---ROUND 1 RESULTS---1st Place: Elite
Shining - FisheyeShining’s a band that’s been on my radar for a while now but I haven’t actually listened to that much of their stuff; I listened to One One One a while ago and don’t remember it doing all that much for me, so I haven’t checked them out since then. That said, avant-garde, demented-sounding metal that resembles the soundtrack to a nervous breakdown is right up my alley, so it’s not a big surprise that I thought this song was great. It’s insane enough without reaching the point of becoming annoying or pure noise; in fact, it’s actually quite catchy and has a nice groove. It’s a little on the repetitive side, as the majority of the song is a single riff that gets heavier and heavier as the song progresses, but the buildup is done well enough that it’s not really an issue. Nice job.
2nd Place: Parama
East Of The Wall - Naif / Linear Failure / My Favorite Society GuyThis is technically three different songs, but since they flow into each other seamlessly and feel more like three movements to a single piece, I’ll let it slide. And yeah, if I didn’t know any better, I would have thought it was a single song as well. The instrumentation and sound of this piece are very strong; all the instruments sound great and contribute to the song equally. I found the instrumental sections of the song to be the most enjoyable, especially the one right in the middle. The last couple minutes are great as well. The parts with vocals are a bit more uninteresting by comparison, but they aren’t bad or anything. The piece as a whole doesn’t have all that much structure, which makes a lot of parts hard to remember, but it’s always an enjoyable listen even if you don’t fully absorb everything. The only other complaint I have is that Naif is easily the weakest of the three sections (I checked the album out on Bandcamp so I know where each part begins and ends). As a whole though, I liked this piece a lot.
3rd Place: Scorpion
Wilderun - The Garden Of FireBlack metal with a lot of folk influence has a tendency to do quite well in my roulettes, and hey, this track’s no exception. That said, it was definitely a grower. This style of black metal tends to work better for me when it plays down the heaviness and focuses more on the atmosphere, and this song feels like it’s balanced more towards the metal side of things. I found the heavier parts of the song to be a bit uninteresting, while the calmer, more melodic parts are great, especially when the band breaks out the strings and acoustic instruments. There’s one section in particular a little after five minutes in that’s absolutely beautiful. The song also gets a lot better in the second half when it starts bringing out more memorable melodies and hooks; the first half of the song feels more lacking in this department and I would have liked if the melodic moments were spread about the song more evenly. While I didn’t enjoy every part of this song, the parts that are good are really really good, and they are what kept me wanting to return to this song for repeated listens.
4th Place: Evermind
Dark Tranquility - The Grandest AccusationThis is a nice melodic death metal song with a solid flow and a good amount of energy. While the majority of the song is mid-tempo, it has a very grandiose vibe to it that gives it a lot of power, and the sections where the song shifts into double time really pump you up. There’s also a really beautiful clean section halfway through that builds back up into the heavier sound really well. There’s not much else I have to say about this track, other than that I thought the ending was a bit too abrupt, but that’s my only real complaint. Good song.
5th Place: splent
The Pineapple Thief - Shoot FirstI really enjoyed the sound of this song. It’s very Porcupine Tree-ish which is always a plus for me, and the atmosphere is quite melancholy and beautiful, which I enjoy. The 7/8 groove is also quite nice, especially during the verse. That said, I have my issues with the songwriting. This song feels incredibly underdeveloped, as if there are parts of the song that are just missing. Most glaringly, there is only one real verse, and after the first chorus, it sounds like the song just skips to the C section, followed by the last chorus, and then the song’s over before you know it. I also wish the song had a proper prechorus or more buildup to the choruses, as they sort of feel like they come out of nowhere. While I thought that this song wasn’t as strong as it could have been, I really enjoyed its style, and I would love to hear more stuff like this in the future.
6th Place: Train of Naught
Xerath - I Hold DominionThis song does a pretty good job at blending symphonic and metal elements to create a very bombastic and cinematic sound. It has some powerful moments, like the part where the full band enters and the riff that starts almost three minutes in. As a whole, however, the song kind of blends into a haze of generic symphonic metal, especially towards the end. While the sound itself is powerful, there aren’t really any strong melodies or hooks to support it, and as a result the song feels pretty underwhelming.
7th Place: LordCost
Mudvayne - SeveredMudvayne? Well, I can’t continue without posting this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpKxtTPQ1Q8Anyways, this song was good, but nothing great. It’s got some pretty cool bass work, though I’m not sure if it always fits in with the song or really adds much to it overall. All the other instruments and the vocals as just average; they do their job but they aren’t noteworthy in the slightest. The best part of the song for me was definitely during the middle when it gets super angry and heavy. Other than that, while this song doesn’t really have any problems, it doesn’t have anything that great either. It’s just pretty average. Have another one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI7F6fxmUx4
8th Place: Tomislav95
Swallow The Sun - HopeThis was the only song I got this round that I thought was flat-out boring. It’s very slow and monotonous-sounding, despite it having a pretty wide range of dynamics. I think the problem I have with this song is that it tries to be both emotional and heavy with some strong and powerful melodies, and it falls just short with all three. The calm sections are okay, the heavy sections are okay, and the melodies are decent. This wouldn’t be a huge deal if the track was shorter or faster-paced, but with its length and slow tempo, it turns into a real slog. I did enjoy the section that starts around five minutes in though. Other than that, I found the song to be a very dull listen.
Artists banned this round: Shining
THE SCORE SO FAR:Elite: 10
Parama: 9
Scorpion: 8
Evermind: 7
splent: 6
Train of Naught: 5
LordCost: 4
Tomislav95: 3
Round 2 starts now!