ROUND 2 RESULTSjingle.boy: Flaming Row - Rage Of Despair
This song definitely reminded me of Ayreon with its multiple vocalists (both male and female) and rock-opera lyrics. While I'm not much of an Ayreon fan, this song was pretty cool. It's very good musically, with some great riffs and melodies. My favorite parts were probably the heaviest sections; those riffs mixed with the harsh vocalist were right up my alley. The Dream Theater-esque solo section towards the end was also pretty nice. I don't really know what I think about the female vocals; while there's nothing wrong with them per se, they kinda detract from the overall heaviness and add a bit of that dramatic, rock opera vibe that I'm not a huge fan of. Lyrically, it's a lot less cheesier than something like Ayreon, but since it's a part of a concept album it's a bit hard to judge on its own. Overall this was a pretty good song, but nothing mind-blowing.
Score: 8.0
elefantStone: Nevermore - My Acid Words
This song was interesting in that it's a pretty standard melodic death metal song, but with no harsh vocals. That's something you don't see much of these days. The music is definitely heavy enough; there's plenty of good riffs and head-bangable rhythms. Also, that section before the guitar solo is fucking brutal as hell.
Going back to the vocals, while the clean vocals add some nice melodies, especially in the choruses and the calm section before the previously mentioned brutal part, I think some harsh vocals would have been welcome. The verses are practically begging for them, and they would have made the clean melodies stick out more. Regardless, this song was still pretty badass.
Score: 8.0
senecadawg2: Gallowbraid - Stone Of Remembrance
Ah, the winner of the first round returns! Was this song as good as Architect Of Fortune? Sort answer.......... yes. Not only is this song fantastic, I decided to check out the rest of the EP, and now I'm a fan of a band that has only released a single EP. That's the first time that's ever happened. Obviously, this band sounds a ton like Agalloch, but that's not a bad thing at all. They share a lot of the same qualities; the tasteful black metal elements, the haunting atmosphere, the beautiful acoustic guitars and folk influences... It's all there. If there's one complaint I can come up with for this song it's that it kinda made me realize how similar-sounding most of the bands of this genre sound.
As for this song in particular, there's not a bad section, and it just gets better and better as the song goes on. The section after the acoustic break, that kickass guitar solo, the final chorus and that amazing outro... This is just a fantastic track. You're on a roll man, but don't get too cocky. There's still plenty of rounds left for you to potentially screw up.
Score: 9.0
Lucien: Zero Hour - The Falcon's Cry
...And on the other end of the spectrum, there's this song. *Sigh...* I hoped that it would grow on me a bit, but the whole composition of this song just... baffles me. The best way for me to talk about it is just to go through the song section-by-section. The first two and a half minutes just sound awkward. To me, it just sounds like a bunch of wankery with no real drive, feel, or even energy. There's proggy and experimental, and then there's just sounding like a complete mess. Also, the vocalist continuously screaming
SOMETHING'S GONNA DIIIIIIIIIIIIIE in an annoying wail that doesn't fit the music at all doesn't help much. Then, the song suddenly breaks into a calm section with no real transition whatsoever. At first I thought that it was just a brief, calm chorus, but no. This section goes on for nearly FOUR FREAKING MINUTES with little to no variety at all. I swear that guitarist is just playing the same chord over and over and over again. This section isn't exactly bad, it's just boring as hell. At the six-minute mark, the song finally breaks into what I assume is supposed to be the climax. I say assume, because it's completely weak and underwhelming. Some keyboards or extra melodies would have given it a sense of a climactic feel, but as it is it sounds thin and powerless. And then it goes back to the calm section. And then the song thankfully ends. There's some fragments of a good song in here, but the composition is incredibly sloppy and the execution is awful. Better luck next round, dude.
Score: 6.0
?: Paradise Lost - The Enemy
This is a nice little metal song. It's got a nice tempo and some catchy vocals, and the guitar work is simplistic but quite effective. I especially like the chuggy riffs found in the prechoruses and the section before the guitar solo. There's nothing amazing about this song, but I like it. Simple write-up for a simple song.
Score: 8.0
Nekov: Russian Circles - Geneva
Now this one was really interesting. I really love the mood of this song; the way the instruments blend together to create those unsettling, atmospheric textures is really great. The instrumentation is really cool; the guitars, the bass, and the drums are all doing something interesting and creative. Experimental stuff like this is right up my alley. I'm not sure I would like a whole album full of this stuff (all-instrumental bands aren't really my thing), but this song was great. Keep it up!
Score: 8.5
LieLowTheWantedMan: Melvins - Honey Bucket
Yay, sludge metal! I really like the guitar in this song, it's got that low, gutteral, sludgy tone that I definitely dig. In particular, the main riff in the latter part of the song is really tasty. I definitely get a lot of Mastodon vibes from this song, which is good, because Mastodon is awesome. The vocalist is pretty good too, even though he's barely in the song. (If I didn't bother looking up the band members I would have sworn he was James Hetfield) Anyways, what's the big problem with this song? IT'S TOO DAMN SHORT. This could have been a great song if it branched out a bit more, but it just ends before it gets the chance to. Speaking of which, the ending just comes out of nowhere. Good short songs still have a clear beginning, middle, and end. This song has a beginning and middle, but no real end. There's no climax or signs that the song is over, it just... stops. That was pretty disappointing. This song was short, but it was still pretty sweet.
Score: 7.5
Elite: maudlin of the Well - They Aren't All Beautiful
This song is exactly what I was hoping for from this round: heavy as hell, but in an interesting and memorable way. This is an awesome song with a fantastic mix of brutal and bizarre. The first part of the song is pretty standard death metal, but things just get better and more interesting as the song goes on. That slow part in the middle is great, and then that crazy instrumental section shows up... The first time I heard that, I was sold.
It still manages to be heavy, but it's so wacky at the same time. Brilliant stuff. You guys need to send me more shit like this.
Score: 9.0
Lolzeez: Dir En Grey - Vinushka
This song is still sinking in, but I'm confident in saying it's one of the best submissions I got this round. It's got a great range of dynamics; there's plenty of beautiful quiet sections, and a lot of heavy stuff as well. What really makes this song great is its flow. It's a very slow buildup, gradually getting heavier and more intense until it explodes. Then it goes back to quiet and does it again. I really love songs that do that. The really heavy parts have so much buildup to them that when they do come, they're intense and satisfying as hell. [insert orgasm joke here] I can imagine seeing these guys live and everyone losing their shit once those sections come in. Great song, and I've heard lots of good things about this album. I should check it out sometime.
Score: 8.5
Scorpion: Protest The Hero - Sequoia Throne
I've definitely heard of these guys before. My few complains about this song are likely just traits of this style of music. There's not much song structure to speak of, and the transitions are usually pretty abrupt. There's also a fair share of guitar wankery, but that doesn't really bother me. That said, I do like this song. It's just got a great sense of energy and drive, and some of the sections are really enjoyable, even though they're usually over pretty quickly. I've got no problem with the vocalist, in fact I actually like him. He's got a lot of different styles and he fits the style of music well. That music video is also pretty fun to watch, even though that has nothing to do with the song itself. Pretty cool submission.
Score: 8.0
THE SCORE SO FAR-senecadawg2: 18.0
-Nekov: 17.0
-Elite: 17.0
-elefantStone: 16.5
-Lolzeez: 16.5
-?: 16.0
-LieLowTheWantedMan: 15.5
-Scorpion: 15.5
-jingle.boy: 15.0
-Lucien: 14.5
Senecadawg2 is definitely in the lead, with Elite and Nekov not far behind. It's still anyone's game!
ROUND 3: ATMOSPHERICS & AMBIANCEBased on the results so far, you guys should have noticed that I love atmospheric music. Songs that convey a very vivid mood and image. Some atmospheric songs are light, serene, and peaceful, while others are dark and evil. Regardless of what mood it conveys, you must send me something atmospheric and/or ambient (but not ENTIRELY ambient; it's gotta have some melody to it) Good luck!
Make sure senecadawg2 doesn't win again.
Topic: Buddyhunter1's Roulette of Fun and Tears (But Mostly Fun) - The End! (Read 26824 times)