---ROUND 2 RESULTS---
1st place: Parama
Thy Catafalque - Szervetlen
I’ll admit, as soon as I read “electronic-infused black metal” I was hyped. Is this song as awesome as I expected? Well, it’s not perfect, but it’s still great. The highlight of this song is, unsurprisingly, its unique blend of black metal and electronic elements. I’ve never heard anything else quite like it, and it works really well. The synths and electronic instruments elevate the track to a whole other level; without them, I likely would have found the song to be pretty boring. The first half of the song is fantastic; it’s full of both awesome riffs and some really memorable synth melodies. The slower second half is unfortunately a bit weak, and I would have preferred it if more of the song were like the first half. Regardless, I really liked this song. I liked the down tuned, breakneck speed riffs, the atmospheric electronic flourishes, and the unique, experimental sound of the whole thing. Good choice.
2nd Place: Evermind
Blind Guardian - Wheel Of Time
It’s funny, I don’t consider myself to really be a fan of power metal, but whenever I get some in my roulettes, it always seems to do well. If there’s one thing this song succeeds at, it’s sounding absolutely huge when it wants to. It uses a full orchestra and soaring vocals to convey an incredibly epic vibe; the choruses in particular are amazing, especially the last one. That’s not to say the whole song is completely bombastic; there are a lot of sections that are quieter, and a lot of the song is infused with middle-eastern inspired melodies and instruments. While those influences are interesting, I would have been fine without them, and I preferred when the song focused more on the symphonic elements. While the quieter sections work well within the flow of the album and do a good job at contrasting the louder parts, they aren’t very interesting on their own. That said, the good parts of this song are really damn good. Maybe it’s time I check out some full power metal albums… maybe.
3rd Place: Scorpion
Witherscape - Marionette
This song was interesting. Musically, it’s a fairly basic power ballad with a melancholy vibe, clean verses, and some powerful choruses with distorted guitars and soaring string synths. However, the choruses feature some really heavy death metal growls that would sound out of place on paper, but work surprisingly well. The contrast between the verses and the choruses is great; when the choruses crash in and the song goes from being subdued and quiet to soaring and huge-sounding, the effect is very powerful. The song also comes across as being genuinely emotional, especially in the choruses and the fantastic guitar solo that closes the track. I don’t have any real complaints with this one.
4th Place: Elite
Obsidian Kingdom - Oncoming Dark / Through The Glass / Cinnamon Balls
Another round, another group of three tracks that seamlessly flow together. These tracks are a small portion of a giant song that encompasses an entire album, and I get the feeling that they would be a lot more impactful within the context of the entire piece than they do on their own. When looked at as a group of three tracks, it’s an enjoyable listen, but it doesn’t feel like there’s really a proper beginning or end. That said, all the sections flow together really well, and slowly increase in intensity from clean and peaceful to heavy and oppressive sounding. That seamless progression makes up for there not being too many sections that are super memorable, though Cinnamon Balls definitely has some great moments towards the end. This is a good slice of quality progressive metal, albeit one that leaves me wanting a bit more.
5th Place: LordCost
Faith No More - smilelobber
This is the first song I’ve ever heard from this band, and I thought it was pretty good. This is also the first time I’ve actually heard the widely-praised vocalist Mike Patton, and unsurprisingly, he’s a beast. His deranged, insane vocals contribute a lot to the unsettling vibe this song has, and the heavy choruses where he stops holding back on the screams are excellent. The verses are quite memorable as well, and the second one does a really fantastic job at slowly ramping up the intensity until finally losing control and transitioning into the chorus. Unfortunately, this song loses me a bit in the second half. The section with the slower tempo feels out of place and isn’t anywhere near as good as what came before, and I don’t like the organ outro at all. The first half is great though, and I found the song as a whole to be pleasantly demented.
6th Place: splent
Chimp Spanner - Cloud City
I got a track from this guy last roulette as well, and this one’s pretty much the shame shtick. I usually don’t go out of my way to listen to instrumental guitar-focused metal / rock, but I can find it enjoyable in small chunks. This song has a nice atmosphere to it, very dreamy and floaty. The soft synths and melodic guitar lines work well, and the more distorted, djent-y guitar work is passable. The song as a whole isn’t particularly noteworthy in my opinion, but it’s good.
7th Place: Tomislav95
Hypocrisy - Eraser
I don’t have much to say about this one, but it was a nice little melodic death metal track with no real issues but not too many noteworthy traits, either. It’s decently catchy and has some nice lead guitar work, especially the arpeggios in the choruses and the outro. If the song had a few more things worth praising it would have ranked higher, but as-is it didn’t have enough strengths to compete with most of the other submissions from this round.
8th Place: Train of Naught
Protest The Hero - Clarity
This is the third Protest The Hero song I’ve gotten in a roulette, and as with the other ones, my reaction to it was pretty much “this is good, but I still don’t have much of a desire to listen to these guys more”. This is also probably the weakest of the three that I’ve gotten, as it lacks the energy and fast pace that I liked about Without Prejudice and Sequoia Throne. I also didn’t find the vocal melodies or riffs to be that strong, though the main riff is decent enough. On the positive side of things, I enjoyed the finale with the choir, and I actually think the vocalist is great; I don’t really understand why a lot of people have an issue with him. This song was decent enough, though I’m starting to think that this band just isn’t for me.
No artists banned this round.
THE SCORE SO FAR:
Parama: 19
Elite: 17
Scorpion: 16
Evermind: 16
splent: 11
LordCost: 10
Train of Naught: 8
Tomislav95: 7
Not too much change in the rankings this time around, and there's a pretty large gap between the top and bottom four. That said, we still have six rounds left, so I doubt things will stay that way! Send your Round 3 submissions!