Results time!
As I said, these write-ups are pretty lengthy. For my own sake, I’ll probably tone it down a bit from now on (I’m going to be receiving more than sixty songs in this roulette, and typing this much for each of them could be a bit of a hassle
). For now, feel free to skim if you don’t want to read it all.
First I’ll post my thoughts on each song in the order that I received them:
Dr. DTVT: Jolly – ‘Firewell’Between the hard-hitting drums, the driving bass, and the raspy (for lack of a better word) quality of the vocals, this song has a really cool edge to it. The guitar solo kicks all kinds of ass, and the chorus is actually really catchy. I do feel that the song goes on a little longer than it really needs to, and there were a couple short passages where I found myself sort of losing interest. I think it could probably really benefit from just a bit of trimming. Still, overall, this is a pretty awesome song. Definitely gets the adrenaline flowing, and the softer parts provide a great contrast for the edginess of it. I’m not totally in love with it, but it’s got a lot of cool stuff going for it.
Nekov: Subsignal – ‘A New Reliance’What a fun ride! I don’t know if this will make any sense to anybody, but I feel incredibly
free while listening to this song, as if anything could happen. It has a sort of whimsical quality about it. On first listen, it caught me off guard on several occasions, turning in directions that were totally unexpected but that nevertheless felt perfect and natural. I couldn’t wait to find out what was coming next. And even now that I know what’s coming next, after repeated listens, each turn still feels fresh and new and exciting to me. The chorus in particular is fantastic, a breath of fresh air every time I hear it. And the whole thing just has a really unique vibe; I can’t really compare it to anything else I’ve ever heard. In your message, you said this wasn’t a super strong submission. Well, I look forward to hearing your idea of a super strong submission, because I think this song is wonderful. Great rhythms, great flow, great melodies… just, greatness.
Buddyhunter1: Gojira – ‘Oroborus’This is definitely the heaviest submission I received this round, and I appreciate your taking that risk, but I’m afraid it doesn’t do very much for me. It’s a pretty good song, but not much better than pretty good. I think the vocalist does a great job establishing a unique voice for himself – I often find that harsh vocals tend to all sound pretty similar to me, but this guy stands out pretty well. The main riff is sick, too. And the ending is really cool as well, though it doesn’t really seem to fit with the rest of the song. So there’s good stuff here, and overall I can tell that these guys are talented. And I do like heavy music in general, so I don’t want to discourage you from sending more in future rounds if you want to. This song in particular just isn’t quite clicking with me.
jingle.boy: Avantasia – ‘The Wicked Symphony’Wow, this song starts off strong. The intro has a really cool atmosphere, sort of an epic fairy tale feeling, and it sets up beautifully for the rest of the song. I love the way the main riff kind of explodes after the lighter intro. Great stuff. Actually there’s a lot of great stuff in this one. In terms of vocals, this is definitely the strongest submission I received this round, featuring awesome performances from multiple talented singers. The vocal melodies are insanely catchy for a song of this style – the chorus has been stuck in my head off and on for a couple days now, and I’m not even complaining about it. I really feel that the vocalists steal the show here. Don’t get me wrong, the song as lot going for it musically as well, but the vocals are definitely the highlight for me.
lonestar: IQ – ‘Frequency’In your message, you warned me that this group seems to be hit-or-miss for some people. Well, I think you can safely consider me a bullseye, because this song is fucking amazing, plain and simple. Wonderfully atmospheric, with every element – from the smooth vocals to the subtle, dreamlike keyboards – working together in perfect harmony to create a truly beautiful soundscape. Listening to this for the first time, I felt transformed and transported. I don’t know exactly where it took me, but it’s a place I’ve been happy to go back to again and again, as I’ve revisited this song more than any other this round. I keep expecting to get tired of it, but I seem to enjoy it more each time I listen to it. I feel like I could get lost in this song for days. Happily. It blew me away on first listen, and it simply hasn’t stopped blowing me away. I honestly can’t think of enough nice things to say about it. With this song, you’ve set the bar very high for yourself, and I look forward to seeing whether or not you’re able to keep up that high standard.
SomeoneLikeHim: Genesis – ‘Firth of Fifth’Ah, Genesis. This is probably one of those songs that I really should have heard before now. But, alas, I hadn’t. I’ve heard a few Genesis songs here and there over the years, but I’ve never taken the time to explore them in depth. Unfortunately, I’m not a big fan of Peter Gabriel as a vocalist. I know, I know, I’m weird. But I can’t help it; his voice just doesn’t do much for me. Luckily, his vocal contributions are fairly limited on this one, with large portions of the song being purely instrumental. And
musically, this song is gorgeous. The piano intro is downright lovely, I love the flute section, and the whole instrumental section is really nice. I would love to hear an instrumental version of this one. As it is, I’m afraid Gabriel’s vocals do hold me back a bit from totally connecting with the song. Nevertheless, the music itself is exquisite.
adace: Threshold – ‘Ashes’I find I don’t really have a lot to say about this one. For some reason it just doesn’t make much of an impression on me. I enjoy it while I’m listening to it (I’m tapping my feet and headbanging a bit even as I type this), but I just haven’t felt compelled to listen to it much. It’s definitely a solid song, with great drumming, strong vocals, and an awesome guitar solo. Just doesn’t seem to have much staying power for me, unfortunately.
kingshmegland: Enchant – ‘Juggling Knives’This one has been a huge grower for me. On first listen, I didn’t like it very much at all. Contrary to your hopes, I actually found the singer kind of annoying at first. That was a little discouraging, considering you’d specifically mentioned how much you loved him.
But now that I’ve had the chance to get used to his voice, I’ve grown to like it, and I’ve warmed up to the song a lot as a result. In particular, I love the lyrics. I hadn’t paid much attention to them at first, but they’re really, really good. The song also has some really tasty grooves, and the keyboard solo is simply outstanding. So, while I can’t say I
love this song, I’ve definitely grown to like it quite a lot.
Elite: Seventh Wonder – ‘Hide and Seek’Magnificent. In my opinion, this song really embodies the best qualities of progressive music: it goes all over the place, but it always manages to keep a focus on its final destination, and it never seems to take a misstep. It’s always moving forward. Every moment counts. That is really, really impressive for a song with this much going on in it. And it excels on pretty much every level; vocally, lyrically, melodically, technically… homerun performances all around. It’s pretty rare for a song to get everything right, but this one does. Every instrument gets a chance to shine, and there’s never a dull moment. I like the power metal flavors here and there as well, especially in the soaring vocals. Truly a brilliant song. If every song on the album is as good as this one, it’s no mystery to me that you love it so much.
Wolfking: Evergrey – ‘Masterplan’I was kind of hoping somebody would send me some Evergrey. I’ve been interested in exploring them ever since I first heard A Touch of Blessing (which I absolutely fucking love), but for some reason I’ve never gotten around to it. This one isn’t nearly as good as AToB, in my opinion, but it’s still a damn good song. I imagine it must be
amazing live; it has a lot of energy, and the chorus would be a great one for the audience to scream along with. I get chills just thinking about it, actually. I love the drums in this songs; very powerful. I find myself air drumming along with them, even though I know next to nothing about actually playing the drums.
Awesome guitar playing, too. This is definitely a band I’ll be checking out more of.
And now, without further ado, the rankings…
1. lonestar
2. Elite
3. Nekov
4. Wolfking
5. jingle.boy
6. SomeoneLikeHim
7. Dr. DTVT
8. kingshmegland
9. adace
10. Buddyhunter1
Ranking these songs was not easy, because, as you can see from my write-ups, I had very positive opinions of several songs, and I didn’t really
dislike any of them. In fact, if I was rating them on a scale of one to ten, none of these songs would score lower than a six. But I’m not rating them, I’m ranking them, and that means somebody has to be in last place. Sorry Buddyhunter. But eliminations don’t start until next round, so you’re still in the game!
Congratulations to lonestar for coming out on top in the first round! It was a hard fought victory and a tough decision, but in the end, I had to go with Frequency as the winner. Absolutely terrific song.
And that brings the first round to a close. Thanks for your contributions, everybody; I’ve already discovered some really awesome music, and I’m eager to hear more from all of you. So let’s get round 2 underway, shall we?
Round Two: First ImpressionsThis round, I’m only going to listen to each song once before ranking them. I’m sure I’ll revisit many of them after I’ve decided on the rankings, but I’ll be making my decisions based only on the first listen. That means it’s your job to come up with a song that makes a strong first impression. How you do that is up to you. You may want to send something with some catchy melodies that’ll get stuck in my head, or you may want to go with a standout solo section or something. Your call.
Submit your songs by January 7th.