Round 1 first impressions
[Litho – Draconian] 1. This immediately ticks a lot of boxes for me - grand, rich and melancholy.
[Evermind – Avatarium] 2. A lot of the vocal style is something I’m more used to hearing in other genres, and the effect is kind of captivating.
[lonestar – Saiseiga] 3. Engaging and impressive vocals, but perhaps not fully supported by particularly engaging or impressive vocal lines.
[Stadler – Black Sabbath] 4. This submission starts pretty rocking I guess but it’s the last song that sells it, could be one of the best things I’ve heard from this artist.
[Buddy – Obscure Sphinx] 5. This has a really big sound that’s very immersive and right up my alley.
[TAC – Circus of Fools] 6. Well, it’s punchy and epic and the gothic style is vibing well - let’s see how well the melodic hooks settle in with subsequent listens.
[HOF – Caroline's Spine] 7. This was perhaps a little middle-of-the-road, but enjoyable enough and one song seemed like a strong example of the genre.
[Crow – Birds in Row] 8. You’ve gone with a different approach to most, and it starts a little slowly, but once it got going it really hooked me in.
[Vmadera – Once Human] 9. Solid stuff and a very impressive and versatile vocalist, I just wonder if it’ll be enough to stand out among other strong submissions.
[faizoff – Metal Church] 10. Like most bands at the emergence of this genre, the focus on mood and aggression feels at the expense of melody, but the slightly later songs sound more interesting.
[Sacul – Kendrick Lamar] 11. First track was an… interesting choice, but after that it improved immensely and I'm glad my first listen was with earphones.
[luke – Deafheaven] 12. Lush and immersive, I can totally see why you sent me this.
[wolfking – Keep of Kalessin] 13. Punchier and more riff-driven than I might have expected, intense but not overbearing, and hella epic.
[seneca – Mount Eerie] 14. Conceptually weighty… not yet decided on how well the music matches up.
[Puppies – Altar of Plagues] 15. The moody music is good but the production feels like it could be a little flat.
[soupy – Seven Spires] 16. Wasn’t immediately convinced, but this quickly won me over with good hooks and a cool mix of styles.
[Reaper – Moon Tooth] 17. Digging the guitar work and slick overall sound, but not sure if there'll be enough in the way of interesting melodic hooks.
[romdrums – Sermon] 18. I can see the stylistic comparisons to the other artist you mentioned, but this may lack the rich emotionality I find so engaging about them.
[Luoto – Slow Fall] 19. The overall sound is among the least surprising submissions of the round, but there are some nice touches that help it stand out.
[Elite – Panzerballett] 20. Ok so I love the fusion of styles here and some of it is filthy, but it’s also pretty dense and I kind of wish some of the guitars had a bit more punch to compensate.
[King – The Native Howl] 21. Entertaining for sure, but very much the novelty submission of the round.
[jingle – Vandroya] 22. While this sounded pretty straightforward stylistically, it had a warm sound and some great tunes.
[Glasser – The Omega Experiment] 23. There’s a lot to unpack here, but the quirkiness and rich instrumentation remind me of an artist I like.
[nick_z – Lacrimas Profundere] 24. Moody, punchy, good hooks - sounds like a safe but solid start.