Round 1 First Impressions
They’re all talented musicians, but the thing is, it doesn’t really create music I find particularly compelling.
It’s hard to really get enthused about this but it’s a solid track front-to-back, just nothing I haven’t heard done before.
I do like the sound of this in general, but I also feel like it’s a little one-note; I’m not sure it will hold up well on relistens.
There’s some decent riffs and grooves here, but nothing particularly special, and the vocals are just a bit too offputting for me.
This does come to a fairly satisfying climax, but most of the time it feels like the vocalist is outsinging the music here.
I don’t really think the vocalist has enough power in their voice to really sell the climax of the song, though, sounds a bit weak.
It’s the only part of the song that particularly stands out, and while I don’t mind the rest, it feels pretty generic and lacking in any sense of dynamics.
Weirdly, I’m not sure I care for the clean vocals here, but the harsh vocals are pretty solid.
I can’t really say this sounds particularly fresh, and there’s some minor gripes I have with it, but it’s a solid song at the very least.
It makes it a bit hard to ever get into when it shoots off in another direction every ten seconds.
Definitely a fan of the quieter parts of this more than the heavier ones, and I think the vocals are the biggest factor in why.
I’d say this is a song comprised mostly of elements I quite like with one element that I’m not a huge fan of.
Overall: It feels to me like a lot of people played it far too safe this round, giving me a good number of 6.0 entries that I don't mind but couldn't get particularly into either. There's one or two songs I'm pretty sure are going to be the ones to get cut, and a few that are definitely safe, but about half the songs I wouldn't be able to tell you yet. Maybe a lot of them will be growers, who knows.