Round 6 Results! The finals are near!
Very strong round, lots of good shit coming my way, making it next to impossible for the chaps on the bottom;
jjrock88 - Recon - Dreams
The good thing with Jason is that he's such a meat and veg guy, no bullshit good fashioned rock and metal and this is no different, in fact, this is his best submission so far. Quite a few of these songs I've received so far made me realise how influential Queensryche actually were, I never really acknowledged that I think, and this is no different with a Tate clone right here, but a fucking good one too. Loved everything about this, great groove and just solid from start to finish. Very Crimson Gloryish too. The chorus is fucking amazing, so addictive and haunting love it. The only thing I can fault is the production, but I see this album is getting a re-release of sorts so will have to add it to the list, amazing tune.
Appeal of Style - 9.5
Instrumentation and Vox - 9.5
Structure and Songwriting - 9.5
Replay Value - 9.0
Would I Purchase - 9.0
Score - 9.3
Elite - Meshuggah (BONUS BAND) - Bleed
I made Meshuggah a bonus band because it's always a band I've been interested in and besides a short snippet here and there, haven't really heard anything in full. I was fully expecting not to really like this, but this song is fucking brilliant. For the style, I think everything here is so hypnotizing and brutal, I can't help not to love the shit out of it. The rhythms and technical ability of whats going on here is almost tribal and somewhat droning and addictive. The vox aren't my usual growling style I go for but the execution but they are fucking brutal and I love them. And the jazzy solo is brilliant, sounds like some whole tones, some chromatic and maybe some lydian mode, I don't know, it's great. I'll be buying this album for sure. Even though you haven't made the cut Elite, I thank you for showing me this, thanks for playing.
Appeal of Style - 8.5
Instrumentation and Vox - 9.0
Structure and Songwriting - 9.5
Replay Value - 9.5
Would I Purchase - 9.5
Score - 9.2
Elite - Anciients - The Longest River
Elite unfortunately sent his two best songs in this one round, so unfortunately it's a little too late, but appreciate both of what was offered here. Out of the two Anciients songs, I like this one a lot better. So much Mastodon influence in this band which is such a good thing. Love the speedy second half too, and the growls here are great. Groovy riffs, really solid vocals and even though the structure is hard to get into at first, it's really easy to listen to and a band I definitely want to check out further.
Appeal of Style - 9.0
Instrumentation and Vox - 9.0
Structure and Songwriting - 8.5
Replay Value - 9.0
Would I Purchase - 9.0
Score - 8.9
jingle.boy - Triosphere - The Heart's Dominion
Chad, this is kind of what I've been waiting for from you. Instantly I knew this had Chad's stamp all over it and I'm further surprised he sent me some more female vocals, you have balls my good friend. Hit hit the nail on the head though, cause these are the kind of female vocals I like with my metal, very very good, great to listen to. The verse is brilliant here and the chorus adds a nice contrast and melody. Great riffing, great songwriting, great production, great guitars. Love the super heavy riff after the solo too, crushing! Yet another band to check ffs haha!
Appeal of Style - 9.0
Instrumentation and Vox - 9.0
Structure and Songwriting - 9.5
Replay Value - 9.0
Would I Purchase - 9.0
Score - 9.1
lowdz - Lionsheart - Living in a Fantasy
What do we have here, something right my alley is what it is. Never heard of this band either but glad Paul has showed me these guys. I only know the name Steve Grimmet from Grim Reaper which I've only heard the one song called See You in Hell I think, but this guy is good. Yeah, solid pace and tempo here, great playing, amazing melodies and just a really gun song. Really excellent, not much more to say. Oh, the slight change in style for the solo was brilliant.
Appeal of Style - 9.0
Instrumentation and Vox - 9.0
Structure and Songwriting - 9.0
Replay Value - 9.0
Would I Purchase - 9.0
Score - 9.0
Evermind - Anubis Gate (BONUS BAND) - Beyond Redemption
Anubis Gate was a bonus band mainly because I've heard the name and thought it was cool, that's about the extent of it. I wasn't let down here, as this is some solid metal. Great playing and vocals on this one and I especially like the middle section, quite different and welcomed, even if I felt it did disrupt the flow just a little. I thought the structure for some reason was a little hard to get into, and overall not quite as memorable as some of the other songs, but still a band to have on my radar, the singer is excellent.
Appeal of Style - 8.5
Instrumentation and Vox - 8.5
Structure and Songwriting - 8.5
Replay Value - 8.5
Would I Purchase - 8.5
Score - 8.5
Evermind - Need - Lifeknot
Heard the name, but that's about it. Ruslan warned me on the vocals but I thought he must have been wrong when the music started. The riffing at the start here is brilliant and was something I liked instantly and thought the vox wouldn't be a problem based on the first minute. Then, they did come in, and I must admit it did throw me back, definitely more of a grungy style of vocals. Once I got use to them, I really fucking liked this, it made a great contrast of styles and made the song quite original. The riffing was definitely one of the strongest and memorable of the round. The chorus reminded me heavily of Fates Warning and it was then the vocals reminded me a bit of Ray Alder, which is cool. I would have liked a solo, but it didn't really need it. Very original and great to listen to, yet another band to look out for.
Appeal of Style - 9.0
Instrumentation and Vox - 8.5
Structure and Songwriting - 9.5
Replay Value - 9.0
Would I Purchase - 9.0
Score - 9.0
TAC - Sinbreed - Creation of Reality
Can't say I've ever heard of these guys before and it's a shame it's taken this long. Right away I know I'm in for a treat with great production, and solid blazing power metal from the get go. Vocals are interesting and reminds me heavily of Andi Deris, which is a good thing. Pretty generic and standard power metal chorus but that's fine with me, it's done well and performed nicely and keeps the intensity up. Nice old school Helloween vibe in the solos too. Yeah, not much more to say, great solid tune, not the best thing that has come up, but certainly something I should check out.
Appeal of Style - 9.0
Instrumentation and Vox - 9.0
Structure and Songwriting - 9.0
Replay Value - 9.0
Would I Purchase - 9.0
Score - 9.0
bl5150 - Claudio Cordero - 1.21/Outatime
So Brent takes on the instrumental challenge that Chad laid down last time, and Brent comes out on top here. Here's an from what I can tell unknown Chilean guitarist and this guy has some means chops. Love the somewhat futuristic feel of this and reminded me of something from Satriani's Engines of Creation, mixed with some heavier Vai and even some Moore or TMac thrown in there aswell. Yeah, I've kind of gone off the instrumental guitar stuff lately as no one really has gotten my attention and guys like Satch and Moore just seem to be getting softer as time goes on. Marco Sfogli's first album was the last really amazing guitar album for me and Andy James is good too but quite one dimensional. This guy though has skills, feel, melodies, speed, just a gun guitarist really. The good thing is it keeps your interest from start to finish and has that repeated chorus like melody to ensure it's not just some dude shredding over a backing track. Didn't keep my interest as much as some of the other songs this round but would definitely like to hear more. Might even respark my interest in this sort of music.
Appeal of Style - 9.0
Instrumentation and Vox - 9.0
Structure and Songwriting - 9.0
Replay Value - 8.5
Would I Purchase - 8.5
Score - 8.8
Big Hath - Anciients - Raise the Sun
So getting two of the same band in the same round usually means they must be good and yeah as you already read with Elite's submission, this band is really cool indeed. Not much to say on this one, enjoyed it, but not quite as much as The Longest River, but a solid submission, and yeah I gotta check this album out for sure.
Appeal of Style - 9.0
Instrumentation and Vox - 9.0
Structure and Songwriting - 8.0
Replay Value - 8.5
Would I Purchase - 9.0
Score - 8.7
Dr DTVT. - Byzantine - Which Light Shall Never Penetrate
Mason has been solid from the start of this roulette, everything he has given me has been enjoyable, but this is the weakest song from him yet, while still being solid. This was a hard song to get into at first. Everything about it I really liked and should like from what's on offer, but I think it just didn't have the impact of some of the other songs this round. The vocals were tough and awesome in the verses, but I think I wasn't too fond of them in the chorus to be honest, but the pace, tempo and delivery didn't matter too much in regards to that and I liked it more as it went on. The solo was excellent too, but yeah, cool tune that certainly was a grower.
Appeal of Style - 8.5
Instrumentation and Vox - 8.5
Structure and Songwriting - 8.5
Replay Value - 8.5
Would I Purchase - 8.5
Score - 8.5
Bolsters - The Black Mages - Maybe I'm A Lion
Bolsters sends something a little risky with this one and I actually thought this was really cool. Old school seventies vibe. I listened to the Final Fantasy version and this was an impressive remake, well thought out. It kept my interest and the guitar solo was particularly blazing. Would definitely like to hear more from this band based on this. Great song Dave but unfortunately, you just miss out, due to Lordi letting you down. Thanks for being part of this.
Appeal of Style - 8.5
Instrumentation and Vox - 8.5
Structure and Songwriting - 8.5
Replay Value - 8.5
Would I Purchase - 8.0
Score - 8.4
lonestar - Altair - Wind of Changes
Overall RJ your submissions to me were across the board good but nothing outstanding unfortunately, so it's been great having you along in this. This song I really didn't find that interesting or entertaining. It's some solid enough power metal where everything is performed really well but overall just too generic and nothing I haven't heard before unfortunately.
Appeal of Style - 9.0
Instrumentation and Vox - 8.5
Structure and Songwriting - 7.0
Replay Value - 6.5
Would I Purchase - 6.5
Score - 7.5
Train of Naut - Native Construct (BONUS BAND) - Mute
Not really sure why I put these guys as a bonus band, from what I had seen and read, I thought I might like them, but I was wrong. TON, even though you didn't make the cut, thank you so much for sending me this so I didn't bother with a blind purchase. I get these guys are technically amazing, and some sections were cool, but on a whole, I just couldn't get my head around it and I couldn't listen to it more than twice. I hear the BTBAM and DT influence very strongly, but it's like they have just gone too far with the randomness for the sake of it. Nothing flowed and really a chore to listen to. These guys certainly have chops though, but the songwriting doesn't hit the mark.
Appeal of Style - 7.5
Instrumentation and Vox - 9.0
Structure and Songwriting - 4.0
Replay Value - 4.0
Would I Purchase - 3.0
Score - 5.5
Train of Naut - The Human Abstract - Antebellum
I really appreciate you being a part of this Dennis, you were a pleasure to have, but it seems our tastes just aren't that aligned compared to some of the others. This was miles better than the Native Construct but something about it just didn't really get me going. Seemed hard to get into and didn't flow for me that well. The heavier parts and the growls were really good though, and the guitar work in the second half was really great and helped the score. A solid 7.5 I think, would listen to more to see if anything catches my ear.
Appeal of Style - 7.5
Instrumentation and Vox - 8.5
Structure and Songwriting - 7.0
Replay Value - 7.5
Would I Purchase - 7.0
Score - 7.5
Parama - Baroness - Chlorine and Wine
Well, it's been really great having you involved in this Parama. Obviously our tastes are worlds apart but your submissions have been entertaining nevertheless and a couple of cool ones in there too which I liked. This one though unfortunately didn't do it for me. Took a while to get going and once it did, wasn't a big fan of the style and the vox were pretty ordinary also. Just never really resulted into anything either for me. Thanks for playing mate.
Appeal of Style - 5.0
Instrumentation and Vox - 5.0
Structure and Songwriting - 5.0
Replay Value - 5.0
Would I Purchase - 4.0
Score - 4.8
Results after round 6 including all previous scores;
1. bl5150 - 8.7+9.0+9.0+8.6+9.1+8.8 = 53.2
2. Dr. DTVT - 8.7+9.5+8.5+8.9+8.8+8.5 = 52.9
3. Evermind - 8.9+8.6+8.2+9.0+9.0+9.0 = 52.7
4. Big Hath - 9.4+8.8+8.8+8.9+7.9+8.7 = 52.5
5. lowdz - 8.1+9.4+7.8+8.5+9.0+9.0 = 51.8
6. jingle.boy - 8.5+7.9+9.1+8.2+8.2+9.1 = 51.0
7. TAC - 8.4+9.3+7.6+8.6+7.8+9.0 = 50.7
8. jjrock88 - 8.0+8.3+7.4+8.3+8.0+9.3 = 49.3
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9. lonestar - 7.4+8.8+8.5+6.4+7.3+7.5 = 45.9
10. Train of Naut - 6.8+6.9+7.4+8.1+9.1+7.5 = 45.8
11. Bolsters - 8.4+8.5+8.2+4+9.1+8.4 = 46.6
12. Elite - 6.0+7.1+8.5+7+8.1+9.2 = 45.9
13. Parama - 7.8+5+8.4+5.1+8.5+4.8 = 39.6
So a big thank you to RJ, Dennis, Dave, Rich and Parama for being involved in my roulette. Commiserations that you didn't make it through, but it is what it is unfortunately. Feel free to hang around, talk shit and abuse the finalists you don't like and try your best to sabotage their efforts to get to the top.
That's our top 8, matchups and details to follow.