Some of the writeups are kinda short - I’ve just run out of things to say that I haven’t already said. And holy mother of god was this a close one. But enough... on to the results. Song-by-song first.
Why is it that, as organizers, we post the writups first, then the scores? If the three finalists are like me, they'll just scroll to the bottom, and look for the score. Well, I’m back to my dirty tricks. You must read writeups first. Yes, I'm an evil mother-fucker.
Brent:
No Gravity / Can't Dream Anymore
Definitely cheating on with my man-love of Kuntz's vocals at the moment. Double cheat points for sending Italian Power Metal that’s also a little groggy. Gonna check this out, with a couple of other nice guest vocalists - Luppi (Secret Sphere/Vision Divine), Lione (Rhapsody/Vision Divine/Angra), Basile (DGM/Mind Key), and Tiranti (Labyrinth).
Grade - 82%
Wildside / So Far Away
Nothing wrong, but nothing great. Kinda like eating a plain hot dog. Vocally it was nice - some good glammy screams. This song gets the JJ treatment - it would've floated my boat 20 years ago in a big way, but today, it was just so-so.
Grade - 68%
Sigma Project / Analysis
All the feel of The Dance of Eternity, but none of the good parts. It felt like a bunch of leftover bits of writing the band had, so they stitched them altogether and this was the result. Some parts were excellent, but overall it seemed like a hot mess.
Grade - 64%
Mattador / Tired
You got some set of balls to send an accoustic-only track, but man… excellent stuff. You nailed everything I like about a rhythm section-less song - great vibe, writing, lyrics and vocals. Paul… it seems you just weren't sending the right kinds of ballads. As I said, sometimes there's no accounting for tastes (including my own!).
Grade - 80%
Withem / Miracle
Well, this was a helluva last minute change. Not really much to say here that I haven’t said about a bunch of the 80%+ songs throughout this roulette - killer riffs, killer vocals, drums and bass that do more than just keep the beat, keyboards that add a little atmosphere here and there. Everything was right in my wheelhouse, but what really stuck out was the chorus. Song of the round. Good thing I knew The Four Horsemen already, cuz this song slayed it. Seneca’s really gonna kick himself now, as this was a band he ‘checked’ but didn’t use.
Grade - 87%
Jonathan:
Signal / Arms of a Stranger
Kinda fluffy… as if Toby Hitchcock was fronting Work of Art. Solid AOR top to bottom though. Very enjoyable, it was just missing a certain ‘uuumph’.
Grade - 76%
Ænimus / Seven Circles of Hell
Great opening riff, and it carries throughout the song. Every now and then, there's a total Dennis DeYoung vibe from the enunciation - the way he screams/growls - but it's not growlie growls… it's clean growling. Don't know how to explain it. Excellent tune - Top 4 of the round.
Grade - 81%
Odyssey / Amon-Ra
This one was a plodder. Crunchy guitars; couple of nice breaks, and Swano's voice is growing more and more on me. Nothing terribly wrong here, just not quite as good quite most of the others.
Grade - 75%
TNT / Everyone's A Star
Tony's screams were just non-stop. Tons of talent in his voice, but there was no variety in this - he was just belting it out start to finish, and it grated on me after about 30 seconds.
Grade - 66%
Leverage / Rise/Wolf and the Moon
I’m not rating this as two tracks… the intro track just sets the mood/vibe, and my ears were prepared, but my God!!!! The lyrics were cringe-worthy… if not for that, it would've been the clear favourite of the entire finals - musically it was everything I love, and a bag of chips. But man, those lyrics. Any song that uses “mistress” and “temptress” in the very first verse is sending a warning “Beware! Cheese ahead".
Grade - 79%
Kade:
Pink Cream 69 / No Way Out
Second song that rides on Lowdz's coat-tails (Leverage being the first). Great solo, liked the lyrics, and Readmann of course is fantabulous.
Grade - 78%
Malpractice / Symmetry
And on the flip side from the TNT track, the vocal range on this one was way low, with no variety on the other end of the register. Great instrumental section, and solo though. This grade was initially pretty low, but I found more reasons to like it every time I spun it - as I became more accustomed to his voice, and the chorus was a bit of an ear worm.
Grade - 70%
Coldspell / Night Falls
Nice melodic/proggy tune. This one was also a bit of a plodder, off-set by some tremendous vocals, bass lines, and guitar licks.
Grade - 75%
Fullforce / Oblivion
Love Mike Anderson… and this song got better with every listen, and a killer solo section - one of the best in the round.
Grade - 77%
Cans / Beyond the Gates
Nice acoustic start, ripping into some very nice riffs and guitar runs. I usually don't like these kinds of plodders, but this was enjoyable - nice harmonies in the chorus - gave me a Blind Guardian vibe (less the distinctive vocals from Hansi). Great solo, and symphonic outro from it.
Grade - 78%
Adagio / Dominate
Some great parts, some not-so greats. Growls weren't the problem - it was mainly opening segment … it was just too thrashy for my tastes. Fortunately, it didn’t last, or get reprised at all. The riffs were great; vocal melodies (both verses and chorus) were excellent. Tasty little keyboard runs underneath the chorus.
Grade - 78%
Brent hammers it with three songs, but swings and misses with two. Kade gets the nod in the finals for consistency, that’s for sure. For him, it’s a good thing I listened to the tunes one more time this morning, as Symmetry finally started to click. The first few listens, it was my least enjoyed tune. And if not for the TNT track, Jon also was a model of consistency.
As I mentioned, my grading was pretty tough in the finals - most of those high 70s songs would’ve been mid-low 80s in the main competition. You all gave me some solid, SOLID shit here.
Final scores were so close, I had to go to one decimal point 76.8%, 77.8% and 78%.
I'll let you know who got which in a few hours.