OK.. Round 6 Open Round Results.
Just want to say that this was an incredible round and very strong.
b5150 – Trail Of Murder – Some Stand Alone
This is the first of TWO songs received off the same album. I actually like this one a bit more than the other, and this is a great opening shot to this round. I remember Trail Of Murder coming out lasy year, and after sampling it, I put it on “The List”. Somehow, I forgot about it. I will likely grab this though, but Brent says this is much better than Serious Black. I really Love that album.
Ranked this in the excellent category, but due to the strength of this round, there are a number of tracks that scored higher. If this one could’ve given me a bit more of an earworm, it may have joined them.
9.0
senecadawg2 – Steven Wilson – Regret 9/Travis Larson Band - Watchman
Oh Seneca, I hate to do this, but this song just did not resonate. It’s an instrumental. I know I said I didn’t like Wilson’s vocals, but I think in this roulette, and especially this round, choosing the heaviest song with vocals may have made more of an impact. This is very moodful and nice, but it was up against some seriously catchy power metal and strong progressive metal tracks. It just did not fit. Even when I tried to give it its space, I just couldn’t get it to click.
Now you used a Wild Card here, coupling this with the Travis Larson Band’s Watchman, which is the stronger of the two. But I selfishly went for the Wilson to get aquainted with it. Anyway, I felt the score would be so low, I went back to Watchman. Still, against this group, Even Watchman was still a bit underwhelming.
8.0
Wolfking – Pyramaze – Back For More
Speaking of earworms, this song was it! For some reason, I still haven’t gotten around to picking this up, not have I heard anything other than samples. So it’s not on my iPod/Banned List, so Wolfking was able to get it through. IMO, it’s another safe entry, but quite effective. Great tune and loved hearing it! Wolfking just might be the guy to beat here.
9.5
Big Hath – Pink Cream 69 – Gods Come Together
I’ve literally never heard a PC69 tune. And I am missing out. This is another earwormy tune that stayed with me long after every listen. Fantastic chorus. I just wished Dennis Ward had saved this for Unisonic. Would love to hear Kiske to it, but this guy does a great job with it. A great round by Hath!
9.5
Evermind – Trail Of Murder – Carnivore
The second track off of the Trail Of Murder album. Unfortunately, I did not like this song as much as Some Stand Alone. What this song lacked was a little speed and a catchy chorus. It rocked pretty good, and in Round 4, this would’ve been one of the higher scores, but in this round, it was swallowed by the competition.
8.5
Jingle.boy – Anthriel – Dark Divided Minds
So this song made me think of those foolish threads that pop up from time to time. The ones where “If JLB leaves DT, who should replace him?” Well if your answer was Marching Out era Jeff Scott Soto, then you would have Anthriel. This was a great song that starts off an incredible 1-2-3 progressive punch on my CD. It’s heavy, progressive, while never losing you by being too complicated. Good call J Boy, and I will definitely be picking this up.
9.5
Lonestar – Voices From The Fuselage – Meteorites
I love this song! Seriously, this is a great find. Lots going on, and an incredible arrangement. When the vocals started, I wasn’t so sure, but this quickly grew on me and has so much to offer. I will be picking this up too. While it’s the longest song in the round, I still can’t believe they crammed so much in its 7 minutes. Still it never felt too long. The first half of the CD had the back to back power metal greatness of Wolf and Hath, and the second half had this and Anthriel.
9.5
Kingshmegland – Jolly –The Pattern
My first thought was WTF kind of name is Jolly?! This was an incredible song. Had my favorite instrumental part on the CD. This was like Heavy Metal Primus! Very cool. The only thing that kept it from a 9.5 was the fairly bland vocals, but other than that, a great tune!
9.0
jjrock88 – Recon – Light The Fire
JJ, you gave me goosebumps with this one! And that’s really the first time that has happened in this roulette, as far as I can remember. This is what I would imagine if Michael Kiske had actually sung on Walls Of Jerhico. Great classic Helloween feel on this, and you really put me in a time machine on this one. Another classic entry by Jason, but this one was the best yet!
9.5
Standings:
Wolfking-44.0
Kingshmegland-43.0
b5150-43.0
Lonestar-42.5
Senecadawg2-42.0
Jingle.boy-42.0
Big Hath-41.5
jjrock88-41.5
Evermind-41.0
Tough round for the guys at the end when you score a 9.5 but make up no ground. Whoever wants this looks like they'll have to go through Wolfking!