ROUND 1 RESULTS
I thought deciding who should be eliminated would be easier than giving scores for each song, but I quickly realized I was dead wrong
It was tough, but something has got to go and I had to make a decision solely based on the songs themselves. I know it's cruel that your past success won't help in the upcoming rounds (unless you're awarded immunity), but the name of the game is: you're only going to do as well as the last song you sent.
Anyway, let's get down to business:
Captain of the planesenecadawg2: Agalloch – As Embers Dress the Sky
I got an acoustic Agalloch song in my previous roulette, but I wasn’t familiar with their metal side until now. The first clean vocal part has a shoegaze vibe to it, and the song on the whole feels like a mixture of Alcest and early 90s Gothenburg metal like In Flames and Dark Tranquillity because of the guitar harmonies and acoustic sections. Man, why haven’t I bothered listening to these guys before?! This is a seriously awesome song and I need to check out some Agalloch as soon as possible!
Landed safelyScorpion: Anciients – Raise the Sun
This song begins with clean and acoustic guitars and neat drumming, until a cool fill leads to a heavier section and the vocals come in. The build-up is tasteful, the singer’s clean voice has a nice timbre and the screaming is well-executed too. I really like the riff that begins after the first 5 minutes! I’ve heard this kind of metal before, but this song manages to feel fresh and doesn’t come across as a rehash or carbon copy of some other band’s music.
Lolzeez: Dredg – Bug Eyes
Dredg is one of those ten million bands I’ve heard of but never actually listened to. I’ve heard them being referred to as a prog band, but this song is pretty accessible (not that it’s a bad thing!). Solid alt rock with some cool drumming and guitar work, plus nice vocals. No complaints!
kingshmegland: Echolyn – The End Is Beautiful
The first minute of this song is probably more diverse than Nickelback’s entire discography!
I thought it was going to be some kind of ambient alt rock, until the heavy organ riff started, and then the verse shook things up again. As you said, the lyrics are pretty dark, and I think they are like something Steven Wilson might write, albeit not as gloomy as Porcupine Tree or his solo works. Great tune!
LieLowTheWantedMan: Psychotic Waltz – Out of Mind
Thrashy old-school prog metal! This sounds like something Fates Warning might’ve done in the No Exit era, albeit heavier (funnily enough, "Parallels [Full Album]" is in the related videos!). The singer has a unique voice and at first I wasn’t sure whether he was a man or a woman. The simple yet heavy riff at 2:19 is
-worthy and the chorus(?) is short yet memorable.
Shadow Ninja: Red House Painters – Katy Song
RHP is a familiar name, as I’m a huge Katatonia fan and they’ve been influenced by this band. There’s plenty of atmosphere and minimalistic melancholy here, and that’s exactly what I enjoy. The vocalist has a slightly monotonous voice, but so do a lot of singers I like, so it doesn’t matter. The song gets a little repetitive towards the end, but apart from that it’s very enjoyable.
GentlemanofDread: Coheed and Cambria – Carol Ann
The acoustic intro feels like it could be in a folk/singer-songwriter tune. The vocalist sings in a pretty original way – his voice is dramatic, but not to the point where it gets on your nerves. The song gets powerful towards the end, although the instrumentation remains the same. The absolute lack of drums is surprising, but I like it when bands do unexpected things. I did receive a C&C song in my previous roulette and it was pretty different, being heavier, but this one left a better impression.
Onno: Leprous – Forced Entry
Ok, this is the third Leprous song I’ve listened to during my career as a roulette host
The heavy riff mixed with the bizarre keyboard sound is kind of weird, but it works. The transitions between the heavy and soft parts are really well done!
The part with the wordless vocals is the highlight of the song IMO, although the really high vocals at 9:30 made me think “woah”. Fun fact: I was 100% sure Jens Bogren had mixed this, because the drum sound felt so familiar, and after checking out the album credits it turned out I was right!
adace: Insomnium – Mortal Share
I’ve heard some stuff from the last two or three albums by Insomnium before, but unfortunately I’ve found their music pretty generic and typical Finnish melodeath. This song doesn’t exactly shine with originality either and doesn’t deviate from their formula, but it’s a little better than the ones I’ve heard. The chorus riff is pretty cool and I like the mellow bit in the bridge. Hopefully their music works well live, because they’re supporting Arch Enemy when I see them live in September.
Parachute openedGorille85: Röyksopp & Robyn – Do It Again
This kind of stuff is a bit more commercial than the electronic music and pop I’ve listened to, but as an open-minded listener I don’t mind. There are good melodies and the song is catchy, as a good pop tune should. Unfortunately I’m left longing for more, as the song feels a little too short. However, I'm curious to hear more of you, since this song truly stuck out from the rest in this round and it's good for me to get out of my comfort zone once in a while.
Evermind: Beyond the Bridge – The Apparition
I like the Arabic vibe and the sitar in the beginning, although I could do without the spoken word part (concept or not!
). Then the song gets closer to standard symphonic/prog metal, but the more up-tempo and rocking part after that is cool, and so is the Opeth-y section around the 5-minute mark. Although all the different sections and parts of the song are good, I wish they were given more time and room to develop, because the changes between them are pretty sudden and quick.
jingle.boy: Backhand – Introspektion
The intro kind of threw me off with those unexpected pauses… This song begins in a pretty epic and heavy way, but it’s followed by a nice melodic part, after which it goes into 70s mode. The organ and Moog playing is pretty cool! The production sounds kind of muddy, but it's the song itself that I'm supposed to judge. My attention tended to drift at times while listening, as I’m not big on instrumental music in general, especially when the songs are as long as this, which is why I considered it for elimination.
Parachute didn't openMoraWintersoul: Shineback – Crush Culture
You did send that exact Taranis song in my previous roulette, but I didn’t accept it back then because of the time limit, so you sent another one. This time there’s no time limit, but I wanted something fresh and new, and therefore listened to this instead. This is a decent dance song, but unfortunately the final “wow” factor is missing. The singer’s voice sounds off-key in the first verse and I find the crowd noise kind of pointless, as I got the impression this isn’t a live release.
Sacul: David Maxim Micic – Mbinguni Amina
The creepy samples in the beginning remind me of Chroma Key’s Hell Mary. I thought this was gonna be some kind of avant-garde jazz because of the horns and the drumming, but after a while some downtuned djent-y guitars kick in. As if that’s not enough, there’s bluesy soloing as well… After a quick Google search it turns out this dude is Serbian, which probably answers the question of what language the lyrics are in – sounds exotic for sure! While this song is certainly interesting, unfortunately it’s too “out there” for my taste and sounds like a mishmash of too many different elements.
In summary: Milena and Sacul are out, the rest continue in the game and Seneca can't be eliminated in the next round.
As I said in the OP, I'll be gone until Sunday and won't be able to start listening until after that. This means the next results will be posted on Tuesday or Wednesday next week, but I hope you have patience