Results, Part 55th Place: Lethean – Untitled1. Threshold – Light and SpaceFirst Impressions:This is another case where I’ve heard at least a handful of songs from all the artists here, though I’m not super familiar with any of them either. Man, when was this recorded, this production sounds absurdly spacious like it was recorded in a freakin’ warehouse or something. I can’t say I like how the production on this sounds though, yeah. Other than that I don’t really have a ton to say about this. The riffs are fine. The vocals are okay enough but kinda generic. There’s a nice clean bit in the middle. It’s really the guitar tone (and the occasional synth tone) that puts me off this one a little, it’s so reverb-drenched and yet, like, super deep fried crispy. I know I’ve complained about this before but low-tuned melodies plus guitar tones like this just don’t mix, the end result is a muddy mess. I can’t really say anything else about it is bad but nothing about it is too strong except some of the lead guitar work. It’s fine enough. (AVERAGE)
Final Thoughts:Alright, look, I get that this is from 2001 and metal production has always been fickle as heck, but there are plenty of bands making better-sounding metal from this same period. Surprisingly it doesn’t totally kill the melody most of the time and the vocal production sounds fine, a lot better than recent dream theater albums to be sure. Anyways besides that this is…. serviceable. It’s got some solid melodies. They’re smart enough to not have too jagged or ugly of a groove, keeping the song rooted in 4/4 more often than not. You can kinda headbob to it. As far as prog metal goes it does all flow together pretty well, no rough transitions and it’s got some cleaner, more dynamic moments to break things up. As a song it’s more than well constructed enough, it’s just that I really, honestly don’t have any use for this. I have a lot of prog metal like this. There’s no especially strong melodies, no really excellent grooves, no particularly memorable hook. It’s super, duper “fine”. A bit above average, but I doubt I’ll remember it.
6/102. Katatonia – A PremonitionFirst Impressions:Katatonia is a band I’ve gone on record that I’m just not a fan of them but you all are really aggressive about trying to get me to like them, huh. It’s not a great sign when your first choice was a song that I’d already previously listened to and felt rather meh towards, haha. There’s, like, a lot of stuff going on in the background of the track here that I don’t know if I’m too hot on, because none of it really works well together, it’s just noises happening behind a fairly standard tune. The guitar tone here is kind of in line with the first song as well but it works fine in this style of song so I’m not as bothered by it here. I just… got basically nothing at all out of this song despite my best efforts. (AVERAGE)
Final Thoughts:Look. I get it. You basically screwed yourself here, between the other two songs you only had about 4 minutes left and I rejected the first song you sent because I’d heard it before. And let me say straight up that I went back to that song and found it a lot stronger than this one. Not great, but maybe on the scale of that roulette I should’ve rated it ever so slightly higher than I did? I dunno. This just doesn’t do much at all for me. The entire first half of this is all sorts of different, not very memorable and honestly pretty clunky melodies all fighting for attention without ever coming together. The heavy riff that comes in reminds me of, for some reason, Alkaloid’s Funeral For a Continent. It’s a similar chord progression. I’ll say that, if nothing else, I do vaguely feel something during that heavy bit. An attempt was made. The vocals actually have a bit of passion there. The repetitive plucky synth line doesn’t fit in there regardless but if I ignore it it’s mostly fine. I just don’t see why anyone would choose to listen to this particular Katatonia song over any other song they have, I’m not sure what about it could possibly resonate strongly. I like about a minute of it and the rest either bores me or kind of low-key annoys me. It’s probably the most average song I’ve received this entire round, in all honesty.
5.25/103. Kingcrow – PhlegethonFirst Impressions:Well, immediately I get the sense the production on this one is better than the first two so that’s a step in the right direction. I do dig the riffing style of this one well enough and it’s certainly keeping itself varied enough to boot. The bit with the choir vocals and the really steady riffing was pretty neato. The bass is kind of downplayed throughout a lot of this tune, it’s a bit low in the mix and the tone isn’t great either, but it gets its moment to shine in the quieter sections of the song. This entire thing is just… low key good, honestly, pretty constantly moving and doing stuff I like but there’s not really a lot I love either, I do think I like it enough for the higher of the two ratings I’m bouncing between but that could change. Or it could grow on me too. Who knows. (GOOD)
Final Thoughts:Goddammit not you too. Congrats, here’s an EP with two songs I’m kind of meh on and then you end with a song I really like, a lot. Start out with this jagged and melodic riff. Okay, djent bands. I get you like having fun with rhythm. But without any melody all your riffs sound the same. Just add! Melodic accentuations! Exactly like this! And it works! Jesus! Anyways then you get the verses. There’s a great sinister air to them, driven by bass and atmospheric synths, slowly building up with more guitar lines coming in until the second verse switches from being sinister to outright tense. And the chorus of this, I love the chorus of this. It’s so simple, too. Guitar hits on the off beat, chanting crowd vocals, incredibly straightforward percussion. This right here is something you can reeeeally headbob to, probably headbang to if you’re seeing it live. It’s maybe a little cheesy but they sell it really well and it serves as an effective payoff to the buildup of the song before it. The song pulls back for a moment for a quieter bit and then you get this really intense, energetic buildup. It’s pretty much just a power metal moment with the drums. And it resolves again to the chorus, which I’m totally on board for. The song pulls back again for a nice clean moment after that, building a fixed guitar groove up on top to keep the momentum going a little bit. I think if I had one complaint about the song, it’s that it feels like it might go on a touch long, though. The song basically just… fades out from there, and resolves on a kind of unrelated clean passage. I think it’d work just fine in the context of an album and it actually brings the EP itself full circle pretty well, mirroring the intro of the Threshold song, but it hurts the overall flow of the song just ever so slightly. It would’ve been really cool if over that last groove the song added in the chorus choir chants again, really just bringing the whole thing together and giving the song a familiar yet slightly different idea to end on. Just a thought. I’m really not super bothered by it when the rest of this song is as good as this is. It ebbs and flows well and keeps itself dynamic, having a three-part structure tied together by its chorus, both instrumentally and vocally compelling. It’s just good, man.
8.25/10Overall:First Impressions:In terms of whether or not these three songs go together or work as an EP, they absolutely do. First song is solid as an opener, last song is solid as a closer, they all have a kind of sludgier but also straightforward metal sound to them, but each of them is a different kind of track as well.
In regards as to this working as an EP you pretty much hit the nail on the head, it’s just a shame none of the songs really stand out. Even the one I do like a fair bit, it’s not the kind of song I see being a “favorite” of mine, just one that I find pretty pleasant to listen to. And the other two didn’t leave much of an impact at all on me. I could see every song here being a grower but the big concern is how overall flavorless this one feels.
Final Thoughts: So while yeah it’s clear I’m not crazy about this entire EP, it ends on a pretty strong note, and I don’t really dislike the other two songs either, I just don’t get a ton out of them. I was at least right that one of the songs here ended up being a grower, and fortunately it was the one that mattered the most overall. And like I already said this works satisfyingly enough as an EP – the Threshold and Kingcow songs go together really well, both being pretty straightforward prog metal with a power metal flair, and even having atmospheric intros/outros to mirror each other. Katatonia maybe not so much, it feels really simple and out of place compared to the other two, but it’s not a huge curveball like some other EPs here end up having. Overall I do like at least half of this EP a good bit and I don’t mind the rest, it’s easy enough to listen to even if I’m not too convinced I’ll be checking out Threshold or Katatonia again.
8th Place: romdrums – Parama EP 2.17.191. IceFish – It BeginsFirst Impressions:Mmm. My very first impression here is that this opening groove is one of those “prog for the sake of prog” moments, it doesn’t really flow well and just feels like bits of guitar lines were chopped off a smooth groove arbitrarily. And that synth sound ain’t it. Or at least, not for metal, reminds me of the tones Ronald Jenkees uses on his upbeat, bright electronic tunes. Like yeah I’m sorry but that synth just kills this entire thing for me. There’s good stuff here, some of the grooves are alright and the vocalist sounds fine. It’s got the “modern prog” problem of lacking strong melodies, to be sure, but I can get past that if there’s enough groove to make up for it. And basically any part of this song lacking the synths is fine. I think it just ends up balancing out to being… fine. (AVERAGE)
Final Thoughts:Well, uhh, the chorus here is memorable, if nothing else. Like, not super powerful or anything but it’s catchy enough and I kind of feel it. This just has a lot of problems, doesn’t it. I’ve already called out the synth tone, let’s set that aside for a bit. I’ve already called out the grooves being weird but let me flesh out why that bothers me. Grooves are something you -feel- and generally they’re regular enough that once you pick up on a groove you can keep feeling it and riding it and enjoying it. Chopping off part of the groove arbitrarily just kills it outright. An unpredictable groove is honestly kind of useless to me. They don’t do it all the time but they do it often enough, especially in the verses, that I end up not really getting anything from them. And as far as melodies go this song has issues, really the only two elements driving melody for most of this song are the synths (which, eww) and the vocals, which I’m also not a huge fan of but they’re, fine enough. That groove after the guitar solo driven by the synths, I could imagine that being much better if it was a better-sounding instrument driving it, it’s kind of cool but again, that synth tone, what the heck were they thinking. It just ruins everything it touches. Ehh.At the end of the day this is just. Not my thing and surprisingly frustrating for how basic it is.
4.75/102. DGM – PortraitFirst Impressions:This one basically just seems pretty similar to the last one but with a generally better production (sounds a bit more full, guitar tones and synth tones especially are better). Like yeah it’s kind of standard power-prog and I again feel like it kind of falls victim to trying to have riffs & melodies with lots of notes before riffs & melodies with memorable moments. But it’s more than serviceable enough prog metal. The prog-wank midsection isn’t really my cup of tea though. It mostly just came and went without leaving a huge impact but I didn’t dislike it. (DECENT)
Final Thoughts:Right off the bat this fixes a lot of the issues I had with the previous song, actually. For one there’s no awful synths. The grooves are more stable, the guitar work is a lot more melodic, even the vocals are a bit of a step up. Granted, not one part of anything this song has to offer is particularly memorable for me – this is my fifth listen now and I can barely recall anything about it. The chorus is pretty good though, I like the chorus. Both the vocal lines and the instrumentation backing them fit together well and drive some decent power. Also I commented on the instrumental section before, I actually like it up until the point where the solos kick in but they’re the most basic “let’s play fast instead of playing with style” prog wank stuff. The melodic interplay bits before then though, they get a pass. I dunno, this song is. Pretty fine. I think its biggest crime is being a bit unmemorable but stylistically it works well enough and it has its moments.
6.75/103. Voyager – Seasons of AgeFirst Impressions:Voyager are like, the quintessential “romdjent” band to me for some reason so I’m not in the least surprised to hear them here. And uuhh. I have absolutely no clue what to say about this one either. I think it’s less that I dislike Voyager and more that their songs just… don’t have much personality to them. A little bit of djent, a little bit of prog metal, throw in some kind of hook and a decent emotive presence and you’ve got just the quintessential “yeah, this is nice I guess, but it doesn’t really grab me in any way” sound. I dig the heavy groove this one closes off with, at least. And I dunno, I’m always inclined to be nice and I can’t say I’d rather hear generic indie rock or generic pop or generic whatever else over generic djent-prog, and I don’t have anything really negative to say about this one, I just didn’t get a whole lot from it I haven’t heard before. (DECENT)
Final Thoughts:There’s actually something kind of off about the vocalist here that I don’t quite like. On the verses at least, it feels like he’s kind of missing notes? Or maybe it’s just his tone of voice. On the chorus he’s actually pretty fine, it’s a pretty solid chorus that drives some decent power. Honestly this one I didn’t really remember much about either and again, fifth listen. It’s got those djent-y grooves to it but they’re melodically grounded and with other stuff going on over/under them so they’re not the main focus either and in that context I’m usually on board with that style of riffing. I just suppose neither the melodic work nor the riffing really strikes a chord with me. The slower riff that kicks in towards the end is a pretty good riff though, yep. I dunno. This one’s again, fine. It has a few elements I like, a few elements that bug me. I’m not crazy about it or particularly convinced I need to check out more Voyager after this but it’s again, pretty fine.
6.5/10Overall:First Impressions:Yeah I would pretty easily say that everything here fits together well enough, mostly on the basis that it’s modern prog metal all the way down, boys.
One song that kind of irritated me, two songs that were solid enough but didn’t really do much to stand out for me. I can see the potential for those latter two to grow on me with relistens but I’m worried the first one is gonna get even worse to balance it out. It strikes me as the “safest” EP out of the whole bunch, which could be for better or worse in the end, but I don’t think this has potential to be a favorite in the round either.
Final Thoughts:Man, this EP is just the most unmemorable one of the entire bunch, I’m sorry to say it. I don’t particularly like nor particularly dislike anything here, either, it’s just that either way I don’t really get much out of these tunes. At worst they’re a little obnoxious but far from offensive. At best they’re pleasant with the occasional ear-catching moment but do little to stand out. In that regard this is one of the most perfectly-constructed EPs of the round, since all three sound just different enough yet still fit in pretty easily, there’s a solid sense of start/middle/end, everything in that regard is done well, it’s just that without any notable songs to stand out from the crowd everything here gets lost in the shuffle and doesn’t strike me as being particularly ambitious. You’re going to miss the cut not for any colossal misstep as much as just not having anything that particularly impresses, unfortunately.
Current Standings:1. senecadawg2
2. TAC
3. Puppies_On_Acid
4. Ghost Malone
5. Lethean
6.
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7.
8. romdrums
9. Kattelox
10. Indiscipline
11. Elite
12. Dacul
Song Rankings:1.
Phoebe Bridgers – Funeral2.
No Doubt – Tragic Kingdom3.
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – If We Were Vampires4.
Existem – The Reclaimer5.
Kingcrow – Phlegethon6.
7.
Arms & Sleepers – Twentynine Palms8.
Arcane – Selfsame9.
Pendulum ft. Steven Wilson - The Fountain10.
Breaking Orbit – Conscious Self 11.
12.
Cereus – Icarus13.
DGM – Portrait14.
Dark the Suns – All Ends in Silence15.
16.
Voyager – Seasons of Age 17.
Atoma – Skylight 18.
Vanaheim – Daughter Of The Dawn19.
John Lennon – How Do You Sleep? 20.
Led Zeppelin – Achilles Last Stand21.
22.
Alithia – On a Mountain23.
Threshold – Light and Space24.
25.
Eddie Vedder – Society26.
Marlene Kuntz – Nuotando nell'Aria 27.
Tycho - Dye28.
Katatonia – A Premonition 29.
30.
Archspire – Involuntary Doppelgänger31.
IceFish – It Begins32.
Slushii - Sapient Dream33.
Starsailor – Way to Fall 34.
Inferum – Beyond Reach35.
Linda Perhacs – Winds of the Sky36.
Owen Pallett – The Great Elsewhere