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Cyril’s Strawberry Fields
Hey yo let’s run a roulette because I can.
The Victims
1. ariich
2. Buddyhunter1
3. Dacul
4. Elite
5. Evermind
6. Bolsters
7. Nekov
8. Puppies_On_Acid
9. Train of Naught
10. TAC
Useful links:
Rules and Round Structure (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2590806#msg2590806)
Tastes (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2590807#msg2590807)
Roulette Grading Scale (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2590809#msg2590809)
Bonus Themes (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2590810#msg2590810)
Banned List: Part 1 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2590811#msg2590811) - Part 2 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2590812#msg2590812)
Partially Banned List (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2590813#msg2590813)
Artists Banned During the Roulette (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2590814#msg2590814)
Roulette v1 (http://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=44434.0)
Roulette v1.5 (http://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=47943.0)
Roulette v2.5 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=50206)
Roulette v3 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=52411)
Roulette v4 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=53404.0)
My RateYourMusic Page (https://rateyourmusic.com/~CyrilPanda)
Round Results
Round 1: First Impressions (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2592559#msg2592559) - Comparisons (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2593087#msg2593087) - Results: Part 1 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2593279#msg2593279) - Part 2 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2593280#msg2593280)
Round 2: First Impressions (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2593782#msg2593782) - Comparisons (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2594874#msg2594874) - Results: Part 1 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2595203#msg2595203) - Part 2 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2595204#msg2595204)
Round 3: First Impressions (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2595795#msg2595795) - Comparisons (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2596937#msg2596937) - Results: Part 1 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2597400#msg2597400) - Part 2 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2597401#msg2597401) - Extra Result (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2598158#msg2598158) - Even More Extra Result (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2604698#msg2604698)
Round 4: First Impressions (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2597927#msg2597927) - Comparisons (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2598775#msg2598775) - Results: Part 1 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2599187#msg2599187) - Part 2 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2599188#msg2599188)
Round 5: First Impressions (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2599986#msg2599986) - Comparisons (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2600421#msg2600421) - Results: Part 1 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2600638#msg2600638) - Part 2 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2600639#msg2600639)
Round 6: First Impressions (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2602765#msg2602765) - Comparisons (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2603354#msg2603354) - Results: Part 1 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2603765#msg2603765) - Part 2 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2603767#msg2603767)
Round 7: First Impressions (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2604697#msg2604697) - Comparisons (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2605620#msg2605620) - Results: Part 1 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2605900#msg2605900) - Part 2 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2605901#msg2605901)
Round 8: First Impressions (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2606486#msg2606486) - Comparisons (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2607078#msg2607078) - Results: Part 1 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2607327#msg2607327) - Part 2 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2607328#msg2607328)
Round 9: First Impressions (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2608042#msg2608042) - Comparisons (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2609264#msg2609264) - Results: Part 1 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2609689#msg2609689) - Part 2 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2609690#msg2609690)
Final Round: First Impressions (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2612526#msg2612526) - Third Impressions (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2614617#msg2614617) - Comparisons (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2615328#msg2615328)
Final Results:
6th Place (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2615960#msg2615960)
5th Place (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2616052#msg2616052)
4th Place (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2616155#msg2616155)
3rd Place (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2616268#msg2616268)
2nd Place (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2616468#msg2616468)
1st Place (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54377.msg2616469#msg2616469)
Qualified:
1. Bolsters: 32
(https://i.imgur.com/o3BBdpG.png) (https://i.imgur.com/o3BBdpG.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Qualification bonus:
(https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
2. Elite: 31
(https://i.imgur.com/o3BBdpG.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Qualification bonus:
(https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
3. Dacul: 32
(https://i.imgur.com/o3BBdpG.png) (https://i.imgur.com/o3BBdpG.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
4. Evermind: 30
(https://i.imgur.com/o3BBdpG.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
5. Puppies_On_Acid: 30
(https://i.imgur.com/o3BBdpG.png) (https://i.imgur.com/o3BBdpG.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
6. ariich: 30
(https://i.imgur.com/o3BBdpG.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Eliminated:
7. Nekov: 27
(https://i.imgur.com/o3BBdpG.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
8. TAC: 26
(https://i.imgur.com/o3BBdpG.png) (https://i.imgur.com/o3BBdpG.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
9. Buddyhunter1: 26
(https://i.imgur.com/o3BBdpG.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
10. Train of Naught: 25
(https://i.imgur.com/o3BBdpG.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
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Roulette Structure:
10 players max, no prelim rounds. I’m giving preference to, in order:
1. ariich again because he won the last two and I’m just stuck with him now
2. People who have never played in my roulettes before (excluding preliminary rounds)
3. People who did not play in my last roulette (excluding the preliminary round)
4. Everyone else
There will be up to 10 rounds followed by an EP round. There will be eliminations before the EP round, but I’ll explain that when I get to the scoring aspect of the roulette.
Standard Rounds:
One song per round, no strict length limit but please be reasonable. Generally the best-scoring songs sit in the 7 to 10 minute range for me, 15+ minute epics don’t tend to sit as well with me anyways.
EP Round:
Up to 5 songs by at least 3 different artists, with a minimum length of 25 minutes and a maximum length of 45 minutes. Interlude tracks are allowed provided that they do not exceed 3 minutes in length, but they will not be scored or counted as one of the 3 required artists.
Rules:
1. Send songs via PM. Highest preference is Spotify if available, then direct MP3 links, followed by YouTube or any other sharing site as a last resort. For EPs, however, I would prefer direct MP3 downloads to Spotify playlists.
2. The banned list is color-coded for your convenience.
Red means bands I have heard enough from to know I dislike them in general.
Orange means bands I may or may not own music from but don't especially stand out to me.
Teal means bands I have looked into and plan to get an album from, or have an album but haven’t listened to extensively yet.
Yellow means bands I like and own music from but don’t quite love.
Green means one of my favorites.
3. There is no limitation on how many people are allowed to send the same artist in a round. However, if the same song is sent by multiple people, only the first submission will be accepted.
4. I reserve the right to reject any song or artist not on the banlist, most likely because I either know the specific song or the band probably should be on my banlist (which I will update if so). I highly recommend auditing your EP candidates ahead of time. It’s no fun to have your EP ready to go but it turns out one of the artists is banned so you have to redo it.
5. Submissions are due within 48 hours after the last round’s results have been posted, barring any special exceptions for vacations. Songs sent after 48 hours will receive a one strawberry penalty, and are likely to get less listens and thus less time to grow on me as well.
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Tastes:
I feel at this point this section is a little redundant, but I’ll keep it brief:
1. I like music that emotes. More specifically, music that stirs up intense emotions. Could be just really beautiful tunes, or something intense and powerful. But sounding sterile and lifeless and lacking in emotion is the quickest way to bore me.
2. I don’t like stuff that sounds “generic”. The definition of this probably varies, but unless you’re doing a well-established sound especially well, it’s highly likely you won’t catch my interest without some element that makes your music stand out. Generic prog metal, generic black metal, literally anything neo-prog, post-rock, post-metal, or especially power metal tends to bore me as there are so many bands in these genres just recycling other bands’ sounds with absolutely no new twist.
3. Technicality is important but I also don’t like mindless wankery. Animals As Leaders blows. Music that exists to show off blows. Long strings of solos are less interesting than instrumental passages of instruments playing off each other in cool ways.
4. Most importantly, I need some melody. Be it a catchy chorus, a stick guitar hook, some really groovy basslines, whatever, but I don’t want shrill electronic noises or tuneless death/black/sludge metal songs that are either nonstop dissonant noodling or boring sludgy chugging. These elements both have their places as contrast to melodic moments, but they should rarely if ever be the main feature of a song.
I like metal the most, clearly. Pretty much open to most genres of metal, but I don’t really like sludge metal, thrash metal, grindcore, deathcore, or djent, aside from the kind of stuff I already mentioned above. Black metal has been a favorite in recent years as has the more melodic side of technical death metal. I’ve also been on a post-hardcore kick for about a year and a half. And as ever bands with progressive tendencies tend to be my favorite as they more often than not require a lot of the above mentioned elements to be present.
Aside from metal, uuhh, atmospheric pop stuff tends to be my jam, but I can also dig me some good ambient/drone and darker prog rock. You’re free to challenge my tastes if you want but I’ve had plenty of years and plenty of roulettes to really hone in on the kind of stuff I like and at this point any risk you take is your own liability.
EP Guidelines
Just some things to keep in mind that make a good EP:
1. Flow – abrupt cuts or awkward transitions between songs takes me out of the experience and makes your EP sound less like a curated work and more like just a random Spotify playlist.
2. Cohesiveness – I don’t think putting Sigur Ros and Deathspell Omega on the same EP is going to work very well, is all I’m saying. It’s possible to go too far with this, however, thus…
3. Variety – The more each individual song stands out from the rest, the more interesting each song is, the more likely the EP is to do well. Again, it has to be kept cohesive enough to still work but having three songs doing the same thing is probably going to be at the expense of at least one of those songs losing my interest.
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Roulette Grading Scale:
Maybe you’re wondering why this roulette is called Strawberry Fields? It’s because I’m awarding strawberries as the scoring mechanism for this roulette!
Each song will be scored out of 5 strawberries. Any artist that receives 3 or more strawberries will be banned. I’ve also listed roughly what each # of strawberries would map to on a 0 to 10 scale, just for reference. You can’t get negative strawberries.
(https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png): Does nothing for me. Completely average or worse. (0 to 5)
(https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png): It’s okay but I can’t imagine myself revisiting it. (5 to 6)
(https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png): Decent but doesn’t really excite me. (6 to 7)
(https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png): Pretty good, might check out this album, might not. (7 to 8)
(https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png): Quite good, I’ll definitely check out this album. (8 to 9)
(https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png): I love this, please send more like it. (9 to 10)
As well, the round winner will receive a bonus golden strawberry! (https://i.imgur.com/o3BBdpG.png)
It’s worth two strawberries, and it looks shinier too! And it might be poisonous.
The goal of the standard rounds is to amass 30 strawberries. When at least 5 players have received 30 or more strawberries, the roulette will move to the final round and everyone else will be eliminated.
There is a pool of 40 strawberries awarded for bonus themes (see below). I will detail how the bonus theme system works in that section.
The earlier you reach 30 strawberries, the better, as two bonus strawberries for the final round are awarded based on how many rounds early that 30 strawberries are reached. For example, if one reaches 30 strawberries one round before the finals, two will be awarded towards the final round. If one reaches 30 strawberries two rounds before the finals, four will be awarded towards the final round. If one reaches 30 strawberries right before the finals, no bonus strawberries will be awarded.
If 10 rounds pass and the 5 slots have not been filled, the highest-scoring remaining players below 30 will be pulled into the finals. 2 additional strawberries will be awarded to all qualifying players based on half (rounded down) the # of strawberries below 30 that the lowest scoring player in the final has. (For example, 23 strawberries would award qualifying players 3 bonus strawberries, 26 would award 2, etc.) Note that any player who does not qualify will not receive these bonus strawberries, regardless of how close they are to 30.
Scores will be reset (aside from the aforementioned bonus strawberries) before the final round, in which up to 30 strawberries can be earned – 5 for each song sent, and 5 extra strawberries for the overall EP score. Do note that this means that you are free to send EPs with less than 5 songs, but you will automatically lose 5 strawberries per song not sent. If you feel you have four 5/5 songs and a 5/5 flow, with no room to add another song, feel free to give it a shot at your own risk.
In the result of a tie after the EP round, the tiebreaker will be the highest-ranking song across all tied EPs.
Yes, all the graphics are shamelessly stolen from Celeste.
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Bonus Themes:
Bonus Themes have strawberry rewards – same as above, normal strawberries worth 1 each, golden strawberries worth 2 for the themes I feel are particularly tricky to do well with. I will judge whether or not a song appropriately fits the bonus theme. Multiple players can try for the same bonus in the same round, but only the highest-ranking song will receive the bonus strawberry.
Bonus themes are a combination of a specific requirement and a genre. The bonus spreadsheet, as well as the remaining available themes, are below:
(https://i.imgur.com/niISCU5.png)
Bonus themes are not available in the final round.
To meet a bonus theme, your submission need not necessarily be just one genre - for example, a progressive black metal song would still qualify for either of those categories, and a jazzy pop song would qualify for both of those. In particular I honestly am not big on jazz by itself but I love when the genre is blended into rock & metal quite a lot.
Bonus themes must be explicitly requested in the submission PM, otherwise your submission will not go towards a theme.
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Banned List:
NOTE: I cannot promise the thoroughness of this list and I will attempt to update it with any artists I missed. There’s a lot I missed and I know that for a fact.
If you want to ask about one of the orange bands, feel free to. I may allow submissions from them if I don’t already know the song. Any other color is 100% off-limits, either I know them well enough to have a strongly formed opinion or I outright have all their albums already.
Also, I recommend checking my RateYourMusic collection (https://rateyourmusic.com/~CyrilPanda). Any artist I've rated 2 or more albums from is banned.
Absu
Actor | Observer
Admiron
Adrift
Aenaon
Aethereus
Agalloch
Aghora
Akhlys
Alcest
Algiers
Alice in Chains
Alkaloid
Alrakis
Altar of Perversion
Altar of Plagues
Amadeus Awad
Amendfoil
Amenra
Amorphis
Amplifier
Amy Shark
An Abstract Illusion
An Isolated Mind
Anaal Nathrakh
Anathema
Ancestors
Anciients
Angra
Animals As Leaders
Antemasque
Aquilus
Arcane Roots
Arcturus
Arms and Sleepers
Arjen Lucassen
Art by Numbers
Artificial Language
Aseitas
Ashbringer
Astronoid
At the Drive-In
Athiest
AtomA
Augury
Auriga
Avantasia
Avenged Sevenfold
AVER
Aviator
Ayreon
Balance and Composure
Baroness
Barren Earth
Bastille
Being
Ben Levin Group
Bent Knee
Bergraven
Better Oblivion Community Center
Between the Buried and Me
Beyond Creation
Beyond the Bridge
Billie Eilish
Big Big Train
Bing Satellites
Black Crown Initiate
Black Peaks
Black Sabbath
Black Sun Moon
Blindead
Blotted Science
Blut Aus Nord
Blink-182
Bodies of Water
Brain Tentacles
Brand New
Bruce Springsteen
Burial in the Sky
Burst
Burzum
Caladan Brood
Caligula’s Horse
Callisto
Canvas Solaris
Capstan
Carach Angren
Casualties of Cool
Chaos Divine
Ché Aimee Dorval
Chelsea Wolfe
Chimp Spanner
Chiodos
CHON
CHVRCHES
Cleric
Closure in Moscow
Cloudkicker
Cobalt
Coheed & Cambria
Coldplay
Conjurer
Converge
Cormorant
Corrupt Moral Altar
Counter-World Experience
Crippled Black Phoenix
Crisis
Crone
Cryptodira
Cult of Luna
Cursive
Cynic
Daisyhead
Dance Gavin Dance
Daughter
Daughters
David Bowie
David Maxim Micic
Day Without Dawn
De Lirium's Order
Deafheaven
Death Cab for Cutie
Deathspell Omega
Deep Purple
Deftones
Departures
Der Weg einer Freiheit
Destrage
Destiny Potato
Devil Sold His Soul
Devin Townsend
Diablo Swing Orchestra
Dir En Grey
Dire Straits
Disillusion
Dissona
Dodecahedron
Dødheimsgard
Dog Fasion Disco
Don Caballero
Dordeduh
Dragonforce
Dreadnought
Dream the Electric Sleep
Dream Theater
Dreamgrave
Dunkelnacht
Dvne
Dysrhythmia
Earth
Earthside
East of the Wall
Edge of Sanity
Eidola
Eight Bells
El Drugstore
Elder
Electro Quarterstaff
Ellende
Eluvium
Eneferens
Enslaved
Epectase
Ephel Duath
Equipoise
Eryn Non Dae.
Esben & the Witch
Essence of Datum
Even the Trees
Ex Eye
Exist
Existem
Exivious
Exotic Animal Petting Zoo
Explosions in the Sky
Extremities
Faith No More
Fallujah
Fates Warning
Fen
Flaming Row
Flying Colors
Foals
Foo Fighters
A Forest of Stars
Foscor
Foxy Shazam
Fragile Edge
Fredrik Thordendal's Special Defects
Frost*
fun.
Future Corpse
Gabriel Kahane
Gaerea
GEoRGiA
Genesis
Giant Squid
Ghost
Glassing
Glassjaw
Goddess of Fate
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Gojira
Good Tiger
Gordian Knot
Gorguts
Grace Cathedral Park
Graviton
Great Leap Skyward
Green Carnation
Gregor Samsa
Gregory Alan Isakov
Grimheart
Guilt Machine
Gunship
Hacride
Haken
Hail Spirit Noir
Hamferð
Hammock
Hannes Grossmann
He Is Legend
Headspace
Helrunar
Hope Drone
Huntsmen
Husbandry
Hyperomm
Hypno5e
iamthemorning
Icarus the Owl
Ihsahn
Illyria
Imperial Triumphant
Imperium Dekadenz
In the Presence of Wolves
In the Woods…
In Vain
Indukti
Ingurgitating Oblivion
Insect Ark
Insomnium
Inter Arma
Intervals
Intronaut
IQ
Iron Maiden
Irepress
Irreversible Mechanism
Isis
Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik
Jane's Addiction
Jethro Tull
Jesu
John Zorn
Joliette
Jolly
Jónsi
Journal
Judas Priest
Julia Holter
Junius
Jute Gyte
Kaddisfly
Kamelot
Karnivool
Kardashev
Kauan
Kayo Dot
Keelhaul
Keep of Kalessin
Khariot
Khemmis
Khonsu
Killer Be Killed
Kingcrow
King Crimson
King Goat
King Woman
KONGOS
Kora Winter
Krallice
Judas Priest
L'Acephale
La Dispute
Lacuna Coil
Lantlôs
Last Chance to Reason
Laster
Le Grand Guignol
Leprous
Lesoir
Letters From the Colony
Levin Minnemann Rudess
Lluvia
Lo!
Lorde
Loscil
Ludovico Einaudi
Lumnos
M83
Machine Head
Mandroid Echostar
Mare Cognitum
Mastodon
maudlin of the Well
Megadeth
Megosh
Menace Ruine
Merzbow
Meshuggah
Messa
Metallica
Mew
mewithoutYou
Midnight Odyssey
Minsk
Mithras
Modest Mouse
Mogwai
Moon Safari
Moonsorrow
Mono
Monolithe
Monotheist
Morbus Chron
Mord’A’Stigmata
More of the Same Old Days
Morrow
Motörhead
Mouth of the Architect
Mr. Bungle
múm
Muse
My Chemical Romance
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(Banned List Continued)
Nadja
Native Construct
Ne Obliviscaris
Need
Negură Bunget
Nerve End
Neurosis
Neutral Milk Hotel
Night Verses
Nightwish
Nine Inch Nails
Nirvana
Nokturnal Mortum
Nothing More
A Novelist
Novembre
NUVO
NY in 64
Oak Pantheon
Obscura
Obscure Sphinx
Obsidian Kingdom
Obsidian Tide
Oceans of Slumber
Oceansize
Odd Palace
Oddland
Ólafur Arnalds
Old Man Gloom
Opeth
opul
Oranssi Pazuzu
Orphaned Land
OSI
Our Ceasing Voice
OWEL
Paara
Pain of Salvation
Panegyrist
Panopticon
Pantera
Panzerballett
Parius
Paulson
Pelican
Perihelion Ship
Periphery
Persefone
Phi
Piah Mater
Pijn
Pink Floyd
Planning for Burial
Phoebe Bridgers
The Physics House Band
Poly-Math
Porcupine Tree
Portal
Primordial
Progenie Terrestre Pura
Protest the Hero
Psion
Pyramids
Quandary
Queen
Queensryche
Radiohead
Rage Against the Machine
Raiju
Red Sparowes
Redemption
Revocation
Richard Henshall
Rishloo
Riverside
Rolo Tomassi
Rosetta
Rosk
Royal Coda
Rush
Russian Circles
Saor
Sacrificed Alliance
Scale the Summit
Schammasch
Schizoid Lloyd
Sedna
Serdce
Seventh Wonder
Shade Empire
Shining
Sia
SIAMES
Sigh
Sigur Rós
SikTh
Silversun Pickups
Skyharbor
Slash
Slayer
Sleep Party People
Sleepers Awake
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Slice the Cake
Slint
Slipknot
Slugdge
smallman
Smashing Pumpkins
Snakefeast
So Hideous
Soen
Soilwork
Soldat Hans
Solefald
Sólstafir
Somn
Sonata Arctica
Soundgarden
Sparrows
Speaking to Stones
Spectral Lore
Spires
Spirit Adrift
Spock’s Beard
St. Vincent
Star One
State Faults
Stellardrone
Steven Wilson
Storm Corrosion
Stortregn
Structural Disorder
Subterranean Masquerade
Sufjan Stevens
Sunless Dawn
Sunpocrisy
Suspyre
Symphony X
System of a Down
Taylor Swift
Tengil
Teramobil
TesseracT
Tetrafusion
Textures
Thank You Scientist
The Angelic Process
The Antlers
The Beast of Nod
The Beatles
The Clearing Path
The Contortionist
The Dear Hunter
The Dillinger Escape Plan
The Earth and I
The End
The Faceless
The Fall of Troy
The Flight of Sleipnir
The Gentle Storm
The Great Old Ones
The Hirsch Effekt
The Human Abstract
The Mars Volta
The Number Twelve Looks Like You
The Ocean
The Odious
The Ongoing Concept
The Postman Syndrome
The Protomen
The Receiving End of Sirens
The Reign of Kindo
The Reticent
The Ruins of Beverast
The Sword
The Thirteenth Sun
The World is Quiet Here
This Will Destroy You
Thomas Giles
Thoughts Factory
Thrice
Thumpermonkey
Thy Catafalque
Toehider
Tool
Toothgrinder
Toska
Transatlantic
Turbid North
Twelve Foot Ninja
Twilight of the Gods
Ulsect
Ultar
Ulver
Uneven Structure
Unexpect
Usurpress
Valence
Vanden Plas
Vangough
Vattnet Viskar
Vektor
Venenum
Vennart
Virgil Donati
Voices
Voivod
VOLA
Voyager
Waldgeflüster
Warforged
Waste of Space Orchestra
We Never Learned to Live
Wheel
White Walls
White Ward
Widek
Wilderun
Wills Dissolve
Wishbone Ash
Wolves in the Throne Room
Wrvth
WuW
Xanthochroid
Yakuza
Yes
Yndi Halda
Zeal and Ardor
Zinnschauer
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Partially Banned List
Only familiar with one album from these artists, have listed such. Feel free to send anything not from the listed album for these artists, but be warned that these are all acts I haven’t particularly been into in the past.
65daysofstatic (One Time For All Time)
A Flourishing Scourge (As Beauty Fades Away)
A F***ing Elephant (Dope Soaked and Wow)
A Perfect Circle (Thirteenth Step)
Abigail Williams (Becoming)
Acke Hallgren (Fragile)
Adrift for Days (A Sleepless Grey)
Aeon Zen (Inveritas)
Aephanemer (Prokopton)
Agent Fresco (Destrier)
Airbag (Disconnected)
Alter Bridge (Blackbird)
American Football (S/T 1999)
Anabasis (Of Conviction)
Anata (The Conductor’s Departure)
Anomalie (Visions)
Arcade Fire (Funeral)
Arcane (Known/Learned)
Arena (Contagion)
Ars Magna Umbrae (Lunar Ascension)
Asunojokei (Awakening)
Be'lakor (Stone’s Reach)
Belzebubs (Pantheon of the Nighside Gods)
Ben Folds (Whatever and Ever Amen)
Biffy Clyro (Puzzle)
Bill Callahan (Apocalypse)
Body Thief (Travel Glow)
Bon Iver (Bon Iver)
Borealis (The Offering)
Breaking Orbit (The Time Traveller)
Broods (Evergreen)
Cave In (Jupiter)
Cereus (Dystonia)
Chaos Echoes (Mouvement)
Chthonic (Bu-Tik)
Children of Nova (The Complexity of Light)
Cigarettes After Sex (Cigarettes After Sex)
Circles (The Last One)
Circus Maximus (Nine)
Codes in the Clouds (As the Spirit Wanes)
Cønstantine (Esthesia)
Damien Rice (9)
Deadspace (Dirge)
Dødsfall (Døden skal ikke vente)
dredg (El Cielo)
Embrace of Disharmony (De Rervm Natvra)
Ensiferum (From Afar)
Fishmans (Long Season)
Forgotten Winter (Origem Da Inexistencia)
Fractal Cypher (Prelude to an Impending Outcome)
Freighter (The Den)
Gazpacho (Demon)
Ghost Bath (Starmourner)
Glen Hansard (Rhythm and Repose)
God is an Astronaut ("All Is Violent, All Is Bright")
Goldfrapp (Tales of Us)
Gorod (Æthra)
Gotye (Making Mirrors)
Hath (Of Rot and Ruin)
Have a Nice Life (Deathconsciousness)
Horrendous (Idol)
Ilúvatar (S/T)
Jakob (Solace)
Jason Isbell (The Nashville Sound)
Julien Baker (Turn Out The Lights)
Kaleikr (Heart of Lead)
Kensington (Control)
Khors (Beyond the Bestial)
Kimbra (Vows)
Kontinuum (No Need to Reason)
Kvelertak (S/T)
Kwoon (When the Flowers Were Singing)
Kyuss (Welcome to Sky Valley)
Lice (Woe Betide You)
Lord Huron (Strange Trails)
Low Roar (S/T)
Maladie (...Of Harm and Salvation...)
Manchester Orchestra (Simple Math)
Marillion (Narbles)
Marketa Irglova (Muna)
Maybeshewill (I Was Here for a Moment, Then I Was Gone)
Mesarthim - Ghost Condensate
Moonloop (Devocean)
My Morning Jacket (It Still Moves)
Nailed to Obscurity (Black Frost)
Norma Jean (Wrongdoers)
Nostoc (Ævum)
Oathbreaker (Rheia)
Observ (Acherontia Atropose)
Ola Englund (Master of the Universe)
Omnium Gatherum (Beyond)
One I Cinema (One I Cinema)
Ordos (House of the Dead)
Pallbearer (Heartless)
Patrick Watson (Wooden Arms)
Premiata Forneria Marconi (Storia di un minuto)
Psycroptic (As the Kingdom Drowns)
Pure Reason Revolution (The Dark Third)
Purity Ring (Another Eternity)
Pyrrhon (What Passes For Survival)
Respire (Dénouement)
Rodrigo y Gabriela (11:11)
Royal Blood (S/T)
Rx Bandits (...And the Battle Begun)
*Shels (Sea of the Dying Dhow)
Slowdive (Souvlaki)
Soup (Duun)
Sulphur Aeon (The Scythe of Cosmic Chaos)
Susanne Sundfør (The Silicone Veil)
Swallow the Sun (Songs From the North)
Tanagra (Meridiem)
Tangled Thoughts of Leaving (No Tether)
Tegan and Sara (Love You to Death)
The Cure (Disintegration)
The Drowned God (I'll Always Be the Same )
The Old Dead Tree (The Water Fields)
The Pineapple Thief (Variations on a Dream)
The Swell Season (S/T)
This Day & Age (The Bell and the Hammer)
Thormesis (The Sixth)
Three (The End is Begun)
Thy Light (Suici.De.Pression)
Todtgelichter (Angst)
Tori Amos (Little Earthquakes)
Tripsitter (The Other Side of Sadness)
Ulcerate (Shrines of Paralysis)
Unwound (Leaves Turn Inside You)
uSSSy (Voyage)
Votum (:KTONIK:)
Vuvr (Pilgrimage)
WAIT (We Are in Transit)
(Waning) (Still Hours)
Wardruna (Runaljod – Ragnarok)
Watain (Trident Wolf Eclipse)
We Made God (It's Getting Colder)
Whispered (Metsutan: Songs of the Void)
Windir (Arntor)
Winterfylleth (The Divination of Antiquity)
Woods of Desolation (Torn Beyond Reason)
Woods of Ypres (Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light)
Zu (Carboniferous)
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Artists Banned During the Roulette:
Round 1:
Bear Ghost
All Hail The Silence
Behemoth
Susanne Sundfor
Psychonaut
Lana del Rey
Embraced
Round 2:
Oh Hiroshima
Look to Windward
Dredg
Carly Rae Jepsen
Arkentype
Round 3:
Scarlet Stories
Gorillaz
Glass Beach
Maraton
Karas
Wintersun
A.A. Williams
Round 4:
Eisley
Winterhorde
As Tall as Lions
Darkspace
Type O Negative
Lost Domain
Scar Symmetry
Round 5:
Soulsplitter
Son of Aurelius
Sleep Token
Jambinai
MS MR
Mutemath
Nechochwen
Round 6:
White Moth Black Butterfly
Aenimus
Gallowbraid
Ark
Anna Von Hausswolff
Eastern High
Round 7:
Anamanaguchi
Kaunis Kuolematon
Mree
Evan Carson
Vinsta
Round 8:
Hopesfall
Ørkenkjøtt
Emma Louise
Everything Everything
Round 9:
Glen Hansard
Blueneck
Witherscape
Dark Empire
Bend Sinister
Abigail Williams
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I'm in :metal
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in
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This sounds awesome and I'm ready to get kicked out right away again
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I spent the entire duration (and then some) of my time updating my banned list listening to my concept album for ariich again.
Hell yeah.
Also I'm color-coding participants for the moment based on the rules in the second post, in case you're wondering. I really do not feel like having a prelim round.
Also since I didn't call it out before - you are free to join until 6 PM PST on Friday (October 18th). Anyone who has signed up in-thread but hasn't sent me a song by that point will be removed from the playerlist.
@Katt - no eliminations until the EP round, and technically that's more a "qualification" than elimination :P
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I suppose I should read the rules :corn
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I should too. I'm off to a great start already :facepalm: :lol
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Also I'm color-coding participants for the moment based on the rules in the second post, in case you're wondering. I really do not feel like having a prelim round.
Based on this, Congrats Again Ariich! I guess we can end this roulette here :neverusethis:
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I will take one for the team and sign up so others don’t have to, don’t have to thank me!
EDIT: fuck Lo! is still banned, I can’t believe you don’t like them :(
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Congrats ariich!
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I think I may go exclusively for the Golden Strawberry bonus themes. :corn
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i genuinely do not recommend it, honestly. they're all things that i am on record of not really liking :P
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Ok, I may go for 1 of the golden strawberry bonus themes :lol
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I averaged a 3rd place finish in the two roulettes, but I suppose I’m grouped as “Everyone Else”.
Im in if there are spots efts after the affirmative action candidates are accepted.
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the earlier you sign up the more likely you'll get in, basically, since i'm ordering based on sign-up time :P
if it turns out that there's like, 11 or 12 people who want in i may just say screw it and let them all in, anyways. more than that i don't think i can handle.
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1. ariich again because he won the last two and I’m just stuck with him now
...
Green means one of my favorites.
Awwwww. :hug:
In it to (inexplicably scrape by and again undeservedly) win it.
:metal
With the bonus strawberries, just to check my understanding is right - if you're the only person to send that theme in any given round, you get the strawberries regardless of the score you get. So if, say, I sent some 1940s jazz that you hated, I'd get no points for the main score but a bonus golden strawberry?
I'm not planning to send you 1940s jazz btw
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I might. I can't remember who it was but I sent them Sing Sing Sing by Benny Goodman not too long ago :lol Okay so that's 1930s swing... whatever.
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That banlist is too THICC 4 me
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With the bonus strawberries, just to check my understanding is right - if you're the only person to send that theme in any given round, you get the strawberries regardless of the score you get. So if, say, I sent some 1940s jazz that you hated, I'd get no points for the main score but a bonus golden strawberry?
I'm not planning to send you 1940s jazz btw
yes, this is right, and thanks
That banlist is too THICC 4 me
man i'd be genuinely surprised if you had nothing to send me :'(
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I like strawberries. Give me some!
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That yellow font is killing me.
-
That yellow font is killing me.
Change your forum theme :biggrin:
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I use the deep blue theme or whatever it's called. Easiest on my eyes.
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DTFApollo is the only valid theme
purple
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Can a bonus theme only be awarded once in the roulette?
And will I get the strawberry regardless of how well the song scores?
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I use the deep blue theme or whatever it's called. Easiest on my eyes.
Beneath the Surface? That's what I use, it's still the best one.
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Can a bonus theme only be awarded once in the roulette?
And will I get the strawberry regardless of how well the song scores?
With the bonus strawberries, just to check my understanding is right - if you're the only person to send that theme in any given round, you get the strawberries regardless of the score you get. So if, say, I sent some 1940s jazz that you hated, I'd get no points for the main score but a bonus golden strawberry?
I'm not planning to send you 1940s jazz btw
yes, this is right, and thanks
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Can a bonus theme only be awarded once in the roulette?
And will I get the strawberry regardless of how well the song scores?
yes, then no - see what ariich posted
i will be removing the bonuses from the sheet i posted as they're used up too
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I use the deep blue theme or whatever it's called. Easiest on my eyes.
Beneath the Surface? That's what I use, it's still the best one.
Nah, the Knight Rider theme is clearly the best. Or the Yahoo Geocities theme :rollin
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Can a bonus theme only be awarded once in the roulette?
And will I get the strawberry regardless of how well the song scores?
yes, then no - see what ariich posted
i will be removing the bonuses from the sheet i posted as they're used up too
I didn't check all the replies in the thread yet, I'm sorry.
I have read the rules and try to send nice stuff most people would hate
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I use the deep blue theme or whatever it's called. Easiest on my eyes.
Beneath the Surface? That's what I use, it's still the best one.
That's the one. My man :hifive:
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Oh yeah, I use that theme too
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I totally intended to skip this but I mean, strawberries.
How about you sign me up and we'll see what I can come up with? I think I haven't played in your last one, too.
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also one comment - i feel 40 is a reasonable goal to reach but also if we get like halfway through and nobody is even remotely close to that number i might bump it down to 30. i might maybe try running some simulations to see how reasonable 40 is.
anyways hell yeah evermind is in
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hell yeah I'll do some brainstorming tomorrow for 425's EP and for your roulette and will send something
For me the reasonable goal is like 10 strawberries.
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also one comment - i feel 40 is a reasonable goal to reach but also if we get like halfway through and nobody is even remotely close to that number i might bump it down to 30. i might maybe try running some simulations to see how reasonable 40 is.
That's an average of 4 strawberries over 10 rounds. 30 is way more appropriate.
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TAC's just saying that 'cause he's fruitier than the rest of us already. :lol
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I'm two places from being bumped. I'm going to be eliminated before the first round.
I probably don't have to spend the rest of the night making a band list for this...
TAC's just saying that 'cause he's fruitier than the rest of us already. :lol
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51wJvEgVEdL._SX355_.jpg)
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OMG. I'm so calling you Lotso from now on!! :rollin
Actually, that facial expression is more shmeg than TAC! :lol
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Actually, that facial expression is more shmeg than TAC! :lol
No question. Kingshmegland is the DTF Lotso for sure.
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also one comment - i feel 40 is a reasonable goal to reach but also if we get like halfway through and nobody is even remotely close to that number i might bump it down to 30. i might maybe try running some simulations to see how reasonable 40 is.
That's an average of 4 strawberries over 10 rounds. 30 is way more appropriate.
yeah but averaging 3 strawberries per round + 1-2 bonus theme berries + 2 round winner berries it can add up faster than you think. it's possible to get up to 9 berries in one round!
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So can I send? :corn
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sure! send for round 1 whenever
if we do go over 10-12 i'll just not listen to the songs from the people who get kicked out :P
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Yeah, I think I'll just wait...
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Sent something evil.
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oh and i forgot to call it out originally but bonus themes need to be requested in the submission PM, otherwise I won't put your song towards a theme.
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I didn't play in you last roulette. But I'm not sure I have enough stuff to send. Give me some time to check and I'll tell you further.
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y'all have more than you think you do, i promise. half my banned list is obscure extreme metal artists who have one or two albums out :lol
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That banlist is too THICC 4 me
man i'd be genuinely surprised if you had nothing to send me :'(
TBH just listen to the new King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard album and send me some strawberries in the mail
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join the roulette and send me a song off it then
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so i ran some simulations like i said i would.
using a normalized distribution curve:
0: 5
1: 10
2: 20
3: 35
4: 20
5: 10
assigning the round winner berries randomly in an instance of a tie
assigning all the bonus berries randomly
the results are in;
(https://i.imgur.com/IREMf8a.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/eOSfhlC.png)
(might have to enlarge the images to see the numbers lol)
yeeeaaahh even the best scorers are barely scraping 40 here, so that seems a bit high. 30 is fine anyways since i don't necessarily want to have all 10 rounds if i don't have to, that's just the upper bound. i may adjust the EP round bonuses accordingly to account for this? i don't see the roulette going the full 10 rounds if i use 30 berries just based on the sims but 35 is an ugly number and 40 is too high so 30 is fine. then 2 bonus berries for every round ahead of the final round that early scorers make it in.
with 30 berries it's technically possible to qualify for the finals in 4 rounds but that's, again, exceedingly unlikely and if you score 4-5 points every round, win 3 or 4 rounds in a row, and get 6-8 bonus points in 4 rounds (which is to say, going with risky themes), you probably deserve to win anyways :lol
edit: updated. I also added some further details in the rules & a tiebreaker criteria for the EP round
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I don't know what Post Hardcore and Post Metal are. :lol
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Sent a risky song :corn
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Also since I didn't call it out before - you are free to join until 6 PM PST on Friday (October 18th). Anyone who has signed up in-thread but hasn't sent me a song by that point will be removed from the playerlist.
Let me know if/when my spot is safe, and I will send.
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i mean right now we only have 7 players, so :P
i'm gonna send out some invite PMs tomorrow night probably, i think i said songs are due by Friday 6 PM but i'll close signups at that time and give y'all another day after to send, if needed
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If I can't get anyone better than you to play, then sure, send me a song.
Cool! :tup
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Alright fuck it I'll join. I probably can scrounge up enough stuff that you might enjoy until I get eliminated :)
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good, good :corn
this roulette could be as short as like 6-7 rounds then a 5-song max EP so you really don't need to have a huge huge list of artists you want to send
do review the EP rules before even thinking about preparing anything btw i'm using a stricter format just because 1. in my experience it makes better EPs anyways 2. keeps scoring consistent
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Sent for round one.
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I might as well join this if it's not too late or you haven't gotten too many people already (I can't be bothered reading the thread again).
Good idea making a blank image the same size as your strawberry image for formatting, wish I'd thought of that myself.
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Would "female-fronted" count if it's a guest vocalist?
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If there are a notable amount of female vocals I'll allow it
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Sent for Round 1.
Haven't gone for bonus points for this round. Might see how brave I feel after a round or two!
-
Sent for Round 1.
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Yeah I think like 4-5 of you are in now, I'm gonna throw out some invite PMs this evening too just for good measure
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You would have had mine yesterday if I wasn't so poorly thought of.
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I don't know where that's coming from since you placed 2nd and 4th in my last two roulettes :lol
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I know, but I seem to be at the bottom of the hierarchy. Two more people join and I'm eliminated. :lol
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Yeah because you played in my last roulette and the reds in front of you signed up earlier :P
It makes sense I promise but I also am considering a prelim option for the reds if needed so, don't worry about it too much
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Nah, it's all good. If I get bumped, it's no harm. In my second roulette, the first one you played in, I didn't let me "regulars" play. New blood is good in roulettes. I'm totally cool.
If I'm in, then just let me know. I really don't want to do a prelim. If not, no hard feelings. :)
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the prelim idea is basically thus;
"it's just round 1 but more songs"
"green and yellow are 100% safe"
"orange is safe unless they place below every red player"
"reds are fighting for the remaining slots, excluding the above orange scenario"
it won't be an extra round though
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If the 10th spot is still available I'd like to join
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it is available :tup
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That yellow font is killing me.
Word.
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it is available :tup
Nice. I'll send something later today.
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So, can we send yet? I might do so later today, or else tomorrow.
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you could've sent saturday if you wanted :P
i already have several songs, feel free to send
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Sent one of my fav songs of the year.
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Yeah, I've been a little busy with 425's and work, I'll send tomorrow.
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Nothing is due until Friday anyways :tup
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So, can we send yet?
The answer to this question is always Yes :biggrin:
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(https://media.giphy.com/media/65FuAnjw896Hhy3qiF/giphy.gif)
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I'm gonna close signups here I think since I have a full 10 people anyways and nobody's signed up for a bit.
Send by 6 PM PST on Friday!
i think I have 6 songs so far, hangman will start whenever I have them all. For the pace I'm pushing towards with this one, expect results Monday or Tuesday at the latest & prepare your round 2 songs too :corn
also next roulette i'm probably just gonna skip having a banned list altogether & just tell people "any artist rated 4* or higher is banned, any album that's rated is banned, everything else is good unless i know the specific song" because honestly maintaining a banned list this big is actually the worst
but like, feel free to still do that for this roulette too. my RYM is pretty up-to-date. i have a bad habit of not rating stuff i've only listened to like 2-3 times though (which is like most of the partially banned list here)
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also, to stress this again:
if you want to try for a bonus theme, you need to specifically request it! i ain't in the game of making assumptions here.
of the 6 songs i have so far, only two people have requested bonus themes. there's at least two i know right off the bat are eligible for one of the bonus themes because i'm familiar with the artists in question to a small extent, but if you don't request the bonus point, you aren't getting the bonus point.
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I'm pretty sure I requested a bonus theme in my PM, but I didn't save it for some reason, so I am unsure now... :dunno:
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yeah you did and Bolsters did, nobody else has yet.
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So I think my song qualifies for a theme but I’m not entirely sure.. I’ll let you know when I send. Can I submit for 2 themes and you decide whether it applies for one?
Does the strawberry schedule basically indirectly punish you for sending any other genre than those included?
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i'd say not necessarily? you can send a song that doesn't match any theme and if it's better than what you'd send matching a theme it could be for the best. round winner berries are given out ignoring any theme bonuses, anyways
themes aren't super strict btw, if i can reasonably see it matching a theme i'll give it to you. i don't really want to allow for "backup themes" because it could mean sending for every theme in every round and just hoping one of them matches up because if i give you 2 themes then why not just give 40 themes :lol
themes are more there to guide you towards sending stuff i'd like though yes. except the golden berries are there to tell you things i probably won't like. people always complain about me not doing themed rounds and it works well with the format so here's the compromise :P
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Ohh okay, gotcha. For some reason I had the feeling they were worth more than they actually are, but you can get quite a lot without matching a theme. anyway, sending!
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also, to stress this again:
if you want to try for a bonus theme, you need to specifically request it! i ain't in the game of making assumptions here.
of the 6 songs i have so far, only two people have requested bonus themes. there's at least two i know right off the bat are eligible for one of the bonus themes because i'm familiar with the artists in question to a small extent, but if you don't request the bonus point, you aren't getting the bonus point.
Didn't know that. I have just requested a theme.
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i'd say not necessarily? you can send a song that doesn't match any theme and if it's better than what you'd send matching a theme it could be for the best. round winner berries are given out ignoring any theme bonuses, anyways
themes aren't super strict btw, if i can reasonably see it matching a theme i'll give it to you. i don't really want to allow for "backup themes" because it could mean sending for every theme in every round and just hoping one of them matches up because if i give you 2 themes then why not just give 40 themes :lol
themes are more there to guide you towards sending stuff i'd like though yes. except the golden berries are there to tell you things i probably won't like. people always complain about me not doing themed rounds and it works well with the format so here's the compromise :P
I agree, I like this way of doing it. It highlights a number of styles/eras/genres that you're less likely to enjoy, and therefore awards bonuses but at high risk.
I'm starting out sending stuff I think you'll like and not worrying about bonuses, but I'll see how it goes.
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I sent (something hilarious) just now.
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Alright, with that I think I have everyone's songs now, and I think everyone's themes as well. Hangman after work & impressions tonight as well :corn
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Nice pace already! Hope Slackul and Snailite don't mess it up :lol
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Well, elite -was- the last to send :justjen
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Was I now?
-
T
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Hangman!
???: I____t ___i_i__t__ - T____ ___t__d_
???: ______t_ - _ __t___ _ __t__ _ ___
???: ____ D__ ___ - ___i__ _____
???: _______d - T__ __d __d ____ __ ___ Di_
???: ___ __i_ T__ _i_____ - ______ __t___it_
???: _i____ - _i____
???: _______ ___d___ - __d_ ____
???: _________t - ___ I ___ __ _ ____ ______
???: ____ ____t - _i______ ___ __t_i__/___ ______
???: _____ __ T__ ___ - _i
Letters Guessed:
DIT
Dacul waits 3
TAC waits 9 for guessing before I posted hangman & being unable to read
Haven't listened to anything yet, but will do so & have impressions tonight. I'm not going to reveal what bonus themes were submitted until later in the round to keep y'all in suspense, but I can say 8 people submitted bonus themes and 2 did not.
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D
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M
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I
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R
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N
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Hangman!
???: Infant Annihilator - Three Bastards
???: ______t_ - _ __t__r _ __t_n _ __n
???: Lana Del Rey - __ni__ ____n
???: ___r___d - T__ _nd _nd __r_ __ ___ Di_
???: ___ __i_ T__ _i__n__ - _r___n __t___it_
???: Jinjer - Pisces
???: Susanne Sundfor - Fade Away
???: ______n__t - ___ I ___ __ _ ____ __n___
???: ___r ____t - _i__n___ __r N_t_in_/___ _r____
???: ___r_ __ T__ __n - _i
Letters Guessed:
DINRT
TAC waits 3
Bolsters waits 2
Buddy waits 1
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Jinjer-Pisces
Suzanne Sundfor-Fade Away
Lana Del Ray
Infant Annihilator-Three Bastards …(sick drumming on this)
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damn, you're killing it so far :corn
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I'm going to bed in a few minutes! :lol
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Wow, someone sent Infant Annihilator? :lol
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Round 1 First Impressions
I dunno, there's bits of this I like but I just don't see this being for me.
It's basically taking a really good sound and then stretching it out far longer than it's able to sustain.
I do like this on first listen a fair bit, but how well it ranks overall is almost definitely going to come down to how memorable I end up finding it on repeat listens.
Probably the least striking song of the round, but it's all-around solid for what it's trying to be.
Really cool stuff that's unfortunately undercut a little by one element I'm particularly averse to.
I think going into this I wasn't quite sure where I was expecting it to go, but I am pretty satisfied with where it ultimately went.
A potential grower, and I already liked it more than I expected to.
The ending threw me for a loop and was pretty cool, but the rest of this isn't leaving me particularly impressed on first listen.
The lack of focus here might mean this one has trouble sticking with me on repeated listens, but I do like what I'm hearing here.
You pretty much know what I like with this style of music and you nailed it on the head, I'd say.
Feels like a pretty solid round overall, I can see there being a decent range of scores here, alongside all the bonus points being handed out. Exciting times we live in.
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someone send jinjer in my upcoming roulette
That was fast.
-
the person who sent them very much did say i asked for someone to send jinjer and that was why they were sending jinjer.
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Pisces is an awesome song, but I don't think he will like it.
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S please!
-
Round 1 First Impressions
I dunno, there's bits of this I like but I just don't see this being for me.
I do like this on first listen a fair bit, but how well it ranks overall is almost definitely going to come down to how memorable I end up finding it on repeat listens.
Probably the least striking song of the round, but it's all-around solid for what it's trying to be.
A potential grower, and I already liked it more than I expected to.
Maybe one of these 4?
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It's basically taking a really good sound and then stretching it out far longer than it's able to sustain.
Likely mine although I disagree, I think it's the right length :zydar:
-
B
-
Hangman!
???: Infant Annihilator - Three Bastards
???: Behemoth - O Father O Satan O Sun!
???: Lana Del Rey - __ni__ ____n
???: __br___d - T__ _nd _nd __r_ __ ___ Di_
???: ___ __i_ T__ Si__n__ - Br___n S_t___it_
???: Jinjer - Pisces
???: Susanne Sundfor - Fade Away
???: _s____n__t - ___ I S__ _s _ ____ __n___
???: Bear Ghost - Si__n_ss __r N_t_in_/S__ _r___s
???: ___r_ __ T__ S_n - _i
Letters Guessed:
BDINRST
Puppies waits 3
ariich waits 2
TAC waits 1
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Bear Ghost
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Behemoth - O Father O Satan O Sun!
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Behemoth - O Father O Satan O Sun!
Wolfking sent that to me. Very interesting track.
-
Empire of the Sun? Though doesn't fit unless there's an I missing...
EDIT: Ah, or maybe Glare of the Sun?
-
M
-
L
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Hangman!
???: Infant Annihilator - Three Bastards
???: Behemoth - O Father O Satan O Sun!
???: Lana Del Rey - _eni_e __man
???: Embra_ed - T_e End And _ere _e All Die
???: All Hail the Silence - Broken Satellite
???: Jinjer - Pisces
???: Susanne Sundfor - Fade Away
???: _s____na_t - All I Sa_ As a ___e M_n_e_
???: Bear Ghost - Si__ness __r N_t_in_/S_e _re__s
???: Glare of the Sun - _i
Letters Guessed:
ABDEILMNRST
Katt waits 3
Elite waits 2
TAC waits 1
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Something looks like ‘all hail the silence’, but I have no idea whether that’s actually a band or not.
-
E
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Something looks like ‘all hail the silence’, but I have no idea whether that’s actually a band or not.
it is!
TAC still waits 3.
-
E
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It's been 6 hours since I guessed, and no one else is guessing. :P
-
broken satellite
A
-
stuff's updated
-
Psychonaut-All I Saw As A Huge Monkey
Sickness For Nothing/She Wrecks
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Hangman!
???: Infant Annihilator - Three Bastards
???: Behemoth - O Father O Satan O Sun!
Dacul: Lana Del Rey - _eni_e __man
???: Embraced - The End... And Here We All Die
???: All Hail the Silence - Broken Satellite
???: Jinjer - Pisces
???: Susanne Sundfor - Fade Away
???: Psychonaut-All I Saw As A Huge Monkey
???: Bear Ghost - Sickness For Nothing/She Wrecks
???: Glare of the Sun - _i
Letters Guessed:
ABDEILMNRST
Katt waits 3
Elite waits 2
TAC waits 1
getting close here! except nobody has any clue who sent what, evidently
-
Sacul sent LDR
Puppies sent Behemoth
-
one of those two is right!
-
Dacul: Lana Del Rey - _eni_e __man
Senile Human / Woman
it's probably wrong.
-
The End And Here We All Die
-
All of these sound like Train or Cyril bands I have no clue
-
Dacul: Lana Del Rey - _eni_e __man
Senile Human / Woman
it's probably wrong.
for the record i censored this song title because I'm That Kind Of Person
-
Enbraced
-
All of these sound like Train or Cyril bands I have no clue
Yeah, looks like a lot of black metal
-
Embraced-Puppies
Sundfor-Elite
Jinjer-Ev
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Hangman!
???: Infant Annihilator - Three Bastards
???: Behemoth - O Father O Satan O Sun!
Dacul: Lana Del Rey - _eni_e __man
Puppies: Embraced - The End... And Here We All Die
???: All Hail the Silence - Broken Satellite
Evermind: Jinjer - Pisces
???: Susanne Sundfor - Fade Away
???: Psychonaut-All I Saw As A Huge Monkey
???: Bear Ghost - Sickness For Nothing/She Wrecks
???: Glare of the Sun - _i
Letters Guessed:
ABDEILMNRST
Katt waits 3
Elite waits 2
TAC waits 1
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Train Of Naught annihilates infants?
-
The infants did not get run over by a train.
-
All Hail is Ariich
-
No sir.
also update after second listens.
two songs that'll probably be getting 4 berries, another that's borderline right now.
only one song this round i'm not very keen on so that one will probably be 0 or 1 and everything else is very comfortably in the 2-3 range, at worst. still room for stuff to grow on me too, but i'm expecting to have results up sunday given that i started listens a day early.
-
Sweet, looks like I'm striking out in the first round! :metardica:
-
Also, pretty sure Bear Ghost is Trainy
-
Sweet, looks like I'm striking out in the first round! :metardica:
I'm listening to the songs now. You got the best song of the bunch!
Cyril, what is the LDR song. I want to check it.
-
Also, pretty sure Bear Ghost is Trainy
it ain't :metal
people are good at getting their wires crossed this roulette, it seems.
TAC if you wanna know what the LDR song is you can solve hangman :corn
-
Elite sent the monkey song
-
Ariich most likely sent All Hail the Silence
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All Hail is Ariich
No sir.
Ariich most likely sent All Hail the Silence
:neverusethis:
-
TAC if you wanna know what the LDR song is you can solve hangman :corn
I already solved 80% of it!
Besides, I have to wait a turn...
Give me the O.
Is it Venice Woman? I can't find a match.
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All Hail is Ariich
No sir.
Ariich most likely sent All Hail the Silence
:neverusethis:
:facepalm:
-
Hangman!
???: Infant Annihilator - Three Bastards
Buddyhunter: Behemoth - O Father O Satan O Sun!
Dacul: Lana Del Rey - Venice Woman
Puppies: Embraced - The End... And Here We All Die
???: All Hail the Silence - Broken Satellite
Evermind: Jinjer - Pisces
???: Susanne Sundfor - Fade Away
???: Psychonaut-All I Saw As A Huge Monkey
ariich: Bear Ghost - Sickness For Nothing/She Wrecks
???: Glare of the Sun - XI
like i called out, the LDR song is censored because i'm that kind of person :P
ariich still did not send All Hail. Elite isn't a monkey. He's a dogbird
i also solved the Glare of the Sun title because it's one letter whatever
-
Elite sent Behemoth :neverusethis:
-
Just checked out Venice Bitch. Oh boy.
I thought Fuck It I Love You was better. :lol
-
Elite sent Behemoth :neverusethis:
nah fam
-
Ariich is Bear Ghost
-
we got one boys! :hat
-
Behemoth is Buddy
Sundfor is Tomi
-
Sundfor is Tomi
is this a no?
-
for one i didn't see the edit
for two tomi isn't in this roulette
-
for two tomi isn't in this roulette
Oh, OK then it's definitely not him. :lol
-
All of these sound like Train or Cyril bands I have no clue
Yeah, looks like a lot of black metal
There are very few black metal bands that I can listen to for more than 10 minutes :lol I don’t know how I got dragged into this comparison
Now I understand why I couldn’t place the Lana Del Rey song, it’s not the real title :lol I really dig that album! It may just surpass Born To Die for me as her best.
Of what’s left I really only know my own and Susanne Sundfor and I don’t know who sent it. I thought Infant Annihilator was a meme band, maybe will check out the song cause I’m a bit curious now
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I thought Infant Annihilator was a meme band
Yeah, no shit :lol
Excited to send some stuff Cyril will hate for the next few rounds, good times
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Just checked out Venice Bitch. Oh boy.
I thought Fuck It I Love You was better. :lol
Both are amazing songs :metal.
Now I understand why I couldn’t place the Lana Del Rey song, it’s not the real title :lol I really dig that album! It may just surpass Born To Die for me as her best.
I don't get the need to censor it lol. But yeah, I love the album too! It's probably my AOTY so far, and I definitely wasn't expecting it. Will prob dig into her previous stuff as well.
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Following, but chickened out on joining. Interested to see how Cyril likes Jinjer. :corn
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I don't get the need to censor it lol.
i don't like hard swears, or using them in any capacity. i'm weird like that
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Hangman!
???: Infant Annihilator - Three Bastards
Buddyhunter: Behemoth - O Father O Satan O Sun!
Dacul: Lana Del Rey - Venice Woman
Puppies: Embraced - The End... And Here We All Die
???: All Hail the Silence - Broken Satellite
Evermind: Jinjer - Pisces
???: Susanne Sundfor - Fade Away
???: Psychonaut-All I Saw As A Huge Monkey
ariich: Bear Ghost - Sickness For Nothing/She Wrecks
???: Glare of the Sun - XI
Hangman still isn't done btw :P
Also! Here's what themes were sent for round 1:
(https://i.imgur.com/f1dEgvT.png)
Not trying to imply anything one way or another, but you are free to change your theme up until I post results. Which will be tomorrow, probably in the afternoon sometime.
I would also recommend start preparing your round 2 entries, so that we can keep up the pace here.
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Also, here are comparisons:
ariich: =
Buddyhunter1: =
Dacul: =
Elite: =
Evermind: =
Bolsters: =
Nekov: =
Puppies_On_Acid: =
Train of Naught: =
TAC: =
:neverusethis:
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TAC sent Glare of the Sun
Elite sent Infant Annihilator
Bolsters sent All Hail the Silence
Train sent Psychonaut
Nekov sent Susanne Sundfor
0/5?
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Hangman!
Elite: Infant Annihilator - Three Bastards
Buddyhunter: Behemoth - O Father O Satan O Sun!
Dacul: Lana Del Rey - Venice Woman
Puppies: Embraced - The End... And Here We All Die
Bolsters: All Hail the Silence - Broken Satellite
Evermind: Jinjer - Pisces
Nekov: Susanne Sundfor - Fade Away
Train: Psychonaut-All I Saw As A Huge Monkey
ariich: Bear Ghost - Sickness For Nothing/She Wrecks
TAC: Glare of the Sun - XI
YOU WIN! PERFECT!
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Sweet! What do I win? An extra strawberry? :corn
Considering I'm getting zero, it won't make much difference
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(https://i.redd.it/5dptixneur8z.jpg)
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At least that's more than I had before. :metal
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I got the first 5 dammit. I don't get a cracker, cracker?
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Considering I'm getting zero, it won't make much difference
Stop, you're getting a Gold berry, plus 5 red ones. That Embraced Song is the best song in the entire round.
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I fear for my track :lol
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Considering I'm getting zero, it won't make much difference
Stop, you're getting a Gold berry, plus 5 red ones. That Embraced Song is the best song in the entire round.
I would agree with you, but our host is another matter.
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Pup, this is an official request for you to change that avatar! :lol
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nobody is getting a 5 berry score this round, chill :P
writeups will commence after i have lunch
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Pup, this is an official request for you to change that avatar! :lol
Ariich's Roulette is almost over, so soon.....
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Pup, this is an official request for you to change that avatar! :lol
Ariich's Roulette is almost over, so soon.....
You've already defeated Superman, now you're gunning for the ultimate glory of defeating Thanos.
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nah. the winner is squirrel girl. she's undefeatable. from what i can tell she's defeated thanos in canon before :P
writeup status: halfway there, whoa-oh, livin' on a prayer
need a break & i'll do the rest later. the good half, even. the ones i'm more excited to talk about :corn
edit: actually wait i screwed up one of the bottom half was place wrong in my document :lol
the top three and bottom three have been very stable across all my listens but the middle four have bounced around a lot. even already a difference between my listen 4 and listen 5 rankings from what i've done so far. get excited.
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Pup, this is an official request for you to change that avatar! :lol
Ariich's Roulette is almost over, so soon.....
You've already defeated Superman, now you're gunning for the ultimate glory of defeating Thanos.
Oh brother.
I saw the movie with the purple guy in ariich's avatar on a plane. The guy diagonal in front of me was watching it. It was so cringeworthy bad. I'm sure the effects guy was talented and all that, but if everything looks so fake, then what good is it.
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Pup, this is an official request for you to change that avatar! :lol
Ariich's Roulette is almost over, so soon.....
You've already defeated Superman, now you're gunning for the ultimate glory of defeating Thanos.
Oh brother.
I saw the movie with the purple guy in ariich's avatar on a plane. The guy diagonal in front of me was watching it. It was so cringeworthy bad. I'm sure the effects guy was talented and all that, but if everything looks so fake, then what good is it.
:getoffmylawn:
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Seriously, THIS looked more real!
(https://live.staticflickr.com/8325/8134220969_93c9a82a43_z.jpg)
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:lol
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Now Tim is just trolling :lol
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Round 1 Results
Round 1 Playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1nVADdmxS0AsZ4xvWF6RWH
Elite: Infant Annihilator - Three Bastards
Theme: 2019 Death Metal
First Impressions:
Huh, this again eh? This feels straight out of the school of over-the-top technical death metal that Archspire also hails from and I get that there's an audience for that but I've pretty well found that I am not that audience. There's one repeating riff to this that I do like, for what it's worth, and the production on this isn't as sterile as I remember Archspire's being so there's some real texture to the heaviness that I can't fault. Well except the drums sound pretty bad. I dunno, there's bits of this I like but I just don't see this being for me.
Final Thoughts:
I listened to that Archspire song from last roulette right before this one just to draw some comparisons because they're both very similar songs. This one has a better drum sound and vocal performance, but it's also incredibly relentless with no real room to breathe, which I think is the one thing that made that Archspire song at least tolerable for me. Meanwhile this is just nonstop walls of sound with necoclassical-y fast-paced guitar leads. And yeah, it's totally impressive that the band can play like this, sure, but that... just doesn't translate to interesting music for me. These guys, Archspire, Rings of Saturn, all these tech death acts that just go full ham without really being interested in writing songs... I'm sure performing this kind of stuff is fun as hell for them but I'm just straight bored listening to it, it all sounds basically the same to my ears.
Also, you commented in your PM that this is "stupid and funny". Yeah, that's what I thought the first time I listened to that Archspire record too! It's over-the-top and ridiculous. Heh. Neat. Now that I've heard the joke once it isn't really funny to me anymore, though, and that band and this band seem to be both building a career off trying to repeat that joke (especially with that band name, I'm sure it's intentional). So I think inherently this was never going to work for me. I really don't listen to music to find it "funny" or "comedic", I generally hate comedy music, and while this isn't that, it has basically the same effect.
Like, this song isn't awful. It's not even really bad. The production is generally great, the guitar tones are good, the harsh vocals are solid enough for a growling death metal style (though that's generally one of my least favorite styles of harsh vocals), the mixing isn't horribly imbalanced like Archspire, there's the occasional riff or guitar melody I do like. There are elements of good music here. But when it all essentially boils down to sounding the same, and sounding exactly like you'd expect an over-the-top tech death act to sound... meh.
Reward:
Bonus: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
TAC: Glare Of The Sun - XI
Theme: 2019 Black Metal
First Impressions:
Those whispered vocals sure are... something. The entire song has this weirdly muted sound to it for the first two minutes, where both the guitars and the vocals are like "low volume black metal" but then it does eventually decide to crank the volume up so yeah, sure. For its sound I don't know if I can say this is especially interesting, and it's a bit too chill for the kind of black metal that really works for me, but it's got riffs and it's got atmosphere and some quiet bits that are solid enough too. Probably the least striking song of the round, but it's all-around solid for what it's trying to be.
Final Thoughts:
Really, this song ranks this low just because, even after several listens, there's just nothing about this that sticks in my mind or makes this memorable. It's not the lowest rated of the round because it accomplishes the basic task of being solidly enjoyable in sound alone, like, yeah, this is a type of music I do like, but nothing about this specific iteration of that sound has any real flavor to it. The whispered vocals are I guess the closest thing to any sort of flavor, and I'm less offput by them than I was on first listen, but they don't impress me either, and neither does the music during the quiet moments of this.
It's honestly kind of... closer to a heavier Katatonia, than anything? I can definitely see this feasibly being called black metal, given the vocal style and the guitar tones in general, I'm not going to deny the bonus point on that, but musically this really, really gives off strong Katatonia vibes, a band I am pretty well on record for being rather indifferent to. There's a heaviness to this, and an attempt at emotional resonance, but in the former case there's not much real intensity to the heaviness, and in the latter case the melodies and overall tone don't strike hard enough to leave any real impact. There's a bit of a sense of groove to this too which I do appreciate.
I'm not really interested in being too down on this song because, it's serviceable enough. I can see why you or anyone would send this to me but I've just. I've heard it before, plain and simple, and I don't really mind listening to things I've heard before, especially if they're done really well, but anything less than that is mostly just going to be met with indifference. It's good, but it doesn't excite me. Wouldn't you know, I have a rating just for that.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Bonus: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Evermind: Jinjer - Pisces
Theme: Female-Fronted Prog Metal
First Impressions:
Well, whether this is good or bad, the truth of the matter is that I literally asked for it, heh. My first thought was "huh I was expecting this to be heavier" and the instant I thought that is when the heavy riffs and growls kicked in. Hearing this I'm not so sure what the big deal is though. The instrumentation behind the clean bits feels a bit... generic, for lack of a better term, though the vocals during these parts are at least pretty solid. The growls are fine, the riff behind them is fine, but the loud-soft dynamic this song goes for is a bit predictable and kinda lacking in anything of intrigue. I say, as the ending kicks in and proves me wrong again, whoops, that part's pretty rad. The ending threw me for a loop and was pretty cool, but the rest of this isn't leaving me particularly impressed on first listen.
Final Thoughts:
I feel like more than anything this is disappointing. I'd assume this is one of the band's better songs (I don't know if it specifically has been sent before in roulette? I didn't check) but this band has been relatively hyped up around these parts recently so I guess I was just expecting more.
The vocals are... well, the female singer is good, but she's no Cammie Gilbert either. Both this song and Oceans of Slumber's latest album have kind of the same issue, where there seems to be a vocal focus at the expense of the instrumentation, and the vocal talent, while good on its own merits, doesn't do enough to keep me interested throughout. I kind of wonder why they kept the female vocals mostly constrained to the quieter moments instead of giving her the chorus as well, letting her really show off her pipes. The harsh vocals there are fine enough, I like the moments where there's clearly two different voices going at it together (does she provide some harsh vocals here too? Not sure), but I still think a soulful clean performance would've worked even better.
As far as the music itself... It's a sound I've heard before but I have a hard time really describing? The clean stuff has that "dark prog" sound to it and a decent mix, the heavier stuff has a very late 2000's tone to it, it's honestly borderline djent. Evermind sent Djent, what is the world coming to?
The ending still does sound like it kind of comes out of nowhere, though it's still much appreciated even if it's not really connected to much. The chordy riffing, the duet of female vocals and growls works really well (why didn't they just do that for every chorus?), it picks up the pace for an otherwise very downtempo track that definitely feels like it needs the energy. But it's unfortunately only just a single minute of a 5 minute track and I don't feel that's quite enough to bring the song up a rating, though that ending was at least enough to rank it above Glare of the Sun for me.
I can't say I'm necessarily underwhelmed, since it's a solid enough song, but I am still disappointed nonetheless. I totally see the potential for this song or this band to be really good, but I'm just not quite seeing it with this track.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Bonus: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Puppies_On_Acid: Embraced - The End... and Here We All Die (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSPyZHyZ4Es&t=6m35s)
Theme: Pre-2000's Black Metal
First Impressions:
So the sole reason pre-2000's black metal is a risky theme is because the production is usually hot garbage. For a band who seems rather underground their sound is pretty solid though, except the pianos sound pretty cheap. It's got a bit more going on in it than the standard melodic black metal, too, though it takes a bit to get there. I think it's just unfortunate how much the piano dominates this song considering it's easily my least favorite part of this. This seems like it's going to end up doing fairly well considering its choice of theme. A potential grower, and I already liked it more than I expected to.
Final Thoughts:
Y’know, considering all the band names you dropped of where all the band members went after this album, I’m really surprised Arcturus isn’t among them. Because this really reminds me of what I’ve heard of The Sham Mirrors – namely, I remember piano and melodic black metal also being both very prominent on that album, and this one predates it by quite a bit.
As far as this song itself, I… can’t really fault it for much, but it’s just flat not my style of black metal. It’s the epic, empowering kind of black metal that, while fine enough in its own right, generally sounds all pretty similar to me, and not that distinct from a lot of melodic black metal either. Change the vocal style and maybe the guitar tones a little and it would be called melodic death metal. Again, that’s not necessarily a bad thing in of itself, but the sound itself has just never held a ton of appeal to me and this doesn’t really change my mind.
I will say I like how clean a lot of the lead guitar work is – that’s definitely the highlight of this track for me. a pretty smooth sound for the time and strong melodies pretty consistently coming off them. It’s just a shame that that’s balanced out by the piano sounding very stiff and blocky. Another thing it reminds me of is Thy Catafalque’s Tűnő Idő Tárlat, which also had a lot of piano focus on it from what I can recall. Though in that case that album very clearly had programmed piano which sounded even worse, this one’s definitely believable a real piano and a fairly talented performance, just, again, I don’t really care for how it sounds.
The whole thing front-to-back flows quite well too. Aside from a weird break towards the 7-minute mark after the second faster piano break, everything transitions pretty naturally moment-to-moment and there’s enough repeated themes to make it feel cohesive while also still feeling like it’s constantly progressing.
I do get the sense that basically my only gripe with this is the overall fidelity and especially the piano fidelity – production quality being the primary reason why pre-2000’s black metal is even a gold theme to begin with, and I think you did a pretty good job of dodging the risk there with the way this one sounds – because I’ve seen at least a certain TAC in-thread praising the hell out of this one. It doesn’t work for me quite as well as that, but it’s still an enjoyable listen nonetheless.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Bonus: (https://i.imgur.com/o3BBdpG.png)
Dacul: Lana del Rey - Venice Woman
Theme: Female-Fronted Ambient
First Impressions:
So I listened to this album not even a week ago and I do remember which song this is, but I'll allow it since I didn't call it out on the banned list. I legally can't call this a first impression though. I definitely like the overall vibe of the start of this one though, very pleasant and dreamy atmosphere to the whole thing. It's a weird one though in that the meat of the song happens within the first three minutes, and then it... goes on. There are neat touches, sure, but the amount of movement that happens over almost nearly 10 minutes feels like... not enough, when it's still all built on the same guitar loop ultimately. It's basically taking a really good sound and then stretching it out far longer than it's able to sustain.
Final Thoughts:
If this was a Lorde song, this would be about the first 3 and a half minutes. If this was a Julia Holter song, it'd be about 6 minutes. But it's a Lana Del Rey song, which... actually, no, that doesn't explain why this song is so overlong either. She doesn't have any other song (at least that I can find) that's even comparable in length.
I can point out real quickly what the good elements of this song are. She has a very pleasant voice and there's this really ethereal sound to it, especially with the dreamy and hypnotic guitar line that runs throughout the entire song. The touches of strings during the first few moments only add to that feel. And the way the drums kick in right after the 2-minute mark makes for an effective climax for the song, the way everything comes together is very effective.
If it were me, I'd either have ended the song at about the 3:20 mark (after things quiet down) or about the 4:40 mark (after the rambling bridge). Everything else after that is either weird instrumental texture or repetition of early lyrics. I think there's maybe like, one or two new lines. And yeah, I guess there's a sense of build that goes on throughout the back half of the sound with more and more sounds coming into the soundscape. I'm just not fully sure of the purpose of it going on so long. The song has its most emotional and potent moments in the first few minutes and its most satisfying climax as well. I don't necessarily dislike listening to the rest but none of it is anywhere as effective.
I don't really think she's classified as an ambient artist either, more like, dream pop or something, but in the instance of this song I definitely get that sort of vibe off it, the repetitive and hypnotic guitar lines, the focus on atmosphere. I'll give that one to you for sure even if it's not a strictly rigid definition. So maybe that balances out, you get a solid base score and a shiny bonus to go with it. Like I already said, this album was already in my backlog and I was already vaguely familiar with this one going into it, and I'm still keeping the album on my list for the time being, but I do hope it's at least a bit more gripping than the back half of this one overall.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Bonus: (https://i.imgur.com/o3BBdpG.png)
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Train of Naught: Psychonaut - All I Saw As a Huge Monkey
Theme: Instrumental Prog Metal
First Impressions:
I hereby award you the "most interesting song name" award for this round. With instrumental prog metal it can really go any way, I've had albums where I really loved the sound, others where I didn't like it at all, and still others where I found it boring or at least not as memorable as I'd have liked. My immediate first impression here is that the sound itself is good, toeing the line between melodic guitar work and dissonant leads and riffs pretty well, which is what I like to hear. It doesn't really feel like there's any "core" to the song though, in that it basically just feels like a stream of music ideas with no main motif tying it togther, or any kind of recurring theme in general, at least that I can pick out. The lack of focus here might mean this one has trouble sticking with me on repeated listens, but I do like what I'm hearing here.
Final Thoughts:
Apparently, the rest of this album isn't instrumental, just this one song? Well I can see why you'd send this one instead then, considering the themes and all, but on the flip side I also feel like a song with vocals may have performed better, depending on what style of vocal that is anyways. At the very least that makes me curious to check out this album on that premise alone.
And I mean, on principle I do like the sound of this well enough. Prog metal that noticeable takes a bit of influence from sludgier tones and some dissonant chord hits and melodies along the way. It's just the lack of focus that I initially called out in my first impression that really holds this one back. Not only is there no real core to this song (or at least, I still haven't been able to find one even after repeated listens), but there doesn't even really seem to be a strong sense of direction. The song builds a tiny bit, meanders about for a few minutes, goes to a quiet break (that it doesn't even really feel like it needs), then continues to meander on for a few more minutes. I guess you could squint and say there's some buildup towards the end, but it doesn't have a strong sense of dynamics to it and the ending does feel a bit abrupt.
There's decent diversity in the sounds on display though, to the song's credit. Some quieter moments that end up more bass-driven. Some noodly and frantic guitar leads. Some more measured, slower-paced melodic guitar lines. Some moments driven by big guitar riffing. I especially like the riff around 4:50 or so, headbanger of a riff right there. A few moments that are more jagged riffing, a style I'm always pretty into.
Like I initially said, the sound of this is here, I just am not a huge fan of the way it all fits together or lacks any direction. Moment-to-moment I enjoy listening to it but it also ends up feeling a bit "in one ear, out the other" when all's said and done. Like I said, I'll still probably check this one out, the sound itself is enough to warrant that, and the band is certainly proficient enough on a technical level to pull off the kind of instrumental prog I'd really enjoy (though really, the kind of instrumental prog I've been more into these days are the really jazzy math rock-influence acts like Poly-math and The Physics House Band, but I digress), but this just doesn't quite get there for me. Good stuff though, regardless.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Bonus: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Nekov: Susanne Sundfor - Fade Away
Theme: Female-Fronted Pop
First Impressions:
Immediate first impression is that I don't like synth tones like this in general, or at least the wave-y ones that pop in from time to time, though the rest are fine enough. This song is definitely pretty 80's, though. A synth solo in a pop song is also not something you see often, I appreciate that. There's a nice groove to this and I could see it being fairly catchy. I do like this on first listen a fair bit, but how well it ranks overall is almost definitely going to come down to how memorable I end up finding it on repeat listens.
Final Thoughts:
First thing to say: this is memorable enough, to be sure, but it’s not as infectiously catchy as some of the best pop stuff I’ve been sent, so that’s pretty much immediately disqualifying it from top marks, or even close-to-top marks, because with this style of synthpop, that’s the one thing I want most. Cruel Summer was irreversibly lodged in my head after only like two or three listens max, this one I’m up to five and I know how it goes but I’m not playing the chorus or any melodies from it in my head repeatedly.
But I mean, yes, this is a good fun pop song. I think the most memorable element of it is that synth solo in the middle, which is using a tone I can’t say I’ve ever heard anything quite like, and especially not as a solo in a pop tune. It’s a fun solo grounded in a solid core melody and a very sparkly but somewhat atmospheric sound nonetheless, I really love it. Also, I think the thing I called a “synth tone” in my first impression was like, a processed guitar sound actually? The one that plays the bit that first shows up at 0:11. I am still not wild about that sound in particular but that’s about the only one that really gets to me.
As for Sundfor herself I’ve mostly heard her on more low-key atmospheric pop songs before this (or at least, the two instances I’ve been sent her before I vaguely remember both being in that lane). And I remember liking both of those well enough too. I don’t think I’ve ever heard The Brothel, even, I’m not sure where you got that from! If I have I don’t remember it. She fit the role well on those songs but she also fits in surprisingly well here too, which I guess just shows that she can be a diverse performer if she wants to be. I don’t think her voice provides a huge amount of personality on this one, and that may be the biggest reason why this doesn’t have a monster of a hook like the best synthpop, but I can’t fault her here either.
I don’t really have much fault with this song in general, I can say it’s maybe not necessarily my favorite kind of pop and I’m not sure I’d want an entire album of stuff like this (I really am biggest on the more atmospheric styles of pop in general), but I dug this.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Bonus: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Buddyhunter1: Behemoth - O Father O Satan O Sun!
Theme: None
First Impressions:
I'm almost certain I listened to this album before at some point, though I barely remember any of it. The start of this is fairly striking but what follows it up is a tad underwhelming in comparison, though pretty solid regardless. I think for the kind of groove this is going for, a bit cleaner production would've served it well. The moments of this that lean more heavily on a "wall of sound" approach with multiple layers of guitars and vocals are the most exciting parts of it to me. I think going into this I wasn't quite sure where I was expecting it to go, but I am pretty satisfied with where it ultimately went.
Final Thoughts:
I can’t quite say this is the heaviest song of the round, given the presence of Infant Annihilator, but it’s the heaviest song here that I actually, y’know, like. From the first moments I like it a lot, even. The huge, pounding chords with so much audibly going on behind them, what sounds like screams of the damned and the drum rolls. It’s a really good guitar tone for huge, elongated chords. Tons of texture. Mmm.
On the flipside, I still think that texture does kind of bury the groove during some moments of this one. If you don’t listen closely enough you probably wouldn’t heard it at all, there’s so much going on during the verses. The same groove goes on behind the guitar solo later on and it’s a lot more clear then, too, so I don’t think it’s necessarily the guitar tone or production itself, just that so damn much is happening at all times in this song. It’s overwhelming in the best ways but it also kind of sabotages itself because of that.
It is also a bit colorless of a song, that first minute basically sets the tone for most of the rest of the song, in that there’s not really a ton of melody shining through on much of this, and when it’s a 7 minute song that can also get a bit exhausting. There is a shift to a bit more melodic of a riff past the 4 minute mark and the song does finally take a moment to breathe when it gets there but that break doesn’t last very long either before we go right back into the thick of it.
Also, a comment about spoken word/monologuing. Generally on its own and/or with extended segments of it, I don’t tend to like it, but it can be used well – and here ya go, a good example of that. Especially since I believe it’s the same vocalist throughout the rest of the song, so he knows the exact deranged tone of voice to use to nail the effect he’s going for. There’s also a sense of escalation as it goes on, which helps since it’s about the only element of build in the last few minutes of this one. It works here in a way that it doesn’t always work on other songs.
I’ve kind of gone back and forth on where exactly this one sits because it’s very much borderline between two scores, I feel. I think if I was in the wrong mindset I wouldn’t like this one as much, but it’s very consistently been a step above the last few songs before it on all my listens and I think that’s reason enough to go with the higher of the two scores I’ve been considering.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Bolsters: All Hail The Silence - Broken Satellite
Theme: 2019 Ambient
First Impressions:
Don't think I didn't notice that this is basically just you sending BT again. I'm not particularly fond of the glitchy effects here, they always feel like an unnecessary element that gets in the way of the atmosphere of a song like this. I also don't really feel like this realistically fits the "ambient" theme (though I definitely would've given you pop?) but we'll see there. As far as pop goes, though, yes, this is definitely up the alley of the kind of stuff I dig. Very lush soundscapes & a strong vocal performance, the chorus in particular has a very satisfying swell to it. Also it seems like the song ends up just the 6 minute mark but goes on until 8, which probably works in an album context but I'm not so sure I want that in the song by itself. I guess this part could be considered the "ambient" part though. Regardless. You pretty much know what I like with this style of music and you nailed it on the head, I'd say.
Final Thoughts:
I hate to do this, especially to one of my favorite tracks of the round, but I just can’t place this as ambient in my mind. Parts of it qualify, I guess, but the main meat of the song is very much synthpop of the atmospheric variety and too rigid and rhythmic to really qualify in my mind. So, I can’t give you the bonus here. I absolutely would’ve given you the 2019 Pop bonus, but that’s not the one you asked for, and as I stated in thread if I give the flexibility for a backup theme I might as well just let everyone submit every theme every round.
Fortunately the song itself is good enough to make up for that. Because yeeeaah this is right up my alley in terms of what I’m looking for in pop. Far better than the BT song you sent me previously, too. Tons of texture and atmospheric to the layered production, the synth tones are sparkly and glossy but also lush and dreamy, the percussion is electronic but not so harsh or soulless and fits right in with the synths, the layers of rain and thunder effects going on in the background help paint a more full soundscape.
And the vocal performance from Burns is excellent, he’s got the restraint necessary to sell a more somber tone during the quieter moments of this, but the raw power to deliver some soaring, belting performances during the chorus. His vocal tone also fits in great with the overall sound. The only, tiny thing I can really nitpick is that I don’t think the melodies are particularly memorable, at least not in the way something like Drive You Mad or Tech Noir were for me on the EP you won a previous roulette with.
Other than that though I really have no complaints, aside from that the start and end are a bit, full of ambience and all, but in the context of an album I can’t really see that being an issue, and the main meat of the song doesn’t feel overlong or dragged out in any capacity either. It’s just flat good. It’s not quite on the level of a favorite, but I’ll definitely be checking out this (86 minute long?? ouch) project.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
ariich: Bear Ghost - Sickness for Nothing/She-Wrecks
Theme: None
First Impressions:
Well I'll give you guts for sending something that starts out chiptune-y given how averse I was to a similar sound with Novallo. I don't know, it's just not a synth sound I particularly like outside of the right context. Everything else about it so far is pretty cool though. Guitar and bass sound is pretty good and the vocals are indeed a type I'm fond of. And the loud bit is even better, especially due to the chiptune synths going away. The second track is the half where I see the TDH influence for sure and yeah, I think nothing in it quite lives up to the first loud bit but it's all really cool stuff, aaand then the chiptune comes back in. Only for a moment but still. I could see this being the round winner easy if I can get past the chiptune though. Really cool stuff that's unfortunately undercut a little by one element I'm particularly averse to.
Final Thoughts:
I think it flat out says something about the quality of this song(s) that despite my continued aversion to chiptune, this still quickly cemented itself as the most exciting and interesting song of the entire round and the one I was always most looking forward to revisiting. And I mean, yeah. I’m still not thrilled about the chiptune, but every single other thing here is wonderful.
Like, the first thing that comes in that I want to point out. Excellent bass tone for the sound they’re going for, not too stiff, not too rubbery, very warm and lush and it has the power to break through even in the loudest moments of the song with some tasty licks and melodies. The moment the heavy guitars kick in around the 2-minute mark is excellent, still probably my favorite moment of the entire thing even if the song gets “more interesting” after it.
Let’s talk about the second half of this, then. That riff’s got a ton of groove to it. What a monster of a riff. The palm-muted guitar variation that plays throughout the verse following it with the incredibly playful vocal delivery, it’s great. It’s tons of fun. It’s not tons of fun. however, I don’t quite see the fun. comparison you made here, this is all TDH to me.
Speaking of TDH, holy hell these guys love TDH. The whoa-oh’s on the chorus, the laidback break at 4-minutes, the fact that this song’s lyrics could come straight out of Act II’s later half (it’s basically their version of Red Hands?) And a sweet but not overly long guitar solo towards the end. Man, there’s just so much to this song I love.
This song is just constantly in motion that I kind of have a hard time keeping up with it, even five listens later I feel like there’s still a lot more here to unpack and I absolutely love that about this song, and music in general. Impress me up front with something memorable and striking, then have enough musical depth and motion to keep relistens still feeling fresh. It’s what Thank You Scientist have basically mastered.
There was basically never any question in my mind from even the second listen that this would be winning the round, and frankly? I think I’m gonna take back what I said, this is genuinely that good. Even with the chiptune, yep. Absolutely checking these guys out.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Round Winner Bonus: (https://i.imgur.com/o3BBdpG.png)
Current Standings:
ariich: 7
Dacul: 5
Puppies_On_Acid: 5
Bolsters: 4
Buddyhunter1: 4
Nekov: 4
Train of Naught: 4
Evermind: 3
TAC: 3
Elite: 1
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Ouch!!
I thought you might like that a bit more. That's a cool album.
Well, you've got my next 3/10 already.
That Embraced deserved a much better score. There's no way I can compete with what was at the top of this round. I would never dream of sending anything like All Hail (no offence Bolsters). I can't even listen to that.
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Updated:
- Current Standings (first post)
- Bonus Themes remaining
- Artists banned last round
ch-ch-check it out!
Ouch!!
I thought you might like that a bit more. That's a cool album.
Well, you've got my next 3/10 already.
uhh i think i accidentally deleted your PM while i was cleaning out my inbox of round 1 submissions earlier, oops :lol
I remember your artist and theme but not the song name, can you resend?
That Embraced deserved a much better score. There's no way I can compete with what was at the top of this round. I would never dream of sending anything like All Hail (no offence Bolsters). I can't even listen to that.
TASTES!™
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I did so bad in Round 1, you figured you'd just delete my Round 2 song?? :lol
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there's plenty of rounds left for anyone to catch up still, really!
sometimes i'm just dumb.
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I'll take that score. I have some things in a shortlist to send and I will do so in a bit.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard The Brothel, even, I’m not sure where you got that from! If I have I don’t remember it.
I meant The Silicone Veil :facepalm:
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I had a feeling it might not qualify as ambient. It definitely has some ambient parts but it's not 100% and not full-on ambient when it goes in that directon anyway, it was just a matter of where you chose to draw the line. As for the album, I have a feeling it might fall into the same category as Gunship did where you really only like the song I sent you and not much else. But I guess we'll see. :lol
I will send in a couple of hours when I have the time to listen to a few more things.
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Sent :corn
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Nice! Glad you liked it. I agree that the mixing is a bit too busy at times, but that's the only complaint I have about that song. One of the best album closers I've heard in the past few years.
I'll send tomorrow. Got a list of stuff I plan on sending, but I usually will give the top ranking songs for each round a listen in case they reveal something about your tastes, or whatever.
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btw that Jinjer song (along with all of their stuff to my knowledge) only has one vocalist.
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Yeah, I personally love the whole thing but I understand why you feel it stretches for too long. Glad I got to steal some sweet strawberries :metal
Will send later today, I sleep now.
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btw that Jinjer song (along with all of their stuff to my knowledge) only has one vocalist.
Yeah, it's the same singer.
I'm not in the last place which is basically my goal for this roulette, to finish somewhere not in the last place :lol sending Arch Matheos as soon as I'm back from work.
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I had a feeling it might not qualify as ambient. It definitely has some ambient parts but it's not 100% and not full-on ambient when it goes in that directon anyway, it was just a matter of where you chose to draw the line. As for the album, I have a feeling it might fall into the same category as Gunship did where you really only like the song I sent you and not much else. But I guess we'll see. :lol
also i wanna correct you on one thing - i did end up getting that gunship album and there are a few other songs there i think are quite good, though nothing close to tech noir. and then i think dark all day is even better - the song, not the album, most of the rest of that album is the one that didn't do much for me. shrug.
anyways i'm about to listen to your album here shortly (& i'll post my thoughts on it and bear ghost after)
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:D Glad my choice to steer clear of bonus themes paid off!
Don't worry, there's no other chiptune on the album, although it's quite varied and a bit quirky so there might well be other sounds you find annoying. :lol But I think you'll mostly enjoy it quite a bit if you liked those songs that much.
I definitely do think they have a bit of a fun. vibe to the overall album (but much more riff/guitar-driven, like I said), although I accept it's not very much the case with these songs. I'd be interested to see what you think once you've heard the whole thing.
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(https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3219041787_5.jpg)
yeah, don't think anything on this is quite as good as she-wrecks, and there's a few tracks i'm kinda eehhh on & the overall kinda of goofy vibe is a bit offputting but the overall sound is still pretty good and i definitely wanna revisit it. i'm not super surprised nothing else lives up to what you sent though.
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/A1Pb0o-Ih2L._SL1500_.jpg)
yeah you were pretty much right about this one though. a lot of the rest of this is... not really my thing, it's just straightforward synthpop with an 80's worship sound, not that dissimilar from gunship really. except uuuhhh pretty much every song seems rather overlong. i listened up through massacre & then skimmed through the rest after (ended up listening to the last two tracks which were pretty nice) but i mean. it's an 86 or so minute album in a style that just doesn't do a ton for me.
other two album listens i wanna do will come tomorrow or tuesday if i don't have time for both tomorrow. they're behemoth and psychonaut ftr, i like that susanne sundfor song but it doesn't make me wanna check out the album either unfortunately
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Yeah I could and should have gone with one of the nog instrumental songs I think, it’s actually an incredible album in my opinion, I was just 1) scared of your opinion since we don’t seem to match on tastes that much anymore and 2) hunting for bonus berries
They are mixed vocals with kind of a Dvne / Mastodon vibe in the cleans and high fry screams with the harshes.
Also big disagree on She Wrecks being the best song on the Bear Ghost album. I recommend their debut EP which is called something like ‘Your Parents Are Marginally Disappointed in Your Music Taste’. That one’s basically a more consistent version of Blasterpiece
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to be fair i have heard all the other songs once and the two i was sent 6 times so there's some familiarity bias & i could see that changing
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Yeah I'd definitely say give Blasterpiece another couple of listens at some point. Like with artists such as Devin Townsend, the goofyness stands out quite noticeably on first listen, but once the album settles in it's not actually all that goofy really and you can dig under the surface and get a ton out of it.
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:lol
Well, I tried I guess? I kinda figured this would either go down well or not at all, so I'm not that surprised to be honest. No, I do not take the band seriously, but as far as this kind of ridiculous unplayable tech-death stuff goes, I think this band (or this album, I should say) does a better job than the other stuff I've heard. Like you even said, it's not bad at all, but I can see you not wanting to come back to it - which admittedly I haven't really done either.
So, on to some other stuff. I'll send tonight.
BY THE WAY: Did I just top the Slint song for worst scoring song in a roulette ever!? :O
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Sent
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BY THE WAY: Did I just top the Slint song for worst scoring song in a roulette ever!? :O
not even close, no. go review the scoring system and how the berry scores correspond to a 0-10 point scale :lol
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So I scored about a 5/10? :biggrin:
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If i were doing a point system I'd probably score it just below archspire so like, 4.25-4.5ish? Not good, for sure :P
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Sent for round twoooo
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Sent!
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7 songs in so far and all should be good, let's see if e everyone can send before I get home tonight so listening can start early :corn
Guess who I'm waiting on and you win no prize.
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I should send tonight.
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Sent
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Sent. Going for a theme this time!
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:corn
Waiting on just Elite now.
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:corn
Waiting on just Elite now.
Not anymore!
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:corn
Waiting on just Cyril's hangmanen now.
I'd like the D, please.
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I'll take the C
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Results when :corn
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I
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Results when :corn
Ariich: Some Crap
no.
Rule 6'd
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Seconded! :lol
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Hangman!
???: ____ T_ _i_d___ - __d _____ __d_
???: _____t___ - ____tt_
???: ___i_ - __i__t __ _ _c___
???: ___ __di_ - _i___c_ C____ T__ _t___
???: ______t__ - __tt_____d
???: C____ ___ ______ - __ D___ _i__ __
???: ____id _____ - I___c_ti__ __ T__ C__ti____ ___
???: T__ C___t I_ C__i__ - ____d __ T__ ___t
???: D__d_ - C__t___ ________
???: __ _i____i__ - __i_
Letters Guessed:
CDIT
TAC waits 3
Buddy waits 2
Puppies waits 1
there are as many artists in this round that I've listened to before as there are artists i haven't. i'm sorry my banned list & general list of artists I've listened to is so big lol
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T
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small snafu where i originally allowed a song off an album i'd heard but then checked and i actually specifically called out that album on the partially banned list so i had to swap out for the backup i was sent, hangman's updated to reflect that. starting listens in a minute, anyways
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Round 2 First Impressions
It’s one of those cases where the sound isn’t necessarily that fresh, but it’s just done really damn well and works all the better for it.
Dunno, on first listen I’m just not feeling the vibe of this one, though it’s not unpleasant to listen to either.
I like the general vibe and sound of this one but it really feels incomplete and unsatisfying by the end.
It’s nice for what it is but I don’t know if it’s quite working for me in the way that similar stuff has in the past.
I expected to struggle with this one going into it, and I got basically exactly what I expected, but we’ll see if it has room to grow on me regardless.
A sound I both quite like and feel is a bit muted at the same time, though I could see this growing on me even despite it being an early favorite.
You’re likely to get a pass due to positive comparisons to other stuff I’ve already been sent, but I also don’t see this one blowing me away either.
It’s not necessarily a style that’s ever going to do exceptionally well with me, but it’s a pretty fun one regardless.
Fundamentally nothing wrong with it and it’s the kind of thing that’s most obviously up my alley but at the same time it isn’t really standing out much either.
Another one where I come away from my first listen liking but not really loving this, though again I see room for it to grow on me.
Definitely feels like a weaker round than the last one on first listen. A few songs here I like a solid bit regardless though. Maybe I'm just not in the mood right now, too, who knows.
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H
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E
My song could in theory be pretty much any of those first impressions. :metal
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My song could in theory be pretty much any of those first impressions. :metal
Yeah, same :lol
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Hangman!
???: ____ T_ _i_d___ - __d ___e_ __de
???: ___e_t__e - ___ett_
???: _e_i_ - _ei_ht __ _ _c__e
???: ___ __di_ - _i_e_ce C____ The _t___
???: __e_e_t__ - __tte__e_d
???: C____ __e _e__e_ - __ D___ _i_e _e
???: ___bid ___e_ - I___c_ti__ __ The C__ti____ __e
???: The Comet Is Coming - Blood of the Past
???: Dredg - C__t___ _h______
???: Oh Hiroshima - __i_
Letters Guessed:
BCDEHIT
Puppies waits 3
ariich waits 2
Bolsters waits 1
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B
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2B (from nier automatoes)
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The Comet Is Coming - Blood of the Past (ft. Kate Tempest)
Dredg
Oh Hiroshima
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All correct, updated above
sleeping now so more updates in the morns
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Nekov sent Oh Hiroshima.
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nope!
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Morbid Angel
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Nekov sent Oh Hiroshima.
nope!
It was in my list of potential things to send. I'll scratch it out.
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the dredg song is Cartoon Showroom
Good stuff.
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A
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Did Nekov send Dredg? I know I got that song in my first roulette and I think it was from him. Too lazy to check
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Did Nekov send Dredg? I know I got that song in my first roulette and I think it was from him. Too lazy to check
I definitely did in this roulette and it is very likely that I did in yours as well
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Hangman!
???: ____ T_ _i_d_a_d - _ad A__e_ _ade
???: A__e_t__e - ___etta
???: _e_i_ - _ei_ht __ A _ca_e
???: Quo Vadis - Silence Calls The Storm
???: Kvelertak - Nattesferd
Parama: Carly Rae Jepsen - __ D___ _i_e Me
???: Morbid Angel - I___cati__ __ The C__ti__a_ __e
???: The Comet Is Coming - Blood of the Past
Nekov: Dredg - Cartoon Showroom
???: Oh Hiroshima - A_ia
Letters Guessed:
ABCDEHIMT
Buddy waits 3
TAC waits 2
Puppies waits 1
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Fair To Midland
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M
-
S
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no fairness in midland today!
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Quo Vadis-Silence Calls The Storm
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Carly Rae Jepsen
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Kvelertak - Nattesferd
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Carly Rae Jepsen
oh parama sent that for sure
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R
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All guesses correct, TAC continues to wait
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TAC waits 2
M
S
So I figured it was my turn again!
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Did Nekov send Dredg? I know I got that song in my first roulette and I think it was from him. Too lazy to check
I definitely did in this roulette and it is very likely that I did in yours as well
There's a bunch of songs on the same album that are better (and even more on El Cielo (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=46598.msg2148730#msg2148730)) :neverusethis:
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El Cielo does have a small handful of good tracks yes
I missed Nekov's letter guess but TAC still waits 1 anyways, for S I don't want to update at work because I'm sure I'll make mistakes
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R
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Did Nekov send Dredg? I know I got that song in my first roulette and I think it was from him. Too lazy to check
I definitely did in this roulette and it is very likely that I did in yours as well
There's a bunch of songs on the same album that are better (and even more on El Cielo (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=46598.msg2148730#msg2148730)) :neverusethis:
El Cielo was banned, and even if it wasn't, your statement is incorrect.
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Hangman!
???: ____ T_ _i_d_ard - _ad As_e_ Sade
???: Ar_e_t_pe - Rosetta
???: Lemio - Weight On A Scale
???: Quo Vadis - Silence Calls The Storm
???: Kvelertak - Nattesferd
Parama: Carly Rae Jepsen - __ Dr__ _i_e Me
???: Morbid Angel - I___cati__ _f The C__ti__a_ __e
???: The Comet Is Coming - Blood of the Past
Nekov: Dredg - Cartoon Showroom
???: Oh Hiroshima - Aria
Letters Guessed:
ABCDEFHIMPRST
Bolsters waits 3
TAC waits 2
Evermind waits 1
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Rosetta
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Rosetta is banned :neverusethis:
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P
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Exactly one left!
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Weight of A Scale?
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Very close.
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Lenio-Weight ON a Scale
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F
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Exactly one left!
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(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ab/BehemothTheSatanist.png)
kinda expected this since i did listen to this before but a lot of this is... a bit much for me. too sludgy and monochrome for me, i need the Melodies man! i might try spinning it one more time but it's probably just gonna be a one or two song wonder for me (the last two tracks, specifically)
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Rosetta is by Arkentype
The forst word of the Morbid Angel song is Incantations
Don’t know about the last one.
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The first word of the Morbid Angel song is Incantations
Nope, Invocation
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Oh, okay
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too sludgy and monochrome for me, i need the Melodies man!
but the riffs though
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Hangman!
???: Look To Windard - _ad As_e_ Sade
???: Arkentype - Rosetta
???: Lemio - Weight On A Scale
Puppies: Quo Vadis - Silence Calls The Storm
???: Kvelertak - Nattesferd
Bolsters: Carly Rae Jepsen - No Drug Like Me
???: Morbid Angel - Invocation Of The Co_ti__a_ O_e
???: The Comet Is Coming - Blood of the Past
Nekov: Dredg - Cartoon Showroom
???: Oh Hiroshima - Aria
Letters Guessed:
ABCDEFHIMOPRST
TAC waits 1
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Quo Vadis-Pup
Carly Rae Jensen- Sacul.
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Carly Rae Jensen- Sacul.
I really don't like her music, so nope :P. Likely Bolsters.
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Yeah, just a guess.
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Yeah it's bolbasaur
I'll relax the wait on letter guessing but also I won't update until I get home anyways so, corn
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O
-
Updated.
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No Drug Like Me
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N
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G
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I skipped N because you're waiting but there's no G left anyways so w/e
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Look to Windward?
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Upset nobody ever came in with a joke guess like "Boot to Squidward" or something. But yeah.
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Upset nobody ever came in with a joke guess like "Boot to Squidward" or something. But yeah.
That's normally Evermind's thing, but I'll try harder in future.
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It's also my new band name, tbh
Boot to Squidward is going to take the thriving pandacore scene by storm
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Upset nobody ever came in with a joke guess like "Boot to Squidward" or something. But yeah.
I actually spent some time trying to come up with something, but nothing good came to mind.
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the Fair to Midland guess did not surprise me at all, they are very similar band names :lol
Results will be Friday most likely with comparisons coming tomorrow evening so get #Hyped
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I really wish someone would solve the Look to Windward song name because the submitted requested a foreign language theme and I cannot find the lyrics online but I can make out plenty of English lyrics, just there are parts I can't make out at all and I don't know whether it's due to them being in a foreign language or just being incomprehensible :lol
right now i'd say this round is overall going to average lower than round 1, but a lot of the songs are growing on me regardless
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(https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2010423074_10.jpg)
hmm, this one's kinda interesting. the song you send isn't super representative of a lot of the album, but it's more in the line of your mastodon/dvne/etc. type band of sludgy prog metal, basically? it's probably too long (almost 70 minutes) but it's enjoyable stuff in its own right, i'll definitely at least spin it again
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Vad Asken Sade
Invocation Of The Continual One
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Hangman!
???: Look To Windard - Vad Åsken Sade
???: Arkentype - Rosetta
Train: Lenio - Weight On A Scale
Puppies: Quo Vadis - Silence Calls The Storm
???: Kvelertak - Nattesferd
Bolsters: Carly Rae Jepsen - No Drug Like Me
???: Morbid Angel - Invocation Of The Continual One
Dacul: The Comet Is Coming - Blood of the Past
Nekov: Dredg - Cartoon Showroom
???: Oh Hiroshima - Aria
now who sent ya
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I'm pretty sure it's spelled Lenio
cause.. I don't know, I just know :corn
The Comet Is Coming is Dacul?
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You sent Lenio, mr. Choo Choo.
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Impressions? :corn
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Impressions were posted Monday :P
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Oh, nice. I missed that!
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Round 2 Comparisons
Song ratings compared to last round, listed in order of Round 1 rankings.
v ariich
v Bolsters
v Buddyhunter1
^Nekov
v Train of Naught
v Dacul
v Puppies_On_Acid
^Evermind
v TAC
^Elite
Yeah, definitely a weaker round :lol
One or two songs here I still don't feel very familiar with yet either which mostly suggests I'm just not super into them but also don't hate them either.
One song in particular I was very meh on at first but it's grown on me a lot. As with round 1, the round winner was kind of obvious upon first listen.
I don't think there will be any 0's or any 5's this round. There will almost certainly be at least one 1, though, so we can finally have an example of each score.
Other fun numbers: Based on my current ratings & the associated themes, half the players would end up with the same exact score at the end of this round. This is subject to change of course.
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I’m getting at least a 0 :corn:
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i retroactively changed Infant Annihilator to a -2, actually.
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Nice
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Worse than next to last week place. Eliminated.
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I agree.
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Next time I'll send Arch Matheos and get V
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:corn
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tonight after work, yup :corn
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It IS after work. :corn
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It IS after work. :corn
TAC: 0
awful
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It IS after work. :corn
Silly east coasters, thinking nothing exists west of Pennsylvania. :loser:
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:corn corn :corn corn :corn
corn corn cron corn!!1!1!!1 cron :corn corn
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:corn (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) (https://i.imgur.com/hGzCESd.png) evermind is the round winner :neverusethis:
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v TAC
V for victory!
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i may or may not finish tonight, tbh. i'm trying to write results and some of the more middling songs this round are kind of demotivating me, though i only have the good ones (or i hope they're still good :P) left to do, so i might get back to it later tonight
TAC still gets a 0 for being pushy about results while also nagging me to make an EP :corn
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That guy's an asshole. :metal
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That guy's an asshole. :metal
More like a TAChole......amirite? Eh? Eh? :neverusethis:
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That guy's an asshole. :metal
More like a TAChole......amirite? Eh? Eh? :neverusethis:
You sure are, Puppies on ASSid. :neverusethis: :neverusethis:
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:metardica:
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Round 2 Results
Round 2 Playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7zrr4vohCO4E47Gs7MavUM
TAC: Morbid Angel - Invocation Of The Continual One
Theme: Pre-2000's Death Metal
First Impressions:
The first song on my playlist and the longest one sent so far too. And the one I’m most worried about, in all honesty. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a pre-2000’s death metal album I liked. Some early Opeth comes close but I’ve never been wild about it, and this is very clearly much more raw than that. Though after the first two minutes it moves a bit more towards a riff-driven style I can get more into, though I don’t know how likely it is I’ll ever get past the growls on this one. It just seems to fall victim to a lot of issues that older death metal has for me – very muddy and rough production, an overall sludgy and monochrome tone. There’s not much semblance of melody to be found here at all, though at the very least the riffing and solos at the very end are kinda cool. I expected to struggle with this one going into it, and I got basically exactly what I expected, but we’ll see if it has room to grow on me regardless.
Final Thoughts:
Of every theme on the bonus list, I had this pegged as the absolute hardest one for me/most unlikely to result in a pleasant experience. A lot of the pre-2000’s themes in general, really, but this one especially, because death metal as a genre is already something I’m not super into on its own and my perspective is that death metal didn’t get good production in general until around the mid 2000’s.
There’s definitely stuff about this where I can see the appeal – there are some good riffs here, and the soloing is definitely impressive, even if it’s kind of “mindless wank” most of the time. But.
Okay, I need to immediately draw a comparison. To Edge of Sanity’s Crimson. This song reminds me of that album in a lot of ways. It’s got a long and winding, somewhat progressive structure to it, really muddy and sludgy production, and it has a lot of the same problems that album has for me. There’s recurrent themes and there’s a progressive undertone to it in structure, but the way every segment is tied together is unfathomably sloppy and it ends up feeling less like the song develops over its runtime and more like it just jumps around haphazardly. And when I’m already not hugely into the core sound, that lack of direction just ends up making it even more impenetrable.
To at least take the time to be positive for a bit, I do think some of the grooves on display here are pretty good, even if they are a bit monochrome. I can idly bob my head to a large chunk of this song and enjoy it on that level. There’s a bit around the 8-minute mark, too, that has a nice melodic sound to it and an actual sense of atmosphere that builds into a pretty cool riff and solo. The last few minutes in general, being purely instrumental, flow pretty smoothly and ends the song off satisfyingly, even if it’s kind of a mess to get to that point.
There’s definitely a lot more I like here than Infant Annihilator, it’s visibly a step above that one for me, but it’s still kind of a slog to sit through each time and I can’t imagine wanting to return to this song or check out anything from this band in the future, either. At least it isn’t a complete and total failure?
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Bonus: (https://i.imgur.com/o3BBdpG.png)
Buddyhunter1: Kvelertak - Nattesferd
Theme: Foreign Language Black Metal
First Impressions:
My previous experiences with this band: 1. I don’t like this at all, these vocals are unlistenable. 2. I dig these specific songs but a full album of this doesn’t do it for me. So, I mean, this definitely has a chance to impress me since they’re two for three with me so far. Also yeah don’t worry about these guys qualifying as black metal between the guitar tones and the vocals and my previous experience all, I already have them slotted away as such. This seems to be a bit more melodic in tone than what I previously remember from them, which was more riff-based than anything. Honestly I kinda get Iron Maiden vibes off the riffs and leads, and especially the solo. Am I wrong to think that? I’m not a huge Maiden fan but I know some of their stuff. It’s not necessarily a style that’s ever going to do exceptionally well with me, but it’s a pretty fun one regardless.
Final Thoughts:
I just don’t know how else to put this other than say that hard rock/”heavy metal” of this variety just generally isn’t my thing. It’s a fun, rockin’ tune, absolutely. That’s the defining characteristic of this song, and this band in general. I think the guitar leads are pretty nice throughout, and the riffing is solid too.
The vocals… I don’t mind them, but I’ve never quite gotten why “black’n’roll” really needs to be a thing, I just always feel like the vocals are mismatched here. I don’t know why, the tones and riffing style really isn’t super far removed from a black metal sound. And it doesn’t sound awful. Nothing about this sounds awful. Nothing about this really even sounds mediocre. It’s all super solid. It’s a solid song that just evokes next to no reaction from me.
It goes like… long intro of bass and guitar… all the vocal bits… guitar solo, outro, done. That’s about all the song has to it. It feels too simple to really have a ton of depth to it. I feel like I’m barely familiar with it yet I feel like I know every note at the same time. It’s weird too, I do remember being more into the two songs I was sent by these guys last year. I haven’t gone back to relisten to them since then, though, and I wasn’t too into that album either.
I don’t know what to say about this song. This writeup is kind of a mess because I just have nothing to comment on here, really. It’s just not for me. I was originally considering giving this a slightly higher score but this song probably evokes the least positive feelings of any song here, despite a relative lack of negative feelings. I’m really frustrated by this song, and this band. I’m probably just putting them on the banned list outright, next time. This would probably be amazing live, though.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Bonus: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Dacul: The Comet is Coming - Blood of the Past
Theme: 2019 Jazz
First Impressions:
You’re two for two so far on sending stuff from albums I listened to like, a week or two ago, haha. I didn’t actually finish this album at the time but maybe I just wasn’t feeling it, either that or this sound just isn’t for me, hard to judge yet. I guess so far, my thoughts… the lead performances are pretty solid and impressive on a technical level, and it’s got an okay slow groove to it, but it all comes off a bit… dry to me. I also can pin this up as an example of a bad spoken world section (or at least one I do not like at all) in contrast to the good example from last round. It’s a kind of industrial sound overall too… something I’m also generally averse to. Dunno, on first listen I’m just not feeling the vibe of this one, though it’s not unpleasant to listen to either.
Final Thoughts:
I think ultimately what brings this one down for me is specifically the spoken word bit, with the rest of it being… kinda cool, in a sense? The repetitive groove is a bit unchanging and a bit too straightforward to get into on its own, but the sax playing is great and full of energy. There’s a bit of atmosphere to the song as well, layers of synths and organs coming in in the background of the sax just going wild. The first three minutes are all pretty dang good, basically. Even the quiet bit and the synth solo during it are kinda neat.
And like, the instrumentation during the spoken word section is pretty solid too – it’s definitely got a lot less going on, to make room for the spoken word bits in the front of the song. There’s a sense to build of it, thought it’s definitely a bit subtle.
I just. Do not like anything about the spoken word segment at all though. It’s over 2 minutes long, her voice is very unappealing to me and doesn’t escalate in any way, it’s very flat and monotone. I’m not even really paying much attention to the words said, honestly, but am I really missing anything?
The stuff that comes after, it’s pretty fine. The instrumentation tries to pick up for a bit but doesn’t really have any momentum to go off of. The song ends with an extended breakdown and I’m a fan of the sax wailing that comes in here alongside the drums kind of going wild too, sounds like something that could be on Blackjazz honestly. This whole song, sans the spoken word, probably wouldn’t feel that out of place on Blackjazz, though it’s not as intense as that album tends to be.
This has at least grown on me a little, and if the song was just the first three minutes and then the last minute and a half it’d be getting a much higher rating, but the overall package I just don’t really think I’d want to come back to very often.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Bonus: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Puppies_On_Acid: Quo Vadis - Silence Calls the Storm
Theme: None
First Impressions:
Hmmm two older death metal tunes in a row. That’s a rough start alright. Though this one immediately gets a favorable comparison for a few reasons; being much more melodic, having a nice fretless bass sound, possibly being instrumental? Ahh, no, but the growls seem fine, especially in comparison to the last song, so yeah whatever. It also gets positively compared to Infant Annihilator by virtue of being tech death-y without being just pure wank. Gorod probably would’ve done better by virtue of having a more modern sound but that album is banned so, oops. I also wish the bass was more prominent here. Digging the quiet break towards the end though, it’s a fun little reprieve. Maybe I need some time to get familiar with the melodic hooks here but this seems. Solid. You’re likely to get a pass due to positive comparisons to other stuff I’ve already been sent, but I also don’t see this one blowing me away either.
Final Thoughts:
Technical Death Metal really is a tricky genre for me. I don’t really much of anything in the genre from pre-2010’s, in part due to production, but also in part due to intent. Generally I see the genre as “fast tempos, faster playing, heaviness for heaviness’ sake”.
This song definitely kicks off immediately with some awful sounding chugs that immediately color my first impression, but it develops into… well, basically exactly what I expect a tech death song to sound like. Colorful melodic guitar lines, heavy riffing, fast tempos, the prominent bass has been a trend I’ve noticed a lot too. A lot of bands in the genre seem to mix the bass rather high, and I’m all for that because I do love to hear it. This has some solid melodic hooks to it and a dynamic enough approach to its sound, too.
But it all just sounds exactly the same. I’ve probably heard that galloping riff or something similar to it in another tech death song. All these melodic guitar noodling leads are interchangeable and don’t really evoke any emotion in me. It’s a rather cold sound that knows what it’s doing well, but what it’s doing is just not something that particularly interests me.
Even the quiet break seems almost a little cliché, though maybe it was innovative at the time this was made, I don’t know. I do like it, it’s one of the better sections of the song – a great bassline, a kind of playful vibe to it, some actual warmth to the overall sound of the song, doesn’t feel super out of place.
I just don’t see much that makes this stand out from what most tech death bands have been doing for the past decade though, and I’ve probably listened to more of the genre than I really should have. Would this have done better than the Gorod song? Dunno, I didn’t go back and relisten to it, but that Gorod album had a lot of the same problems. Interchangeable melodies and riffs, a lack of emotional depth, etc. I think after this last listen I could see myself being inclined to be more charitable towards this one that I was originally planning to, since really only the very start is awful, but if I compare it to literally anything else I’ve given a 3 or higher to it does kinda pale in comparison, too. It’s not bad. It’s not something I’ll be returning to, either, but. Solid, but not for me.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Train of Naught: LENIO - Weight On A Scale
Theme: None
First Impressions:
No real clue what to expect with this one but my impressions take a turn for the positive really quick and the loud bit that starts at like :45 is the first thing this round so far that’s really impressed me. I get a CHON-y sort of vibe from some of the guitar lines but wrapped up in more of a post-hardcore sound and structure. Which is probably better than a straight up CHON-type math rock sound anyways, I have one album of that and that’s all I really ever needed of that sound. I think the one thing that’s letting this down for me right now is the production coming off a bit flat/muddy, and maybe a lack of any really strong vocals, but it’s nice. A sound I both quite like and feel is a bit muted at the same time, though I could see this growing on me even despite it being an early favorite.
Final Thoughts:
Of all the songs in this round, I feel like this one has ended up, for better worse, as the least memorable to me. I listen to it and every time I go “oh, this is pretty nice!” Which is weird, since this really is right up my alley in terms of sound. The production doesn’t really bother me that much and the texture of the sound makes up for it, and then the riffs and guitar lines are all pretty solid stuff.
I think it’s the vocals, mostly. They have very little presence and very little power. Like, there’s a “whoa-oh” type bit in the song that is just the most pathetic-sounding thing when it should be triumphant and cathartic. His voice isn’t unpleasant, not at all, it’s very warm and gentle, and that works in the quieter parts, but he just can’t sell the heavy parts as much.
I also feel this one’s a bit lacking in motif or direction. There’s one repeated guitar line I can pick out and the whoa-oh bit gets repeated like, twice, but other than that there’s no real structure to how this one progresses.
I’ve spent like 5 minutes trying to figure out what else to add here but I don’t really think there’s much else to say. It’s a bit disappointing overall because I feel this song just lacks impact and has kind of turned me off of wanting to look into this band further, too. It’s not at all bad and there’s aspects of it that do work but I highly suspect I’m going to forget it exists by the end of the roulette.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
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ariich: Arkentype - Rosetta
Theme: 2019 Prog metal
First Impressions:
Hmm, I’m trying to pin down a specific comparison for this sound but having trouble coming up with an obvious one. I guess comments, then. Not really a fan of this vocal style in general, not an especially bad one but it usually feels flat to me emotively. The song seems a bit more riff-driven than anything and the janky, djent-without-the-tones type riffs are better than djent-with-the-tones riffs but they still don’t really feel like they have a ton of groove to them either way. Feels like they need a bit more oomph to hit as hard as they should. The guitar solo towards the end is pretty nice though. The song gets a surprise blast of intensity right at the end too, alright. I feel like I’m reacting to this more than I’m enjoying it and that I should be enjoying it more than I am, I dunno what to say. Fundamentally nothing wrong with it and it’s the kind of thing that’s most obviously up my alley but at the same time it isn’t really standing out much either.
Final Thoughts:
Hmm, this one snuck up on me a little, I think. It’s not exactly a fresh sound by any means – it’s that standard djent-prog that’s been big for a lot of the decade, with mid-low register vocals that generally don’t do as much for me as higher-register vocals, but I dunno. There’s something about it that just feels natural, the grooves hit home decently well and there’s some decent power to the chorus.
And the way the song escalates throughout is pretty strong too – starts off mellow, picks up the tempo a bit after, and when the heavier riffs hit towards the middle the growls enter to join them. The ending I realize now is a reprise of an earlier bit of the song but it ramps up the intensity a bit further with it too and caps things off with another heavier moment and chorus, so it does end on a satisfying note.
It’s not necessarily a song I find especially memorable regardless – the closest comparison I think I can draw is the Phi record from last year, which had a very similar aural quality to this one, though that one also had a layer of atmosphere to it that I did like, even if I never ended up blown away by it either. There really isn’t a ton to comment on regarding this one though, I feel. It was never in consideration for being a favorite, but I’ve casually enjoyed it on most of my listens this round too. Solid stuff.
Oh, and it doesn’t get the bonus point because Spotify and Youtube both agree it was released in 2018. If it was on a 2019 album I probably wouldn’t have noticed this, but…
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Bolsters: Carly Rae Jepsen - No Drug Like Me
Theme: 2019 Pop
First Impressions:
Realistically I should probably ban Emotion since I did listen to that album one time but it wasn’t really my thing. This again seems to be going the downbeat synthpop route which I’m more into than the glittery, bright synthpop I most know her for, which, yes, you know I have a type, I’m not gonna complain that you’re playing into it. I don’t really think the chorus on this one is very strong though, it’s a bit janky rhythmically and the melody isn’t very strong, and it’s kind of drowned out by the bass too. She sounds a little breathy here too, I don’t know if she’s always like that but it’s maybe a bit much for me. It’s nice for what it is but I don’t know if it’s quite working for me in the way that similar stuff has in the past.
Final Thoughts:
Well, crap. It got pretty well stuck in my head after like, my third listen or so? I’m not even really sure why. The chorus melody genuinely isn’t that sticky, and there’s nothing about the production that really speaks to me either. Yet I find the chorus really memorable nonetheless?
The prechorus is probably the best part of this though, really. That bit’s got a great melody and some really lush production backing it up every time it happens. It creates a great build into the chorus and makes the chorus feel more impactful by giving the listener a bit of room to breathe between the verse and chorus.
I still stand by my comments that she sounds kind of breathy and the vocal rhythms are awkward, but then I have to follow that up by saying that it never really bothered me much on relistens either? There’s not much to this besides the standard verse-chorus structure, barely even a bridge to speak of between the last two choruses.
I still can’t say I’m utterly in love with it since it does have some kind of glaring flaws to my ears, and it’s not the best of the brighter pop stuff you’ve sent me, but y’know, I enjoyed this one a lot during this round, I can’t really complain much.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Bonus: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Nekov: Dredg - Cartoon Showroom
Theme: None
First Impressions:
I’ve gotten something from this album before in my first roulette but I wasn’t super into it there, if I recall. I since did get El Cielo, which is… good, but very overrated, a handful of really good songs but a lot of just okay stuff and a kind of janky flow. Anyways this song though. I like the atmosphere it has and I like the soulful performance, pretty immediately. I do expect it’s gonna have The Loud Part at some point, though, because otherwise it’s gonna feel like it peaks early and then doesn’t go anywhere after. And well. It kinda starts to get there but then feels like it cuts off before it get to that part. Okay. I like the general vibe and sound of this one but it really feels incomplete and unsatisfying by the end.
Final Thoughts:
Same as last round, the top 3 this time have basically been locked in since the start with nothing really happening to change my opinion in that regard. This one wins me over mostly by the vocals, which sound a lot better than I remember him sounding on more of El Cielo. He’s got enough power to belt when he needs to but there’s a more dynamic approach to his vocals than just going all-out with every note during the louder parts, which just makes it more interesting than a flat “loud” performance, and he can sell the quieter parts well too while also surprising me when he does raise his voice there. It’s just a really compelling vocal performance.
The instrumentation is basically a side-show to the vocals here, but it ebbs and flows to match what the vocals need to be singing over. A quiet, kind of playful but kind of somber guitar line for the louder moments, layers of instrumentation for the louder chorus, little flourishes of tremolo guitars to keep things interesting. It’s not much of a band tune admittedly – no drums, and I don’t think there’s a bass guitar here either, the piano seems to be providing the bassline the whole way through. Besides that I don’t hear a ton other than some touches of organs and strings, I think? Just enough to create a lush layer of atmosphere without detracting from the main elements driving the song.
I still do stand by my impression that the song could use a bit more of a proper ending, the build there is pretty solid but I can imagine the song feeling more satisfying overall if there was a moment where the drums and bass kicked in and the chorus got reprised over that, or something like that? I don’t know. Maybe the next track on the album pays off that build and I’m complaining about something that’s only present in isolation, I don’t really know yet, but I think I’ll be finding out when I do check out this album.
It’s a good song. It’s made me interested again in a band that I had already kind of tapped out of a while back, which isn’t something that happens every day either. I don’t think it’s as good as the best songs of El Cielo, but it’s definitely above average compared to a lot of what’s on that album. This one’s maybe a touch borderline for the rating so I’m just gonna give it the higher one because I feel I’ve been too negative in the rest of this round.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Elite: Look to Windward - Vad Åsken Sade
Theme: Foreign Language Prog Metal
First Impressions:
The intro of this is pretty striking but following that it starts giving off pretty straightforward prog metal vibes. Some of the riffs seem kinda djenty, some seem a bit more in line with the prog-power type vibe, there’s some kind of unusual synth vibes coming off this one, the lyrics are definitely very much in English so I can’t exactly call it a foreign language track, the growls show up for a bit. There’s a vaguely jazzy instrumental break that I can dig, even if it feels like it kind of goes nowhere. I also think it compares positively to the previous song I listened to by virtue of being a bit more interesting & having better vocals, so it’s got that in its favor too. Another one where I come away from my first listen liking but not really loving this, though again I see room for it to grow on me.
Final Thoughts:
I can’t give this the bonus point because I’ve only found evidence to suggest this song has English lyrics at some points & the rest of the lyrics I can’t make out just seem kind of incomprehensible overall but I can occasionally pick out words that do sound pretty English to me. I was considering having the joke of that bonus be “well if you send it in any language that’s a foreign language to you it’ll count” but that’s just a stupid loophole and you all know what I mean with the theme anyways.
I guess that highlights basically the biggest problem I feel this song has, anyways. The vocals do not have much presence at all, I almost wonder if this would’ve been better served as an instrumental and having something else replace the vocals. The clean voice is nice but it’s mixed so low it doesn’t feel like it has much power, and the harsh vocals are just completely incomprehensible (and also mixed super low, someone really wanted the instruments loud I guess, it’s almost as bad mix-wise as East of the Wall’s 4th album).
Absolutely everything else about this though I do love. The harsh and noisy tones that are ever-present in the background, the variety on display in terms of riffing and melodies and all the different song segments that fit together so effortlessly and flow naturally. It’s the way I like my prog metal – doing enough to always keep me interested without ever feeling like a complete mess. It does kind of again fall into the trap of seeming to lack any recurring motifs or themes, or at least I’ve had trouble picking out any, but the smooth overall flow to the entire song lessens the issue to me and ends up making the whole thing feel rather relistenable, I definitely want to keep spinning this one, maybe more than even the round winner, just to pick out all the different things happening here.
It’s not without flaw and it doesn’t evoke excessively positive emotions in me, but it’s been one of the highlights of the playlist every round and definitely much, much better than what you sent last round, hah.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Evermind: Oh Hiroshima - Aria
Theme: None
First Impressions:
Didn’t quite know what to expect off this given the lack of theme and only vague familiarity with the name but it seems like we’re getting some nice post-rock type stuff with kind of ethereal group vocals and some lovely strings. First impression is pretty damn positive, actually, this is very lovely stuff and I can only hope it has some climax to pay it o- YEP, there it is, right as I was typing. I honestly kind of get some Oceansize vibes off this which is unquestionably a good thing, though I almost kind of wish it was longer. It’s one of those cases where the sound isn’t necessarily that fresh, but it’s just done really damn well and works all the better for it.
Final Thoughts:
This is outright one of the simplest songs in the entire round, yet its simplicity is kind of why it works as well as it does? A basic guitar arpeggio pattern, low-key drums with enough texture to keep them fitting the mood without sounding sparse, some really effective vocal melodies, a bit of a buildup throughout with little elements popping in every now and again, loud part at the end, that’s really the entire song at its core.
I find it relaxing to listen to stuff like this as long as it does have the emotionally resonant edge to it that I find a lot of similar stuff is lacking. You can dick around for 10 minutes with pleasant and dreamy sounds and whatnot and then do that for an entire album and you’ve made a perfectly listenable album with no distinctive flavor to it.
Granted, maybe this song doesn’t necessarily have a ton of distinctive flavor to it either. I could see many bands making this song and doing it just as well. I don’t think that discredits how well this band has made this song, though, and I can only really gripe about wishing it was a bit longer (and maybe having, like, a bit more nuance to the instrumentation too, but ehh, nitpicks.)
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Round Winner Bonus: (https://i.imgur.com/o3BBdpG.png)
Current Standings:
ariich: 10
Evermind: 9
Dacul: 8
Bolsters: 8
Nekov: 8
Puppies_On_Acid: 7
Buddyhunter1: 6
Train of Naught: 6
TAC: 6
Elite: 5
-
Scores in first post updated.
Banned during the roulette list updated.
Bonus themes sheet updated.
There's still a lot of bonus themes left, and I guess I recommend trying for them but uhh. A lot of bonus themes haven't been doing so hot, haha. This is not convincing me to keep doing bonus themes in the future.
I'd like to have submissions no later than 8 AM PST on 10/27 (Monday). If I get all submissions by Sunday night I'll start listening to them then, hangman will start as soon as I have everything, etc.
Right now we're on track for there to be 8 rounds total (6 left) before the finals, based on the current standings. This is obviously subject to change if needed, but there's still plenty of roulette to go and plenty of room for anyone to catch up.
-
also, katt, just listened to the song you sent before you had to drop out of the roulette, it's pretty good stuff, would've scored top 3 easy in either of the rounds for far I think. not gonna say what artist it was or ban them or anything but i'll be holding on to this to check out the album after the roulette if they don't get sent, i see at least one person on my RYM friends list has rated it pretty highly too, so :corn
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That didn't do nearly as well as I had hoped. I love that album. I think it has great melodies throughout and a lot of original ideas that were way ahead of it's time in the Tech Death genre.
Time to find something better.
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I agree that it sounds ahead of its time, but that's not necessarily a good thing when now in 2019 most tech death bands are doing roughly the same thing :P
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Sending Spectral Lore :neverusethis:
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whatever joke you're trying to make is a little lost on me i think :P
-
whatever joke you're trying to make is a little lost on me i think :P
Eh, you'll see. I just PM'd you. :corn
-
i came, i saw, i rejected
also y'all please don't send me 20 minute songs i didn't set a length limit but, be reasonable, okay? :lol
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I figured unreasonable was Night of Day Day of Darkness territory..... :lol
Edit - Sending Sol Omega and the Murder of the Universe instead.
-
if 10 people all sent 20 minute songs i'd have over 3 hours of music, which means that results would take about two weeks :P
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:rollin Just found a song I'm happy with..........it's on your secondary banned list....
Found another......also on the banned list. :mehlin Apparently I'm out of material :laugh:
-
i check out way too much music, i know :lol
-
Okay, won the round, my work here is done I suppose :)
I'll send something today, just need to decide if it's Arch Matheos or not.
-
:victorydance:
Great assessment of the song. Glad you liked it. I still feel like the lyrics are in a different language, but that’s mostly due to them being unintelligible.
Now to keep scoring high and I might actually have a chance at getting somewhere here!
-
Oh boy.
You already have my Round 3 failure.
-
Cyril, why don't you like fun? :lol
Will deliberate and send sometime this weekend
-
I do like fun. They're on the banned list, y'know!
-
Up to 6 songs in now, Train has to resend & said he probably won't be around for the rest of the weekend though so we'll see if I get all the songs in on time, otherwise it might have to wait until monday.
in the meantime i'm probably gonna go through all the albums from last round that i want to listen to today
-
I’m playing a gig tonight; I will send you something tomorrow my time!
-
Re-sent!
-
I’m playing a gig tonight; I will send you something tomorrow my time!
have a ball :metal
-
Seems a pretty fair review, though not sure how I got the release date wrong - I think I must have watched a YouTube video of the promo vid that was uploaded in 2019, and had it in my head that all 3 single came out this year so assumed it was correct. Whoops!
Anyway round 3 sent!
-
(https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3368010475_5.jpg)
hmm. i kinda was ready to be let down by this one/the one song sent to be the only really good one and that's kind of the case but kind of not? i thought the back half was consistently stronger than the first half and i did enjoy it all the way through, needs more listens though
(https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3726977860_10.jpg)
didn't really know what to expect here given the nature of the song i was sent but it is way more post-metal than I expected, though it still keeps a progressive edge throughout. some weird choices here (the pointless noise track, the way the last song just... stops for a few minutes) which combined with the long length (74ish minutes) makes this drag a bit, but it's an interesting record nonetheless and i do want to revisit it
(https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.progarchives.com%2Fprogressive_rock_discography_covers%2F1814%2Fcover_235721492009.jpg&hash=cbad27d87a1c12c8fb5945c70bad12cac9eefc18)
didn't super know what to expect on this one either but it kinda seems like they're trying to remake El Cielo, or using at least a very similar structure to it, but a more straightforward and chill vibe all-around. some songs here i didn't really care for but there were a decent few i liked to, i'll at least give it another spin if nothing else
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hmm. i kinda was ready to be let down by this one/the one song sent to be the only really good one and that's kind of the case but kind of not? i thought the back half was consistently stronger than the first half and i did enjoy it all the way through, needs more listens though
Yeah, I just listened to it again and I enjoy the whole album honestly.
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Sent again because Cyril sucks at banlists. :P
-
sorry for not keeping track of every last one of the hundreds of artists i check out every year :P
right at this moment, I believe I am missing only Nekov for round 3.
i just had to clear out my inbox due to some SHENANIGANS that are going on and i don't think i accidentally deleted any roulette PMs but
-
also @ everyone if you forgot to submit a theme make sure to do that, i don't know if some of y'all don't want a theme or you just forgot one :P
probably let me know if you intend to not have any theme so it's easier for my bookkeeping
-
The theme I could have used for this one was stolen in the first round. :lol
I don't think I'll be going after themes for the rest of the roulette tbh, just gonna prioritize stuff I think you'd like the most.
-
ask for a theme if you think you have even the slightest chance at it, it's free points tbh :P
you lose nothing by asking for a theme and not getting the point for it
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Well the closest genre is pop and it's not foreign-language, pre-2000s or instrumental ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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I know my song doesn't fit any of the themes.
-
I still don't have anything from Nekov yet, but I'm gonna put up hangman tomorrow morning regardless of whether he's sent or not. Will also do most of first listens tonight & post first impressions either tomorrow morning or tomorrow evening depending on when/if I get Nekov's song.
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Hey guys, I'm usually not very active on the forum during weekends. I'll send something in the next hour or so
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I sent earlier than you :splodetard:
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Both you and Sacul. Not my proudest moment. Just sent
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Round 3 First Impressions
It’s not unpleasant at all, but the style is one I always struggle with and this isn’t really doing anything to surprise me in that regard either.
The strength of this type of song is almost exclusively in whether or not it resonates emotionally and I’m worried this song really isn’t going to have that power for me.
I don’t know, the general vibe of this one just seems like something entirely alien to my tastes and hasn’t changed my original first impression of this artist in any way.
Not quite what I was expecting from this artist, but I do like it quite a bit on first listen, even if it feels like it doesn’t really have a proper ending.
On first listen I’m not quite sure what to make of this one – it’s intriguing and interesting but there’s some key elements of it that aren’t quite working for me either.
Vocals really steal the show here, but I wish the instrumentation was as compelling to match.
Not quite sure this hits the theme you’re going for, and maybe doesn’t develop quite as much as I’d like, but it’s still a pretty dang cool song nonetheless.
A very pleasant sound and a decent amount of build, though I’m concerned about how much staying power this going to have in the long run.
It’s in the awkward position of sounding pleasant enough that I don’t mind it but also stylistically just not being my thing and not particularly changing my mind on the style either.
There’s definitely a lot going on in this one that I can’t even really capture with a first impression but it’s absolutely the best thing you’ve sent so far, no question.
This is probably the most diverse round I've ever had in any roulette I've run, it's kind of ridiculous :lol
First impressions are that it's all over the place quality-wise, the best and worst stuff here I feel is better/worse respectively than round 2's stuff. Anyways hangman in a few minutes.
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Hangman!
???: _i___ ____ __b_l_ - _____i__
???: _______ - _______l __i____
???: ____ - ___ ___
???: ___l__ ____i__ - I_ Bl___ ___ Li_b_ ___ ____ ___ _l__
???: ___ill__ - ___i__ ____
???: __ _illi___ - B_l___
???: _i_______ - ____ __ _i____ ___ _____
???: _l___ B____ - _l___ B____
???: Bill B______ - ____i______
???: _____ - __l___ _____i_
Letters Guessed:
BIL
Nekov waits 3
Buddy waits 2
Bolsters waits 1
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B
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According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyway because bees don't care what humans think is impossible.
updated above
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Not quite what I was expecting from this artist, but I do like it quite a bit on first listen, even if it feels like it doesn’t really have a proper ending.
A very pleasant sound and a decent amount of build, though I’m concerned about how much staying power this going to have in the long run.
One of these two, probably the first.
I
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I can confirm that your song is among the ten impressions posted.
Updated. Leaving for work now but I'll update if I can.
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Give me L
-
Bill is revealed.
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T
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Hangman!
???: _
Ti___ ____ __b_la - ___a_i__
???: _a_at__ - ____t_al __i____
???: ____ - ___ ___
???: __a_l_t _t__i__ - I_ Bl___ A__ Li_b_ A__ ____ A__ _lay
???: ___illa_ - ___i__ A_t_
???: AA _illi___ - B_l___
???: _i_t_____ - ____ __ _i_t__ A__ _ta__
???: _la__ B_a__ - _la__ B_a__
???: Bill Bruford - ____i______
???: _a_a_ - __lt__ A____ia
Letters Guessed:
ABILTY
ariich waits 3
Dacul waits 2
TAC waits 1
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Y
-
Billie Beilish
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Only one Y it looks like.
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Bill Bruford
-
Let's have an A.
Oh and yeah mine could be any of the impressions that don't mention a theme.
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ABILTY
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S
-
One Waits TAC
I'll give it to you if we're still waiting on letters by the evening or something dunno
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TAC waits 1
Y
Let's have an A.
S
What did I do wrong? :lol
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I'm editing the post as new letters are guessed, you wait 1 -after- ariich's last guess :P
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Arrrr :yarr
arrrryarr
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Hangman!
???: Tides From Nebula - D__a_i_e
???: _arat__ - __e_tral _rie___
???: _i__ - __r ___
???: __arlet _t_rie_ - I_ Bl___ A_d Li_b_ A_d __re A_d _lay
???: Gorillaz - Empire Ants
???: AA _illi___ - Bel___
???: _i_ter___ - ____ __ _i_ter A_d _tar_
???: _la__ Bea__ - _la__ Bea__
???: Bill Bruford - __r_i_e_e__
???: _ara_ - __lte_ A__e_ia
Letters Guessed:
ABDEILSTY
TAC waits 3
Elite waits 2
ariich waits 1
:yarr
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E
-
E you soon!
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Gorillaz
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GIVE ME THE D!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :corn
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Finally someone wants my D.
Too bad there's not much of it
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Tides From Nebula
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Empire Ants
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done up a second listen. three songs this round i think are quite good but the average is definitely up from last round too. we'll see how it all pans out. results likely on thursday given my usual schedule for these
-
J
-
Maraton - Spectral Friends
Wintersun - Sons of Winter and Stars
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Hangman!
???: Tides From Nebula - D__a_i_e
???: Maraton - Spectral Friends
???: _i__ - __r ___
???: __arlet _t_rie_ - I_ Bl___ A_d Li_b_ A_d __re A_d _lay
???: Gorillaz - Empire Ants
???: AA _illi___ - Bel___
???: Wintersun - Sons of Winter and Stars
???: _la__ Bea__ - _la__ Bea__
???: Bill Bruford - __r_i_e_e__
???: _ara_ - __lte_ A__e_ia
Letters Guessed:
ABDEIJLSTY
Bolsters waits 3
TAC waits 2
Elite waits 1
there is no J.
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I assumed Wintersun was banned, oh well.
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Pretty sure Cyril himself sent Gorillaz to me in a roulette once, so I'd have assumed they were banned.
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I don't think I've ever listened to Wintersun, or if I have I don't remember it :lol
And I only know a handful of Gorillaz songs! It is amusing to be sent a song by an artist I've sent before though.
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Scarlet Stories-In Blood And Limbs And Gore And Clay
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Sounds like an evil cover of Bodies of Water - Gold, Tan, Peach and Gray :neverusethis:
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Black Beard-Black Beard
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Tides From Nebula- Dopamine
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I assumed Wintersun was banned, oh well.
Thought so myself too, or just didn't think to check. Gonna be kicking myself if they end up doing really well :lol
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Hangman!
???: Tides From Nebula - Dopamine
???: Maraton - Spectral Friends
???: _i__ - __r ___
???: Scarlet Stories - In Blood And Limbs And Gore And Clay
???: Gorillaz - Empire Ants
???: A.A. Williams - Belong
???: Wintersun - Sons of Winter and Stars
???: _la__ Bea__ - _la__ Bea__
???: Bill Bruford - __r_i_e_e__
???: _ara_ - __lte_ A__e_ia
Letters Guessed:
ABDEIJLSTY
Bolsters waits 3
TAC waits 2
Elite waits 1
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And I only know a handful of Gorillaz songs! It is amusing to be sent a song by an artist I've sent before though.
That can't happen to anyone often, surely.
EDIT: Also, AA Williams... Belong?
-
Ariich belongs to the group of people who are correct
-
*smugface*
-
You should try guessing a letter imo
-
X :biggrin:
-
None of those!
-
c
-
Ariich sent Wintersun
-
Ariich sent Wintersun
No idea how you guessed that. :neverusethis:
Let's have an R.
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Hangman!
???: Tides From Nebula - Dopamine
???: Maraton - Spectral Friends
???: P!nk - __r ___
???: Scarlet Stories - In Blood And Limbs And Gore And Clay
???: Gorillaz - Empire Ants
???: A.A. Williams - Belong
ariich: Wintersun - Sons of Winter and Stars
???: Glass Beach - Glass Beach
???: Bill Bruford - __r_i_e_e__
???: _ara_ - __lte_ A__e_ia
Letters Guessed:
ABCDEIJLPRTXY
ariich waits 1
R was already given but I missed it in Letters Guessed apparently
-
In that case, I need a P.
-
You get one. No more, no less.
-
Pink?
Interesting choice if so.
-
P!nk technically but i hate that stylization :P
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Puppies sent Gorillaz
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Puppies sent Gorillaz
That's a negative Ghost Rider
-
Glass Beach-Glass Beach
-
Glass Beach-Glass Beach
I thought that too, but then S has been guessed so it can't be right unless it's an epic fail from Cyril.
-
Same with Scarlet Stories.
Cyril is playing games.
-
Same with Scarlet Stories.
Cyril is playing games.
Yeah, he is missing at least 1 S still
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sorry for trying to update at work since y'all keep being annoying guessing letters while i'm at work and then complaining that i don't update enough :P
I think I put up S on the letters guessed instead of R on accident is what happened tho, hence why R was missing and no S's were ever filled in
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I never complained about not updating,. Your work is important.
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I never complained about not updating,. Your work is important.
This
Don't get snippy with me boy! I'll make you go cut yourself a switch! :getoffmylawn:
:biggrin: Yeah I'm getting old and cantankerous :jingleboy:
-
puppies joins the fogey club, never looks back
-
Using a switch is even fogey for me.
-
Tides from Nebula is probably Romdrums
-
Tides from Nebula is probably Romdrums
Tides From Nebula definitely wasn't sent by someone not in this roulette :lol
there's a lot of interesting who-sent-what's here, tbh
-
Tides from Nebula is probably Romdrums
Tides From Nebula definitely wasn't sent by someone not in this roulette :lol
there's a lot of interesting who-sent-what's here, tbh
Ah, Whoopsie!
-
I sent two strawberries.
-
it's too early for me to do all comparisons but your song this round is easily your best so far :P
maybe i'll do comparisons in waves just to keep the suspense building
-
it's too early for me to do all comparisons but your song this round is easily your best so far :P
Like I said, two strawberries. :lol
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Tides from Nebula is probably Romdrums
there's a lot of interesting who-sent-what's here, tbh
I think mine’s fairly obvious
-
it's too early for me to do all comparisons but your song this round is easily your best so far :P
maybe i'll do comparisons in waves just to keep the suspense building
I'm ready for my next v.
-
I'm ready to go even lower, down, below.
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That’s what I get for introducing A.A.Williams to people :millahhhh
Sent by evermind?
-
Hangman!
???: Tides From Nebula - Dopamine
???: Maraton - Spectral Friends
???: P!nk - __r ___
???: Scarlet Stories - In Blood And Limbs And Gore And Clay
???: Gorillaz - Empire Ants
Evermind: A.A. Williams - Belong
ariich: Wintersun - Sons of Winter and Stars
???: Glass Beach - Glass Beach
???: Bill Bruford - __r_i_e_e__
???: _ara_ - __lte_ A__e_ia
Letters Guessed:
ABCDEIJLPRTXY
ariich waits 1
I'm ready to go even lower, down, below.
At the bottom... you will be able to observe the train.
-
That’s what I get for introducing A.A.Williams to people :millahhhh
Sent by evermind?
Don't worry, I'll probably get one strawberry for it
-
N
-
Hangman!
???: Tides From Nebula - Dopamine
???: Maraton - Spectral Friends
???: P!nk - For Now
???: Scarlet Stories - In Blood And Limbs And Gore And Clay
Buddy: Gorillaz - Empire Ants
Evermind: A.A. Williams - Belong
ariich: Wintersun - Sons of Winter and Stars
???: Glass Beach - Glass Beach
???: Bill Bruford - __r_i_eness
Puppies: Karas - Molten Amnesia
Letters Guessed:
ABCDEIJLNPRSTXY
TAC waits 1
probably one of the most useful letters left, surprisingly enough
i'll have comparisons up tonight, probably like 2 hours max
-
I could have sworn we guessed S twice now. Third time is the charm? :corn
-
I did guess S!
Pink is For Now
-
The last song starts with Molten
-
I could have sworn we guessed S twice now. Third time is the charm? :corn
no i removed S because nobody had actually guessed it (TAC guessed it when he was supposed to be waiting) but i added it now
-
Karas-Molten Amnesia
Karas sounds like a Puppies band
-
indeed it is :tup
-
Anyone who also played in Katt's recent roulette should know which one I sent :P
-
Oh yeah you sent Gorillaz
-
Oh yeah you sent Gorillaz
WRONG
(yup)
-
Round 3 Comparisons
v Evermind
^ Elite
v Nekov
v Bolsters
v ariich
v Train of Naught
^ Puppies_On_Acid
^ Dacul
^ Buddyhunter1
^ TAC
very turbulent round, i'm interested to see how the scores shake out once everything's finalized :corn
results should be tomorrow night.
-
Oh nooo
-
yeah you got a 0 tbh :millahhhh
-
Dammit!
-
This is going well!
-
Maraton is probably TAC
-
Hangman!
Train: Tides From Nebula - Dopamine
TAC: Maraton - Spectral Friends
???: P!nk - For Now
Elite: Scarlet Stories - In Blood And Limbs And Gore And Clay
Buddy: Gorillaz - Empire Ants
Evermind: A.A. Williams - Belong
ariich: Wintersun - Sons of Winter and Stars
???: Glass Beach - Glass Beach
???: Bill Bruford - Forgiveness
Puppies: Karas - Molten Amnesia
Letters Guessed:
ABCDEIJLNPRSTXY
yeah
-
Well, that's not ideal...
-
Bill Bruford song is Forgiveness
-
Yeah now figure out who sent what before I post results tonight and your reward will be None
-
Yeah now figure out who sent what before I post results tonight and your reward will be None
Or will it be Next to None :neverusethis:
-
Wondering now if I should have actually made a bonus point for Best Hangman Solver for each round :P
-
Did Elite send Glass Beach?
-
No sir!
-
Err, Train sent Tides from Nebula?
-
Yes ma'am!
-
Elite sent Scarlett Stories
-
Yup.
Bolsters, Dacul, and Nekov left for what it's worth.
-
Bolsters sent Glass Beach?
-
nope
-
Bolsters sent pink
Sacul is Glass Beaches
Nekov is Bill Bruford
-
Bolsters sent pink
Sacul is Glass Beaches
Nekov is Bill Bruford
This sounds right.
Results when??!??!? :|
-
Hangman!
Train: Tides From Nebula - Dopamine
TAC: Maraton - Spectral Friends
Bolsters: P!nk - For Now
Elite: Scarlet Stories - In Blood And Limbs And Gore And Clay
Buddy: Gorillaz - Empire Ants
Evermind: A.A. Williams - Belong
ariich: Wintersun - Sons of Winter and Stars
Dacul: Glass Beach - Glass Beach
Nekov: Bill Bruford - Forgiveness
Puppies: Karas - Molten Amnesia
results later, I got home from work late :P
-
Wondering now if I should have actually made a bonus point for Best Hangman Solver for each round :P
It's not too late!
-
these writeups are coming out particularly inspired. i hope you all enjoy. i might just start writing all the lower-scoring writeups this way because a few of these songs i don't have a ton to say about until i start memeing & that makes it more fun :lol
-
The two roulettes I'm in right now (yours and TAC's) are like polar opposites in terms of write-ups :rollin
-
Nekov is Bill Bruford
I wish I had 1/10 of his talent...
-
The two roulettes I'm in right now (yours and TAC's) are like polar opposites in terms of write-ups :rollin
frankly TAC is insane for taking on like 100 songs per round and i'm surprised his writeups even came out as long as they are based on that
-
:corn :corn :corn
corn
-
Round 3 Results
Round 3 Playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6rJt66z9OxcaPmOwnl1Nlv
Nekov: Bill Bruford – Forgiveness
Theme: Pre 2000’s Jazz
First Impressions:
Hmm, this theme is another one I worry about since I’m not really looking for pure jazz, and this does kind of seem to be that, or the beginning gives me that impression. It’s very chill and pleasant to listen to, for sure. The bass is probably the highlight, and I’m maybe not super into how the guitars sound, but of course the playing is all very tasteful. Not really a ton else for me to say about this one, I feel. It’s in the awkward position of sounding pleasant enough that I don’t mind it but also stylistically just not being my thing and not particularly changing my mind on the style either.
Final Thoughts:
I enter the coffee shop. I order a tall latte. The barista informs me that this is not Starbucks, this is a real coffee shop, where they only sell real coffee. I order a tall latte. The barista sighs in exhaustion and charges me way too much for the Starbucks-brand coffee he plans to use in the tall latte he does not sell.
I sit down at a table near the window. There is a dog outside. Now there are two dogs outside. There is always a dog outside. It’s Seattle. There are so many dogs outside you’re literally less likely to see a child. The weather is gloomy. The weather is cold. Coffee is hot. Hot is good.
The barista calls my name, as my coffee is ready. I do not hear him. He calls again. I hear him. I walk up to the desk, and take my tall latte, which is neither tall, nor a latte. I take a sip. It tastes bad. I don’t even like coffee. Why did I come to a coffee shop? I add cream and sugar to my coffee. It is now palatable, but not particularly interesting.
All the while, music plays in the background. Sometimes I notice it. I go “yeah, that’s pretty nice”. I will have already forgotten about it by the time I leave. It is a normal day. This is a normal trip to a coffee shop. I do not plan to come back to the coffee shop.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Bonus: (https://i.imgur.com/o3BBdpG.png)
Train of Naught: Tides From Nebula – Dopamine
Theme: Instrumental Post-Metal
First Impressions:
I did check out this album very briefly but the sound I was getting off it didn’t end up interesting me much after a few tracks so I didn’t listen to about half of it. This would’ve probably been in the set of tracks I did listen to though, given its placement? I do vaguely remember the sound of this, electronic post-rock type stuff. This one has a kind of industrial vibe to it almost, which historically I’m not a big fan of, but. Well, regardless of what else happens I do think you’ll get the golden bonus theme on this one, so it’ll balance out regardless. There’s like one fast guitar run that suggests the song wants to get more interesting and there’s some attempt at an instrumental build but I honestly feel like the entire thing would be better served if the synths were dropped entirely? They make parts of this sound just too cluttered. There’s a really cool intense bit in the middle but it’s over all too soon and then we’re back to the industrial sound again. I don’t know, the general vibe of this one just seems like something entirely alien to my tastes and hasn’t changed my original first impression of this artist in any way.
Final Thoughts:
From my post on twitter where I commented on this album when I tried to listen to it, I commented “this sure is background music alright.” I don’t know why I got specifically that impression because I’m not really quite sure how you could listen to this as background music. For starters, I do not like the intro of this in the slightest, the way the synths wobble and pulse with the dissonant tones is genuinely uncomfortable, close to the way that Owen Pallett song from last roulette made me feel, though not quite on that level, and not impacting about half the song.
Between the two moments that prominently feature that synth bit is an okay industrial groove. It’s nothing remarkable, and it’s not a genre I’m ever particularly big on, but I can kinda dig it. Having a groove is better than not having a groove, if nothing else. I have no clue what that one guitar run is doing in this song, it promises something better than the rest of the song can deliver on.
Well, that’s not being totally fair either. There’s about a 20 second section between 2:45 and 3:05 where there’s some actual intensity and atmosphere and that part is pretty damn cool, not gonna lie, but it’s over far too soon. The last third or so of the song is one long buildup that starts kind of meh but gets pretty satisfying by the end with some nice guitar leads shining through the front.
I still stand by statement that removing all the synths from this song would make this better though, especially since they provide both the moments of this song that I genuinely dislike, as well as being wholly absent (or at least sufficiently buried to the point of irrelevance) during the one genuinely great segment of the song. and otherwise providing an element I could easily live without.
It’s not a terrible song. I thought it might be, at first, but there’s part of this that grew on me, and it has enough about it that I like to make it at least interesting, moreso than the song that placed below it, but there’s enough about this that I dislike to keep me from feeling it deserves any higher score, as well. I do feel there’s enough justification to call this post-metal though, I certainly wouldn’t call it post-rock anyways? Ehh. Not going back to this album though, regardless.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Bonus: (https://i.imgur.com/o3BBdpG.png)
Bolsters: P!nk – For Now
Theme: None
First Impressions:
Haha going from the last song I listened to (Karas) to this one is whiplash as hell. I’ve heard plenty of P!nk in my time (including remembering hearing some of her earlier hits on the radio when I was like 10, geez she’s been around a while) but she’s never been a singer I’ve actively been super into or kept up with, despite her rock-leaning brand of pop being something that should appeal to me a lot. This is more of a power ballad type of song than anything though. I am kinda turned off by the yelping high notes on the chorus… really not sure what she’s going for with those. It’s… a nice enough song, but between the weird vocal melodies and the kind of overall generic sound… ehh, it’s fine. The strength of this type of song is almost exclusively in whether or not it resonates emotionally and I’m worried this song really isn’t going to have that power for me.
Final Thoughts:
This at least grew on me a little, but it’s also… not that impressive. P!nk is like, one of those pop stars that had a reputation for being firey and aggressive, especially in an era where pop was kind of mellowing out, and this… isn’t that. Which isn’t necessarily bad – but I’ve heard better P!nk songs, and I’ve also heard worse P!nk songs too, so I can tell there’s genuine effort in this one, if nothing else.
The yelping on the chorus doesn’t bother me as much as it originally did, though I don’t know why she couldn’t have picked a better melody. I guess it’s probably more interesting than a “generic” vocal melody would have been. The instrumentation is… produced fine enough, the guitars get a bit lost in the mix during the louder moments and don’t have a ton of texture, but the overall sound does have some genuine swell and power to it.
The lyrics I’m basically ignoring because they were written by Not P!nk herself, one of the great casualties in pop where the song can’t really succeed at having any interesting message because the person singing it and the person who wrote it are two completely different people and it’s a pretty generic “I wish we could go back to the way things were” song. It takes on an amusing layer of meta-commentary when you imaging it’s about P!nk wishing she could go back to the 00’s when she was way bigger and more interesting, though, so there’s at least that?
I dunno, this one’s fine. There’s nothing about it I particularly dislike and there’s at least enough about it I do like for me to partially get into it, but it falls into the same category as some other songs I’ve been sent in this roulette where I’ve just straight up heard this sound done better. This one’s really borderline between two ratings for me, it’s right on the cusp, but the lack of anything really negative to say makes me feel it belongs on the higher end rather than the lower one, so breathe a sigh of relief that this didn’t turn out worse, I guess?
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
ariich: Wintersun – Land of Snow and Sorrow
Theme: None
First Impressions:
I’m… not actually sure if I’ve ever been sent Wintersun in a roulette? I feel like I might have but when I went to check it turned out that was Borknagar instead. They’re basically both the same band anyways right haha. I may have listened to this album at some point by word of mouth, but I also might not have, legitimately don’t remember. I’m digging the big, epic riff this starts off with and the symphonic layer that comes on top of it too. I sort of feel like the song didn’t really have a ton else to go from there though. It’s symphonic metal. I guess maybe heavy enough to be charitably called melodic death metal, and there’s the occasional growls in there too so, sure. Kind of struggling to keep my focus on this one over the course of its 8 minute runtime if I’ve being honest. It’s not unpleasant at all, but the style is one I always struggle with and this isn’t really doing anything to surprise me in that regard either.
Final Thoughts:
Winterson – Suns of Winter and Sons, from the album Starwinter: Son of the Sun. This song title coming from this artist is really dang silly when you think about it for more than a few seconds. Anyways, the fact that I can actually remember what the main motif of this song sounds like means it’s gotta be at least above average for this brand of symphonic/melodic death metal, right?
Look, I literally just came off listening to the new Wilderun, and those guys have three letters swapped in their band name and about three berries’ worth of talent more than this band, too. They have the D. Wintersun doesn’t have the D. Checkmate, liberals. What is there to say about this song though, it really isn’t particularly special for the genre. Hmm.
Well, the fact that a lot of this song is built off one main motif but performed in different ways and by different instruments/voices makes it feel pretty cohesive while also not feeling too one-note? It’s a good use of leitmotif, but leitmotif is also more interesting when it’s a recurring melody that appears across multiple songs on the same album/soundtrack (this is how a lot of the best video game soundtracks come into being, for example – Celeste).
The song just doesn’t feel very dynamic for its runtime, though. The song rarely gets notably louder or softer over the course of its 8 minute runtime, and the only other dynamic shift that happens is that sometimes they switch from 3/4 time to 4/4 time, which is vaguely progressive if you squint at it, I guess. The musicianship itself isn’t particularly impressive and the symphonic touches are solid but a bit cliché.
In summary…
(https://i.imgur.com/x0LiKUi.jpg)
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Evermind: A.A. Williams – Belong
Theme: Female-Fronted Post-Metal
First Impressions:
Yeah, I’m really not expecting metal at all from this one, but we’ll see. This honestly sounds a lot like a Lana Del Rey song, at the start at least. Sleepy acoustic pop that could be confused for post-rock if the vocals were removed. Yeah this really is basically post-rock with vocals isn’t it, all the way down to the guitar texture and tremolo leads towards the end of the song, but honestly that’s more interesting than post-rock without vocals most all of the time. It’s got a nice slow build to it all the way through, as well, even if I don’t think it’s especially emotionally resonant, at least not on first listen. A very pleasant sound and a decent amount of build, though I’m concerned about how much staying power this going to have in the long run.
Final Thoughts:
Yeah this is definitely not post-metal by even the stretchiest of stretches but you knew that. Anyways. This song… has a good sound to it. It’s low-key but atmospheric, not feeling too sparse but not feeling too cluttered either. There’s nice texture to the clean guitar tones and the strings backing it up help that vibe a lot.
Unfortunately I think that’s really where the list of “interesting things I have to say about this song” basically comes to an end. The vocals are nice, but there’s not much emotion really coming off her performance, it’s kind of flat. And the song you sent this round basically did the atmosphere of this one better and kept me more engaged. At the very least, this one does have a good climax to it, the drumming is surprisingly interesting and the wall-of-sound build is pretty dang satisfying. I like how it comes together, but I also have a hard time saying it really… stands out.
I could see myself coming back to this one and enjoying it, but I find it significantly less memorable than Oh Hiroshima and much less emotionally evocative even for the strengths it does have. It’s good! It’s not much more than that though. This is a really short writeup but I genuinely don’t have anything else to say.
(https://i.imgur.com/BuEXoho.jpg)
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
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Puppies_On_Acid: Karas – Molten Amnesia
Theme: None
First Impressions:
If this isn’t some excellent spacey black metal I’m gonna be disappointed now. The ambient intro at least suggests it could be. Well, okay, no, seems to be going more in a prog metal direction with a kinda post-metal-y sound to it. And black metal style vocals. Darn. I mean, it seems pretty cool so far though. There’s some more tech-y riffs and melodies but also moments of quiet atmosphere, flowing all pretty well together. Ooh, and there’s the straight up black metal moments, me likey. Yeah, wow, this is the kind of sound that definitely gets me excited as heck to check out the rest of this album. There’s definitely a lot going on in this one that I can’t even really capture with a first impression but it’s absolutely the best thing you’ve sent so far, no question.
Final Thoughts:
Hmm, the one that’s been kind of frustrating, now. In this case it’s due to the fact that I really dig the sound and the genre fusion here, but I’ve had trouble really getting into this one? I think it’s just because of how dense and complex this is, really, while not really being particularly melodic and hook-driven, at least compared to a lot of other songs this round. I think that’s really the biggest issue I have with it… it’s a kind of flat and monochrome sound overall, for how much complexity it does have.
Like, on the heavier parts, I do hear the melodic guitars buried in the mix, but the heavy guitar chords and vocals are on top of them and both very one-note in their tones to the point where that melody doesn’t really shine through. It’s a type of mixing I hear a lot in both post-metal and black metal that de-emphasizes the melody in a way I generally don’t like, and the best sounds in both of those genres are when the opposite is true – the melodic guitar lines are at the forefront with the guitars and vocals providing the texture in the background.
Some comments on the rest, from what I’m able to put together… the clean bit is really nice, though I feel it’s also bit lacking in terms of a melodic hook or motif, it at least does provide some warmth to the overall sound of the song. The bass is also mixed nice and loud and it’s pretty audible throughout, though I don’t know if I’m wild about either the tone or the actual basslines themselves, the tone is a bit too thick and chunky and the melodies are a bit uninspired.
I said initially that this was the best thing you’d sent so far and while I don’t quite feel that as strongly as I initially did since, like both your previous two songs, it’s undercut by a single key issue that brings the whole thing down a peg, I still agree that it’s your strongest so far. I’m curious to check out the entire album, at least, but my expectations are at least a bit more tempered than my initial reaction, since I suspect the same problems this song has are likely to be prevalent across the entire album.
But on the whole, I still do enjoy this song, there’s no question about that for me. It’s definitely not as immediate as any of the songs that placed above it, and maybe my appreciation for it will grow more on relistens, but for right now I’m very comfortable putting this where it is.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
TAC: Maraton – Spectral Friends
Theme: None
First Impressions:
One of those bands I’ve heard the name of but really have no clue how they sound at all. My initial impression from the start is that this slots into the djent-prog sound pretty nicely, the singer seems mixed really dang loud though. He sounds pretty good though, a lot more lively than a lot of similar-voiced singers in this style. Musically it seems… kinda bog-standard for the sound, though. Not bad, not unpleasant, there’s a bit of an ebb and flow going on here. Okay, digging the group vocals on the second chorus though, that sounds pretty dang epic. Vocals really steal the show here, but I wish the instrumentation was as compelling to match.
Final Thoughts:
This one’s pretty fun. The vocals pretty much make this entire song, for what it’s worth. This isn’t necessarily my favorite style of vocals but it suits the style of music well and the performance is pretty good. I love the group vocals, they’re cheesy as hell but really the entire lyrical content of this song comes off super cheesy in an endearing way, and that might be why I enjoy it as much as I do. It’s also very fitting for today, though possibly unintentionally.
That’s not to discredit the music here because the guitar riffing & drums do pretty well to keep the energy building when it needs to build, and provide a big, epic backdrop for the vocals during the louder moments of the song too. And there’s quieter moments to balance things out where the vocals often go into a pleasant falsetto to accompany them. It’s pretty dynamic and doesn’t really get boring, and at under 5 minutes it doesn’t overstay its welcome.
The outro of this one also has a nice build and energy to it, it doesn’t quite reach the heights of the second chorus but it still ends the song in a satisfying way without just straight up repeating what came before.
This basically slots right into what I think of as “romdjent” though, alongside bands like Phi, VOLA, Circles etc. though frankly this is at least better than any heavy VOLA song I’ve ever heard. It’s a style that I don’t think is ever going to make me a huge fan by any means, but I don’t tend to mind it, I’ve heard a few albums in the style that are pretty solid to be sure. It’s a good song. I don’t think I’m wild enough about it to score it any higher, but I definitely enjoyed it more than your previous submissions.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Dacul: Glass Beach – Glass Beach
Theme: None
First Impressions:
Well, had no clue what to expect from this one but the immediate first impression is “uhh… pop punk?” Which isn’t necessarily bad, to me pop-punk just tends to come off as the diet version of post-hardcore though, not as heavy, a more nasal vocal style, no growls. But it’s a fine enough sound nonetheless. This is also 7 minutes long which makes me wonder where it’s going to go over its runtime. The singer kinda sounds like they're having problems staying on-key on parts of this & there’s a kind of lo-fi sound to this that I’m not super into either. There’s a kinda weird flow to this entire thing too, it sort of stops in the middle and then goes to a slower pace for the back half with a triumphant refrain to it and a pretty solid climax at the end. On first listen I’m not quite sure what to make of this one – it’s intriguing and interesting but there’s some key elements of it that aren’t quite working for me either.
Final Thoughts:
Yeah, this grew on me a little. I think what I like about it is that it isn’t so polished like a lot of pop punk ironically comes off as, at least a lot of the more modern stuff. The guitar riffs are rough, the vocals are far from perfect but they’re earnest and honest in their roughness. The overall sound is a bit cluttered and I guess that I’m not super sold on that in particular, but I’d rather that than overly polished and sterile.
The vocal melodies during some of the key parts of this work pretty well too. I think I actually like the first pre-chorus melody more than the chorus, I get MCR vibes off that bit honestly, but the chorus is good too, and it’s got the energy of the instrumentation backing up those long, drawn-out notes full of raw emotion. And also huge shoutout to how the guitar solo towards the middle of the song reprises that pre-chorus melody.
Really a lot of the appeal of this comes from the little moments, though. This song is just, constantly shifting and doing different things with transient moments that are gone in a flash. I love how the instrumentation cuts out during the second verse to highlight a particular lyric, and the vocals just absolutely crack around the edges in the lead into the chorus after. I dig the instrumental bit in the middle that has a light jazzy feel to it. I love how the song builds from that moment with the tempo speeding back up in moments, building to a huge chorus…
…that doesn’t quite come immediately, giving a quieter reprise of the chorus first, and then building up even further than before with the tremolo guitar actually handling the real “chorus”. And a key change right after. It’s interesting songwriting that has its fair share of surprises to keep you on your toes and constantly remain interesting. It’s a 7 minute song that has a core chorus to it but doesn’t hammer it in too much or get stale and there’s just. So many little moments.
This is another song this round where even after the usual five listens I don’t feel like I’ve really… properly “absorbed” this one, I can still listen to it and be surprised by moments or details that didn’t stand out to me on previous listens, and there’s a rough but endearing emotional core to the whole thing that hits upon the same reasons why I’ve been big into post-hardcore lately, even if this really doesn’t completely fall into that umbrella. It is, however, exciting as heck and I’m definitely looking forward to checking this out.
Would’ve given this the 2019 post-hardcore bonus if you did ask for it, though. Shrug. That entire column is feeling really lonely right now. I’m sad.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Buddyhunter1: Gorillaz – Empire Ants
Theme: None
First Impressions:
Gorillaz are really hit or miss for me, they have some great stuff in both their hits and their deep cuts, but other songs that annoy the hell out of me. This seems to be going for a more atmospheric type of sound though from how it starts. Kinda keeps on that route for a while before pulling in an electronic groove in the back half, not wild about the synth tone but the groove itself and the atmosphere around it are fine enough to make up for it. It does kind of end up feeling like two separate songs though since there’s not a lot in common between the front and back half. Not quite what I was expecting from this artist, but I do like it quite a bit on first listen, even if it feels like it doesn’t really have a proper ending.
Final Thoughts:
I don’t think, for as much as I do genuinely love this song, I can quite call it my favorite of the round, but it’s definitely the song this round I’ve thought about the most. And it’s still not even my favorite Gorillaz song! This band is such a weird bunch, in part because they’re 1. not real 2. so inconsistent due to the natural experimentation and diversity of their sound.
But when Albarn goes for these kinds of more atmospheric sounds, he usually nails it, and this is no exception. The production in the first half is really lush, but has a catchy 3-3-2 beat backing it up that gives it a bit of a pulse. And the vocal layering & melodies here are very nice too. It’s super pretty and pleasant.
And you’d think the entire second half of the song being just straight up an entirely different song would ruin that, but uhh… it keeps the most important aspect of that first half and carries it through that second half, that being a lush overall sound, whether it’s either walls of synths or the vocal layering on the guest vocalist (or both).
It also helps that that synth line is a BOP and a half. I’ve thought about that synth line several times a day for the past few days now. It’s ridiculously catchy but also changes just enough to not get stale in the few minutes its present. If the entire song was that synth line it might get tiresome but having the song divided into two distinct, yet not wholly disparate sounds, only ends up improving both of them somehow. It gives the front half a climax it otherwise likely would have lacked, and gives the back half a theme to carry forward and capitalize on, while not just repeating what came before.
It’s. It’s kind of almost a perfect song, in a sense, I honestly can’t find anything to fault other than that the ending is still a bit weak – the synth line that comes in there is real nice but it’s not a “climax” or a particularly satisfying way to end the song, nor is a fadeout. The only thing that keeps this from a higher score is that it doesn’t really “wow” me at any point, it’s just operating at a really high bar while being insanely memorable the whole way through. I expect to check out this album and then be disappointed that there’s nothing else like it (or anything as good as it) but that’s irrelevant, this is still good stuff all the same.
This is better than the round winner from last round, by the way. Hell, Glass Beach probably is too, or close to it. Sorry I can’t give out multiple round-winner bonuses?
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Elite: Scarlet Stories – In Blood and Limbs and Gore and Clay
Theme: 2019 Prog Metal
First Impressions:
Oh boy do we have Oceans of Slumber imitators already? Like they’ve apparently been around since 2010 but this is their first album and that’s just the immediate vibe I get off this one, or the general sound they’re shooting for. Granted, that’s not a bad sound to try and copy, though I’ve admittedly never been as thrilled with OoS outside of Winter (the song) being bloody amazing. I can see an argument made for this being prog metal I guess but it’s got more of a doom/post-metal vibe to it overall and I’m not really seeing a ton of progressive elements outside of the length. The singer is definitely very talented and the layers of vocals that show up towards the middle only enhance the mood further. Cool guitar solo too. Not quite sure this hits the theme you’re going for, and maybe doesn’t develop quite as much as I’d like, but it’s still a pretty dang cool song nonetheless.
Final Thoughts:
Okay, here’s my thoughts on the theme. Is there really anything progressive about this song other than its length? Ehh. Not really. But do we consider Oceans of Slumber’s Winter as prog metal, even though it too doesn’t really have prog elements? Very much so. Do we consider Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb progressive, despite it being very much a pop song with an extended guitar solo at the end? Yeah, as far as I can tell. This is basically Oceans of Slumber but with a Comfortably Numb-esque guitar solo (in terms of function, not sound) at the end, therefore it’s prog.
Anyways it’s really damn good, if putting it above two songs I’ve already praised quite highly isn’t indication enough. First I guess I should address the singer – she’s very good. Wow, that was easy! Okay, to elaborate – she’s in a weird place of not being as low-pitched or husky in tone as a singer like Camme Gilbert, but she’s also not as high-pitched or sterile as a lot of symphonic metal singers tend to be. She’s honestly closest to Courtney Swain of Bent Knee in terms of tone, with as much power behind her voice, though not as much of a deranged timbre to her voice.
She’s able to carry a pretty damn heavy and sludgy sound mostly on her own, though the layers of backing vocals repeating the song’s (admittedly kind of awkward) title towards the middle are a nice touch too. But damn, she has pipes and she’s selling it alright. The doom metal-y guitars throughout the song are pretty rightfully pushed towards the background while still having enough texture to sell the huge, epic mood the song is going for. The drums pull a looooot of weight in carrying the feel of the song, too, even if it’s not a very showy performance.
The guitar solo, also. I don’t know if, in a vacuum, I’d be hugely impressed by this guitar solo? But I gotta be honest, for me, a good solo section is only as good as how the lead can play off the backing music – a lot of Petrucci’s best solos (Lines in the Sand and Breaking All Illusions come to mind) work as well as they do because of the way the music escalates behind the already impressive guitar playing to make a powerful and memorable moment that stands out amongst a crowd of “soulful but unimpactful” leads or “shreddy and technical but flat emotively” leads. Again the drums pull a lot of the weight here.
But. The solo itself… is still really damn good, yeah. Showy enough to come off as technically impressive, but restrained enough to give room to breathe, it plays more like a 70’s/80’s heavy metal solo than anything, at least to my ears. No over-the-top wank, no pretty-but-basic soul, a perfect balance that sells a climax of a song that had already started huge and was only planning to get bigger.
Suffice to say, I like the song a lot.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Bonus: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Round Winner Bonus: (https://i.imgur.com/o3BBdpG.png)
Current Standings:
Elite: 13
ariich: 12
Evermind: 12
Dacul: 12
Nekov: 11
Bolsters: 10
Puppies_On_Acid: 10
Buddyhunter1: 10
Train of Naught: 9
TAC: 9
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huge shoutout to puppies for posting corn while I was double-checking my math on the scores btw :corn
yes, elite went from last to first in a single round. i may be giving out too big of a bonus for winning the round but it's good incentive to send the best thing you possibly can, i feel, so whatevs. updates to the usual coming in a few minutes, i'm listening to the new voyager in the background of updating stuff because i don't really care about the new voyager and the new midnight odyssey isn't up on spotify yet either
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*reads write-up*
WOOOO HE LOVED IT! I'M DOING GREAT!
*is still one point away from being at the bottom*
(https://media2.giphy.com/media/LbH0YbvU7djPi/source.gif)
I expect to check out this album and then be disappointed that there’s nothing else like it (or anything as good as it)
I'm happy to let you know there's at least one or two other songs kind of like it. :lol
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updated standings in the first post
updated the bonus themes sheet
updated the banned during roulette list
alright time to get that round 4 bread y'all
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Well you said we lose nothing by asking for themes so that's what I did.
I actually was seriously going to go with Arch Matheos this time, but Elite stole the 2019 prog metal theme so now I have to think about it.
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it's genuinely amazing that possibly the easiest theme in the entire spreadsheet lasted this long, to be fair
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Time to hit shuffle on my music library and send the first thing that comes up :biggrin:
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I thought about going for the Pre-2000's Post-Metal theme, until I realized the only band that really qualifies is Neurosis, which I know you hate and is banned. Good luck to whoever goes for that theme.
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The pre 2000s post metal theme is virtually impossible. I considered 2019 post metal but this guy is very picky with his post metal and finds most of my favourite bands ultra boring
So I sent some post metal this round, unfortunately their 2019 album isn’t their best so not going for a theme this time
Also very big confuse on your synth comment of the Tides From Nebula song, that’s one of the main reasons it sticks out as probably my favorite instrumental post- song of the year (unless Astrosaur counts as post-) and it got 1 berry :lol again shows how different we are, I looove this song
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RYM shows a few bands :P
https://rateyourmusic.com/genre/Post-Metal/
admittedly that one is golden for a reason, though, yes
i don't really like any post-metal predating Isis' Oceanic, like, at all
i will be honest that post-metal was the last genre i added to the spreadsheet because i didn't really know what else to put, so it's probably in general the worst column to shoot for :lol
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I'm seriously considering sending Darkspace. I'm just afraid it will be too dense.
Then there's Weakling. THE album that inspired pretty much all Atmospheric Black Metal that came after it...
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i know i listened to some darkspace a few years back but i don't really remember it & wasn't as big into black metal at the time, so who knows
never heard of the other one though
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Elite sent Scarlett Stories
And TAC knows this how? :neverusethis:
---
So, uhh. Wow! Went from last place to first in one round, with a single song. That's a surprise, although I must say seeing the comparisons for this round made me get my hopes up a little. Glad you enjoyed it! On the 'progressive metal' semantics; is it really 'progressive' as in the meaning of the word? Probably not, but neither are bands like Dream Theater, Haken or any of the DT clones out there, but we still call them progressive metal, because it has been become a subgenre without being 'progressive' anymore.
I do agree on the song containing some post and doom influences and the comparison to Courtney Swain isn't too far-fetched either. You'll find, if you check out the entire album, that there's more of that doomy vibe going on, always with a cold or chilling undertone. So, the band has existed for quite long, but they started out as an acoustic duo, just the singer and the guitarist. They gradually evolved into a full band and this debut album was released less than two months ago. I saw them play live a couple of weeks ago and was really captivated by the singer's voice, but also by the songs and atmosphere the band conveyed in general. Pretty impressive stuff. For those who went to the Ayreon ITEC shows; Lisette, the band's singer was actually a backing vocalist for the entire set.
So, check out the album, it's pretty good. And everybody else, go support your local bands. You might just win a round in Parama's roulette (and discover cool stuff while doing it!)
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can't believe parama liked that song so much too, that guy's a prick with awful music taste
also yeah elite you better send scarlet stories in TAC's roulette, sheesh
anyways yeah 4 albums are queued up (top 3 + karas) i'll get through them this weekend. i'll start round 4 listening by saturday evening at the latest, weekends are cool 'cause it's easy to get two listens a day in each day so if y'all send by friday evening i could have results as soon as sunday evening, realistically :corn
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Pretty sure I know what I'm going with, just need to get home to send. You'll get it in 7 hours.
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can't believe parama liked that song so much too, that guy's a prick with awful music taste
I swear that I didn't do it on purpose :lol
You've been Parama for God knows how long, and now suddenly you're named differently. How am I supposed to cope with that? :O
I'll get it mixed up more often, probably.
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Apparently going for the bonus point wasn't a very good idea :lol. At least I got a really nice writeup :smiley:
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Apparently I have the most Raspberries. ;D
I’ll send this afternoon.
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oops double post
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ariich: Wintersun – Sons of Winter and Stars
Theme: None
First Impressions:
I’m… not actually sure if I’ve ever been sent Wintersun in a roulette? I feel like I might have but when I went to check it turned out that was Borknagar instead. They’re basically both the same band anyways right haha. I may have listened to this album at some point by word of mouth, but I also might not have, legitimately don’t remember. I’m digging the big, epic riff this starts off with and the symphonic layer that comes on top of it too. I sort of feel like the song didn’t really have a ton else to go from there though. It’s symphonic metal. I guess maybe heavy enough to be charitably called melodic death metal, and there’s the occasional growls in there too so, sure. Kind of struggling to keep my focus on this one over the course of its 8 minute runtime if I’ve being honest. It’s not unpleasant at all, but the style is one I always struggle with and this isn’t really doing anything to surprise me in that regard either.
Final Thoughts:
Winterson – Suns of Winter and Sons, from the album Starwinter: Son of the Sun. This song title coming from this artist is really dang silly when you think about it for more than a few seconds. Anyways, the fact that I can actually remember what the main motif of this song sounds like means it’s gotta be at least above average for this brand of symphonic/melodic death metal, right?
Look, I literally just came off listening to the new Wilderun, and those guys have three letters swapped in their band name and about three berries’ worth of talent more than this band, too. They have the D. Wintersun doesn’t have the D. Checkmate, liberals. What is there to say about this song though, it really isn’t particularly special for the genre. Hmm.
Well, the fact that a lot of this song is built off one main motif but performed in different ways and by different instruments/voices makes it feel pretty cohesive while also not feeling too one-note? It’s a good use of leitmotif, but leitmotif is also more interesting when it’s a recurring melody that appears across multiple songs on the same album/soundtrack (this is how a lot of the best video game soundtracks come into being, for example – Celeste).
The song just doesn’t feel very dynamic for its runtime, though. The song rarely gets notably louder or softer over the course of its 8 minute runtime, and the only other dynamic shift that happens is that sometimes they switch from 3/4 time to 4/4 time, which is vaguely progressive if you squint at it, I guess. The musicianship itself isn’t particularly impressive and the symphonic touches are solid but a bit cliché.
Uh, did you accidentally listen to Land Of Snow And Sorrow instead of Sons Of Winter And Stars? The former is 8 minutes long and the latter is 13. :lol
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Yeah, I'm also curious about that actually. Sons of Winter and Stars has more than "occasional" growls to my ears too.
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Oh shit, it's Land Of Snow and Sorrow on the Spotify playlist! Someone fucked up :rollin
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:rollin
Also, sent
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Wtf! I checked my submission and it wasn't me, I definitely sent the right link.
Cyril, you been listening to the wrong song! I demand a re-count! :P
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:rollin
I agree, especially since the ACTUAL Sons Of Winter And Stars is a much better song than the one you've been listening to
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:corn
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i don't have the original PM anymore but i guess i'll go check out the other one? genuinely no clue how i got the wrong one because i've just been adding the songs i've been sent :lol
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That glass beach album is definitely very varied and full of those small moments you like. Plenty to dig but I'm glad you liked this track :metal
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Everyone send Cyril your songs for Round 4 but have the Spotify link link to Wintersun - Land Of Snow And Sorrow :neverusethis:
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i'm usually checking all the song names too :P
anyways i'll give this one a few spins and see if it changes my score any. i listened to it just now and it seems at least more interesting but my first impression is that it's way too extra vs. the one i was listening to not having enough going on & they apparently can't hit that right balance. i wouldn't really expect this to turn into anything more than a 3 but i'll do listens & update the writeup & whatever please just don't be annoying about this with me i'm already constantly tired and stressed as hell lately :)
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Boy was I confused while reading the Wintersun write-up, and then realized your error when you said the song is eight minutes :rollin
please just don't be annoying about this with me i'm already constantly tired and stressed as hell lately :)
Don't burn yourself out, for real. I can see where this Sons of Snow and Stars and Sorrow thing is coming from now!
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it's way too extra vs. the one i was listening to not having enough going on & they apparently can't hit that right balance.
They can and did on the title track. You should listen to that one too! :lol
please just don't be annoying about this with me i'm already constantly tired and stressed as hell lately :)
:heart
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i'm usually checking all the song names too :P
anyways i'll give this one a few spins and see if it changes my score any. i listened to it just now and it seems at least more interesting but my first impression is that it's way too extra vs. the one i was listening to not having enough going on & they apparently can't hit that right balance. i wouldn't really expect this to turn into anything more than a 3 but i'll do listens & update the writeup & whatever please just don't be annoying about this with me i'm already constantly tired and stressed as hell lately :)
It's cool, these things happen, I was only teasing but I note the current stress (I've been similar recently) so will ease off. :lol
I do think the two songs are pretty different and the right one should be more up your alley. I definitely feel like it deserves an extra strawberry but I don't have any particular expectation of it doing any better than that, if I'm honest (although of course I'd love to be surprised!).
-
Sent
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7 of the 10 songs in already, two of the people we're waiting on are the obvious ones, and A Huge Monkey What That I Saw
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I was kinda waiting to see if my round 3 score would change, but I'll probably just go ahead and pick and send something today either way.
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oh I sent alright
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Sent!
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Tim's reaction when he finds out what I sent:
Evermind, you're a fucking mother fucker!
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Tim's reaction when he finds out what I sent:
Evermind, you're a fucking mother fucker!
:lol
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I was kinda waiting to see if my round 3 score would change, but I'll probably just go ahead and pick and send something today either way.
i'm giving the song the appropriate 5 listens before i decide on a score :P
anyways, just waiting on Dacul. I'm gonna start listening later today regardless of whether i get his song though.
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That's cool, better to give a fair review rather than a rushed one!
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Sent
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yup, looks like it, i'll put up hangman in a bit, taking care of chores atm, will give songs a first listen & post impressions in a few hours, etc. the good stuff
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yup, looks like it, i'll put up hangman in a bit, taking care of chores atm, will give songs a first listen & post impressions in a few hours, etc. the good stuff
Chores? :lol
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stuff that's colloquially referred to as "adulting"
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Hangman!
???: ____ ____ - ___ ___ ___
???: __ ____ __ _____ - __ ____ _- _______
???: Scar Symmetry - The Kaleidoscopic God
???: ____ D_m___ - ____ __ _______
???: D________ - D___ ___
???: __________ - _______
???: ____ _ ________ - ____ ___ __ D____
???: _________d_ - __d_______m___
???: ______ - M_ M___
???: _____ __ ___ M______ - ______ ________
Letters Guessed: DM
Buddy waits 3
ariich waits 2
Reminder also to submit your themes if you want 'em. I think most people either told me one or said they don't want one already but a few of you guys haven't, so :corn
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GIVE ME D
EDIT: Oh and no theme for me.
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No theme here. Would have gone for pre-2000s [INSERT GENRE HERE] but you don't have it :P
M
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@ariich yeah i figured for yours, unless the song was instrumental, i know the band so i know they don't fit any theme :P
D is Delivered. Listens in a bit, was relistening to the new cursive while putting together the round 4 doc & hangman & i wanna finish it
side-note: i listened to the cursive album from last year again and it's better than i remember it being, dunno why i never got it. the new one isn't as good overall but it still has some bangers
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Yeah the new Cursive is a bit bland, but the last one was really good. Had a bit more of a post-hardcore vibe to it. Thanks for sending them to me in my first album roulette!
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Scar Symmetry
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Yup.
Doing first listens of the round right now, btw, impressions in less than an hour.
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Scar Symmetry
The Kaleidoscopic God
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yup 2: scenes from a meme
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Round 4 First Impressions
I get where you’re coming from for this one but there isn’t much about it that either impresses or stands out to me, it’s “fine” though.
The vocals completely ruin what was already a mid-to-low tier song to begin with, dear god. Some bits of this I like but not many.
Did you mean to send this song? I’m genuinely wondering. Not that it’s bad but it doesn’t really feel like a roulette song, more an album cut that needs that context.
I don’t know why you were worried about this one performing poorly, I dig the heck out of it & this sound in general. Don’t know if it will be necessarily a favorite though but we’ll see.
Dug the energy and overall sound of this one even if it doesn’t come off as particularly unique.
It’s pretty straightforward for what it is but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t rock or that I don’t dig it a lot, ‘cause it does, and I do.
It’s a familiar enough sound but my first impression is that it’s executed pretty well and has room to grow on me as well.
Who could’ve guessed the worst production of the round would come from this song in particular? Geez, it’s nigh-unlistenable in this state.
I can sort of get what they’re going for with this one but it almost feels like they don’t commit hard enough to the sound to make it fully click.
Not fully past the vocals or the production on this and it might drag a bit long but the overall experience was still relatively positive.
The experience of listening to this round was almost surreal, some of these picks utterly baffle me. It's probably the weirdest round I've ever had in a roulette. There's good stuff here too but it's absolutely a mixed bag. At least one song here is worse than Infant Annihilator, though. Maybe two. We'll see. Yeah.
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No clue, but if one of the ones related to bad vocals are for mine I'll be very disappointed :P
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Could potentially be a good few of them, but seems probably most likely one of these:
I get where you’re coming from for this one but there isn’t much about it that either impresses or stands out to me, it’s “fine” though.
Dug the energy and overall sound of this one even if it doesn’t come off as particularly unique.
It’s a familiar enough sound but my first impression is that it’s executed pretty well and has room to grow on me as well.
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Could potentially be a good few of them, but seems probably most likely one of these:
Man I think this one might be yours tbh
Did you mean to send this song? I’m genuinely wondering.
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Could potentially be a good few of them, but seems probably most likely one of these:
Man I think this one might be yours tbh
Did you mean to send this song? I’m genuinely wondering.
:rollin
Cruel.
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Uhh. My God. I know sending stuff to ParamaCyril is difficult, mostly because of the huge banned list and preference towards similar stuff that’s hard to come by (because he’s heard it all before), bit I was quite confident with my pick and actually chose this specific band/song over a bunch of other stuff that I would have sent in other roulettes. I surely hope mine isn’t one of the ‘bad’ ones.
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Mine is definitely the one about the bad production :lol
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P
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Mine is definitely the weird vocals one
Never met anyone with this many music pet peeves to be honest lol, it’s literally impossible for someone with my library to send something to your liking it seems
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Hangman!
???: ____ ____ - ___ ___ ___
???: __ ____ __ _____ - __ ____ __ __p____
???: Scar Symmetry - The Kaleidoscopic God
???: ____ D_m___ - ____ __ _______
???: D____p___ - D___ ___
???: __________ - _______
???: __p_ _ ________ - ____ ___ __ D____
???: _________d_ - __d_______m___
???: ______ - M_ M___
???: _____ __ ___ M______ - ___p__ P_______
Letters Guessed: DM
Bolsters waits 3
Buddy waits 2
ariich waits 1
train i dunno what you're on you've sent me plenty of stuff i've liked in the past. i mean heck i liked your round 1 & 2 songs a fair bit, just that Lenio left me in a weird place where i wanted to like it more than i did. not commenting on what i think of your round 4 song yet either
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Mine is definitely the one about the bad production :lol
I wouldn't bet the house on that, if I were you :lol
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Cyril may or may not have sent me a PM asking if he should listen to the remastered version and later concluding both were unlistenable :rollin
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yeah uhh
it's something, alright
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(https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.metal-observer.com%2Fwordpress%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2019%2F09%2FCoverNecrologies.jpg&hash=49e898c2f0511588b6ebee15941fc6948f55d8c5)
it's pretty exciting throughout the first half, though i feel like after the song i was sent everything else is kinda... less ambitious. there's like three ballad tracks among the remaining 5 and they're all fine and the two remaining metal tracks are fine but from just the first half i was sure this was gonna be an insta-buy and now i'm not so sure. i'll prooobably get it anyways though, the back half could grow on me
(https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0854720793_10.jpg)
this one's as all-over-the-place as i expected and there's not really any other track like the title track, but there's still some good stuff here all the same. my biggest gripe is how nothing really fits together, not only do consecutive songs often have wild shifts in tone there's just straight up cuts at the end of tracks into the next ones that feel jarring. will need a relisten though i am liking it on the whole? excellent album art, also.
i picked these two first specifically because they're 2019 albums and i wanna get 2019 stuff before the year-end, but i'll check out the other two albums from this round tomorrow most likely
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T
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Hangman!
???: _ate ____ - T_e ___ ___
???: A_ Ta__ A_ _____ - __ _a_e __ _apt__e
???: Scar Symmetry - The Kaleidoscopic God
???: ___t D_ma__ - ___e __ ____a__
???: Da___pa_e - Da__ ___
???: _a_et_a___ - ____e_t
???: Type O Negative - Love You To Death
???: ____e____de - __de__ate_m___
???: E___e_ - M_ M___
???: _ate_ T_ T_e M______ - __ape_ Pe______
Letters Guessed: ADEMT
Buddy waits 3
ariich waits 2
TAC waits 1
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Type O Negative
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And the song is Love You to Death
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Let's have some E.
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fresh E delivery!!!
i'm gonna do the wintersun writeup in a short bit here btw
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A
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A...... Novelist?
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N
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Hangman!
???: _ate ____ - T_e ___ ___
???: A_ Ta__ A_ ___n_ - _n _a_e __ _apt__e
???: Scar Symmetry - The Kaleidoscopic God
???: Lost Domain - ___e __ ____a__
???: Darkspace - Da__ _1_
???: _a_et_an_n - ____ent
???: Type O Negative - Love You To Death
???: __n_e____de - _nde__ate_m__n
???: E___e_ - M_ M__n
???: _ate_ T_ T_e M__n_n_ - __ape_ Pe______
Letters Guessed: ADEMNT1
Buddy waits 3
ariich waits 2
TAC waits 4
sure why not but y'all need to start solving some of the rest now there's already a lot of letters
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Lost Domain sent by the motherfucker.
Song is Rise Of Isolash. So good.
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Gimme number 1 ;)
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You Get 1
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Ok, the band is Darkspace. But since you've apparently omitted a period I won't go any further about the song than Dark :lol
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Lost Domain sent by the motherfucker.
Song is Rise Of Isolash. So good.
That's correct my motherfucker
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Yeah I'm skipping all punctuation this time around it makes everything too easy
btw comparisons might come tonight if i feel like doing another listen tonight, doing third listen right now
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fresh E delivery!!!
i'm gonna do the wintersun writeup in a short bit here btw
:corn
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Round 3.5 Results
Round 3.5 Playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1cECVD9wPECFBJkx4GxMv9
ariich: Wintersun – Sons of Winter and Stars
Theme: None
First Impressions:
Wow, this is extra as heck.
Final Thoughts:
This is literally just Land of Snow and Sorrow. 2/5.
Okay so immediately my first problem with this is how bad the sound balancing is. Literally every time I have to turn up my speakers for the intro and then the song kicks in and it’s way too loud, that’s such a harsh cut! It’s maybe because large segments of this song are Devin Townsend-levels of “wall of sound” which… well, not necessarily bad on its own but it does make for a very cluttered sound overall.
The way this song unfolds over its long runtime fits into my head as such… first bit is a triplet feel, second bit is a 4/4 feel, third bit is a faster triplet feel, fourth bit is the quiet bit, and after that uuhh the song feels like it meanders for 5 more minutes. I really always start losing interest towards the end of this, since it’s pretty long and doesn’t feel like it has much else to offer towards the end, unless I’ve just been missing something.
Another issue I’ve had with this one is that I don’t find any of its motifs as memorable as the main motif of the other Wintersun song. That one’s kinda been lodged in my head for a bit, in part due to how often I repeats I guess, but it’s surprisingly catchy. For this one, I can remember how the title drop in the chorus goes and some of the main motif that repeats throughout parts of this, but that’s about it. Maybe it’s due to this being a 13+ minute song I’ve tried to absorb in about 2 days and change.
Comments on the individual sections, as best as I can give them… the first section is solid, it’s what feels like should be the “core” of the song, even though what turns out to be the core is the faster version of such. The 4/4 segment is probably the part of the song (besides the clean bit) that feels the least cluttered and most riff-driven and the riffs throughout are pretty solid. It’s probably my favorite bit of this? It has more to it than “trying to sound epic”, there’s some groove to it too. Not that “trying to sound epic” is inherently bad either. I also like how this section transitions into the one after it.
The faster bit after is probably the least memorable, especially with how short it sticks around until we get to the clean bit. There’s some solid symphonic stuff going on there but it’s all kind of a blur, it doesn’t have much of a melodic hook to it. The clean bit then, it’s a nice reprieve that comes right towards the middle of the song, maybe it would’ve been nice to have a bit of reprieve earlier too but I don’t really have any gripes about this segment other than it doesn’t really impress me that much? But it’s nice.
After that is the bit where the first segment gets reprised (yay motif!) and then the song goes off into an instrumental segment. I can’t help but wonder if these riffs would hit better at a slower tempo? It gets to a point where it’s almost too fast to build up a groove and the melodies can’t stick because they’re all noodling at an accelerated pace. I still don’t have a ton else to say about this. I like the big chorus reprise towards the end. It’s a good way to tie the song together and it does sound pretty epic too.
How does this compare to the previous song I listened to then? It’s more interesting, for sure. It’s kind of hard to compare because they really are completely different types of songs, even the slowest tempo this song has is still way more upbeat than that one has. I don’t find this one as hook-driven but there’s a lot more to pick apart in the music. It’s still no Wilderun, mind you – it’s a bit of an overdone mess with all the layers of symphonic swell and doesn’t quite hit that balance of metal-to-symphonic elements that makes stuff in this genre work for me, but I definitely can see why you’d send this one to me, whereas the last one did admittedly leave me a bit baffled. So yeah, it’s better. It’s not blowing me away or anything or making me want to dig into these guys further, but it’s good metal, even if it’s way too long and bloated.
If I had to put it in the rankings for round 3, I’d say it goes right around where Karas is. I really don’t know if I’d put it higher or lower than Karas, they’re a bit too different for me to compare & it doesn’t really matter anyways.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Revised Standings:
ariich: 13
Elite: 13
Evermind: 12
Dacul: 12
Nekov: 11
Bolsters: 10
Puppies_On_Acid: 10
Buddyhunter1: 10
Train of Naught: 9
TAC: 9
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Round 3.5 Playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1cECVD9wPECFBJkx4GxMv9
:lol
That's a fair review. I don't think I'd send you straight up symphonic metal, but Wintersun have this interesting mix of black and death metal elements thrown in at times, so I was interested to see what you thought of it (which yeah is absolutely why I chose this song and not the other one). I'm glad you got some enjoyment out of it at least!
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Round 3.5 Playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1cECVD9wPECFBJkx4GxMv9
Should have thrown a single Land Of Snow And Sorrow in there around 2/3rds in surrounded by all the Sons Of Winter And Stars's. :lol
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i spent all day listening to music to close up an order so i'm gonna skip out listening tonight; i don't want results up 2 days after i started listening anyways 'cause i want at least a bit more time than that for songs to simmer, tbh
and i have work i need to do tomorrow night so i don't know if i'd have a chance to do all the writeups anyways, but i will at least have time to do another listen & throw comparisons up
results tuesday, then.
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Wow, those first impressions are harsh :lol
I don’t know why you were worried about this one performing poorly, I dig the heck out of it & this sound in general. Don’t know if it will be necessarily a favorite though but we’ll see.
Hopefully this one is mine.
Also give me R
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Hangman!
???: _ate __s_ - T_e ___ S__
???: As Ta__ As ___ns - _n _ase __ Rapt_re
???: Scar Symmetry - The Kaleidoscopic God
???: Lost Domain - R_se __ _s__as_
???: Darkspace - Dar_ _1_
???: Ra_et_an_n - ___rent
???: Type O Negative - Love You To Death
???: Winterhorde - Underwatermoon
???: E_s_e_ - Mr M__n
???: _ates T_ T_e M_rn_n_ - __ape_ Per____s
Letters Guessed: ADEMNRST1
ariich waits 3
Nekov waits 2
TAC waits 1
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Winterhorde - Underwatermoon
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Yep.
I feel like in the last two rounds some picks have been influenced by TAC's roulette :P
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Yep.
I feel like in the last two rounds some picks have been influenced by TAC's roulette :P
I mean yeah I sent you both Wintersun at the same time. :lol But I honestly did have them on my list for both of you.
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Pretty sure I baffled this round.
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Ariich guess some letters hangmanang is never gonna end at this rate
I may just stop doing hangman if it's gonna consistently not get solved :lol
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Oh I thought I was still waiting for some reason. It's your fault for doing the silly waiting thing. :P
GIMME S
-
I mean... almost everyone does the waiting thing? :lol
Updated.
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I mean... almost everyone does the waiting thing? :lol
And if everyone jumped off a cliff, would you? :P
As Tall As Lions
Gates to the Morning
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Just going off of the name, Winterhorde sounds like the bad production / Sacul one :lol
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Gates to the Morning
Song is Chapel Perilous
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Eisley - Mr Moon. Ariich?
Darkspace - Dark 311? I don't know, all of those song names have numbers :lol
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Hangman!
Dacul: Kate Bush - The Big Sky
???: As Tall As Lions - In Case of Rapture
???: Scar Symmetry - The Kaleidoscopic God
???: Lost Domain - Rise Of Isolash
???: Darkspace - Dark 3.13
???: Raketkanon - ___rent
???: Type O Negative - Love You To Death
???: Winterhorde - Underwatermoon
Bolsters: Eisley - Mr. Moon
???: Gates to the Morning - Chapel Perilous
Letters Guessed: ADEMNRST1
ariich waits 1
Guesses are right except who sent whats are not
@ariich I like having the wait period because it means one person can't come in and solve the entire round in 10 minutes
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Just going off of the name, Winterhorde sounds like the bad production / Sacul one :lol
I've never heard of that band ;D
Type O Negative is Puppies, Eisley is Nekov.
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Both wrong :corn
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F.
Eisley is Bolsters then.
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Indeedly doo.
For what it's worth the person who sent Type O Negative said they just wanted to send them before puppies could
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In Case of Rapture?
And yeah I get the waiting time thing, I myself do a single turn or generally if enough time passes (like, a day sometimes!) I'll let the same person guess another letter.
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In case of yeah
Also I'll reduce the wait to 1 since it's been a bit now
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Lost Domain sent by the motherfucker.
Song is Rise Of Isolash. So good.
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Whoops, missed that
TAC! You should be able to solve another one of these too :P
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Someone's on a Kate Bush kick, apparently.. :lol
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Take a guess who :P
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Sacul, The Big Sky.
I've also been guilty of sending the same song in two different roulettes at the same time. He must be trying to see who'll score it the lowest. :lol
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Ahhhhh its Raketkanon. Never heard them but I remember thinking the name looked cool (although I had to look up the spelling).
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Yup.
Just the song name and the who sent whats to go
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I mean, I could look up Raketkanon songs because I'm not going to be able to guess it without more letters. :P
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I actually saved Eisley for a future round (or the EP). That's just my luck. Or perhaps it is, we'll see how it scores.
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Lost Domain sent by the motherfucker.
Song is Rise Of Isolash. So good.
Russian for Evermind.
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Hangman!
Dacul: Kate Bush - The Big Sky
???: As Tall As Lions - In Case of Rapture
???: Scar Symmetry - The Kaleidoscopic God
Evermind: Lost Domain - Rise Of Isolash
???: Darkspace - Dark 3.13
???: Raketkanon - ___rent
???: Type O Negative - Love You To Death
???: Winterhorde - Underwatermoon
Bolsters: Eisley - Mr. Moon
???: Gates to the Morning - Chapel Perilous
Letters Guessed: ADEMNRST1
ariich waits 1
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Is Lions Ariich?
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Nope!
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For what it's worth the person who sent Type O Negative said they just wanted to send them before puppies could
I'm not sure who that would be, but I would never send you Type O Negative. :corn
Now watch it score a 10/10...
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Round 4 Comparisons
v Elite
v Buddyhunter1
v Dacul
v TAC
v Puppies_On_Acid
^ Evermind
v ariich
^ Bolsters
v Train of Naught
^ Nekov
this round was actually pretty hard to do comparisons for because if it didn't give away too much i'd have used ='s for about 3 or 4 people here, given my current opinions on the songs this round
also, there's one song here that literally anyone who gets rated under it (and there will be at least one) is going to go listen to what beat them out and think i'm literally insane, i look forward to that
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v TAC
^ Evermind
:rollin
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curious what's so funny about that :corn
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Round 4 Comparisons
v Puppies_On_Acid
This doesn't surprise me in the least.
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curious what's so funny about that :corn
It's like the third or the fourth time I send a band TAC sent me in my last roulette, and each time I do, I apparently score better then he does.
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one album listen tonight but didn't have time for two
(https://i.imgur.com/umZjFZ3.jpg)
didn't expect to like this, and i didn't, but it's like every gorillaz record, a few really good songs, a lot of stuff i just don't get the appeal of
empire antz is definitely the best but it still isn't as good as el manana. i've definitely heard the title track and on melancholy hill before too, the latter is pretty good as well
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Well, since I had maximum points last round, I guess this doesn’t surprise me.
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Well, it would have been hard not to top the 1 strawberry from last round :lol
Did TAC send scar symmetry?
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Doesn't reveal all that much. Just hoping you liked it more than Kvelertak, heh
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TAC did not send Scar Symmetry!
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Are you sure? :lol
Honestly I have no clue what people might have sent
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Well, since this is very quiet...
Did Train send Type O Negative?
Puppies for Scar Symmetry maybe?
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I'm literally doing worse with each round.
Lower down.
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I'm literally doing worse with each round.
Lower down.
He says while seating atop the ranking...
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I'm literally doing worse with each round.
Lower down.
He says while seating atop the ranking...
Only because I started strong.
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Well, since this is very quiet...
Did Train send Type O Negative?
Puppies for Scar Symmetry maybe?
No no nooooooo
Ariich next round you should send some St. Vincent :neverusethis:
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Scar for Puppies Symmetry maybe?
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Yes, actually!
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Well, since this is very quiet...
Did Train send Type O Negative?
Puppies for Scar Symmetry maybe?
No no nooooooo
Ariich next round you should send some St. Vincent :neverusethis:
Isn't that the only thing that you ever Rule 6'd?
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Yeah! You wanna keep going down, down, lower, at the bottom of the valley
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Below
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Yeah! You wanna keep going down, down, lower, at the bottom of the valley....next to TAC
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Round 4 Results
Round 4 Playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7JFakMVO07WSMWDQcukMzQ
Dacul: Kate Bush – The Big Sky
Theme: Pre-2000’s Pop
First Impressions:
Maybe it’s because of the version of this I picked but the production sounds reaaally flat in a kind of obnoxious way that makes it hard to listen to, it’s 90% percussion and vocals with everything else buried in the mix and compressed as hell and I can hardly appreciate anything else about this. Granted the vocals sound like standard 80’s pop to me and the instrumentation has some okay rock flair to it but not a ton, or at least, not that I can hear. I dunno, this already isn’t my thing and then the entire thing is trapped behind awful mixing to boot. Who could’ve guessed the worst production of the round would come from this song in particular? Geez, it’s nigh-unlistenable in this state.
Final Thoughts:
Okay, let’s try to put aside the production for a bit, especially since it was never quite as bad for me after the first listen (though it, uhh, wasn’t good either). The other major problem this song really has is just how repetitive it is. The song has to say “the big sky” somewhere close to 50 times across the entire song if not more. Or it feels that way if not. And it’s over four and a half minutes long when it feels like it could comfortably be three.
And nothing about the overall aesthetic really appeals to me either. Like the drumming itself is kind of impressive I guess. There’s like two endless guitar loops throughout the entire song, the one acoustic one and the one electric one that’s barely even audible. The bass has presence but no discernable melody, it’s just another layer of endless thudding on top of the loud percussion. And I’m just not too into her vocal style much. Maybe it’s because most of the lyrics are just “the big sky” over and over again but this style of vocals just doesn’t do much for me.
And the production is… still baffling, especially considering the remaster that happened over 30 years later and changed, to my ears, basically nothing. What’s the appeal of crushing every aspect of instrumental melody under the percussion like this? Why even bother having the rest of the instruments? The song also ends on something like a minute long fadeout that literally is just repeating the same four measures over and over.
Anyways, I just don’t really enjoy anything at all about this song. It’s not the worst thing ever and if I’m not focusing on it I can mostly tune it out, but that’s about the highest praise I can give this.
Reward:
Bonus: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
TAC: Gates To The Morning – Chapel Perilous
Theme: None
First Impressions:
I actually listened to this album once or twice but didn’t end up digging deeper into it! I remember it being vaguely progressive & doom-y, let’s see if my memories are right. This one is uhh. Like, chamber folk or something, actually? Is that the right term? I think if this developed into a metal track I’d like it a lot but it’s, like, a super weird pick for a roulette, I feel. It’s not… bad, or unpleasant, by any stretch, and maybe in the context of the album it works really well, but on its own I’m just not sure what to make of it. Did you mean to send this song? I’m genuinely wondering. Not that it’s bad but it doesn’t really feel like a roulette song, more an album cut that needs that context.
Final Thoughts:
I’m not really sure what to add to my first impression with on this one. It’s… almost completely empty. There’s like, a few recurring melodies here, sure. The vocal performance itself is pretty solid, he sounds nice, but there’s too much of a free-flowing vibe to it and it’s pretty dang repetitive, there’s like maybe two or three different vocal melodies throughout the song. And there’s never any accompaniment. If there are vocals, the instruments will wait until the end of the phrase to kick back in, and the vocals won’t come back until the instruments are gone.
And the instrumentation is like… looping guitars and, I think, harp? Throughout most of the song. You could probably make a decent soundscape out of that but there’s not really any attempt at doing so here either. There’s again just like, two different passages of instrumentation that repeat ad infinitum between vocal moments.
This even fails as an interlude track because it’s just too long for what it’s going for. It’s six and a half minutes long and it has less substance to it than any of the 3 minute songs I’ve received all roulette. I don’t know what this even has to offer outside the context of the album it’s on, either.
So I can only just wonder… why did you send this to me? Is this the song you meant to send? Is this the type of song you enjoy listening to on its own? Not only does it not really appeal to my tastes in any way, but it seems decisively un-TAC-like, both from what you’ve sent me in the past and from how you tend to rate things in your roulette. I am genuinely confused.
This is the definition of a 5/10 because it evokes nothing in me. I don’t have anything really negative to say about it, but it makes me feel nothing and I don’t have any words of praise for it either. Perfectly average.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Train of Naught: Raketkanon – Florent
Theme: None
First Impressions:
What is this, post-metal does funk rock? Oh man, and those vocals are rough as heck too. Thank god this is short, I honestly couldn’t see myself sitting through an 8-minute version of this sound 5 times. Well, okay, it has an okay quiet bit in the middle, but. No, those vocals are legit some of the worst I’ve ever heard in rock/metal, dear god. The groove itself is… okay, but not heavy enough to be satisfying and doesn’t sound tight enough to get me headbobbing either. Guitar line at the end is alright too. The vocals completely ruin what was already a mid-to-low tier song to begin with, dear god. Some bits of this I like but not many.
Final Thoughts:
Well okay, this grew on me a little bit. The groove, mostly. That’s not a bad groove, actually. Maybe hearing it a few more times helped it grow on me. I won’t say it’s an amazing groove, but it’s a good baseline for a song that could develop into a better, heavier groove.
This song unfortunately doesn’t go that route, it goes the route of adding some of the most annoying vocals I can recall. I genuinely don’t understand the appeal of this style of vocals. I don’t know what else to say, they just sound the closest thing to “objectively bad” something can be. Any moment with vocals is worse off for having them.
The clean break in the middle is a nice moment of reprieve, though it’s not a particularly strong atmosphere, a bit too empty to have much of any impact. And the ending is kinda cool. I think this is the only moment the vocals don’t ruin, I dig that guitar lead and there’s some solid intensity here and the vocals are mostly not present and only indiscernable shrieks when they are.
The song is also pretty short, and when about half of it leaves a negative impact on me through a single element, there’s not much room for it to make a positive impression. Still, this ended up higher than I originally expected it to, though the bottom three this round were all pretty much set in stone from the first listen. But yeah. Sorry man, I just don’t get it.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
ariich: Scar Symmetry – The Kaleidoscopic God
Theme: None
First Impressions:
Honestly, I know of these guys, but exclusively through “guitar hero solo compilations” because these guys had a pretty ridiculous one of those. So I know them for their technicality and not much else. Right off the bat I get mostly melodeath vibes from this though which is I guess not quite what I was expecting? The riffs are okay and the vocals are fine, though for this sound I did prefer what Soilwork I’ve heard, from what you sent me previously, but the energy is at least there in this one. I don’t know if I’m really hearing much about this that particularly stands out though. Yeah, there are prog elements, but those elements are a longer-than-average runtime and shifts between various 4/4 riffs that I’ve basically already heard before in other bands. I get where you’re coming from for this one but there isn’t much about it that either impresses or stands out to me, it’s “fine” though.
Final Thoughts:
Every round has to have one song that stands out by being the least memorable of the round, and this round it ended up being this one. Which is interesting, because from a technical standpoint, these guys probably have the most talent, or at least the most instrumental chops, of any band sent. Bu I don’t know, just that there isn’t a ton about this one that does much for me.
The riffs… okay, there’s the one really chuggy, kind of thrash-y one throughout the verses that doesn’t do much for me, the one that’s heavier and meatier behind the chorus that has some solid grooves, there’s a few others that show up less often that are all kinda solid too but not especially memorable.
The vocals, the growls here are fine, I am pretty indifferent on them leaning I guess slightly negative, they’re kind of doofy cookie monster-style low growls. The cleans are okay too, the singer doesn’t sound that great but he’s got a solid melody to work with that makes up for it. Other things… the break in the middle that happens and builds up some atmospheric swell is pretty neat, but it doesn’t quite feel like it builds into anything.
The real highlights of this one are the solo sections, the first shorter solo is a bit buried in the mix but it has a nice riff below it and the solo itself is pretty solid too. The second solo is really where it’s at, there’s just a ton going on here that I dig the hell out of. It kind of mixes a metal solo style with a lot of tones that make me think more of 70’s classic rock and the riffs behind each section of the solo reflect pretty well which influence that passage is pulling from to make for an impressive and propulsive section. It’s been the highlight of the song for me every listen and usually the only part that really catches my attention.
It’s overall… a fine song, but outside of that really good solo section, not much of it really clicks for me in a way that makes me want to return to it. It doesn’t overstay its welcome and it’s moving around enough to not get boring over its runtime, it’s got a solid enough hook and a few repeated motifs that I like, but the overall aesthetic is one that’s really hit or miss for me and I can’t say this is a particularly strong hit, though it’s not a miss either. I’m still going to call it your weakest submission yet but your weakest still isn’t half bad.
I should stress that this is like, the most borderline between two ratings any song has been yet and I’m probably going to judge future round scores against it, though.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Evermind: Lost Domain – Rise of Isolash
Theme: Female-Fronted Death Metal
First Impressions:
Alright, Evermind back on the harsh vocals bandwagon, that’s how you know it’s gonna be either really good or really terrible. Initial impression is definitely getting some Oceans of Slumber vibes off this, a heavy and dark sound with some pretty powerful vocals, though it also kind of leans more towards a melodic death metal sound. I’d rather have a female-fronted band in the genre than a male-fronted one, though, from my experience. There’s a bit of a proggy direction to this one too, I’ve kind of just been casually enjoying it without having a ton to really say during my first impression but I think that’s fine. It’s pretty straightforward for what it is but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t rock or that I don’t dig it a lot, ‘cause it does, and I do.
Final Thoughts:
The other 7-ish minute death metal track of this round. I’m doing these write-ups back-to-back even if they don’t end up this way in the final rankings, which is probably a bad idea, but it’s also an opportunity to compare both of these and see why one works a little bit better for me than the other.
Well for one, she’s a better singer than anything Scar Symmetry had to offer me. She does sound like the kind of singer who could front a symphonic metal band though so I’m glad this isn’t, uhh, that. She’s not as good as the Scarlet Stories vocalist, though, no moment of this really gives me chills in the way that some stuff on that album does and her highest notes also aren’t as high, though that’s kind of a silly metric to judge based on anyways.
The guitar riffs here are also pretty solid, they balance groove and melody well, both the main riff behind the verses and the chorus are pretty headbob-worthy. I can groove to that. Just like the other song this round, this one also has a break in the middle, though here that serves as a transition into a pretty killer triplet groove and some nice clean/harsh vocal tradeoffs.
The faster section kinda comes and goes pretty quickly before it’s back to the norm but I do like that there’s a triplet guitar line that comes in the background of the buildup that follows, kind of a lingering aftershock of that faster groove. The song basically just rides that buildup from that point onward and while I don’t feel the climax is especially satisfying, it’s still a pretty solid moment.
That’s kind of what I’d say about this one overall. It’s very solid metal. I don’t ever quite fine any moment of it especially powerful, but it’s a nearly 8 minute track that I enjoy front-to-back to a pretty positive extent, though I also definitely am not really emotionally resonating with it or finding it especially hard-hitting either. I can’t really fault it for anything though, it’s just not quite grabbing my interest, but it’s a good song all the same.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Bonus: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
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Buddyhunter1: Type O Negative – Love You To Death
Theme: None
First Impressions:
Eehh I was apprehensive about these guys because I already had a general idea of how they sounded from a few tracks being played in plug and the vocals just flat do not work for me. Like, the gothic style of vocals in general don’t vibe with me, it’s just too low-pitched (or for female vocals, often just really flavorless). Though I guess my gripes mostly apply to the vocals in the intro, throughout the rest of the song they’re fine? And the music picks up a lot of the slack here too, the production quality is hhhmmmm but the riffs themselves & the musical texture are all pretty nice to compensate. I dunno, not a ton for me to say on first listen here? It’s better than I was expecting. Not fully past the vocals or the production on this and it might drag a bit long but the overall experience was still relatively positive.
Final Thoughts:
This was probably the biggest grower of the round for me. Stylistically this generally isn’t my kind of sound, nor is the kind of rough production something I’m particularly fond of. And the vocals at the start very much get this one off to a rough start for me, but that’s probably as much as I really have to gripe about for the majority of this song.
For one, that main riff is killer, actually. It’s got both heaviness and a melodic hook to it and builds up a pretty good groove for the rest of the song to build up on. The production quality doesn’t destroy the power or groove of the riff either, so it’s hard to really complain that much about it if it’s still working just fine?
The vocals throughout most of the rest of the song too, I’m not wild about the verses I guess but they’re fine. The chorus is actually really cool though, the more ethereal sounding vocals and the weird melodic turn at the very end of the chorus is neat too, and the instrumentation behind it backs it up without getting too in the way either. It’s got a weirdly dreamlike vibe to it. And then the vocals in the outro return to more of how they sound in the verses, though with some pretty powerful longer notes thrown in.
The entire outro section, too, builds off another good groove. There’s some sense of uneasy desperation to the last bit, or at least that’s what I hear in it. Really, taking a step back from this song, it’s basically three different, similarly-paced grooves that flow into each other, which kind of creates a sense of progression, even if it’s not immediately obvious. But it keeps me from getting bored & allows the song to have quite a few hooks over its runtime too. Maybe that’s why it grew on me, there’s a lot to latch onto with this one.
I’m still not completely wild for it, of course, since I think there’s always going to be some degree of aesthetic clash with stuff like this for me, but it’s a very solid attempt that I can’t say was really unsuccessful. I can’t imagine wanting a whole album of this, but at the very least I dig this one.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Puppies_On_Acid: Darkspace – Dark 3.13
Theme: None
First Impressions:
Yeah this is kind of what I remember them being. 90% guitar fuzz with basically no vocals or drums. They’re like, audible in the background but only barely. I don’t even think it’s necessarily that the production is bad, it’s that the mixing is bizarre and makes them sound more like a drone metal band than a black metal band. And there’s some kind of guitar melodies that pop in from time to time too, but. Again they remain mostly buried. Just past the halfway mark comes the first proper riff of the song and the first semblance of actual melody? But I kinda preferred the almost ambient feel of the first half. It sort of trades off the sense of atmosphere for monotone chugging that feels more like blackened post-metal than anything. I can sort of get what they’re going for with this one but it almost feels like they don’t commit hard enough to the sound to make it fully click.
Final Thoughts:
I’m sure you submitted this song just to make my life impossible, because not only is it hard to really… talk about this song, it’s also hard to compare something like this to, you know, more traditional music. Because, I mean, it’s definitely one of the more unique entries I’ve ever had in any roulette.
Honestly until like the fourth listen I didn’t even realize there were vocals on this song. I definitely hear them now, but like. The guitars in the first half are just, absolutely drowning out everything else here to a ridiculous extent. The drums try to provide rhythm and vaguely succeed, and I’m not sure if there’s any bass at all, or just like five layers of guitars all playing at once. There’s also some organ that comes in towards the end of the more atmospheric half that I like, it just adds another layer of texture to the overall experience.
The chuggier riff sections I can’t say I’m as big into… they sort of break the almost ambient immersion of the first half for what is, for all intents and purposes, much more traditional metal compared to what came before. The really imbalanced mix is still there, sure, but now the guitars are being as rhythmic as the drums and just being “heavy” rather than “atmospheric” and you bet I like one of those more than the other. They’re not bad sections though, just that taking the second half of this song on its own I definitely wouldn’t be as into it. I do appreciate the more melodic guitar lines that come in at the very end to break up the monotony of the riffing though, even if it’s still not really the kind of sound I’d want to hear.
So to sum it up: The first half is weird but in a way exactly what I’d want out of atmospheric black metal. The second half isn’t, and brings the song down a fair bit, but I can at least bear with it and maybe in the context of an album it’d work better. I do intend to check out this album, anyways, since I’m intrigued enough by the sound, or at least hoping there’s more of the sound of the first half of this on the album. It’s probably not gonna win anyone else in this roulette over though, haha, wow.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Nekov: As Tall as Lions – In Case of Rapture
Theme: None
First Impressions:
Huh, the initial vibes I’m getting off this one are interesting. Drums are very active and driving a lot of energy, vocalist seems pretty dynamic in his delivery. I kind of get Kings of Leon vibes off of their overall sound, if that makes sense? I don’t know why specifically that band, especially since I’ve barely listened to them. I dunno, not a ton else to say. Dug the energy and overall sound of this one even if it doesn’t come off as particularly unique.
Final Thoughts:
First off, I gotta say – that’s one of the worst album covers I’ve ever seen. Thanks, I hate it. Second off, why does that one guitar riff sound almost exactly like the chorus of Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) by Journey? Seriously, that’s been throwing me for a loop every listen since I noticed it in my second listen.
Anyways this is the kind of indie rock I’m most on board with. Very energetic and bright sound, pretty strong and dynamic vocal performance, good hooks throughout, and actually pretty talented musicianship considering the style. All the band members, really. The drummer is pulling most of the weight, for sure, but the basslines are pretty cool and there’s so many different little things going on with the guitars too, from some more jagged riffs to moments of tremolo-picked texture, and more spacious moments in between.
It’s not relentlessly peppy or fast-paced either, though, with some quieter moments that still keep that driving energy throughout thanks to the instrumentation but still give the listener a moment to breathe. And the break in the middle does build up to a very satisfying climax – the horns and whoa-oh vocals at the end over the tremolo riff and just like, layers and layers of stuff all happening without ever sounding cluttered. I guess if I had to nitpick I think the ending is a bit… anticlimactic, the song just has nowhere else to go so it fades out without any satisfying resolution but ehh. That really is just a nitpick.
I didn’t think a ton of this one at first and even now I can’t say it’s, like, the most unique thing ever, but it is pretty refreshing for the kind of sound it’s going for and pretty much nails everything it’s trying to do without breaking a sweat. Fun, plenty enjoyable tune. Can’t complain.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Elite: Winterhorde – Underwatermoon
Theme: None
First Impressions:
Well this is interesting right off the bat. It’s got that pounding black metal feel to it but it’s got some more technical guitar noodling going on too and I really dig the use of organ on this one too. It’s a kind of chaotic and impenetrable sound but I’m interested in digging into it more. And then the song goes for a quiet break in the middle… alright. I feel that kind of brings the song to a bit of a halt but it does built up nicely back into the heavier stuff. I don’t know why you were worried about this one performing poorly, I dig the heck out of it & this sound in general. Don’t know if it will be necessarily a favorite though but we’ll see.
Final Thoughts:
While this didn’t end up as my absolute favorite of the round, it’s definitely one of the more interesting just on sound alone. Because uhh, wow, yeah, this one’s doing a lot, more than I can realistically go into in a writeup. More than I can digest in just 5 listens, really. Like, the first thing the song does is a very pretty quiet section immediately slamming into an intense and loud black metal segment that goes through both clean and harsh vocals.
There’s this bit around the 2-minute mark that has some dissonant organ hits coming in on the off-beat and that transitions into this really frantic guitar line on top of them for just an utterly chaotic and terrifying sound. It’s like if the noodling that Infant Annihilator did had a point and created an atmosphere, mostly by virtue of it not being completely brickwalled and having interesting texture to it.
Also. The middle is… kind of hilarious? Everything just stops and there’s lots of watery sound effects under this almost comically pretty moment with guitars and syrupy female vocals. Taking the title of the song very literally, huh? I do kind of get the break, though. It’s the weight of the intensity of the earlier section just snapping at its limit and it’s a bit of a shock but it’s the conclusion that horror show kind of deserves, though contrasting it with something so saccharine is genuinely really funny to me.
I think the rest of the song past that point doesn’t ever quite reach the heights of the first half, but it does have a pretty strong ending all the same, bringing in the blastbeats over a symphonic texture with some really desperate sounding vocals and capping it off with a really frantic guitar line over an equally frantic guitar riff.
The whole ride is pretty compelling, to be sure, though I think it’s a bit lacking in terms of, like, specifically memorable moments or hooks – even five listens later I can’t still fully recall how a lot of it sounds without being in the moment, but in the moment I enjoy it a hell of a lot all the same. Definitely gonna be digging into this band, regardless, since I am very much enjoying the style they have on display here.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Bolsters: Eisley – Mr. Moon
Theme: None
First Impressions:
One of those artists I’ve heard of but never really checked out so I have no clue what to expect. For one, I wasn’t expecting female vocals. This seems like it’s in that indie pop/rock vein though. I will say it’s a sound I’ve kind of heard a lot of before but this definitely seems like a better stab at it, at least on first impression. Nice vocal melodies and the instrumentation is simple but textured enough to carry a mood. Drummer pulls more weight than I’d usually expect out of this sound, too. It’s a familiar enough sound but my first impression is that it’s executed pretty well and has room to grow on me as well.
Final Thoughts:
Is it me or does the singer here sound kind of like Taylor Swift? A bit less nasal but she’s got a similar tone of voice a lot of the time. This is a very different kind of song than what I’d expect out of Taylor, for sure, at least nowadays, but.
Anyways this one I already liked right off the bat but it only really got better with subsequent listens. For one, the hook is just really well executed in all regards. Strong melodies and harmonies on later repetitions, propulsive drums and general instrumentation driving it with enough little details to keep it relistenable, just a strong emotional connection to the song overall.
I think that’s generally what makes this one work for me – it makes me feel more than any other song in this round. The best moment has to be the second verse, there’s like, a completely different delivery on every single line and almost all of them just go straight for the gut. And the bridge in the middle has some nice additional instrumentation – it’s maybe a subtle moment but it’s one I like quite a bit.
And there’s just a good sense of escalation throughout the entire song – the sound is building up with each section up until the third verse, stripping back for a quieter moment before the climactic finale. It’s maybe a bit cliché of a song structure but it’s a cliché for a reason, because it just plain works.
I will say that this was a much closer call for round winner than in rounds past, since I could honestly see my opinion on the top three songs all changing over time, though they’re all very good in their own ways. This is the one that’s done the most for me recurrently across all my listens, though, and I think that’s probably the strongest criteria to me for what the round winner really is – a good song that is immediately recognizable as good and continues to remain powerful even on repeated listens.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Round Winner Bonus: (https://i.imgur.com/o3BBdpG.png)
Current Standings:
Elite: 17
ariich: 16
Evermind: 16
Bolsters: 16
Nekov: 15
Dacul: 13
Puppies_On_Acid: 13
Buddyhunter1: 13
Train of Naught: 10
TAC: 10
-
Scores in first post updated.
Bonus themes table updated.
Banned during the roulette list updated.
listening to that Karas album now also since I never got a chance to before :corn
idle comment, while i do like all three 4's this round I don't think any of them are quite as good as either 4 this round. winterhorde and eisley may be close though. any 4 is still, y'know, quite a good song regardless so :lol
i'm also gonna take my usual week-long break after round 5 which should have results posted for it on sunday, i don't see any way that's missed since i'll have time to listen thursday, friday, saturday, and sunday, & then after that while round 6 submissons are coming in i'll start listens only on the friday after
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That's actually a fair assessment of that particular Darkspace song. I think you will like the rest of the album based on your thoughts of the first half of this song. And as you surmised, it all works way better in the context of the album. And you hit the nail on the head regarding the mix/production. It is intentionally mixed this way. Also as a side note, there is bass, but it's fairly low in the mix. It comes through much clearer on a nice pair of headphones, adding a nice lower end to round out the sound.
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also, according to the scoreboard, we are halfway through the main rounds of the roulette! if the same pace keeps up at least, 5 people will reach 30 by the end of round 8.
considering round 1 started on october 17th (less than 3 weeks ago) i feel like i'm making pretty good pace here, which is what i wanted out of this roulette anyways
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(https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Lr-f6cSghOI/W50spZLeFtI/AAAAAAAAEog/OUMp6tofY4ET75jrTyZ54L2r0DX8jEC2ACLcBGAs/s1600/Karas%2B-%2BKaras.jpg)
generally cool sound but feel like the album overall has the same drawbacks the song i was send does - namely, feels a bit colorless? it's more post-metal than anything else and i really dig a lot of the drumwork & there's good atmospheric & progressive stuff on here too, my overall thoughts are positive to be sure but it probably does need more listens to sink in
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Hell yeah, actually got a bonus strawberry, nice.
I'm kinda running out of stuff I think you may dig, let's see what else I've got.
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If you found those vocals annoying, I'm glad I didn't send "Fons" :D
I know what you mean, sometimes I don't mind "objectively bad" vocals, I think Raketkanon have a really interesting sound and arguably the most consistently good discography of any new band with 3 or more albums (for my tastes)
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Oh, wow. Despite the worst start possible really, I still manage to be in first place. That's quite cool. Let's see if I can keep it up.
Also, I'd like to reserve Eisley for a future round!
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Well, I'm pleasantly surprised that you liked that song so much :smiley:. And I agree that the album cover is pretty awful but lucky for me we don't get points for that :lol
Will send something later today
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Sent something almost as great as Raketkanon
0.5 strawberries
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Wow, everyone's gotten at least one golden strawberry except me :lol
It's probably gonna stay that way tbh, unless I somehow manage to get a first place one round
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Also, I'd like to reserve Eisley for a future round!
wrong roulette :lol
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Well that was a bad choice :lol.
Sent something epic.
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Just came back from work and I plan to get some sleep soon, not sure if I'll be able to pick a song in the next few hours, if not, I'll send you something in ~12 hours.
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No rush here, I won't count people late until Friday morning but would like to start Thursday evening so
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Hmm, fair enough. Kaleidoscopic God isn't my favourite but I sent it as it's a bit proggier and varied and balances the heavy and melodic sides quite well. But I do wonder if I'd have been better off focusing on one or the other, like going for one of the big anthemic songs. Ah well!
Having a think about round 5.
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I'm basically on a crossroads pondering if I should continue thinking about the stuff Cyril would probably like or just go my own way, send some Russian prog metal for the bonus point, then follow it up with Russian death metal for another bonus point, then send Arch Matheos and then send some instrumental ambient and end up with 20 strawberries total, and I would definitely like to sleep on it
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Well, I sucked it that round. :facepalm:
I'm quite high on the Gates To the Morning album. I wasn't really sure what song to send from it though. I was listening a few weeks ago, and that song really grabbed me. I was hoping the vibe would translate, but apparently not. :lol
Anyway, sent for Round 5.
That Lost Domain album is amazing. There's hardly any harsh vocals on that album, but they crush Oceans Of Slumber. First of all, they can actually write songs. They have a Quuensryche vibe to them...think Damaged.
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I've heard one queensryche album and dunno what a Damaged is.
Oceans of Slumber are pretty inconsistent though, I still think their first album is overall their best since it's the most musically interesting even if the vocals are... kinda rough
Winter is by far their best song though
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Based on what I've heard, I'd have to go with Suffer the Last Bridge.
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Sent
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Based on what I've heard, I'd have to go with Suffer the Last Bridge.
That one is probably more up your alley than most yeah
You are a hard rock guy and all, apparently
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I like the beginning of Winter a lot. But I don't know. The song somehow loses me.
That guys has a great voice, but there's a huge disconnect to me in their music.
I sampled them when they first came out, and may have even had one of the first OoS posts here, but I just couldn't get into them.
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Scent.
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I'm going to try to send something tonight or no later than tomorrow evening.
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no rush, only have half the songs so far anyways :lol
(https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.genius.com%2F93187cd7bdda140683351789b38b6b5b.1000x1000x1.jpg&hash=56df4718d30dc009642142a354b304fc1967991a)
hmm, i dunno, something about this isn't quite working for me. the song i was sent isn't particularly representative of the rest of the album and the rest of the album is more straightforward indie rock than anything. it's not bad or unpleasant but it's also not grabbing me as much as mr. moon did, even on first listen i dug that one a lot and nothing else here got that reaction from me. maybe it needs a relisten, maybe they have a better full album to check out, i don't really know
was gonna do a second one tonight but ehh, it's a bit late now
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no rush, only have half the songs so far anyways
Oh, I could still send Rush, of that’s what you mean
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no rush, only have half the songs so far anyways :lol
(https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.genius.com%2F93187cd7bdda140683351789b38b6b5b.1000x1000x1.jpg&hash=56df4718d30dc009642142a354b304fc1967991a)
hmm, i dunno, something about this isn't quite working for me. the song i was sent isn't particularly representative of the rest of the album and the rest of the album is more straightforward indie rock than anything. it's not bad or unpleasant but it's also not grabbing me as much as mr. moon did, even on first listen i dug that one a lot and nothing else here got that reaction from me. maybe it needs a relisten, maybe they have a better full album to check out, i don't really know
was gonna do a second one tonight but ehh, it's a bit late now
I like The Valley. It's my wife's favorite Eisley album, but I prefer the 2 before it (Combinations and Room Noises) and the 2 after it. They are a very enjoyable band all around though.
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(https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.genius.com%2F93187cd7bdda140683351789b38b6b5b.1000x1000x1.jpg&hash=56df4718d30dc009642142a354b304fc1967991a)
hmm, i dunno, something about this isn't quite working for me. the song i was sent isn't particularly representative of the rest of the album and the rest of the album is more straightforward indie rock than anything. it's not bad or unpleasant but it's also not grabbing me as much as mr. moon did, even on first listen i dug that one a lot and nothing else here got that reaction from me. maybe it needs a relisten, maybe they have a better full album to check out, i don't really know
It's a pretty short album, worth a relisten at some point. I don't disagree that Mr. Moon is still the best song there but the rest of it did grow on me.
Also, I have sent my next v.
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I like The Valley. It's my wife's favorite Eisley album, but I prefer the 2 before it (Combinations and Room Noises) and the 2 after it. They are a very enjoyable band all around though.
considering i see only 5 albums listed total this is a very roundabout way of saying it's your least favorite from them :lol
i may check out more from them at some point but not right at this moment. they're not going anywhere anyways
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Alright, have been busy at work but now I'm home and you'll get my song in ~2 hours.
edit: and sent.
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I'm guessing we are still waiting on Sacul and Elite?
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Sent something epic.
Not me :P
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Dacul was the first to send.
I'm waiting on Elite, Train, and Puppies.
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Dacul was the first to send.
The hell is going on :lol
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Elite is busy with work and will send tomorrow!
Regards from Elite.
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Alright, but if you don't send by 8:00 AM PST it's a onr-berry penalty.
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He's one berry ahead of us, he can take it :biggrin:
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Dacul was the first to send.
He finally completed his character arc, I see :biggrin:
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Now I can finally let go, my planet needs me.
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An epic tale of redemption.
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Sent
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Do you need me to resend? Just saw your PM
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Uhh. I swear I never got anything from you. I haven't deleted any messages since right after I posted round 4 results...
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Shit he’s right, I just got obServ’d
Created the PM right after R4 but never sent apparently
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got it now :tup
the circle is closed; Dacul was first to send, and Elite is the last. The universe is at peace
i'm gonna do most of the first impressions tonight & probably check out Elite's in the morning & post hanghang and impressions after that, if he sends
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through first listens of every song except elite's, which i don't have
speak of elite's
(https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0888697190_16.jpg)
yeah, this is... an interesting sound, for sure. kind of a lot to take in on a single sitting though, but the rest of the album is prettyyyy much just the same style as the song that was sent, which is to say it'll take a bit to unpack. definitely digging it though. less digging the silence + bonus track hidden in the last track, i kinda feel that's such a dead gimmick at this point but whateverrrr
i was gonna do two tonight but ended up not having the time.
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got it now :tup
the circle is closed; Dacul was first to send, and Elite is the last. The universe is at peace
i'm gonna do most of the first impressions tonight & probably check out Elite's in the morning & post hanghang and impressions after that, if he sends
I have sent.
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technically true & i won't penalize you but you do need to resend
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Aahw, shit. How would it have scored?
Sending again soon. Need to go over some options.
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dunno? i spun that album a few times and found it kinda difficult to get into, i saved a few tracks on spotify but that one wasn't one of them
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btw i'm gonna put up impressions & hangman in exactly an hour if I don't hear back from elite
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I just sent you a new entry
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Hangman!
???: ____ _______ - _i___ _____ __i__
???: ___ __ _____i__ - ______ __ ___ _____
???: ________ - ____________
???: __________ - ___ _______ ___di_i__
???: _________ - ____ _____ ___ ___
???: __ __ - __i_i____
???: ____d______ - D___ __ _____
???: _______i____ - ___ ______
???: _____ _____ - ____
???: ____i__i - ___ _____ __d
Letters Guessed:
DI
Elite waits 3
Buddy waits 2
impressions in a bit, i am listening to an album but will check out the song after
anyways hang it up
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I
-
D
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Round 5 First Impressions
This is, probably, really good for its genre and simultaneously emphasizes why this genre almost never works that well for me.
I like the way they toe the line of melody and dissonance consistently and while some elements I initially found offputting they didn’t end up bothering me much.
I don’t know if it’s immediately working for me in this style, but I could see it growing on me, though I doubt it’ll be a favorite either.
I don’t have any particularly strong opinion about this first listen but I also see it as unlikely to do particularly bad.
I think it’s a bit lacking in surprises but it’s got a good core sound and it’s still enjoyable enough front-to-back, even if it’s a bit overshadowed in this round.
It’s a nice little song that slots into the kind of sound I like in this genre, even if I’m not too sure it’s going to be a favorite or have a ton of repeat value.
This one threw me for a loop several times as I could never quite pin down what it was trying to be, but I did enjoy it for what it was all the same.
There’s some solid groove to this but it’s a sound I kind of struggle to really get into; the second half is better than the first half, though.
It does this style more in the way that I generally prefer it, though I do think it struggles to find a unique sound all the same.
I’m digging this sound even if I don’t think it’s fully clicking with me on first listen, it’s definitely interesting though.
feel like this is gonna have the lowest spread of scores of any round thus far - everything's at least solid but nothing is blowing me away yet either, ranges from "decent" to "pretty good"
it's also the longest round by song lengths so far, I think, over half the songs pass the 7 minute mark or come close to it :P
nothing over 10 minutes though, interestingly
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This is, probably, really good for its genre and simultaneously emphasizes why this genre almost never works that well for me.
I don’t know if it’s immediately working for me in this style, but I could see it growing on me, though I doubt it’ll be a favorite either.
I don’t know if it’s immediately working for me in this style, but I could see it growing on me, though I doubt it’ll be a favorite either.
This one threw me for a loop several times as I could never quite pin down what it was trying to be, but I did enjoy it for what it was all the same.
There’s some solid groove to this but it’s a sound I kind of struggle to really get into; the second half is better than the first half, though.
I’m digging this sound even if I don’t think it’s fully clicking with me on first listen, it’s definitely interesting though.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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oh apparently one impression got duplicated somehow i fixed that
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Oh, I thought you were doing the same thing TAC did for his Round 2 impressions :lol
-
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
please
-
Hangman!
???: ____ __t___s - _it__ B____ __is_
???: S__ __ _____i_s - _____s __ T__ ___t_
???: __t___t_ - St__t_s_____
???: __________ - T__ S_____t T__diti__
???: _________ - ____ B____ T__ S__
???: _s __ - __i_i___s
???: ____d______ - D___ T_ ___t_
???: S___s__itt__ - T__ ______
???: S____ T____ - ___s
???: ___bi__i - S__ T___s __d
Letters Guessed:
BDIST
Puppies waits 3
TAC waits 2
ariich waits 1
ITT: ariich becomes a snake
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T
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someone order some hot, fresh T?
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(https://i.imgflip.com/3fr6uk.jpg) (https://imgflip.com/i/3fr6uk)
(https://imgflip.com/memegenerator[/url)
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Show me the B!
-
according to all known laws of aviation
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Could this possibly be the most obscure set of songs in hangmanen ever?
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Mine is pretty popular in prog music these days, I would never have expected it not to be banned but maybe that’s bad news.. :lol
W me up (inside)
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Hangman!
???: ____ M_t___s - _it__ B____ __ism
???: S__ _f _____i_s - _____s _f T__ ___t_
???: M_t_m_t_ - St__t_s_____
???: _______w__ - T__ S_____t T__diti__
???: _________ - ____ B___w T__ S__
???: MS MR - __imi___s
???: Celldweller - Down to Earth
???: S___s__itt__ - T__ M_____
???: S____ T____ - __ws
Dacul: Jambinai - Sun. Tears. Red
Letters Guessed:
BDFIMSTW
TAC waits 3
Dacul waits 2
Train waits 1
there are a few artists here that i wouldn't say are obscure, but i've never heard of yours, Train :P
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F
-
respects paid for the two F's in the entire hangman
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Celldweller - Down to Earth
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Sent by Bolsters
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right band, right song, wrong sender
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M
-
delivered
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Sacul sent Jambinai - Sun Tears Red :metal
One N missing at least
I think
-
yeah there will be some N's missing considering N has not been guessed
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Ms Mr
-
O
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Hangman!
Evermind: Arch/Matheos - Pitch Black Prism
???: So_ Of A____i_s - C_o__s Of T__ _a_t_
Nekov: Mutemath - Stratosphere
???: __c_oc_w__ - T__ S_____t T_aditio_
ariich: Euphoreon - Zero Below the Sun
???: MS MR - __imi_a_s
???: Celldweller - Down to Earth
???: So__s__itt__ - T__ Mo_oc_
???: Sleep Token - Jaws
Dacul: Jambinai - Sun. Tears. Red
Letters Guessed:
ABCDFIMOSTW
ariich waits 3
Puppies waits 2
Buddy waits 1
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Mutemath
Give me a C while you are at it
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do ya C it
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Evermind: Arch/Matheos - Pitch Black Prism
And the Trainmath song is Stratosphere
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Mutemath
Nekov?
And let's have an A.
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all those are correct, A is delivered. amusingly most of the A's were already revealed tho
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Sleep Token - Jaws sent by TAC?
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right band, right song, wrong sender
also i forgot to post this yesterday i just realized
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51yGP8l8CtL._SY355_.jpg)
still the absolute worst album cover. it makes me not wanna get this album. the album itself is solid though. in an album context there's definitely something dredg-y about them. i think there are a few too many/too long slower tracks that give this a pacing problem but i did enjoy it overall, anyways
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That album is amazing, one of my favourite discoveries of last year!
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TAC: Euphoreon - Zero Below the Sun
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Great, another band to scrap off my list :lol
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right band, right song, wrong sender
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TAC: Euphoreon - Zero Below the Sun
No. Did Ariich pull an Evermind??
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it's not impossible :corn
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TAC: Euphoreon - Zero Below the Sun
No. Did Ariich pull an Evermind??
:hat
I mean, we're in round 5, so you've had plenty of chance to send them. :P
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I had Celldweller in mind but wasn't sure about it. I would have probably sent Just Like You if I had, though.
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can ya bump hangman? it's a ways back now
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Hangman!
Evermind: Arch/Matheos - Pitch Black Prism
???: Son Of Aurelius - Chorus Of The Earth
Nekov: Mutemath - Stratosphere
???: N_c_oc_w_n - T__ S____nt T_adition
ariich: Euphoreon - Zero Below the Sun
???: MS MR - __iminals
???: Celldweller - Down to Earth
???: So_ls_litt__ - T__ Moloc_
???: Sleep Token - Jaws
Dacul: Jambinai - Sun. Tears. Red
Letters Guessed:
ABCDFILMNOSTW
Bolsters waits 3
ariich waits 2
Puppies waits 1
sure. gimme a letter though :corn
gonna do fourth listens probably tonight & have comparisons up after, results tomorrow either way
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Son Of Aurelius-Chorus Of The Earth
Just checked that out. I like a lot of it, but not crazy about the harshies. But the rest is freaking awesome.
-
N
-
seNding for your rouNd four Now
-
seNding for your rouNd four Now
I haveN't listened to all of rouNd three yet!
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i hope you listened to mine and hated it :metal
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I am not done with all of them yet, but yes, I have heard yours.
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L
-
talk about taking an L
also i'm listening to the darkspace album rn i'll edit this post or make a new one about it when i'm done but it's
heavy
(https://img.discogs.com/LKEpdNJj3AcVSCTwZyQG0wGhfFU=/fit-in/300x300/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(40)/discogs-images/R-1435264-1219497636.jpeg.jpg)
so yeah it's an interesting sound. i think the middle drags a bit (back half of 3.13 to like, the first third of 3.16) but there's a lot of cool heavy stuff here overall & i definitely want to revisit it
-
Round 5 Comparisons
v Bolsters
v Elite
v Nekov
^ Puppies_On_Acid
v Buddyhunter1
v Evermind
v ariich
^ Train of Naught
^ TAC
^ Dacul
while these comparisons don't exactly look great on paper i will clarify that currently my score sheet has six 3's for this round, and based on these comparisons literally anyone is eligible for one. one of these i'm vaguely unsure of because the two songs are hard to compare.
themes of this round: prog metal out the wazoo (5-6 songs that qualify), songs with lyrics that bug me (3 currently)
one song this round is at the moment my least favorite of the entire roulette even if i'm not sure it'll score as such. it's because of lyrics that bug me.
i'm gonna sleep now
-
:lol
Well this wasn't exactly unexpected.
-
Show me those pretty white strawberries
-
Aahw crap. And down we go.
-
at the bottom at at the bottom
-
sent Arch/Matheos
wrong direction
wrong direction
-
Continuing to get worse every round, cool cool.
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Continuing to get worse every round, cool cool.
(https://media1.giphy.com/media/eCq7zGp7tPHvW/source.gif)
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(https://i.imgflip.com/3fx7zj.jpg) (https://imgflip.com/i/3fx7zj) (https://imgflip.com/memegenerator)
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In hangman, is the MS MR tune Criminals with the C missing?
EDIT: :lol Tim.
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Hangman!
Evermind: Arch/Matheos - Pitch Black Prism
???: Son Of Aurelius - Chorus Of The Earth
Nekov: Mutemath - Stratosphere
???: Nechochwen- The Serpent Tradition
ariich: Euphoreon - Zero Below the Sun
???: MS MR - Criminals
???: Celldweller - Down to Earth
???: So_ls_litter - The Moloch
???: Sleep Token - Jaws
Dacul: Jambinai - Sun. Tears. Red
Letters Guessed:
ABCDEFILMNORSTW
ariich waits 1
yes, it is, oop
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R for, well, you know
-
yeah i'mma start on them soon, no worries :P
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The Serpent Tradition. That middle word has been bugging me for ages.
Google tells me it's by Nechochwen, that famous band I've heard of.
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The Serpent Tradition. That middle word has been bugging me for ages.
Google tells me it's by Nechochwen, that famous band I've heard of.
Dammit, I've been staring at that since yesterday.
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The Serpent Tradition. That middle word has been bugging me for ages.
Google tells me it's by Nechochwen, that famous band I've heard of.
Dammit, I've been staring at that since yesterday.
:lol Yeah it was obviously "The" and "Tradition" from early on and the middle word looked like Silent but had too many letters. And hangman was just filling in Tradition when it didn't need to. Thankfully the R finally made it solvable!
Also, The Moloch?
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Is Nechochwen Pup?
He sent me a band with a crazy name in my roulette for this round.
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Is Nechochwen Pup?
He sent me a band with a crazy name in my roulette for this round.
Was that Shymlonghaheajear?
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The Moloch - yes
Puppies - no
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Is Nechochwen Pup?
He sent me a band with a crazy name in my roulette for this round.
Was that Shymlonghaheajear?
Yeah.
I was thinking of sending Mylongschlong. ;D
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they're banned, sorry!
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The Moloch - yes
I'm resisting googling again as it's the last one so I'll try and keep guessing.
How about an E? Needs to be some more vowels in there.
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Soulsglitter? :lol I don't know
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One E.
you can also pass time guessing who sent what!
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Or Soulsplitter
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Soulsglitter? :lol I don't know
Soulsplitter? Seems more like the name of a band someone might send Cyril.
EDIT: never mind, ninjad
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Hangman!
Evermind: Arch/Matheos - Pitch Black Prism
Puppies: Son Of Aurelius - Chorus Of The Earth
Nekov: Mutemath - Stratosphere
???: Nechochwen- The Serpent Tradition
ariich: Euphoreon - Zero Below the Sun
???: MS MR - Criminals
???: Celldweller - Down to Earth
???: Soulsplitter - The Moloch
???: Sleep Token - Jaws
Dacul: Jambinai - Sun. Tears. Red
finish the fight
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Nechochwen-Trainy
Son Of Aurelius-Pup
MS MR-Sacul
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You're one for three. It's already revealed what Dacul sent, too :P
halfway through writeups now. I'd say "I finished the bad half so only the good half is left" but i don't even know if that's true, pretty much everything in the middle is really dang close tbh
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You're one for three. It's already revealed what Dacul sent, too :P
So he's not one of the three apparently.. :lol
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Round 5 Results
Round 5 Playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6NVBb3VEpMkwcYeXHyH4zZ
Buddyhunter: Celldweller – Down To Earth
Theme: None
First Impressions:
I already kind of mentally have Celldweller locked away as “the kind of electronic I don’t like” and I’m not 100% sure where I got that impression from initially, but it has me worried about this one. Though this seems to be more industrial metal than pure electronic? It’s got that buzzing kind of synth sound to it that I’m never too wild about though. The riffs are almost borderline djenty, too, though not pointlessly jagged and grooveless, there is definitely a heavy groove that works fine enough here. From the quiet section onward the song improves a lot, too, with like a breakcore outro? Okay. There’s some solid groove to this but it’s a sound I kind of struggle to really get into; the second half is better than the first half, though.
Final Thoughts:
I think this is one of the rare instances where a song actively got less pleasant to listen to the more listens I gave it. And I don’t think that’s really necessarily because of the sound… I still don’t really like the overall sound of the first half of this, though some of the second half is pretty alright. Not amazing, but I can get into it.
Especially since the majority of the lyrics come in the first half, and… yeah, not gonna beat around the bush, this kind of sentiment in a song really never works for me. It’s like a diss track without any context or details, so the singer just instead comes off as really edgy and angsty and mad at “someone” and that someone could be basically anyone, who really cares. And it’s ironically really self-important to go and make an entire song like this about how someone else has a huge ego.
And paired up with this kind of sound… that really only makes it worse to me. I can’t explain why the music in particular makes the lyrics worse for me, but the combination of the two just gives off this really gross vibe to it. It’s like nu-metal with dubstep synths thrown on for good measure. The most positive I can say about it is that it, indeed, does have a groove. I’m too turned off by how repulsive I find the overall sound & lyrics to really get into it.
The back half has some clean, atmospheric stuff that on its own is fine. It doesn’t really feel like it fits in with the tone or sound of the song but I don’t mind having it. The lyrics also basically stop the moment the music gets more interesting, or are just repeating variations of earlier phrases in the song, so basically all of the worst of the song is gone by like the 4 minute mark. There’s faster and more interesting grooves when the song does pick back up again and the electronic elements turn to the aforementioned breakcore-esque sounds, which complement the energy well.
But, man. Three minutes that I’d maybe give a 1-2 to on their own, paired up with four minutes I just flat don’t enjoy anything about… I don’t think the good, or really just the decent, in this song can outweigh the bad for me in this one. Maybe if the gross parts were shorter or the lyrics were different or if the synths were gone, maybe it’d make this tolerable for me, but I really, really grew to dislike this song on repeated listens.
Reward:
ariich: Euphoreon – Zero Below the Sun
Theme: None
First Impressions:
Hah, TAC gets two songs in this round, I remember him sending you this album and you digging it a lot. I listened to it as well but wasn’t that into the sound, though. Again, we’ll see if a song in isolation changes that. I uhh. Am kinda lacking for much to say about this one, honestly. It’s a solid melodic death metal sound, it goes a bit harder than a lot of stuff in the genre that I’ve heard but most of the melodies and riffs are still pretty standard for this sound. I hope relistens are kind to this one? This is, probably, really good for its genre and simultaneously emphasizes why this genre almost never works that well for me.
Final Thoughts:
It feels kind of weird to have a song this “fine” this close to the bottom of the rankings, honestly. This is why I’m not doing a stack-ranked roulette! And probably never will! According to at least two people in this roulette, this is really good melodic death metal. Probably true. For me I’ve just failed to form any strong impression of this one.
Okay, the most immediately striking issue: The mixing isn’t great. The drums feel too loud most of the time, and the vocals are pretty much always cutting through the mix too, so the guitars end up a bit muddy and buried. There’s definitely melody here, to be fair, even with the weird mixing. The guitar riffs are all pretty standard fare though. I feel like a large majority of rhythms in the song are 3-3-2 rhythms, both in the riffs and guitar leads, which is a bit standard and kind of uninteresting. Not unpleasant to listen to but none of it really catches my ear.
As far as the vocals, they’re… okay. They seem to be pretty bog-standard growls. I don’t really get much of a sense of intensity or dynamic off of them. They’re always at the same volume and tone. They fit the overall sound but I don’t really feel like they add to it. There’s occasional quieter or cleaner moments too. Symphonic elements that get lost in the mix at any louder moment. Even in the quieter moments I can’t hear any bass in this song. Is there a bassist in this band?
I think what really makes this uninteresting for me is how generally lacking in dynamics it is. I’d estimate around 85% of the song is the same loud section with different riffs or melodies, different speeds of drumming, but it all kind of just blends in together to form this shapeless, hookless mush of metal. I also don’t really have much negative to say about it either. I can generally vibe this this sound. I don’t feel anything listening to it, but I’m not necessarily bored by it or find it in any way unpleasant.
I think mostly I just… don’t get it? I’ve never gotten this specific style of music though. Death metal, I mean, I always need some kind of progressive structure or dynamic sound to really get into it, or at least some pop sensibility to provide melodic hooks or epic climaxes. This just flat doesn’t have a single one of those things. It’s just… ehh.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Evermind: Arch / Matheos – Pitch Black Prism
Theme: 2019 post-metal
First Impressions:
The only Fates Warning I’ve ever heard was Ray Alder-era, who has more of an 80’s metal sound to his voice whereas this guy sounds pretty much just like any other power metal vocalist to me. I don’t know why you think I’d hate that sound, I’m mostly just indifferent to it & it can work well given decent melodies. Anyways this is solidly heavy yes. And naturally the guitar work is pretty solid, or at least the leads are. The riffs feel a bit more standard power-prog though they’re not bad or anything. Also yeah you aren’t getting the theme bonus but you know that. I don’t have any particularly strong opinion about this first listen but I also see it as unlikely to do particularly bad.
Final Thoughts:
You said you sent this song because it was the heaviest on the album, but that it was one of the songs that took you the longest to get into as well, and I’m wondering if you’d have been better off sending a less heavy, more nuanced song? At the very least I can’t help but be curious what your favorite song or songs of this album are.
I think this song just comes off as… a bit standard to me, mostly. I get that this is basically “a new Fates Warning album, but under a different name” and yeah, it does kinda sound like that. Granted I’m not super familiar with Fates Warning, I haven’t even heard any of their albums this decade, but this is about what I’d imagine an 80’s prog metal act sounding like nowadays. And maybe that’s the issue – there’s just not much about this song I find particularly surprising?
If I were to comment on the vocals. They’re fine, generally speaking. I feel like this song doesn’t showcase any singing style other than “belting full throttle” and I’d be surprised if a singer like Arch didn’t have more dynamic delivery in his arsenal, but if he does it isn’t shining through here, and I again return to my earlier comment of wondering if a less heavy song would’ve done better, if only on that aspect alone. Like, he has a powerful voice but even during the quieter parts of this one he’s like, really giving it his all. It’s oversinging that makes the entire performance come off a little flat.
I feel like I have to focus on the vocals a lot here because they’re clearly a large part of this song (considering there are two main writers behind this entire band) and because the rest doesn’t give me a ton to talk about. The guitar leads are all pretty solid, the rest… it’s fine, it’s functional for the sound they’re going for, but the riffs aren’t particularly inspired, the drumming is pretty solid and carries some weight, the bass… sounds like it’s mostly doubling the guitars whenever I can hear it. There’s enough touches of progressive elements here that it’s not boring, and at seven minutes I don’t think it overstays its welcome either, so.
I think you’re probably going to be disappointed more that I just don’t have any strong reaction, positive or negative, to this one. It feels like a “safe” entry in most roulettes, just that it’s not quite in line with how I tend to like my prog metal. Maybe it’s the vocal focus over the instrumental focus in particular that doesn’t work for me. I do think the vocals are the biggest sticking point but not by a lot. I can’t say there isn’t at least some level of inherent appeal to the overall sound but I can’t say it’s a very strong appeal either.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Elite: Nechochwen – The Serpent Tradition
Theme: None
First Impressions:
This is gonna be some kind of folky metal isn’t it. Oh yeah, that’s black metal alright. The drum sound is a bit weirdly muted but when the guitar walls come in it’s not super noticeable. For folky black metal a lot of the time I feel it ends up going too far down the “sounding epic but losing the intensity” route but this seems to be doing a good job keeping the metal the focus and doing it pretty solidly. Probably needs more listens for me to really take it in though but I’m enjoying what I’m hearing. It does this style more in the way that I generally prefer it, though I do think it struggles to find a unique sound all the same.
Final Thoughts:
Usually this happens with songs that get put into rotation a bit later, even if I did give this the same amount of spins as the rest, but while I’ve enjoyed this one so far I do kind of feel it doesn’t stand out that well all the same? I don’t know why since it does have a good sound and I do think it has at least enough flavor to it to not sound that generic in terms of black metal sounds.
I think a few of the melodies I do find at least pretty memorable… the bit that starts off the second acoustic passage is a bit of an earworm that feels weirdly playful compared to most of the rest of the song. And the first heavy guitar line kinda sticks out too. I dunno, it isn’t a super colorful song all the same, I think I’m struggling most with just not finding a ton of this that powerful or that memorable.
There’s a tempo shift in the middle and the song does bounce between soft and heavy a bit too. I think it maybe jumps around too much, actually? Like, I don’t really notice many recurring motifs at any point throughout this song, even when it goes to a “similar” sound it doesn’t seem like quite the same riff, or quite the same melody. Legit, I think the only thing that gets repeated is one pretty killer heavy riff that shows up in two different sections of the song.
I don’t even know if the lack of repeated moments is necessarily the issue since Look to Windward and Winterhorde both were basically the same… but in those songs I feel like the individual moments stood out more, whereas there’s no real showstopping moment in this song, just different variations on similar sounds.
It’s a bit frustrating for me because I do think this song has a good sound to it, but the songwriting seems to be what’s letting it down for me, making it so that I can never really get a grip on how the song sounds or how it wants me to feel. It’s kind of telling that basically everything I remember about this one occurs within the first two and a half minutes and the rest is kind of a blur, I suspect my attention span for this one wanes the longer it goes on despite starting off pretty strong. I still find it enjoyable to listen to, moreso than a number of songs this round, but it’s probably the song here I most wish I liked more than I do.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Nekov: Mutemath – Stratosphere
Theme: None
First Impressions:
My initial impressions: Not wild about that synth tone but this has a damn good groove. The vocalist is solid too, he fits the vibe this song is going for pretty well. I think the synth tone bugs me because it feels a bit too… rigid? For how smooth and atmospheric a lot of the other elements are trying to be. It’s definitely up the alley of the kind of synthpop I’m more into overall though, a lush sound complimented by a solid groove, though it feels like it’s lacking in terms of melodic hook. Maybe that’ll change on relistens. It’s a nice little song that slots into the kind of sound I like in this genre, even if I’m not too sure it’s going to be a favorite or have a ton of repeat value.
Final Thoughts:
Hmm, I’m confused why I have this one as high up on my list as I do (#4 after listen 4), actually, because considering this is a synthpop song I’ve found it surprisingly unmemorable and hookless. Let’s relisten and find out why I held it so highly.
Well, I guess one thing is that the chorus is pretty solid. There’s a lush layer of atmosphere to the production that I dig. It kind of doesn’t last very long though and the vocal melody itself doesn’t have much of a hook either. Hmm. The groove is pretty solid, too. There’s a different groove running throughout the chorus versus the… uh… verses, but both of them are pretty strong.
Oh, but I think I figured it out. That bridge and everything onward is actually pretty damn great. The production pretty much explodes and then holds that intensity for a good minute or so, and even after as it peels back there’s lots of layers of vocals all coming in after. So that makes for a pretty strong climax to a song that otherwise just starts off pretty okay. And coming away from that impression when ranking these songs might cause me to overrate it a little, yep.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that this song really needs a better hook and it’d be golden, it’s got groove and it’s got a strong ending but I think it’s a bit slow to get to a point where it really lights up and the first time it tries to get there it feels like it gets cut off early for no real reason. And there’s nothing particularly sticky about any of the vocal melodies, it’s more the synths that stand out in my mind over everything else.
Overall though I’d still say it’s… pretty good? I do like it and I do like the ending, but yeah, it’s a bit inconsistent the whole way through and I can’t see myself favoring it over the other synthpop song this round, either. They’re pretty close though, and I still enjoy this one, but I feel like I’m going to end up forgetting it pretty quickly, too.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
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Bolsters: MS MR – Criminals
Theme: None
First Impressions:
Hmm, this has like a nu-80’s sound to it both in the synth & percussion tones as well as the melodies, or at least that’s what I hear in it. I’m hesitant to have any sort of strong opinion on this immediately ‘cause usually this is the type of song that either grows on me on relistens or loses my interest entirely. I don’t know if it’s immediately working for me in this style, but I could see it growing on me, though I doubt it’ll be a favorite either.
Final Thoughts:
As usual with most of your songs this one did end up growing on me, though I think not by as much as that Carly Rae Jepsen song from a few rounds back. This song does have quite a good groove to it, right off the bat. It’s got that nu-funk vibe running throughout it, between the drumming and the guitars (?) or synths (?) behind the chorus. I think the one thing missing is a prominent bassline, which could really help accentuate that groove even more.
Amusingly probably my favorite moment of the song – the back half of the chorus – also has really confusing lyrics I’m not sure what to do with. “Even though it hurts, I just wanna be a criminal with you”? What does this mean? Does it hurt to be in love? How are they criminals? I’m so confused. It feels like a weirdly weak sentiment to make the core statement of your song.
Coming back to the production, again, it’s not necessarily my favorite kind of sound but I do think it has enough texture and atmosphere to it to still be effective enough. There’s the necessary swells in the chorus, enough layers going on with their own different melodies that still don’t distract from the vocals, which are the clear centerpiece of the song. I think maybe the synths could serve to compliment the vocals more than they do, but it’s a small gripe at best.
The singer herself, she’s fine. I think it’s in part how almost the entire song has her harmonizing with herself, except for the front half of the last chorus – which, incidentally, is the moment where she sounds the best. Is it because she wouldn’t be able to carry the power of the rest of the song on her own? I dunno. It works for the chorus at least but I’m not so sure it was necessary for the verses.
I dunno, this isn’t my least favorite from you and on some level I do find it decently enjoyable, but it’s gone back and forth in my mind overall and definitely isn’t clicking in the way that some of the other stuff you’ve sent has for me. Fun, groovy song that I wish I liked more, but still like a fair bit nonetheless.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Dacul: Jambinai – Sun. Tears. Red
Theme: Foreign Language Post-Metal
First Impressions:
Continuing the trend of you sending me stuff off albums I’ve listened to before, nice. Though I listened to this one after you played something in plug. Wasn’t super into it as a whole but who knows how a song will go over by itself. The intro wasn’t doing a ton for me but when the song really kicks in… mmm, that’s pretty heavy and pretty tasty. The vocals are a bit unhinged but with the frantic rhythm in play they kinda fit? I’m digging this sound even if I don’t think it’s fully clicking with me on first listen, it’s definitely interesting though.
Final Thoughts:
It’s kind of funny how this could really easily and fairly be called “post-metal” despite not really fitting into the “sound” you’d expect out of post metal. Or at least, compared to what I generally heard post-metal sounding like, the heavier parts of this don’t have that same sound – there’s something much more organic to this, maybe due to the inclusion of the folk instruments I dare not guess at the names of because I straight don’t know.
The song is built mostly (or entirely) on a 5/4 groove that’s already pretty rhythmically interesting by itself, though I admittedly don’t think the first, guitar-only take is particularly compelling, but pretty much everything after does a lot more work with that rhythm.
The vocals are probably the most interesting aspect of this overall – I can tell there are at least two distinct vocalists, and each of them has a pretty unique style – the male vocals are pretty consistently unhinged and rough-edged, the female vocals evoke something more calm and spiritual. They mix well even if it feels like there’s not a ton of harmonization (or melody in general?) and certainly make this more interesting than I would expect any sludge metal vocals to do.
It’s sort of hard to write a ton about this one because it basically thrives on three elements; 1. its groove, 2. its vocals, and 3. its atmosphere, and I’ve pretty much already said all I have to say about each of those. I think it’s interesting more than I think I necessarily “like” it, but I do all the same like it a fair bit, even if I’m not sure a full album of something like this would necessarily catch my attention in the same way.
It’s definitely something different and it definitely has a good sense of rawness and energy to it that make it emotionally interesting, and it builds and climaxes in a nice and dynamic way too, it’s satisfying from a structural perspective and a sonic perspective, it’s just… hard to pinpoint what about it makes it not quite work all the way for me. Still quite good all the same.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Bonus: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Train of Naught: Sleep Token – Jaws
Theme: None
First Impressions:
Well right off the bat this is immediately different from all your other submissions thus far. Between the vocalist’s tone, melodies, and the overall atmosphere I get Britpop vibes off this, weirdly enough. At least until the drums really kick in. And there’s the metal. I kind of expected it given the single cover but I was expecting it maybe… a bit more immediately than it came to the point where I was wondering if this was just a chill track. Though it’s… a pretty brief moment, too. It seems like they’re really only using heavy guitars here for climactic moments while the rest of the song is content to be more downbeat, but I’m kind of okay with that since the heavy moments of this are probably the least interesting? This one threw me for a loop several times as I could never quite pin down what it was trying to be, but I did enjoy it for what it was all the same.
Final Thoughts:
Well, I can say for sure this is my favorite thing of everything you’ve sent me so far, right off the bat. Though funnily enough, or maybe unsurprisingly enough, I think a lot of the metal stuff is the weakest part of this one. I dunno, I get why you like it but it’s the way I feel about Hypno5e a lot of the time – good quieter moments, really bland & chuggy metal that only occasionally works to actually accentuate the song.
I also think “show me those pretty white jaws” is a really weird and awkward phrase for what I know they’re trying to say, i.e. “smile more lol”. And even moreso that they named the song around that line. That’s pretty much my only gripe with the lyrics though, or the vocals in general, ‘cause I actually like the vocals a lot, and the first minute and a half or so is probably my favorite part of this due to the vocals complimenting that quiet atmosphere really well.
The song does overall do a good job of staying dynamic, too – builds to a first climax pretty slowly, and there’s a pretty good payoff to it as well – the first metal section I don’t have much of an issue with as it’s just straight chords meant to fulfill a purpose and they serve that purpose well enough. And the second chorus has a lot more oomph to it than the first in a way I really enjoy, a lot more going on in the instrumentation without sacrificing the core melody.
The real let down is the second climax, where the more “complex” chugging doesn’t manage to achieve the same effect that the first instance of the metal elements did, so it ends up feeling weaker overall, and especially coming off how strong the chorus before it was, ends up feeling a little anticlimactic, especially with the song ending on a (pretty solid) quieter note.
Still, I do like this song a fair bit, it grew on me throughout relistens and is only really let down from being truly great by its ending (and its awkward chorus line, but I got over that pretty quickly), but it’s still overall a pretty good and interesting tune with some real power and emotional resonance behind it. Does make me want to check out this album whenever it drops, anyways (though apparently it looks like most of it is already up on youtube?). Good stuff.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Puppies_On_Acid: Son of Aurelius – Chorus of the Earth
Theme: None
First Impressions:
I feel like this round is the most straight-up prog metal I’ve received any round of the roulette so far. Or maybe I’m wrong and this is something else but the first minute very much just gives me “it’s prog metal” vibes. It’s the prog metal I like though, solid melodic work, some good grooves, not over the top with progginess but still having frequent elements of it, pretty meaty and heavy overall sound. I think the drum work here is what’s standing out to me most on first listens, lots of nice accents I keep noticing. The bit at 4:15 or so is pretty neat. I think of the three prog metal songs I’ve heard this round so far, this would be in the middle of them – not the most interesting but not the least interesting either. I think it’s a bit lacking in surprises but it’s got a good core sound and it’s still enjoyable enough front-to-back, even if it’s a bit overshadowed in this round.
Final Thoughts:
I think this song is very much instrumentally satisfying, in contrast to the earlier mentioned Arch / Matheos song for sure, and that’s why I like this 7 minute prog metal song more than that one. Or at least, it’s one reason. Like, immediately one of the first things this song does is build an interesting groove in 4/4 and then turn the same groove into a nonstandard time signature. But in general the constantly shifting riffs and guitar leads of this one make it leagues more interesting to me than most of the other songs this round.
I do think the vocals are pretty solid overall too, they’re mixed a bit low pretty consistently and kind of have issues even being audible during some moments when the singer’s singing quiet but the music’s loud enough to drown him out, though he breaks through when he’s belting. I’m not super impressed by him but considering how much of this song seems to be about the instrumentation I’m not super bothered by it either.
The bass also comes through pretty consistently even during the louder moments, and there’s some moments – that aforementioned clean break in particular – where it really stands out with some fun licks. I also have to comment on this specifically since I did have other comments towards an earlier song this round about songs that are constantly pushing forward without repeated motifs – this song is one that does a good job of having lots of distinct sections but also having enough repetition that it ends up still feeling cohesive overall – most of the main, groovy riffs make two or three appearances at the very least.
There just seems to be the “token interesting but not stupendously memorable prog metal song” in every round of this roulette so far that I end up still liking quite a bit and placing towards the upper half but not quite at the top of the rankings. And yeah, that’s this song in this round. And for those keeping score at home, Winterhorde > Look to Windward > Son of Aurelius > Psychonaut = Karas (dunno on these two yet, they’re hard to compare). Anyways, yeah, definitely wanna check these guys out at the very least.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
TAC: Soulsplitter – The Moloch
Theme: None
First Impressions:
Eeehh that piano sound right off the bat isn’t working for me. Nor is the kinda djenty riff. It almost immediately improves after that with some solid guitar lines and then a pretty good, anthemic hook. Okay, so this is going to be all over the place huh? While I’m not huge on the piano sound itself the kind of off-kilter melody it’s playing is actually kinda neat. I dunno, this is just… a cool prog metal song? It’s cohesive and certainly derivative in some aspects but in others it’s got a unique enough sound to it, with the weird melodies and chord progressions they seem to revel in. It kinda goes on a bit and I’ll need more listens to really unpack it but pretty solid first impression, here. I like the way they toe the line of melody and dissonance consistently and while some elements I initially found offputting they didn’t end up bothering me much.
Final Thoughts:
You’ll be pleased to hear that from the first listen alone I knew this was going to be the round winner. And it really is strange that a song that starts off with that really godawful piano sound turns out to be something this good. It’s not the melody itself that’s the problem because the guitars reprise it not long after and it sounds excellent when they do. It’s just the piano sounding incredibly hollow and fake! That’s like, my biggest gripe with this entire song though.
For one, yeah, I love all the off-kilter melodies throughout this one as I already said. I also like the chorus of this one, the vocals themselves aren’t great on their own but the melody is pretty good and the middle of the chorus where the vocals turn up the intensity is soooo good. Helps to have a pretty good backing from the instrumentation during that chorus. It comes together really well and helps to ground the song.
The second verse has some really weird vocal melodies mixing in with the piano lines that are almost neo-prog levels of weirdness, except without the tone of voice that often comes packaged with those kinds of melodies. And there’s some uses of the piano here I do like too – moments where the pianos are hammering some really dissonant chords or playing frantic melodies under some really heavy guitar riffing, having that counterpoint only really adds to the already pretty damn unsettling and intense vibe.
Also, shoutout to that middle section with the chugging guitar groove in a nonconventional time signature contrasted with the 4/4 drumming, and then a pretty damn guitar solo building on top of that. I don’t know if it’s quite my favorite moment of the song (the intense as hell riffing before it is hard to beat, honestly) but it’s still pretty damn cool and a nice break from the more frantic pace of the rest of the song.
And how there’s a prettier-sounding reprise of the initial piano melody that then gives way to the more off-kilter melody as the neo prog-esque vocals come back in. And the song wraps itself full circle nicely calling back to a lot of earlier moments and capping off with a chorus that builds up further than the original. It does baffle me that the piano at the end sounds a lot less stiff than the piano at the start did, though. Like… why couldn’t the piano sound like that earlier? I’m so confused.
Anyways uhh. Yeah, this is pretty dang exciting and well-made prog metal if you ask me. It doesn’t go as wild in terms of distinct sections as the kinds of songs I mentioned in the Son of Aurelius writeup, but each section it does have is crafted really damn well and aside from the awkward piano tones in a few places I really don’t have anything to complain about with this one. It’s just really damn solid. I don’t think it quiiiite goes the extra mile to earn that top score but it’s closer than any other 4 I’ve given out in the past. Cool stuff, hopefully the rest of the album is this good so I can pad out my best of 2019 list some more.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Round Winner Bonus: (https://i.imgur.com/o3BBdpG.png)
Current Standings:
Elite: 20
Bolsters: 19
ariich: 18
Evermind: 18
Nekov: 18
Dacul: 17
Puppies_On_Acid: 17
TAC: 16
Train of Naught: 14
Buddyhunter1: 13
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i feel like i was really slow with my writeups this time, or they took longer or something, despite not being as happy with how they turned out, but, ahh well :lol
i love how competitive this roulette has been. 8th place is only 4 berries behind 1st place right now and there's gonna be at least 3 more rounds almost guaranteed so it's anyone's game really. Reminder that I'll be taking a week or so break (I'll probably start listening to round 6 next Saturday?) but you can feel free to send whenever, just make sure it's in my inbox by, let's say, 9 AM PST on Saturday.
Updating all the usual stuff in a minute.
-
A week's break?
Ok, I'll get something out to you in the next coupla days.
I'm not in last place!!!!!!!!!!!
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woooow
wooooooooooooooooooow
That didn't go well. :lol And if you think the lyrics in that song are terrible I think songs like The Lucky One and Heart On would give you a stroke
Anyways there's basically no chance I'm even going to make it to the EP round at this point especially since I'm pretty much already out of stuff to send you that I think would actually appeal to your tastes so I'm just gonna throw random stuff that I enjoy at you now
(aaaand sent)
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looked 'em both up, on paper they just look really cheesy & goofy, they're not gross in the way that Down to Earth comes off as
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Oooooh, so close to pulling in to a second place tie.... :corn
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fwiw Down To Earth is off of a concept album about overthrowing some space dictatorship or something like that so I'm pretty sure the lyrics tie into that. But obviously that doesn't make them any better in a vacuum
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i see... would've been nice if the concept album song had like, any context into it as to who needs to be brought down to earth :P
i dunno if that'd really change the score for me though, since i just don't really like much of how the first 4 minutes sound in general
puppies you know now's the perfect time to send some absolute garbage that gets 0 berries right?
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I was deciding between this and Tethered, which is my favorite from that Arch/Matheos album, so you can check it out if you want. The official video is for that is pretty good, too. It's a ballad so I didn't think it would go well.
There are two songs over 10 minutes long that I also really like, so there's that.
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It’s kind of silly that, had I not sent Infant Annihilator in round 1, but something that actually would have scored point, I would have a comfortable lead by now. I thought you’d like the track I sent better than you you did, but okay. Digging deep again for some new stuff to send!
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a reminder that 3 berries means it falls anywhere from a 7 to an 8 on my scale, which is pretty good :lol
the overall quality of songs in this roulette has just been better than it was in my last roulette, i feel like, which makes sense when people are required to send way fewer songs
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Yeah that first climax is miles better than the second, I fucking love when it kicks in the first time. So simple but so powerful.
No, I wrote it in my PM too (unless I wrote it in the PM that I never sent) but Jaws is not on any album... just a random single that also happens to be their best. But definitely check out the upcoming release, I'm actually unsure when it's 'finished' but so far 11 songs have been released. It's like that thing where they release 1 song every week until the complete album has been dropped, I'm sure the complete album is almost online but so far this is all: https://open.spotify.com/album/2ofaO67MTPZB7Noo0tUJoE?si=al2Q0xTDTjeWkSrVB1XJ6g
Very diverse, it has a lot of the relaxed very melodic stuff, and some borderline metalcore/djent here and there which isn't as good in my opinion, but since it's not too dominant it's alright. IMO nothing beats Jaws, but their "Two" EP is great, would check that one out! All killer no filler.
Time to send some hipster avant-garde crap Never mind they're banned, and orange, glad I did not do that
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who, might i ask
also orange means basically nothing, there is more orange than all the other colors combined probably since i'm hard to please
anyways heck i'll check out the album if it does drop on the date i've seen listed otherwise i'll just check out that playlist. also damn, no songs better than that one. gotta love when you just randomly decide your best song doesn't belong on an album proper
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oh
well, Laster, I found them too weird at first but I'm really getting into them now, especially the new album
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oh yeah i checked out their newest album earlier this year (i own it) and it's... well it's weird but it's super inconsistent & only a few tracks really work for me.
i checked out their earlier stuff too but wasn't that into it.
also i think puppies would've sent them round 1 if they weren't banned anyways :lol
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Sent a long-ass tune which happens to be my favourite song of last year which happens to be not banned which also happens to be a song that exists
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I get what you mean though I don't necessarily share the opinion. I do like that the song takes a little longer to build into the climax. Anyways, I'm glad you liked it. That album goes to a lot of different places as do all their albums, except the last one which I don't really like.
I will probably take my time to submit since you are taking a break. I feel like I need to dive deeper into my library to find some more tunes.
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Lower, to the bottom I go.
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Sent a long-ass tune which happens to be my favourite song of last year which happens to be not banned which also happens to be a song that exists
Damn, was really hoping someone would send me a song that didn't exist, would've been an easy 5 + round winner
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In my mind
What I find
As I search
Every coat
I lose hope
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Are those the actual lyrics :lol
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As a hardcore Pitfalls fanboi I am ashamed to admit that they are :lol
Edit: also, Foreigner has “feel just like a knucklehead, might have to put away my sled.. MIGHT HAVE TO PUT AWAY MY SLEEEEED”
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I didn't think it was "every coat" but I just looked it up in the booklet and :lol
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I'm gonna be the one person on DTF who didn't get Pitfalls I guess
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I'm gonna be the one person on DTF who didn't get Pitfalls I guess
Nah, I didn't bother either
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I didn't think it was "every coat" but I just looked it up in the booklet and :lol
Yeah wtf is up with that
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I Lose Hope is about Einar losing his car keys (that's why he took the train in Observe the Train)
Pitfalls is secretly just an entire album of Einar complaining about a really bad night he had once & it ends with The Sky is Red which is just the sunrise
Prove me wrong
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(that's why he took the train in Observe the Train)
And obviously the train went in the wrong direction, wrong direction
-
Hence the track Foreigner, since the train went so far in the wrong direction he wound up in a different country
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Hence the track Foreigner, since the train went so far in the wrong direction he wound up in a different country
Edit: also, Foreigner has “feel just like a knucklehead, might have to put away my sled.. MIGHT HAVE TO PUT AWAY MY SLEEEEED”
This actually makes sense then :lol
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The "all I had to do is wait" refrain from Alleviate can only be referring to him having to wait until the following day for the return train.
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(https://thumbs.gfycat.com/FamiliarAnotherFanworms-size_restricted.gif)
The album is called Pitfalls because the country he ended up in was Sweden, where the national anthem is Spitfall
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How did Leprous's most "emotionally vulnerable" album end up their most meme-able by such a large degree :lol
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(https://i2.wp.com/everythingisnoise.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/CoverSalutogenesis.jpg?fit=1280%2C1280&ssl=1)
hmm, the rest of the album doesn't really have much of that off-kilter sound the moloch has, but it's still pretty solid prog. i don't have a particularly strong opinion on it yet though, will definitely need to dig into it more
(https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a4215191405_10.jpg)
well this is too damn long, for one, especially with how kinda lacking in variety it feels like it is. i see these guys were initially more of a tech death band and that definitely shows on this, and the overall sound is pretty good, but it feels like it wears thin after 70+ minutes of it and 15 tracks, lol. needs more listens.
tonight: prog metal i don't have a ton to say about x2
other notes: i relistened to all the round 1 albums over the weekend, bear ghost i'm still not sure on, there's some of it that's really cool but other parts i kinda dislike, behemoth i'm passing on bcuz it's just... not quite my thing, psychonaut is prob the most interesting album out of the bunch overall, i will probably end up getting that one
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I’m pretty obsessed with the Psychonaut album yeah
I’ll say it again but I think the Bear Ghost EP “Your Parents..” is more consistent imo, all killer
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Sent for round 6, looking forward to doing even worse yet again! :metal
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(https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1972931995_10.jpg)
technically not my first listen, but details
i think the first four tracks are all pretty cool and diverse. the long 13 minute track has a good climax but takes waaayy too long to get there and stays uninteresting for a good while too, especially since the one after it is like, half the length and has a much better quiet sound & just as strong a build. the last track was the one you played in plug and it does feel a bit underwhelming as an album closer too but overall i dug this & do wanna spin it at least one more time
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Sent
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Cool, have half the songs so far
If you want a theme make sure to ask for one, as well. Or the strawberries are gonna start to go bad
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I might have to YOLO the rest of the rounds :jamaritard:
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Sent!
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Can I send the same song as last round?
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If you want 0 berries, sure
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That's one more than I got in Round 3.
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sent out a reminder to the four people who haven't sent yet. i'll start listening tomorrow night if i have all the songs by then, otherwise it'll be saturday morning regardless of whether or not i have all the songs
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Let me guess, Sacul and Elite?
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*raises hand*
I actually thought I sent already, picked my song on Tuesday but apparently I didn't send it. :lol Will send when I'm back from work.
Sent!
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I sent last night.
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Not me!
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i have everyone now so i'll start hangjane tonight
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D pls
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I
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T
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C
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Hangman!
???: __ni___ - __t___n I__n _nd _i____
Evermind: Eastern High - Afterglow
???: _____n - _____
???: _________id - ___ _nd ____n
???: ___ - ___t _ _itt__
???: Anna von Hausswolff - ____ _nd __n_____
???: Liquorworks - Then to Hell With You
???: T__ ___ ____id____ - __i__in_
???: __it_ __t_ ___c_ __tt_____ - T_____t
Dacul: Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - Sun Forest
Letters Guessed:
CDINT
Puppies waits 3
TAC waits 2
Buddy waits 1
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Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds sent by Sacul
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Sun Forest. Sent the same damn song. :lol
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N
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Sun Forest. Sent the same damn song. :lol
i mean i tend to send the same songs a lot, because they're the best ones
i'm working on first impressions but this round is about 15 minutes longer than usual (and the 15+ minute song that was sent doesn't hold 100% of the blame for that, the song lengths this round are all trending higher than usual :lol)
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Sun Forest. Sent the same damn song. :lol
i mean i tend to send the same songs a lot, because they're the best ones
i'm working on first impressions but this round is about 15 minutes longer than usual (and the 15+ minute song that was sent doesn't hold 100% of the blame for that, the song lengths this round are all trending higher than usual :lol)
I think the song I sent is only like 6 minutes. So not tooooo long....
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your song and that Nick Cave song are basically tied for 5th longest of the round, yeah
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your song and that Nick Cave song are basically tied for 5th longest of the round, yeah
Middle of the road! Sweet, just like my scores.... :corn
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Anna von Hausswolff
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Liquorworks - Then to Hell With You
I actually considered sending this... huh...
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Liquorworks - Then to Hell With You
I actually considered sending this... huh...
haven't gotten to this one yet but now i'm looking forward to it :corn
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Liquorworks - Then to Hell With You
I actually considered sending this... huh...
haven't gotten to this one yet but now i'm looking forward to it :corn
I have no idea who else would have sent that.
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Anna von Hausswolff
Curious how this will do, prob bad, but kudos to who sent it. Elite?
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Round 6 First Impressions
What I hear is a band with a ton of talent that doesn’t seem to have any clue how to wield it effectively, and a really confusing mix doesn’t help matters.
Phenomenal guitar work can go a long way, especially if the rest of the song is pretty enjoyable too.
The vocals have always been the sticking for me with this artist, and the same holds true here, but I like this stylistically a lot more than what I’ve previously heard from them at least.
I think it takes a bit too long to get going but the payoff is solid, even if I’m not too into it either.
This has the same issue as Darkspace where I have no clue how to compare something like this to the more conventional songs or how to score it, but I do like it a fair bit even on first listen.
Weird that this song in particular is the one in this round that feels too long for its own good.
I like the overall sound but it feels a bit rough structurally and the vocals don’t quite match the style, either.
Right now I find this solidly pleasant with some neat touches but really it’s going to live or die by how memorable I end up finding it.
Pleasant overall sound and a nice driving feeling as it goes on, but I can’t help but think it feels a little hookless.
Will take time to unpack and feels a bit derivative but I can’t say it’s anything less than solid and enjoyable.
Not quite sure how to feel about this round yet, nothing I outright dislike but a few songs are pretty meh, there are a fair few more interesting tracks here too though. I think the overall vibe of this round is kinda "gloomy" though, even if not every song fits into that mold, a lot of them seemed to :lol
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Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds sent by Sacul
Damn, didn't know this wasn't banned. I would've sent this exact song.
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Evermind: Eastern High - Afterglow
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damn, son
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I mean he sent it in my roulette and it won the round so
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Anna von Hausswolff
Curious how this will do, prob bad, but kudos to who sent it. Elite?
Nah. Not in this roulette :neverusethis:
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y'all are talking when you could be guessing letters, smh
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E
-
O
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Hangman!
???: __ni___ - Between Iron and Silver
Evermind: Eastern High - Afterglow
???: ____on - _____
???: Gallowbraid - Oak and Aspen
???: _r_ - ___t _ _itt__
???: Anna Von Hausswolff - Ugly and Vengeful
???: Liquorworks - Then to Hell With You
???: T__ _o_ For_id____ - __irrin_
???: __it_ _ot_ ___c_ __tt_r___ - T_____t
Dacul: Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - Sun Forest
Letters Guessed:
CDFIONRT
TAC waits 3
Dacul waits 2
ariich waits 1
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Ugly and Vengeful
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16 minutes,
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ariich or Puppies: Gallowbraid - Oak and Aspen
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You are correct about the existence of the song but not the sender.
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Between Iron and .i....
Someone Spotify this, I’m too lazy.
-
Between Iron and Silver
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Between Google and Spotify
-
F
-
R
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most of both those were already revealed, amusingly
-
fine, i guess i already gotta reduce hangman wait :corn
comparisons will come tomorrow, results should be monday
-
P
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Hangman!
???: A_ni___ - Between Iron and Silver
Evermind: Eastern High - Afterglow
???: A_a_on - _____
???: Gallowbraid - Oak and Aspen
???: Ark - Just a Little
???: Anna Von Hausswolff - Ugly and Vengeful
???: Liquorworks - Then to Hell With You
???: T__ _o_ For_ida___ - __irrin_
???: White Moth Black Butterfly - T__p__t
Dacul: Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - Sun Forest
Letters Guessed:
ACDFIOPNRT
Buddy waits 1
literally two P's in this entire hangman and one of them is already revealed, omg
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A
-
that's better
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Avalon? That sounds like a band that would exist.
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Ark - Just a Little
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right now my current thought on this round is that everything is in the "it's pretty fine" range
mid 2's to very low 4's/maybe high 3's
could change on further listens but it's frustrating for me how am i gonna score everything like this :lol
no two songs this round really sound all that alike either
-
Come on, Sun Forest is at least 4
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White Moth Black Butterfly
-
comparisons coming in a bit but man y'all really don't feel like solving this hangman huh? two whole hangmans from TAC done in a day and no motion on this one at all :lol
-
TAC's are way easier for what it's worth :lol
-
i mean he solves his own after he gets bored so fair enough :P
guess another letter w/e it's fine
-
L
-
I was more referring to not even knowing 95% of the artists being sent here, whereas TAC is getting like, Opeth. :lol
G
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The Joy Formidable - Whirring
Aenimus
Tempest
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Hangman!
???: Aenimus - Between Iron and Silver
Evermind: Eastern High - Afterglow
???: Amason - Kelly
???: Gallowbraid - Oak and Aspen
???: Ark - Just a Little
???: Anna Von Hausswolff - Ugly and Vengeful
???: Liquorworks - Then to Hell With You
???: The Joy Formidable - Whirring
???: White Moth Black Butterfly - Tempest
Dacul: Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - Sun Forest
Letters Guessed:
ABCDFGILOPNRT
no G's left now that Ev guessed the last song that had one :lol
also yeah my banned list is
pretty big, i know, i'm gonna handle it differently next time i promise, it's already basically impossible for me to manage as-is
-
Okay I don't know the last one so let's guess B
-
No B's left
-
No B's left
Maybe update Aenimus and Tempest at least then
-
the price you pay for editing your post & I don't see the edit 'cause i've already posted :P
-
Amazon?
-
without the Z, but yes, i'll give it to you
-
Kelly
Comparisons when
-
there's like 8 who-sent-what's left
-
Gallowbraid = Puppies?
-
nope! this is another round where a lot of the who-sent-wants are kinda mixed up from what you'd expect, tbh
-
Round 6 Comparisons
v TAC
v Puppies_On_Acid
v Train of Naught
v Dacul
^ Bolsters
v Nekov
v Elite
^ Evermind
^ ariich
^ Buddyhunter
I think almost every round's comparisons have looked basically exactly like this, I swear I'm running the most inconsistent roulette in history :lol
Though the lowest score I can possibly see myself giving out this round is a 2, I don't even come close to disliking anything here, I'm just not really thrilled by much of it either unfortunately.
-
Let's give it a go
TAC - Aenimus
ariich - Gallowbraid
Puppies - Ark
Train - Anna von Hausswolff
Elite - Amason
Buddy - White Moth Black Butterfly
Bolsters - Liquorworks
Nekov - The Joy Formidable
0/8
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Hangman!
TAC: Aenimus - Between Iron and Silver
Evermind: Eastern High - Afterglow
???: Amason - Kelly
Buddy: Gallowbraid - Oak and Aspen
???: Ark - Just a Little
Train: Anna Von Hausswolff - Ugly and Vengeful
???: Liquorworks - Then to Hell With You
???: The Joy Formidable - Whirring
Bolsters: White Moth Black Butterfly - Tempest
Dacul: Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - Sun Forest
2/8
The thought of Bolsters sending Liquorworks has me :rollin btw thanks for that
-
Gallowbraid - Buddy?
-
Yup!
For the record, left is:
ariich
Bolsters
Elite
Nekov
Puppies
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White Moth - Bolsters?
-
Yup.
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Just not really a fan of hangman, I think it's more fun with roulettes where more well known bands are being sent, this round there are only 4 I'd even consider slightly known (Anna von Hausswolff, White Moth Black Butterfly, Gallowbraid and Nick Cave)
I'm more into just seeing which bands (and songs) are sent
-
It’s basically Parama’s (yes) fault that hangmanen is too difficult. He introduced way too much music to Cyril already.
-
Yeah I've only heard of four of the artists.
-
I’ve actually heard of 6 of the artists this rounds, including the one I sent.
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I've heard of five including mine. I think Round 4 or 5 was really obscure though.
-
I've only heard of mine and Nick Cave. And mine only ever released a single album. :lol
-
Buddy: Gallowbraid - Oak and Aspen
Evermind: Eastern High - Afterglow
Train: Anna Von Hausswolff - Ugly and Vengeful
Bolsters: White Moth Black Butterfly - Tempest
Dacul: Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - Sun Forest
I've only heard of the first one mentioned here and there, and have listened to the other ones.
-
I already lost this round in my eyes tbh, Ugly and Vengeful is best song of 2018 by a pretty big margin in my book, and I got <'d
I actually sent Cyril 1 or 2 White Moth Black Butterfly songs in an EP one time from that album, I feel like I even sent him Tempest
-
you didn't send tempest, i checked
-
:corn
-
Literally not even home yet, calm down :P
-
I've heard every band here except Aenimus and Amason :corn
-
TAC's are way easier for what it's worth :lol
:lol
i mean he solves his own after he gets bored so fair enough :P
:rollin
-
Round 6 Results
Round 6 Playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3O6FRl961PlsJeWDkF1FMR
Dacul: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Sun Forest
Theme: 2019 Ambient
First Impressions:
I vaguely have the gist of what this album is about from hearing about it elsewhere so my expectation is that this is going to be Feels City. My only history with Nick Cave is hearing a few songs from him I didn’t like, and generally not being a fan of his voice in general. It takes a while for his voice to come in here but it does and it’s still basically how I remember it being, though a much more solemn tone. I do like the music here a lot though, it’s lush and evocative, if maybe a bit shapeless. The entire song kind of feels like spoken word poetry read over an “emotional” background track though, at least to me. The chorus at least works pretty well. The vocals have always been the sticking for me with this artist, and the same holds true here, but I like this stylistically a lot more than what I’ve previously heard from them at least.
Final Thoughts:
Look.
Looooook.
I get it. I understand why this song and this album works for some people. I know the backstory behind this album and Nick Cave’s previous album as well. I understand that it comes from a very real place. I understand how emotionally vulnerable this music is and how much it means to the artist in question, as well as a lot of people listening to it.
And I see a lot about this song to like. The instrumentation is, honestly, great. Very nice soundscales, melodic piano and synth work, swells and power in all the right places and an overall dynamic flow to it. The instrumentation on its own may not have made for an amazing song, but it would still have made for a pretty good one.
But, here’s the thing.
I just. Do not like this man’s voice. Never have. I didn’t like it in 2015 when I got a song from him in my first roulette. I didn’t like it in 2013 the first time I heard a song from him. And I still don’t like it now. He’s got both too deep a tone and a lack of any sort of melodic delivery, it’s basically spoken word poetry and that just does not appeal to me.
Also, I just can’t find “a spiral of children” more than a humorous-seeming image, no matter how hard I try. I understand what he’s going for, again, but that’s just, not what my brain pictures.
Basically, I just can’t really emotionally connect to the vocals of this song in any way. The music, though, it’s pretty good, yeah.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Bonus: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Elite: Liquorworks – Then To Hell With You
Theme: None
First Impressions:
This is puppies-approved so I sure hope it’s good. I’m getting the sense that this is heavy and chuggy type stuff, thus far at least, but not great at melody. Like… yeah, it’s just like nonstop chugging riffs? There was this brief frantic guitar bit but then it went back to a low-tuned djenty riff. It’s frustrating because I can see the talent buried in his band from the occasional moment something cool happens but this is like… some of the most bog-standard and uninteresting riffing I’ve heard in a while. Even the mixing is confused, whenever something melodic does happen it’s stuffed in the background of the loud, low-tuned riffing. But why. Some actually solid piano stuff comes in followed by some synth stuff that has a nice swell to it… but the moment the guitars come back in again the melodies end up in the background for whatever bizarre reason. The guitar solo at 5:45 is like the one well-mixed lead of the entire song & I like how they’re playing with rhythm after that bit too, at least. What I hear is a band with a ton of talent that doesn’t seem to have any clue how to wield it effectively, and a really confusing mix doesn’t help matters.
Final Thoughts:
I think what I always ask myself regarding any song I’m sent in a roulette is, “what is special about this song?” That’s probably always going to be a make-or-break question to me, whether I’m consciously thinking about it or not. Maybe not every song really deserves that, but I’d like to at least assume the best out of everyone playing in my roulettes and that they generally are going to send songs they feel strongly about or feel are special in some way. It’s definitely an element I look for in the music I seek out, at the very least.
This song is… competent. I feel I was a bit harsh on it in my first impression – I still don’t think the mix flatters the song very well, and I don’t think the djenty riffing is particularly compelling, but there’s still solid riffing in there, and some solid melodic moments as well. It’s very well-played and pretty much every member of the band gets at least a moment or two to show off at some point in the song.
But there’s like… a lack of feeling to this song, it all feels very robotic and stiff. The riffs are all angular and jagged, but the chugging doesn’t feel like it has any groove to it, it’s rhythmic but not frantic or driving any sort of momentum. And there’s very, very few moments in the song where a note falls off the 16th-note cadence – it’s very mathematical to the point where it sounds like you could auto-generate this song and it’d come out basically the same.
Even the really cool piano bit towards the middle, while interesting and certainly more organic than most of this, still consistently falls into that stiff 16th-note cadence, without even any gaps between the notes, just an endless stream of notes with rhythmic cadence but no groove to it. Pretty much any other melody in the song is just like this. Notes, notes, notes but no tune to speak of, no melodic hook. The time signature change and guitar solo towards the end are the only part of this that feel like they matter in any capacity.
And it’s not that any of it is particularly unpleasant to listen to. I’m inclined to be nice to this since some of the slower riffing towards the middle is solid, the piano bit is neat, the faster-paced bit towards the end is pretty cool, and the sinister clean guitar motif that pops up a few times does set some kind of mood, even if the rest of the song never capitalizes on it. There are elements here that work, and nothing that really sounds awful to my ears, just mostly pretty average.
So I guess I’m just not really seeing what’s so special about this song. It’s fine, but I’ve just… heard it before.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Nekov: Amason – Kelly
Theme: None
First Impressions:
Is this disco. This has like, a disco groove to it. It’s not disco. I could see that guitar line being from a disco song, though. Like, get a full orchestra to play that and it’d fit right in. Disco’s underrated but also really samey, it’s fun in small doses. Anyways. This is another one in the pile of “I find this solidly pleasant right now but let’s see how it sounds two-three listens later and whether or not I’ll have it stuck in my head by then”. Saxophone makes everything better, also. Right now I find this solidly pleasant with some neat touches but really it’s going to live or die by how memorable I end up finding it.
Final Thoughts:
I mean, it’s kinda catchy.
I dunno, this song’s fine. It’s such a 6/10 song in basically every element though. It’s got enough melodic hook to at least have a few bits stuck in my head, but nothing about it is really “a bop”. The vocals sound pleasant, but both of their voices sound a bit too similar and they’re less harmonizing more than singing the same notes in different octaves, nor do either of them seem to have a distinct voice on their own.
And the music, it’s got a bit of a groove to it. The one repeated guitar line that still makes me think of disco is the most notable element here besides the sax solo towards the end, and the sax solo is, yeah, fine enough, it’s a nice element to have. It’s the only element of this entire song that really feels like it comes alive, though. The rest of the song seems… terrified to emote, or have any real dynamics to it. It’s weirdly stiff and muted consistently, even the guitar hook feels kind of robotic after the dozenth iteration.
I listen to this one and I’m inherently inclined to compare it to all the other straightforward synthpop-y type songs that have been sent in this roulette, despite this song not really being synthpop itself. And I can’t say this one really compares to a single one of them, even the ones that I liked but wasn’t wild about. It’s just not fun enough, not bright enough, not loose enough, not catchy enough.
It is kinda catchy, though.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Puppies_On_Acid: The Joy Formidable – Whirring
Theme: None
First Impressions:
Huh… this is not what I’d have expected from a Puppies entry. A few minutes in my impression is “well this is a pretty fun rocker but how the hell is it going to sustain 7 minutes?” I genuinely don’t know. Especially since thus far most of the instrumentation besides the drums hasn’t really stood out much. It’s uhh… going on, alright. I don’t think there’s really enough movement to work for me, especially since it’s mostly driven by a changing guitar line that isn’t that interesting to begin with. It does at least build some swell but it’s not driven by any real melody, almost entirely texture. And it speeds up, but it doesn’t really change the sound that much when it does either. Kinda just frustrating, I feel like, I’m sitting here impatiently waiting for it to end, which the 16 minute song didn’t even make me feel. Weird that this song in particular is the one in this round that feels too long for its own good.
Final Thoughts:
I dunno, I guess this one’s grown on me a little. When I know what the song is going for coming into it, it works a lot better than when I’m trying to see where it’s going and it ends up not really going much of anywhere for a long time and leaving me impatient. I’m going to take a shot in the dark and say you sent this because of how well that As Tall As Lions song did a few rounds ago – or at the very least, this song is definitely more similar in sound to that than any other song in this roulette so far.
And I think the bits with vocals are pretty good, here. I still wish they didn’t feel the need to constantly harmonize instead of having any sort of vocal interplay or unique voice, but the melodies are pretty fun and they emote well enough, there’s both some fun and some power in the vocal bits. They pretty much piss off entirely after the 3 minute mark though, which… well, honestly, regardless of how good the buildup at the end could’ve been, it was always going to be way too long.
And like… yeah, alright, there’s some power to that wall of sound they build, and there’s definitely some momentum as it goes on. At around 4:40 they actually introduce a rhythm for a bit instead of the shapeless blur of texture and that bit, for as monotone as it is, still does better at driving energy than the moments before it, and after that is when it just speeds up and up and there’s at least some degree of thrill to be had coming off that.
I just wish they were more melodically inclined. Wouldn’t it have been fantastic to see a subtle melody built up since the start of the song get faster and faster and start sounding more like an instrumental freakout by the time the song reaches its full cadence? Or to have the 6-minute mark sound different from the 3-minute mark in any way other than just a tempo difference? But all we get is wall-of-sound guitar fuzz on top of some pretty strong drumming that sadly isn’t enough to really make the long build land home on its own.
I do get what this song is going for but the lack of any real dynamics or melodic hooks throughout its back half really cripple the song in a pretty unfortunate way that the strength of the front half can’t quite compensate for. I’d say the first three minutes are a solid 3/5 and the last four are a mid 2/5 at best, and the whole experience is probably somewhere in the middle. If this were 5 minutes it’d be a better song, sure, but I still don’t think it would be that much better either.
It’s no “In Case of Rapture”, regardless.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Evermind: Eastern High – Afterglow
Theme: None
First Impressions:
A “forgot to send” entry could go pretty much any way, let’s see. Wow, this definitely isn’t Used by Pain of Salvation, you lied to me. Two minutes in and it seems like, a low key folk-type song but just rock-y enough that I’m not sure? Alright, it is picking up and becoming, like, metal-level music by the end. It does all seem to be kind of built around that one looping melody though. The guitar solo is solid. I don’t know if I have really strong feelings about this one nor do I know if I’m likely to develop any sort of strong feelings about it but I think it’s, at least, solid enough. I think it takes a bit too long to get going but the payoff is solid, even if I’m not too into it either.
Final Thoughts:
The last few minutes pretty much sell the entire song on their own, really. I do understand why someone could love this song. I don’t, if its middling placement in a very middling round doesn’t make that clear, but I do like it, and the last few minutes are pretty much to blame for that. The song builds up this motif throughout its first half and then capitalizes on it in a big way with the heavier reprise of its main motif, followed up by a genuinely killer guitar solo to cap things off. It’s a climactic ending, for sure.
I just don’t quite feel the song gets there fast enough, or at the very least, the first half isn’t interesting enough to me for the back half to quite feel worth it. It’s like… folk-Katatonia. Folkatatonia. A very melancholy feel with a lower-pitched vocalist, but the acoustic guitar lines are less “I’m sad” and more “help I’m trapped in a cold forest”. Like, frankly, even the heavier riff when it comes in very much sounds like it could be a Katatonia riff, but also, it’s probably better than any Katatonia riff I’ve ever heard, so, y’know. And there’s just a great texture to that guitar tone.
Taken as a linear build throughout the runtime of the song, I think it’s probably sufficient looking at it objectively. The song maybe builds up a bit slowly at first but there’s still elements coming in and a sense of swell to the quieter first half, even if it’s a bit sluggish in doing so, and the second half does amp things up a bit abruptly at first (though, good, the loud bit hitting hard when it comes is a good trope), and it still does build from there too, so the overall result is satisfying.
I still don’t know if I’d say the song really wows me overall – even the parts of this I do like, well, Scarlet Stories did better three rounds ago – but, nah, I’m inclined to be nice to this one because it is a genuine and noticeable step up in enjoyment from the songs preceding it in this round. I don’t know if you’ll be relieved, or disappointed in this song’s score, but there’s one thing that’s certain:
You got a score this round.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
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Train of Naught: Anna Von Hausswolff – Ugly and Vengeful
Theme: None
First Impressions:
I have basically no clue what to expect but I have some fringe familiarity with darkwave epics by way of Midnight Odyssey, I guess. I’m four minutes in and my early thoughts are “this would’ve qualified for & won the female ambient bonus in round 1” but that bonus is long since RIPed. I worry that this is gonna lack replay value but it does, like, go somewhere else around the 6:30 mark. Okay and then around the minute mark it gets reeeaaaal good. After that we get some like, post punk-y sounding bit? With some Dissonance Mode coming in. I like Dissonance Mode if it’s not the entire sound of the song/artist. I think like, everything 11 minutes & onwards is actually pretty good atmospheric metal, or close enough to it. I dunno if I’d have given the bonus point for that, but. I do dig it. It’s hard to really tell with this one right now because it’s, uhh, A Lot. This has the same issue as Darkspace where I have no clue how to compare something like this to the more conventional songs or how to score it, but I do like it a fair bit even on first listen.
Final Thoughts:
I take back the Darkspace comparison.
This is way too conventional to be in that same ballpark. Weird and out of the norm, to be sure, but it’s still falling within the conventions of what most musical artists are trying to achieve. That’s not a dig at this song in any way, there’s absolutely nothing “wrong” with being “a conventional song”, ‘cause I mean, that’s what the vast majority of music is and really most of my favorite music is “conventional” so. I don’t really know where I’m going with this. I guess I’m trying to say the “freshness” factor of this one wears off really quickly.
Like, the first 6 minutes or whatever are… fine enough ambient sounds. I like my ambient to be a bit more lush than this, I guess. I’m addicted to Eluvium’s Static Nocturne recently, and there are a fair few other longform ambient pieces from Eluvium that I like quite a lot, moreso than what this song has to offer in that category. It’s probably pointless to say it feels too slow-paced, but I’m gonna say it anyways.
Anyways, after that is the transitional piece that’s like, downtempo post-metal with organ. It feels like the song stagnates here a little too long since this loop doesn’t really change until like the fifth repetition, but it’s a solid sound. The bit right around the 9-minute mark is, without question, the best moment of the entire thing. What a goddamn excellent swell, just the right texture, the vocals are powerful despite how lost they get in the mix, and the sound feels like it just keeps getting louder and more distorted as it goes on.
Of course once a song has climaxed by the 10 minute mark and has 6 minutes left to go it’s uhh, a bit hard to build that momentum back up after, unfortunately. I do like the guitar and organ dissonance that comes in here but once you realize a lot of it is mostly a five-note loop, it kinda… doesn’t really keep being that compelling. The vocals during this last 6 minutes have some strong moments, though, at the very least. I feel like this last section would honestly be a pretty compelling song in its own right with its own build and twisted sound, but it sort of gets overshadowed by the titanic climax that comes before it and isn’t quite able to reach that height. It’s certainly more compelling than the first 6ish minutes, though, by a long shot.
Weirdly I do feel like I have a firmer grasp on the overall shape of this song more than I do songs half its length I’ve been sent this roulette, though, but I think that may just be the pacing to blame. I’m not even really sure how you’d “fix” this song. Maybe make the ambient bit shorter? Swap around the placement of the big triumphant climax and the long build after it? I don’t know if that’d work that well, though. I don’t think the song is necessarily wrong for being arranged as it is, and I still do find it overall an enjoyable listen, but the weak opening stretch combined with how long it is overall and how it peaks too early does make it drag a bit and bring it down for me.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
ariich: Ark – Just a Little
Theme: None
First Impressions:
NOW! That’s What I Call FLAMENCO GUITAR! Nah, that makes for a pretty cool intro and it transitions into the rest of the song well enough too, that guitar style seems kind of prominent throughout at least the earlier moments of this. Oh these vocals and melodies are incredibly late 90’s/early 00’s, you can really tell. It’s got that hook factor to it I can see being really memorable though. Honestly the guitar work in this song freakin’ slays and the bass ain’t shoddy either. This is pretty fun and enjoyable overall, really. A bit cheesy but I don’t mind. Phenomenal guitar work can go a long way, especially if the rest of the song is pretty enjoyable too.
Final Thoughts:
So I figured out specifically what this song makes me think of. This. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8sB8N44eBE&t=1m25s) Which is… a comparison, alright.
I said in my writeup that phenomenal guitar work can go a long way… but I think it’s also easy for that initial impression to wear off when the rest of the song… kinda loses its luster over the course of relistens, which I definitely feel like this song did for me. I like the guitar work a lot, still. But it’s only one element of the song. The basslines are good, too, but the bass tone ended up feeling a bit… weak after I’d heard it a few times. I do like how prominent it is but it sounds like the bass has literal rubber strings.
Really though the vocals are the element here that wore on me the most. This style is cheesy as hell, and incredibly 90’s, yeah. Oh, it’s catchy. But after a while I stopped wanting to have that chorus in my head. Sure, in part because of the song it reminds me of, but just because it’s a hook that gets grating after a bit, and I can’t say I’m wild about the verses either.
The instrumental section in the middle does still kinda slay, though, like all three major parts of it. The organ solo is pretty cool, and I love the way the heavier riffs explode out of it into the big guitar solo. And the jagged unison that follows, with that frantic guitar run transitioning back into the last chorus… yeah, that’s pretty good stuff too. The last chorus as well, I can kind of see the original appeal of the song in it. I think the song has a pretty strong ending overall, I guess.
I also can’t see myself wanting to check out this band further, though, from what I’ve heard of their sound. It’s not pre-00’s but it still feels a bit dated all the same, and straight-up prog rock in this vein is something that’s way more miss than hit for me overall, though in small doses such as this I can still enjoy it, obviously. I do still like this song a fair bit, it’s one of the better ones in the round, but it’s not the round winner I initially thought it was lined up to be, either.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Buddyhunter1: Gallowbraid – Oak And Aspen
Theme: None
First Impressions:
I think sometime back in 2015 I listened to a lot of “the usual suspects” when it comes to folky black metal, like these guys, Agalloch, Ulver, Wolves, Saor, Negura Bunget, Caladan Brood, etc. I don’t really remember much from this one though since I didn’t ever end up picking up anything from them. I definitely see the Agalloch comparisons since these harsh vocals are probably the closest I’ve ever heard to Agalloch’s rasps, which, for the record, is one of the big reasons I can’t get too into Agalloch – the vocals just don’t work for me there. They’re mixed lower here, so we’ll see. My general reaction to this sound is that it tends to be “nice, but doesn’t resonate”, same as with that Nechochwen song last round. It’s going to take some time to really break all of this one down but it does seem to at least be decent adventurous/not too repetitive, though I also can’t say it does a ton to really establish its own identity. Will take time to unpack and feels a bit derivative but I can’t say it’s anything less than solid and enjoyable.
Final Thoughts:
Yeah, I definitely feel kind of similar to Nechochwen about this one, but I do feel like this one works more for me despite being less intense? It feels, at the very least, more well-constructed, rather than an endless march of new ideas, there’s moments that repeat and add to that sense of cohesion, alongside the moments that show up for a brief bit then disappear afterwards. And yeah, the song is a bit slower paced but there’s still some moments of black metal intensity mixed in with the cleaner and folkier moments and the more methodical, downtempo metal moments.
I still feel like it’s a song where it’s hard to really pick out individual moments, or recall the specific sound of any moment at the very least – though generally a fair bit of black metal, even the stuff that I do like, can tend to be that way – but I at least have to give special mention to that guitar lead that recurs with a few different variations in the second half, and has this heavy chord riff groove going on under it. That’s probably the most interesting bit of the entire song for me. I do feel like I generally like the back half of this more than the front half, as a whole, though.
I’m still not wild about the harsh vocals on this, either, but the cleans are pretty solid. Not especially powerful but they do some solid harmonizing and they fit in with the aesthetic of the song pretty well. They do have that Agalloch-y sound to them but Agalloch never really tries to “rock” in the way that parts of this are clearly going for, they’re all about that wintry atmosphere, whereas this isn’t much of a wintry song at all to my ears, so I think there’s at least enough of a distinction to be made here.
It’s hard to really have strong feelings about this one, regardless, because while it’s good, it’s not really convincing me on this band or this sound in general. This is like, pretty close to a 4, but it’s just… missing that next extra level, wherein I actually get excited about the song listening to it. I think that’s the barrier of entry between a 3 and a 4 for me that this one doesn’t quite surpass, but it’s good all the same.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
TAC: Aenimus – Between Iron And Silver
Theme: None
First Impressions:
I did listen to this album like once or twice, I think, and I remember it being solid melodic/prog death metal type stuff. The vocals are… not the right kind of harsh vocals for the more atmospheric sound the start of this song seemed to be going for, but maybe that’s just not the general sound of this band/album? I don’t really remember. But I mean so far, yeah, this sound in general I vibe with. Reminds me of Fallujah and Irreversible Mechanism though maybe not as melodic? The song also… stops two-thirds in for an unrelated outro, which probably works fine enough in an album context but it’s a little weird here. I like the overall sound but it feels a bit rough structurally and the vocals don’t quite match the style, either.
Final Thoughts:
This is probably the song this round that suffers most from “I find this pretty enjoyable but don’t remember much about it” syndrome, but to be honest I did feel the same way about Irreversible Mechanism and I ended up loving that album, so you know, who really knows?
This does have an actual memorable and pretty compelling chorus to it, though, which is something I can’t recall hearing in similarly-styled bands. I think it balances that out by having kind of chuggy and non-melodic verses that don’t do much for me, but they’re “fine” really, they are what they are. That’s really the only part of this I’m “meh” about, anyways.
A lot of the guitar work, especially the soloing, in this song is pretty nice. It’s got that djazz-y sound to it I guess, but there’s some nice heaviness to the music backing it and it’s pretty tasteful too. I also like the huge and intense outro with the dissonant guitar under it to close out the track.
I’m not really considering the interlude in the score for this since, well, it’s interlude music, but it’s nice enough? It’s just kinda piano with some strings backing it up but it’s a nice, chill melody and there’s some swell built up in it. On its own I’d say it’s a pretty solid piece of music, though it really is not connected in any way to the metal song that prefaces it.
I dunno. I feel like there’s not a ton to say about this song, other than that it’s a sound I’m just generally inclined to like? I can’t say I feel it’s an especially strong take on the style, and even in the context of an album I’d feel that the main meat of the song and the interlude feel pretty disconnected from each other, nor does the song quite feel fully fleshed out on its own as it does feel like it gets cut a bit short, but. It’s good metal that I enjoy listening to and it does make me wanna revisit this one to see if I’m missing out.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Bolsters: White Moth Black Butterfly – Tempest
Theme: None
First Impressions:
I’ve listened to one single song from these guys before. I don’t think I ever listened to any album from them though. The song I got was a rock-type song though whereas this seems to be a (pretty lush) piano ballad, and uhh, yeah, I think I like this a lot more than I remember liking the last thing I heard. His smooth vocal style pairs really well with this kind of sound. It builds a pretty solid amount of swell too. Another track this round with a detached outro, though, huh. Pleasant overall sound and a nice driving feeling as it goes on, but I can’t help but think it feels a little hookless.
Final Thoughts:
This song is kind of boringly good.
What does that mean? I don’t really have much to say about it in general. There’s not really any notable faults I can point out in this one. It’s a very lush piano with a very clean but gentle sound to it. The piano itself sounds great, the orchestration that comes in to provide more texture and just general atmosphere all sounds great, and the restrained but passionate vocals sell the mood of the song well.
I will say I do think I like the first minute and a half before the percussion comes in the most out of any part of this song – there’s something about that specific sound that appeals to me more than the swells of thumping toms and soaring strings that come after it, and the vocals don’t quite match the louder moments in the way it feels like they should, but they still work well enough. The song also doesn’t quite feel like it ever truly reaches a climax, which is the closest I can really come to criticizing it.
I also can’t say I feel as strongly about it as I do any other round winner in the past. This one’s good but it would’ve gotten trumped by any other round winner so far, and even a handful of other 4’s in the roulette had it gone up against them. I kind of already know what this band generally sounds like but I do still wanna go and check out this one regardless of knowing that not the entire album is going to be this way (though frankly that could be for the better).
It just feels like a bit of an anticlimactic victory though. It is a very good song but it’s not even as good as two of your entries before it. Oh well.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Round Winner Bonus: (https://i.imgur.com/o3BBdpG.png)
Current Standings:
Bolsters: 25
Elite: 22
ariich: 21
Evermind: 21
Nekov: 20
Dacul: 20
TAC: 20
Puppies_On_Acid: 19
Train of Naught: 17
Buddyhunter1: 16
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Stagnating :tup
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oof
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also since i'm worried people are starting to suffer from burnout in this roulette, wondering if i should lower the berry threshold again to 25 :lol
of course this needs to be decided now rather than later since, well, bolsters is already there. i'll think on it but i'll prooobably just leave it as is, i'd still expect most players would be able to get to that number in the next three rounds but who knows, meh :P
send by, let's say, 8 AM PST on Thursday, the 21st.
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also since i'm worried people are starting to suffer from burnout in this roulette, wondering if i should lower the berry threshold again to 25 :lol
of course this needs to be decided now rather than later since, well, bolsters is already there. i'll think on it but i'll prooobably just leave it as is, i'd still expect most players would be able to get to that number in the next three rounds but who knows, meh :P
send by, let's say, 8 AM PST on Thursday, the 21st.
I wouldn't say I'm burnt out on this roulette, just disappointed my picks aren't going so well.
Going to try for the female fronted Black Metal bonus theme for the next round. I have nothing to lose at this point. :metal
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you're two points behind third place and a bonus point is literally a free berry
also let me express my frustration that nobody has yet tried for a single post-hardcore berry, literally my favorite genre as of late :P y'all need to stop being so old and get angsty with me
the usual stuff (berry count, bonus themes, banned during roulette) all updated, inbox cleared, etc, let me have it
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you're two points behind third place and a bonus point is literally a free berry
also let me express my frustration that nobody has yet tried for a single post-hardcore berry, literally my favorite genre as of late :P y'all need to stop being so old and get angsty with me
the usual stuff (berry count, bonus themes, banned during roulette) all updated, inbox cleared, etc, let me have it
I would go for some post hardcore, but you have literally every band I could think of sending on your banned list :(
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i mean fair enough :lol
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Sent
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I didn’t look at the theme board last round, I probably would have applied for that but it’s also like you said not entirely ambient, I’ll take 3 berries sure
Disagree that Tempest is better than Rising Sun though :P
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I don't know what post-hardcore is so there's that
Glad I didn't go with Sun Forest!
I'm actually quite sure I won't get to 30 in the next three rounds so have fun in the finals guys :lol
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I'm reasonably certain that nothing I listen to could be described as post-harcore.
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That was not what I expected :lol
Bolsters took the lead but everything else seems pretty tight. I'll send some stuff later today or tomorrow.
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I'm actually quite sure I won't get to 30 in the next three rounds so have fun in the finals guys :lol
I was doing quite decently for a few rounds in a row and the last two haven't been too good. I hope I can catch up still! Got stuff lined up and I'm debating whether or not to keep stuff for a possible final round or send stuff right now.
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also since i'm worried people are starting to suffer from burnout in this roulette,
No burnout here.
Threshold to 20! :lol
Will send something later today.
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Still *Einar whining*
Well, time to further cement my position in last place! Will send sometime today.
Also I'm fine with keeping the threshold at 30 - I'm not running out of stuff to send you yet, even though a lot of it you probably won't like :P
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Alright, we'll keep it at 30 then :corn
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Sent something from last month.
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Yeah I don't usually like his deep voice but on this album he usually sings on a higher pitch for most of it, and it's really moving. Oh well. Will send later.
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Sent!
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Glad you liked it and especially the instrumental work (as I thought you would) - shame it didn't have the staying power though! I do recommend giving that album (Burn the Sun, their other album isn't really very interesting) a listen at some point to see what you think - it's mostly more prog metal than prog rock and there's a mix of more catchy stuff like this song and less obvious melodic approaches.
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Yeah I put it on my queue, all the top 4 from this round are gonna get listens I think
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I do agree with what you said for the Aenimus song. If you can get through that first batch of vocals, it's pretty good.
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Sent!
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Sending in 24 hours, hopefully still not too late.
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24 hours is before 9 AM PST on November 21st, so you're fine
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i'm trying to avoid doing "corrections" like i did in some of my previous cumulative-score roulettes but there's one song here that looking back on it i underrated & is my favorite of the roulette now
i won't redistribute the round-winner points because i feel that'd be unfair (i will never reduce anyone's score post-results, no matter what) but i do wanna give it an extra berry that i feel it deserves. i'mma think about it some more.
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Alright! Quo Vadis finally getting the score it deserves! :neverusethis:
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no, it's a 4/5, and from the first half of the roulette. i'm not gonna say any more atm though :P
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Sent some ariich-core :corn
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Sent
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atm i have everyone except evermind, who said he'd be sending sometime in the next few hours so
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Yep, you'll get mine in an hour or so.
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Would Coriolis by Kora Winter have gotten 5 berries
It’s one of my favorite songs of the year, climbing fast
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nah, i don't think it's quite that good
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Sent.
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alright, i have everything but i don't have time to setup hangman atm so give me some letters & i'll fill them in after work
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T
-
M
-
I
-
R
-
H
-
A
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Hangman!
???: ___i_ra - ____ A M_m__t
???: A_ama_a___hi - _____t __ __a__
???: _i__ - _ra_ _____
???: Mr__ - T_ ___ Th_ _i_ht
???: ____rm_r_ - __r_
???: A_tr__a_r - _ara__ram II
???: __a_ _ar___ - _tria_
Dacul: Submotion Orchestra - Hymn For Him
???: _i__ta - _ia_ht_
???: _a__i_ _____mat__ - _aha Ihmi___
Letters Guessed:
AHIMRT
TAC waits 3
Puppies waits 2
Nekov waits 1
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Home for him?
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Home for him?
maybe Hymn for Him
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puppies is correct
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puppies is correct
Yeah that's Submotion Orchestra. Awesome band! :metal
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puppies is correct
Yeah that's Submotion Orchestra. Awesome band! :metal
Sent by Puppies. :neverusethis: :lol
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puppies is correct
Yeah that's Submotion Orchestra. Awesome band! :metal
Sent by Puppies. :neverusethis: :lol
Nah, most likely Ariich.
-
nope!
-
nope!
Dacul?
-
yep!
the only part of hangman that matters has been solved so let's move on to round 8!
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yep!
the only part of hangman that matters has been solved so let's move on to round 8!
I mean, based on what I sent, I would give the nod to Submotion Orchestra too :lol
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nope!
Dacul?
Sent some ariich-core :corn
:neverusethis:
-
P
-
Hangman!
???: ___i_ra - ____ A M_m__t
???: A_ama_a___hi - _____t __ P_a__
???: _i__ - _ra_ _____
???: Mree - To See the Light
???: Nevermore - Born
???: Astrosaur - Karakorum II
???: __a_ _ar___ - _tria_
Dacul: Submotion Orchestra - Hymn For Him
???: _i__ta - _ia_ht_
???: Kaunis Kuolematon - Paha Ihminen
Letters Guessed:
AHIMPRT
Bolsters waits 3
TAC waits 2
Puppies waits 1
exactly 2 P's, ouch
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Kaunis Kuolematon - Paha Ihminen sent by TAC?
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correct except for who sent it
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Astrosaur - Karakorum II
Mree - To See the Light
Nevermore - Born
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Round 7 First Impressions
Wasn’t feeling this one at the start but it got better as it went on and I was pretty into it by the end.
Good guitar work can help a lot, but if the song aesthetically doesn’t appeal to me at all it can only cover up so much.
I think the overall sound of this is pretty cool and up my alley but it feels like it could use a bit of diversity or dynamics considering how long it runs.
I don’t think the overall sound of this one is necessarily for me, and it does feel like it meanders in its first half, but it gets better in the second half and is kinda neat.
It’s not unpleasant, and I kinda dig the overall sound, but it feels like it meanders a bit too much, though we’ll see if it grows on me on relistens.
This is one of those styles where I know I’m supposed to feel some kind of emotional connection coming off the music but most of the time I just don’t get that, and I’d say the same about this.
I kind of get what this song is trying to do but I’m having a hard time saying I find it at all appealing, mostly just boring.
It’s a nice song that both at its core sounds interesting and distinct and has a lot of little touches that only make it that much better.
This sounds kind of like an anime opening at points. I’m not sure that’s necessarily a good thing, but it isn’t necessarily a bad thing either.
Not huge on the first third or so of this, but the rest was pretty solid stuff.
Gonna be blunt here, this feels like the worst round of the roulette so far, and by a lot. A lot of stuff that just outright bored me on first listen, where I was waiting for something to happen and it never did, or sounds that are just not for me/not something I'm even remotely interested in. I'm inclined now more than before to lower the berry requirement to 25 because I'm the one feeling burnout here, apparently :lol
The one exciting thing happening is that two people have submitted for the same bonus theme this round, so there's some kind of competition going on there at least.
Also hold up for a hot minute, I got another post to make...
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Dacul: Glass Beach – Glass Beach
I think just because of how much this one was to take in, I wasn't really able to fully get into it with the five listens I gave it in the round, and round 3 was already the strongest round of the roulette so the more immediately enjoyable tracks kind of overshadowed it, but actually this is kind of incredible & this entire album is quite good & I've pre-ordered the CD that's set to be released at the start of next year so I mean. Uhh, yeah, retroactively calling this my favorite of the roulette now. Not redistributing the round winner bonus, like I said, so sorry about getting this wrong the first time, I guess? :lol
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Current Standings:
Bolsters: 25
Elite: 22
ariich: 21
Evermind: 21
Dacul: 21
Nekov: 20
TAC: 20
Puppies_On_Acid: 19
Train of Naught: 17
Buddyhunter1: 16
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nope!
Dacul?
Sent some ariich-core :corn
:neverusethis:
:tup :tup :tup :tup :tup
My song seems likely to probably be one of the first three impressions.
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Wasn’t feeling this one at the start but it got better as it went on and I was pretty into it by the end.
It’s not unpleasant, and I kinda dig the overall sound, but it feels like it meanders a bit too much, though we’ll see if it grows on me on relistens.
This is one of those styles where I know I’m supposed to feel some kind of emotional connection coming off the music but most of the time I just don’t get that, and I’d say the same about this.
I kind of get what this song is trying to do but I’m having a hard time saying I find it at all appealing, mostly just boring.
All potentially mine.
I've been listening to the songs each round but I don't even remember that Glass Beach song, guess I should revisit it.
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Oh boy, one strawberry, here I come
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It's Karakoram not Karakorum you dingos
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And you sent it, groundhog
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Give me three berries and I’ll give you the final round EP.
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Next time I'll do intentional typos in every band name to figure out who sent what
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This sounds kind of like an anime opening at points. I’m not sure that’s necessarily a good thing, but it isn’t necessarily a bad thing either.
Yup, that's mine. :lol
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Hangman!
???: ___i_ra - _n__ A M_m__t
???: Anamanaguchi - __n__t B_ P_an_
???: _i__ - _ra_ B_n__
Bolsters: Mree - To See the Light
???: Nevermore - Born
Train: Astrosaur - Karakoram II
???: __an _ar__n - _tria_
Dacul: Submotion Orchestra - Hymn For Him
???: _in_ta - _ia_htn
???: Kaunis Kuolematon - Paha Ihminen
Letters Guessed:
ABHIMNPRTW
Evermind waits 3
TAC waits 2
Buddy waits 1
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So what is the bonus strawberry that got picked twice?
-
you'll have to wait and see :corn
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Okay, I'm screwed then, probably :lol
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B
-
On phone but there are barely any B's anyways so I probably got them all
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N
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Those impressions don’t bode very well. I like my song though.
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I didn't pick any theme for my entry this time.
Bolsters sent Mree?
W
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I was debating going for the instrumental pop bonus with a song from the same album, but I like the one I sent more.
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Buddy sent Mree? :biggrin:
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Dacul: Glass Beach – Glass Beach
I think just because of how much this one was to take in, I wasn't really able to fully get into it with the five listens I gave it in the round, and round 3 was already the strongest round of the roulette so the more immediately enjoyable tracks kind of overshadowed it, but actually this is kind of incredible & this entire album is quite good & I've pre-ordered the CD that's set to be released at the start of next year so I mean. Uhh, yeah, retroactively calling this my favorite of the roulette now. Not redistributing the round winner bonus, like I said, so sorry about getting this wrong the first time, I guess? :lol
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Hell yeah :metal
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Okay, so the bonus is in the pop realm, probably. I think I'm somewhat safe :lol
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Updated above. No W's left.
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On phone but there are barely any B's anyways so I probably got them all
Bastrobaur - Bababobam II
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On phone but there are barely any B's anyways so I probably got them all
Bastrobaur - Bababobam II
Sent by Train
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Isn’t that a Pokémon?
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I guess we've gotten to the point where the artists are so unknown here that we're getting bands named after Pokemon and names where the entire first half is revealed and yet still nobody's guessing it. :lol
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I guess we've gotten to the point where the artists are so unknown here that we're getting bands named after Pokemon and names where the entire first half is revealed and yet still nobody's guessing it. :lol
:lol
It's Anamanaguchi.
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guchi gang
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I guess we've gotten to the point where the artists are so unknown here that we're getting bands named after Pokemon and names where the entire first half is revealed and yet still nobody's guessing it. :lol
:lol
It's Anamanaguchi.
Song is Sunset By Plane. Great album!
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Hangman!
???: ___i_ra - _n__ A Moment
???: Anamanaguchi - Sunset By Plane
???: _i__ - _ra_ Bones
Bolsters: Mree - To See the Light
???: Nevermore - Born
Train: Astrosaur - Karakoram II
???: __an Carson - _tria_
Dacul: Submotion Orchestra - Hymn For Him
???: _insta - _ia_htn
???: Kaunis Kuolematon - Paha Ihminen
Letters Guessed:
ABHIMNPRSTW
ariich waits 3
Evermind waits 2
TAC waits 1
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S pls
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S delivered.
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Wasn't Kristy Anamanaguchi a figure skater?
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Joan Carson?
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Carson yes, Joan no
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Gray Bones
"something" A Moment
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you're real good at getting the last word right
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:lol
E
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C
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G
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Hangman!
???: Ludicra - Only A Moment
???: Anamanaguchi - Sunset By Plane
Nekov: Kiev - Drag Bones
Bolsters: Mree - To See the Light
???: Nevermore - Born
Train: Astrosaur - Karakoram II
???: Evan Carson - Otriad
Dacul: Submotion Orchestra - Hymn For Him
???: Vinsta - Fiacthn
???: Kaunis Kuolematon - Paha Ihminen
Letters Guessed:
ABCDEGHIMNPRSTW
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Evan!
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Wait, no one has asked for the D yet? GIVE ME THE D! :corn
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wisely, everyone has decided they don't want my D
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Kiev
Otraid
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Kiev
Nekov.
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Kiev
Nekov.
No, Kiev.
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Ne Kiov.
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comparisons tomorrow btw. i'll see if results will also be tomorrow but that basically just depends on if i feel like it honestly
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Ludicra-Only A Moment
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Vinsta - Fiacthn is the last one.
Damn that's pretty obscure as far as I can tell, was really hard to find. :lol
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yeah take a wild guess who sent it
results will be tomorrow btw i am definitely not listening twice today :lol
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This is definitely the most obscure round I've ever seen in a roulette. I've only heard of 3 of the bands that were sent, and one of them was mine :corn
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yeah take a wild guess who sent it
The description of them online sounds pretty puppiescore.
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This is definitely the most obscure round I've ever seen in a roulette. I've only heard of 3 of the bands that were sent, and one of them was mine :corn
yeah a lot of this crap is obscure for a reason :neverusethis:
a few songs have grown on me but i also expect at least a few people to be disappointed this round
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This is definitely the most obscure round I've ever seen in a roulette. I've only heard of 3 of the bands that were sent, and one of them was mine :corn
yeah a lot of this crap is obscure for a reason :neverusethis:
a few songs have grown on me but i also expect at least a few people to be disappointed this round
definitely me ::) :mehlin
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:corn
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Round 7 Comparisons
v Bolsters
v TAC
^ Buddyhunter1
v ariich
v Train of Naught
^ Evermind
v Puppies_On_Acid
^ Nekov
^ Elite
v Dacul
fairly wide spread of scores this time around, again the highest score right now isn't -great- but it'll at least be a 4, I think, so it's not hopeless :lol
some hits, some misses, basically the normal for this roulette but just like slightly below average all-around.
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Man, I've had a lot of V's in this roulette. :lol
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Yep, disappointment incoming! :friday:
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I've got double disappointment coming. :friday: :friday:
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Interesting
:corn :corn :corn
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btw, since it matters this round, here are the selected themes:
(https://i.imgur.com/KWe5s3W.png)
corn
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I would love to send post metal or post hardcore to get a bonus berry, but I don't know what those things are!
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honestly don't send the pre-00's post-metal berry if you want a score higher than 0
actor | observer is post-hardcore, for what it's worth
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I don’t get that theme, did post-metal even exist before 2000? I feel like combining the 90’s Boston hardcore sound with sludge metal like Neurosis is what formed this sound in the early 2000’s.. there may be some early Neurosis clones that could vaguely be considered post-metal.. but you hate Neurosis :lol (I find them ultraboring tbh)
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neurosis was around since like the mid-90's right?
the theme only exists because of the way i set up themes anyways. i know it's a bad one. that's why it got a gold berry :P
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Huh, an upgrade from my previous 3-berry song? So I'll get at least another 3 berries then, awesome.
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I don’t get that theme, did post-metal even exist before 2000? I feel like combining the 90’s Boston hardcore sound with sludge metal like Neurosis is what formed this sound in the early 2000’s.. there may be some early Neurosis clones that could vaguely be considered post-metal.. but you hate Neurosis :lol (I find them ultraboring tbh)
Neurosis were pretty much the pioneers of Post-Metal. Of course, they also came from the Hardcore/Punk scene in the 80's. Their first 2 albums fit the Hardcore mold. Their first Post-Metal album was Souls At Zero which was in 1992. So there are 4 pre-2000 post metal albums just from Neurosis. Other bands that would qualify would be Godflesh, Isis (with their pre-2000's EP's), Dirge, and Lvmen. The pickings are slim though.
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anyways don't send that theme i guarantee you'll get at best a 1
if you only need 2-3 berries tho i guess might as well
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Godflesh incoming next round then.
-
I'm guessing I'll still get to berries but you liked this one more than the last one? :lol
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Hell yeah 0 berries.
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Ready for my 1 berry :corn
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Results berry soon.
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haven't even started, it's TAC's fault for having a concept album round :tup
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I'm listening to it right now. :corn
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enjoy the 8/10's
-
enjoy the 8/10's
Don't forget the Double 8!
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whether i get nine 8's or ten 8's is irrelevant it still averages out the same
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whether i get nine 8's or ten 8's is irrelevant it still averages out the same
You could also have five 8.5's and five 7.5's.
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all the writeups are done atm but there's actually some genuine competition for round winner this time, three 4/5's that are all pretty good songs in their own right, but also completely different in style, and i think i need to do another relisten to just those three to really make a decision. i'm gonna set these aside for a moment and get back to them in an hour or two, i'll technically still have stuff posted tonight but it'll be later than i originally wanted, oh well :P
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At least you don't have to listen to my song again :lol
-
yes, correct :P
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Round 7 Results
Round 7 Playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3CsqhiEs0tGr63Rwa7Hnvd
Dacul: Submotion Orchestra – Hymn for Him
Theme: Female-Fronted Jazz
First Impressions:
Two minutes in and I’m not quite getting where the jazz in this comes from. It’s mostly downtempo and chill. Oh, okay, there’s some slight jazziness to the drums at 2:30 or so and a trumpet that comes in. I guess we’ll call it jazz. This feels like trip-hop if you replaced the -hop with -jazz. So… trip-jazz? I don’t know. The sound of this is a bit cold to me and more technical than emotive, despite not really being a very flashy tune. It’s like The Reign of Kindo but instead of traces of jazz in a prog-pop space, it’s a trip-hop space, thus colder instead of warm. I’ve never been able to get too into TRoK for basically the same reason I’m not really feeling this one – the sound is good but it just doesn’t resonate with me at all and ends up a little boring. I kind of get what this song is trying to do but I’m having a hard time saying I find it at all appealing, mostly just boring.
Final Thoughts:
I think this song has the kind of unfortunate combination of being kind of boring while also having some elements that rub me the wrong way, basically preventing me from getting any enjoyment out of it whatsoever. Like, the entire song as a whole is too slow-paced and lacking in either atmosphere or emotive presence to really do much of anything for me, but then there’s elements I straight up dislike.
For one, the looping piano motif that plays throughout a lot of this song feels… awkward and stiff, it’s just not a good melody, and it’s what the core of the song is built upon. And I can’t say I much like the voice of the singer either. She doesn’t sound bad, but her tone isn’t working for me, and the echoing effects that show up sometimes don’t help either.
I do think the bits with the trumpet at least kinda work. The drums pick up there too and the piano motif goes away, and that jazzy trumpet motif is pretty slick and chill. There’s a sense of atmosphere there and the stuttering drums add a bit of an uneasy/dark jazz vibe to the whole ordeal. I do enjoy at least those parts of the song. I don’t love those parts, but I’d say they’re at least pleasant.
That’s at most half the song that I get some enjoyment out of, while the other half has just consistently left me cold on every relisten, and with how long the song drags on for it really starts to wear on me by the end. Like. It’s not the worst thing ever, I at least get more out of this than the Bill Bruford song, but that’s about it. I get why you thought I might like this but I just, don’t really care for it at all unfortunately.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Bonus: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
ariich: Nevermore – Born
Theme: None
First Impressions:
Mmm the first minute of this is incredibly rough, so I hope it improves from there. This is one of those bands I’ve known about but has never sounded interesting to me, though what I’ve heard from them before was more downtempo, whereas this is kinda thrashy almost? I think there’s some good melodic guitar work in there but it’s mixed too low & it’s never really given the focus most of the time. And like, the production lives in the “early 2000’s so not everyone had good production yet” space which, hmm. Guitar solo is solid though maybe a bit too shreddy for me. Good guitar work can help a lot, but if the song aesthetically doesn’t appeal to me at all it can only cover up so much.
Final Thoughts:
The really heavy parts of this I just flat don’t like. The thrashy, tuneless bits, or the four-on-the-floor style guitar riffs with the wailing vocals, they have that right sound to them to just… annoy me. Well, the heaviest bits are kind of impenetrable at least, the other riff I mentioned there’s just something about it I don’t like.
Any part of this song with a melodic guitar lead going on is somehow much better for it though. The first main motif that pops up right after the heavier riffs has a great hook and sound to it, I dig the hell out of it, and the chorus is pretty cool too, both musically and the vocals on top of it, which is interesting since I don’t like the vocals anywhere else in the song, at all. The drums in the chorus stand out too. It’s like every element magically comes together for a pretty cool segment.
I think the guitar solo is cool too, both the backing instrumentation and the solo itself work pretty well to compliment each other and the backing is changing enough so that there’s a sense of momentum going through that entire section. I’ve commented on this before both with Scarlet Stories and Scar Symmetry but the backing music of a solo section is just as important as the solo itself and both of them are pretty dang solid here.
So overall, I like more of this than I dislike, even though my initial reaction to it was pretty negative. Unfortunately I do still feel pretty strongly negative towards the elements of this I dislike, and they’re recurrent throughout the song so it’s hard to ignore them or brush them aside, but there’s enough here that I can say I can at least kind of get into this one, even if it’s not exactly something I see myself returning to or digging further into.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Puppies_On_Acid: Ludicra – Only A Moment
Theme: Female-Fronted Black Metal
First Impressions:
I think the risk with sending me black metal is that there are so many types of black metal, but I am mostly partial to specifically just the intense, atmospheric type. And the folky type can be okay I guess. Anything spacey and heavy is gonna do best with me, though. Whereas this is just, basically straight up black metal at its core. Kinda thrashy and with super raspy and prominent vocals. Towards the middle it turns a bit more towards I sound I dig, though. Yeah I think the rest of this is pretty solid, it’s more downtempo but more melodic and atmospheric to balance it out. Not huge on the first third or so of this, but the rest was pretty solid stuff.
Final Thoughts:
Yeah, pretty much nothing about my opinion towards this has changed on relistens. That riff at the very start is cool but the moment it breaks into this wall-of-sound style I lose interest. It’s not even necessarily that it’s lacking melody, but it’s the way it’s mixed. The vocals and drums are too loud and drown out the stuff I’d rather hear more – I commented on how I dug the guitar-centric mixing of Darkspace a lot, and similarly, Somn, another black metal band I’ve been digging lately, has a similar intense but guitar-oriented sound to their music that makes it really compelling.
Whereas what comes off the heavy parts of this is more “loud” rather than “massive” or “atmospheric”. It’s not an uncommon black metal sound at all but I just never get anything from it. I also can’t say I really care for the vocal style much either. If it was more buried I guess I wouldn’t mind it.
The song basically says “screw that noise” at around the 3:20 mark though and abandons it for a more downtempo sound that the mix flatters a lot more and has a lot more melody and texture to it. The vocals, at least the harsh ones, are still a bit too loud here, but the cleans are mixed well for the sound.
And the melodic riffs throughout the middle are all pretty solid, plus there’s a looot of layering going on here that keeps any one melody from getting stale while just letting them all mix into this dense, wide spread of atmospheric metal. It’s maybe not an especially attention-grabbing sound but I do find it plenty enjoyable.
The song does kind of feel like it doesn’t really… go anywhere after a while, though, listening to it just now and despite having heard it several times I was still surprised at how suddenly and unceremoniously it ended. I feel like there’s something missing at the end, some climax to tie it all together, but I also worry that if they did one it’d be the heavier, more impenetrable stuff I don’t care for, so.
My overall thoughts are basically that I don’t enjoy much about the first third of this, but the last two-thirds are pretty solid stuff. So… exactly what I said in my first impression, nothing has changed. Oh well. I’m turned off enough by the start of this to not really want to rate it higher than this, though, same with Nevermore, though this at least confines its bad stuff to a segment of the song, even if its good stuff isn’t quite as good either.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Bonus: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Train of Naught: Astrosaur – Karakoram II
Theme: 2019 Post-Metal
First Impressions:
I vaguely remember that album cover so I feel like I might have checked this one out when it dropped a few months back, but I don’t really remember that well so maaaaybe not? I think the main riff of this is alright but even three minutes in it already feels like it’s been repeated too much – there are tempo shifts to more exciting stuff but the song went right back to the slower riff right after, so… I feel like besides that riff the song seems to be lacking much in the way of memorable motifs and melodies though, a lot of noisy guitar texture but not a ton of hook to any of it. It’s not unpleasant, and I kinda dig the overall sound, but it feels like it meanders a bit too much, though we’ll see if it grows on me on relistens.
Final Thoughts:
I do get why you’d send this after my reaction to Psychonaut, and I get why you think this corrects the problems that one had, but I think the big issue here is that the core sound of this just doesn’t appeal to me in the same way. I guess my main gripes is that it doesn’t feel like much of this has any real punch to it? That main riff is heavy, but it’s an awkward and disjointed riff that doesn’t really have any groove nor power to it, it just kind of… drags along cyclically.
The faster parts of this, there’s kind of a psychedelic edge to the guitar tone? I see this tagged as stoner rock which is kind of closer to what this is than post-metal, but it’s got enough of post-metal in it that I’m not going to reject the bonus very or anything. Anyways, the fast bits at least excite me more than the slower, sludgier bits, but there’s still something about them that just isn’t working for me about the general sound.
I feel like it may be that the overall sound is generally hookless? Like, the guitars have melody to them and they’re playing some kind of leads but I don’t find any of them that sticky or memorable, and while there are recurrent riffs there don’t seem to be so many recurrent melodies besides that. The only one I can recall off the top of my head is the one that plays during the first faster section, and then comes back towards the end.
There’s also not really any good transitions at any point in this song. It starts slow, gets faster awkwardly, even more awkwardly slows down, gets fast again and slowly bleeds tempo for a few minutes before kicking back into fast again, but I don’t think the transition is handled gracefully even once. There’s a solid degree of flow to that middle bit where there isn’t any harsh transition, but that’s the only part of the song that doesn’t feel real awkwardly stop-start.
I dunno, I’m trying to put into words why this one isn’t working for me and it’s really hard to pin down exactly where the issue lies, even with what I’ve put down here. I really am struggling to say much beyond “well the general sound just isn’t working for me” because that’s really the entire story here. It’s not bad or unpleasant, but I can’t imagine surviving a whole album of something like this either.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Bonus: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Nekov: Kiev – Drag Bones
Theme: None
First Impressions:
The first thing coming off from this is that the guitars sound a bit noise rock-y? They’ve got that kind of buzzy and distorted sound, but nah, it’s overall too clean for that. My first impression right now is that none of the elements of this are really clicking. There’s a halfhearted attempt at a groove but the song doesn’t commit, the vocals sound nice but they’re not going for any sort of melodic hook or even power. I do like the break towards the middle with the kinda jazzy drums and understated bass groove, though, and there’s some degree of build coming off it. And the ending is pretty cool too. Wasn’t feeling this one at the start but it got better as it went on and I was pretty into it by the end.
Final Thoughts:
Weirdly, this is probably the song of the round that felt overall least memorable to me. It’s not that it sounds too much like something else in the round, or even in the roulette, I don’t think there’s any song quite comparable to how this one sounds, but just nothing about it really sticks in my head after it’s over. I can listen to it here and go “oh yeah, that one” but I suspect a day from now I wouldn’t be able to tell you how this one goes.
It sort of falls victim to having a “toneless groove” to it. The bass groove has a nice rhythm to it, and the drums accompany it well, but a lot of the guitar work sorta sounds like just noises, and even when there’s melody it’s mostly a one-note melody. It’s the same reason a lot of djent or groove metal-type stuff doesn’t work for me, but without any sort of heavy distortion. And it’s not loose or fun enough to have groove in a “funk” sort of way either.
I do agree with my earlier assessment that in general the song starts picking up some steam as it goes on – I do like the chorus, that’s a pretty good hook even the first time it shows up, though the chorus at the end just has a bit more oomph to it overall, a lot more going on there. And the drum break through the noisy buildup to that chorus all happens fairly smoothly and effortlessly too.
I think this is closer to a 3 than your entry preceding it, but the overall dry sound of this combined with the noisy lack of melody and the need for a stronger, more physical groove to this just leaves me a bit flat, wanting a bit more than I’m getting out of it. It’s not a bad song, and there’s parts of it that do work pretty well, but it’s just missing that extra level of appeal to me that some of the better indie rock-ish songs this roulette have had.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
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TAC: Vinsta – Fiachtn
Theme: Foreign Language Death Metal
First Impressions:
Like a minute in and I would’ve probably seen an argument that this could’ve fit in either black metal or death metal as I do hear some of both (the vocals are more black, the music is more death but toned enough that I could still see it as black). I’m inclined to say I don’t really like the vocals but they’re mixed low enough and generally incomprehensible enough that I can’t really complain that loudly. I do like the riffing style on display here, it’s got a cool 6/8 groove to it while having both atmosphere and melody and some rhythmic shifts every so often just to keep things interesting, though I do worry the song may end up feeling monotone if it keeps in this vein for the rest of its runtime? It does change up its riffs a little, I suppose, and there’s a guitar solo and some more melodic vocals that come in later too. I think the overall sound of this is pretty cool and up my alley but it feels like it could use a bit of diversity or dynamics considering how long it runs.
Final Thoughts:
This song is particularly weird in that I don’t think my impressions of it have developed or changed in any way whatsoever since my initial listen, and I don’t know what to do about it. I know what the overall sound of this one is, but beyond that it all is just… kind of a blur, I guess?
Like, the riffs are good, there’s no doubt in my mind about that. I am a sucker for 6/8 but they do lots of interesting twists on that time signature, there’s some nice and headbob-worthy grooves throughout a lot of this song. The one riff that has the offbeat groove to it is probably the most interesting and memorable of the lot.
I don’t really know what else to say beyond that though. The song is… really stagnant over its entire runtime, it feels like. Like, I’m halfway through it right now and I feel like I’m just hearing the same three riffs on repeat, and I don’t even remember if it changes things up much after this either. Maybe there have been more than just three riffs but it barely feels like it if so.
Not until like 4:30 is there any break from the constant volume and vibe of the song, with a nice quiet bit that sneaks in there for a moment before the guitar solo kicks in, and it kind of makes me wonder why more of the song doesn’t have prominent guitar leads like this since the riffs would be really easy to play off of and there’s a great tone to the leads here too.
I guess pretty much every part of the song after that does do things a bit different that what came before it, but there’s this stretch in the middle of the song where I just end up kind of bored because the riffs that make the start of the song interesting have gotten stale and the song hasn’t gotten to the part that changes things up enough to stay interesting. Which makes this an oddly easy song to fix the main problem of – just cut the first 4:30 in half or so, and then add in the rest of the song after it. Or just add something to break up the first two-thirds of this at least a little bit.
It’s frustrating because the sound of this is cool and there’s lots of elements I do like but there’s a solid two minutes in the middle of this one where I just feel flat bored and impatient waiting for something else, anything else to happen. I think it could’ve been a great song with a bit of the fat trimmed or a bit of a rewrite but as it stands it’s merely good, and frustrating.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Evermind: Evan Carson – Otriad
Theme: None
First Impressions:
Alright Ev hit me with that djent baby. Djent Baby sounds like a parody djent band that does covers of pop songs tbh, eww. A minute in and I’m not yet quite sure what this one is trying to be. There’s some neo-prog-y vocals but it’s mostly a piano & percussion groove so far. The piano work on this is pretty diverse. It does feel like this is meandering without really “going” anywhere though. Is this like, the new wave of folk music or something? Lots of rhythms like that and a lot of strings popping in and out. It does build up some momentum as it goes on at least and develops into, like, an actual song by the end. I don’t think the overall sound of this one is necessarily for me, and it does feel like it meanders in its first half, but it gets better in the second half and is kinda neat.
Final Thoughts:
I must’ve been really burnt out during my first impressions of this one too because I was pretty negative towards it for whatever reason but then I’ve enjoyed it quite a bit on at least my third listen onwards, if not even earlier. I guess it’s because it’s not really quite like any other song I’ve received in this roulette, or heard in general, really.
Like, there’s a lot going on here that’s driven mostly by piano, percussion, and vocals. There’s a slick and tight piano groove that’s pretty infections, there’s a banger of a chorus that occurs a few times throughout the song and seems to escalate every time. There’s some swells of strings that provide a few moments of solid build. The piano sound here is maybe not as organic as I’d like but it’s not as stiff as some other songs in this roulette either.
I do think the middle is probably the weakest bit – I’m not too into the bit with those fast piano runs, and there’s a really rough transition after that, but the song recovers pretty quickly following that with a folky, string-driven section. For whatever reason there’s an extra triplet thrown in at the end of every phrase of this section which… feels like the wrong decision, it sort of hurts the momentum, but it’s a minor distraction. That section is kind of disconnected from the rest of the song overall, too, since it goes right back into the 4/4 feel of the rest of the song after, so it’s… a diversion, alright.
The strings do carry on to the next bit pretty well with some fun melodies and flute accompaniment, and returning to the chorus for a pretty solid climax and finale, with just more layers of vocals and strings sounding like they’re coming in as it repeats. It honestly sounds more intense than some of the metal I’ve received in this round, and that’s accomplished without any electric guitars (though I do think there is an acoustic one somewhere in the mix…)
I think in a void I’d struggle to place this one, but comparing it to previous round’s scores… it’s right around the same level of enjoyment as the strongest few of the 3’s for me, but I think I have enough little gripes combined with a lack of that real huge sense of impact this one leaves on me to quite call it on that tier, and if I pit it up against almost any other 4 it loses by a pretty hefty margin. I guess that’s the one failing of this scoring system, this feels like it deserves more than a 3 but less than a 4, and I don’t have anything in-between for you here. Still a cool and unique tune though, and I definitely want to at least check out the full album based on this one.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Bolsters: Mree – To See the Light
Theme: None
First Impressions:
It’s nice to know that I’m always going to consistently have one non-metal song in the round at the very least. Though this song is in like, 7/4 or something, which is interesting for this downtempo kind of indie folk or whatever you call this. I like the subtle woodwinds that come in towards the middle, the type of instrumentation you rarely seem to hear in music like this. There’s a lot of smaller movements to this in the structure of a fairly straightforward song, too. It’s a nice song that both at its core sounds interesting and distinct and has a lot of little touches that only make it that much better.
Final Thoughts:
What a pleasant little song. This song’s just… nice. It makes a 7/4 feel, which is usually intentionally choppy and jagged, feel just… natural and smooth, almost effortless, and that’s maybe it’s biggest strength. You’ve got these dreamy synths and guitars, swells of strings and subtle but effective percussion, smooth and silky vocal melodies, all in this time signature that feels like it shouldn’t be able to support something this ethereal.
I think the biggest thing is that the drums are so restrained and low in the mix – they’re present when they need to be to drive the louder moments, mostly muted snare hits, but a lot of the time the rest of the instrumentation is left to carry the rhythm without rhythmic accompaniment, and it still manages to do so effortlessly while keeping that dreamlike feel going the whole way through.
It’s also pretty catchy – at the very least, that one synth line and the vocal melodies of the chorus both stuck with me in a big way, they’re probably the two most obvious hooks of the entire thing, but there’s a lot of little melodies throughout this that just fit in with the mood well. The instrumentation changes with pretty much every section of the song, and there’s even the additional layers of vocals that come in towards the end that make the song sound so much larger than you’d think it could.
It’s just a perfect little song, really. I can’t point at any gripes I have with this one whatsoever, the only thing it really lacks to take it to that next level is something really hard-hitting and powerful, or a strong emotional connection, but I think with the intent of this song it was almost never going to make that kind of connection with me. The lyrics aren’t… especially interesting or important here, anyways. I don’t think of that as a negative, not every song has to be a perfect 9/10+ song for me to still enjoy it anyways, and I enjoy this song quite a lot.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Elite: Kaunis Kuolematon – Paha Ihminen
Theme: Foreign Language Death Metal
First Impressions:
We finally have dueling bonus themes, in round 7 of the roulette. About time! This has that downtempo melodeath sound to it that I always have really mixed feelings about, alright. Okay, but the riff that comes in towards the halfway point is at least pretty groovy. I dunno, I always just hear this sound as “growly Katatonia” which, like, fine. I do think of the two songs going for this bonus theme, this one is less likely to end up with it, based on first impressions, but we’ll see. Like, the riffs are heavy and the vocals are solid and there’s some atmosphere and melody and all that good stuff but none of it really stands out or plays into a kind of sound I like. This is one of those styles where I know I’m supposed to feel some kind of emotional connection coming off the music but most of the time I just don’t get that, and I’d say the same about this.
Final Thoughts:
One of the bigger growers of the round for me. This one left me a bit cold at first but on relistens a lot of stuff did start to pop out at me. For one, the main motif of this song is actually really strong and recurs enough times with both quieter and louder renditions that it really ties the whole thing together well. Great use of a good motif.
I also don’t quite know where I got the “growly Katatonia” vibes coming from because that… isn’t really true. The quieter moments of this have that dark folk-esque sound to them and while the song takes its time to build up to the heavier stuff it doesn’t feel overlong or drawn out, there’s a good build to the whole process of getting to that heavy explosion, kicking off again with that main motif.
And the heavy, groovy riff towards the middle is pretty cool in its own right, but I also dig the synth melody going on in the background, it complements the heavier sound well without really diminishing the impact, and it transitions smoothly into the similarly-styled guitar lead that follows as well. And after that they show that they’re able to pull off a pretty solid sludgy, doom-y type riff pretty effectively too. The song is pretty constantly changing but the transitions are all smooth and natural and there’s still an overall cohesiveness to the sound.
I have no clue what about this I found boring or uninteresting on first listen. The first impression reads to me like it’s discussing an entirely different song than the one I’m reviewing here, even though I’m certain it’s the same song both times. Either something about this one clicked for me and I didn’t notice it, or I just went completely insane writing that first impression. Maybe I misinterpreted the intent of the song? It’s definitely more of a heavy rocker than it is an emotive, downtempo song, but it has enough of a slow start to it I could see myself misinterpreting it from that.
In any case, wow, yeah, this is pretty good stuff isn’t it. I even am rating it higher here than I was expecting to only a single listen ago, because I’m pretty into this sound and am eager to hear more when this album drops. Maybe I won’t even like the rest of the album as much, or maybe it’ll leave me just as cold on first listen but end up being a lot of growers as well. Either way I’m glad I at least ended up appreciating this one by the end of the round ‘cause it does deserve it, I feel.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Bonus: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Buddyhunter1: Anamanaguchi – Sunset By Plane
Theme: None
First Impressions:
Well I’m worried as hell about this one but we’ll see. The first 20 seconds sounded promising but then the chiptune bass came in and I immediately got worried again. Alright when the song kicks in it’s fine. It’s not “just chiptune” which is, I think, where I tend to have a problem. If you incorporate some of those sounds in the framework of a more organic sound I’m not gonna complain as much. I think the vocals are the part of this I find least agreeable, actually, they’re a bit too saccharine and breathy. This sounds kind of like an anime opening at points. I’m not sure that’s necessarily a good thing, but it isn’t necessarily a bad thing either.
Final Thoughts:
I think when I’m saying “I don’t like chiptune” I’m specifically thinking of like, 8-bit stuff. It isn’t necessarily even bad on its own, there are some 8-bit games with bangin’ soundtracks to be sure. But the “chiptune” elements of this are more like 16-bit tones or maybe even 32-bit, it gets hard to distinguish after a point, and they’re not even really the focus of the song either. I guess some of the tones sound a bit airy and thin but that’s really my biggest gripe with them.
The vocals, as well, I think work best when there are some harmonies going on – a single voice on its own does have that same breathy sound to it, but two or more voices harmonizing kind of buries that aspect of the vocals and makes it kind of irrelevant, especially with how strong a lot of the vocal melodies in this tend to be. Like, there are some damn good melodies here and I just wish the vocals themselves were better to match.
I think what I appreciate the most about this song is how much energy it has, though, in what otherwise felt like a pretty sleepy and downtempo round overall. I mean, I guess there are other “upbeat” songs here but there’s all, like, dark and heavy stuff, whereas this song is bright and optimistic and just generally makes me happy to listen to.
Like, gotta be honest, all the nitpicks I have? They don’t really matter. The use of chiptune doesn’t really matter, the breathy vocals don’t really matter, because unless I’m really intently focusing on the song I’m not even really hearing those elements. I’m just hearing the stuff that makes me like this song – that killer main motif that shows up several times throughout the song, the dreamy vocal melodies contrasted with energetic but low-key percussion on the verses, the driving bridge with that brief guitar lead and very nice resolution in the vocals after it. I just enjoy listening to it.
It’s maybe not the most perfect or amazing song of the round, and I do feel the gripes I have with it are at least enough to keep it from even thinking about that highest rating, though maybe it’ll again be another that continues to grow on me with repeat listens, which it is definitely going to get, because yeah. I’m surprising even myself with how highly this one ranked, but it does deserve it.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Round Winner Bonus: (https://i.imgur.com/o3BBdpG.png)
Current Standings:
Bolsters: 29
Elite: 27
Evermind: 24
ariich: 23
Dacul: 23
TAC: 23
Nekov: 22
Puppies_On_Acid: 22
Buddyhunter1: 22
Train of Naught: 20
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stuff updated. send by 8 AM PST on 11/27!
bolsters is basically already qualified for the finals and should probably start working on an EP. i'm gonna give everyone up to a week after the last normal round ends to submit an EP because those take time. it might go all the way to round 10 though :lol
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Damn, let me just say I really hoped for 4 after seeing the positive comparison.
Oh well, at least I'm still doing reasonably well.
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Down down lower I go.
Fair enough about the heavy stuff, in an of itself it's not my thing either but it's the contrast between the intense and the melodic that I think works so well in their music. Still, at least I managed 2 strawberries again.
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How do you determine which is the last normal round? Just when a big enough group has reached the 30 berries?
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How do you determine which is the last normal round? Just when a big enough group has reached the 30 berries?
yup, once 5 or more people reach 30 we go to the final round
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How about we all start sending shitty stuff so this roulette goes forever :lol
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If 10 rounds pass and the 5 slots have not been filled, the highest-scoring remaining players below 30 will be pulled into the finals. 2 additional strawberries will be awarded to all qualifying players based on half (rounded down) the # of strawberries below 30 that the lowest scoring player in the final has. (For example, 23 strawberries would award qualifying players 3 bonus strawberries, 26 would award 2, etc.) Note that any player who does not qualify will not receive these bonus strawberries, regardless of how close they are to 30.
try it if you want
this is colloquially referred to as the "You disappoint me" rule.
don't make me a sad panda
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I actually intend to win the next round and qualify to the finals
Now I just need to pick the song :lol
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I'm guessing I'll still get to berries but you liked this one more than the last one? :lol
Called it, even with the typo
I'll send later today
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Finally got a golden strawberry! My work here is done. :biggrin:
In all seriousness, I'm really glad that resonated with you. The main motif and the energetic instrumentation of that song are just killer.
I'd definitely recommend checking out that album, though I'd temper your expectations a little bit - there's only a few songs on the record with vocals, and some tracks definitely lean more on the 8-bit instrumentation than others, but there aren't really any where it's the only thing going on. Pretty much every song uses other synths and those tasty, tasty live drums show up in quite a few other places too. It's probably gonna end up around my top three for this year, I'd say.
Anyways, time to have my hopes at reaching the EP round squashed yet again. Will probably send something else totally risky that you'll either love or hate, but I'm still thinking about it.
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Sent some boomer rock
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Sent Sarah McLachlan
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Well damn, I like how all over the place I've been on this roulette so far :lol
In all seriousness, I'm really glad that resonated with you. The main motif and the energetic instrumentation of that song are just killer.
I'd definitely recommend checking out that album, though I'd temper your expectations a little bit - there's only a few songs on that record with vocals, and some tracks definitely lean more on the 8-bit instrumentation than others, but there aren't really anything where it's the only thing they do. Pretty much every song uses other synths and those tasty, tasty live drums show up in quite a few other places too. It's probably gonna end up around my top three for this year, I'd say.
I'm surprised Cyril liked this one so much, but I agree with you, the album is great :metal
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Sent
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Oh boy. Will send for another raspberry tonight.
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Oh boy. Will send for another raspberry tonight.
Oh there's your problem, you've been playing for raspberries this whole time. You are supposed to be playing for strawberries :biggrin:
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Oh boy. Will send for another raspberry tonight.
Oh there's your problem, you've been playing for raspberries this whole time. You are supposed to be playing for strawberries :biggrin:
But I've been getting raspberries. :lol
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Just wait until Cyril unveils the Moonberry
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That's what the winner is getting tbh I need to get the sprite though
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Sent some more electronic stuff.
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(https://cdn0.iconfinder.com/data/icons/thin-communication-messaging/57/thin-012_mail_envelope_email_sent-512.png)
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just missing ariich and Elite now, it looks like
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(https://cdn0.iconfinder.com/data/icons/thin-communication-messaging/57/thin-012_mail_envelope_email_sent-512.png)
I sent a flying brick too!
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just missing ariich and Elite now, it looks like
Not anymore you're not.
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Hangman!
ariich: _v___t____ _v___t____ - To T__ _____
Train of Naught: ____o____ ______ - _ov_____
Buddyhunter1: ________ - _____
Dacul: _____ __oo_ - _ov___
Elite: ________tt - __v_t_ ___
Puppies_On_Acid: _o_______ - To __oo_
Evermind: ________ _t _____ _________ - _______
TAC: _o__t____ _____ - _t______
Nekov: __t_ - ____t____
Bolsters: ____ _o____ - _t___ ____
Letters Guessed:
OTV
Bolsters waits 3
Puppies waits 2
TAC waits 1
No who-sent-what's because nobody has even been attempting them.
Also, thank you all for sending really short songs, this is maybe the shortest 10-song round I've ever had, under 50 minutes in total :lol
Gonna do first impressions in a bit, jamming the new Midnight Odyssey right now though
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T
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V
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I refuse to watch TV.
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O
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A
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M
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Hangman!
ariich: _v___t__n_ _v___t__n_ - To T__ __a__
Train of Naught: Ma__o____ Ma_a__ - _ov_____
Buddyhunter1: __n____m - _____
Dacul: _____ __oo_ - Mov___
Elite: O___n__ott - __v_t_ __o
Puppies_On_Acid: _o____a__ - To Bloom
Evermind: _______m _t _a_a_ M__a___an - ___n___
TAC: Countless Skies - Ethereal
Nekov: __t_ - ___at____
Bolsters: _mma _o____ - At_a_ ____
Letters Guessed:
AMNOTV
Evermind waits 3
Buddy waits 2
Bolsters waits 1
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To Broom? :neverusethis:
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To Bloom, I'd think. :lol
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N
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Round 8 First Impressions
Pleasant and kind of neat little song, I can point out little nitpicks here and there but it’s still overall solid.
Nothing about this one that really stood out for better or worse except, again, the vocal mixing!
The general vibe of this one is pretty pleasant, my big worry is that it won’t have much lasting value or really ever resonate with me that strongly.
Not a bad or unpleasant sound or anything but it never really feels like it goes anywhere or does much for me, it’s just… fine.
A sound I generally like and it seems like a solid example of it but poor mixing really doesn’t flatter this one.
A bit hard to grasp this one initially as it takes a while to really come together but it’s got an overall nice vibe to it that I could see growing on me.
I don’t think this is immediately standing out as especially interesting or amazing (or as unique as I’d like) but I like the overall sound and it stays interesting & dynamic the whole way through regardless.
It’s pretty fun and upbeat though in this case I wouldn’t say it sounds as fresh as its most obvious comparison in this roulette.
Vocals on parts of this are… questionable, but there’s enough that works here that I could see myself getting decently into it.
This song doesn’t have the same mixing problems several others this round do, but right now I’m kind of wishing it did ‘cause I’m not huge on the vocals here, even if the rest is pretty solid.
The three general themes of this round are that 1. there's almost no metal period (2 of the 10) 2. subsequently, all the songs are shorter on average (longest song is under 7 minutes, 5 of the 10 are under 5 minutes), and 3. a weirdly high number of songs have incredibly bad vocal mixing (4 of the 10).
It's... a different round, for sure. I don't mind since a lot of the metal I've been sent in the past two rounds hasn't done so hot anyways :lol
Results will be up Friday, a great deal for sure. Also, Bolsters, your song isn't gonna get a 0 (spoilers but probably not really your lowest score so far is like, a 2 :lol) so you should start working on your EP :P
Let me refresh the EP round rules real quick since we're getting close to the point where people will need to start preparing one, also...
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EP Round:
Up to 5 songs by at least 3 different artists, with a minimum length of 25 minutes and a maximum length of 45 minutes. Interlude tracks are allowed provided that they do not exceed 3 minutes in length, but they will not be scored or counted as one of the 3 required artists.
EP Guidelines
Just some things to keep in mind that make a good EP:
1. Flow – abrupt cuts or awkward transitions between songs takes me out of the experience and makes your EP sound less like a curated work and more like just a random Spotify playlist.
2. Cohesiveness – I don’t think putting Sigur Ros and Deathspell Omega on the same EP is going to work very well, is all I’m saying. It’s possible to go too far with this, however, thus…
3. Variety – The more each individual song stands out from the rest, the more interesting each song is, the more likely the EP is to do well. Again, it has to be kept cohesive enough to still work but having three songs doing the same thing is probably going to be at the expense of at least one of those songs losing my interest.
The earlier you reach 30 strawberries, the better, as two bonus strawberries for the final round are awarded based on how many rounds early that 30 strawberries are reached. For example, if one reaches 30 strawberries one round before the finals, two will be awarded towards the final round. If one reaches 30 strawberries two rounds before the finals, four will be awarded towards the final round. If one reaches 30 strawberries right before the finals, no bonus strawberries will be awarded.
If 10 rounds pass and the 5 slots have not been filled, the highest-scoring remaining players below 30 will be pulled into the finals. 2 additional strawberries will be awarded to all qualifying players based on half (rounded down) the # of strawberries below 30 that the lowest scoring player in the final has. (For example, 23 strawberries would award qualifying players 3 bonus strawberries, 26 would award 2, etc.) Note that any player who does not qualify will not receive these bonus strawberries, regardless of how close they are to 30.
Scores will be reset (aside from the aforementioned bonus strawberries) before the final round, in which up to 30 strawberries can be earned – 5 for each song sent, and 5 extra strawberries for the overall EP score. Do note that this means that you are free to send EPs with less than 5 songs, but you will automatically lose 5 strawberries per song not sent. If you feel you have four 5/5 songs and a 5/5 flow, with no room to add another song, feel free to give it a shot at your own risk.
In the result of a tie after the EP round, the tiebreaker will be the highest-ranking song across all tied EPs.
everything related to the EP round, in one convenient post
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My song is pre-2000 so it makes sense the mixing isn't too hot on that one.
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Yours is, ironically, not one of those.
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Countless Skies - Ethereal
You fucker, this band was on my list for the EP round.
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Round 8 First Impressions
Vocals on parts of this are… questionable, but there’s enough that works here that I could see myself getting decently into it.
I feel like this one is 100% mine.
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Emma Louise - Atlas Eyes
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Hangman!
ariich: _v___t__n_ _v___t__n_ - To T__ __a__
Train of Naught: Ma__o____ Ma_a__ - _ov_____
Buddyhunter1: P_n____m - _____
Dacul: _____ __oo_ - Mov___
Elite: O___n__ott - __v_t_ __o
Puppies_On_Acid: Hopesfall - To Bloom
Evermind: _______m _t _a_a_ M__a___an - ___n___
TAC: Countless Skies - Ethereal
Nekov: __t_ - ___at____
Bolsters: Emma Louise - Atlas Eyes
Letters Guessed:
AMNOPTV
Puppies waits 5
Evermind waits 1
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I guess give me a P while we are at it.
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only two of 'em
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How the hell does Puppies guess N and P in a row and I still have to wait 2? :biggrin:
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oh, i guess i forgot to update :P
if you can solve the entire hangman from what's there i'll let you guess another letter
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Nah, it's too obscure for me
I just googled Hopefalls though
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Hopefalls? Never heard of it
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Hopesfall :P
I'm at work so that's my excuse
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did you get autocorrected
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This time yes actually, had to quickly edit it :lol
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R
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Hangman!
ariich: Everything Everything - To The Blade
Train of Naught: Mayflower Madame - Lovesick
Buddyhunter1: Pendulum - _r___
Dacul: Weyes Blood - Movies
Elite: Ørkenkjøtt - __v_t_ Fro
Puppies_On_Acid: Hopesfall - To Bloom
Evermind: ____r__m ft Sarah McLachlan - ___n___
TAC: Countless Skies - Ethereal
Nekov: __t_ - __rat____
Bolsters: Emma Louise - Atlas Eyes
Letters Guessed:
AFMNOPQRTV
Evermind waits 3
Puppies waits 3
Bolsters waits 2
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How the hell does Puppies guess N and P in a row and I still have to wait 2? :biggrin:
I'm special.
Give me a Q :corn :biggrin:
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Everything Everything
Malady?
Someone featuring Sarah McLachlan
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no Q's so I'll give you nothing
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Someone featuring Sarah McLachlan
The song is Annnngel :neverusethis:
F
Mayflower Madame - Lovesick
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Ørkenkjøtt
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yup yup
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Pendulum?
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yep yep
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Looks like Crush, one of the better songs in that album
I wouldn’t have the balls to send any Pendulum here though :lol
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Didn't you do it in jingle.boy's roulette of all people?
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I sent a Pendulum song feat. Steven Wilson in the opening round of Cereal's last roulette I think
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Yeah and you got eliminated :P
Nah but that song was solid iirc
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I find The Fountain ultra boring compared to most Pendulum songs, it just sounds like a very meh Steven Wilson song, hardly anything Pendulum about it
Yeah I can see why you would like that
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When I tried listening to the album I only got 3 or 4 songs deep in it, so yeah
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Yeah and you got eliminated :P
Nah but that song was solid iirc
Yeah I didn't expect to get far, especially with the other songs I sent with it lol
TBH I think The Fountain is the best song on that record :<
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For me it’s Crush, Witchcraft and Watercolour, but almost every song on In Silico and half the songs on HYC beat everything on that album by far
TASTES!!!!!!!
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I'm just not big into most electronic music :shrug:
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I'm just not big into most electronic music :shrug:
Saying that after you sent me one of my favorite musical discoveries in recent memory (Gunship) boggles my mind
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I said most for a reason
Granted the song I sent is more of a rock song anyways :P
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That's true. Tomislav picked up your electronic slack. :lol
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It was between Crush and The Island. I think Cyril would like part 1 of The Island but they might despise part 2 so I figured Crush was the better choice :lol
Amazing album, though.
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Will respectfully disagree that the album is amazing :P
Sufjan's Planetarium tho, spun that the other night and that one is quite good, I need more listens that it probably won't get this year though sadly :lol
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To the Blade
Sacul is Weyes Blood - Movies?
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You're on fire!
...someone help
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Looks like Crush
*cough*
E
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Countless Skies - Ethereal
You fucker, this band was on my list for the EP round.
:P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P
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Hangman!
ariich: Everything Everything - To The Blade
Train of Naught: Mayflower Madame - Lovesick
Buddyhunter1: Pendulum - _r___
Dacul: Weyes Blood - Movies
Elite: Ørkenkjøtt - __v_t_ Fro
Puppies_On_Acid: Hopesfall - To Bloom
Evermind: ____r__m ft Sarah McLachlan - ___n___
TAC: Countless Skies - Ethereal
Nekov: __t_ - __rat____
Bolsters: Emma Louise - Atlas Eyes
Letters Guessed:
AFMNOPQRTV
Evermind waits 3
Puppies waits 3
Bolsters waits 2
Quoting this for people with 35 posts per page :P
Livets Fro
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Sarah McLachlan - Aaangel
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Delirium ft Sarah McLachlan - Silence
Ørkenkjøtt - Livets Fro
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Hangman!
ariich: Everything Everything - To The Blade
Train of Naught: Mayflower Madame - Lovesick
Buddyhunter1: Pendulum - Crush
Dacul: Weyes Blood - Movies
Elite: Ørkenkjøtt - Livets Frø
Puppies_On_Acid: Hopesfall - To Bloom
Evermind: Delerium ft Sarah McLachlan - Silence
TAC: Countless Skies - Ethereal
Nekov: Kyte - Scratches
Bolsters: Emma Louise - Atlas Eyes
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So, no matter how hilariously badly this round goes, I will probably send you some bands/songs for EP auditioning this weekend, because you're getting it anyway even if I don't reach the final round. I've already got a rough idea of a sci-fi story for you and at least five songs picked with a decent flow and variety :tup
I need to redeem myself after that joke-ballad-power-metal-EP anyway
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I have a good EP planned out but I know I’ve got a snowball’s chance in hell of actually making it into that round with how inconsistent my performance has been. :'( Unless I somehow do really well this round, I’ll probably just send two songs from the EP for the last two rounds. And then maybe send Cyril the EP anyways.
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send me the EP anyways but i won't get to it until january
the EP round is gonna line up with when i'm going on vacation this year so it's gonna be a slow long round anyways, but w/e
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Last song is Kyte - Scratches.
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yup!
y'all sent too much non-metal this round, i swear :lol
y'all know i am still mostly a metal guy right? just that non-metal stuff has been doing well 'cause a lot of the metal i've been sent in the last few rounds was pretty meh
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Don’t worry, you’ll be getting no metal from me for the rest of the roulette :biggrin:
Listen to my EP for TAC when he posts it to get your fill of :metal
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so i should just kick you out now?
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just trying to
B R O A D E N Y O U R H O R I Z O N S
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I've been looking into EP songs today and no metal to be seen thus far, but I guess you kind of expect that of me by now.
Do you want us to participate in the additional rounds after making it to 30 strawberries?
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no, there's no reason for you to participate
you can send me songs but i won't rate them or probably even listen to them yet 'cause i'm busy as heck with several other things right now :lol
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Round 8 Comparisons
v Buddyhunter1
v Elite
v Bolsters
v Evermind
v TAC
^ Nekov
v Train of Naught
^ Puppies_On_Acid
^ ariich
^ Dacul
for as much as I complained about last round, I think this round is even worse. it's entirely possible no song this round will get even a 4. i'm just not particularly thrilled by anything here, a lack of metal means a lot of these songs start to blend together for me - there are 3 ambient/downtempo pop tracks and then 3-4 songs my mind groups into the category of "upbeat rock", for example.
i guess i'll just repeat this statement from my "tastes" post :lol
You’re free to challenge my tastes if you want but I’ve had plenty of years and plenty of roulettes to really hone in on the kind of stuff I like and at this point any risk you take is your own liability.
anyways, results tomorrow. bolsters -will- be qualifying, to nobody's surprise, i won't say anything about anyone else yet, though
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also i haven't listened to any round 6 or 7 albums yet because i'm trying to clear out first listens of the stack of albums on my desk that i got in the mail, down to 6 of them right now so hopefully after this weekend i'll be done with that and onto checking out some of the stuff i've been meaning to look into :corn
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:lol
1 strawberry + 1 bonus theme strawberry
I know my next track though, gonna win the next round for sure
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Round 8 Results
Round 8 Playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0k8O57pWYma6C4igsKkVjy
Train of Naught: Mayflower Madame – Lovesick
Theme: None
First Impressions:
I like post-hardcore but post-punk is definitely something I see myself… less interested in, mostly because the vocal style is usually not too agreeable for me. This certainly has more of a fun groove to it than most of what I’ve heard in the genre though. I don’t really… have much else to say about it though? It kinda just goes on with the same sound for about three minutes then it ends. Not a bad or unpleasant sound or anything but it never really feels like it goes anywhere or does much for me, it’s just… fine.
Final Thoughts:
I’m just… not sure I’m seeing the appeal of this one. I don’t get it at all. There’s like, a very light groove to this, but it’s not a strong or particularly unique groove, just a standard swing on some guitars that have a bit of twang to them. And I guess it does have a bit of a louder climax towards the end, the guitars get a bit more power as the song goes on.
The vocals… sound fine. The melodies feel relatively hookless and low-pitched and I don’t find them particularly interesting or memorable, and there’s a looooot of reverb that I suspect is compensating for a less than stellar vocal performance, but it sounds fine enough. I’m not very into the sound but I’m not bothered by it.
And… I’m not even sure what else the song has to comment on. I feel like I’ve talked about every element here that’s even notable already and the song isn’t even 3 minutes long on top of that. There’s just absolutely nothing for me to get into or chew on regarding this song. It feels shallow and uninteresting to me. I don’t dislike it and it’s over quick enough that I don’t get bored listening to it but that’s about as positive as I can be here.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
TAC: Countless Skies – Ethereal
Theme: None
First Impressions:
There’s almost no metal this round so I hope this one is at least solid, haha, I still am more of a metal guy than anything else you know. Those growls… hhmmmMMM. This is like the third song this round (out of 6 so far) with the vocals mixed weirdly low. I don’t think it’s my speakers though? The other songs have sounded fine. I dunno, so far this just seems pretty uninteresting in the straightforward melodeath lane. Like, I haven’t heard a single melody yet that really stood out to me. Yeah, gotta say on first listen this is actually kinda boring. Nothing about this one that really stood out for better or worse except, again, the vocal mixing!
Final Thoughts:
Probably the biggest disappointment of the round, as a metal track in a very metal-devoid round that just flat freakin’ bores me. I place the largest share of the blame for this on the production and mixing, which is both rather muddy in sound and just mixed bafflingly to crush any elements of high-end melody. The vocals, especially the cleans, are indecipherable and muted, the riffs have more texture than tone to them, even the snare sounds weak as hell, especially compared to the hihats and bass drum. I’m also not sure there’s even a bass guitar, or even if there is, it’s just doubling the low guitar riffing with a probably limp as hell tone.
The riffing itself. It’s fine… it’s not just flat chugs in a boring, monotonous rhythm, it’s an alright rhythm and there’s some chord hits in between the chugging. Either that or it’s power chord hits behind something else intended to be the focus of that section, which is fine if it’s being functional enough. The melodies on the other hand… they’re just completely hookless, a lot of holding on one note for long periods of time without any sort of melodic progression, so it at best sounds pleasant, at worse sounds tedious.
I guess the bass is there but only audible during the quieter moments in the middle of the song. That quiet moment’s alright. Nothing special but it’s balanced better than the rest of the song. The vocals… well, the harsh vocals aren’t good, the cleans are serviceable when you can hear them. The synth tones they pick out don’t really mess well at all, they have no presence, they’re all really bell-like without any texture to them and they’re only noticeable when there’s not much else going on.
This doesn’t rank at the bottom of the round simply due to at least being slightly up my alley in terms of style, but that’s like, the one concession I’m willing to make with this one, because it’s straight-up one of the least interesting and worst-sounding metal songs I’ve received this roulette. There’s little to nothing I actively dislike here, so it’s not a zero, but it’s doing the barest of minimum to be a passable metal tune and I don’t see the appeal at all.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Evermind: Delerium ft. Sarah McLachlan – Silence
Theme: Pre-2000’s Ambient
First Impressions:
This is simply… Angelic. Haha. Nah, but… it’s less ambient and more like, trip-hop-y almost? Probably not quite but it does feel very 90’s. I do like the low-key groove this has going on and she’s like, a fine enough singer. It’s more like, background music to me than anything though but I do find it pleasant enough. The guitar work is pretty nice too. The general vibe of this one is pretty pleasant, my big worry is that it won’t have much lasting value or really ever resonate with me that strongly.
Final Thoughts:
Really starting to think the pre-2000’s themes were all a complete mistake. Should’ve never added that theme row in the first place. This doesn’t even have the problem that a lot of them had of sounding really dated production-wise. I mean, it does sound very dated, to be sure. But I mean the overall sound is fine. There’s some solid atmosphere and a generally clean sound to all of this with just enough texture to keep it from feeling too sterile.
I just don’t think there’s much of this I find particularly… noteworthy. It goes on for a fair bit longer than it feels like it should, without ever really progressing much or going anywhere interesting. There’s a rough verse/chorus structure to the song, and McLachlan’s vocals are solid enough to at least make the vocal moments land well enough. There’s kind of a hook here, albeit I think the sleepy vibe of the overall groove makes it hard for the chorus to hit that hard. It’s not unpleasant and I can kind of see the appeal.
And the guitar work too, it’s kinda neat? Has light vibes of flamenco guitar sound to it, though it slots in well with the kind of ambient/trip-hop sound of the overall song. The last chorus does feel like it gets a bit more intense too and has some kind of climax.
I dunno. Everything about this “works well enough” for what it’s going for but it just lacks any real emotional punch for me. I don’t feel much of anything listening to this. It’s a bit too busy to feel truly atmospheric or calm in the way I like my ambient, but it’s not busy enough or dynamic enough to work as a pop tune either. I’m going to give this the bonus berry simply because, while I wouldn’t classify this as “ambient” myself, RYM applied two different genre tags that have “ambient” in them so who am I to argue there.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Bonus: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Nekov: Kyte – Scratches (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPE8XSHGlBo)
Theme: None
First Impressions:
First song since round 1 I’ve had to listen to outside of Spotify, damn you! Immediate impression is that this is going to be in the synthpop lane somewhere. Okay, those vocals were definitely not what I was expecting. I’m not sure how I feel about them. This has some decent groove at least but uhh yeah… I just wish the vocals were more melodic. The chorus is pretty good but mostly because it’s driven by a much more melodic vocalist than the verses. I can see that getting stuck in my head though. Vocals on parts of this are… questionable, but there’s enough that works here that I could see myself getting decently into it.
Final Thoughts:
The chorus of this is quite good. The production of this is pretty good too. Nice and glossy and glittery with a simple but solid 4/4 groove running throughout it. And the melody on the chorus is pretty solid and delivered well enough by the female vocalist. The production gets some nice swell to match it too.
What the actual hell is the male vocalist doing in this song though. Why does he sound like that. What is the intent of sounding like that. It obviously has to be intentional but I’m sorry, I just do not at all see the appeal. His voice outright sounds scratchy and breathy, it’s almost 100% texture with very little melody to speak of, and any melody is really low-pitched and muted anyways. He gets drowned out in the chorus and honestly that’s for the best.
And there’s… nothing else to talk about with this one. It’s three minutes long and literally just intro-verse-chorus-verse-chorus and it’s immediately done after that. Considering the verses take up more than half of the song, that’s about half the song that does nothing or just flat annoys me. The strength of the chorus can make up for that a little bit, and it’s a pretty fun chorus, yeah, but I don’t see myself wanting to listen to this one again considering how much I just flat don’t like the main vocalist.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Dacul: Weyes Blood – Movies
Theme: None
First Impressions:
I listened to this a few times and couldn’t get into it. I remember this song title and my initial reaction was a negative one, meaning I might’ve not cared for this one when I did check out this album? We’ll see. That synth arpeggio is one thing that immediately stands out as an “I’m not sure this was necessary” kind of element, though. This entire thing has a very… free-flowing vibe to it. She has a nice voice and the melodies are pleasant but it feels just a bit… rambly? I dunno, at the very least it’s not quite working for me but I don’t find it unpleasant either. I think because the arpeggio is there as a rhythmic element while the rest of the song is kind of lacking that rhythm, it ends up feeling a bit awkward to me, but that may just be a me thing. The ending has a pretty solid climax too, and an actually rhythmic one, so, alright. A bit hard to grasp this one initially as it takes a while to really come together but it’s got an overall nice vibe to it that I could see growing on me.
Final Thoughts:
I feel like if this was a Julia Holter song the only difference would be that that arpeggio would be gone and that the vocals would be a bit… different? Better? I like Holter’s voice more than Mering’s but I can’t quite describe why? It’s not really that relevant, they both sound pretty fine and tend to be the best part of their music.
But yeah. There’s a sense of ambient pop to the overall sound, except then you have this strictly rhythmic element going on the whole time that just flat does not fit in, it’s a baffling addition to me that just undercuts the entire song for me since it’s an element that runs throughout the entire song, even when the synths switch to strings towards the end.
It’s especially frustrating because a lot of the rest of this I do see the appeal of. There’s a very lush atmosphere to this track, and a lot of the layers of vocals come together well to have some real power to them. I do feel there’s a bit of a lack of… coherent melody, even still, I find it hard to find the rhythm of this song before the percussion comes in, but the amount of swell in the overall sound is still satisfying.
And the ending bit’s cool. I like the offkilter rhythm, albeit I still think the vocals fail to really capitalize on any of the rhythm and still feel a bit rambly. I think that’s just one of my problems with this song overall, it feels like a lot of elements mixed together that could work on isolation or if you took one element out it’d improve the whole package, but it sort of feels like the vocals just weren’t written to slot into this instrumentation period? They feel strangely disconnected the whole time. Like, I can gripe about the arpeggio all I want but I think if the vocals were gone it wouldn’t clash as bad either.
Like I said I’ve spun this album a few times before and could never get too into it, and this one doesn’t have me running back to check it out again, it just doesn’t feel like a very cohesive tune to me. There’s power and atmosphere in there but nothing ever comes together quite right and it ends up feeling like a bit of a mess. I kind of remember some of Julia Holter’s other work outside of Have You In My Wilderness having some of the same problems for me though so maybe that’s really just a symptom of a genre I’m generally not too keen on.
Oh and I don’t have any interest in film or movies whatsoever really so I can’t relate to the lyrics in any way, but that’s not really relevant either.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
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Buddyhunter1: Pendulum – Crush
Theme: None
First Impressions:
I actually listened to a few tracks off this album earlier this year but, I didn’t get very far. I don’t know if I even got this far. Regardless of how much I like this song I already don’t plan to go back to this album. This seems more like a rock-oriented song with electronic elements than anything, pretty immediately. I get why you’d send this after your last song, though. It’s got that same upbeat energy to it and it’s more vocal-centric than some other stuff I’ve heard from the artist (which I think is true of the Anamanaguchi song too?). I don’t think this has the same vibe necessarily but I do find it solidly enjoyable. It’s pretty fun and upbeat though in this case I wouldn’t say it sounds as fresh as its most obvious comparison in this roulette.
Final Thoughts:
Immediately I will say that this is probably the catchiest song of the round for me. Though the verse melodies more than the chorus, honestly. One of the melodies in the verses sounds like How Far I’ll Go from Moana, a movie I’ve never watched and a song I’ve only heard a handful of times. Being compared to Disney is, for the record, not a bad thing. This album predates that movie by quite a bit, anyways.
The guitar riff this song is built on is solid even if it’s a bit… one-note? It’s got energy to it even if most of the phrases are just hitting the same note over and over. I guess it’s all the elements complimenting the guitars that give this a sense of energy. The drums are also pretty straightforward with a pretty common groove but they work fine. The synths are a bit more active and melodic. The whole sound is basically a pump-up anthem.
And there’s the random clean bit at the end that… well, I like it on its own but it feels like, instead of having a climax, the song decided to just fizzle out for no real reason? Like if this was a clean bit that was followed up by some huge final chorus or at least some kind of heavier riffing, it’d be a great bridge, but it’s… the outro. Anyways, it’s not a huge gripe as I can maybe see what they were going for there, even if I’m not sure I agree on the direction taken.
Anyways, I like this to some extent but it feels… too shallow for me to really get into, overall. It’s not as good as I remember The Fountain being (which I haven’t gone back to relisten to), it’s just a solid and energetic rock tune that doesn’t really aspire to be much more and isn’t really going to keep me coming back to it either. Can’t say there’s any real problems with it besides the weak ending but even ignoring that I don’t think this would’ve gotten a higher score regardless.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
ariich: Everything Everything – To The Blade
Theme: None
First Impressions:
Well my first impression is obviously of the vocalist, and I’m not so sure about his voice… especially that falsetto doesn’t sound great, but this tone doesn’t do much for me in general and WOW that kicked in real suddenly. Alright, well, he sounds a bit better when there’s music accompanying him, and I’m digging this guitar work too. I don’t really feel like much else has come into the song in the minute and a half since the first post-chorus though? The drumwork is solid too, I guess. This song doesn’t have the same mixing problems several others this round do, but right now I’m kind of wishing it did ‘cause I’m not huge on the vocals here, even if the rest is pretty solid.
Final Thoughts:
Actually the vocals are mostly fine except his falsetto is just. Not good. Flat out. Stop doing that dude, you don’t have a good falsetto, just accept that, move on, and don’t sing in such a painstakingly nasal and weak high pitch, god. He sounds fine otherwise though. The vocal melodies in general are pretty good.
The way the song kicks in is honestly really cool though, not even any buildup to it, it just hits hard. The kind of moment that feels like it should be accompanied with an audible “slam” sound effect. Of course the song only gets one chance to do that but it uses it well. The chorus itself is pretty good too, really. I feel like his falsetto sounds better on the chorus for whatever reason? The verse after the first chorus he still doesn’t sound great but the chorus actually sounds fine, maybe because it’s even higher-pitched and he’s basically full-on belting instead of this middling low wail.
Enough about the vocals. That guitar riff is groovy as hell and the drumwork is energetic and interesting to match it pretty well. It makes that post-chorus probably the most exciting part of this entire song. The part without the falsetto is the best part, go figure. Nah, but I do dig it a lot. It certainly sounds a lot more lively than the rest of the song’s relaxed groove and makes for a good contrast.
Overall I think there’s elements here that do work well, but the song really feels like it could use a better singer, or at least a singer who knows his range well. I’ll shut up about the falsetto, I promise. It’s got solid groove and energy, it’s pretty structurally simple but doesn’t really get boring or feel overly repetitive. It’s not one of the best rock tunes this roulette, for sure, but it’s still pretty solid stuff. Would be better without the fals- no, I said I’d stop. That’s really my only major problem with this though.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Bolsters: Emma Louise – Atlas Eyes
Theme: None
First Impressions:
I’m genuinely surprised you didn’t just send a troll entry with a bonus theme for the guaranteed qualification since you really easily could have, but I mean, I appreciate getting an actual song and all. There’s a pretty nice soundscape going on in this one though, driven a lot by the drums and the twinkly guitar lines. And the vocals are pretty solid too. There’s a lot of, like, weird samples in the background I’m not as keen on though but ehh they’re buried enough to not bother me too much. I don’t know if it feels like the song ever really… goes anywhere? It does have a bit of a climax towards the end but most of the time feels like it’s just running on at the same general level. Pleasant and kind of neat little song, I can point out little nitpicks here and there but it’s still overall solid.
Final Thoughts:
Part of me wants to not even bother with this writeup because it literally doesn’t matter, you had a low, low bar to clear this round and this vaulted way over it anyways. But nah, we’ll give this an honest shot. This isn’t your best song so far, but it isn’t your worst either. It’s perfectly average for a Bolsters entry.
I’m still pretty hung up on the samples. I don’t understand what they add here. They’re just… there, sometimes. Primarily after the choruses, it seems like. It’s fine to have some empty space without voices.
Voices. The vocals. She’s a pretty good singer. I don’t get the sense from this song that she has a powerful voice, since the delivery here is pretty restrained throughout the song, even during its loudest moments she’s still cooing gently with a silky smooth voice and probably staying within a single octave tonally throughout the entire song, or so it feels. Not the most impressive or dynamic performance, I guess, but it’s more than sufficient and I like her voice.
The instrumentation, too, it’s basically a post-rock song if you strip away the vocals. Heck, that’s probably why the samples are there to begin with, it’s a very post-rock type of thing to put in samples for no goddamn reason because GY!BE did it and everyone likes them, right? But I mean, yeah, there isn’t any real melodic hook to this like with the Mree song, just a lot of atmosphere and texture that’s all pretty dreamy. It’s a very nice-sounding song.
It’s a very nice-sounding song. I think that summarizes this entire thing up pretty well. Aside from the samples there’s nothing here I really have to complain about and it’s all generally in the ballpark of the kind of sound I like out of this kind of dream-pop or whatever you call this. Doesn’t resonate with me especially strongly but I’ve at least liked it well enough on every listen I’ve given to it, even if I don’t feel it’s particularly deep or memorable.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Elite: Ørkenkjøtt – Livets Frø
Theme: Foreign Language Prog Metal
First Impressions:
Alright, end us off on a high note. One of only two metal notes, at least? Please? Vocalist vaguely reminds me of Einar though not quite as high-pitched. I see this wanting to explode into a metal song though it seems to be taking its time to get there. Lots of interesting & kind of off-kilter melodies going on with the guitars on this one, too. It got metal for a moment then backed off to an acoustic guitar bit. Oh and now it’s fast. Hello, fast. You’re suspiciously absent from a lot of this round. The kind of choppy guitar sound isn’t necessarily my favorite, but. There’s definitely a kind of Opeth sound to bits of this too, especially the moments where the heavy & clean guitars are playing at the same time. I don’t think this is immediately standing out as especially interesting or amazing (or as unique as I’d like) but I like the overall sound and it stays interesting & dynamic the whole way through regardless.
Final Thoughts:
Uhh, I’m less thrilled by this one than I want to be, I think. It’s the one metal track this round (of the two, so, low bar) that actually has an interesting overall sound to it. I feel like I’ve heard the first section of this done better by other bands though. Spires, a band I’m always less into than I want to be, has a similar kind of sound going on, with kind of off-kilter melodies and generally midtempo metal, though also driven a bit more by the bass in their case, while this is more guitar-driven for sure.
The pacing of this song is weird as hell, though. It takes its sweet time getting to the first really heavy moment of the song and it feels like the song should naturally build off that into something more, but the song decides it’s had enough of that tempo and just abruptly changes into a completely different song. There’s really nothing in common between the first and second half of this song; even the guitar tones sound different, they’re choppier and the riffing is a lot more jagged.
And to be clear, I like the second half of this song more than the first half. The riffing here doesn’t quite have the tone I’d want (it feels too… crispy? choppy? a bit lacking in power?) but the riffing itself is pretty cool, the scale they’re using here is pretty interesting and leads to some notably strange melodies in the chord hits between the faster chugging. The way the song shifts between a 6/8 feel and 4/4 feel smoothly is also pretty cool. I feel like it does end a bit abruptly though… like that guitar lead at the end feels like it should evolve into a more fleshed-out solo but instead the song just… dies out.
I feel like this is a case where I want to like the song more than I do, especially since in this round, something this prog and metal really feels needed. It doesn’t feel like a stellar example of such, but I do still enjoy it a solid bit and there’s elements of this I could see really working for me if the songwriting in general felt more cohesive. As it stands it’s a pretty decent prog metal cut though.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Bonus: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Puppies_On_Acid: Hopesfall – To Bloom
Theme: None
First Impressions:
For some reason I recognize this artist & album cover though I don’t think I’ve ever listened to them? Or if I have I don’t remember it. This definitely has post-hardcore vibes but the mixing is absolutely baffling, you can hardly hear the vocals! Even the growls. The music itself seems… solid, the riffs aren’t bad at all and there’s a solid balance of melody in there. It’s not the djent-y side of post-hardcore anyways, so that’s good. There’s also no real hook here so I don’t know if I’m going to find it that memorable? But I mean, it’s a solid sound, I don’t see this getting anything lower than a 3 just on style alone. A sound I generally like and it seems like a solid example of it but poor mixing really doesn’t flatter this one.
Final Thoughts:
If y’all want to see how stupendously cheap and free it is to get high scores with post-hardcore in this roulette, look no further than this song. All my initial gripes still hold up – the mixing is baffling and the overall sound is a touch muddy, a touch lacking in memorability. It’s not an amazing example of the genre – hell, most of the songs on last year’s Cursive album that I listened to just yesterday are better, and most of the other bands I’ve been listening to recently impress me more than this – yet I mean, I still do like this a lot and I hear some potential in this sound, for sure.
For one, while I wouldn’t call this or post-hardcore in general “metal” it’s still got a nice, heavy sound – probably as heavy as or heavier than either of the actual metal songs I got in this round, honestly. But that heaviness doesn’t come at the expense of melody – there’s some –core-ier riffs in this but they don’t lack for melodic flair and often there’s another layer of guitar leads playing off them – really, there seems to be at least one lead guitar throughout the majority of this on top of the riffing itself, which I really appreciate.
The memorability factor does take a hit here for me – I still don’t really come away from this with a good grasp of how it sounds other than “well it sounds like post-hardcore”. There’s no chorus or even verse that I can find, it’s a long string of different moments that are strung together solidly and cohesively enough. It’s actually vaguely prog at points? Or at least some of this has shifting time signature stuff going on, even if it’s not really given much focus. It’s an element that keeps it interesting, at the very least.
Anyways, yeah, overall? Pretty solid stuff. The weakest round winner to date, for sure, more due to its lack of memorability that I feel is almost essential to the genre, but the overall sound of this one appeals to me more than anything else in this round did. It’s not especially emotionally resonant, hell, I can barely make out the lyrics, and when I looked them up they’re… a bit incomprehensible, honestly. I don’t know if I’m going to find something particularly interesting when I check out this album, but I’m at least glad I heard it.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Round Winner Bonus: (https://i.imgur.com/o3BBdpG.png)
Current Standings:
Bolsters: 32; +2 in the final round
Elite: 31; +2 in the final round
------------------------------
Evermind: 27
Puppies_On_Acid: 27
ariich: 26
Dacul: 25
TAC: 24
Nekov: 24
Buddyhunter1: 24
Train of Naught: 21
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There's a decent possibility this round will be the last one before the finals, since 3-4 people are in what I'd call "qualifying range". Whoever wins the next round is almost guaranteed to make it to the next round, barring one person or a particularly weak overall round.
If this round isn't the last one then uuuhhh. We might have a pretty large final round with how close a lot of the scores are :lol Train can't really qualify unless this goes the full 10 rounds at this point, barring the miracle of a 5/5 + 2-point bonus + 2-point round winner bonus (which, you know, not 100% impossible) but.
Everyone who needs to send, please send by 6 PM PST on December 1st! Holy COW it's already almost december, what the hell
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EDIT-Answered my question.
@ Evermind...you're welcome. :lol
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I’m genuinely surprised you didn’t just send a troll entry with a bonus theme for the guaranteed qualification since you really easily could have
It did cross my mind. :lol
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Updated the Usual Three.
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Hmm. Well, I didn't do well, but the scores are so close that there still miiiiight be a slim chance I can make it to the EP round?
If you say you're gonna listen to EPs sent to you eventually, even if the sender got eliminated, I might try my luck at sending some stuff that I wasn't going to put on it. Ponder ponder ponder.
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the eventually will be in like January or later but yeah. i doubt i'll do in-depth writeups for EPs sent after the roulette either but i will listen to them at some point
also, you did above average for this round, technically :P
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Ranking has no impact on the score aside from first place here, unfortunately for me. :lol
Anyways hey maybe you will get some more metal from me after all. Will have to think about it
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Sent for round 9
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Shucks :lol I think you’ll like my next one more though!
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So I don’t have to send for next round?
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So I don’t have to send for next round?
You do in my roulette!
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So I don’t have to send for next round?
nope! in fact, if you do send, i won't listen to it for at least a month, tbh :V
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So I don’t have to send for next round?
You do in my roulette!
I know!
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I think the arpeggio is beautiful, and the contrast between all the elements works very well with the theme of the song, about wanting your life to be like in the movies, for everything to revolve around you and having a proper meaning, a clear direction - a simple and complete life.
Thought this was gonna be my last round, so I'll send tomorrow :P
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@ Evermind...you're welcome. :lol
I was sure he would like it! That doesn't bode well for my EP :lol
Sending in a few minutes.
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people seem to generally misunderstand what i like about the metal i like so i'm not too surprised :P
probably the reason more round winners have been non-metal than metal stuff. i think only rounds 3 and 5 had a metal song win the round, though in a few places it was close (and in retrospect like i said the round winner of round 3 would be different if i did the results today)
i'm gonna send out reminder PMs to everyone who hasn't sent before i go to bed tonight, so
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Sent!
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@ Evermind...you're welcome. :lol
I was sure he would like it! That doesn't bode well for my EP :lol
Doesn't bode well for mine either since it probably took me out of the running for even making one. :lol
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Maybe you'll win this round and show us all how it's done!
Honestly I hope for 3 berries but I sent metal this time so I'm probably screwed
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Sending soon, was out and about all of yesterday
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we're t-minus 9 hours from the deadline and i'm still missing half the songs :lol
maybe i'll extend it to monday since holiday weekend, but also i don't think the people i'm waiting on are in the US? not all of them are at least
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I sent a few mins ago.
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Sent.
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Sent!
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unsurprisingly now everyone is sending metal. who could've predicted that :corn
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You reap what you sow.
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i was not complaining about it, if it came off that way
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I wish to retroactively use The End - Elementary for the first round of your last roulette after seeing your review of it on RYM. :biggrin: :corn
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two roulettes ago but i know what you mean. alright. you sent absu the round after that and got eliminated for it being worse than any album in that round.
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two roulettes ago but i know what you mean. alright. you sent absu the round after that and got eliminated for it being worse than any album in that round.
Was that really 2 roulettes ago? Jeez, where does the time go... :lol
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i still don't have nekov's song but i know he's not around on weekends so i'm not gonna penalize for it if i can get his song by 8 AM PST tomorrow. i'll put up the hangman at about that time too whether or not i have his song. gonna start first impressions now, meant to do it earlier but then spent a whole 5 hours writing a video script, OOPS
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Sorry for the delay. Already sent something that won't get me to the finish line
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Hangman!
Buddyhunter1: D_______ – _________
Dacul: ____ _a__a_d – D___ ______
Train of Naught: ______c_ – _____a__
Nekov: ___d ________ – ____ __ ______
Puppies_On_Acid: A___a__ _____a__ – __ac_ _a___
Evermind: Da__ ______ – ____ ______ __ ____
TAC: _a___a – _____
ariich: _______ca__ – _a__ __ ________
Letters Guessed:
ACD
Buddy waits 3
Evermind waits 2
Nekov waits 1
First impressions soon, I'm eating breakfast.
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Since this is my last hangman here, I want that D!
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That's the spirit!
I want an A
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C
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Round 9 First Impressions
A surprising amount of this seems to be decently compelling instrumental moments and I’m all for that.
A bit of a mixing problem here but the general sound of this one does appeal to me, even if I’m not currently in the right mood to enjoy it.
Round winner. Calling it now. I got distracted while listening to this one and I still loved it by the end. What a climax.
The kind of metal I always find really samey and impenetrable, and this doesn’t sound like the exception to the rule for me.
Some nice atmospheric stuff and it’s overall pretty satisfying even if it doesn’t strike me as particularly special.
Like, okay, it’s not awful, it’s not even bad, it’s fine for what it is, but it also feels kind of… procedurally generated. I don’t know how else to describe it.
Definitely the most immediately positive I’ve felt towards one of your songs for a few rounds now.
Another one where I don’t feel like I’m quite in the right mood for it and there’s something about it that I’m not that keen on but still seems overall pretty solid.
Feels like a pretty solid round overall, certainly more interesting than the last two right out the gate. I can already tell you the likely round winner and definite round worst, but everything in between ranges from "meh" to "pretty dang good" on first listen, we'll see how I feel on Thursday though. Also gimme a minute I'll update hangman before I run off to work.
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Why is my song not in hangman?
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Round 9 First Impressions
The kind of metal I always find really samey and impenetrable, and this doesn’t sound like the exception to the rule for me.
:metal
Guess I'll delete my EP now, doesn't seem I'm getting to the finals with this impression
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Why is my song not in hangman?
Because you didn't send me one, because you're in the finals already :P
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Like, okay, it’s not awful, it’s not even bad, it’s fine for what it is, but it also feels kind of… procedurally generated. I don’t know how else to describe it.
Definitely the most immediately positive I’ve felt towards one of your songs for a few rounds now.
Probably one of these 2 given how things have been the last couple of rounds
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Honestly Cyril, you must've at least appreciated the flute solo in my song
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That impression isn't yours & it'll be super obvious which song it is once hangman is done okay :P
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I'm eating breakfast.
:corn :corn :corn :corn :corn :corn
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It's a full English breakfast
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It'd be great if someone else guessed a letter...
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S!
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Hangman!
Buddyhunter1: D_t_____ – ______t_r
Dacul: Glen Hansard – D__t S_tt__
Train of Naught: ______c_ – _____a__
Nekov: ___d S___st_r – ____ __ _____s
Puppies_On_Acid: Abigail Williams – __ac_ _a__s
Evermind: Dar_ _m__r_ – _r_m R_____ T_ R___
TAC: Mantra – __tr_
ariich: Witherscape – Wake of Infinity
Letters Guessed:
ACDMRST
Nekov waits 3
Evermind waits 2
TAC waits 1
Train didn't send me his song name in his PM and I don't remember it so I didn't update that one
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An M
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Witherscape - Wake of Infinity
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But I sent you a Spotify link.. with a band name.. and a song name.. :(
Glen Hansard - Bird of Sorrow :neverusethis:
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T
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I can't open the spotify link on my phone
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I can't open the spotify link on my phone
You should upgrade from that flip phone :biggrin:
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Was able to check the name and I'm not missing any letters anyways so it's fine, anyways updated
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Give me R
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Why is my song not in hangman?
Because you didn't send me one, because you're in the finals already :P
:neverusethis:
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Abigail Williams
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Dates are up
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Mantra?
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Say it again.
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As opposed to Womantra
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Dark Empire - From Refuge to Ruin
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Hangman!
Buddyhunter1: Dethklok - Skyhunter
Dacul: Glen Hansard – Don't Settle
Train of Naught: _l_enec_ – E____an_
Nekov: Bend Sinister – Gang of Wolves
Puppies_On_Acid: Abigail Williams – _lac_ _a_es
Evermind: Dark Empire - From Refuge to Ruin
TAC: Mantra - Intro
ariich: Witherscape – Wake of Infinity
Letters Guessed:
ACDELMNRST
Puppies waits 3
TAC waits 2
Bolsters waits 1
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L
-
E
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Neat
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Bend Sinister
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N
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Dethklok - Skyhunter?
Don't Settle
Gang of Wolves
Mantra - Intro ?? :lol Edit - wait, maybe it's Libre?......apparently I cant spell or see.... :lol
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all correct
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Oh, and Blueneck - Epiphany
Not sure how that wasn't the first one I got... :corn
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Abigail Williams - Flack Faves :neverusethis:
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Hangman!
Buddyhunter1: Dethklok - Skyhunter
Dacul: Glen Hansard – Don't Settle
Train of Naught: Blueneck - Epiphany
Nekov: Bend Sinister – Gang of Wolves
Puppies_On_Acid: Abigail Williams – Black Waves
Evermind: Dark Empire - From Refuge to Ruin
TAC: Mantra - Intro
ariich: Witherscape – Wake of Infinity
nice
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:corn
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i mean i don't have anything to post until comparisons
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Does it look like we're gonna have a Round 10?
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No clue yet, haven't even thought about putting down scores yet
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The anticipation is killing me :corn
Kill me now Cyrama!!! Send the seventh roaming owl to seal my death!
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thursday
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Who will win the ultimate prize?
(https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-241f7/images/stencil/2048x2048/products/1260/2912/Giant-Strawberry-Award__03349.1527794423.jpg?c=2)
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I think the next roulette I run I'm going to have an actual trophy made for the winner and mail it to them. :)
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That's actually an awesome idea. For my FIRST roulette, I was trying to figure out how to award a virtual trophy.
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We gonna be giving out prize money in a couple years? :lol
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if you win my roulette your prize is a number going up in the song roulette tracker
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if you win my roulette your prize is a number going up in the song roulette tracker
Weak!
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I think the next roulette I run I'm going to have an actual trophy made for the winner and mail it to them. :)
I actually did this for Ayreon Prediction Contest, it ended up looking pretty good I think
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i was gonna do comparisons tonight but open.spotify.com is just straight up down right now so i can't listen atm. if it stays down all evening comparisons & results are both gonna be delayed. can't do much about that
edit: update it took two hours but it's working now
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Round 9 Comparisons
^ Puppies_On_Acid
^ ariich
v Buddyhunter1
^ Dacul
^ Nekov
^ Evermind
^ TAC
^ Train of Naught
fsgkfdfkh i'm so sorry buddy :lol
tbh even the worst score this round isn't -that- bad tho. there will probably be a 5. i'm not 100% decided yet. the round overall is pretty good though, even one song i thought i hated at first has kinda grown on me a fair bit and might even become a 3 lol
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Well, I'm glad I'm a ^ but then so is everyone else (lol buddy) so it's not the most helpful comparisons list. :lol
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y'all followed up the worst round of the roulette with one of the best, it happens
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Well three is basically all I need to get to the finals, right? Even if I'm at 30 and everyone else is at 31, that means I'm still in I think.
Also rip Buddy :lol
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i am almost 100% certain that this will be the last normal round though, based on my current scores & those comparisons.
and since nobody this round asked for a theme, uhh, y'all with 5 or more berries between you and the finals better hope you're the round winner :P
no comment yet on how many players will be in the finals, either. and maybe i'm wrong and this doesn't end up being the last normal round after all is said and done. we'll get there when we get there
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Evermind: 27
Puppies_On_Acid: 27
ariich: 26
Dacul: 25
TAC: 24
Nekov: 24
Buddyhunter1: 24
Train of Naught: 21
No bonus themes means Train is screwed and so is obviously Buddy; either Tim and Diego is also screwed (or both if someone above them is the round winner)
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y'all should listen to the playlist and guess who you think the round winner is :corn
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4WyBdlrTu4zeNuhh1Ezldq
it'll be fun!!
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Only listened to all the submissions by people who aren’t participating in my roulette, that sure was a nice 1 song playlist :corn
I’m actually pretty confident in mine, I haven’t won any round yet and also this is the most Cyril song I’ve sent for sure
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speaking of 1 song and playlists, i updated my playlist for you with 1 song
i can also confirm that the round winner is, indeed, someone who is playing in my roulette
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I am the round winner?
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You're eliminated for not sending a song this round
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I've been getting ^ for the past 3 rounds and all of them ended up being 2 berries. I'm not getting excited about it :lol
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I've been getting ^ for the past 3 rounds and all of them ended up being 2 berries. I'm not getting excited about it :lol
2.1 berries. 2.2 berries. Etc.
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This is why I haven't sent much metal this roulette. :lol
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You're eliminated for not sending a song this round
I was going to send this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edyARJq9sgM) for the foreign language pop bonus, had I been allowed to send something. :lol
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no bonus themes in the final round but go ahead and send it anyways :P
i'm not gonna listen to it right now, anyways, so if it's something i'll hate please do send it to me
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You're eliminated for not sending a song this round
I was going to send this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edyARJq9sgM) for the foreign language pop bonus, had I been allowed to send something. :lol
You could basically do any kpop tbh, just send BTS or something
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honestly foreign language pop is such an easy theme i'm genuinely surprised bolsters never sent it
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It didn't seem all that easy to me, I couldn't think of much that applied. Had a French artist in mind but her regular albums are only middle-tier at best and French is not a beautiful-sounding language. She has some nice instrumental soundtrack stuff though, which you will likely receive from me one day.
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bold of you to assume i'm going to listen to music ever again after this roulette ends.
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So, does the final round start after this one? Because that would mean I need to prepare something.
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i mean you could've taken the extra time to prepare something ahead of time with the extra week or so you had :rollin
but yeah round 10 is gonna be the finals, the EP round, the Big Boy
i've got one more writeup to do and then i'm gonna post results, strap in folks
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I still think you need to give a few more days for the EPs. I probably won't be around during the weekend.
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Round 9 Results:
Round 9 Playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4WyBdlrTu4zeNuhh1Ezldq
Buddyhunter1: Dethklok – Skyhunter
Theme: None
First Impressions:
Uuugh do I have to. I’ve never seen these guys as anything but a joke band created for a cartoon show and nothing I’ve heard from them has convinced me otherwise, but they were sent, so… I mean, I guess this really just sounds like Soilwork-style melodic death metal, a sound that’s always very hit or miss with me, but without any of the clean vocals that at least give Soilwork a solid pop flavor that lets their choruses hit home. These vocals just sound like what people who don’t listen to metal think all metal vocals sound like. This band just sounds like what people who don’t listen to metal think all metal sounds like, really. Like, okay, it’s not awful, it’s not even bad, it’s fine for what it is, but it also feels kind of… procedurally generated. I don’t know how else to describe it.
Final Thoughts:
I guess this is… serviceable. It’s definitely metal to fit the role of sounding like metal. I don’t think it’s worth hating or even disliking. I just don’t see… art, in it. Like, quickly looking at the lyrics, they’re pretty typical metal stuff. Probably about something, maybe not. The opening motif, it’s a solid “epic” guitar line. The main riff has that fine enough melodic death metal vibe to it. I’ve heard both of them before, in other songs. I don’t know if those songs are any more or less good than this one, but they feel more “real”.
The harsh vocals are just not good, I don’t really care, they’re mixed super low too so they kind of seemed to know they weren’t that good, but “this kind of music is supposed to have growls, so now it does”. I almost feel it was counterproductive to go that route because this feels like the kind of “epic” power-metal-with-growls that needs those clean vocals to really work. The guitars do fine carrying the melody of this song on their own, I guess, but ehh.
I don’t really find the song that heavy, or powerful, or meaningful. That’s the real issue I have with it. I’m not even necessarily against virtual bands themselves. Gorillaz are a pretty interesting virtual band, obviously, you sent them earlier. And there was that Belzebubs band that put out a solid enough melodic black metal album earlier this year that, well, kind of had the same auto-generated feel to it at times but also had some more ambitious and interesting stuff going on as well.
Even outside that context there’s just nothing about this that’s musically unique and it’s not done notably well either to make up for that. I’d rather just listen to Soilwork. And I’m not even wild about them either, but at least there’s something anthemic to their sound that I can get into at a song-by-song level. This at least passes the test of “basic competence” but that’s literally the most I can give it. The most flat 6/10. A “you tried” sticker.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
TAC: Mantra – Intro
Theme: None
First Impressions:
Dude how the hell do you find this obscure stuff, haha. Also, do you like this kind of stuff? This is pretty similar to the kind of stuff you didn’t care for in round 3, the heavy, angry, djent-y side of metal. I dunno, all of this just ends up sounding the same to me, there are riffs sure but they’re… not particularly unique or memorable riffs, the vocals aren’t working for me at all, there’s an attempt at a groove here I can appreciate but this is only making my headache worse. I think I’m gonna use the Headache Rating Scale for this set of first impressions, actually. Should be fun. The kind of metal I always find really samey and impenetrable, and this doesn’t sound like the exception to the rule for me.
Final Thoughts:
Okay it was probably just my mood at the time that made me as down on this one as I was, because every listen after it I’ve enjoyed it at least a decent bit. It’s not… amazing, for sure, still one of the weaker tracks of the round and I’m still baffled that you like this, but there’s at least something here. It scores higher than the song below it simply because they’re, y’know, actually trying to do something here, even if I’m not completely on board with it.
Like, the atmospheric intro is kinda cool. There’s a super awkward cut when the actual metal kicks in, sure, but it sets a mood well. There’s that melodic riff at around 1:40 or so that shows up a few times throughout the song that I think is actually a pretty killer riff, and there’s moments of this where they break away from djent-y riffing to go more towards a melodeath style. It’s kind of this weird in-between of the two in places, with groove metal-y type growls too.
The guitar solo section is probably the highlight – there’s an actually good djent groove in this bit, for one, and the solo itself isn’t amazing but it’s got some nice melodic flair to it. The riffy bit right after, too, is pretty cool. I think the song tends to lose me when it goes straight for the heavier sound. I think it might actually be the drums more than anything. They sound kind of like crap but when they’re holding a straight triplet groove they’re tolerable, but they crush the melody whenever they’re going ham with weird/nonstandard rhythms.
And then the ending bit is pretty solid too. A lot of layers of sound going on here but all the instruments impress and build up a nice atmosphere. It’s kind of like a weird jam session almost, that never resolves due to the fadeout, sure, but it’s cool while it lasts. I think there’s more of this song overall that I like than dislike, and the stuff I dislike I don’t really… hate, either, it’s just kinda meh. It’s definitely better than I first gave it credit for, even if it doesn’t really impress that much either.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Puppies_On_Acid: Abigail Williams – Black Waves
Theme: None
First Impressions:
The longest song of the round, and also one I’ve definitely heard before, considering I did spin this album once like I said. One thing that stood out is how much better the sound on this was than on the album you sent me a song off of before. This definitely has a nice long buildup at the start of it before going full black metal. Hmm… I do like this sound more but I also think the drums, particularly the snare, feel mixed a little loud and crush the melodies. It at least doesn’t have that atmospheric balance that I like the most in my metal, though I’ve heard worse too. I have a minor headache right now so admittedly that’s affecting my enjoyment of this one but the mixing isn’t helping there. It does sound to me like pretty solid atmospheric black metal though and the quiet moments are less the typical post-rocky interludes, more driven by the percussion & strings in a way I think is pretty cool, we’ll see how it grows on me. A bit of a mixing problem here but the general sound of this one does appeal to me, even if I’m not currently in the right mood to enjoy it.
Final Thoughts:
I’m starting to think that sending atmospheric black metal in a roulette context like this is just something that’s never going to quite work because with this genre in particular, I want to listen to big, long albums, man. And I want to do so in a specific mood. I don’t want to be sitting here listening super actively and typing as I go, that feels like it’s completely missing the point and makes it impossible to really get, y’know, lost in the atmosphere. And I feel like that’s consistently impacted scores I’ve given black metal songs across all my roulettes.
So here’s what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna stop typing, close my eyes, and just listen to the entire song without writing, and then just sum up my thoughts at the end. Seeya in 11 minutes.
So, okay. My thoughts haven’t really changed after a listen like that, and the problem basically boils down to 1. the song is dominated by the wrong instrument for the genre and 2. the song can’t really make up its mind what it wants to be.
1. The drums dominate the entire song. No. Wrong. The drumming is fantastic, but it clashes with a lot of the rest of the instruments. There’s moments where it’s giving the guitars to breathe but other times it’s doing something that feels more technical than the music calls for, and at all times it’s mixed too loud, both in the louder parts and the quieter parts. It’s not the instrument I want to hear most here, in fact, it’s probably at the bottom of the list, behind even the bass. I enjoyed how Darkspace almost completely mixed the drums out entirely, it worked for the sound they were going for and worked at building an atmosphere. This… doesn’t ever get a chance to have atmosphere.
2. The song is just all over the place anyways. It’s a super active song, which is I guess good if you’re an impatient listener, but it means that most passages don’t get time to linger or stick with you, or build up much of an atmosphere. If you’re enjoying one mood, too bad, it’s not gonna stick around enough to build that sense of overwhelming crushing heaviness that I enjoy most in the genre. It all does sound pretty good and I still think the song as a whole is quite good, sure, but I don’t know if it’s the kind of atmospheric black metal I’m necessarily looking for.
I do like their use of strings, though. They drive melody more than any other instrument and sound pretty good in general, the mournful wailing of the strings mixes in with this kind of sound well. And the guitar tones and vocals and all, all sound good, it’s just the drums that are off, and the drums being off is probably one of the reasons the mood never stays consistent either, but. Anyways. I’ve already gone on too long about this one since I’m doing most of my typing after the fact, but the long story short is that this is good, but not great. I was already gonna relisten to the album anyways, so listening to this here hasn’t really impacted my life in any way, either, haha. Oh well. It’s still pretty solid stuff regardless.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Nekov: Bend Sinister – Gang of Wolves
Theme: None
First Impressions:
I forget if I’ve been sent these guys before or no, but I definitely recognize the name even if I’m not really familiar. At first thought this was gonna be synthpop stuff but there’s a rock edge to this as well, which I’m on board with. There’s a kind of interesting disconnect between the vocals and the instrumentation where I could see the vocals fitting better over a song with half the tempo of this, but at the same time it’s not like it doesn’t work here either. The vocal performance on this is plenty fun though and the synth work, especially that solo (?) towards the middle is pretty nice too. Definitely the most immediately positive I’ve felt towards one of your songs for a few rounds now.
Final Thoughts:
I dunno, several listens later and I’m still not 100% sure how I feel about this one. I definitely like it, there’s no question about that. And it’s definitely pretty memorable. At least the “lies to me, lies to me” bits immediately got stuck in my head. And not in a bad way where I wanted to get it out of my head, it’s a fun melody and the instrumentation alongside it is pretty fun too.
The instrumentation, then, it changes up a lot. I’m not keen on that first synth tone but that kind of seems to disappear after the intro so whatever. The guitars don’t have a ton of presence but they do drive some solid power and groove. The drums are pretty much the star of the show here, they control the entire mood of the song, how fast or slow it feels, and on top of that mix things up with random fills or beat shifts out of the blue that never really feel awkward or unneeded.
Oh and the singer’s great. One of those smooth indie rock-type sounds that still has some texture and power to his voice as well, and the harmonies & group vocals throughout add another layer on top that’s just as enjoyable. I guess I wish that the actual chorus of this hit a little harder or was a bit stickier? That’s the one bit that generally doesn’t fully work for me vocally, though I think the mixing is partially to blame there.
I already commented on the synth break in my first impressions so I’m not really gonna repeat what I said there besides, yeah, it’s cool. This song is cool, and fun. I don’t think it has quite enough slick groove, quite enough power, though it definitely doesn’t lack in charisma, to match your best song in this vein, and I don’t know if it feels like it has quite enough of a climax at the end to really end satisfyingly either, but it’s a fun tune, I’m definitely gonna follow up on these guys when I get the chance.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
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Evermind: Dark Empire – From Refuge to Ruin
Theme: None
First Impressions:
I vaguely recognize this album cover and I think they’ve been sent in roulettes before but I don’t believe I’ve ever listened to them myself? If I have I don’t remember it, anyways. My immediate impression from this is that it’s in the power/prog metal vein. Maybe just the power vein but I assume it’s going to get proggy at some point. I do think the melodies & riffs & really the general sound of this are a bit more interesting though, a nice dark sound. Ooh the bit with the vocalist on his own makes him sound kinda bad, not gonna lie. It does have some prog in it, I guess, there was a switch between 3/4 and 4/4 at some point and there’s a flute so I am immediately thinking Jethro Tull (a band I’ve barely listened to, mind you), but yeah. It goes on a bit long but it’s changing enough I’m not really bored by it either. A surprising amount of this seems to be decently compelling instrumental moments and I’m all for that.
Final Thoughts:
The other pretty straightforward prog metal track of the round and I guess I don’t really have a strong preference one way or another between the two? They’re both pretty good prog metal tunes delivered by vocals I’m not 100% sold on but are given good melodies to work with and are usually backed up by enough instrumental swell for me to not notice the weaknesses of their voices, barring one quiet section in the middle.
The song is a bit more prog than I initially had commented on too, the verses are done through a measure of 3/4 then a measure of 4/4 that follows a bit of a nonstandard rhythm, I’m not sure it entirely works to be honest, but it’s at least more interesting than a straight 3/4.
In general the vocal parts of this aren’t my favorites, anyways. Usually the instrumentation has to make way for the vocals, so there isn’t as much interesting riffing or instrumental work in general during those parts. The bit between the vocals and the quiet bit towards the middle is kind of simple instrumentally but works surprisingly well, and then there’s the whole long instrumental segment that starts with the flute solo of all things and I like that entire stretch of the song quite a bit too. It’s a long buildup and the instrumentation manages to remain pretty tense and straightforward until it reaches that guitar solo that’s a pretty solid one, nothing amazing but it works as a payoff to the build.
I’m ending up writing these back to back with this one second but deciding in the process that while I do like this one quite a bit I think the fact that it takes twice as long to do pretty much the same structure and style of content as the Witherscape song, without having quite as strong a core sound to it, does make me slightly prefer that one. Slightly. I think the vocals let this one down more than they do that one, in particular, and it’s not as striking a sound, but I do like the whole progression of the song front-to-back regardless.
So yeah. Maybe one of the most standard prog metal songs I’ve gotten all roulette, honestly, but I’m fine with that if it’s gonna be done well enough to still keep me engaged, prog metal is after all still the kind of music I enjoy the most even if my preferences towards such have gotten a bit niche over the years. You can be the “token interesting but not stupendously memorable prog metal song” this round.
Since this is, yes, gonna be the last normal round, for fun let’s rank all those again real quick!
Winterhorde > Look to Windward > Son of Aurelius > Aenimus > Dark Empire > Psychonaut = Karas > Ørkenkjøtt, I think sounds about right? It’s hard to compare since I don’t, well, remember all of these immediately right now, haha. Round 7 doesn’t really have a song I can put in this category either. Anyways you get the point. This score’s kiiiinda borderline right now for me, high 3/low 4 range, but since it literally doesn’t matter for you and Aenimus was already a very low 4 to begin with, we’re gonna go low for now. Sorry, I guess. You still qualified either way.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
ariich: Witherscape – Wake of Infinity
Theme: None
First Impressions:
Oh man I’ve tried listening to Witherscape before (I think this album actually) and I remember just not at all liking the vocals. And yeah I guess I can kind of see that? At least the clean vocals, I’m not particularly into, the harsh vocals seem fine. The music in general seems fine too, there’s a bit of flavor that I think is just going over my head right now due to the combined Headache Of Notable Impact and it just being pretty late at night, almost midnight now, but it’s dark and it’s melodic and it’s satisfyingly heavy too. Another one where I don’t feel like I’m quite in the right mood for it and there’s something about it that I’m not that keen on but still seems overall pretty solid.
Final Thoughts:
This one’s in a weird place because, on one hand, I feel like it got overshadowed by another similar song this round, but on the other hand, I’ve enjoyed the heck out of it on every listen I’ve given it, which always surprises me for some reason. In fact, I ended up liking it more than the song that was initially overshadowing it. I dunno. I guess I just had this band catalogued as “not for me” but it turns out they probably actually are? I’m definitely interested in going back to check ‘em out again after this, anyways.
This is prog metal and kind of with a melodic death metal edge to it, too, but it sticks pretty firmly in darker territory than the standard for either of those genres, and does so with a lot of weirdly fitting synth work all the while. Like, this feels like a pretty typical prog-metal synth tone so I’m surprised that it works as well as it does here, it doesn’t feel like it should.
The chorus is one moment of the song that sticks out as not as dark, a bit uplifting even, but it’s actually a pretty good move to give some sense of resolution and reprieve from the rest of the song’s tone, and it’s a pretty good chorus on its own anyways. And the vocals… I think in the quiet bits of the song I’m not super into them, but otherwise they work surprisingly well for me when I generally don’t tend to like this sound.
There’s also an interesting choice to have a weirdly groovy solo in the thick of it all, and on one hand it kiiiind of feels out of place but on the other hand, it’s a solid solo and solo section in general and doesn’t really mess with the flow of the song either, it actually builds up nicely into the last chorus. I think my favorite moments of this are the parts where the guitars and synths are playing similar melodies in unison, with the hard-hitting, jagged chords under them. Something about that sound really works for me.
But like, overall, yeah, this is cool stuff. No clue why I dismissed it before. It’s prog but it’s not overly prog, it’s got a nice dark sound to it and pretty good hooks & melodies to back it up, a fairly diverse song overall given its sub-5 minute runtime, especially compared to the Dark Empire song, and I just like listening to it.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Train of Naught: Blueneck – Epiphany
Theme: None
First Impressions:
No clue what this is but you seemed particularly excited about it so lay it on me. So far it’s… quiet, dark, tense. I’m, at the very least, interested in what it’s building to. Or if it isn’t building to anything I dunno that might be fine but it could also get stale. It doesn’t quite… build to its climax as much as just explode into it but that’s fine too. The Comforting Sounds song structure. Dunno, I think I’m pretty well in the mood for this late at night. I like the general sound of this and the one thing I was worried it would do didn’t happen so my thoughts are generally pretty positive. Some nice atmospheric stuff and it’s overall pretty satisfying even if it doesn’t strike me as particularly special.
Final Thoughts:
I’m gonna invoke the Abigail Williams rule on this one too. I’m gonna make that a thing. The normal way I do write-ups just doesn’t feel right for a song like this.
To be fair there just straight up isn’t a lot to say about this one anyways. The first half. The overall sound is really good. The instruments and vocals have a lot of reverb on them but that only adds to the atmospheric, very cold sound that half of the song is trying to convey. There’s a lot of tension without build, but it keeps you on edge knowing full well that at some point the song’s going to explode into a wall of sound, but never knowing quite when. Knowing it’s coming doesn’t really change that, in fact knowing it’s coming only really makes that effect stronger. But it all sounds great and for as simple as it is it keeps me invested.
And the loud half, honestly this is heavier and darker than anything on the Abigail Williams song in question. Honestly it kind of makes me think of The Angelic Process, just with a bit less of a blown out mix and the piano still there to provide the basic melody. It’s the emotion of Loud refined. The fact that it does kind of lack in melody does mean it doesn’t hit as hard as other instances of this kind of climax that I can think of, but it’s still damn effective for what it is even in its simplicity.
And really at its core this song is very simple. It’s quiet for a while, then it gets loud, and ends quietly. The end. But man, it’s just the good kind of atmospheric sound, the kind where I can very easily just turn off my brain and let it wash over me. Pretty much exactly what I’m looking for here, and with a solid, though not especially strong (in comparison to, uhh, the round winner) emotional core to it to keep me invested. Probably your best entry to date and it would be a round winner in several other rounds, but, well, you gotta bit unlucky here.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Dacul: Glen Hansard – Don't Settle
Theme: None
First Impressions:
Oh hey, it’s mah boi Glen. I’m strapping in for the feels train. He sounds… way older on this one than he did on Bird of Sorrow, and I don’t know if I’m as into that (I just generally don’t seem to be into older sounding singers, oops). The instrumentation on this one has as much swell as I was expecting though, absolutely. DAMN that climax is haunting as hell. Jeez. Okay. Round winner. Calling it now. I got distracted while listening to this one and I still loved it by the end. What a climax.
Final Thoughts:
Is this even fair? Can this be called cheating? Well, no, because I specifically put Hansard on the partially banned list, since that’s all I ever listened to from him. But I mean. This is friggin’ Bird of Sorrow again, basically. Same structure – piano driven quiet first half, huge rock climax with shouty, loud vocals. Lotta emotional power. A hell of a lotta.
The key differences are that, yeah, Hansard sounds a lot louder here than he did on that track. They’re only 7 years apart but it sure sounds like his voice has changed a lot in that time. I do prefer his smoother voice on Bird of Sorrow, to be sure, but I don’t dislike his voice here. It’s not on the same level of instantaneous repulsion I feel towards Nick Cave’s voice.
What this song does better is… well, a lot. I don’t know if necessarily everything? The piano lines are more interesting and nuanced here, and I like that about them, but at the same time, the simplicity and atmosphere of Bird of Sorrow worked wonders for that first half.
But this song… it’s not really as smoothly divided. This song starts quiet and ends loud, sure, but… the song’s just building and building the entire time. The piano bit itself gets heavier first, then the drums come in as the song goes on, with the rest of the rock instrumentation filling out the backdrop, strings and horns and possibly a full orchestra, I dunno, coming in as it builds.
There’s also this little tease where the song sounds like it’s reached its peak and then backs off, only to slam you back in the face with the REAL climax, which is just. Uhh. Chill-inducing? LEST YOU FORGET, BABY. Like jesus christ. Best single moment of any song in the roulette. One of the best single passages of music I’ve heard ever, maybe. Every single element is just straight-up perfect. The buildup of the core instruments, the huge, overwhelming swells of the orchestra, Hansard’s honestly other-worldly delivery. Yeah no surprises about the score on this one, y’all.
So the better question to ask, then. How does this compare to Bird of Sorrow? Is it better or worse? I dunno, it’s hard to tell. I went back to listen to Bird of Sorrow again right before doing this writeup, and… they’re both very, very good but in different ways. On the surface they do seem similar but Bird of Sorrow is, well, a very sorrowful song on the whole, and quieter at that. Whereas this is a very angry and tense song. There’s no real air of comfort to it, just darkness and power and intensity. They’re trying to evoke different moods. I guess… I like the quieter parts of Bird of Sorrow more than the quiet/middling parts of this, but this has the better climax by a small margin. I think I’d need time to really answer that question, but it’s irrelevant here anyways, obviously.
Not better than glass beach, btw. Or maybe it’ll also grow on me like that one did. Dude, you sent the two best songs of the roulette by no small margin, be proud of that regardless of what happens in the finals.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Round Winner Bonus: (https://i.imgur.com/o3BBdpG.png)
Current Standings:
Bolsters: 32; +2 in the final round
Elite: 31; +2 in the final round
Dacul: 32
Evermind: 30
Puppies_On_Acid: 30
ariich: 30
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Nekov: 27
TAC: 26
Buddyhunter1: 26
Train of Naught: 25
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EP Round:
Up to 5 songs by at least 3 different artists, with a minimum length of 25 minutes and a maximum length of 45 minutes. Interlude tracks are allowed provided that they do not exceed 3 minutes in length, but they will not be scored or counted as one of the 3 required artists.
EP Guidelines
Just some things to keep in mind that make a good EP:
1. Flow – abrupt cuts or awkward transitions between songs takes me out of the experience and makes your EP sound less like a curated work and more like just a random Spotify playlist.
2. Cohesiveness – I don’t think putting Sigur Ros and Deathspell Omega on the same EP is going to work very well, is all I’m saying. It’s possible to go too far with this, however, thus…
3. Variety – The more each individual song stands out from the rest, the more interesting each song is, the more likely the EP is to do well. Again, it has to be kept cohesive enough to still work but having three songs doing the same thing is probably going to be at the expense of at least one of those songs losing my interest.
The earlier you reach 30 strawberries, the better, as two bonus strawberries for the final round are awarded based on how many rounds early that 30 strawberries are reached. For example, if one reaches 30 strawberries one round before the finals, two will be awarded towards the final round. If one reaches 30 strawberries two rounds before the finals, four will be awarded towards the final round. If one reaches 30 strawberries right before the finals, no bonus strawberries will be awarded.
If 10 rounds pass and the 5 slots have not been filled, the highest-scoring remaining players below 30 will be pulled into the finals. 2 additional strawberries will be awarded to all qualifying players based on half (rounded down) the # of strawberries below 30 that the lowest scoring player in the final has. (For example, 23 strawberries would award qualifying players 3 bonus strawberries, 26 would award 2, etc.) Note that any player who does not qualify will not receive these bonus strawberries, regardless of how close they are to 30.
Scores will be reset (aside from the aforementioned bonus strawberries) before the final round, in which up to 30 strawberries can be earned – 5 for each song sent, and 5 extra strawberries for the overall EP score. Do note that this means that you are free to send EPs with less than 5 songs, but you will automatically lose 5 strawberries per song not sent. If you feel you have four 5/5 songs and a 5/5 flow, with no room to add another song, feel free to give it a shot at your own risk.
In the result of a tie after the EP round, the tiebreaker will be the highest-ranking song across all tied EPs.
everything related to the EP round, in one convenient post
and here's a bump of the EP round masterpost.
I'm going to say that EPs should be in by, at the VERY latest, 12/12 6 PM PST. I'll start penalizing after that. You get a week, if you need it. Also, I need it. I'm working on a video and I need to finish it by the 15th so I wanna use the extra time for that instead.
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Scraped through again! :metal
Glad you liked it, I definitely recommend checking out probably that Witherscape album, although their first is very solid too and I'm not sure which you might prefer more.
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Scraped through again! :metal
You and me both :2metal:
Scraped by with middle of the road stuff all roulette. Time to lay the hammer down (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
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I find it fascinating how my tastes are fairly different from Cyril, yet I usually tend to do alright in his roulettes, this is third time I'm doing pretty well
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I find it fascinating how my tastes are fairly different from Cyril, yet I usually tend to do alright in his roulettes, this is third time I'm doing pretty well
Hey I won your roulette, so stranger things can happen! :corn :biggrin:
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Nice!! Knew you’d like that
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bolsters won one of my roulettes despite me always bombing hard in his roulettes, so
and i bombed hard in seneca's too
on the flipside i usually do pretty well in Train and Buddy's roulettes yet they struggle a lot in mine
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i mean you could've taken the extra time to prepare something ahead of time with the extra week or so you had :rollin
but yeah round 10 is gonna be the finals, the EP round, the Big Boy
i've got one more writeup to do and then i'm gonna post results, strap in folks
Don't worry, I have a list of stuff that's gonna be on there! But I had a busy week, so I haven't made the final product yet.
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fair enough. again, i'm giving y'all a week, and i'm gonna be on vacation during probably most of the round too (i'll still listen & should have results up before the end of the year, but, y'know, i'm not gonna go super hard and stress myself out over it either)
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EP sent. Congrats [insert username of other participant].
bolsters won one of my roulettes despite me always bombing hard in his roulettes, so
If it makes you feel any better: I'll never do a "best of roulette songs" list like jingle just did, but if I were going to, Anti-Life Savior is potentially a top 10 song. There's a handful of other good songs you've sent as well, it's just that when you send something I don't like, I really do not like it. :lol
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Well, overall I did as good as I expected to :lol. I knew not listening to lots of metal would cripple me but I enjoyed the challenge anyways. I hope you check some of the bands I sent during the roulette as I feel you should probably like them more, but maybe I just didn't send the right song.
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Wooo, I've finally won a round :lol . Glad you liked it, it's a really nice and elaborate album, one of my favorites of the year. And I don't know if his voice changed that much, I think he's just singing in a lower register most of the time.
OK now seems I'll have to make an EP, crap. I'll be a little busy today so I'll prob take some time to make it.
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Womp womp.
Well, it's been fun! I knew going into this it would be an uphill battle, and I at least sent you a few songs you really enjoyed, so I'm satisfied.
You'll still be getting a posthumous EP from me. Will send that over within the next couple days.
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Totally forgot I should be working on an EP..... WHOOPSIE!
Working on it now.
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Hey, is Absu banned? :neverusethis:
-
Hey, is TAC banned? :neverusethis:
Apparently. ;D
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Hey, is TAC banned? :neverusethis:
Apparently. ;D
Don't worry, I won't ban you from my next roulette. Which I'm planning on running sometime in the next month....maybe..... It will most likely be a semi-mini-ep/concept album roulette...maybe
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Absu is, in fact, the most banned artist
-
My EP is taking a very unexpected direction musically...
-
that's a bad sign :corn
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that's a bad sign :corn
I originally planned on doing a full on atmospheric black metal/ambient ep, now there is no metal at all...
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please send me that first EP anyways, it sounds great
-
please send me that first EP anyways, it sounds great
I actually have 3 EP's I plan on sending. :corn
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alright, send the worst one for the roulette then
-
That's probably what will end up happening :lol
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Lookin' forward to it :tup
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arbitrary idea i decided to follow through with; the top 15 songs of the roulette (thus far)
1. Glass Beach
2. Don't Settle
3. Sickness for Nothing/She-Wrecks
4. In Blood and Limbs and Gore and Clay
5. Empire Ants
6. The Moloch
7. Broken Satellite
8. Sunset by Plane
9. Epiphany
10. Paha Ihminen
11. Wake of Infinity
12. Mr. Moon
13. In Case of Rapture
14. Aria
15. To See the Light
(bold = round winner)
or something like that. i was gonna keep it to 10 but i had enough songs i really feel strongly about to fill out 15 and didn't want to cut any of 'em. winterhorde isn't on the list because as much as i liked it in the moment rn i don't really remember what that one sounds like, oops. it'd be probably #16 or #17 if it was there though
round 3 is probably still the best round just on the basis of how damn good the top 3 are (3 of the top 5 here) but round 9 was probably the most consistent of the bunch.
anyways. just some filler content while y'all are working on & i'm waiting on EPs :corn
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Two in the top ten ain't bad!
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interestingly, the only person who doesn't have any song in the top 15 is puppies, who's in the finals regardless.
i think that's more due to his general consistency + getting the round winner bonus on a weak round, though
and 7 out of the 10 participants have a song in the top 10 too
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Nice, I like how I sent both the two best songs of the roulette and also some of the worst ones.
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you're amazingly inconsistent, yeah
in hindsight that arms & sleepers track ended up being one of my favorites of the last roulette, so it was a shame i hated the other two you sent me :lol
it's like, your brand
nothing you sent in this one was even close to as bad anyways, at most i found your worst stuff to just be kinda meh
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Sent my EP. Still working on the story, though.
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yeah, you're gonna have to resend
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:facepalm: I didn't see the maximum of 5 artists rule.... Hang on...
I may have to send my 2nd EP I'm making, because coincidentally it is exactly 5 songs. It just needs to be edited together.....and I need to come up with a story for it....
2/10 incoming! :biggrin:
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maximum of 5 songs, not artists :P
please make sure to read the EP round rules though, it's important!
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maximum of 5 songs, not artists :P
please make sure to read the EP round rules though, it's important!
That's what I meant..... :facepalm:
Was there something else that I missed? ???
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I've got no hopes of winning so just threw together a bunch of interesting songs you could like, got a total of 52. Should be fun to trim down :P
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Resent, this time following the rules. I think.... :corn
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Damn, didn't notice the 5-song maximum. Kind of an odd rule when there's length restrictions as it pretty much discourages including any shorter songs.
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i need a standard way of scoring things since i'm not using a points system. and you're allowed to use short interlude tracks if you want, but they won't be scored. the minimum length limit is 25 minutes anyways and i'm not gonna hardball that either if you're like, 23-24 minutes, i don't really care, so there's really nothing stopping you from using a short song or two if you want
bolsters has already sent me a 35 minute EP made up of nothing but 1. interlude tracks. 2 5-minute songs so if he can do that i think i'm 100% fine keeping the rules as-is :P
again, the rules have been there since day one & i've bumped the entire relevant ruleset twice in the past week or two on top of that :lol
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Yeah it's ok, I had two short songs (but both over 3 mins) by one artist so I guess I'll probably just ditch one of those, which I don't think will hurt the flow although it won't represent the artist so well. Hmm, will have a think.
EDIT: or I could edit the shorter one, which is instrumental, to be under 3 mins and lead directly into the other one. That would count as an interlude then, right?
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uhh sure i guess :P
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Yay a loophole!
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If you're like, cutting a 6 minute song in half it won't fly but if you're cutting an ambient outro out of a 3.5 minute song or something that's fine
I don't want people sending half a song as a full song basically. Puppies' edit of the hope drone song last roulette is fine.
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:lol Yeah it's almost exactly 3.5 mins and I'd be cutting ambience from the start and end.
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See, I'm psychic, so I already knew that. I in fact already know who the winner is gonna be and have already heard all your EPs several times over.
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Don't be silly, everyone knows there's no such thing as psychics.
We all know you're actually a time traveler.
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Ssshh don't blow my cover.
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So, does Leprous ever get good again? :neverusethis:
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So, does Leprous ever get good? :neverusethis:
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I can't travel that far into the future
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Ok I think I'm happy with my EP, but will reflect on it and send tomorrow evening.
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Is this the Big Big Train discussion thread?
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Sure
Honestly I don't plan to listen to a single EP until the video I'm working on is done but I've been doing some casual album listens I forgot to update on last night
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So, I'm trying to fit some short songs on my EP, but that's almost impossible since you want me to do a maximum of 5 songs and a minimum of 5 minutes. How do I do this? ???
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So, I'm trying to fit some short songs on my EP, but that's almost impossible since you want me to do a maximum of 5 songs and a minimum of 5 minutes. How do I do this? ???
You could throw in some interludes to make it up to at least 25 mins?
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A minimum of 25 minutes you mean?
But again y'all this is too late to be complaining about this :lol
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A minimum of 25 minutes you mean?
Yes.
But again y'all this is too late to be complaining about this :lol
Okay! Sending in about an hour after making the edits. I swapped out one track that wasn't really going to work for another longer track that's also going to get 0 strawberries and deleted another one that you probably would have hated, so I'm all good.
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25 is real short anyways, I've always done a minimum of 30 before and like I said if you're like, 23ish-24 minutes I'd allow it
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So, do we need to give it a name? You are going to do hangmanen, right?
-
There Will Be Hangmanen
I might skip EP titles hangmanen or build it in to the normal ones though
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Guess who sent
-
Guess who sent
Is it me?
-
Almost
(Hint: same name)
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Actually it was both of us. We are in fact the same person.
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Don't tell 'em though!
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It's weird having a conversation with myself.
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Yeah we already knew that Rich
Waiting on just Dacul and Evermind now
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You can wait forever on those guys.
Especially Evermind, we all know he has a hard time making these EPs.
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:lol
I'm sending in ~13 hours when I'm back from work. Probably no story this time though as I simply don't have any time to do it.
Not really happy with my EP either as I feel something doesn't quite work in terms of flow/variety, but I'm probably sending it as is anyway, oh well
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i won't make thursday a hard deadline since i'm too busy to listen to any EPs right now anyways so if you don't want to rush it feel free to take a little extra time
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Cool, cuz I'm strill trimming down stuff :lol. 38 songs now, and I'm considering whether making a depressing EP or a pop one. Maybe a sad pop EP?
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i love sad pop. make that
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Well it ended up morphing into a combination of some of my favorite songs that I never sent nor seem to be banned, nice. I'll review it and send it later.
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Well it ended up morphing into a combination of some of my favorite songs that I never sent nor seem to be banned
congrats you figured out the secret to making a good EP
i mean, because tastes I assume I'm going to love half of them and hate the other half, but
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Yeah I kinda had three songs that I didn't like much but thought you may dig them, ended up swapping two of them out for the stuff I actually like, and now I'm thinking about swapping the third one too.
I'll do my best to send today but I'm still not sure if I should swap out that one song so it's possible that I'll end up sending next evening in ~26 hours. In fact I actually just want to get some tea and finish the book I'm reading but we'll see
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make a concept EP about the story of the book you're reading
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Don't think that'll work unfortunately
Just thought of a fitting song for my EP on my morning commute, you'll get mine today when I'm home, just need to get the files and edit them a bit
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Sent!
Congrats any random person who isn't me
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I'll send mine later, just need to get the files sorted and maybe a little edited.
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Yeah just waiting on Dacul. I'll try to get one listen of each of these in before I leave for vacation & the rest of the listens will probably happen during my vacation :corn
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Sent!
-
Hangmanen when
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After the results
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Hangmanen when
not tonight
oh i said i would post album comments from stuff i listened to so let's
(https://theprogspace.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/WMBB_cover__1509823127_54925.jpg)
this album's kinda weird, it's somewhere between post-rock and ambient and rising sun (the first one i heard) isn't really that representative of the rest of this but i think that's for the better? it's fairly short so i'll at least relisten to it, i liked it
(https://www.nuclearblast.de/static/articles/273/273656.jpg/1000x1000.jpg)
technically a relisten since like i said i listened to this before. it's. solid. the "bonus" tracks feels like the most generic & uninspired ones and i dunno why they're there and it is maybe a bit -core-y on the whole but it's the "sound" i like. we'll see if the songwriting lands with me though, i sort of suspect that's why i didn't get this originally
(https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2219292660_10.jpg)
they seem more inclined towards guitar leads in general than a lot of similar folksy black metal bands & I think I prefer that? i did like this one too. another one that's also very succinct and snappy, basically just three long tracks and two interludes
(https://www.metal-archives.com/images/1/9/1/2/1912.jpg)
mmm okay in an album's runtime these vocals start to wear on me and the metal on this album doesn't super impress me either, even if the lead guitar did seem pretty solid throughout. won't be revisiting, just not my style
(https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2583930081_10.jpg)
man i tried with this one. but i just am not into it. i got a bit past halfway but didn't finish it, the first track was awful and the only song i listened to that i particularly liked was the one i already knew
(https://static.wixstatic.com/media/100230_004ebc14f74aacdc7e14a0d44e170374.jpg/v1/fit/w_500,h_500,q_90/file.jpg)
nice sound overall on this album especially for a late night listen. i think the song you sent was the most interesting but this is a nice mood album, though it feels a bit overlong for the style, especially with the slow burn last few ending tracks
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Hangman, Part 1
___________ ____ ________ - _______
___________ - _____ ____ _____
_________ ___ ___ _______ - ___________
_________ ____ - _____ ___ _______ _____
___________ - ______ ____ _____
___ - __ ____ ____ __ _________ ___
____ - _______
________ ______ - ____ _________
__ - ____ __ _______
_____ ______ - __ __ _________
_____ _____ - __________
___ ________ - ________
___ ________ _____ - _____ ___ ________
___________ - ___ ___ _____
__________ - _____ __ ___ ____
three parts. pt. 1 is 15 songs, pt. 2 is 15 songs, pt. 3 is 16 songs. included are songs from a mystery participant, and all interludes too because Bigger Hangman Baby
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D please
-
T
-
F
-
E
-
R
-
Y
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Hangman, Part 1
__y__ede___ __r_ _r___et_ - E_tr__y
T__e_______ - _fter __fe __tr_
F__re__e __d T_e ______e - _ere_______
___er____ __te - _____ T_e De__yed _r___
T__e_______ - _ef_re D___ __tr_
___ - __ ___t ____ __ _e__t_f__ __e
_e_r - Tere__e
Dre_____ __d_e_ - Y__r ____e___r
__ - ____ _e Tr__t__
__e_t Fre___ - _e __ ___te____
___r_ __rr_ - D______ted
T_e __d____t - _____re_
T_e _re___e_ _e___ - _e___ T_e _re___e_
_ert_r__t_r - T_e _e_ _____
F_re_r__e_ - ____e __ T_e D_r_
Letters Guessed:
DEFRTY
Buddy waits 3
Evermind waits 2
ariich waits 1
yeah guess i -should- update this
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O
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Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - Entropy
Timecop1983 - After Life (Outro)
Those were an effort to work out having guessed the song names :lol
EDIT: Oh and also Timecop1983 - Before Dawn (Intro)
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Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - Entropy
Timecop1983 - After Life (Outro)
Those were an effort to work out having guessed the song names :lol
EDIT: Oh and also Timecop1983 - Before Dawn (Intro)
I never would have guessed any of those :lol
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I worked out Entropy and After Life and then found the rest from there.
I'd definitely never have guessed Psychedelic Porn Crumpets. :lol
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Lauri Porra - Dislocated
Keor?
Perturbator
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B
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i still haven't listened to EPs yet but i'll get through 'em all first listen tonight or tomorrow ok
anyways albums i listened to today
(https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1435725293_16.jpg)
most of this album was more like the weird interlude in otriad than any of the hype bits. i thought it was... fine, but the style as a whole doesn't get me very excited.
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81N3MKQX85L._SL1500_.jpg)
yeah i dunno what to say this is some of the most standard post-hardcore out there. i listened to the recent sparrows album today as well and comparing this one to that one is like night and day, there's so much more going on with that one compared to how by-the-numbers this feels. it isn't bad but it just isn't interesting
(https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/255c279432293010d15bd284da302867/4055960)
not sure if i'm sold on the sound of this one yet but it was, if nothing else, pretty solid. i enjoyed it & definitely want to spin it again. it does feel a bit dry in terms of overall sound though.
(https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Glen-Hansard-This-Wild-Willing-e1554915879491.jpg?quality=80)
don't settle is very obviously the best track here but this does feel more focused than i remember rhythm & repose being, which is to say it's almost entirely more singer songwriter type stuff than anything. it's nice and pleasant though, maybe a bit overlong for the style (it runs over an hour and doesn't feel like it has much to show in the back half), i'll probably relisten again just because of how much i like don't settle but SHRUG
hangman update in a minute
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Hangman, Part 1
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - Entropy
Timecop1983 - After Life (Outro)
Florence + the Machine - _ere_o__a__
_a_er_o__ _ate - A_o__ T_e De_ayed _ra__
Timecop1983 - Before Dawn (Intro)
A__ - _o ___t _a__ O_ Bea_t_f__ O_e
Keor - Tere__e
Drea____ _ad_e_ - Yo_r _o__e__or
__ - _a__ _e Tr__tab
Agent Fresco - _e __ ___te____
Lauri Porra - Dislocated
T_e __d____t - _a___re_
T_e _re___e_ Be_o_ - Be_o_ T_e _re___e_
Perturbator - T_e _e_ B_a__
Fireproven - Alone in the Dark
Letters Guessed:
BDEFORTY
Evermind waits 3
Bolsters waits 2
Puppies waits 1
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Florence and the Machine
Agent Fresco
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Fireproven
A
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updated.
listened to two of the EPs tonight as well. the other four will be tomorrow. the average length of these is like 36-37ish minutes or so btw. longest is just over 45 (i'll allow it 'cause w/e) and shortest is just over 25
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Fireproven
Alone In the Dark
-
Kat sent Lauri Porra and Florence + the Machine.
-
at no point has Katt been a part of this roulette
-
He still sent those
But more likely it was Bolsters
-
Bolsters sent neither.
-
Poopiedoop
-
Final Round First Impressions
This has a sound I’m never super enthused on but some of these cuts do that sound better than most tend to & it’s pretty cohesive but still diverse enough to not get boring as well.
I bet Kattelox would really like this one a lot, though on first listen I’m not quite as enthused, though it’s still pretty interesting and enjoyable.
Conflicted what to think of this as it starts pretty strong but then loses me in its back half with sounds that just don’t appeal to me, and feels like a bit of a mess as a whole.
The flow of this works well for the first half, but the music leaves me a bit cold, and then for the second half I like the music more but the flow and coherence kind of fall apart to compensate.
This one seems really hit or miss on first listen, albeit the misses aren’t huge misses and they’re more than outweighed by the hits, and I suspect this will grow on me with relistens too.
I suspect literally nobody else left in the roulette will like this one, but for me it’s going to be hard to top, this is just playing right into a very specific sound I like a hell of a lot.
These are for the EPs as a whole. I might sprinkle in comments from my first impressions towards the 5 core songs off each of the EPs over the next few days too. I could probably put together an early ranking of all of these that I suspect would hold true even after the 3 or 4 more listens I'm going to give all of these, but we'll see what happens.
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This one seems really hit or miss on first listen, albeit the misses aren’t huge misses and they’re more than outweighed by the hits, and I suspect this will grow on me with relistens too.
I suspect literally nobody else left in the roulette will like this one, but for me it’s going to be hard to top, this is just playing right into a very specific sound I like a hell of a lot.
One of these for sure.
Someone needs to guess a letter.......
I guess I will, since no one else is....
give me the C :flame:
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Yeah that Glen Hansard album has all the best tracks on the first half, but they're so good.
I bet Kattelox would really like this one a lot, though on first listen I’m not quite as enthused, though it’s still pretty interesting and enjoyable.
Sounds like mine!
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Final Round First Impressions
This has a sound I’m never super enthused on but some of these cuts do that sound better than most tend to & it’s pretty cohesive but still diverse enough to not get boring as well.
The flow of this works well for the first half, but the music leaves me a bit cold, and then for the second half I like the music more but the flow and coherence kind of fall apart to compensate.
I think one of these two is mine, but I don't know for sure.
And what do you mean by 'core songs off each of the 5 EPs'? There's 6 EPs. And what is a core song?
-
it means you placed the 5 in your sentence wrong
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This has a sound I’m never super enthused on but some of these cuts do that sound better than most tend to & it’s pretty cohesive but still diverse enough to not get boring as well.
Seems like it could be mine.
-
it means you placed the 5 in your sentence wrong
:biggrin:
I see. Have mercy!
-
guess some letters cowards :corn
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G
-
Perturbator - The New Black
-
i can't even update until like, evening tonight bcuz i'm gonna be on a plane but yeah go guess letters shrug
-
Hangman, Part 1
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - Entropy
Timecop1983 - After Life (Outro)
Florence + the Machine - Ceremonials
Ca_er_o_s Gate - Among The Decayed Grass
Timecop1983 - Before Dawn (Intro)
A__ - So __st _a_g O_ Bea_t_f__ O_e
Keor - Tere_ce
Drea___g _ad_e_ - Your Possessor
__ - Ca__ _e Tr__tab
Agent Fresco - _e _s __ste___g
Lauri Porra - Dislocated
T_e __d__g_t - _a___res
The Crevices Below - Below The Crevices
Perturbator - The New Black
Fireproven - Alone in the Dark
Letters Guessed:
BCDEFGORSTWY
Hangman, Part 2
__ __ - ____s _________
_ Sw___ __ ___ S__ - ___ W___s ___ ___
___________ - ____
__s__w_ ___s___ - ____ __ ___ ____
_________ - _____
______ __ _______s - ________
____ _______ - _____s ____s__ _____
____ _______ - _____
_____ ______s__ - _s____ _ ______ __ __ _______
____ ______s ___ __s___ ___ - _____ ____ __ ____
S________ - ____ ___ ___
_s_________ ____ _______s - _______ ___ ____ ___ ____
___________ - _____ ______
___ _______ - _____ _____ _____
Letters Guessed:
SW
ariich waits 3
Buddy waits 2
Any letters guessed will go to both hangman sets btw, if they aren't already revealed in the older one
-
W
-
S in both!
-
updated with Steven Wilson
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The Crevices Below - Below The Crevices
EDIT: Oh and the Florence is Ceremonials.
-
where the train is observed
-
Observe The Train - Train The Observe
-
EDIT: Oh and the Florence is Ceremonials.
-
EDIT: I keep editing my posts after Cyril has already updated :neverusethis:
-
Along The Decayed Grass
Your Possessor
Too easy :neverusethis:
-
so easy that you -still- got one of them wrong :corn
-
Along Among The Decayed Grass
Too easy :neverusethis:
-
H
-
Hangman, Part 1
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - Entropy
Timecop1983 - After Life (Outro)
Florence + the Machine - Ceremonials
Cavernous Gate - Among The Decayed Grass
Timecop1983 - Before Dawn (Intro)
A__ - So Just Hang On, Beautiful One
Keor - Tere_ce
Drea___g _ad_e_ - Your Possessor
22 - Call Me Trimtab
Agent Fresco - He Is Listening
Lauri Porra - Dislocated
The Midnight - Vampires
The Crevices Below - Below The Crevices
Perturbator - The New Black
Fireproven - Alone in the Dark
Letters Guessed:
BCDEFGHJORSTWY
Hangman, Part 2
__ __ - ____s _________
_ Sw___ __ _h_ S__ - _h_ W___s ___ ___
___________ - ____
__sh_w_ ___s___ - ____ __ _h_ ____
_________ - _h___
___h__ __ _______s - ________
J___ _______ - _____s _h__s__ _____
J___ _______ - _____
_________ _____ - ____
__j__ ______s__ - _s____ _ ______ __ __ _______
___h ______s ___ __s___ ___ - _____ ____ __ ____
S________ - ____ ___ ___
_s_________ ____ _______s - _______ ___ ___h ___ ____
____h______ - _____ ______
_h_ _____h_ - _____ ___h_ _____
Letters Guessed:
HJSW
Bolsters waits 3
ariich waits 2
Buddy waits 1
-
J
-
So Just Hang On Beautiful One
-
Updated.
Fun extra time-passing game - if everyone wants to let me know which of their songs on their EP they think I'd most like, we can see how that compares to how much i actually like each song, i might post song rankings for each EP after i finish my third listen? no double points in it or anything, but it'll be fun & i'm curious anyways :corn
can either post in-thread or PM me :corn
-
also trying to catch up on album listens between EP listens
(https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3544693706_16.jpg)
this is pretty enjoyable in the ambient/post-rock lane. i don't have a ton else to say about it, but i liked it
(https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Witherscape_The-Northern-Sanctuary.jpg)
well this sure is a pretty standard prog metal album with some melodeath influence. still not sold on the vocals, but i mean, it's a very competent record, even if i feel like it's not very diverse/nothing really stands out as better or worse than anything else to me except the track i'm familiar with. i might relisten but there's no real "wow" factor to this, it's solid for what it is though
will edit the last two from round 9 in here tonight if i get a chance to spin them
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22 - Call Me Trimtrab
The Midnight - Vampires
Cavernous Gate
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yeah those are all basically right
-
Damn, I've always heard it as Trimtrab for some reason. Now I need to try and unhear it. :lol
Also the Agent Fresco is He Is Listening.
-
Could have sworn agent frescoo was banned
-
you can go check the banned list to see that specifically one album is banned and it is not the one the song in question is on :millahhhh
-
Kashiwa Daisuke
A Swarm of the Sun
Major Parkinson
L
-
Fun extra time-passing game - if everyone wants to let me know which of their songs on their EP they think I'd most like, we can see how that compares to how much i actually like each song, i might post song rankings for each EP after i finish my third listen? no double points in it or anything, but it'll be fun & i'm curious anyways
Done. Can't wait to find out how wrong I am. :lol
-
My prediction from the most liked to least liked
The post-rock/metal? song > the female vocals song > the Steven Wilson song > the generic prog metal song > the nasal vocals song (5 > 4 > 1 > 3 > 2)
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Hangman, Part 1
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - Entropy
Timecop1983 - After Life (Outro)
Florence + the Machine - Seven Devils
Cavernous Gate - Among The Decayed Grass
Timecop1983 - Before Dawn (Intro)
A__ - So Just Hang On, Beautiful One
Keor - Tere_ce
Dreami_g Madme_ - Your Possessor
22 - Call Me Trimtab
Agent Fresco - He Is Listening
Lauri Porra - Dislocated
The Midnight - Vampires
The Crevices Below - Below The Crevices
Perturbator - The New Black
Fireproven - Alone in the Dark
Letters Guessed:
ABCDEFGHIJLMORSTWY
Hangman, Part 2
_m __ - A_las I____l___
A Swarm of the Sun - _h_ W__ms A__ ___
_im________ - ____
Kashiwa Daisuke - _i__ I_ _h_ La__
___a__a__ - _hl__
M__h__ __ Mi__i__s - A____a__
J___ B___l__ - _____s _h_is_i _a__l
J___ B___l__ - __a__
_________ __i__ - _i__
Major Parkinson - Isab_l A ______ __ A_ A_a__m_
B__h _ibb__s A__ __s_i_ Ma_ - _____ _im_ __ __a_
S_a____i_ - A__m A__ ___
_s__h___li_ ____ ___m___s - ___ma__ _a_ ___h A__ ____
______ba___ - __mm_ _a_al_
_h_ Mi__i_h_ - _____ _i_h_ __ai_
Letters Guessed:
ABHIJLMSW
Bolsters waits 3
ariich waits 2
Puppies waits 1
bolsters' predictions are... interesting :corn
evermind's i'd need to relisten to the EP again to remember which songs are which i've only heard it once so far
-
I added song numbers, hope that's helpful
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Give me the A
-
up-there-dated
-
B
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(https://www.metal-archives.com/images/3/2/9/4/329484.jpg?3031)
well this was way more power metal-y/kinda thrash metal-y than i was expecting from the song i was sent, not much of the rest of this is prog at all & i wasn't very into it but oh well :lol
(https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1151601403_10.jpg)
was kinda into this at first but by the time a second song sounded almost exactly like gang of wolves & they seemed to be basically sticking to the same formula across the rest of the album i kinda checked out, and it isn't even that long of an album either so uuhh. it felt way longer than it was, i guess.
woo i'm caught up on album listens now! ignoring most of them until later since i wanna spend most of my listening time between 2019 releases/EP listens/listening to stuff i already bought ok
-
Ooh I can guess a letter again.
I please!
-
M
-
updated. through all the EPs a second time, also. there's a very clear standout still but one or two grew on me a bit on relisten, one in particular feels like a pretty solid second place now
also correction to the Florence song, the song listing I was given called it "Ceremonials" but that's an album name, not a song name, the song name is Seven Devils, I've corrected it on hangman and my notes sheet. I -was- listening to the right song for sure though, unless they actually have a song named Ceremonials that was supposed to be sent? :lol
-
Jeff Buckley
Beth Gibbons and someone
Psychadelic Porn Crumpets again
-
and Rustin Man, the song is Funny Time of Year (as far as I remember) by Sacul
-
Holy shit someone sent some OG Swarm of the Sun there, The Worms Are Out
They've been on my short list to send since round 1 but I kept thinking host boi would hate it somehow, glad someone is testing now. I thought I was the only person on this forum listening to them :lol The Rifts is album of the decade material :metal
Kashiwa Daisuke - City in the Lake
Keor - Terence
-
Dacul:
Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man - Funny Time of Year
Bolsters:
Perturbator - The New Black
The Midnight - Vampires
Hangman, Part 1
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - Entropy
Timecop1983 - After Life (Outro)
Florence + the Machine - Seven Devils
Cavernous Gate - Among The Decayed Grass
Timecop1983 - Before Dawn (Intro)
Au4 - So Just Hang On, Beautiful One
Keor - Terence
Dreaming Madmen - Your Possessor
22 - Call Me Trimtab
Agent Fresco - He Is Listening
Lauri Porra - Dislocated
The Crevices Below - Below The Crevices
Fireproven - Alone in the Dark
Hangman, Part 2
_m __ - A_las In___l___
A Swarm of the Sun - The Worms Are Out
_im________ - __n_
Kashiwa Daisuke - City in the Lake
___a__an_ - _hl__
M__h__ __ Mi__i_ns - A____a__
Jeff Buckley - Corpus Christi Carol
Jeff Buckley - Grace
______n__ __i__ - Nin_
Major Parkinson - Isabel - A Report to An Academy
S_an___i_ - A__m An_ ___
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - __nma__ _an ___h An_ __n_
______ba___ - __mm_ _a_al_
_h_ Mi_ni_h_ - _____ Ni_h_ __ain
Letters Guessed:
ABHIJLMNSW
Puppies waits 1
-
Jeff Buckley is Puppies
-
Nope
-
The Buckley songs are Grace and Corpus Christi Carol, and the Major Parkinson is Isabel - A Report to An Academy.
-
I love Grace, never really cared much for Corpus Christi Carol
-
I love Grace, never really cared much for Corpus Christi Carol
:|
-
Is it not A Swarm of the Sun - The Worms Are Out then?
maybe.. A Swarm of the Sun - The Borms Are Bout
-
Just to finish off part 1:
Au4
Dreaming Madmen
-
Bolsters sent Perturbator and The Midnight
-
Is it not A Swarm of the Sun - The Worms Are Out then?
maybe.. A Swarm of the Sun - The Borms Are Bout
i missed it because it was in the middle of a paragraph :P
updated
-
Psychadelic Porn Crumpets again
Psychedelic*
-
No one is guessing letters.......
GUESS SOME LETTERS!!
N
-
But I'm eliminated!
-
you can guess letters even if you're eliminated :lol
-
But I'm eliminated!
TAC guesses a G
and i still want my N :biggrin: :corn
-
uhh, you already got it
-
Then give TAC his G :biggrin:
-
honestly i'm just gonna probably stop doing hangman and just reveal all the songs in a few days 'cause nobody's playing due to the holidays anyways :lol
too much work when nobody is interested right now
-
Eh, fair enough :corn
-
H
-
I hadn't noticed that you'd reduced the waiting period.
R
-
F
-
Dacul:
Florence + the Machine - Seven Devils
Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man - Funny Time of Year
Kashiwa Daisuke - City in the Lake
Bolsters:
Perturbator - The New Black
The Midnight - Vampires
Hangman, Part 1
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - Entropy
Timecop1983 - After Life (Outro)
Cavernous Gate - Among The Decayed Grass
Timecop1983 - Before Dawn (Intro)
Au4 - So Just Hang On, Beautiful One
Keor - Terence
Dreaming Madmen - Your Possessor
22 - Call Me Trimtab
Agent Fresco - He Is Listening
Lauri Porra - Dislocated
The Crevices Below - Below The Crevices
Fireproven - Alone in the Dark
Hangman, Part 2
FM-84 - Atlas (Interlude)
A Swarm of the Sun - The Worms Are Out
_im_c______ - __n_
___arran_ - _hl__
Mother of Millions - Ar__fac_
Jeff Buckley - Corpus Christi Carol
Jeff Buckley - Grace
Fr____nc_ _rif_ - Nin_
Major Parkinson - Isabel - A Report to An Academy
Scan_r_i_ - A__m An_ ___
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - __nmar_ _an ___h An_ __n_
Perturbator - Femme Fatale
_h_ Mi_ni_h_ - _____ Ni_h_ _rain
Letters Guessed:
ABCHIJLMNSW
____r_h__ - Fr_________
____hcr__h - ___
__r__r____r - ________c_
__r_ ___r - __
___c__ Fr__ _h_ F_______ - __f_ __ _____
_____r_ - _h__ _r___f__ _________
C_____r__ - C_____ _f __rr__
___ch_____c __r_ Cr______ - C_r______
____ _____r_ ___ _h_ ____r_ ____r_ - Cr_______ C_____
_ ___r_ _f _h_ ___ - __f_____
Nils Frahm - ____
_____ C______ - ______ R___r_ _f _h_ _r______ ____ H___ ____
___ F_r_ __ F_____ - F_____ ___h__ _r_ F_____ R____ R_______r ____ ___
_h______ - _h_ __c_r___ _f ___r___ _c_ __r_ ___
_c___r___ - ____ _h_ __r_____
_____r___ - C______c_____ ____
Letters Guessed:
CFHR
Bolsters waits 1
oops I dropped my hang
-
Mother of Millions
Nils Frahm
-
also here's some updated impressions because why not
Third Impressions
Man, I must've not been in the right mindset when I listened to this the first time, it started out my least favorite but now even the worst track is towards the middle of the round and it's comfortably at least second place overall.
This one is a very cohesive and consistent unit for the most part, but when I look at the scores I mostly see that it's consistently just
"okay" with only one real standout. This might end up scoring the worst as a result.
Probably still the one that's most likely to end up winning, I loved this one the first time and it's still the most compelling one to me now.
This one's grown on me a fair bit, though it still feels a bit incohesive and there's still one track I really am not fond of.
The most hit-or-miss EP of the entire bunch, two songs here I quite like offset by what will definitely be the lowest-scoring song of the entire round.
While this one is currently in the middle of the pack and fairly consistent to boot, it's also the one I find the least memorable or interesting.
Enjoy the corn. Song rankings will come after fourth listen & the writeups after that. Will be posting in reverse order of 6th to 1st, of course.
-
FM-84 - Atlas (Interlude)
Perturbator - Femme Fatale
-
we need more who-sent-what guesses imo
-
This one is a very cohesive and consistent unit for the most part, but when I look at the scores I mostly see that it's consistently just
"okay" with only one real standout. This might end up scoring the worst as a result.
While this one is currently in the middle of the pack and fairly consistent to boot, it's also the one I find the least memorable or interesting.
:corn
we need more who-sent-what guesses imo
Dacul sent Kashiwa Daisuke, might have sent Florence + the Machine too.
-
Yes to both
reminder, players are:
ariich
Bolsters
Dacul
Elite
Evermind
Puppies
<Mystery 7th Bonus Entry>
-
C
-
updated above
-
I definitely want the D!
-
Lucas surely sent the Nils Frahm
-
Dacul:
Florence + the Machine - Seven Devils
Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man - Funny Time of Year
Kashiwa Daisuke - City in the Lake
Nils Frahm - Says
Bolsters:
Perturbator - The New Black
The Midnight - Vampires
The Midnight - Tokyo Night Train
Evermind
Frequency Drift - Nine
ariich
Oddarang - Ohlop
Hangman, Part 1
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - Entropy
Timecop1983 - After Life (Outro)
Cavernous Gate - Among The Decayed Grass
Timecop1983 - Before Dawn (Intro)
Au4 - So Just Hang On, Beautiful One
Keor - Terence
Dreaming Madmen - Your Possessor
22 - Call Me Trimtab
Agent Fresco - He Is Listening
Lauri Porra - Dislocated
The Crevices Below - Below The Crevices
Fireproven - Alone in the Dark
Hangman, Part 2
FM-84 - Atlas (Interlude)
A Swarm of the Sun - The Worms Are Out
Timec______ - __ne
Mother of Millions - Ar_efac_
Jeff Buckley - Corpus Christi Carol
Jeff Buckley - Grace
Major Parkinson - Isabel - A Report to An Academy
Scandroid - At_m And Ee_
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - Denmar_ _an ___h And __ne
Perturbator - Femme Fatale
Letters Guessed:
ABCDEFHIJLMNRSTW
_es_rth__ - Fr___e_t___
De_thcr_sh - E__
_ert_r__t_r - ___t____c_
__rt ___r - __
___ces Fr__ The F_se___e - __fe __ T_t__
__stere - Th_s Dre_df__ E__t__ess
Coldworld - Climax of Sorrow
_s_chede__c __r_ Cr___ets - C_r_____e
____ _____rd __d The ____rd ____rd - Cr_______ C_st_e
_ S__r_ _f The S__ - __fe___e
____d C_____d - S__e__ Ret_r_ _f The _rs___st ____ Hdt_ ____
Set F_re T_ F___es - F_d___ ___hts _re F_d___ Re___ Re____der T___ __t
_h_de___ - The D_ctr__e _f Eter___ _ce __rt T__
Scandroid - __t_ The D_r__ess
____er__e - C______c_t___ __st
Letters Guessed:
CDEFHRST
Bolsters waits 1
-
Frequency Drift - Nine - Evermind
The Midnight - Tokyo Night Train - Bolsters
EDIT: Let's also have an S.
-
abSolutely
-
The Nils Fram is Says.
There's a Scandroid song in parts 2 and 3.
-
E!
-
ColdWorld - Climax of Sorrow
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Oddarang - Ohlop, by ariich
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Oddarang - Ohlop, by ariich
:tup
-
updated above (or, abovedated)
-
T
-
chai's my favorite, personally
-
Phideaux - The Doctrine of Eternal Ice (Part Two)
interesting choice...
Timecop1983 - Gone
Set Fire to Flames - Fading Lights Are Fading / Rain Rebuilder [Tail Out]
Voices From the Fuselage - Life On Titan
Atom and E.E.V
Denmark / Van Gogh and Gone
Deathcrush - Ego
Artefact
-
Dacul:
Florence + the Machine - Seven Devils
Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man - Funny Time of Year
Kashiwa Daisuke - City in the Lake
Nils Frahm - Says
Bolsters:
Perturbator - The New Black
The Midnight - Vampires
Scandroid - Atom and E.E.V
Perturbator - Vantablack
The Midnight - Tokyo Night Train
Evermind:
Frequency Drift - Nine
ariich:
Oddarang - Ohlop
Elite:
Agent Fresco - He Is Listening
Hangman, Part 1 & 2
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - Entropy
Timecop1983 - After Life (Outro)
Cavernous Gate - Among The Decayed Grass
Timecop1983 - Before Dawn (Intro)
Au4 - So Just Hang On, Beautiful One
Keor - Terence
Dreaming Madmen - Your Possessor
22 - Call Me Trimtab
Lauri Porra - Dislocated
The Crevices Below - Below The Crevices
Fireproven - Alone in the Dark
FM-84 - Atlas (Interlude)
A Swarm of the Sun - The Worms Are Out
Timecop1983 - Gone
Mother of Millions - Artefact
Jeff Buckley - Corpus Christi Carol
Jeff Buckley - Grace
Major Parkinson - Isabel - A Report to An Academy
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - Denmark / Van Gogh and Gone
Perturbator - Femme Fatale
Hangman, Part 3:
_es_rth__ - Fr___e_t___
Deathcrush - Ego
Port Noir - __
Voices From the Fuselage - Life On Titan
Austere - This Dreadful Emptiness
Coldworld - Climax of Sorrow
_s_chede__c __r_ Cr___ets - C_r_____e
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Cr_______ C_st_e
A Swarm of the Sun - __fe___e
____d C_____d - S__e__ Ret_r_ _f The _rs___st ____ Hdt_ ____
Set Fire to Flames - Fading Lights Are Fading / Rain Rebuilder [Tail Out]
Phideaux - The Doctrine of Eternal Ice (Part Two)
Bolsters: Scandroid - __t_ The D_r__ess
____er__e - C______c_t___ __st
Letters Guessed:
CDEFHRST
Bolsters waits 1
dam son
-
This Dreadful Emptiness
-
Elite sent Agent Fresco, Bolsters sent Scandroid
-
yup, all right (alright)
-
Scandroid's just another alias for the guy behind Celldweller so
:corn :corn :corn
-
ariich sent both Jeff Buckley songs
-
nope!
-
Oh. That’s strange. Did I send them then?
-
Nope! I sent them.
-
Perturbator
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
A Swarm of the Sun again
Port Noir
Someone fill in the song names
-
yeah someone fill them in for me
-
Perturbator is Vantablack, sent by Bolsters.
Austere?
Ev sent Phideaux
-
ev did not send phideaux (this time)
-
Ev sent Phideaux
I did send Phideaux three roulettes ago, not this time though
-
Bolsters also sent Perturbator - Femme Fatale :P
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Crumbling Castle, elite?
Gimme A.
-
Dacul:
Florence + the Machine - Seven Devils
Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man - Funny Time of Year
Kashiwa Daisuke - City in the Lake
Nils Frahm - Says
Bolsters:
Perturbator - The New Black
The Midnight - Vampires
Scandroid - Atom and E.E.V
Perturbator - Femme Fatale
Perturbator - Vantablack
The Midnight - Tokyo Night Train
Evermind:
Frequency Drift - Nine
ariich:
Oddarang - Ohlop
Au4 - So Just Hang On, Beautiful One
Elite:
Agent Fresco - He Is Listening
Hangman, Part 1 & 2
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - Entropy
Timecop1983 - After Life (Outro)
Cavernous Gate - Among The Decayed Grass
Timecop1983 - Before Dawn (Intro)
Keor - Terence
Dreaming Madmen - Your Possessor
22 - Call Me Trimtab
Lauri Porra - Dislocated
The Crevices Below - Below The Crevices
Fireproven - Alone in the Dark
FM-84 - Atlas (Interlude)
A Swarm of the Sun - The Worms Are Out
Timecop1983 - Gone
Mother of Millions - Artefact
Jeff Buckley - Corpus Christi Carol
Jeff Buckley - Grace
Major Parkinson - Isabel - A Report to An Academy
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - Denmark / Van Gogh and Gone
Hangman, Part 3:
Mesarth_m - Fra_me_t___
Deathcrush - Ego
Port Noir - __
Voices From the Fuselage - Life On Titan
Austere - This Dreadful Emptiness
Coldworld - Climax of Sorrow
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - C_r_f_a_e
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Crumbling Castle
A Swarm of the Sun - __fe___e
Blood Command - S1E02.Return.Of.The.Arsonist.720p.HDTV.x264
Set Fire to Flames - Fading Lights Are Fading / Rain Rebuilder [Tail Out]
Phideaux - The Doctrine of Eternal Ice (Part Two)
Bolsters: Scandroid - __t_ The Dar__ess
____er__e - Communication __st
Letters Guessed:
ABCDEFHMRST
Dacul waits 1
-
Then King Gizzard must be puppies. Lauri Porra and Au4 are ariich.
-
Au4 is ariich. The others are wrong.
I'm not gonna repeat what I said several times earlier but I'll let you figure it out on your own.
-
Another Psychedelic Porn Crumpets song
HDTV :lol
Communication / Communicating
B
-
Most obscure hangmanan ever
Merry Christmas
Give ne an M. Not that it’ll help much :neverusethis:
-
Blood Command - S1E02.Return.Of.The.Arsonist.720p.HDTV.x264 :lol
-
updated above
every B and almost every M were already revealed
-
I figured a Christmas morning post would've been Results!
-
absolutely not, lol :P not even close yet. probably won't be up until the new year at the earliest. let me enjoy my holiday dammit :getoffmylawn:
-
Mesarthim - Fragmenting
13
Cornflake
Lifeline
Wolverine - Communication Lost
-
Dacul:
Florence + the Machine - Seven Devils
Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man - Funny Time of Year
Kashiwa Daisuke - City in the Lake
Nils Frahm - Says
Bolsters:
Perturbator - The New Black
The Midnight - Vampires
Scandroid - Atom and E.E.V
Perturbator - Femme Fatale
Perturbator - Vantablack
The Midnight - Tokyo Night Train
Evermind:
Frequency Drift - Nine
Wolverine - Communication Lost
ariich:
Oddarang - Ohlop
Au4 - So Just Hang On, Beautiful One
Elite:
Agent Fresco - He Is Listening
Puppies:
Austere - This Dreadful Emptiness
Hangman
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - Entropy
Timecop1983 - After Life (Outro)
Cavernous Gate - Among The Decayed Grass
Timecop1983 - Before Dawn (Intro)
Keor - Terence
Dreaming Madmen - Your Possessor
22 - Call Me Trimtab
Lauri Porra - Dislocated
The Crevices Below - Below The Crevices
Fireproven - Alone in the Dark
FM-84 - Atlas (Interlude)
A Swarm of the Sun - The Worms Are Out
Timecop1983 - Gone
Mother of Millions - Artefact
Jeff Buckley - Corpus Christi Carol
Jeff Buckley - Grace
Major Parkinson - Isabel - A Report to An Academy
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - Denmark / Van Gogh and Gone
Mesarthim - Fragmenting
Deathcrush - Ego
Port Noir - 13
Voices From the Fuselage - Life On Titan
Coldworld - Climax of Sorrow
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - Cornflake
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Crumbling Castle
A Swarm of the Sun - Lifeline
Blood Command - S1E02.Return.Of.The.Arsonist.720p.HDTV.x264
Set Fire to Flames - Fading Lights Are Fading / Rain Rebuilder [Tail Out]
Phideaux - The Doctrine of Eternal Ice (Part Two)
Bolsters: Scandroid - Into the Darkness
Letters Guessed:
ABCDEFHMRST
Dacul waits 1
solve your own song bolsters
-
Into the Darkness
Ariich sent King Gizzard, 22 and Port Noir
Ev sent Wolverine
Puppies sent Austere, Deathcrush
-
:fistpump:
Yes to Austere, no to Deathcrush.
:tden:
-
updated with everything that's right
-
Wait, Bolsters has more than 5 songs in his EP... ???
Or are some of those interlude tracks?
-
yes, some of them are interlude tracks
your EP is literally the only one lacking any interlude tracks, did you not see that part of the rules? :lol
-
yes, some of them are interlude tracks
your EP is literally the only one lacking any interlude tracks, did you not see that part of the rules? :lol
No, I did. My EP doesn't need interlude tracks. They are built in to the songs themselves :corn
Plus my EP was already slightly over 45 minutes.
-
i mean, yeah
yours is slightly under 45 with what you sent me, which is not actually the longest, someone violated the 45 minute max by about 20 seconds so i just gave it to them
-
Wait, Bolsters has more than 5 songs in his EP... ???
A lot more. :corn
-
yeah right now let's get this out of the way, songs per EP:
Bolsters: 11
Dacul: 7
ariich: 6
Elite: 6
Evermind: 5
Puppies: 5
i lied evermind doesn't have any interludes either
anyways go search all the bands on RYM and that should make placing who sent what way easier
-
Does Bolsters have a RYM account?
-
just look at the genres of what he's already sent & find the rest
-
Does Bolsters have a RYM account?
I do not.
-
Dacul:
Jeff Buckley - Grace
Jeff Buckley - Corpus Christi Carol
Florence + the Machine - Seven Devils
Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man - Funny Time of Year
Set Fire to Flames - Fading Lights Are Fading / Rain Rebuilder [Tail Out]
Kashiwa Daisuke - City in the Lake
Nils Frahm - Says
Bolsters:
Perturbator - The New Black
The Midnight - Vampires
Timecop1983 - Before Dawn (Intro)
Scandroid - Atom and E.E.V
Timecop1983 - Gone
Perturbator - Femme Fatale
Scandroid - Into the Darkness
Perturbator - Vantablack
FM-84 - Atlas (Interlude)
The Midnight - Tokyo Night Train
Timecop1983 - After Life (Outro)
Evermind:
Dreaming Madmen - Your Possessor
Voices From the Fuselage - Life On Titan
Wolverine - Communication Lost
Frequency Drift - Nine
Mother of Millions - Artefact
ariich:
Oddarang - Ohlop
Au4 - So Just Hang On, Beautiful One
Keor - Terence
Fireproven - Alone in the Dark
A Swarm of the Sun - Lifeline
A Swarm of the Sun - The Worms Are Out
Elite:
Deathcrush - Ego
Agent Fresco - He Is Listening
22 - Call Me Trimtab
Port Noir - 13
Blood Command - S1E02.Return.Of.The.Arsonist.720p.HDTV.x264
Major Parkinson - Isabel - A Report to An Academy
Puppies:
Cavernous Gate - Among The Decayed Grass
The Crevices Below - Below The Crevices
Coldworld - Climax of Sorrow
Austere - This Dreadful Emptiness
Mesarthim - Fragmenting
Buddyhunter:
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - Cornflake
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Crumbling Castle
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - Entropy
Phideaux - The Doctrine of Eternal Ice (Part Two)
Lauri Porra - Dislocated
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - Denmark / Van Gogh and Gone
alright here are all the EPs since nobody is guessing
interludes are in italics
comparisons in the next post
-
Blood Command - S1E02.Return.Of.The.Arsonist.720p.HDTV.x264
Was this song downloaded from Limewire? :lol
-
Final Round Comparisons
Bolsters:
1. The Midnight – Vampires
2. Scandroid – Atom & E.E.V.
3. Perturbator – Vantablack
4. Perturbator – Femme Fatale
5. The Midnight – Tokyo Night Train
Puppies:
1. Cavernous Gate – Among the Decayed Grass
2. Austere – This Dreadful Emptiness
3. Coldworld – Climax of Sorrow
4. Mesarthim – Fragmenting
5. The Crevices Below – Below the Crevices
Elite:
1. Blood Command - S01E02.Return.Of.The.Arsonist.720p.HDTV.x264
2. 22 – Call Me Trimtab
3. Major Parkinson - Isabel: A Report to an Academy
4. Deathcrush – Ego
5. Port Noir – 13
ariich:
1. Keor – Terence
2. Fireproven – Alone in the Dark
3. Oddarrang – Ohlop
4. A Swarm of the Sun – The Worms Are Out
5. Au4 – So Just Hang On, Beautiful One
Evermind:
1. Wolverine – Communication Lost
2. Mother of Millions – Artefact
3. Dreaming Madmen – Your Possessor
4. Frequency Drift – Nine
5. Voices From the Fuselage – Life on Titan
Dacul:
1. Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man – Funny Time of Year
2. Kashiwa Daisuke – City in the Lake
3. Jeff Buckley – Grace
4. Nils Frahm – Says
5. Florence + the Machine – Seven Devils
the EPs here are in the order of when they were sent, not ranked or anything, that's just the order I've been listening to them in. these rankings are also not final as my opinions may change on final listens when i do writeups. i will probably start writeups on the 28th and finish them on the 30th, at which point i will start posting results. i plan to post the final results & the winner on the 1st, so that i can say my roulette was the first one to finish this decade :neverusethis:
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:oops:
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I knew Tokyo Night Train would either do very well or very poorly and not possibly anywhere inbetween. That was also the song I was referring to when I said I might have compromised a submission for my lame story, so RIP. Can't remember the exact ranking I sent to you but I think it's almost completely backwards isn't it. :lol
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also, the predictions that were shared with me:
1. Femme Fatale (4)
2. Tokyo Night Train (5)
3. Vantablack (3)
4. Vampires (1)
5. Atom & E.E.V. (2)
hahahaha
i have no clue why you thought i wouldn't like vampires, it's got the epic sax guy, man
1. Mother of Millions – Artefact (2)
2. Frequency Drift – Nine (4)
3. Dreaming Madmen – Your Possessor (3)
4. Wolverine – Communication Lost (1)
5. Voices From the Fuselage – Life on Titan (5)
mwahaha
the wolverine prediction is sensible considering how lukewarm i was on them before, this one is better than either of those songs is all i'll say...
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To be fair, Communication Lost is a great song and a great album. :metal
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i have no clue why you thought i wouldn't like vampires, it's got the epic sax guy, man
I knew the sax would go over well, and it's not like I thought you'd hate the song or anything, but I thought you might consider it to be "too 80's" and I don't generally send upbeat songs in that style to you either, you seem to prefer the opposite.
Though I'm more surprised that Femme Fatale isn't higher than anything else, I was slightly more confident about that one.
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Congrats
Ariich Me!
:biggrin:
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alright here are all the EPs since nobody is guessing
Be fair, it's been Christmas and Boxing Day! :lol
Anyway my highest ranked songs are the longest and most substantial, which is hopefully an encouraging sign.
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Blood Command - S1E02.Return.Of.The.Arsonist.720p.HDTV.x264
Was this song downloaded from Limewire? :lol
No, it’s the actual title.
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It sounds like a song you could download on limewire in the early 2000's, to be fair
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Which is probably why you think it's the best on my EP :neverusethis:
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you sent one of like, four songs in the entire roulette that's in any kind of post-hardcore vein, so, yeah :lol
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A little bummed to see Says so low but I imagine you'd have enjoyed it being a lot shorter.
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You should share the story I sent you for mine :biggrin:
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A little bummed to see Says so low but I imagine you'd have enjoyed it being a lot shorter.
a song being my least favorite on an EP doesn't necessarily mean i hate it :lol
honestly there are, atm, no 0's, and only one 1, 2's and 3's are the baseline for most songs right now, with there being a fair number of 4's but no 5's.
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done with the first two writeups as of tonight. right now these two alone go to the middle of page 15 in my word doc :lol
this is probably because bolsters has so goddamn many songs
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:corn
:kingshmeg:
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5 of the 6 writeups done now. I'll do the last one tomorrow morning (Dacul's) & post the 6th place result after I do.
Having done 5 of the 6 scores, I can confirm my feelings that this is still absolutely a two horse race. i'll let you all interpret what that means, though :corn
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Hey, isn’t that the horse from Horsin’ Around?
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You mean that daft one?
Okay let me interpret it as very close between me and Bolsters :|
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6th Place: Evermind – Of Beings Long Gone (https://mega.nz/#!P9VBBAJI!TAnehKYElrlNdhGn9-NvPksxfinDh6Ehsy01_MZT2WI)
1. Dreaming Madmen – Your Possessor
First Impressions:
Nice. I’ll be honest this is the EP I’m most worried about because two of these are artists I’ve heard and am not a fan of and the rest I have to assume are going to be in a similar vein because of that. Anyways you called this a Steven Wilson track and yeah I guess kind of, it doesn’t really have the same “sound” as a SW song to me but it does have some of the same melancholic vibe to it. I think it’s a’ight. I’m wondering how likely it is for me to form a strong opinion on it though.
Final Thoughts:
I think this entire EP has kind of suffered from a case of “none of the songs are particularly memorable” and thus I kind of end up forgetting how most of this one sounds. I don’t really know what to do about that because it puts me in a tricky place when doing these write-ups ‘cause… I’m not quite sure what to say about this one going into it.
Well, I guess. The overall vibe of this one is pretty nice. Because, yes, it does have the general vibe of a SW song, in that it’s kind of gloomy and focused more on an atmospheric sound than it is focused on instrumental melodic hooks. The vocals are… fine, the singer has a very shaky voice that fits in with the style well enough though I don’t think he’s selling any one emotion that strongly, or even subtly.
I think from the moment of the pretty good guitar solo onwards the song improves a fair bit though – there’s more swell to the instrumentation, the vocal melody on the “you are mine and I am yours” bit is a bit more memorable & the addition of the female vocalist here (who has a lot more presence than the male vocalist) helps a lot too. The instrumental interplay that follows is also a nice bit, especially the bass here.
It still isn’t a song that resonates with me particularly strongly, but I do like it, it does register in my mind as a “good song” though it doesn’t come close to any of the best PT or SW tracks at all, mostly for a general lack of any real flavor. It’s kind of flavorless, I think that’s just the biggest issue. And if you’re gonna be flavorless, if you at least do it really well then sure, go ahead, there’s a few tracks in this round that went that route to great success, but this song just doesn’t seem to be able to commit to doing anything especially effectively. It’s not bad, I like it, but I don’t come close to loving it.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
2. Voices From the Fuselage – Life on Titan
First Impressions:
I’ve definitely heard this one before because I listened to the first half of this album before calling it “one of the most boring and emotionally sterile albums I’d heard in a long time” or something like that. Which maybe I was being a bit mean when I said because this sounds. Fine. I don’t really hear any sort of personality from it, for one. It’s what djent-prog sounds like in a post-Altered State world, an album whose legacy only gets more frustrating with time, but ehh. The vocals are fine and the clean parts are solid enough I suppose but the heavy riffing just doesn’t do anything at all for me here.
Final Thoughts:
The existence of this band and this song sends me on an existential crisis in terms of progressive metal, wondering if the djent and atmospheric influences of tesseract are going to eventually drown the genre in a featureless haze of blue-pink sameyness without any bands having any unique flavor, or any sense of actual progressiveness. There’s definitely nothing progressive about this song, for one. Everything about it is so safe and sterile and gutless and even kind of cliché. And more and more bands keep sounding like this. Less and less bands doing actually interesting things, or if there are any bands doing those interesting things, they either 1. get bored of metal ALA Opeth, Leprous, or 2. end up homogenizing over time ALA Haken, Caligula’s Horse.
Anyways the song itself. It’s fine. It’s incredibly average. Ashe is a fine enough singer though he doesn’t sound like he’s particularly interested in this song but he still at least sells these melodies well enough. The bassy, rhythmic groove in a 6/8 pattern for most of the song works well enough. The chorus does have some swell to it. The heavy riff bit sounds kind of bad due to 1. a weirdly crispy guitar tone and 2. some super fake sounding strings trying to and failing to add bombast and yet it still kind of works anyways? The riff itself is solid, I guess, but the sound of it isn’t doing it any favors.
The song doesn’t really have much in the way of technicality to impress and the emotive bits don’t hit as hard as they really should but it’s. Ehh. It’s fine. I’ve heard less interesting songs in this round, or songs that evoke even fewer emotions in me than this by-the-numbers djent-prog track whose biggest crime is being inoffensive and lacking in any real flavor. I like it more than everything I’ve rated a 1 up to this point, at least, but that’s about the most concession I can give in this one’s favor.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
3. Wolverine – Communication Lost
First Impressions:
Possibly the biggest risk here considering I very strongly meh’d two songs from them in my last roulette all of like, 7 or 8 months ago. All of these off the same album too. I don’t particularly remember either of those songs that well but this one is at least kinda working for me? The chorus(?) in particular has some nice power behind it & the overall sound of this feels a lot more full than the dreariness I remember from them before. Yeah this goes on a bit maybe but for one it’s got an interesting 7/8 rhythm throughout most of it, decent heaviness, decent power, I’m liking it.
Final Thoughts:
It’s surprising that this is, without any real competition, my favorite track on this EP, honestly. Considering that what I’ve heard from this band prior was all at best “okay” this is a surprisingly competent and complex slice of prog metal – and like, actually progressive metal instead of the gloomy katatonia-like sound I recall their other stuff having. Well, okay, it’s not wildly flashy or particularly unique all the same but it’s more rhythmically and instrumentally interesting.
For one, the chorus of this one is the one single thing about this EP I always remember before going into it. The vocal melody is pretty strong & the singer sells it well, the instruments have some real power to them to back up the swell of the chorus, it all clicks together well. And that’s not to say the rest of the song doesn’t work either – there’s a lot of small shifts in the instrumentation and some quieter moments to give the listener room to breathe, the song never goes wild but it doesn’t get boring either, it sustains a pretty lengthy runtime.
The fact that it does kind of play it safe is I think the thing that keeps me from fully loving it, though. Aside from the chorus a lot of this does feel more clinical than it does hard-hitting – the rest of the song is rarely metal at all, more darker prog rock, and while some of the instrumental moments can be nice + there’s a good interweaving of vocals and solos in the middle sections of the song, none of it resonates as strongly with me either. I guess what I’d say is that I like this one but I’m not fully sold on it or the band even still. Ehh.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
4. Frequency Drift – Nine
First Impressions:
Eehh I dunno this one is just not doing it for me. It feels melancholic but in the “not actually going to do anything with that melancholy” sort of way, it’s just… nice-sounding but not that emotional, at least for me. The quiet bit in the middle with the strings & twinkly bells(?) is a kinda neat moment though.
Final Thoughts:
The start of this one is… weird and feels kind of disconnected from the rest of the song too. It’s a bit upbeat with some, like marimba or something and faster-paced drumming, but then the vocals hit and the song pretty much lingers in a slower pace for the rest of its runtime after that? And anyways, this song lives and dies by its vocals, which, honestly, I’m not super impressed by. She’s a very technically strong singer but I do not get a ton of emotion coming off her voice. She’s got a very dry tone to her vocals. I don’t know how else to describe it. Reminds me of Anneke to an extent, though she doesn’t sound as breathy.
I guess the aforementioned middle bit I called out (and the ending as well) does pick up a bit more groove to it though, sort of. I honestly totally forgot this part of the song existed as so much of it is dominated by the gloomy vocal bits. There’s like, some kind of buildup that happens here but it doesn’t… lead to anything, the song just treats that build as its climax.
I don’t know what to say, this one is frustrating but also mostly. Boring. I’m actually surprised at how boring it is, listening to it again. I really don’t have much positive to say about it, even the good aspects are undercut by never reaching their full potential or feeling disconnected from the rest of the song, and the main meat of the song fails to resonate with me due to the singer just not working for me here either. It’s not… awful? I’m not about to slap a zero on this because there are moments here I kind of like but I don’t think there’s enough here for me to feel comfortable giving this anything higher, which is, admittedly, lower than I initially expected to be giving this.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
5. Mother of Millions – Artefact
First Impressions:
One more long one to close this out I suppose. I’m deep enough into this one now to wonder if it’s just going to straight-up be 10 minutes of ambient. Okay no there’s the piano. It’s still looking like a pretty mellow track overall though which is fine as a closer, so. There is kind of a slow, constant build to this at least, until it explodes into full gear right towards the end. Also valid. I think once it hits that peak it doesn’t really seem to have anywhere else to go after though.
Final Thoughts:
This one’s hard to talk about because it’s such a slow burn. There’s like, absolutely nothing but vocals and light synth touches for the first three minutes. It’s a bit long of an intro for what’s already essentially an extended buildup. It’s not necessarily bad or unpleasant on its own but it does make me feel a bit impatient.
To be clear I can like songs that have a slow build and then explode at the end. Some songs in that vein are some of my favorite songs period. Comforting Sounds, The Frame (hell, any Oceansize closer), stuff like that springs to mind immediately but here’s the thing – the quiet parts of those – they’re so emotionally raw and delicate and just, friggin’ moving. The quiet parts of this are… nice, but they don’t exist to exist on their own, it feels like, they exist to build towards the loud part. And that’s about 7 minutes of slow, kind of uninteresting build to get to 3 minutes of payoff. Which, sure, that’s a decent chunk of payoff but I’d genuinely like the song more if it was just those last 3 or so minutes.
The climax itself is… pretty solid. There’s some oomph to the drums, a roaring tremolo guitar melody driving the intensity with the vocals mirroring it for a pretty cool effect, a lot of layers of sound coalescing to a pretty rich and compelling sonic landscape, but just one sonic landscape, that doesn’t really develop or change over the course of the build. Which, like, you’d think there’d at least be some escalation still, past that point? I don’t feel like we get that here. The way the song does wind down at the end does work to finish things off though pretty well.
In the end I feel pretty neutral towards this one too. I don’t dislike it, I don’t love it, I kind of like some of it, but that’s about the best I can do. To be clear I don’t think the buildup section is necessarily boring, there’s at least a slow build going on at all times but I also don’t see the reason it needed to be as long or as dry as it is, and even then the payoff isn’t quite good enough to warrant it either. It’s… a bit of a mess, I guess. I get what they’re going for and some of it works but they definitely don’t stick the landing.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Overall EP Thoughts:
First Impressions:
Well-structured overall and with a nice build alongside a mostly consistent sound. I’m not sure if it’s a sound that’s ever really going to do that excellent with me, and I’ll admit I sort of found it difficult to focus on some of the longer tracks as they went on, but I didn’t really actively dislike anything here at least. It could grow on me too, if I listen to it in a better condition or frame of mind, so. It’ll probably get high marks on the EP score in the end regardless even if the songs don’t do stellar. This has a sound I’m never super enthused on but some of these cuts do that sound better than most tend to & it’s pretty cohesive but still diverse enough to not get boring as well.
Final Thoughts:
It’s cohesive, it’s structured well, it flows well, but god if this one doesn’t just bore me. Like, sorry, man, but this EP was the one I was always dreading to revisit the most because it’s just this dirge of gloomy melancholy without ever hitting any particularly strong high points and without that much sonic diversity overall either. Most of the songs are at least pretty dynamic within themselves, having some soft points and some loud points, but most of them execute that in the same way, namely having a quiet build to a loud moment and then easing off to have another build, or just having one, long, drawn-out build across the entire runtime. None of the songs save the Wolverine one and like, one melody in the Dreaming Madmen song stick with me much, either. This is more a rant about this EP than anything unfortunately but I don’t have much to say about the other categories I rate this on, the variety and general sound of this are just such a consistent “ehh” for me that rating it any higher than this feels wrong. I do at least appreciate the attempt at a concept here, if nothing else, even if it’s lacking the details and feels unfinished like you said.
EP Score Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Total: 14/30
Song Rankings:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11. Wolverine – Communication Lost
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20. Dreaming Madmen – Your Possessor
21.
22. Mother of Millions – Artefact
23.
24.
25. Voices From the Fuselage – Life on Titan
26.
27.
28. Frequency Drift – Nine
29.
30.
Key: Bolsters – Puppies – Elite – ariich – Evermind – Dacul
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:rollin
Oh well, thanks for having me.
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Damn that was rough Ev, now it's my turn :metal
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Woot, top 5! :metal
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Joke's on you all, Buddy is #1 and secretly evermind isn't even the worst scoring EP here
Anyways I just saw knives out which was good
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:jamaritard:
:boskinated:
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Hopefully Bosk sends me my special DTF goggles so I can read the yellow tracks.
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Hopefully Bosk sends me my special DTF goggles so I can read the yellow tracks.
Use a better theme? :biggrin:
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5th Place: ariich – Light to Dark (https://mega.nz/#!9WQgTI4S!I3WtDNnVEr29Cc5N5TjT8kEbH4GRF55iKNQ12-jJdDg)
1. Oddarrang – Ohlop
First Impressions:
DARK TO LIGHT LIGHT TO DARK DARK TO LIGHT anyways. Apparently the trumpet is the element of the light. I’m suspecting this is one of those jazzy type things based on the start. This is nice though. I’m not super sure how into it I’d be by itself but in terms of setting the stage or functioning as an intro it’s pretty solid.
Final Thoughts:
Hmm, this one grew on me a little, I think. I don’t think I have a ton else to say about it besides what I’ve already said though? We’ll try. The one main thing is that this has a recurrent motif throughout most of it that all the instruments play off of and do variations of and that certainly helps the song’s memorability when there’s a hook that actually gets returned to and sounds pretty dang good on its own, too.
There’s also a constant sense of build throughout this as it goes on, the drums do a lot to drive the mood of this one especially towards the middle and I like how all the instruments coalesce to a pretty satisfying build. I do think the song kind of… peters out after that though, it goes into some kind of solo section that doesn’t really have many solos for a while and while there’s some build after that it doesn’t quite satisfy in the same way.
I dunno. I don’t think this is, like, an exceptionally strong track, but it’s a pretty nice one. I get at least a fair bit out of it, it’s very easy to listen to on its own and the diversity of the instrumentation keeps it interesting across its runtime but it’s also, like, the ultimate “middle-of-the-road” kind of song. Like, exactly what I think of when I think about a 3 in this roulette. Good, but not even flirting with greatness.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
2. Au4 – So Just Hang On, Beautiful One
First Impressions:
The start of this sounds like Christmas music or something lol. I’m glad this one has vocals. I uhh. I dunno, this style just flat doesn’t do anything for me, what do you call this? New age? “World music”? (god no). RYM says “dream pop” and… yeah I don’t hear that. It’s not unpleasant and it’s like, solidly atmospheric I guess but there’s something to this one’s sound that I just find offputting.
Final Thoughts:
God I so much wish this did not have the choir vocals. Something about this style of choir vocals just does not work for me, because, yeah, it just makes me think I’m listening to Christmas music or church music at the very least. And then the chorus really does have the “world music” feel to it, if the lyrics weren’t in English I’d mistake it for “generic background track to play at the African themed section of the amusement park” honestly.
As for the rest of this it’s uhh… fine. I think I’ve gotten past the “I dislike the style of this” phase of listening to this one, it’s mostly just vaguely pleasant with one or two good melodies to it but mostly it’s just not very interesting to me. It doesn’t ever really feel like it progresses anywhere either, despite having some semblance of a build and some dynamic shifts to it, aside from layering the vocals towards the end of the track (which is a cheap way to do a build but sure whatever works) there’s just not a lot of payoff to any of it.
I’m honestly surprised I’m not being more negative towards this one but I can’t justify saying it’s totally garbage or even mediocre, but it also doesn’t warrant much praise, either, I feel. I’m okay with listening to this but I don’t think I’d ever actively seek it out.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
3. Keor – Terence
First Impressions:
Alright I’m gonna be honest I zoned out during the last one and didn’t notice this one had started until three minutes into it ooOOPS. UUuhh. This one I at least like a bit more, the vocals aren’t as offputting and there’s a nice sound to it as well as a bit more motion than the last track felt like it had. Also the heavy bit of this is actually really cool too DAMN. It kinda… feels disconnected from the earlier moments but there was at least some transition into it. I don’t know why the song goes back to the happier sounding bits after either, that’s a weird decision.
Final Thoughts:
I’ve ended up a bit conflicted on this one because… well, parts of it work really well, and then other parts of this feel groan-worthy to me. The chorus in particular, is uncharacteristically cheery and neo-prog-y in sound, basically what my mental image of what Neal Morse’s stuff sounds like. The lyrics here and the way the title/name of the song is integrated into the lyrics just rubs me the wrong way.
But then everything else about this is good? The quieter bits have this sinister undertone to them, a dark piano line and some acoustic plucking alongside a drum-driven groove. Often a lot of extra texture to them as well, mellotron I think? And some twinkling bells or synths. And the verses are very sparse, mostly just guitar and vocals with some synth and percussive flourishes. They feel like breathers between the darker moments of the song.
And of course there’s the heavy bit, which just naturally builds off the quiet darker moments from early in the song, it’s a pretty phenomenal build with a great transition to the heaver riffing, and that heavier riffing slays too. Well, the first one at least, the one-note djenty riffing isn’t particularly impressive and the guitar solo that comes in on top of it is… well, it gives that djenty riffing bit a bit more of a purpose at least.
But then every time I’m really enjoying the song and getting into it the chorus comes back it and just gives the song a frustrating tonal whiplash. Aside from the acoustic guitar line being similar to the darker moments it really does sound completely disconnected from a lot of the rest of the song. I still also don’t really know why the song even decided to continue past the heavy bit, since the rest doesn’t really feel like it adds much.
But I dunno. I’m just frustrated because I want to like this one more but I can’t, really, due to its inconsistency, both in terms of song quality and just tone shifts. It’s good, absolutely, one of the better tracks on this EP, but it’s not great either.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
4. Fireproven – Alone in the Dark
First Impressions:
Okay and now we’re just straight up to the heavy stuff lol, okay. I sort of got interrupted in the middle of listening to this one and kinda missed doing a full spiel on it but it’s got that euro-prog metal vibe to it but with very Rudess-y synth work and some heavier melodeath parts, it’s not exactly a stunningly unique fusion but it was enjoyable even without like, being able to focus too hard on it? I dug it.
Final Thoughts:
This sure is a pretty solid prog/melodeath type track. Like that pretty much sums it up. I like this one, it’s my favorite on the EP just on the style alone, but it’s also not… particularly memorable? As in, I never remember how it goes until I listen to it again, which I can’t say about any of the songs before it on the EP, even the one I’m not particularly fond of. I think that’s one issue a lot of metal can tend to have, forsaking hooks for the sake of more technical or more aggressive songwriting.
This isn’t really leaning too hard into either, admittedly – there are heavier moments, to be sure, mostly on the verses with the intense blastbeats and growls, but even then the counterpoint to them is a very melodic guitar line and walls of lush synths to still keep things melodic, and the rest of the song is a mix of synth leads, thumping drum lines, and more melodic vocals. But none of any of those melodies are, like, a hook. The chorus doesn’t hit that hard. The synth leads are more solo-ish than any memorable melodic lines.
There’s a lot to like about this song, to be sure, but unlike the Witherfall song you sent previously none of it hits as hard, or with as much of a melodic core to it. And it’s not even really particularly dark in tone either, which, considering the “light to dark” motif of the EP feels especially weird. It’s heavy, it’s satisfyingly melodic, but it’s just… something I’ve heard before, and not done quite as well as I’ve heard it done either.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
5. A Swarm of the Sun – Lifeline
Interlude
First Impressions:
I see that technically both these A Swarm of the Sun tracks are really brief ones and probably instrumental from what I recall of ‘em. But also not, subsequent songs on the album so I’m wondering how you’ll make that work? I dunno, this is nice as an interlude but yeah probably wouldn’t do great on its own.
Final Thoughts:
I think this is the longest interlude across any of the EPs, about as long as some full-length songs, and technically I think the full length of the song does breach my 3 minute restriction but this edited version doesn’t, so, alright. There’s… not much I have to say about this one, since I haven’t really thought about it much. It’s better than the Au4 song. It’s an alright atmospheric interlude. It’s not the main attraction here though.
6. A Swarm of the Sun – The Worms Are Out
First Impressions:
Okay, that transition was a bit sudden but it doesn’t… not work? I like this a lot more than the last one, there’s some nice driving energy to this one and also vocals which I didn’t expect. I dunno if it ends decisively enough to make for a satisfying closer? With the long fade at the end kind of, actually. But it’s weird that this is a lot less heavy than the fireproven track before it which throws me for a loop with the whole light to dark theme, though I guess this is “darker”. I dunno.
Final Thoughts:
This is certainly more interesting, or at least, faster-paced than the other track from these guys on this EP. I dunno, I feel like it kind of fails in the melodic department for me. When I like my black metal it’s because it’s melodic alongside intense. This isn’t… lacking in melody, there’s a tremolo guitar line in the background of parts of this but the sludgier riff is given priority in the mix and kind of dominates the song. It’s a kind of sludgy riff I’ve heard in plenty of this kind of post-metal, too, and it’s not a bad riff but it’s not an interesting one, not enough to base a song around at least.
The song’s got at least a bit of a dynamic shift to it in that it gets slightly softer or slightly heavier at a few places but it’s also… over so quick, there’s just not much to grasp on to either. If you don’t like the riff, or the basic, bare-bones melodies, or the vocals, it’s not something that feels like it’s going to leave much of an impact. It certainly hasn’t for me. At its core the sound isn’t bad, I prefer this to downtuned, sludgy as hell post-metal with absolutely no melodies, and the pacing is fast enough that it doesn’t get boring, but it’s just… weirdly insubstantial.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Overall EP Thoughts:
First Impressions:
This is a weird sequence of songs that I’m not quite sure all work together. I didn’t care for one of the tracks at all and while I’m not wild over the other four yet they all seemed pretty solid, and it’s a pretty breezy listen at only 33 minutes too so it doesn’t really feel like it drags on or overstays its welcome, but it also can’t really seem to commit to a song or at least escalate in a way that feels like the jumps between styles quite mesh? The flow of this works well for the first half, but the music leaves me a bit cold, and then for the second half I like the music more but the flow and coherence kind of fall apart to compensate.
Final Thoughts:
I guess I kind of get what you were going for with a light to dark theme but 1. It doesn’t really feel like this ever gets “dark”, at least not to me, even the Swarm of the Sun track at the end is more… upbeat and beige than actually “dark” and the Fireproven isn’t darker than your average DT song either. There’s some okay transitions between tracks here too and I think, weirdly, the only one that feels particularly off is the transition between the last two tracks, but none of the transitions are like… impressive either, they’re fine. They’re not the problem I have with the overall EP structure of this, which is that there just isn’t much consistency even across sounds on this EP, it’s all over the place, first from Jazz to World Music to Neo-Prog to Melodeath/Prog to Post-Metal. You can maybe vaguely tie these together but the connections would be loose at best. I also don’t feel A Swarm of the Sun makes for a particularly good closer either, though I don’t think anything else here would either, so I don’t know. I don’t think it totally falls on its face in terms of overall cohesion but it feels more like a playlist with some editing than a proper disc of music.
EP Score Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Total: 15/30
Song Rankings:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11. Wolverine – Communication Lost
12.
13.
14.
15. Fireproven – Alone in the Dark
16. Keor – Terence
17.
18. Oddarrang – Ohlop
19.
20. Dreaming Madmen – Your Possessor
21.
22. Mother of Millions – Artefact
23. A Swarm of the Sun – The Worms Are Out
24.
25. Voices From the Fuselage – Life on Titan
26. Au4 – So Just Hang On, Beautiful One
27.
28. Frequency Drift – Nine
29.
30.
Key: Bolsters – Puppies – Elite – ariich – Evermind – Dacul
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Hopefully Bosk sends me my special DTF goggles so I can read the yellow tracks.
Use a better theme? :biggrin:
How does that change it? I mean yellow yellow is yellow.
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i'm using the DTFApollo theme so purple is the color that doesn't show up great for me but i can still read it fine enough. it's basically impossible to satisfy every theme anyways.
alternatively get glasses, old man
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Ok, I'll just have to use my...
wait for it...
(https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1391/6981/products/bell-and-howell-day-vision-tac-glasses-health-wellness-eyewear-sunglasses_886_2000x.jpg?v=1570501316)
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I thought that Au4 track was pretty good when I listened to it the other day.
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that's why your EP is the secret 7th place i mentioned earlier
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@TAC: You could also just highlight the text with your mouse ;D
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4th Place: Bolsters – Neon is the New Black (https://mega.nz/#!cEoymSSD!rYl83HdzPobLuyA32lu5EsBJ3TaI0G_Ek0JZZhBlsUw)
1. Perturbator – The New Black
Interlude
First Impressions:
My suspicion with this EP is that it’s going to be 1. very 80’s 2. either a complete miss or a pretty strong hit with nothing in between. The first one I already know I’m right on based on just this intro, but I mean, I recognize a few of these artists. This sets the stage decently enough but if it was any longer it’d probably annoy the hell out of me.
Final Thoughts:
This is the second time I’ve been sent this specific sample in a roulette, which is particularly amusing. The last time was We Made God – II in my second roulette, I believe. I don’t really like usages of samples like this. I’d rather it just be straight instrumental. Anyways. This serves as an intro pretty well. I’m not gonna have much to say about most interludes due to not needing to score them by themselves as well as most of them being pretty brief. I will say I don’t think the transition into the next track is handled that smoothly but it’s a minor gripe.
2. The Midnight – Vampires
First Impressions:
Sax, baby. Aww yeah. Between Dark All Day and Midnight City it’s an instrument that always seems to work well in this style. A bit less convinced on the vocals here though. Not really a fan of his voice. Not a dealbreaker though. I mean, like, more of this is sax soloing than vocal bits anyways. I dunno if I’m super convinced by the synthwave elements of this either, they’re serviceable but not much else.
Final Thoughts:
Well, I mean, I feel like this song gets elevated in my mind simply due to being leagues better than everything else on this EP, for one. Three of the main tracks are instrumental! This definitely feels like the most well-constructed song, at least. It has some kind of verse-chorus structure, though the chorus is a sax hook instead of a proper chorus.
The sax loop on this one can get maybe a bit repetitive with how much it plays but there’s also a fair bit of adhoc-ing and soloing and I mean, if a sax is going to be the most prominent element of a song I’m still already on board for sure, like I said. Aside from the vocal bits of the verses it’s pretty clear the rest of this one is entirely built to highlight the sax leads, too, so it doesn’t feel like it matters so much that the rest of the instrumentation is pretty trite.
And I mean, it does have a good, fun groove to it regardless. I dig the way the instrumentation fades out and then back in during the bridge/extended solo to allow the peak of that solo to serve as an effective climax for the entire song, too. I don’t know what else to say about this one though. It’s… good, for sure, it’s definitely a pretty memorable and catchy track, but I don’t feel like it hits hard enough to be one that’s going to stick with me in the same way as the aforementioned songs do. Still pretty solid though.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
3. Timecop1983 – Before Dawn (Intro)
Interlude
First Impressions:
Uhhh not so sure about this interlude honestly. It feels like it’s trying to be atmospheric but didn’t really actually build up that atmosphere. Like an empty-sounding stellardrone track basically.
Final Thoughts:
I don’t have much to add to this one. It serves its purpose as an interlude. It bridges the two tracks well enough. I don’t know if it needed to be here but I don’t, like, mind having it.
4. Scandroid – Atom & E.E.V.
First Impressions:
There’s something on this that seems like it’s trying to sound like a saxophone but it still sounds like a synth? Or maybe I’m imaging that and it’s just a synth trying to sound like a syn- no there it is again, alright. I’m guessing this is one of the fully instrumental ones though ehh? I don’t really mind it but like you correctly guessed this instrumental style on its own usually isn’t what does it for me. Either it needs some hooks, some atmosphere, or some saxophone apparently. I don’t find it unpleasant but I don’t really find it interesting.
Final Thoughts:
Alright. So, there’s exactly one thing about this song that works for me really well. And it’s just one melodic line. That really liquid synth tone that goes pretty high pitched during the louder moments of the track. The melody it plays there, I like quite a lot, it drives up some decent emotive resonance for me. The one that kicks in at like 10:57 on the overall EP, I mean. That’s good stuff.
The rest of this… it’s alright. I think it changes and shifts about more than I initially gave it credit for, for one thing. There’s all sorts of different passages around the core sound – some really empty, basic moments, some moments with a plucky synth line, the bits that have that kind of sax sound to them, it doesn’t really feel like it’s looping that often even if all the individual segments aren’t that distinct since they’re built around the same groove with not much dynamic variation, but it’s the little things that work here.
The quiet moments also let the louder moments with that really great melody hit pretty well – especially like the second time the song really kicks into full gear, that’s a good drop. I feel like this would make good background music for a video game, it’s got enough melodic hook to it to be somewhat memorable but it’s also not super noisy or aggressively interesting so you can also kind of zone out to it. Maybe that’s the appeal of it. It’s not, like… strongly resonating with me, to be clear, but I did end up liking it more than I expected to.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
5. Timecop1983 – Gone
Interlude
First Impressions:
I like this interlude a lot more. It’s pretty soothing and atmospheric, this time. Exactly what it needs to be. It’s not as good as the M83 interlude on your last EP you sent me a few roulettes back though.
Final Thoughts:
This one feels… out of place. This is a really happy-sounding track that prefaces a pretty dark-sounding stretch of the EP. Like, even in the context of the story you’ve laid out, the music doesn’t match what’s supposed to be happening here. I like it as a follow-up to the previous track well enough and barring the tonal dissonance it does serve as a pretty good transition but it feels like something else could’ve better fit that purpose.
6. Perturbator – Femme Fatale
First Impressions:
Huh, there’s a neat, laid-back, kinda jazzy vibe to this one. Was not expecting that at all. It’s neat. It’s a fusion I wasn’t really expecting or ever even really heard before, so I wouldn’t be shocked if once the initial freshness of it wears off I’m not feeling it as much, but I dunno, I do quite like the vibe of this. It’s smooth. And it has saxophone. This is secretly the saxophone EP.
Final Thoughts:
“I wouldn’t be shocked if once the initial freshness of it wears off I’m not feeling it as much” indeed because uhh yeah, once you get past “oh, this is a dark jazz synthwave track” it’s… kind of slow? Kind of empty? I honestly can never remember anything about this one or how it sounds, which I can’t say about any of the other tracks on this EP.
Like, the sound itself is… nice. The piano and thick bass tone fit in well with the dark jazz style, and of course the saxophone is nice to have, though it feels a bit downplayed. This really sticks more to that sound than the electronic side of their sound, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing as at its core I prefer this sound more, but…
This just never goes anywhere. If the last track is background music that can still be melodically interesting at times, this is just straight up background music I can only ever enjoy if I’m reeeeally focusing on it, otherwise it mostly just… bores me. It’s, to be clear. Not bad at all, it’s honestly more interesting than some of the other slow jazz songs I’ve had in this roulette, but it’s still just not doing much for me.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
7. Scandroid – Into The Darkness
Interlude
First Impressions:
Scandroid is so far the artist I’ve been least impressed by here so let’s see if this interlude changes that? Aaand it’s already over. This is why I’m not scoring interludes, there’s almost nothing to this (which is fine as it serves its purpose to a bridge) but I have nothing to say about this.
Final Thoughts:
This interlude is so short I basically have nothing to say about it, besides that the transition into the song following it is maybe a touch abrupt? If it ends where I think it ends and the next track starts where I think it does. If not then it’s an interlude with an abrupt transition in it. Either way… it’s fine.
8. Perturbator – Vantablack
First Impressions:
Oh, another Perturbator, and another actually vocal track! This one seems really percussion-heavy moreso than most of the rest on here. I assume there’s gonna be saxophone at some point since that’s been the running theme of the main tracks. I like the moments where this has more layers to it than just the beat but the core of this one isn’t doing a ton for me. A heavier & darker turn towards the end of this one too, hmm. Not sure how I feel about this one yet but it’s at least more interesting than the full-length Scandroid track.
Final Thoughts:
Okay, so this one. The really dark, bassy sound of this is something that can be very hit or miss for me but I think this leans more towards being a hit than not, though it’s not as strong of one as, let’s say, Move Systems by Georgia, which is a song I should hate but don’t. This does have a nice, slow groove to it throughout though that doesn’t stay completely static and thus doesn’t get old over its runtime. So in theory it sounds cool, even if it’s not that emotionally potent.
But oh god… the lyrics… I think this song is going for “dark and sinister” but lines like “please allow me to play with my shiny stainless blade” and “shut up or I'll smash every tooth in your mouth” cross the line from “dark” to “needlessly edgy” and thus kind of laughable and I lose the ability to take this one seriously. Like seriously most of the song kind of accomplishes what it’s trying to do lyrically but you can’t take lines like that with a straight face.
Oh yeah, also, the climax at the end I usually forget about for some reason. It’s a fitting peak for the style of the song, it’s surprisingly heavy and intense too, it’s one of the most energetic moments on this entire EP for one. I guess I’d like this one more if 1. It didn’t come off so “edgy” to a cringe-inducing extent or 2. It was at least a bit more melodically rich so that there was any actual hook to it, I do like the sound and the flow of the song well enough but it loses me at times and was never strongly impressing me to begin with either. It’s at least more memorable than most of the other tracks on here though.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
9. FM-84 – Atlas (Interlude)
Interlude
First Impressions:
Another really short one and I’m honestly not even sure quite where it ended and the next track began, but it’s a nice palette cleanser after the last track’s darker and heavier sound.
Final Thoughts:
This one was already over by the time I finished the writeup for the last one but I think the synth sound on this sounds particularly cheap compared to the rest of the EP. It’s so short that I barely notice it or am bothered by it, though, so yeah whatevs. It’s severe tonal whiplash from the last track but it transitions well into the next track.
10. The Midnight – Tokyo Night Train
First Impressions:
Reading through your story as I’m listening along and apparently this whole arc is the “everything is good now” part of the story which explains why this one’s so bright in sound, haha. The sound of this is… nice but it really does feel kind of insubstantial, there’s no real movement throughout the song besides “it starts soft, gets a bit louder, and then gets softer again”. I’unno. It’s fine.
Final Thoughts:
Uuugggh okay this one’s fallen victim to the “well this one element really annoys me and ruins the entire song” issue. In particular, I got incredibly sick of the main plucky loop that forms the foundation of most of this song. Something about the tone, or the melody, or the way it’s like a weird wave of sound followed by this stiff five-note melody creates a contrast my brain doesn’t like, or, well, I don’t quite know how to rationalize it I guess but boy do I not like it, nor do I like how it’s omnipresent throughout the track, even if it’s drowned out at times.
But then also the song just… doesn’t have much to it. Moreso than any other track on this EP it feels insubstantial. It has as much going on in it as any of the sub-2 minute interludes, but it stretches that amount of content out across a 5-minute runtime for no good reason I can think of. It starts soft, gets a bit louder, and then gets soft again. It has exactly one melodic hook, and it’s the one I don’t like. There’s no real sense of movement throughout the entire track. It doesn’t work as an active listening piece because there’s not enough going on to justify my full attention, but it doesn’t work as background music because the one hook is so distracting and kind of obnoxious.
I don’t… hate this, I don’t think it’s worthy of a below-average score because it’s mostly a harmless piece of music that probably only annoys specifically me and nobody else, and I mean, I think I only started really feeling somewhat negative towards it during my fourth listen, but even at its best it never really rises beyond “inoffensive” and it’s a shocking contrast to how relatively good the other song from the same artist on this EP was, too.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
11. Timecop1983 – After Life (Outro)
Interlude
First Impressions:
It’s amusing to have two artists represented only by interludes here but kind of neat at the same time? I dunno. I like this one too, it’s got some solid atmosphere to it & it fits the brighter sound of the past few tracks well as well. It’s a neat little cooldown track.
Final Thoughts:
This works as an outro for the EP pretty well and it’s a very pleasant piece of music on its own too. It’s got more of a melodic hook than Femme Fatale and more atmosphere than most every other track here too, on its own I’d score it above two of the core tracks on this EP even despite how brief and insubstantial it is because it’s doing exactly what it’s supposed to do and doing it pretty well.
Overall EP Thoughts:
First Impressions:
I do sort of suspect this will play better as a whole than it does as any individual songs as it’s pretty smoothly all tied together for one and there’s a very consistent sound across all the tracks too, but I also can’t say any of the tracks really hit that hard either. It’s surprisingly atmospheric overall really. It’s very different from the EP you sent last time, for sure, despite picking from a lot of the same style. I like it but I don’t know if it’ll impress me enough to win this for you, even with the slight advantage you have. I bet Kattelox would really like this one a lot, though on first listen I’m not quite as enthused, though it’s still pretty interesting and enjoyable.
Final Thoughts:
So yeah, while the end-to-end product is mostly pretty cohesive despite a few weird tonal shifts and one or two transitions that don’t feel too smooth, the individual songs aren’t quite doing as much for me. I’d say I don’t think any of the core songs sound that much alike, there’s definitely a decent variety here in terms of sounds without any of them ever feeling too out of place either, but there is still at least an undercurrent of saminess across the entire EP. The EP sort of feels like it basically peters out the longer it goes on though, with most every track impressing me less than the one before it. If I was giving out this extra score for the EP overall it’d get just a 3/5 equivalent rating, but since these last 5 points are more focused on how well it functions as a whole, I feel it deserves a bit better than that, though it’s not perfect in that aspect either.
EP Score Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Qualification Bonus: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Total: 17/30
Song Rankings:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10. The Midnight – Vampires
11. Wolverine – Communication Lost
12.
13.
14.
15. Fireproven – Alone in the Dark
16. Keor – Terence
17. Perturbator – Vantablack
18. Oddarrang – Ohlop
19.
20. Dreaming Madmen – Your Possessor
21. Scandroid – Atom & E.E.V.
22. Mother of Millions – Artefact
23. A Swarm of the Sun – The Worms Are Out
24. Perturbator – Femme Fatale
25. Voices From the Fuselage – Life on Titan
26. Au4 – So Just Hang On, Beautiful One
27.
28. Frequency Drift – Nine
29.
30. The Midnight – Tokyo Night Train
Key: Bolsters – Puppies – Elite – ariich – Evermind – Dacul
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:corn
I like how ridiculously detailed your rite-ups are. Well, I suppose they could be even more detailed, but, you know. Quite a lot of words still.
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mostly i am just trying to write as i listen & get as many thoughts out as i can
the writeups for the EP songs are a bit sloppier because i didn't have time after each song to finish a writeup like i normally do but it's fine
i'll post #3 before i leave for my flight this evening so if i die in a plane crash you'll never know who won but you'll know who didn't
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3rd Place: Elite – Progdeathpop: Congrats [insert participant name] (https://1drv.ms/u/s!Ag0Y0Zf-NtHt6GhTpjgf0dsTPs3q?e=zEGVpO)
1. Deathcrush – Ego
First Impressions:
Well I have a decent idea how this is going to sound just from the EP name, hah. Like yeah exactly what it says on the tin, this is a poppy little track but then there’s some roaring metal guitars in the background. I’m not sure what part of this is prog though, but maybe that’s other songs on the EP, shrug. I think the biggest problem this has is that the groove never seems to change at all and it wasn’t even that good a groove to begin with.
Final Thoughts:
I… don’t get it. Like, the more I listen to this one the more boring I find it. I don’t know what to say beyond that. It has exactly one groove to it and that groove never really changes through the course of the song. The guitar texture is solid but it’s so downplayed and not ever really the focus. It does make this more interesting than it’d be without it, sure, but not by a lot.
And the vocals… they’re okay. They’re a bit, I dunno how best to put this… snarky? For my tastes. I feel like the vocals could be some singer from 80’s synthpop, and not like, throwback 80’s styled synthpop, but like, what female singers sounded like back then. It’s not a tone I care for and honestly the chorus started getting on my nerves after a while.
It also never really feels like it goes anywhere, like it’s a lot of buildup to a payoff that never comes. The roaring guitars towards the end seem to want to make me think this is some kind of climax but it’s not satisfying. I dunno. It’s not unpleasant to listen to and it’s brief enough that I’m not really mad at it, but aside from the guitar texture there’s not really anything about this I find appealing. I honestly didn’t expect to rate this one quite so low but nah, it kinda deserves it.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
2. Agent Fresco – He Is Listening
Interlude
First Impressions:
Man I don’t remember Agent Fresco being this heavy. I mean, I honestly should probably go check them out again sometime, it’s been… a while. This one was only like a minute long apparently and I’m not exactly sure where it ended.
Final Thoughts:
I think this serves as a good lead-in to the next track, though it does feel a bit disconnected from the one that came before that. That’s about all I really have to say on it. It’s a tiny instrumental track that’s mostly just a jagged riff for 30 seconds and then it’s done.
3. 22 – Call Me Trimtab
First Impressions:
Okay, so I thought the start of this was part of the Agent Fresco track at first but apparently not, that’s a pretty solid & punchy riff kicking this one off though, yeah. This is a big improvement from the first track really, I always dig this kind of chordy guitar riff-driven groove and this one’s just pretty fun. Could honestly be a song off The Congregation if that album was happy instead of dark.
Final Thoughts:
This one’s real fun. Easily one of the two big highlights on this EP for me. This is what I imagine when I think of “progpop” though I definitely wouldn’t call it “death” to any capacity, but then, nothing on the EP is really “death” and I’m not sure where that aspect of the name even comes from but y’know whatever.
Anyways that guitar riff that forms the foundation of the song is really fun. It’s no wonder I mistook this for part of the Agent Fresco song the first time as it feels like it would fit in well with what I remember from them. It keeps the song groovy but also constantly shifting because the chords don’t line up the same way all the time, it really is the same reason I like Leprous’ metal stuff so much (and djent could take some pages from this sound and be actually, y’know, fun with its grooves in this way).
The vocals are also tons of fun too, I don’t think any melodies are particularly strong but there’s a lot of force to the delivery mixed in with the carefree & kinda smooth vibe throughout. Also shoutout to the bass, which pulls a lot of weight, especially during the bridge, though the verses as well. And really the rest of the song. Really all the instrumentation is cool here, the drums play off the rhythm of the guitars well while not just being doubling for the rhythm & keep the steady 4/4 going in contrast, it all just comes together well.
So yeah if the entire EP was like this one I think I’d like it a lot more than I do? Fun stuff. Gonna have to check out these guys, I’ve heard a bit about them already from DTF too but never actually checked ‘em out and I definitely need to correct that.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
4. Port Noir – 13
First Impressions:
Well, I think this one started since the sound & vocals changed. Gotta be honest from the start of this I’m getting some nu-metal vibes off this and I’m not sure how I feel about that, but mostly not, good. The groove is… alright, but I’m not so sure about these vocals lol. Yeah, this one’s not bad but it’s not really doing much for me either, at least not on first listen. Maybe it’ll grow on me.
Final Thoughts:
Uuugh so one thing I’ve been finding lately is I don’t like music that sounds “meat-headed” like this. Bro-y or kind of mindlessly, aggressively male. That’s how these kind of riffs and this song in general comes off to me honestly. The vocals aren’t quite there, the dude’s got a kind of weird accent that, without checking, I’d guess I’d say is Australian? Apparently they’re Swedish, after checking. Sure thing. Shouldn’t be surprised by that but I would’ve never guessed it.
Also the “wah-wah” effect that plays throughout the quieter moments got super annoying on this one too. That’s the specific thing that makes it sound uncomfortably nu-metal-y to me. Most of the moments without it are honestly fine even if I’m not super into them. The instrumental bridge has some nice heavy riffing and something resembling a solo even. And the chorus does have a good vocal line. I’m not all negative on this one, I promise. I thought I would be more negative towards it than I eventually ended up being, actually.
But I just. Don’t mesh with this style in general. There’s elements of this that work, but not enough to make me want to ever listen to this one again, either. Remove the wah-wah effect and it’d probably score slightly higher, but as is it’s just… meh.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
5. Blood Command - S01E02.Return.Of.The.Arsonist.720p.HDTV.x264
First Impressions:
Hmm that was a transition alright, a bit abrupt but Sure. The vocals of these are like, pop punk. Really high-pitched pop punk. That’s kinda the vibe I get from this entire one actually, it’s not metal as much as it is pop punk. That’s fine I suppose, pop punk is like diet post-hardcore and this one’s upbeat and fun enough. I dig it well enough.
Final Thoughts:
Okay, I’m gonna say it. This is straight up just a Coheed track from like, In Keeping Secrets or so. I don’t mean that as a bad thing, obviously. That’s the best Coheed album. This has a ton of fun, driving energy to it, and it’s also just coincidentally up the alley of pop punk/post-hardcore goodness I’ve been particularly into lately. It’s probably the simplest song on this entire EP… well, maybe not moreso than Deathcrush, but the rest for sure.
I like the vocals a lot, both the lead vocalist and the whoa-ohs going on in the background of the chorus too, that’s probably the element that makes it sound most like Coheed to me, which, good. The guitar riffing is strong and punchy, the energy is infectious, the song is already over goddammit. Yeah, this one’s short and that’s honestly my only real gripe with it, it’s over and done way too soon. But I mean. If your only real problem is that I want more that mostly just tells me that the song’s real good, okay.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
6. Major Parkinson – Isabel: A Report to an Academy
First Impressions:
Man it sucks I’m gonna have to give this apparently 9 or so minute song the same relative impact on the final score as the 3 minute songs here. Not much I can do about that with the scoring system I’m using here I guess! This had a neat vibe going on but what the actual heck are those gruff, deep vocals. They go away quickly but wow I hate it. On the flipside I like the strings and flutes(?) in the instrumentation here. This one kinda seems to be just all over the place really. I feel like it’s gonna be hard to form a strong opinion on until I get a better grasp of the entire thing.
Final Thoughts:
Is this from a concept album or something? It feels like it’s supposed to be, but without the context I really have no clue. It’s… kind of cheesy if it isn’t, admittedly. Mostly I don’t like the male vocalist on this one very much. He’s like, halfway between like, straight up talking and doing growled vocals and it just sounds… not great. The lyrics that I can make out are part of what make this sound so cheesy, I think. “Darwin didn't love you very much” is a really sick burn despite its cheesiness though, I guess.
The way this one sounds is very… prog, for sure. I feel like it comes off really emotionally dry, but on the other hand the instrumentation is so diverse and layered and complex I also can’t help but enjoy it a lot? And it does coalesce together for a more straightforward and dense sound on the chorus without feeling like a huge style shift from the stiffer, more jagged sounds of the rest of the song.
The bridge is probably the weirdest part of this… I’m not too into the “call her call her” vocal bits (or the male vocals before this, but we’ve already covered that), but there’s also a lot of instrumental moments here I like. The solo right after that bit, and the synth-y marching rhythm of the section that immediately follows are both really cool.
I think that’s just a good microcosm of my opinions on this song as a whole. Clinically it’s got really good and interesting instrumentation and I’m definitely noticing new things about it every listen, but it’s often not really striving to be that emotionally captivating and the vocals are very hit-and-miss with more misses than hits. I don’t even mind that the music can be dry at points as it does make the song overall more dynamic, the chorus hits harder because the rest of the song isn’t so lush and the verses and bridge are more striking because they contrast with the pretty, anthemic chorus so much. And it’s still overall cohesive.
I do mind the vocals though. They do bring this down a notch for me, albeit they’re ignorable enough some of the time to not be a huge detriment to the song overall, they don’t sink it to the level of a 0 for sure. But I’m definitely at least interested in the sound here… even if, as I’m worrying, the vocals on the rest of the album are like this and are as unlistenable to me as they are here.
Oh and super cool ending as well btw. That’s just a great way to end a song, “everything goes absolutely insane and falls apart gloriously”.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Overall EP Thoughts:
First Impressions:
On the whole it feels really like a mixed bag. Two songs I’m already pretty meh on, two more that are fun and upbeat and I like, the last is a big long one that I mostly like the sound of but it has some weird bits I’m not so sure about. The transitions are smooth mostly but there was the one that felt a bit abrupt too. It’s also fairly short so it’s not gonna be a pain to relisten to, either. This one seems really hit or miss on first listen, albeit the misses aren’t huge misses and they’re more than outweighed by the hits, and I suspect this will grow on me with relistens too.
Final Thoughts:
This is stylistically a mess, I do see some vague throughlines across the EP overall in terms of style but Major Parkinson is not at all connected to anything that came before and Deathcrush barely fits in too. The flow’s… mostly solid. I think Deathcrush into Agent Fresco doesn’t work too well, and the transition between Port Noir and Blood Command is a bit jerky, but all the other transitions work fine, and the track ordering makes sense overall, the quiet opener, a faster, peppier interlude & track to kick things into full gear, a slower track before the most upbeat moment, and the big long prog epic closing things off. It mostly functions as a unit, aside from the stylistic inconsistencies, but I don’t think it stumbles too hard in any one category to be deserving of a really low score here, though it’s among the least cohesive of any of the EPs overall regardless.
EP Score Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Qualification Bonus: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Total: 18/30
Song Rankings:
1.
2.
3. Blood Command - S01E02.Return.Of.The.Arsonist.720p.HDTV.x264
4.
5.
6. 22 – Call Me Trimtab
7.
8.
9.
10. The Midnight – Vampires
11. Wolverine – Communication Lost
12. Major Parkinson – Isabel: A Report to an Academy
13.
14.
15. Fireproven – Alone in the Dark
16. Keor – Terence
17. Perturbator – Vantablack
18. Oddarrang – Ohlop
19.
20. Dreaming Madmen – Your Possessor
21. Scandroid – Atom & E.E.V.
22. Mother of Millions – Artefact
23. A Swarm of the Sun – The Worms Are Out
24. Perturbator – Femme Fatale
25. Voices From the Fuselage – Life on Titan
26. Au4 – So Just Hang On, Beautiful One
27. Port Noir – 13
28. Frequency Drift – Nine
29. Deathcrush – Ego
30. The Midnight – Tokyo Night Train
Key: Bolsters – Puppies – Elite – ariich – Evermind – Dacul
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:2hammer:
:corn
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Hurray
Now what?
Happy new year’
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Either Puppies or Dacul wins next. Both have placed 2nd in my roulettes before, one of them is about to repeat that feat :corn
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Well, thanks for having me again and not booting me out unceremoniously in Round 1 this time. :lol
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:itsatrap:
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:caffeine:
:lemmeseeurwarface:
:panicattack:
Kill me!
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Dang, didn't expect to do this well. Congrats puppies!
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I'm not gonna post until it's 2020 in my time zone
Might wait until tomorrow morning tbh I am tired
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Okay, so I just read through all of that write-up. Fair assessments on all tracks, I think. I personally believe the Port Noir track is the weakest of the bunch and the Deathcrush one is actually better than you make it out to be, though my intention was for it to serve as an 'opener', and apparently, it didn't really do a good job :lol
In hindisght I maybe should not have included those two tracks at all and perhaps the whole EP would have been better with an additional 22, Agent Fresco or Major Parkinson song. I was too hellbent on getting 5 different artists on there I guess, that I didn't even really consider this option. As for the EP title, it was kind of a joke. I originally had a different Deathcrush song on there which is a fair bit heavier, but it's also a lot shorter and didn't fit as well. I actually tried fitting a Godflesh song on there for fun, but it didn't work at all. So the 'death' in the title wasn't really on the EP in the end, apart from in the first track's band-name. I think 'Progpop' is quite fitting. The second half of the title 'Congrats [insert participant name]' even more so.
I was personally quite pleased with the flow of the final product. The Agent Fresco song was only really added as a better transition from 'Ego' to 'Call Me Trimtab' and the editing I did actually helped. (I cut off the last 15 or so seconds of the Agent Fresco track). I'm glad there was something for you to enjoy!
Thanks for having me. 3rd place isn't too bad :biggrin:
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Woot, top 5! :metal
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2nd Place: Dacul – what i love (https://mega.nz/#F!LAclxSQY!MpEaKahLV78sLkWkMEticw)
1. Jeff Buckley – Grace
First Impressions:
Congrats on being the only one to send me a set of songs instead of one edited EP. And the only person to break the rules and send an EP over 45 minutes long. I don’t actually care either way since if it all flows well together enough or is sequenced naturally enough it’s not gonna bother me ANYWAYS. How isn’t this banned. I really don’t know how I’ve never heard this one. ‘Cause I mean I definitely haven’t, I don’t recognize it at all. And I mean yeah it’s good. I’m not gonna go against like, decades of critical consensus on that one lol. I dunno what else to say, it builds to a nice and kind of chaotic climax and I thought that was cool.
Final Thoughts:
Admittedly I don’t think this kind of song was initially what I was expecting from Jeff Buckley but now having gotten used to it, yes, it’s pretty good. For one Buckley is a very expressive and dynamic singer throughout, selling both the calmer bits and the louder bits well with different styles of delivery. I don’t think there’s any melodies that stick out besides the repeated “wait in the fire” line though.
The rest of the instrumentation works well too, I don’t ever feel like any of the instruments are going out of their way to stand out that strongly but there’s usually at least something small going on with one of them at any given time. The guitars dominate the most, alternating between a noodly guitar line and some chordy strumming, the drums drive a simple groove, the bass… is there. I dunno, the instrumentation really isn’t the focus here but it’s solid.
The buildup and climax of this one are the absolute highlights where the drums start going wild and Buckley goes even wilder with his performance, practically doing with his voice what you’d expect a guitar solo to do in any other song. It makes for a satisfying climax for sure. Overall I do like this one, it’s probably one of the most borderline tracks here for whether it deserves a 3 or a 4 since I don’t know if I feel it quite that strongly, but I’m gonna err towards the positive here, I think, just comparing it to every other song I’ve ranked thus far.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
2. Jeff Buckley – Corpus Christi Carol
Interlude
First Impressions:
This is a pretty big contrast to the last song if that’s what you were going for. I dunno if it does much for me on its own, but. It does segue into the next song pretty well.
Final Thoughts:
Yeah honestly this one doesn’t do anything for me at all. It’s an interlude for sure. I think the overall EP flow would’ve been improved by cutting it, it’s a bit long and a bit empty and I don’t even really like how the vocals sound here either. Just not for me. I’m not scoring it though, fortunately for you.
3. Florence + the Machine – Seven Devils
First Impressions:
Man right out the gate there’s a lot more fire to this one than I was expecting, though I’m not sure -what- I was expecting. It’s not like I’ve ever listened to that much Florence, to be fair. I… like the general sound of this, but I also feel like there’s not a lot of… movement, it starts out pretty heavy and then just stays there for pretty much its entire runtime, unless I forgot something. It’s a good sound but it can’t sustain my interest for 5 minutes.
Final Thoughts:
I don’t think my thoughts on this one have changed much since the first impression but, well, I’ll try to elaborate, I guess. There’s a good, booming sound to this overall, percussion and piano driving a broad and dark sonic landscape pretty consistently, with some touches of sinister strings serving as a bit of a backing track. That’s… pretty much the entire instrumentation, sometimes the piano goes away but that’s most of what changes across the entire track.
Which, for what’s supposed to be a vocally-focused track is fair enough. The vocals in the verses go pretty all-out in terms of delivery and I appreciate them a lot, there’s some repeated melodies but also lots of little variations in the delivery that make listening compelling. The chorus is a bit of a letdown in comparison; because she’s trying to harmonize, the delivery is a lot more… flat, it’s a good melody for sure but it doesn’t quite work for me on the delivery, even if the overall sound of the chorus is nice and expansive and solidly powerful.
The climax that occurs after the last chorus is a much better take on what I’d want the actual chorus to sound like, even – it still has the harmonizations of the chorus but the vocals are way more lively and powerful. It’s a lot more satisfying, to say the least. I don’t know if my original comment about it dragging on too long still holds up, I’d say there’s enough here to warrant its length, or at the very least, I wouldn’t want to cut the climax out, and the pacing overall really is fine. It’s just that the overall track can be a bit… monotone and not really with any strong dynamics to back it up either. It’s good, it’s grown on me a little since my first impression too, but it’s not making me interested to dive deeper into Florence’s back catalog.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
4. Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man – Funny Time of Year
First Impressions:
The first two and a half minutes are giving me the impression this is one of those slow-burn songs that’s going to build up into something really intense or climactic by the end. But I’m also prepared to be disappointed. Update: I wasn’t disappointed. Thank you for fulfilling my expectations and being pretty enjoyable at the same time.
Final Thoughts:
Oh god, this one. One of the best songs in the entire round and I don’t think I was expecting that from this one at first. It’s sort of blowing my mind that this is an almost 7 minute song because it’s never felt like it.
The way Gibbons delivers her vocals, paired with the dark and simple, but effective instrumentation, kind of gives me chills, especially with the delivery of the song’s title. She’s really the reason this one works as well as it does. Both in the more subtle quiet moments and the roaring louder moments towards the end, her delivery escalates as the song does and even with how massive the production gets towards the end it never feels like the instrumentation overpowers her.
Speaking of the instrumentation itself… this is one of the best-executed slow builds I’ve heard in a while. It goes from basically nothing at the start to this huge wall of guitars and organ by the end, without any real interruption to the build across the entire track. The drums retain this kind of chill vibe throughout yet still build enough to hit hard enough during the climax as well.
I dunno, there really isn’t a ton to talk about with this one I feel, it’s just a good song that knows what the hell it’s doing and executes on its premise pretty excellently. I don’t think I like it or feel it quite enough to give it top marks here but it’s pretty dang good all the same.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
5. Set Fire to Flames – Fading Lights Are Fading... / Reign Rebuilder [Tail Out]
Interlude
First Impressions:
I’m pretty sure the last two tracks are gonna be instrumental too from what I know of the artists so I guess the vocals are done now. This is a nice interlude.
Final Thoughts:
Due to the similar styles I always think this one is the intro to City in the Lake at first if I’m not paying close enough attention. Which is to say that it does serve as a pretty good transition between these two songs, it picks up from the quiet outro of the previous track and develops a string-driven modern classical sound that City in the Lake then capitalizes on pretty well. On its own it’s… a solid piece of music, though it really does sound more like an intro that a full track on its own, even if I suspect from the title it’s actually an outro on the album it’s from? Nice track though all the same.
6. Kashiwa Daisuke – City in the Lake
First Impressions:
I checked out the first program music from Kashi Dashi in the past but it wasn’t quite my thing from what I recall. This seems to be… hmm. 5 minutes of gentle piano & strings stuff then it just decided “ok jazz time now”. I think my opinion on this one right now is the same as it was when I first listened to program music: this is very nice music that just doesn’t really evoke anything in me emotionally. I dunno. Maybe I’ll warm up to it but I also don’t get why it’s as long as it is and frankly I lost my ability to focus on it several times during the course of listening to it, dunno what to say.
Final Thoughts:
Aaand the longest song of the round, and one of the longest of the roulette (beaten only by Anna Von Hausswolff I believe!). And it’s one that I feel is a bit hard to talk about considering it’s 14 minutes and completely instrumental. Which is 1. a lot of time to write about one song 2. a lot of one song, but we’ll see.
I think one thing I appreciate about this first and foremost is how it develops its central motif across the track – there’s the quiet piano rendition of it at the very start, but it recurs throughout the rest of the track to give the long journey a pretty consistent throughline and feel overall cohesive even with the style shifts and tonal shifts. Basically the first 5 minutes of the song are dedicated to the quiet bits of this defining this motif and building a very pretty sound around it. I do like how this transitions into the next movement as well, with the bass being the most prominent instrument right before the tempo shift.
The jazzy bit is pretty fun and probably the most immediately striking part of the entire piece, since it does kind of come out of nowhere without feeling completely out of place either – the piano and strings are still here, and the strings when they come in are doing a reprise of the main motif for a bit before breaking out into a pretty groovy solo. I do like the first movement of the song well enough but it doesn’t feel like it has that much personality, but this movement absolutely has that personality in spades and it’s all the more fun for it. There’s a real nice build that happens on top of the quick build as the main motif takes over again too, it’s a satisfying early peak for the song.
The song pulls back to let a slower paced third movement transition the song back more to a sound similar to its first movement, with the piano taking over entirely playing a variation on the main motif with lots of little flourishes and a lower-pitched melodic counterpoint accompanying the motif. The strings really own most of the third movement though, fading in on top of the pianos slowly until there’s something like 5 or 6 layers of them all playing competing melodies and coalescing into a pretty satisfying build and climax. With that main motif eventually breaking through the wall of sound as a finishing touch, too. It’s a very satisfying climax.
I think if I have to say one thing it’s that I appreciate this more than I think I actually like it? It’s a very well-composed and structured piece and it stirs up a variety of emotions in me but nothing about this ever feels like it knocks it out of the park, or even does as much for me as the simpler, half-as-long track that precedes it. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely do think it’s quite good and does work for me pretty well, and I definitely appreciate how intricate and competent the composition is, but it is also a bit slow paced and really takes its time with a lot of the builds in a way that I really need the patience for to appreciate, which I don’t always have. I guess what I’m trying to say is that uuuhhh. I don’t know. It’s very good.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
7. Nils Frahm – Says
First Impressions:
I don’t think I’ve ever been impressed with any Nils Frahm you’ve sent me but kudos for having the guts to, like, keep sending him. This is… alright, but I gotta be honest it sounds like the kind of music I put on at night to help me get to sleep, very repetitive and atmospheric but intentionally lacking emotional connection so it doesn’t keep me awake. It’s not… unpleasant at all, I like how it sounds but it’s impossible to actively write about and probably not possible to actively enjoy either, at least for me. Also what’s up with the random applause at the end.
Final Thoughts:
This is a weird and risky choice for a roulette song in general, much less a closer to an EP that’s already seen two tracks before it that would make effective closers on their own. If the last track requires a decent bit of patience to appreciate, this one requires five times as much as it is literally ambient music with one loooong, rather slow build. And in terms of satisfying the itch for a hypnotic, chill sort of vibe it does do that very well, don’t get me wrong, but also… if I want something more active, or I’m listening to it with the intent of writing about it alongside my listen, then it’s a bit more of a struggle.
Like, if I was half-asleep listening to this and needing something to help me relax it’d probably be amazing. I have music like that in my library that I use primarily for that purpose but it also just sounds fantastic in the right state of mind, which I absolutely am not in, especially after the more active and detailed tracks preceding it on the EP. It also takes its time to really start building up – the first half isn’t particularly dynamic, having a piano line accompanying the looping synth line but never escalating past that.
There’s a lot more movement in the second half, with lots of layers of synths coming in as well as modulations on the main synth line to give it a real good sense of escalation and even some melodic shifts as it goes on. I do think there’s a fair bit to the back half of this that I enjoy quite a lot but the fact that it takes half the song to start getting to the bits that do work for me quite well in an active listening mindset kind of just makes me wish the first half was cut in half. The absolute peak of the song with the highest-pitched synth lines and the piano coming in to join is very lush and surprisingly potent too. The song does eventually hit the mark but I’m frustrated at how empty the first half is, mostly, I guess. Also you could’ve probably edited out the applause for the sake of the EP, it makes for a real awkward ending.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Overall EP Thoughts:
First Impressions:
Hmmm this really does kind of feel like a mishmash, there’s some overarching flow to this but the majority of it is instrumental and it feels like all the strongest stuff (or at least what interests me more) is in the first 20 minutes exclusively. I don’t really see a throughline to any of the tracks either, I mean they’re not stylistically incompatible but they’re basically all in a different style and only the first three feel that connected. Conflicted what to think of this as it starts pretty strong but then loses me in its back half with sounds that just don’t appeal to me, and feels like a bit of a mess as a whole.
Final Thoughts:
Well yeah this one still feels more like a playlist than anything, but there’s at least some cohesion? Or at least, pairs of songs that fit well together. Namely, Grace & Funny Time of Year, Corpus Christi Carol & Seven Devils, the Set Fire to Flames track & City in the Lake, though Says doesn’t have any appropriate twin but I think that’s fine, it kind of fits in with the general instrumental vibe of the entire back half of this EP well enough anyways. I think there’s at least some stylistic cohesion here in that aside from Seven Devils nothing feels too out of place? I do feel like there’s a very definite side A/side B type of deal going on here, at the very least and if I see it that way it starts feeling more cohesive, which is to say that it kind of feels like two different EPs played back to back. Mmm. There’s also enough diversity here in that no two songs feel particularly alike, even within the pairs I’ve pointed out each has one quieter track paired with one more active track, which makes each song stand out a lot more than other EPs in this round do. I think the organization of the songs on this EP is pretty good, though I don’t know if Says makes for a particularly compelling finale compared to Funny Time of Year or especially City in the Lake, but I don’t know if it’d work as a middle track either so. Ehh. I’m stuck between two scores again and I’m again inclined to lean towards the higher one here, so, yeah, let’s.
EP Score Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Total: 22/30
Song Rankings:
1.
2. Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man – Funny Time of Year
3. Blood Command - S01E02.Return.Of.The.Arsonist.720p.HDTV.x264
4.
5.
6. 22 – Call Me Trimtab
7. Kashiwa Daisuke – City in the Lake
8.
9. Jeff Buckley – Grace
10. The Midnight – Vampires
11. Wolverine – Communication Lost
12. Major Parkinson – Isabel: A Report to an Academy
13. Nils Frahm – Says
14.
15. Fireproven – Alone in the Dark
16. Keor – Terence
17. Perturbator – Vantablack
18. Oddarrang – Ohlop
19. Florence + the Machine – Seven Devils
20. Dreaming Madmen – Your Possessor
21. Scandroid – Atom & E.E.V.
22. Mother of Millions – Artefact
23. A Swarm of the Sun – The Worms Are Out
24. Perturbator – Femme Fatale
25. Voices From the Fuselage – Life on Titan
26. Au4 – So Just Hang On, Beautiful One
27. Port Noir – 13
28. Frequency Drift – Nine
29. Deathcrush – Ego
30. The Midnight – Tokyo Night Train
Key: Bolsters – Puppies – Elite – ariich – Evermind – Dacul
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1st Place: Puppies_On_Acid – Into the Unknown Realms of the Fermi Paradox (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1loHdyXHXyFNi9wFeQdMux3YH5kf2onks)
1. Cavernous Gate – Among the Decayed Grass
First Impressions:
The story seems to not exist yet so I’m just gonna ignore it for the time being. And since I know this is very much some kind of spacey, atmospheric black metal type of EP I’m gonna follow the Abigail Williams rule for now and mostly not comment except for brief thoughts towards the end of/after each track. I was thrown for a loop by the vocals at the start of this but they went into more expected territory as the song went on and got more intense. Which I’m more than fine with, preferable to me really. This is actually going through a lot more shifts than I was expecting, I kinda regret not typing along as I go now. It’s pretty cool. Might be overall a bit sluggish to really work for me in this vein but nah, I’m diggin’ it.
Final Thoughts:
Due to the nature of this EP, it’s kind of hard to say which songs are my favorites or least favorites, honestly, but I think this one has consistently held my interest the most out of all of these just due to its (relatively) more progressive nature than the others. Which, well, isn’t necessarily needed or even necessarily a positive for this style of music, but it does make it inherently more “interesting” to an extent, and it helps that the core sound here really is quite good too.
Like, it’s heavier on the doomier side of atmospheric black metal – mostly slow paced with these really sludgy riffs and the organ makes for an interesting touch as well, and it’s very much melodically driven, both in the vocals and the guitar riffs and, well, the general sound really. And it helps that it has a few recurrent hooks throughout, the first half has this nice verse/chorus structure going on where the main melody gets traded between the vocals and the guitar line.
And when the song kicks into full gear it does do a good job still staying melodic and avoiding falling into the trap of being really monochrome or muddy. The song also doesn’t hold on its faster-paced moments as long so it doesn’t get tiring, and the transition back to a slower pace through the triplet bassline is executed well on top of that, it’s a particularly cool moment in the track.
I think my only real gripe is that… I’unno, it does kind of peter out a little at the end, maybe it works better in the context of the album but the song doesn’t really have a satisfying end to it, it just kind of goes on after it hits its peak and pulls back. I also do wish the heavier parts had a more lush and melodically intense sound to them like some of the other tracks here do, but it’s all minor gripes really, I still enjoy this one quite a bit & it definitely kicks off the overall EP well to boot.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
2. The Crevices Below – Below the Crevices
First Impressions:
Yes I know this is the Midnight Odyssey guy like I said in PM. I haven’t actually checked out his other stuff though. He seemed to not care enough about this project to keep it going so that’s a bit worrisome. There’s a kind of industrial vibe to this one. It’s… different than what I was expecting, for sure. Okay, and there’s the metal. Yeah this is just straight up Midnight Odyssey now. I think it’s a bit rougher than most Midnight Odyssey and doesn’t have as much unique flavor to it beyond the quieter first half or so, but it’s solid black metal all the same.
Final Thoughts:
As far as Dis Pater black metal goes this isn’t as good as the Midnight Odyssey standard and I blame that on it being much more conventionally black metal, and produced as such. Like, even with the more straightforward Midnight Odyssey tracks, there’s usually this specific sound that still sounds very sharp and kind of otherworldly, and while the sound of this has, y’know, some of that, it’s not quite as… ethereal, let’s call it.
I also don’t think the transition from the intro to the main metal meat of the song is handled that well, there’s this sense of foreboding and tension that feels like it should naturally build up to that explosion of metal but it just kind of, happens after a while instead. I feel like it’s a minor gripe since each section is good on its own and it’s not necessarily a sloppy transition either, just not a very satisfying one.
I don’t really have much to say on the sound of this one because, well, it’s a Dis Pater project. It sure as hell sounds like it, same deep raspy vocals, same washed-out guitar riffing sticking to that delicious mid range, a fair bit of intensity balanced with a lot of atmosphere. It’s a good sound, but I also have to compare it to the best of Midnight Odyssey which, well, just nails the lush, atmospheric sound a lot better. This feels like the blueprint for the Midnight Odyssey sound more than anything, even though I think this album came out right around the same time as Funerals.
Anyways. I like it, but the point is that I know the artist in question can and has done better, and it’s also overall a bit too heavy on the bass production-wise, I feel? The higher end does come through but not nearly as strongly as I’d want it. Again, it’s mostly nitpicks here, I’m still definitely gonna check out this project because it’s Good Stuff but it’s not Great Stuff.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
3. Coldworld – Climax of Sorrow
First Impressions:
Coldworld, Darkspace, what’s next, Blackzone? Winterland? This seems to be black metal of the triplet groove variety. Again it’s got a good sound that I’m generally a fan of though. I’m glad we’ve learned that the spacey and bleak but melodic side of black metal is my favorite side, this is gonna be a good EP to just chill out to I feel. This is probably my favorite one so far honestly, I love how massive this sounds during its louder moments but it’s got some nice, ambient quieter moments to balance it out too.
Final Thoughts:
Technically speaking this also sounds like it could just straight up be a Midnight Odyssey song. The production isn’t quite the same but basically everything else about it aesthetically is. The washed-out production with mid-range riffing and some layers of synths, the deeper, raspy growls, the straight triplet groove, this could be a lost Funerals track and I wouldn’t really question it. I did confirm this, in fact, is not another Dis Pater project, too.
Weirdly I do think it does that sound a bit better, mostly due to the triplet groove here being a very natural fit for the style, mixed with the fact that the intense moments of this really rip, turning the kind of relaxed groove into this blisteringly fast storm with the same soothing wall of synths providing melodic contrast to the riffing. I do think the guitar riffing itself suffers during the faster moments, though the guitar leads come in to balance it out nicely and provide that melodic accompaniment, and the drum work gets a fair bit more complex and restrained once they do even though it never quite feels like the intensity is lowered either.
Anyways what I’m trying to say is that this is a very enjoyable albeit pretty straightforward atmospheric black metal track. Best listened to at night. This entire EP is best listened to at night really. I’m doing so right now, on my headphones actually since I’m at my parents’ house and they’re asleep and if I played this as loud as I need to on my speakers they’d yell at me lol. I don’t actually have anything else to say about the song though. It’s good. Is it better than Cavernous Gate? I don’t know, honestly, it’s all very close with this one. They’re actually pretty sonically different overall too. I’ll decide when I post the overall song rankings across every EP, I guess.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
4. Austere – This Dreadful Emptiness
First Impressions:
Oh yeah this definitely has those depressive black metal screams I just don’t… get. I’m getting the sense I’d definitely prefer this one as an instrumental, but the actual sound of it is pretty dang solid. I think there’s a bit too much hihat/cymbal in the mix once the song kicks into full gear also, I’d rather hear the guitars, it’s a little distracting but the atmosphere is still mostly there.
Final Thoughts:
Man the guitar tone on this one, and just the overall sound, is really good, I feel. The level of crunch and fuzz on the guitars is juuuust right so that I can pick apart every rhythmic hit of the guitars just fine but they blend together just right to make this wall of noise that’s exactly what I want out of this kind of sound.
Okay, no, need to break from what I was writing because god damn when the really intense part of this one kicks in it’s just. Stunning, honestly. Mix that guitar texture in with some damn intense but pretty clean drums and the desperate shrieks of the vocals and it’s just. The perfect combination of what I want atmospheric black metal to sound like, honestly? I was going to get to the point in that last paragraph that I think this one has the best “sound” out of every track here but honestly this bit just exemplifies that perfectly.
If I had to nitpick the way the song separates its different musical passages with these short breaks of synth is a bit distracting. It doesn’t completely kill the flow of the song but it is very noticeable when it happens and every time the song is content to immediately shift to a different sound than before right after and there just, had to be a better way to transition, right? Right?
The last section of this is very cool too, it feels like a middle ground between the slower, more measured first section and the monstrous, out-of-control middle section, with constant driving riffs and drumming but not quite at the same frenetic pace. The piano melodies that come in in the background of the riffing are also nice little accentuations, there’s a really rich sonic texture to this segment that I particularly like too. Honestly I really feel that despite being quite good the first section is still the weakest part of this overall, it’s just that consistent and, uhh, great.
Like, what the heck, I’ve liked this one on all the listens I’ve given this thus far but nah, this is definitely the best track here. I don’t think it hits me quite hard enough to be 5/5 worthy (but honestly it’s possible I’m being stricter with those than is really reasonable) but it does get pretty close to it, and I mean, it’s a damn good score all the same.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
5. Mesarthim – Fragmenting
First Impressions:
Like I said I’d already checked out their latest and it was… well, I wasn’t sold on the style, mostly, so I am a bit worried about this one if it’s gonna be more of that same style. And yeah not sure about the synth bit at the start of this but the metal that kicks in is pretty solid, a lot of texture and fire to that guitar tone, wow. The synths work pretty well with the heaviness too, there’s an overall great sound to this. I definitely am more into this than I expected. When it goes back to the synth stuff I am again not so sure though. Electronic stuff in black metal can work well but this is straight up not the kind of electronic stuff I like, it’s like, EDM or something? Ehh. It works fine enough when the metal is there to balance it out though, it’s just that I don’t care for it on its own. A bit frustrated with this one, I think.
Final Thoughts:
The transition between the Austere track and this one is pretty inspired honestly. The Austere track already has this stop-start thing going on throughout and the synthy atmospheric intro of this one mirrors that one perfectly, and then it just picks right up with the same 4/4 driving groove Austere ended with, only with – hear me out here – an even better sound, somehow. This guitar texture is divine and the drum production is friggin’ fantastic on top of that, the sparse bass kicks have a ton of oomph, the hihat is in just the right place, the snare is booming but not overpowering, leaving the guitars to still dominate the mix but not making the drums feel buried either.
And it has that synth line that serves the same purpose that the pianos were serving at the end of the Austere track, melodic accentuations on top of the rich sonic texture that just resonate really damn well. The vocals are again the raspy shrieks I most associate with DSBM, which, Austere also had, so yeah. I could complain about it sounding “samey” but it’s a sound I really, really like so like, I am not at all going to complain.
So if I have all these nice things to say about this song’s sound why did I place it so low on my rankings of this EP? Well.
Eeeehhhh I really just don’t think the more electronic stuff fits here at all. I called it EDM in my first impression but the tone is closer to Trance, I think? Either way. It pretty much dominates the entire third quarter of the song, even when the metal comes back in, and it’s not. Distracting when buried under the guitars but I’d rather it just straight up not be there. I don’t mind the electronic percussion even, so much as just the tone of that synth and the weirdly frantic energy the melody injects into a song that doesn’t quite feel like it needs it.
The last quarter of the song, with the doomier riff and the THUMPTHUMPTHUMP super intense bass is cool too, though. I do think the bass does end up being too loud here, it works better with the sparser hits because they have a lot of oomph but it is definitely overpowering here, though it gives this last stretch a more rhythmic feel to it than the first half had and that does make it at least stand out. I still don’t prefer it to the first half, but it’s cool, it’s cool.
So yeah my overall thoughts on this one: First half is probably a 5/5 on its own just due to the perfect sound and execution, the second half muddies that a little but it doesn’t ruin the song for me either, just brings it down a peg and makes it hard for me to enjoy the piece as a whole quite as much. It’s still better than The Crevices Below but considering I wouldn’t complain if it was trimmed to be like, an 8 minute song with the entire third quarter removed and maybe the last quarter shortened too, which I can’t really say about any song here, I can’t say it quite works for me as well as some of the others here. Still very good though.
Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Overall EP Thoughts:
First Impressions:
I think by this point it’s clear I’ve made my point on what kind of black metal I like the most considering you’re doing your best to play right into the specific sound I prefer, and doing a pretty bang-up job with it, this one overall is a pretty strong EP and I’m already looking forward to revisiting it. It’s gonna be hard to write for since it’s, well, mostly atmospheric, though. I suspect literally nobody else left in the roulette will like this one, but for me it’s going to be hard to top, this is just playing right into a very specific sound I like a hell of a lot.
Final Thoughts:
This is just straight up a good black metal album. It’s longer than most of the other EP’s, it’s definitely at least album length, and it is by no small margin the most cohesive of them all, to the point where, aside from maybe Cavernous Gate, they all aesthetically mesh almost perfectly to the point where they could all be from the same exact artist and I wouldn’t be surprised, and there’s a very consistent aesthetic and sound overall that very much makes it feel like one functional unit. There isn’t necessarily a ton of “transition” work done here but it also doesn’t feel like it needs it because the songs all very naturally start and end and flow together without the need for fancy editing… mostly due to their similar aesthetic overall. I also feel the overall structure of this is laid out well, Cavernous Gate does a good job ramping the EP up and Mesarthim definitely feels like it has the most climactic ending, and there’s a natural progression from least lush to most lush sound across each track too. I uhh. This is definitely among the best EPs I’ve ever been sent in any of my roulettes, maybe the absolute best, I’d have to go back and check. There’s really only one other EP here that I even consider in the equation of being potential competition and I don’t think it’s going to measure up to this one, either. Good job, damn. And this wasn’t even your first choice? What the hell?
EP Score Reward: (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png) (https://i.imgur.com/d1pSazL.png)
Total: 24/30
Song Rankings:
1. Austere – This Dreadful Emptiness
2. Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man – Funny Time of Year
3. Blood Command - S01E02.Return.Of.The.Arsonist.720p.HDTV.x264
4. Cavernous Gate – Among the Decayed Grass
5. Coldworld – Climax of Sorrow
6. 22 – Call Me Trimtab
7. Kashiwa Daisuke – City in the Lake
8. Mesarthim – Fragmenting
9. Jeff Buckley – Grace
10. The Midnight – Vampires
11. Wolverine – Communication Lost
12. Major Parkinson – Isabel: A Report to an Academy
13. Nils Frahm – Says
14. The Crevices Below – Below the Crevices
15. Fireproven – Alone in the Dark
16. Keor – Terence
17. Perturbator – Vantablack
18. Oddarrang – Ohlop
19. Florence + the Machine – Seven Devils
20. Dreaming Madmen – Your Possessor
21. Scandroid – Atom & E.E.V.
22. Mother of Millions – Artefact
23. A Swarm of the Sun – The Worms Are Out
24. Perturbator – Femme Fatale
25. Voices From the Fuselage – Life on Titan
26. Au4 – So Just Hang On, Beautiful One
27. Port Noir – 13
28. Frequency Drift – Nine
29. Deathcrush – Ego
30. The Midnight – Tokyo Night Train
Key: Bolsters – Puppies – Elite – ariich – Evermind – Dacul
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:metardica: Congrats, Puppies_On_Acid! :metardica:
alrignt now that it's 2020 i'm done listening to music forever or at least for a few days bye
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Dang, didn't expect to do this well. Congrats puppies!
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(https://ih1.redbubble.net/image.392173785.6769/flat,550x550,075,f.u5.jpg)
The few criticisms you had are all extremely fair, and for the most part I would agree with you. With the exception of the Trance elements in Fragmenting; I love that!
Anyways, so happy you liked the EP as much as you did. My first EP I sent that got rejected probably would have done much worse, so......you should definitely give it a listen. :metardica:
Edit - Also there is an outtake from the black metal EP. Originally the first track was supposed to be Desert of Absurdity by Mizmor (https://open.spotify.com/track/6IJq4oVGVEq0dEnCMga6LE?si=yuWiatP7R1mumDIGOrD65Q) (AKA מזמור). I couldn't really make it work, though, I'm curious if you enjoy it more than Cavernous Gate.
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spoilers: it would've been banned, i listened to that album a few times :lol
it's a bit too slow for me but i thought it was alright
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Anyway, those are all fair criticisms. I personally really wanted to send that Nils Frahm song but couldn't think of any other place rather than as a closer, and I intended the first half to serve as a sort of interlude after the very intense previous tracks. And the applauses, well, it's a live track, the whole album is, but yeah should have cut it :lol. Hope you dig the Beth Gibbons album, it's so lovely and heartbreaking, and the Jeff Buckley is very varied, plenty of rocking tracks, some ballads, and a weird song (So Real).
Thanks for having me! Was lots of fun sending some of the best and the worst songs. It's also refreshing not getting cut early and even ending up almost winning your roulette.
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Elite, I see the blood command song you sent is off a really short EP, is there a specific album i should check out?
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Yeah, that EP isn't really worth listening to if you've heard the 'title track'. Definitely go with Ghostclocks first and if you like that, the rest of the albums are quite similar, but (in my opinion) a bit less 'honest'(?) I think. It's been a while since I listened to them though, but the first album is the best. They manage to cram a lot of stuff into a post-hardcore, punk-ish sound. The last track on that album in particular is quite the ride. Have fun!
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started on some album listens from the last round...
(https://www.metal-archives.com/images/2/2/7/8/227882.jpg)
oh, this is a reeeal good black metal sound, but the last track is like, a 20 minute drone metal piece instead, which
okay. mmeh. kind of a frustrating ending tbh! will probably check it out again regardless though
(https://media.pitchfork.com/photos/5929bf21c0084474cd0c2fc6/1:1/w_600/e1871030.jpg)
i dunno what to say, this didn't do much for me overall. maybe i wasn't in the right frame of mind, i dunno. maybe, maybe i'll check it out again, but i'm not so sure.
(https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0336419101_10.jpg)
pretty fun and pretty snappy overall, not a lot of it stuck with me on first listen but due to how short it is & how generally up my alley the style is i'm sure i'm gonna spin it again
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Out of Season is def a record for when you want something moody and slow.
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more albums over the past few days
(https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0519970070_10.jpg)
well this is a split and i only listened to the cavernous gate half of it but i like what i've heard. will check it out once they drop, y'know, a proper album. also don't think i didn't see this is from a member of helrunar, meaning you cheated twice in the final round :P
(https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3547715091_5.jpg)
this is basically just one sound for 50ish minutes but, fortunately, a sound i quite like. definitely will be revisiting this one, it's got that ATMOSPHERE baby
(https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0390352433_10.jpg)(https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1141217020_10.jpg)
i listened to both of these back-to-back since they're like full album length together only. cool sound these guys have going, a good take on the prog-pop style. tbh i should go back and check out agent fresco again too, it's been a bit. i don't know if there's gonna be a limb3 or if i should look out for a limb1 + limb2 package or something that feels like something that should exist
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I live by Jingle's rule of roulette. Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat :biggrin:
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Here’s both albums in one package:
https://longbranchrecords.bigcartel.com/product/22-you-are-creating-cd
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(https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0449271257_10.jpg)
decided i might as well listen to all their albums since they're all pretty short. this is... well honestly i didn't find it too memorable or that distinct from the other one i listened to, suspecting these guys are gonna have dance gavin dance syndrome for me where i like them in small doses but full albums lose me. ehh. we'll see
(https://www.besteveralbums.com/albumart/album_large_108763_5876a3bfb43e7.jpg)
this is nice enough music but aside from the two big tracks none of it felt that... song-shaped? i did notice that the one motif was actually running through a lot of the album which is i guess kind of neat but also seems excessive? i don't think i'll revisit this but it was fine
(https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3611060331_10.jpg)
i think the synth stuff on the last track is the most intrusive across the entire album for me, actually, a lot of the rest of this i didn't mind it & it's still a good black metal sound overall, so yeah, odds are this is gonna get a follow-up from me as well. liked this more than the album they put out last year, too
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Yeah that's fair, I love the album but I can see why it wouldn't attract you much. Curious to see what you'll think of Grace.
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(https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/jeffbuckley_grace.jpg?quality=80&w=807)
this is the worst album i've ever heard.
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:vomitard:
just kidding, it's quite good. i always expecting his stuff to be more singer-songwriter than it is bcuz of hallelujah but this has a good rock edge to it. i think the rest of the album after hallelujah isn't as strong but the first half or so is great stuff pretty consistently
(https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2817758500_10.jpg)
aside from vampires, which is quite good, maybe should've given it a 4 in hindsight but w/e, the rest of this... either does nothing for me or actively annoys me in a few spots. not surprised, but, shrug
(https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a4038454641_10.jpg)
alright, so apparently they switched singers between the previous album and this one and yyyyeah i like this singer a lot more. this album felt a lot more interesting overall, in general. a bit more varied, a lot of hype stuff, saxophone on the outro like a boss. i'm gonna revisit this one and the first one again at least but i feel like i'm probably gonna settle on this one first
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Yeah I was surprised to hear more rock songs than expected, such a great record.
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hey i had two more albums but got distracted bcuz i started getting stuff in the mail
(https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2531287459_10.jpg)
couldn't get past the vocals on this one and the drums on the second track were painful for some reason but otherwise it's... kinda neat? the song i was sent and the finale i both liked. i don't feel like revisiting it though
(https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1749577515_10.jpg)
i sort of see why you sent the song off this you did since the rest isn't as fast-paced, closer to doom metal than anything it felt like? i didn't dislike it and it definitely has dis pater's style but i have had my fill of midnight odyssey for the year now and this is just diet midnight odyssey really
i may eventually check out other albums from the roulette but i've already got a pretty big backlog atm so who knows
i don't expect to run any roulettes this year tbh but we'll see