ROUND 9 RESULTSNihil-MorariImprovement song round 1 (open): Bass Communion – Ghosts On Magnetic Tape IIYou sent me something ambient? That’s brave, since you must have seen that the previous ambient songs I received weren’t ranked that highly. But this is by the master Steven Wilson, so I’m really curious.
Well, it’s pretty beautiful, that’s for sure. But after a few listens, I didn’t want to listen to it anymore. It seems that ambient is just not something for me. I might be able to listen to it when I’m really tired and lying in bed, but every other time, I just can’t listen to this long enough. It’s still good music though, and I really liked it the first few listens.
7.7/10; Previous score: 7.5; Bonus points: 0.2
Open song: Scott Walker – JesseVery interesting lyrics; great, haunting melodies. This is really interesting. Reminded me a bit of Drag Ropes by Storm Corrosion. But holy shit, I almost can’t stand the vocals. Really.
7.0/10
black_floydImprovement song round 8 (garbage): Black Sheep – The Choice Is YoursSlowly, I’m starting to realise that rap is art too and that and sometimes I can even like it. Though this is not amazing, it’s certainly pretty good, and better than your previous entry.
7.4/10; Previous score: 6.6; Bonus points: 0.8
Open song: Rage – Set this World on FirePrett cool metal song with some great riffs, though pretty cheesy. It’s definitely not bad though.
7.5/10
crazyagaImprovement song round 1 (open): Radiohead – The TouristAnother band that I’ve been wanting to check out earlier. My brother listens to them a lot, and I’ve always wanted to like them. Well, this is a nice mellow song. I think the vocals are a bit whiny, but the rest is great. Cool song to listen to, really beautiful.
8.0/10; Previous score: 7.3; Bonus points: 0.7
Open song: Radiohead – Like Spinning PlatesMore Radiohead. That was quite risky; if I wouldn’t have liked Radiohead at all, you would’ve been screwed. But I liked the first song, so let’s see what I think of this.
It’s another great mellow song. I love the piano. But again, I think the vocals are a bit too whiny. But it’s still really beautiful.
8.0/10
lonestarImprovement song round 3 (metal): Shokran – Dark DesertSo, according to the video description, this classifies as djent. Well, I’m really curious, since I haven’t heard much djent yet.
The riffs are pretty cool, and it’s not too repetitive. The solos are pretty cool as well. But I don’t really like the vocals and the song is pretty forgettable. This is better than your first metal entry though.
7.3/10; Previous score: 6.7; Bonus points: 0.6
Open song: Kingcrow – Right BeforeThis is a pretty great song! It definitely has some great melodies and riffs. The vocals are pretty good too. I like it a lot.
8.3/10
ScorpionImprovement song round 2 (melodeath): Swallow the Sun – Out of This Gloomy LightGreat song. I have listened to StS some time ago, but I kinda forgot about them. This song reminded me of why I should start listening to them again. Really dark but still melodeath, with pretty good vocals, great lyrics and some haunting guitars and keys. Especially the keys are great; they keep the melody in the song despite the somewhat plain vocals sometimes. Great song!
8.5/10; Previous score: 7.9; Bonus points: 0.6
Open song: Buckethead – Hills of EternityWow, this song was way more epic than I thought it would be. I’d never listened to Buckethead before, so I didn’t have any expectations or prejudices. The song is really repetitive, but in a good way. It’s really relaxing and just for some time makes you forget your troubles. It’s very beautiful indeed, just fantastic.
8.7/10
MoraWintersoulImprovement song round 3 (metal): Barren Earth – Forlorn WavesThere’s a lot going on in this song. Different kinds of vocals, lots of melody, death/doom bits, prog bits, and even some piano bits. I like this! It’s way better than your first try. I’ll need to check these guys out.
8.5/10 ; Previous score: 7.2; Bonus points: 1.3
Open song: Chroma Key – Another Permanent AdressThis is pretty great. I hadn’t heard any other work by KM before, and this is a lot different from what I’ve heard before obviously. It’s even classified as “electronic” on Wikipedia, which I partly agreed to (lots of keyboards, some bass and guitars). But it’s a great song. Need to check this shit out.
8.2/10
EliteImprovement song round 7 (prog): Moon Safari – HeartlandWow, this is a very uplifting prog song. Really great. I had to get used to the vocals a bit, but I really liked them after a few listens.
8.7/10; Previous score: 7.8; Bonus points: 0.9
Open song: Fair to Midland – Dance of the ManateeEpic proggy song with lots of great metal riffs, great vocals and cool lyrics.
8.9/10
LolzeezImprovement song round 8 (garbage): Aphex Twin – 4I understand why you are trying to improve your round 8 entry, since your previous one wasn’t too good...
Well, it’s better, but not too good still. I hate this kind of electronic beats. The song is boring and yeah, still not good.
5.3/10; Previous score: 4.8; Bonus points: 0.5
Open song: The Mars Volta – Take The Veil CerpinI have tried listening to these guys once, but I thought the vocals were lame. I have never been so wrong. This is great!
9.5/10
Big HathImprovement song round 6 (light): Beyond the Bridge – World of Wonders9.3/10; Previous score: 7.3; Bonus points: 2.0
Open song: Al Di Meola – Suite: Golden DawnWow, I’ve received many instrumentals during this roulette. But this is one of the best. It’s really relaxing, it doesn’t drag, the guitar solos are just epic and the percussion is epic. I also absolutely love the bass and the mixing. Fantastic!
9.3/10
Dr. DTVTImprovement song round 5 (dark): Swallow the Sun – Through Her Silvery BodyThe second StS song I received; I like the other one a bit more.
8.3/10; Previous score: 6.0; Bonus points: a whopping 2.3!
Open song: Blind Guardian – Sacred WorldsThat intro is just amazing. And everything else is very amazing too! This song is very epic indeed. Nice one.
9.1/10
STANDINGSBig Hath 77.6
Scorpion 76.6
Nihil-Morari 75.1
Dr. DTVT 74.9
MoraWintersoul 74.5
crazyaga 74.5
Elite 73.1
black_floyd 72.8
Lolzeez 71.0
lonestar 69.1
FORBIDDEN LIST UPDATEAdded:
Al Di Meola
Barren Earth
Beyond the Bridge
Blind Guardian
Buckethead
Chroma Key
Fair to Midland
Kingcrow
Moon Safari
Radiohead
Swallow the Sun
The Mars Volta
ROUND 10: FINALLY FREEWe need to go out with a bang. So here we go, the round we all (or at least I) have been waiting for. SEND ME AN EPIC! NO TIME LIMIT! I know a few epics that are not on my forbidden list, but I've forgotten some of them probably. These songs may not be sent:
Symphony X - The Odyssey
More might be added later
Deadline is next Thursday, 18:00 CET. Judging this round is going to take a while.