Round 2 Results!This round ended up being a bit better than I thought before, mostly because the fucking Death Grips song grew on me somehow? less 8+ action though
Elite: Major Parkinson - Night HitcherThe singer reminds me a lot of someone else, but that's not a good thing. I'm getting weird Tom Waits vibes from the vocals, something almost wholly unique but at the sometime something that lacks any sort of emotional deliverance..? The music sounds interesting enough, and primarily the synths are a nice draw, but I can't take it seriously.
I rarely feel more neutral about a song than this, I remember there was one song I listened to years ago that I really liked, but I can't recall which, or why I was so into that and am so not into this now. the synthesisers and drums lay a really cool base for the song for sure, it's just not enough to interest me, as there is clearly still a big focus on vocals here that I can't see past. I never liked vocals like that, that are more whispery than singy.
4.5/10TAC: Althea - The Art of TreesVery meh throughout, nothing that makes me go: YES! and it goes on for too long.This band has vocals that I am super meh towards, leaning on the more prog-power side of things has rarely done me any favours. Other than that I remember some melodies were a bit grating, the added piano layers were cool, but the song was pretty long and didn't keep me hooked all the way through.
Now that I'm registering it more, the opening instrumental section is pretty cool, just like with your last submission! I still feel mostly the same about everything after the 2 minute mark. I can see the appeal, and also why you would send it to me, but I think I need more memorable riffs and vocals that are more down my street for a song of this length to keep me interested. Then there's the 'third half' which is also mostly an extended instrumental section, this song is like a sandwich. The main theme has a cool groove to it but also gets a bit tiring after repeating a few too many times. I don't hate it, it just feels like the song with the least 'personality' to it this round, or least unique.
6.25/10home: Frank Ocean - NightsThe production is near flawless, but I'm just not that into the main body of the song. The flow of the vocals just doesn't work for me at all. It picks up in the final movement, but this also feels awkwardly glued to the rest of the song so it's not as enjoyable.
Pretty sure my opinion on this song is not going to change, I wouldn't like Frank Ocean just judging by the fact that his flow (and to be honest also his voice) doesn't work for me. I really appreciate the musical flow in the first half, the transitions are very well done there, but the ones in the later half are more tacky. It's kind of theatrical in a way, and I think I could enjoy this particularly well with for example a more preachy/choiry approach of vocals like on TPAB by Kendrick. I have also dug Frank Ocean a little more on his Flower Boy appearance than this song as far as I remember. I can see now why this album was so praised, it's not for me but it's a more interesting take on R&B/hiphop than most of the players currently in the game
6.25/10ariich: Dissona - TotalityHardly remember anything other than there were some okay riffs, this one will need quite a few more spins to grasp.I believe I checked out this album and didn't care for it, I think I understand why now. This style of slow 'proggy' riffing doesn't do much for me.. even when the music is actually super dynamic it doesn't feel that way. My main gripe are the vocals though, the mix sounds weirdly quiet and the vocals match this which makes it all sound way less grand than it could have been.
I think one of the main setbacks is the Wilderun-type cleans, I don't like those kind of folky 'medieval' clean vocals much and never did.
Some of the riffs are actually super cool, and I think I would love them if they used more open string chords in the really heavy parts, this way with the strumming there's still some kind of restraint I wish wasn't there when the song goes all out. There must be a band out there that is 90% similar to this one that I would love, there's so much they're striking off in my book yet I can't get into this as a whole. I totally see why you would send this. It's still a pretty good score, but maybe not quite enough for me to try them again, as I think I've actually listened to this album once before and wasn't into it. Maybe further down the line though!
7/10Sacul: Death Grips - HackerI wonder why people keep thinking I would like this!! I really don't.That's literally all I wrote for my first impression.
Okay..
There's so much to say about this. The overall randomness is just so so much. Every couple seconds I hear a random new sound that doesn't go anywhere but just seems to be some kind of distraction. There is a chorus, so the song does have some kind of structure, but other than that it's all distraction. It's definitely a grower though, I find myself intrigued and wanting to hear that chorus again and again. It's catchy, and the less random portion of the synths in the background throughout the whole song are pretty damn cool. I was ready to 3.5-bomb this one, so I hope you're happy this is actually growing on me. I don't love it, I probably don't even want to hear the album, but there you go.
7/10Cyril: Capstan - We'll Always Have ParisDon't like what's going on vocally, it's a pretty well structured song though.Ugh I really want to like this more, I just don't like those emo/pop-punk moments in the vocals. Kind of reminds me of My Chemical Romance or early Panic! at the Disco (though actually P!ATD is awesome). The music is fine enough though there's definitely a focus on the vocals, so that's what I'm mostly concerned about.
At this point I've gotten accustomed to the vocals to a certain extent, but still don't actively enjoy them. They're pretty okay when they go into the more screamy a la La Dispute style. It's a well made song for sure, I like it when songs stick to the main body and kind of build around it but at the same time don't go off into different directions. It's like the song is one big build. It's still catchy and I can't help but at least slightly enjoy it. The chorus is the highlight of the song, so it is definitely served well by the fact that there is even more focus on the chorus on this song than most songs. Looks like a classic case of 7/10 to me!
7/10Kattelox: Magic Dance - In Their EyesAn overall nice atmosphere and good first impression, it still blurs together a bit in my head though.This is a really nice tune that, after just 1 listen, I can already pretty sure I won't fall in love with, but I also wouldn't mind listening to from time to time. It's especially nice to have this in-between the mostly pretty busy / hard-to-digest music I have gotten for this round.
It's the earworm of the round along with Ihlo for sure, there's some moments that remind me of a Mr. Mister song I received in my very first roulette, and then there's some of that retro synthwave kinda stuff that I'm totally down with. It's a bit more upbeat/happy than I would generally go for myself, but it all works out totally fine. The vocals are memorable, the synths are fucking thick, and the overall sound is nice and dreamy. Yes.
7.5/10Puppies: Kontinuum - MoonshineThe mix sounds a bit off, but I can look past that since the music is pretty sickThis is more like it. A cool doomy sound, but not very plodding at all. The riffs and some of the vocals remind me a bit of King Goat in that way. The slight change of pace around the mid mark is really helpful for songs of this style, it's not sticking with the same theme all the time but it also doesn't try to be overly proggy. And regardless, I don't feel all that engaged throughout and feel a bit underwhelmed. It's one of those songs that keeps me pretty entertained all the way through, but doesn't stick afterwards.
If I have to blame it on something, I'd say the song doesn't start of very strong, and mainly due to the clean vocals being a bit dry and the riffs not really compensating for it either. I'm happy that changes and the song starts being more awesome past the halfway mark. I'll call this King Goat Jr., and will definitely check out something by them to see where I'm at with these guys. It's one of the entries of this round that I'm the most unsure of whether I would actually like the band or not.
7.75/10Bolsters: Ihlo - StarseekerThe atmosphere is great, it's nothing new but is pretty good at what it does.Obviously, I can't help but think about TesseracT a bit when listening to. This band adapted the same kind of style of djent with a more atmospheric focus and echo-y but also catchy alt-metal type of vocals. I believe I turned the album off after the first two songs when I checked them out, I wonder if it was just a mood thing, or the first two songs are not very good, but I'm super into this one. The chorus is the best thing about it, and my #1 earworm of the round award will go to that. Beyond that, I can't remember much but I do remember liking it a lot.
They do a very good job on these lush atmospheres with tight riffs, and maybe the album cover also helps paint that picture (it's damn beautiful). I may have overestimated the quality of the chorus on first impression, but I still think it's great and I always like it when a song has something really cool to remember for when I get into the next few listens, it certainly helps. Another great feat is the quiet passage in the second half of the song, but it would have been better if it came a bit earlier in my opinion, as the song just feels a tad longer than it has to.
8/10Evermind: Mother of Millions - ArtefactEpic. Would be pretty surprised if this doesn't end up winning the round.The main melody with the piano is just too good, and when the spoken words passage came in I was just hoping for that Hypno5e-like post-rock outburst in the finale of their "Shores of the Abstract Line" album, and I got exactly that. Fucking ecstatic.
This was no contest, the buildup is very nice and calm, kind of haunting, kind of wintery. but quickly enough moving into this piano lead that I'm loving and from there it's all builds folks. The payoff in a song automatically makes the build better for me, but I can't fault this song for anything really. They bring back the vocals in the final section as well when it's all epic and dramatic, they could even have left them out here I think in favour of a more dynamic drum pattern, but it kinda works. Beyond just being emotionally loaded, and being grand, I think the song is also very well thought out. It's long but everything is here for a reason, nothing feels even remotely glued together, y'know?
9/10StandingsEvermind: 16
ariich: 15
Sacul: 15
home: 14.75
TAC: 14.5
Bolsters: 13.75
Cyril: 13.5
Kattelox: 13.5
Elite: 12.25
Puppies: 12
SEND FOR ROUND 3 Y'ALL YOU HAVE LIKE... 60 HOURS
Topic: Big Big Train of Daftness Roulette! POST-ROULETTE CEREAL HOURS (Read 33534 times)