Ok, I was done earlier than I thought I would be, so here are the write-ups.
There are no points attached yet, Bolsters asked us to leave them out when we post the write-ups, he will post all of them together when all the judges are done. I post the results in order of how much I liked the songs though, so you have an inkling where you stand. You might of course also have the same amount of points as the players next to you. Also, between first and last place there is a 4.5 point difference in my scores. I at least liked all of the songs though.
Round 1 write-ups:I’m deliberately somewhat strict with my scoring, don’t be too disappointed when you get your scores. It’s going to be almost impossible to get a perfect score in one of my rounds, and if you get anything above a 12 it means I totally loved your song. Heck, even a 9 still means I thought it was a good song. Going by schooling scoring system, I’d say that a 6 or higher would be a passing grade.
Sacul: Riverside - Driven to DestructionI have heard of Riverside before of course, but never heard more than a few songs. After the first 3 listens I can remember literally nothing from this song, except for liking it every time. I really like the build-up and guitar layering in the intro. There are cool riffs all over the place, and the songs demands attention at all times. My only real problem is that it feels really similar all over its seven minutes. That’s not a problem with atmospheric songs, but I think a song as busy as this one needs a bit more variation in feeling over its duration. So overall, I’d say that this was a good song but not a great one. I’m not sure if it prompted me to check them out further.
Resent
I'm sure Tyrias and Mr. Red will love it, and please 425, don't hate it
Sorry
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Wolfking: Nightingale - ForevermoreIf I had to sum this song up in two words it would probably be “Pop-Metal”. This is probably not something I would have ever listened to on my own, since my musical discoveries have been going in quite different directions lately. It’s a pretty upbeat song, where the keyboards and a cleaner background guitar do most of the atmosphere in the background, while the main rhythm guitars are more in the front. My favourite thing about this song are probably the vocals (which is pretty ironic since I thought the vocals didn’t fit at all the first time I listened to the song). Out of all the songs in this round, this probably has the best singer. I also like the kind of happy atmosphere the keyboards make. What brings it down are the rhythm guitars. The riffs just seem really bland to me, but the guitars are mixed so loud they feel more like the main instrument than a supporting one in here. I think this song would have really benefited from guitars taking more of a background role.
Parama: East of The Wall - Whiskey Slipper/UnderachieverFirst of, it’s kind of cheating sending two songs in one round. But they flow into each other so seamlessly that it really could have just been one long song, so I’ll let it slip.
Now, what is this? I’m really having a hard time placing this genre-wise. It has hardcore-ish screams, some clean vocals, chaotic drums and relatively melodic guitar parts, with some really heavy parts mixed in. It also defies any kind of conventional song structure. The first time I listened to the batch of songs, this one was definitely my favourite. The second time around I hated it. The third time I thought it was ok-ish to good, and now I’m loving it again. What I learn from this is that this song is really mood dependent; I can only listen to this when I’m fully awake. When I’m kind of tired all it does is annoy me.
Now, how do I grade this? Compared to most people I actually really like this scream-ish vocal style when it’s used correctly, and it is here. I also really enjoyed the clever changes in tempo, break-downs, clean parts and other parts, yet I feel there is something missing. A song like this should really hit me emotionally to work amazingly, but it only manages that to a small degree. It keeps me more occupied on an intellectual level, appreciating all the clever breaks, rhythm changes and mood changes, but fails to make a lasting emotional impact. So, while I think it’s good, I wouldn’t say it’s great.
Lonestar: Structural Disorder - Corpse CandlesI swear this song is cursed. The first four times I listened to it, I was always interrupted by either my mum or my dad needing technical help or kitchen help. Felt like the sound waves were kind of triggering an “I-need-help”-reflex in my parents . Also, I wasn’t surprised to get the most proggy track this round from you.
At my first listen I thought the vocals sounded really unfitting to the songs, but over further listens they grew on me and now I actually like them. The one exception to this are the growls. I thought they were incredibly awkward on my first listen, and I still think not having growls in this one would have really benefitted the song. Luckily, most of the time they use clean singing instead of growls. I quite liked the music in the first 5 minutes though, and the production was very interesting. It felt like the production deliberately took a lot of the heaviness away from the riffs, which suited the song, but made the growls ever so awkward.
The solos in the more quiet section after the 5 minute mark are definitely my favorite part of the song. I love the kind of jazzy atmosphere, with the delay heavy guitar laying down the chord pattern. The songs gets back to heavy(-ish) after that, with the best clean vocals in the song and a really nice keyboard solo (and then guitar) when you’d expect the awkward growl-chorus to come back. I’m glad it doesn’t.
All together, I like this, quite a bit, but the growls are really unnecessary.
And figure what just happened when I wrote this write-up while listening to the song? Yup, dad came in for the laundry.
Jingle-boy: Alpha Rev - Phoenix BurnThis was totally the most poppy song this round, but that’s not a bad thing. From the name of the band and the song, I was expecting something really proggy, but that’s obviously not how it turned out. The main star in this submission are obviously the vocal melodies, the other instruments giving the background for the voice. There’s nothing particularly flashy about any of the instruments that is particularly memorable, but they achieve what they set out to do. The only flaw of this would be that, while the singer is nice, I don’t feel like there’s anything particularly remarkable about his voice. I could see myself dancing and singing along to this at a party though, tipsy and happy.
senecadawg2 : Max Richter - Dona Nobis Pacem 2The only soundtrack song this song. I think you might have remembered getting a perfect score with that Clint Mansell song in my last roulette
. What can I say about it? I loved the atmosphere on my first listen from the start, than got chills as it got louder and even more chills in the climax, even though it’s just a string melody that gets louder and louder at its core (with some stuff enhancing it). Might have been the best song this round up to this point, despite being the shortest one, but then it just… ends. In the middle of the climax. It might have made sense in context with the film, but here it just leaves you hanging, and not in a good way. Still, you get a high score here for all the awesome stuff before that abrupt ending.
Scorpion: Sampo - AmorphisLove the piano intro and the guitars that come in shortly afterwards. Overall the beginning of the songs brings up memories of a time a few years ago when I listened to music in that style almost exclusively, happy times. Then it gets a bit heavier, but it’s still pretty melodic and it becomes a bit sadder than the start, with a more quiet piano part and an awesome solo. At the start of the song I wouldn’t have thought there would be growls in this song, but when they come in they don’t feel awkward at all (not as in a certain other song this round). Overall, I’d say I don’t really listen to this style of music much anymore, but I did enjoy this very much. There’s really nothing I can point my finger on that I disliked, so well done.
Evermind: David Gilmour - Faces Of StoneThis is of course not the first time I hear of David Gilmour, I didn’t know he had a recent solo album out though. The whole song has a bit of a Pink Floyd feel, but with a twist. I don’t think this is folky at all, like you said, but I won’t hold that against the song. It starts out with a very calm piano part that sets the mood nicely, then acoustic guitar, some percussion and some other instruments I can’t quite place. The vocals are nothing spectacular, but they fit the mood of the song nicely.
What this song does best is building up an atmosphere and then subtly changing it with some additional layerings. It’s pretty melancholic, but that’s a good thing in my opinion. What really elevates this from just being a good song to a very good one are the two guitar solos. That guitar sound is just so incredibly tasty, and the solos themselves are really good as well. Nothing flashy, but really working fantastically in the context of the song. Also, I’ve had the second solo stuck in my head for two hours now.
Nekov: Hammock - (Tonight) We Burn Like Stars That Never DieTo be honest, my first impression of this song was very lackluster. Over repeated listens it grew on me quite a bit though. This is definitely the most atmospheric song in this round, even though the instrumentation is actually a lot more complex than I thought it was on first impression. It starts of really dark with a kind of electronic distorted pad sound melody, than a reverb heavy guitar comes in and some very subtle synths are added. What really makes the first 4 minutes of the song are the reverb-laden vocals and especially the chorus melody. Just so happy (actually, maybe “euphoric” might be a better word of how they make me feel, as weird as that is, given the song). The 2 minute outro is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I’ve heard in the last few months. I’m in love with the strings and horns (?) in the end of this song. Overall, fantastic song. It’s not a perfect score, but I think this is the best song for me this round. What makes it so fantastic is that every time I listen to it, my appreciation for it grows, even though it’s pretty simplistic.
Overall you did pretty good, expecially considering some of you had no idea about my tastes. I at least liked every song. Keep up the good work
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