Round 1 ResultsStadler – Black Sabbath – PsychophobiaFirst Impressions:I mean, I am familiar with some Sabbath but I’ve never really given them any kind of in-depth listen. And yeah… honestly between the style of the riff and the different singer this barely sounds like anything I’ve ever heard from them. That chorus is really 80’s pop-y, but it’s an interesting change of pace for sure. This is from 1994 apparently though, so, I don’t even know.
There’s that weird contrast going throughout this entire song, where the riffs are rather aggressive & jagged but the chorus is really smooth and kind of atmospheric. It makes for an interesting listen though maybe a bit of a disjointed one as well. It’s alright.
Final Thoughts:Sorry man, I just don’t care for these vocals. That rough-edged hard rock style isn’t something I tend to find much appeal in even in the best songs, and this one kind of lacks emotional depth to it as well. It’s more of a rocker of a song, with the chorus being a bit of breathing room. Maybe it’s trying to sell some emotional depth but I feel like the vocals can’t sell it.
If there’s one part of this I like more than the rest it’s the bridge right after the second chorus, that part is actually pretty fun and rockin’. I. I actually came to a bit of a realization just now. On the earlier verses it’s not really the vocals that are the problem. It’s that jagged 3/4 groove. It just doesn’t work for me. It’s just not something you can sing over really effectively. Each measure gets punctuated by a chord that kills any flow and the vocals can’t really mix in well when the guitar isn’t giving it room to breathe. Man. Okay, that makes my job a lot easier. Now I know exactly why this doesn’t work for me.
For half the song at least. I do genuinely like the rest, aside from that. Like I said the chorus doesn’t have much emotional presence for me but it does at least have a bright atmosphere with the guitar providing some roaring texture. And that bridge is genuinely pretty good, I can dig that groove that the guitar and vocals provide.
The production is a bit muddy but for a 1994 song from a 1970’s hard rock band I don’t know what I was expecting. It doesn’t really get in the way of the song anywhere but it’s still worth noting at the very least. So yeah on the whole I can’t get behind this song due to how awkward its first half ends up feeling but I still like a decent bit of this.
6.5/10Bolsters – Lykke Li – No Rest for the WickedFirst Impressions:I am pretty sure there’s some song of the same name that was used for some movie trailer or something and I was worried that would be this same song but no this is more of a pop song, not that hard rock sound I remember with the similarly-named song. So anyways. She has a loooot of reverb on her voice. That’s the first thing that sticks out here. Especially on the chorus. I’m actually generally not a huge fan of that, drowns out the natural tones of the singer’s voice.
Instrumentally this does atmosphere well enough while still having a driving feel to it. I’m trying to find the right word to describe it and failing but it’d be a good word, if I could remember it. It’s not hitting me too hard right away though but it’s nice enough.
Final Thoughts:A lot of the time I go over my first impressions while doing these write-ups to avoid being repetitive or to tell my past self how wrong they were. I was thinking “man she has a lot of reverb on her voice” and read “she has a loooot of reverb on her voice” at the same time. And yeah. That really genuinely bugs me honestly. I get it. There’s supposed to be a larger-than-life sound to this song. The piano is drenched in reverb too and the production in general feels really spacious. I guess I would prefer that to have been a sound the song natural had instead of having to rely on studio effects to achieve that level of fullness.
It also feels like there’s not enough time between the second and third chorus. It’s a very, very brief bridge and then right back into it, and nothing new happens in the bridge either. It’s just there. Feels pretty pointless.
I don’t really dislike this but that simulated spaciousness is about the only quality this song really has going for it and if it didn’t have that I couldn’t imagine this working well at all. And while it does sound fine enough as is, I don’t really get any emotional punch from this, it’s just, nice.
6.75/10Luoto – Skein – RapierFirst Impressions:From the start this sounds kind of familiar but I can’t really say why, so hopefully that’s not a bad thing haha. This is nice so far but really does feel like it’s taking its sweet time to get somewhere. Over three minutes into a 7 minute song and it hasn’t really hit anything that feels like serious rising action. Okay, there it goes. For a bit. It does feel like this song is a bit too restrained in general, like it never really comes alive.
I dig that the bass is mixed decently high in the mix on this one, unlike a similar song this round, but at the same time I wish it was playing something more interesting than it is. I think this song is supposed to be carried by the strength of the singer? Which he really isn’t that strong of a singer, sounds fine enough and all but is really lacking in power. Maybe he’s why the song feels like it never comes alive. Oh and, random growls right near the end, I guess there’s at least a decent climax to this song at the very least. Sure.
Final Thoughts:You and Evermind sent songs that are really quite similar and I think it negatively impacted both of you because I can’t help but compare the two. I like this vocalist more than on The Mayan Factor, he has a smoother tone to his voice that appeals to me more. Musically though this is definitely weaker. The guitar work is just, the bare minimum, it clearly means for the listener to focus on the vocals but if the vocals aren’t especially strong then that kind of backfires a little.
This song also feels like it moves too slow though. Doesn’t really get any swell until around the 5 minute mark but after that there’s a nice build and climax. And the vocals kind of get overpowered by the music as a result. And the growls at the end are okay. Kind of too short to really judge. Seems similar to the growls in east of the wall though so that’s always a plus.
And I… have absolutely nothing else to say about this one. Again it sounds fine enough but there’s just not much here and if it’s lacking emotional punch this kind of song is always going to fall a little flat for me, unfortunately.
7/10Train of Naught – Batushka - Yekteniya 1First Impressions:Hmm. This chanting vocal style… actually works pretty well with this kind of sound, doesn’t it? Nice. Anyways right away I like how this begins.
The chuggy riff has plenty of groove & the drums play off it well. And the production is, well, the usual for the genre, but I think it’s at the level of quality to not detract from the song in any real way. I think when it gets to the more traditionally black-metal sounding stuff I’m not quite as big a fan of it, but it’s still enjoyable to be sure. I guess if there’s one thing I can say it’s that it feels like the song runs out of new material after about the halfway point. Not necessarily a bad thing if the material it does have on display is good material, but worth commenting on nonetheless.
Final Thoughts:I sort of found this one to lack any real lasting impact on relistens and I’m not sure why. Like, I’ve listened to it as much as any of the other songs this round, but it’s the one I have the most trouble remembering anything about, despite that it should be right up my alley. Sure I recognize it right away when I start listening to it again, but. That memorability is a factor I do look for.
I am kind of having trouble saying much else about this one unfortunately. It’s got solid atmosphere to it. And it’s got a good driving feel to it as well. But it really feels like it doesn’t have much happening. Most of the riffs feel like variations of that first chuggy riff. And it’s not a bad riff but it’s not really one to base an entire song around either.
I feel like this sounds really negative but it’s mostly because I don’t have much else to say. I do like how this sounds, yes. I just don’t find it particularly memorable or unique. Just enjoyable in a non-specific way. Ehh.
7/10Tomislav95 – The Gathering – Broken GlassFirst Impressions:Trip-hop has historically not done so well in my roulettes (see: Sacul throughout half of my first roulette) but we’ll see. I guess it should also be said that I’ve never been hugely a fan of Anneke as a vocalist? She’s alright and she’s generally given good material but I don’t find her voice that distinctive nor especially powerful, but just pretty fine. Okay anyways I guess I should talk about the song itself.
I’m not huge on this at the start but it builds up nicely & has enough of a rock edge to it to appeal to my simple mindedness. And by the climax is it genuinely pretty great. I am not sure what else to say about this? It’s pretty simple but effective for what it is, it’s barely even trip-hop really.
Final Thoughts:I feel like this song takes too long to really get going. The front half is just one long buildup, and while it’s fine to build up to something louder, I don’t really get much from any of the buildup here. Sounds fine enough but there’s no real emotional connection in it for me that this kind of song would really need.
The back half does have a nice payoff to it though, I really enjoy the climax of this song, and there’s a bit right past the halfway mark that’s a pretty nice sign of things to come as well. The peak of the song is very dense and atmospheric though, I get feeling from that guitar work especially & when the rest of the instruments join in to the thick atmosphere right near the end it’s really quite satisfying.
I think, what makes this fail to work better for me is the synth that drives a lot of this song, right from the very start. I don’t really like that sound. That really may be what makes a lot of this not work for me, more than anything else. And yeah Anneke sounds fine here but she doesn’t get to sing over any of the best parts of the song so what even is the point really.
I don’t mind this but ultimately there’s just too much of this song that doesn’t do anything for me and definitely doesn’t make the parts that do work particularly worth it. It’s not bad, certainly, but I don’t think I’d miss it either.
7.25/10Evermind – The Mayan Factor – WarflowerFirst Impressions:This intro feels very much like something Arjen would do, though the acoustic guitar tone is better than how he’d produce it. It feels like the bass is a bit underplayed, when it kicks in, considering there’s not anything heavy going on above it it’s still really quiet which is a shame because it feels like it should be driving some kind of groove here but it can’t. I can’t say I’m particularly impressed by the vocals on this either, at least on first listen. Feels like they’re lacking any kind of power to them and they’re supposed to be the driving element of this kind of song.
I dig all the little things going on during the bridge, even if it means they’re not really changing the core sound of the song dramatically for the bridge. Well until that meter change right after, fair enough then. Yeah, I do think this is pretty solid but also feel I would definitely like this more with a better singer, this guy just doesn’t do it for me. And for the amount of substance it maybe feels a touch too long. But ehh.
Final Thoughts:It takes a bit for that opening guitar bit to pick up some groove but when it does it’s actually a pretty interesting groove. I can tell it’s a constant 16th notes type of thing going on but there’s accentuation on the most important notes and that makes it work better than it would otherwise. Considering that’s one of the more prominent elements of this song too I think it’s important that it works.
I think I figured out what bothers me about the vocals – he really doesn’t enunciate very well. I’d very much expect this guy to not be a native English speaker just from that alone. It’s not a huge dealbreaker for me since I barely care about lyrics at all, and a lot of the vocal melodies he’s working with here are pretty solid.
The bridge is a kind of “neat that they’re doing all these little things but it doesn’t have enough build to it so it just feels like the song staying stagnant” thing going on. I don’t mind listening to it but I wouldn’t miss it either. The meter change bit is a nice diversion it never goes anywhere and they’re back to 4/4 for the chorus making it feel maybe a bit pointless. I don’t know.
I think this song would’ve been improved by being a bit shorter, because really there isn’t a ton going on here. It’s nice for what it is but a 5 minute cut of this would’ve probably won me over more. As it stands though I can’t say I really dislike it, it has positive qualities to it and no real negatives, just that the positives aren’t so strong. Decent, though. Probably not going to remember it after the roulette.
7.25/10twosuitsluke – Lesbian – Poisonous WitchballFirst Impressions:Well that’s certainly a band name. Also can’t find any youtube version except a live version so bandcamp it is. From the start this is… certainly heavy. Hopefully it’ll be something else eventually. Okay there it goes, now it’s kind of math-y. I am okay with math-y. The long instrumental stretch of this kind of makes me think of Keelhaul. The vocals make me think of bad vocals though. I don’t like them.
This is a bit all over the place but it’s pretty diverse about it, both some chuggy and technical riffs alongside some cleaner, atmospheric parts & it definitely keeps this from feeling the least bit dull. While there’s a decent amount of it that I wouldn’t say does a ton for me on first listen I feel like relistens will help it for sure.
Final Thoughts:Maybe that intro could’ve gone on a bit shorter but it’s really honestly not a big deal here. If that riff was a bit more interesting I guess, it wouldn’t be a problem at all. Heck, The Cavern has one riff for like 5 minutes straight but the riff is so good I barely care. So yeah.
The song certainly knows how to keep moving most of the time. That mathy/frantic guitar lead in-between the jagged riffing certainly builds up some intensity though I think it lacks a sense of flow as a result. It feels kind of messy. I like how it sounds but it can be a bit awkward too. And that’s just one thing it does over the span of the next few minutes, it’s basically impossible for me to keep up with this one when typing. But it doesn’t really feel forced in doing so, just that the song keeps flowing whenever it feels like it’s time to move onto something else.
Anyways on the subject of those growls. These guys do have the exact same problem as Keelhaul, they’d be better as an instrumental band, no doubt. I don’t care for the vocals here. They’re drowned out a lot of the time but they’re just not very pleasant to my ears when they’re more audible. A lot of this is instrumental though at the very least.
And I do like how they can have these cleaner, post-rockish sections in the middle of the more intense metal stuff and not have it feel at all out of place. There’s also a good build about two thrids through where they use this cleaner moment to escalate back into some heavier stuff.
And the production on this is… too muddy, definitely. Makes the song feel a bit too sludgy even for me, the riffs lose a bit of their distinctness, the bass feels a bit drowned out, the drums feel a bit too loud.
While on the whole I would say I do enjoy this, I also really feel that there’s just nothing here that sticks out particularly strongly, and I feel the production is partly to blame for that at the very least. It’s a long string of decent metal that doesn’t really do a ton more for me beyond that. Don’t mind it but I wish I liked it more than I do. And again, those vocals… meh.
7.5/10home – Sleep Party People – A Dark God HeartFirst Impressions:This starts out with quite the dreamy & ethereal vibe. And then it brings in some strings for a dense atmosphere… then pulls back to a pizzicato string bit with the vocals even more washed out. It’s like. Uhh. Weird.
The vibe of this song isn’t one I’d say I generally find myself liking and it sounds more like some soundtrack song for a childr- WHOA HEY THERE THAT GOT LOUD –en’s movie, but it’s a good vibe nonetheless. Until they come and destroy it with a steamroller of a climax which is actually, genuinely, really freaking excellent?? I can see exactly why you sent this now given how well Slowdive did on your EP last roulette. Yeah. This is pretty solid stuff.
Final Thoughts:This song is actually kind of creepy, but in a good way. It starts off really gentle and kind of lulls you into a false sense of security but the slurred, seasick vocals provide a sense of unease contrasting with the really pretty piano and atmosphere. The atmosphere it builds on this base gets pretty lush and then pulls back for the very stiff strings in the middle with the vocals again providing that sense of unease.
Or maybe I’m just seeing things. I actually get the feeling this isn’t meant to be creepy at all but it sort of is for me, and I don’t mind that at all. The climax near the end certainly makes me think it isn’t meant to be, at least. That’s just a really triumphant and powerful climax that, yes, feels a bit disconnected from the rest of the song aside from being based on the main melody of the earlier bits. So there’s enough there to tie it together.
Honestly I do wish that climax was a bit longer as it’s easily my favorite part of this song, and as with Kwoon last round the quiet parts are nice but sort of pale in comparison to the big climactic moments. Here though they just go all out with it and that’s great. And the calmer moments are certainly very pretty and good at building suspense, though they’re not as enjoyable as the ending.
Overall this is a pretty fine track – one that definitely makes me want to check out at least a bit more from the artist, but not one that really blows me away, except for about a minute of the song near the end. Still, solid stuff for sure.
7.75/10