Round 3: EpicsWrite-ups seem to be as epic as the songs this time! This round turned out even better than I was expecting – it had the potential to lend itself to lots of generic prog, but fortunately that didn’t happen, and actually there was hardly any prog at all! The songs that have done best are those that have a very big and epic feel, and those that really build up to a climax, but honestly all 8 songs were top notch.
5 points - orcus116
This Will Destroy You -
A Three-Legged Workhorse (
https://listen.grooveshark.com/#/s/A+Three+Legged+Workhorse/21VQ35)
Wow. Just, wow. This is everything that post-rock should be, in my opinion, and right from the first listen I knew this was going to be doing well this round. The atmosphere that the music creates throughout the whole song is just great, and the textures really give the song a huge feel. There is so much I love about this song: the intro builds up slowly, but it is all so perfectly paced, the music doesn’t even really start until nearly 2 minutes in but when it does, you’re completely ready for it; the song just gets bigger and bigger for the first 6ish minutes, reaching a fairly epic climax, before dying down and then coming back for a big finale. Really wonderful stuff, I’m looking forward to checking out more of this band!
4 points - TheVoxyn
Mono & World's End Girlfriend -
Untitled (aka Trailer 5) (
https://listen.grooveshark.com/s/Part+Five/1VlKsh)
The opening piano chords of this song are really beautiful, and the whole intro with that (and then after the strings have come in) just set the tone for the rest of the song perfectly. The way they add layer after layer in building up the textures and the sounds is pretty incredible. After 12 minutes I realised that I had been listening to one big crescendo and that I wasn’t bored. To be honest, this was such a good song that it was a tough decision over which one to give 5 points, and the only very slight downer with this song is that the pacing isn’t quite as spot on as orcus’ entry. I really can’t fault the build-up, and I was never bored, but by the end, as much as I loved it, I didn’t feel like all that much had happened.
Still, a really excellent song, so I’m going to see if I can find the album because I really want to hear the whole thing.
4 points - antigoon
Brad Mehldau -
Don't Be Sad (
https://listen.grooveshark.com/s/Don+t+Be+Sad/2M9d8y)
Finally some jazz! I’m a big jazz fan (although I guess there isn’t that much of it in my RYM because I don’t know that many whole albums, at least compared to some other genres) from playing saxophone in a couple of bands at uni. I have to say, I wasn’t expecting jazz in the Epics round, but this particular piece fits the theme perfectly, and benefits from many of the same qualities as the two post-rock songs above. The melodies are really lovely, and the instrumentation is great, I just adore the use of the orchestral backing. You’re right about Redman’s tenor sax playing as well, OH GOD IT’S SO GOOD! I don’t know how he gets such a gorgeous tone out of it, but it makes me want to scrap my alto sax, buy a tenor and get practising. The way the song builds up is great, and the feelings that the song evokes are very powerful, especially with some of the strange suspended chords around the 4:30-5:00 mark. Thanks for another terrific entry!
3 points - zxlkho
Ne Obliviscaris -
Forget Not (
https://listen.grooveshark.com/s/Forget+Not/39LxI1)
And again, another song with a terrific build-up, I love the climax towards the end where it almost goes into full-on melodeath. There is definitely a bit of a similarity to Agalloch, but with a few key differences. The use of the lead violin is great and really adds a unique touch to the music, and I like the vocals a lot (have to say the harsh vocals are done much better than Agalloch’s). However, the one thing that is less strong here is the mood; there is definitely an atmosphere, but it isn’t as big or strong as the songs that managed 4 or 5 points this round. That said, I really like it a lot, and the 12 minutes just zoom by. I couldn’t find the album on either Spotify or Grooveshark, so I’m putting it on my to-buy-when-I-have-spare-cash list.
3 points - Ultimetalhead
Superior -
Why (no link)
This is the most straightforward prog metal I received this round, but it fits the theme very well. The opening theme on the piano and vocals is really nice, although slightly cheesy and on the first listen I was worried that the song was going to be quite generic. However, once it gets going it quickly becomes clear that it’s not the case at all, the piano work throughout the song is indeed great, and my favourite thing about the song is the riffing, which rarely takes the forefront but always fits and adds to the music. Definitely a bit of an mid-era DT feel to quite a few parts of the song, but it never feels ripped off, which I guess makes sense as the album came out in 1996 so was actually before. There are a lot of great ideas throughout the song, and it definitely takes the listener on a journey, the reason it hasn’t done better is that it doesn’t convey as much of a big epic feeling as the higher ranked songs in this round.
2 points - sonatafanica
Modest Mouse -
Trucker's Atlas (
https://listen.grooveshark.com/s/Trucker+s+Atlas/eocgB)
This was very close to being a 3-pointer; it was a very tough decision between this and UMH’s song, and in the end I just had to go with what fit the theme better (as you said yourself, Epics isn’t exactly the ideal round for you). I’ve actually been meaning to check out Modest Mouse for a while as I’ve heard a lot of good things about them, and I liked what I heard here. I wasn’t always that keen on the vocals, but they work really well in places, and in general the music is very raw and energetic, and has a great feel to it. It also covers a lot of ground in 7 minutes, and I really like the outro; as I said, the only reason this got 2 points and not 3 is that I didn’t really get much of an epic feel from it. Quality song, just not ideally suited to this round.
2 points - Portrucci
Can -
Halleluhwah (
https://listen.grooveshark.com/s/Halleluhwah/ltxgQ)
Ooh, Krautrock! Again, this song might have done better, and I actually thought I was going to rank it higher when I was first listening through, but after a few listens I just realised it doesn’t keep my attention as well as most of the other songs. That said, it’s a really good bit of 70s rock – and I know you said it’s not prog, but to be honest it still feels very proggy to me, particularly with the fact that it was so ahead of its time, and with the way the keyboards are used throughout, which I loved. The experimental nature of the music is great , and it has a very psychedelic feel in places. I also liked the way it peaked and troughed; the one thing that just brought it down slightly was that it felt surprisingly disjointed. The opening 5 minutes, for example, had a great rise and then fall, and then suddenly it just felt like it was starting again. Still, the ideas were really cool, and I’ve never really listened to much Krautrock, so I’m going to try and check out more of Can’s stuff.
1 point - DTVT
Power of Omens -
Test of Wills (
https://listen.grooveshark.com/s/Test+Of+Wills/2F6lU0)
I do feel a little bad giving this song only 1 point, as there’s a lot of really good stuff in here, it just grabs me less than the other songs do. The opening is fantastic, and creates a great atmosphere to set up the rest of the song. There are also lots of really good ideas throughout the song, and some of the sections are just excellent. I think there are just a couple of things that drag the song down a bit for me: firstly, the production is not that strong, and it means that at times something like the vocals or drums will be a little too much at the forefront which takes away from whatever else is going on; and secondly, the song is quite disjointed. I love that there are so many ideas in the song, but there does not seem to be much development within and between them, it’s almost like the band were bursting with ideas and had to get them all down. Still, this song was on their debut album, and so it’s a shame that they only released one more before stopping, as they seemed to have great potential and could have been a really great band if they’d got to the stage where they streamlined their ideas a little.
Rankings:antigoon – 12
Ultimetalhead - 11
orcus116 - 10
zxlkho - 9
TheVoxyn - 9
DTVT - 7
Portrucci - 7
sonatafanica - 7
Next:Round 4: Lyrics - As I mentioned yesterday, this round is all about lyrics. Send in songs where the lyrics are an important part of why the song is so good, although as always of course the music should also be high quality. The lyrics can be good for any reason you like: powerful, clever, poetic, witty, hilarious, anything, as long as they really add to the overall song.
I know some people are still busy/away so I won't start chasing by PM for a couple of days or so.