After dramatic semifinale Croatian handball team didn't get a place in the finals
This round is best round so far, with average score of high 8/10
You all really sent solid songs. Some of you might not be satisfied with your score but I had enough listens this week and I'm confident in them. Cheers. And send for round 5 whenever.
Round 4 ResultsScar: Animals As Leader - CAFOI’m pretty sure I heard one of their albums few years ago when I was more into the wanky progressive metal. To be honest, I wasn’t really happy I got them in the roulette. Reason is, I don’t like instrumentals that much, especially so much wankery. Bu it had grown on me. Contrary to others, I like rhythm more than lead parts. I mean, leads are super complicated and it’s just good to hear someone playing so good. Rhythm parts are very groovy and that’s style I like more. Leads are sometimes just too complicated and they feel like someone is piercing my brain. But that’s just on moments, I quite enjoy the song. I don’t know what more to say. It’s pretty good song but not something I would usually listen to.
7/10Sacul: Have a Nice Life - Holy Fucking Shit: 40,000I had some trouble with scoring this song. First part sounds almost like Pink Floyd. I’m not sure if I like it or not. To be honest, most of the time I was listening to it I was indifferent. I guess I need to be in really shitty mood to like it
I mean, there are stuff like this in my library and same as this, I have to be in certain mood to listen to it. Fortunately there are some variations with piano in first part. And also fortunately, there’s a weird second part. It lifts this song quite a bit. Don’t know what is it, sound quality is just bad on purpose and I like it
is this Sacul/Zantera music. Honestly, I can’t explain it. I guess second part just go under your skin, it’s emotionally heavy without any word in it. Just noise
This song was weird. First part is ok, second part is better and there’s your score.
7.5/10Evermind: Be'lakor - VenatorI don't think anyone guessed Evermind sent this
There is soft intro, some cool guitar lines but after that it's really heavy. Like really really heavy. Guitar tone is pretty good here, maybe too trebly but it's ok. Keyboards add really cool layer here. I like how they added some short guitar solos there, and one around 2:30 is contrasting heaviness around it which is cool to take a breath a little. Now...while guitars are pretty cool, I got a little tired of it, unfortunately. It would be ok if song was a little bit shorter but after more then a 8 minutes every riff gets blurred in my head and I have no idea were they all the same :S I guess I like solo parts better, especially those slower solos. About vocals: they fit the music, wouldn't say I love then but I like them enough. And his tone is similar to Johan Hegg's from Amon Amarth and he has killer voice.
Now, it may seem like I wrote some negative things about this song but I actually like a lot and I had trouble scoring it so you got my default score
7.5/10Scorpion: While Heaven Wept - The Furthest ShoreAnd there’s the longest song I got so far in the roulette, it’s almost 16 minutes long. As you know, I heard their song Vessel before I loved every bit of it but I never came down to check the whole album. It easy to say this is song is epic: it’s long and kinda heroic sounding. And it has like every subgenre of metal combined, I honestly have no idea how to label it
but it doesn’t matter. I like contrasts of heavy and soft parts, like instruments are telling the story. In that other song I heard I absolutely loved singer. Here a little less for some reason, he just fits that song better (I still like him here). The part I love is guitar solo, it’s melodic and emotional, tone is nice. It’s funny how this song is very long yet I have no idea what to say about. Maybe that, while being good, it’s pretty standard sounding on moments. The thing it reminds me the most are those old doom bands.
I have a feeling this song will grow on me later and it's almost 8/10 but I can’t give it higher score now, unfortunately. That’s the problem with long songs :/ Still, this is a good score.
7.5/10Parama: Spectral Lore - A Rider Through the Lands of an Infinite DreamscapeI never know what to think about music like this. Often, I like it but also, often it seems samey no matter how long it is. And this song is very long. Intro sound just like any atmospheric metal band but guitar melodies are not that classic for atmospheric BM and that’s what sets them apart from other bands. Actually, there are some great melodies. I like there are some calmer part, it is definitely pretty varied song. That ambient part sounds like it could be in some old psychological horror film
I have to admit I wasn’t a big fan of that part on first few listens but it got better more I listened to it. Part after that is more of the same atmospheric black metal. However, what I like about it is that they are not afraid to use non-conventional guitar riffs and licks (Thy Light comes to mind, their solos are straight up nwobhm). This song is a little long but it doesn’t drag really, it is fine as it is.
This was almost 7.5 but I changed it at the last listen when I really paid attention to every bit of it.
8/10twosuitsluke: Down - Stone the CrowSo, there it is
I know you forgot I don’t really like Phil Anselmo but I’m glad you sent this. Down is band I heard of, my friend who loved Pantera also listened to them but I never heard more than a few songs from them. So I knew what genre they played and that is lately one of the genres I like quite a lot and try to explore. Corrosion of Conformity come to mind, and it sounds like Down is the most similar to CoC out of the bands I’ve heard. Guitar in this song has that nice southern-style cleans and heavily distorted leads in chorus. Main clean riff is pretty dope, I like it no matter how often it played here. You won’t believe it but I actually love Phil’s performance on clean parts
his delivery is quite emotional, just as much as song ask it to be. And again, what I don’t like about him, are those harsh vocals he usually use. It’s not I hate them but I’d rater hear his cleans. Guitar solo is great, don’t know if those are dual guitars or just delay but it sounds very bluesy and heavy, like Black Sabbath. After the solo there’s more of Phil’s growling… but it’s ok
Don’t know what you expected, I think the score is fair for the song.
8/10Train of Naught: Skyharbor - PatienceI wasn’t sure whether to accept this song or not since you played it on plug.dj not long ago but I had no idea what it sounded like. One thing I remembered was music video because it looked similar to Raven That Refused to Sing video. But that doesn’t matter, let’s talk about the song. The beginning sounds almost like Cynic, they have similar sound. Fortunately, this doesn’t go too heavy. Those slow build-ups are what I always love. String are subtle enough not to be overpowering but loud enough. And of course, it get even better when drums and bass kick in. They play simple and then less simple, getting it ready for that chorus. Even the singer is kinda restraining himself in first part of the song. I’d like if he got more powerful in the chorus but it’s ok this way. What I liked immediately were those melodies in chorus, both vocal and guitar melodies. Bass is also pretty prominent here, which is always a plus for me. Chorus is a climax but I feel it could be even more powerful, don’t know, it’s still a great song.
I wasn’t sure what score to give it but I think it is a cool song and I want to check them further.
8/10Luoto: Von Hertzen Brothers - Kiss a WishI never heard of this band prior to this round. After checking them I was glad I didn’t got classic melodic death metal from you, because I two melodeath song this round
In a way this song reminded me of classic ‘70s progressive rock and that’s a good thing, I like classic prog. Next thing I liked is how there is build-up in first minute of the song. Very melodic, catchy verse, and even catchier chorus. Bass playing is just awesome, too bad it’s not louder. By the time, song gets more complicated, yet it stays melodic and catchy. There’s too much happening really, it almost feels like song is over after the 2 and a half minutes. But then it gets a little bit weirder, there’s flute (or something). All the time band is constrained just playing some chill stuff while flute is doing it’s own thing. Can’t say I like that flute that much but it is pretty interesting to hear something not so common. However, I love when drums get wild, and guitar solo is great. For a pretty long song it doesn’t drag at all.
I almost gave you a half point more but 8 is ok as well, I guess.
8/10home: Mew - Cross the River On Your OwnI know they are quite popular in roulette (or is it you who send them all the time) yet somehow I never heard a note of their music. I like the song from the start but I thought it’d be even better if it was shorter. Maybe it because it reminds me of Myth by Beach House, a song Scar sent in round 2. And yes, this is similar style, atmospheric, haunting and also catchy. Intro and first verse are just ok, clean guitar and great voice, which fit this style of music perfectly. BTW Mew’s singer has girlier voice than singer of Beach House and she is… well, she
. The high point of the song is chorus, very catchy stuff. More than once I found myself singing: "You be good to me…" even if I didn’t hear it earlier that day. It works as it should, gets stuck in the head but not in an annoying way. Song progresses from very simple to less simple and I liked that, how layers unveil one by one. That’s why I was wrong about it being too long for what really happens in the song. Solo is nice as well, getting classic rock vibe from it.
Awesome song, looking forward to checking the album (or any other album by them if you recommend it). It is not the best song in the round because this round was just too good, but it’s not far from the best, to be honest.
8.5/10Shadow Ninja 2.0: Dark Tranquillity - What Only You KnowFor some reason I expected Dark Tranquillity to be full-on melodic death metal and I was a little bit startled when I realized they were softer
and that’s the reason I didn’t particularly like this song. Not because it’s not super heavy but because it wasn’t what I expected. Fortunately, I had to listen to it further so I realized how beautiful it is. Full band (minus vocals) kick right in with heaviness but hint of emotions in keyboard play. And then it becomes calmer and this it really won me over. Singer’s voice is just perfect and emotional. Transition to growls is pretty smooth. Is it the same singer who does cleans and growls? There is that keyboard part in the chorus again, really cool use, like choir sample. Second verse, bridge and chorus are pretty much the same as the first time but I don’t care, it is good as it is. This song is not overly complicated but it is what I need in my life right now. I just hope more of their songs are like this
You almost won best song of the round title again but I liked one more song a little bit more. However, this is the top 3 song of the roulette right now.
9/10Elite: Zeal & Ardor - Come On DownWhen in PM you wrote it is Delta Blues / Black Metal, I honestly had no idea what to expect. It sounded so weird and sounded like something I wouldn’t combine in my wildest dreams
. And yet… it worked great. I’m not really a delta blues fan but I can listen to it, it’s fine. Intro part sounds just like blues, just more modern, I guess. But when metal kicked in, wow! Riffs are really nothing special but they work so good here, it’s unbelievable. One part that was kinda weird is that when heavy metal riffing is going on under falsetto
The part I loved from the beginning were black metal screams. I hope they have more songs like this and screams are used for actual singing of lyrics. I have trouble writing about this song because no matter how weird it is, it works perfectly. I just love it
There is a song I like equally but I have to give you the title of round winner because this was risky entry and you did it.
9/10STANDINGS:
1. Shadow Ninja 2.0 - 33 + 1 = 34
2. Train of Naught - 32
3. Elite - 31.00001
4. home - 31
4. Parama - 31
4. Sacul - 31
7. Luoto - 30.5
8. twosuitsluke - 30
9. Scorpion - 29.5
10. Evermind - 29
10. Scar - 29
Poll
Topic: Tomislav's Roulette v. The Best of Roulette (Read 67720 times)