RESULTS – ROUND 3 (HEAVY)
Heretic: The Mayan Factor – Jack Nicholson
Rich 3.0 + Other 1.0 = 4.0
This song is pretty damn dark. Nice Radiohead vibe but somewhat unique as well. This song has such a great build, the sound just gets bigger and bigger throughout the entire duration of the song. In a way it’s a bit repetitive, with the same motif repeated over and over, but it works pretty well to create an intense atmosphere. Good stuff.
Anytime now, let’s go song. Today! What round is this again? I could have sworn this was the heavy round. Maybe I'm scoring the wrong round. Yup must be me. 3 minutes plus, still waiting. Wait a second. This is one of those songs that must be "heavy in tone" or some such. Gotcha. My score is also heavy and dark in tone and near the bottom of the scale for this Pearl Jam knock off.
Jingle.boy: Epysode – Obsessions
Rich 2.0 + Other 2.5 = 4.5
Nicely done rock opera here, but nothing that especially stands out other than the female singer who has a damn good voice! The music is slick but pretty straightforward really, and the male singer is impressive but ever so slightly grating after a while! If the full album has more variety than this then I might check it out, as it’s not bad.
The backstory of this video took over 2 minutes, -0.5 for that. It's about the song, people, not the video. It’s good. I hear lots of different bands in this music, which makes me wonder what if anything is original about them. I'm fairly certain Russell Allen could sue this guy and have a case. Then they made a catchy "roll the credits" jingle at the end. Cute.
Zantera: Deftones – Poltergeist
Rich 2.5 + Other 2.5 = 5.0
Pretty heavy song. I’m very familiar with Deftones’ first three albums, but haven’t really heard anything they’ve done since then, and I have to say they’ve refined their sound quite a lot, and are sounding much slicker these days! Doesn’t have such a good melodic climax as some songs on their early albums, but it’s decent stuff still.
I don't know why the Deftones have never clicked with me, I think they're too hung up on being smarty pants about their craft. They've always reminded me of Voivod in that way. Right around 1:57 I like how they move into the little clappy break down. It was ok. Still something about this band trying to be uniquely unique that keeps them from being especially special.
Nekov: Catacombe – Playground Ghosts
Rich 2.0 + Other 2.0 = 4.0
Definitely a good heavy tone at times here, but I think the riffs just don’t have enough in them to carry this song as an instrumental. There isn’t enough going on in the music for me. I think if this was a little tighter and had some good vocals over the top, or if they got more intricate and went full-on post-metal, it could be really good. The melodic stuff is nice though, again just lacking something.
Another one of those heavy-toned ones. It wasn't bad, just not overwhelming. Made me think what Devin's music would sound like instrumental.
kingshmegland: I Mother Earth – Hell & Malfunction
Rich 3.0 + Other 3.0 = 6.0
I don’t really know anything about these guys, but right from the off they remind me a lot of Tool. Not quite in a copycat way though, I think they take a lot of Tool’s vibe but do their own thing (like a nice guitar solo, for example). I like it. It’s a dark song, definitely heavy in tone and sound, and it’s very engaging.
Jingle should be familiar with these cats. He'd also likely tell you most of what was good about them left when Edwin did. Though I did like this vocalist. All very grungy and early 2000's. The little ditty at 3:30 would have been so much better sped up a tad. As you can tell this round, I'm listening and writing. I think I'm going to revise my score. This song got groovy and a whole lot better after halfway. Nice one.
Marvellous G: Bonnie Prince Billie – I See a Darkness
Rich 3.0 + Other 2.0 = 5.0
I was actually sent this song in my first roulette! I liked it but ranked it low because it came in a very strong round, and the song didn’t really go anywhere. My feelings haven’t changed much, in that it’s still a very bleak and melancholy song, and a very attractive one at that. It still doesn’t really go anywhere, but that doesn’t bother me so much in the context of this round.
This song is heavy, in the way the Marty McFly said "heavy" when describing things to Doc Brown. Bob Dylan would find this song "heavy". Or he could be singing about a light bulb burning out while pinching a loaf. Because all of a sudden "there's a darkness".
lonestar: Black Stone Cherry – Such a Shame
Rich 3.0 + Other 2.5 = 5.5
Very nice song, reminds me quite a lot of Alter Bridge. The riffing is good, the performances are really top notch (particularly the vocals), the melodies are nice and the lyrics are pretty dark. I’ve never really paid much attention to Black Stone Cherry, but this is good quality hard rock, so maybe I should give them a proper listen.
Nickelback be proud: thou hast been cloned! I jest. But still, if there's a Nickelback jello mold in that kitchen of yours lonestar, then this little aspic must have fallen out of it. It pumps along at a nice clip but that's about it.
Ultimetalhead: Candlemass – At The Gallows End
Rich 1.5 + Other 3.0 = 4.5
I don’t know if it’s the dated production or the over-the-top vocals (so much vibrato!), but I just couldn’t get into this. It’s not bad, and I can see what you’re saying about being like Black Sabbath but darker, but then I think I appreciate Sabbath a lot more for their originality and for basically creating this style of music.
Candlemass, another band that never clicked with me, always too… something... But I actually turned this one up. Pretty simplistic song, nice doom vibe, some cool wailing vocals. Good stuff.
Gorille:
Rich + Other =
TBC.
TBC.
The scores after round 3:
kingshmegland - 17.5
lonestar - 17
Heretic - 15.5
Ultimetalhead - 15.5
Zantera - 15.5
Nekov - 15
Marvellous G - 15
jingle.boy - 14.5
[Gorille85 – TBC…]
Joe edges ahead! It’s all to play for though, we’re going to have a handful more regular rounds, after which the top 4 will go into playoffs, so you’re all still in the runnings!
Round 4 – Favourite
Simple round this time: send us your current favourite song. The mystery judge promises no smug smarmy bullshit. He will attempt to judge it based on quality, despite the subjectivity of that even (note the word “attempt”). Good luck to all.
This time, we will have a deadline of the 9th January (Wednesday). Ideally send songs much earlier and we can get some pace back again, but we will be posting results on the 10th, and if songs are not in then the score will be zero (unless there is a good genuine reason, of course).
Poll
Topic: Roulette of Champions - FINAL RESULTS, pg 15! (Read 59047 times)