Here you go, punks. Again, writeups are sorted in order of quality.
TAC: Todd Michael Hall / Not With A SwordAS per my impression, this was truly middle-of-the-road - neither hard, nor soft. I was trying to find some grit in it, but it eluded me. I was hoping this might grow on me, but spoiler alert… it didn't. With that title, I was expecting something totally different. I'm honestly very surprised this is A) something you enjoy, and B) something you think I'd enjoy. I mean, this guy sings in the relaunched version of Riot V as well?? Da fuq? The vocal harmonies in the chorus were enjoyable, and the guitar licks were pleasant, but otherwise this was the musical equivalent of a butter sandwich - and had all the edge of a softened block of butter. This song suffered (like your last submission) from a bit too much repetition in the rhythm.
ScoresQuality: 6.5
Unpredictability: 4.0
Anonymity: 5.0
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Dr. DTVT: Byzantine / JeremiadGreat opening passage, and then the growls. Sure, they're short, but my first impression stands. The hard growls are tolerable (they're not overly offensive to my ears), while the harsh-ish vocals are too much screaming *at* me. The rest of the cleans are decent enough, but just 'decent'. I loved virtually all aspects of the music. But the real winning part of this song is the guitar solo (teaser at 1:15) and the full deal at 3:15 *chef's kiss*. I hear a tribute to A Nightmare to Remember at the 2:45 spot. The outro went on a bit longer than necessary, and was pretty pedestrian. Musically B+; Vocally C
ScoresQuality: 7.0
Unpredictability: 0.5
Anonymity: 1.0
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Stadler: The Naomi Star / Glad That You CameHard not to know whose submission this was right from the first 30 seconds. You've got a 'tell' when it comes to the sound/style, and I appreciate your convictions. Sometimes the songs hit, often times they're just … there. This has the sound as though it could've been used as a theme song for a sitcom in the late 80s or 90s (ala Friends/Rembrandts) For a 4 minute song, it seemed quite a bit longer. Simple, straight-forward. Good little diddy. Had me tappin my foot. Rather simple and uneventful, yet enjoyable. It's a solid B-, and it's the kind that deserves a rounding up
ScoresQuality: 7.5
Unpredictability: 3.5
Anonymity: 2.0
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Evermind: Jono / DownsideI hear the Dio resemblance in the chorus', but certainly not in the verses. The vocal cadence in the verses was kinda meh - wasn't much of a fan of rising scale (not sure how else to describe it) melody for the lyrics . Beautiful choruses though… Channelling some Queen there with the vocal harmonies. Nice piano work mid way through - it creates a nice haunting atmosphere, building up a nice crescendo for the ultimate climax, then a nice soft percussive landing. Second 1/2 of the song was definitely an A. First half was merely decent.
ScoresQuality: 7.5
Unpredictability: 5.0
Anonymity: 3.5
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Litho: Luna Fawn Ripley / DiapasonAfter a few listens, I figured out what my issue was with the vocals - they just don't match/align with the style of the song. She's got a very nice voice - pleasant, graceful, charming … but the style of the song is aggressive (especially with that machine gun snare - not much of a fan of that here), which just doesn't seem to match the vocal delivery I'm getting. I guess there's a certain kind of power I want/need/expect in this instance. The vocals are definitely the weak part of the song - which has strong composition and performance overall, but shit ... is her vocal hero Issa
? It's impressive that she does all the instrumentation sans the drumming, and I loved the closing acoustic - but that part felt like a totally different track… the quick switch to it, and a full 90 second epilogue. It was completely unexpected, and didn't jive with the style of rest of the song. There's was lots to like here, but I just couldn't score this any higher.
ScoresQuality: 7.5
Unpredictability: 4.5
Anonymity: 4.5
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Wolfking: Sentire / End of the WorldKiller intro, which quickly becomes standard power metal fare with the double bass driving most of the song. Unfortunately, I'm not digging the galloping drum double kicks (again). I dunno, maybe I'm just in a bit of a funk over that rhythmic sound. Every other section of the song was far more appealing. The symphony patches were kinda weak though. Some powerful fucking drumming overall - notwithstanding my lack of appeal for the 'galloping' style. Ripping guitar solo, and the outro was great (although, abrupt). I want to round up, but the galloping drums are grating on me.
ScoresQuality: 7.5
Unpredictability: 2.5
Anonymity: 3.0
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Lonestar: Plush / AthenaNice vocal harmonies overall. Very good stuff, though I'm not sure if this is hard rock, or light metal. Either way, better of the two female vox this round for sure. This is where it dawned on me why I wasn't digging the other one as much. There's a bit of grit in her voice, and it's entirely consistent with the style and sound of the song. Pretty straight forward rock/metal song, with the typical rock structure- intro, verse, chorus, bridge, solo, outro. Very likeable.
ScoresQuality: 7.5
Unpredictability: 1.5
Anonymity: 0.5
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Puppies: Soundscape / ResurrectionBeautiful vocal start! This one is proggy af. Sounds like they're trying to be Transatlantic or some kind of mashup of Moon Safari and Yes, and I'm diggin it. Drums sound pretty thin though, and the 'squeaky' pitch/sound of the guitar could've been better - but that mini-solo at 4:15 was just fantastic, as was the outro. Vocals end up being one of the weaker parts of this, so it's a good thing there were a lot of instrumental passages - kinda sounded like he was trying to be Jon Anderson, and falling far short. The vocal harmonies towards the end were on the verge of being cringey - again, like they're trying to be 'Topographic Oceans' Yes, but failed (almost spectacularly). If they'd cleaned up a few things in here, this could've been an A+ song.
Spotify: 9 Monthly listens - and we're two of them! Talk about obscure. You (along with RJ) got hosed with Kade opening up Hangman with a "U".
ScoresQuality: 8.0
Unpredictability: 1.0
Anonymity: 1.5
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Indiscipline: Gotthard / FiredanceI've got one of their albums saved in my Spotify library (#13 - literally, that's the title of the album), so I was looking forward to hearing more. The intro is basically Damn Yankees / Piledriver (which is one of my fave DY songs), and quickly turns into what I expect to be a meandering plodder. But it's just a mid-temp bass driven melody - which, all things being equal, is usually pretty 'meh' for me. Luckily, all things are not equal - tasty guitar fills and Steve Lee's vocals more than compensate for the pace (I knew I recognized his voice - he was on 01011001). I'm intrigued with these guys. Wikipedia references that they are influenced by Whitesnake - no shit! Lee is channelling quite a bit of Coverdale. There's some strong Maiden and Sabbath influence here as well. When all is said and done, I came to really like that bass line that is the engine of this song.
ScoresQuality: 8.0
Unpredictability: 3.0
Anonymity: 4.0
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King: Molybaron / Reality ShowThis is some bitchin, high quality rock music - straight up old school rock. Nothing special to the primary vocals, call and return structure of the chorus was suh-weeet! Pounding rhythm and drums really get the head banging. The guitar solo is a nice pause mid-song, and is filled with a lot of sould … I was just disappointed with it's length - not the first time you've heard that I'm sure
. And it's a 2023 release that I'm now going to need to check out. No muss; no fuss - just a great rockin track. Simple can be good. The chorus was the biggest earworm this round.
ScoresQuality: 8.5
Unpredictability: 2.0
Anonymity: 2.5
Total Round 3:Litho - Luna Fawn Ripley / Diapason: 4.5 + 4.5 + 7.5 = 16.5
Evermind - Jono / Downside: 5 + 3.5 + 7.5 = 16
TAC - Todd Michael Hall / Not With A Sword: 4 + 5 + 6.5 = 15.5
Indiscipline - Gotthard / Firedance: 3 + 4 + 8 = 15
Kingshmegland - Molybaron / Reality Show: 2 + 2.5 + 8.5 = 13
Stadler - The Naomi Star / Glad That You Came: 3.5 + 2 + 7.5 = 13
wolfking - Sentire / End of the World: 2.5 + 3 + 7.5 = 13
Puppies - Soundscape / Resurrection: 1 + 1.5 + 8 = 10.5
lonestar - Plush / Athena: 1.5 + 0.5 + 7.5 = 9.5
Dr. DTVT - Byzantine / Jeremiad: 0.5 + 1 + 7 = 8.5
Overall Standings:Litho - 44.5
lonestar - 43
Evermind - 42.5
Wolfking - 41.5
TAC - 41
Dr. DTVT - 39
Puppies - 38
Indiscipline - 36
King - 36
Stadler - 32
And just so ya'll know the ranking of best quality through 3 rounds:
lonestar - 25.5
Indiscipline - 24
Wolfking - 23.5
Puppies - 23.5
King - 23.5
Litho - 23
Evermind - 22.5
Dr. DTVT - 22.5
Stadler - 21
TAC - 19.5