Round 4 ResultsSTADLER-Self Titled"I regret to say this, but I don't know any other way to say it. This EP is incredibly boring."I'm sure you'll be disappointed with this, but I just couldn't connect with this. I wasn't unfamiliar with the Jethro Tull song, and it's a good one. The Neal Morse was quite nice, but everything else just felt....there.
1. The Allman Brothers-Sailn' Cross The Devil's Sea 8.0Cool tune to um..jam to.
2. Jerry Cantrell-Devil By His Side ** 8.0Nice enough song, but it is missing that next level moment.
3. Soundgarden-Searching With My Good Eye Open 7.5Too mid tempo mumbo jumbo. the only really interesting thing in this song was the Hendrix style guitar solo, but Chris Cornell saw fit to blubber all over the first half of it.
4. Mad River-River Of Deceit 7.5Never really been a fan of this song. It's just not my thing. I also find it a bit melodramatic.
5. Jethro Tull-Hymn 43 8.5I totally recognize this. and I have always liked this song a ton. I would've never known it from the title. Great tune.
6. U2-Acrobat 8.0Typical U2. Nice enough.
7. Neal Morse-Momentum 8.5Wow, I really liked this. Very nice surprise and really pleasant.
8.0+(8.0+8.0)+7.5+7.5+8.5+8.0+8.5=64/8=8*2=
16Meets Theme=
1.0Total=17.0-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ARIICH-A Question Of Faith"I was getting concerned because this seemed merely solid, but it did end pretty well."Lucky for you, you got saved by the Theme Bonus. I could clearly follow this, and thought the idea was cool. I loved the effect of the baby crying in the beginning and the lament in the final song. The overall quality of songs really wasn't that great, but this ends quite strong, and you did a great job of picking your double points song.
1. Borealis – Past the Veil 8.0The baby crying is a great way to open the EP. Definitely a solid tune though.
2. Nightingale – Fields of Life 8.0I really loved the beginning of this, but in the end, it's a decent song that never fulfills my expectations at the start. There's some tasty keyboard bits in this.
3. Evergrey – More Than Ever 8.0Another solid and straightforward song. I struggle with Evergrey mainly because of the lack of dynamics in Tom Englund's voice. I find him vocally so boring. The music needs a better voice.
4. Nightingale – Better Safe Than Sorry 7.5Have you ever posted in the Wuss Thread? You could, you know.
5. Borealis – The Ghosts of Innocence** 8.5Now this is more like it. Really epic playing and feel. Outstanding song and you picked the right one for double points.
6. Evergrey – When the Walls Go Down 8.5This is a fantastic way to end the EP. It's emotional and powerful. No coincidence that Englund isn't singing on this.
8.0+8.0+8.0+7.5+(8.5+8.5)+8.5=57/7=8.1f*2=
16.3Meets Theme=
1.0Theme Bonus=1.0Total=18.3--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ELITE-The Desert Road Where My Creation Comes To An End"I was surprised how much I enjoyed this. There a couple of old school gems in there."The Satan tracks were real interesting and quite surprising. I liked the Opeth tracks, but this EP is pretty much half killer/half filler.
1. Opeth - The Devil's Orchard 8.5Honestly, I don't know what to make of Opeth. But this song on its own is really good. No issue with the vocals, and that short guitar solo towards the end rips.
2. Satan - The Devil's Infantry 8.5Old School styled heavy metal. I love this. Takes me back literally 35 years. Great riffs and pace. Cool back and forth solo section.
3. Satan - My Own God 8.0Another cool Satan track. Sold as hell heavy metal.
4. Queens of the Stone Age - My God is the Sun** 7.5This song won't convince me to follow up with them. It doesn't suck or anything, but I just don't find it all that compelling either.
5. Indukti - ...And Who's the God Now!? 8.0The beginning reminds me of Hell Awaits. I'm not sure what to do with this. It's really cool, and long. There's no part where I go Holy Shit! But it's cool nonetheless, and really interesting.
6. Opeth - Demon of the Fall 8.5Gotta go back through the Opeth catalog at some point. This is a strong way to end the EP, especially that outro which is fantastic.
8.5+8.5+8.0+(7.5+7.5)+8.0+8.5=56.5/7=8.07*2=
16.1Meets Theme=
1.0Total=17.1-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sacul-Faith, God, Or Lack Thereof"One song on this came out of nowhere and is amazing. The rest is somewhat..OK."If I had a sixth Theme Bonus, you would've gotten it. Some real interesting to choices as usual to send me, but there's always a hidden gem. Without A Map is spectacular. I LOVE that song and it gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. I thought Seven Devils was really interesting and I liked it a lot.
1. Marketa Irglova - Point Of Creation 8.0This song works great as the EP opener. Creates a great atmosphere.
2. Marketa Irglova - Without A Map 9.5This song is simply amazing. Anyone reading this needs to check this out. Phenomenal track that gave me goosebumps every time I heard it. The vocal is nothing short of perfection. What a wonderful song, and thank you so much for sending this.
3. Florence And The Machine - Seven Devils 8.5This song has an addictive quality to it. It's hard to explain it but it's quite mesmerizing.
4. OM - State Of Non Return 7.0Really interesting instrumental second half, but not nearly good enough to pull it up.
5. Myles Kennedy-The Great Beyond** 8.0This is OK. Not a huge Kennedy guy. He shows some range and the song is pretty decent. I fell like this song doesn't reach it's full potential.
6. Indukti-And Who's The God Now? 8.0The beginning reminds me of Hell Awaits. I'm not sure what to do with this. It's really cool, and long. There's no part where I go Holy Shit! But it's cool nonetheless, and really interesting.
8.0+9.5+8.5+7.0+(8.0+8.0)+8.0=57/7=8.15*2=
16.3Meets Theme=
1.0Total=17.3--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ROMDRUMS-Losing My Religion"One band on this is an absolute complete miss. Everyone should know that I don't like this singer. Perhaps you don't."Rom, I know you don't know me that well, but if you did, you would know that I cannot stand Chris Cornell. The Karnivool was merely OK, though I really liked All I know. The Intersphere proved quite interesting though, and if I followed up on anything from this EP, that would be it.
1. Karnivool-Goliath 8.0Not sure what this song does, really. It's not bad, but just never really grabs me.
2. Karnivool-New Day ** 8.0I find this a bit more interesting than Goliath, but I'm having trouble connecting with this band.
3. The Intersphere-Sleeping God 8.5Ooh, I like this. This is tasty stuff. I've never heard of this band. Great bass and groove in the verses.
4. Karnivool-All I Know 8.5Real nice song, and easily the best Karnivool song on this EP.
5. Temple Of The Dog-Wooden Jesus 8.0This song isn't actually that bad. I liked the moodiness of it, and when Cornell reached high, he stayed in control and stayed low enough for me to get through it.
6. Temple Of The Dog-Your Savior 7.5Can't say I would ever listen to this again. I see how it fits the theme though. The instrumental section keeps it from a 7.0.
7. The Intersphere-The Grand Delusion 8.0Pleasant enough if not unmemorable.
8. The Ocean-The Origin Of God 8.5I liked this, and the outro was a fantastic way to close out the EP. Great placement. I did not care for the harshies, but they weren't to much of them.
8.0+(8.0+8.0)+8.5+8.5+8.0+7.5+8.0+8.5=73/9=8.1*2=
16.2Meets Theme=
1.0Total=17.2--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EVERMIND-Dawn Breaks and Silence Falls"Really cool feel throughout most of this. There's nothing I didn't really like on this, but I'm not sure I loved anything either, save for the first song."This EP starts of really strong, but then kind of fizzles out a bit. The Lee Abraham was amazing. I've never heard of him. I could've taken another 3 or 4 minutes of that. The first Lonely Robot song was cool, and the Headspace, which I let slide, was a great song. I do not care for Damian Wilson, but that song is killer.
1. Lee Abraham - Realization 8.5Damn, so short. i wanted more of that! Such great guitar.
2. Lonely Robot - A Godless Sea 8.5This was excellent. Great guitar and tasty keyboard parts.
3. Headspace - In Hell's Name ** 8.5Really strong song, and while I'm not a huge Wilson fan, this track is a beast.
4. David Gilmour - Red Sky at Night 8.0Thought this was Octavarium for a minute. Really cool and moody piece that really sets the scene.
5. IQ - Fall and Rise 8.0 Really nice song that I'm not quite sure how I feel about. It's certainly good, but I'm not sure if it's exactly my thing.
6. Lonely Robot - God vs. Man 8.0Real solid song, I've never heard of this band but they are quite interesting. This song is good, but doesn't have the strength of A Godless Sea
7. Oh Hiroshima - Aria 8.0Can't say I loved it, but it is an effective way to close the EP. Definitely worth the risk sending a song like this, but this really just missed.
8.5+8.5+(8.5+8.5)+8.0+8.0+8.0+8.0=66/8=8.25*2=
16.5Meets Theme=
1.0Total=17.5