mind. I’m slowly figuring out that I love those distant screams as they capture a very dark/cold sound. As the only things I’ve heard that are considered post-metal are some Cult Of Luna albums and The Ocean’s Pelagial (which is kind of a stretch if you ask me) I am treading new grounds here and it’s been a great one at that really.
I did notice that this didn’t do nearly as much for me without headphones, my very first impression was pretty awful because I couldn’t even make out any of the vocals under all the harsh noise.
Great return to form here, don’t punish me in the minilette please
8.5/10425: Rush - YYZI hate being in a position where I have to rate a Rush song
because they’re so loved.
I’m not the first in this, but you’re definitely better off sending me an instrumental song by them, not a big fan of the vocalist. I kept my expectations low since well, I could only go up from there right? There’s some very cool groovy moments here and there but I feel like overall this is not on the legendary prog level. I know the release date has a lot to do with it aswell but that doesn’t really improve my enjoyment at all because I can just listen to modern prog if I want to hear innovative rhythms and grooves.
Like the Echoes instrumental Evermind sent me I’m usually not a big fan of the whole main theme situation where they build a song around 1 riff with some cool licks and solos to flavour it up a bit. A lot of the time that 1 riff is the most memorable part after multiple listens and with Stream of Consciousness for instance I don’t mind since I love that riff. Here, meh, I think it’s an alright tune but nothing too great, sorry.
Actually this became way better after more listens, it was kind of the bore of the round to me, before, but I’m really starting to feel it. The cool eastern-sounding guitar solo, the groovy riffs, the upscaling tempo. Very neat. Though I can’t help but think I will not become a fan of this band, still I will definitely give them a try sometime.
7.75 + (1.0) = 8.75 StandingsTomislav95: 35.0 + 9.0 = 44.0 (XX)
Scorpion: 35.5 + 7.0 = 42.5 (XX)
Twosuitsluke: 33.0 + 9.0 = 42.0 (XXX)
Parama: 33.25 + 8.5 = 41.75 (XX)
Bolsters: 33.5 + 8.25 = 41.75 (XX)
Home: 32.0 + 9.5 = 41.5 (XX)
Sacul: 34.25 + 7.25 = 41.5 (XXX)
Evermind: 31.75 + 8.5 = 40.25 (XX)
425: 31.25 + 8.75 = 40.0 (X)
Elite: 31.5 + 8.25 = 39.75 (X)
Splent: 32.5 + 7.0 = 39.5 (XX)
Shadow Ninja 2.0: 30.5 + 8.0 = 38.5 (X)
People who have to use bonuses in every round from now in order to have used them all before the cut-off point (obviously, not obligatory): Shadow Ninja 2.0, 425 and Elite
Schedule for next roundOkay, I'm fine with how things panned out now because I think it shouldn't be a problem to get round 6 results up before I'm going on vacation, 9 days from now. Going to try the same as usual with a bit more space for myself, so I'd like all the songs between the 48 hours-span and then the results will probably be up about a week from now.
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Topic: Train of Naught Roulette II v. MURAMASA... MASAMUNE (Read 122448 times)