ROUND 2 RESULTSLast round, I was consistently impressed with the quality of all the songs I received. This time, not so much. Let's start with the worst.
7. Shadow Ninja's submission: Gotthard - Lift You Up: The Ninja took a chance with this positively boring pop song. It did not pay off.
6. Chef's submission: Absolute Priority - Fear of the Night: Here's the upset. This one didn't really speak to me. Sort of plodding and slow, with a drawn-out bombastic ending that would be epic if I enjoyed the music a bit more. I dunno. The vocalist is pretty good. Is it just me, or does he
really sound like (young) Geoff Tate? I was legitimately convinced this was a mid-80's Geoff Tate side project for a good portion of this song.
5. Lolz's submission: Cult of Luna - I, The Weapon: Mr. L told me I should give this one at 3 listens with breaks in between. Sort of a hefty request given this song is 10 minutes long, but I did manage to get 2 listens in. Truth time: on my first listen, I was ready to turn it off about a minute in because I found the song so tremendously ugly. But my noble duty as a roulette judge is to listen to these songs, so I powered through. By minute 5, I'd changed my tune, and was greatly enjoying what I was hearing... and then, by minute 10, I was a bit more sour. Cult of Luna is a doomy, progressive, and talented band, but this song was not my cup of tea. At college, occasionally my roommate puts on recordings of Philip Glass's compositions. Philip Glass is a modern composer that also relies on very repetitive song structures. I understand Philip Glass and the musical techniques he used, but I don't care for his music. I responded to Cult of Luna in a similar way: I understand what they're going for from an artistic standpoint, and it makes tremendous sense to me why people
would like this music, but I just don't, personally. Lolzeez will lose points, but if it's any consolation, I respect your band artistically.
And now, the really good stuff:
4. Scorp's submission: Devin Townsend - Bad Devil: This was actually an alternate; Scorp's first choice was Lucy Fears the Morning Star by Diablo Swing Orchestra, a band I'm already familiar with. (That's actually lucky for him, since I don't much care for that song.) Anyway, this song was a lot of fun. The deep "devil" voice was an interesting conceit, and it gives way to a melodic chorus whose swing metal sound is familiar without being cliche or uninteresting.
3. Elite's submission: Wishbone Ash - Sometime World: How have I not heard of this band before? This is some awesome early prog rock. The opening ballad transitions masterfully into a fantastic Yes-style jam. Love that bass.
2. jingle's submission: Dimension Act - Illusion/Counterparts: Expertly crafted high-energy prog metal.
... Sorry if this makes any of our participants angry.1. Doc's submission: Leprous - Bilateral: The PhD snags the top spot this time with this chaotic progressive metal masterpiece.
New standings:
1. DTVT - 55 + 10 = 65
1. Elite - 55 + 10 = 65
1. jingle - 50 + 15 = 65
4. Lonestar - 70 - 30 = 40
5. Scorp - 35 + 0*10 = 35
6. Ninja - 40 - 10 = 30
7. Lolz - 25 - 10 = 15
3-way tie for 1st, interesting. Lonestar made a big, risky bet which did not pay off -- but it's nothing he can't recover from. Lolzeez, meanwhile, may be eliminated soon if he doesn't step up his game.
Round 3 starts now -- maybe try to get your submissions in by tomorrow evening?