ROUND 4 RESULTSLolzeez: John Coltrane - Resolution
Nice. I start a round based around guitar riffs, and the first thing I get is a pure-jazz song with no guitar whatsoever.
I should call you Trollzeez. Anyways, like I said before, this song is pure jazz. As such, I can't really judge it, since I never really listen to jazz. I've got nothing to really compare it to. Is it a bad song? No. Would I listen to something like this regularly? Probably not. It just doesn't appeal to me. The instrumentation is well-done, sure, but it's practically all solos, which gets boring pretty quickly for me. The only real riff in this song is the beginning sax line which shows up again at the end. I appreciate you trying to introduce me to something new, but there's really not much I can say about this song.
Score: 7.0
?: Fates Warning - Firefly
A song with Kevin Moore followed by a song with Jim Matheos? I see what you did there.
I absolutely love Matheos's style of riffs in OSI, and he does a pretty good job here as well. His riffs are definitely the highlight of the song, so kudos for following the theme of the round well. There's also some catchy vocal melodies and the short instrumental section is pretty nice, but the song as a whole didn't grab me too much. It's still a fun, upbeat metal track though.
Score: 8.0
elefantStone: Buckethead - Final Wars
This one was a bit of a pleasant surprise. For the record, I usually hate instrumental, lead-guitar focused instrumental rock. It just puts me to sleep. But this song was pretty good, simply because the composition is really well-done. The amount of ground it covers and the range of styles it incorporates is pretty awesome. It's got great flow too; all the different sections flow together well and the whole thing ties together pretty nicely. The guitar work is very good, both in terms of the solos and the rhythm guitar. My main complaint with the song is that since it jumps around so much despite being a relatively short song, there's a lot of sections that I wish lasted a bit longer. Still, it's pretty good song.
Score: 8.0
Lucien: Rush - Jacob's Ladder
Rush is a band I've actually heard a lot of songs from. My best friend's a huge fan of them, and I even saw them live during the Time Machine tour. While I've heard the intro to this particular song a ton of times, (my friend was trying to learn how to play it on guitar) I've never actually sat down and listened to it in full, so here we are. While I've probably heard better Rush songs before, (Marathon) this song was still pretty awesome. It's very anthemic and grandiose, with that dramatic and ethereal atmosphere. The contrast between the bombastic parts and the calm, quiet breaks works very well. It also has a great flow, going from tense, to loud, to a break in the middle, followed by a buildup leading to the crescendo at the end. It's just a very nice song to listen to, and feels like a big journey contained in just seven minutes.
Score: 8.5
senecadawg2: Coheed And Cambria - Welcome Home
The acoustic guitar at the beginning sounds like the Tetris theme. 10/10.
Anyways, this song was quite awesome. It's got that grandiose, epic mood, without feeling too cheesy. (Only slightly.) It's also got some really damn catchy riffs, especially in the intro and outro. Speaking of which, the intro and outro of this song are fucking awesome. I can definitely see why they've been used in movie trailers and as sports entrance themes. They're just so kickass. The middle of the song isn't anywhere near as good, but it's not bad. If the whole song were as amazing as the first and last few minutes, this would be one hell of a song, but as it is, it's just relatively awesome. Which is still pretty great.
Score: 8.5
Nekov: Pantera - Domination
There's not much to say about this song other than the fact that the guitarist and the riffs kick serious amounts of ass. The riffs are great, and the guitarist plays them really damn well. I especially like how the intro riff gets modified a little bit multiple times throughout the intro; it's the little stuff like that that really add a lot. Also, dat outro. DAT OUTRO.
It would have been boring if it were just that chugchugchug-chugchugchug-chugchugchug riff over and over again, but they keep it interesting by adding that shred guitar over it, followed by that awesome riff that jumps between the left and right speakers. Extremely headbangable and really kickass. The rest of the song is good, but it's that outro that really elevates the song to great.
Score: 8.5
jingle.boy: Van Halen - Panama
Oh hey, it's 80s hard rock. I don't know if this really counts as "introducing" me to this band, since I've definitely heard of them before, was aware of what style of music they play, and I'm pretty certain I've heard this song on the radio once or twice before. Anyways, one more song for the "doesn't really appeal to me" pile. Yeah, the chorus is kinda catchy and the riffs aren't bad. But this style is pretty far-off from my general music tastes, and I can't say this song made me want to check out other stuff like it.
Score: 7.5
LieLowTheWantedMan: Psychotic Waltz - Out Of Mind
This one was… interesting. It's definitely got a strange atmosphere to it, which is cool; I definitely appreciate weird stuff. It's also got some cool riffs and rhythms. I especially like the slower section in the middle. The riffs in that part are really kickass and the slow tempo is perfect for headbanging. The verses and chorus are definitely the weak part of the song for me; they aren't bad, but there aren't really any positive things I can say about them. I appreciate all the obscure bands you're sending me, so far you haven't sent me a single one I've heard of before.
Score: 8.0
Elite: Firewind - Into The Fire
This is a great example of speed metal done right. It's really fast-paced and energetic, but it's also very melodic and not too fast. The thrashy riffs are pretty damn awesome; the main riff, the one in the verses, and the one at the beginning of the instrumental section are all great. This energy of this song is definitely infectious; it's just incredibly fun to listen to. Throw in a cool intro, awesome solos, and some nice vocal melodies, and you've got a good submission.
Score: 8.5
Scorpion: Trivium - Shogun
I'll be honest, when I first saw these guys opening for Dream Theater in the first ADTOE tour, I thought they were pretty fucking terrible. But I went into this song with an open mind, and hey, it's a damn good song. Unlike pretty much everything I've heard from these guys before, this song is heavy, but also very melodic. There's barely any harsh vocals, any they're used effectively when they do show up. The flow of the song is also really great. The first half of the song is a great mix of cool riffs and nice melodies, the quiet break in the middle is very well done, and the fast, heavy section that comes after it is absolutely kickass. Are there more Trivium songs like this? When I saw them live, they just seemed like a boring, generic metalcore band, but this song… damn. I really, really like it. I can't come up with any complaints about it; it's pretty much everything I look for in a great progressive metal song. Well done, dude.
Score: 9.0
THE SCORE SO FAR-senecadawg2: 35
-Nekov: 33.5
-Elite: 33.5
-elefantStone: 33
-Scorpion: 33
-?: 32.5
-Lolzeez: 31.5
-LieLowTheWantedMan: 31.5
-Lucien: 31
-jingle.boy: 30
ROUND 5: DEPRESSING SHIT (MAKE ME CRY MANLY TEARS)I believe it was Steven Wilson who once said that sad music is the most beautiful. I agree. So send me something I'd play at my funeral if I were suddenly to die in a freak blender accident. The more depressing the better! Be atmospheric, but not too minimalistic. Have fun!