Round 5 - New release
This was a relatively tough round. The difference between my favorite song and my second least favorite was relatively slim.
6 pointsSigz - Intronaut - Elegy - If BTBAM were more straight-forward, this would be the result, and I mean that in a very good way. I have a friend who I can't get into BTBAM because of the vocals, I need to see what he thinks about this. I can see why you are so high on this band, now it's just a matter of me ordering them after my next poker trip when I get some money. The fact that they are on Century Media means I'll probably get another grab bag as well...double win!
5 pointsZantera -The Pineapple Thief - 3000 Days - I've listened to this song several times and I really don't know how to break it down, other than to say it's enjoyable, standard cross-over prog affair that I really can't complain about.
4 pointsSoundscapeMN - Foals - Spanish Sahara - Ahh...something not heavy in the midst of all this heaviness. Musically, it reminded me of a cross between The Dear Hunter and Radiohead, and vocally like a softer Enchant. A nice balanced, warm blend. I definately like this song more now than in my initial impression. I could see a band like Foals (assuming this song is representative) being a nice change-of-pace artist for me. I'll have to look into them more
Wolfking - Sieges Even - Tidal - I've seen this band in many times in the inserts Inside/Out put in CD's, but this is the first time I've actually heard them. A solid offering, and I guess exactly what I was expecting from an Inside/Out artist. Guess it's bout time I look into them more.
3 points YtseBitsySpider - Theocracy - Laying the Demon to Rest - I love the opening, it's heavy without being over-the-top, as well as music in the realatively speaking soft opening stanza. From there, the verses are kind of run of the mill metal (not neccessarily bad though). I like the bombastic style of the chorus as well. My only real complaint would be the lyrical content, in that I'm not a fan of overtly religious music, which will be the only reason I wouldn't continue looking into this band, so I know I'm probably going to miss out on some good things from these guys. If these guys did a secular album, I would absolutely eat it up. Musically, it's heavy yet not heavy-handed (if that makes sense), and that's pretty uncommon these days.
Gorille85 - The Agonist - Thank You, Pain - My initial thoughts were, "This is like a cross between Arch Enemy and Lacuna Coil." - at least from the singing perspective. Unlike Arch Enemy, they don't rely almost exclusively on death growls, but the back-and-forth between death and clean seems somewhat forced at times. Not a bad song in the least, but the music almost seemed like it was too far in the background at times, and it was more about what the woman can do vocally.
Seventh Son - Cormorant - Uneasy Lies the Head - I liked the other song from earlier more. I'm just not sure what to make of this one...it's not bad, the riffs and melodies are there, but the whole package seems to be less than the sum of it's parts.
2 pointsPortrucci - Baroness - War, Wisdom, & Rhyme - Musically, yes, yes, yes. Vocally, it just reminds me of everything I can't stand about Mastadon. There is just something about the vocal delivery of sludge metal that doesn't interest me. It lacks power. I've tried to work out this problem with Mastadon, and it hasn't happened yet. Maybe it will eventually, it took me over 2 years to appriciate BTBAM, so every once in a while I'll come back to Mastadon and this band to see if I can either learn to embrace or at least deal with the aspects of it that don't click for me, but right now, it's not clicking.
After 5 rounds:
YtseBitsySpider - 25
SoundscapeMN - 24
Sigz - 21
Wolfking - 19
Portrucci- 17
Zantera - 17
Gorille85 - 14
Seventh Son - 12
Round 6 - Long song. If you can't find it on Grooveshark and it's split into to parts on youtube, remember to send both parts.
Also, I'll be out of town for the holiday. Even if I have internet access, I'm not going to have the time to sit down and listen to the songs while I'm out of town, so you have essentially until Sunday afternoon to send your song.