Considering how short the playlist was (only 47 minutes) I was able to get through these really quickly.
Speed Round Results!!!
TAC
Power Metal
(Brazil) Hibria - Millenium QuestGood ol Brazilian power metal. It always has that distinct sound that all Brazilian power metal bands have (I think it has to do with the way the guitars are played and the tone, maybe...). Lets see....Soaring vocals? Check! Almost constant double bass drumming? Check! Face melting guitar solos? Check! Dueling Guitars? Check! Lyrics straight out of the Power Metal Lyric Generator? Check!! This song may contain all of the cliche's of power metal, but damn if it doesn't kick ass. The vocalist hits notes that typically can only be hit with your marbles in a vice
This is one of those bands, on a very long list, I always meant to check out, but never got around to. This one beats out the other power metal songs in this round pretty easily. It never gets boring. It has some proggy bits that help it a lot, which seems to be another trademark of Brazilian Power Metal. The bass is audible and very well played which is always a big plus in my book. That cool synchronized bass and guitar part in the second half that leads in to the dueling guitar solo's is epic! I already said this, but it bears repeating, this song kicks ass!! Enjoy the round victory, old man!
9.5
Parama
Progressive Industrial Black/Death Metal
(Norway) Khonsu - Inhuman StatesFirst time I listened to this I thought it was Keep of Kalessin and after looking in to it I come to find out the guy who plays all the instruments in this band is the brother of the guitarist in Keep of Kalessin. This guy also co-wrote some songs for Keep of Kalessin. So that makes sense. This song is extremely fun to play along to on the drums. It's so fast, so full of blast beats and double stroke double bass drumming, it's tiring LoL. I like the subtle keyboards interspersed throughout the song. They bring a nice atmosphere to the chaotic speed! The backing vocals that show up occasionally also do a good job of adding variety. The middle section can get a little tedious, but it's saved by the keyboards. Nothing really big to complain about. A fantastic, speedy song.
9/10
Train
Progressive Death Metal
(UK) Slugdge - War SquidsThis submission is going to make Parama possibly rage quit
. The whole idea and concept of this band is amusing and intriguing to me. It's not exactly as comical as I thought it would be, they seem to be super serious about it. I mean they write about slugs and Malacology and stuff, so it's still kind of funny. This song is not quite as fast as I was expecting for the speed round, but still lots of quick double bass and tremolo picked guitars. I noticed Alan Cassidy is in this band, the current drummer of Black Dahlia Murder, and he is a beast, although I'm not sure if he actually played drums on this album. Either way, the drums are pretty good. This also gets pretty heavy in the middle section with some slugdgy (see what I did there?
) bits in there. The second half is where they really shift it in to high gear with some awesome dissonant guitars and keyboards. The whole song is really cool though.
9/10
Soupy
Pirate Metal
(UK) Alestorm - ShipwreckedPirate Metal! It finally makes an appearance. It's basically folky power metal. I like it. The vocals aren't the greatest (they sound almost punk at times) and the individual instruments aren't anything to write home about, but it all comes together to work is some weird way. I found myself banging my head to this and singing along every time it came on. Not the most complex drumming, but this one was also really fun to drum along to. Just a fun song to listen to all around.
8.5/10
Jingle
Hard Rock/Glam Metal
(USA) Warrant - Inside OutYou had me worried when you said you were sending Warrant for the speed round, but Glam metal with double bass.....? This is not what I was expecting from the band that did Cherry Pie....I'm confused. Where did this come from? This has an almost Judas Priest Painkiller vibe to it. Although Jani Lane has nothing on Rob Halford's vocal prowess, he does try though. Seems like a very angry song too, based on the lyrics. It's fast, aggressive, and heavy. Thanks for changing my opinion on Warrant. I'm definitely going to look in to more of their stuff now.
8/10
Tomislav
Power Metal
(Finland) Sonata Arctica - Sans SebastianIt's fast paced, cheesy power metal. Enough said. NEXT! Just kidding. It took a while for the face melting guitar solos to kick in, but they were deliciously face-melting. Then there's the cheesy guitar and keyboard back and forth section. The verses are a little lack-luster and samey, but the lyrics are interesting. I have no idea what they are about exactly, but they are poetic. The second half is definitely better than the first, what with the cool guitar solos, cheesy keyboards, nice short breakdown, better vocals, and cool lyrics. The gang/choir vocals give the ending a bit of an epic quality.
7.5/10
Evermind
Heavy/Power Metal
(Germany) Unisonic - Your Time Has ComeThis song utilizes the power metal boot-camp-booty-camp drum pattern (
Example), a tried and true drum beat. This is also the 2nd Michael Kiske fronted song I've been sent in this roulette. I know I said in my last writeup that he sounds a little like John Arch in the higher register, this song not quite as much. He still has that John Arch-esque quality in the higher register, but I still think John Arch is better. Unfortunately for Evermind the other power metal songs sent this round were better, but this is still a pretty good song. I like the audible bass and the quickness of the middle section. It falls apart in some of the vocals. There are parts where Kiske sounds flat and it bother me. Then there are parts where he sounds really good. A bit polarizing....
7.5/10
KTLX
Melodic Black Metal
(Sweden) Naglfar - Black God AftermathAfter all the spouting of how much you hate black metal vocals, I never would have imagined in a million years you would send me a straight up black metal song (well, melodic black metal). This confuses me. I'm sending you Deathspell Omega in your final round of your roulette now
You must be a secret massive closet black metal fan, haha! This goes through some pretty cool shifts, but the vocals aren't the greatest (and the vocalist never shuts up) and there isn't a whole lot of variety. It may not be as fast as some of the other songs this round, but it is fairly speedy through most of it. That middle section would have been much better without any vocals over the top of it. There was some really cool slowed down guitars and drums, with some cool synths, but it couldn't breathe. The song as a whole doesn't have much to draw me back in, though. This is your first misstep since the second round.
6.5/10
Home
Hip Hop
(USA) Kendrick Lamar - For Free................................I don't think Kendrick Lamar is my thing. I've heard other stuff from him after this album exploded a few years ago and I didn't think he was anything special. The jazz instrumentation is good, but it's ruined by the "spoken word" of the woman bitching about something. Then the rapping.........it's fast......that's about all it has going for it. There's no melody, he almost sounds like he's whining, just talking really fast. It's just......it's just bad...at least in my opinion. I like some hip hop, but this isn't it. This is a huge swing and a miss.
3/10
Current Standings
Tomislav - 7, 9.5, 8.5, 9, 7, 9.5, 7.5 (58)
Train of Naught - 9.5, 7.5, 9, 9, 5.5, 8, 9 (57.5)
Parama - 6, 9, 7.5, 8, 8.5, 9.5, 9 (57.5)
TAC - 8, 8, 8.5, 6.5, 6.5, 9.5, 9.5 (56.5)
Jingle.boy - 9, 4, 8, 8, 9, 9, 8 (55)
Kattoelox - 5.5, 6.5, 8, 10, 9, 9, 6.5 (54.5)
Evermind - 7.5, 7, 8, 7.5, 9.5, 7.5, 7.5 (54.5)
Soupytwist - 8, 10, 7, 8.5, 4, 7.5, 8.5 (53.5)
Home - 7.5, 7, 7, 7, 7.5, 8.5, 3 (47.5)
Poll
Topic: Puppies_On_Acid's Gentlemen's Roulette! Epilogue (Read 81117 times)