Bump Granted
Gorille85 Dir en Grey - VinushkaChalk another band off of the "Really wanted to check out but never really got the opportunity" list. I was very excited when this song showed up, and it certainly did not disappoint. The transitions between soft and heavy are very well-executed, and the riffs just own. The vocalist has a very unique singing voice in the soft parts, and his mix of growls and screams reminds me a lot of SikTh (More in the diversity than anything, though). Extra points for audible bass as well. I'd say my favorite part about this song is the atmosphere. It has a great build up to the fast part, and the abrupt transitions between soft, ethereal bliss and unrelenting brutality keeps the song interesting. Overall, this song is brilliant, and very much deserving of winning the round.
6 points73109 Shinedown - 45I know Alex would kill me if I didn't give this song a fair chance, so I did. The only song I had heard from this band before was Devour. A friend of mine in high school really liked the song, and I kind of viewed it as just another alt-rock song. Consistently, that's about how I feel about this song. The only really extraordinary aspect of this song is the vocals, and there's really only one part (about 15 seconds) that really got my attention. I didn't hate this song. There just wasn't anything particularly memorable about it.
3 pointsClairvoyantCat Rosetta - RenewThis song was pretty interesting. Post-metal tends to be pretty hit-or-miss for me though. The slightly core-like vocals rubbed me the wrong way, but everything else about the song fits nicely within the post-metal niche. The riffs are heavy and dark, and it generally filled me with a feeling of dread and depression. You finally broke your 5 point streak. Unfortunately, it wasn't up to 6.
4 pointsDark Castle A Life Once Lost - Needle ManHeavy heavy heavy. The vocalist kind of reminds me of a slightly more visceral Rob Dukes (Exodus). The opening riff that comes back a few times is pretty mint, and not too djenty. Other than that, I really don't know what else to say about this song. It's a nice, solid metal tune. Not particularly jazzed about it, but it certainly wasn't bad.
3 pointsRavenheart Eternal Tears of Sorrow - Angelheart, RavenheartOh shit. The song that inspired Zander's username (I assume). I was preparing my anus for this one, and it certainly delivered. After the cool, traditional symphonic metal opening, this song turns into something otherworldly. This has to be one of the first symphonic metal bands that doesn't sound cheesy as hell. It's got an unbelievable gothic vibe that adds so much to an already evil sound. The growls are pretty easy to understand. This song fought with Marc's quite a bit for the top spot, but it lost by a pubic hair.
5 pointsYtseBitsySpider Shadrane - Lantern's DanceI really wish the opening motif of this song went on forever, and they expanded it into its own instrumental song. It's a really great bit, and I think they could do a lot more with it. I was kind of upset when it was over. The vocals seem like typical power metal fare, which didn't really fit the tone set with the first part, but they're decent enough. The spoken word section pretty much made nacho cheese rain from a cloud above my head, but the next part was pretty neat. The riff over the plucky (I have no idea what else to call it
) melody was a cool contrast. Overall, this is a pretty cool song, brought down by the intro being far superior to anything else in the song, and the spoken word part.
4 pointsariich Periphery - Icarus LivesWell, coming from a fine djentlemen such as yourself I was sort of expecting you to transition djently from the swing/ska stuff into the djent. The song's pretty straightforward, and the vocals in the chorus are very nice. Of course, I can never listen to a song like this without screaming DJENT DJENT DJENT DJENT DJENT DJENT DJENT DJENT DJENT DJENT DJENT DJENT DJENT DJENT DJENT DJENT DJENT DJENT DJENT DJENT. Either way, I enjoy djent from time to time, so you lucked out with this one.
4 pointszxklho/NocturnalConspiracy/tick/obscure Deftones - Digital BathHere's a band that I heard a lot of hype for, and never really felt like checking out. The chorus is pretty strong. The rest of it is decently listenable, but like a few songs this round, nothing overly memorable.
3 pointsThe Scoreboard:
Ravenheart - 30
Gorille85 - 30
ClairvoyantCat - 29
ariich - 28
YtseBitsySpider - 27
Dark Castle - 26
zxkhlo/NocturnalConspiracy/Tick - 23
73109 - 19
Last round, motherfuckers. In an effort to avoid a tie, I will be grading the next round based on a descending 8 point scale. The top song will get 8, the next 7, etc.