Round 7 Results:senecadawg2: Lunatic Soul – ColdFirst Impressions: The first minute has me going “well I don’t know where you’re going with this yet, but I’m intrigued”. This isn’t really, like, a decent fit for the theme at all honestly but ehh. This has decent atmosphere to it but it ends up feeling repetitive by the end. The small subtleties that come in and out don’t change up the mood enough to keep me engaged. And the rhythm is fairly straightforward. Not until near the end is there any real variation, with the drums going a bit more intense and the rest of the instrumentation staying pretty much the same, a few synths coming in too I guess but it’s a little too late at that point.
Final Thoughts: I think the fatal flaw here is that… Mariusz Duda has always been my least favorite part of Riverside. Well, that and the kind of cruddy guitar tones they occasionally use for leads. But yeah. I don’t hate his voice or his singing or anything but I generally don’t listen to Riverside to hear him sing. I listen for the interesting music.
Here, I get… one guitar/synth line repeated over and over in a song with almost no build until near the end, a simple beat, and an okay atmosphere. That’s like… it. And Duda’s singing is fine here but the effects put on the vocals aren’t my favorite, never a huge fan of vocal effects but they don’t even add anything here.
And that’s why this song bores me. It’s fairly undynamic and it puts the music as mostly a backdrop for the singing. And if I don’t find the singing to be that great… I don’t find myself having a reason to come back and listen to the song. It doesn’t help that it’s 7 minutes long.
I also don’t really see how this fits the theme, and that’s part of why it bores me, as well; it’s not really even close to what I’m looking for from this round. Yeah, okay, there’s a flat beat throughout the entire song… but not an interesting one, and it’s certainly not given much focus.
I do think the ending section is alright. There’s a lot more texture to the music and it builds alright enough, the drums get a lot more interesting too. It’s a shame I have to wait over 5 minutes to get to that point, and up until that point this just does not interest me in the slightest.
Sorry, man, but I never want to hear this song again
Score: 4/10FlyingBIZKIT: OSI – Microburst AlertFirst Impressions: Not that I’ve never listened to OSI before, more that it was a long time since I did and I wasn’t a huge fan when I first did, but who knows. This is super bass-heavy, gosh. Probably too bass-heavy. The bass stops sounding like it has a tone to it and just feels like a percussive hit. Takes a while to kick in, too. When it does kick in I do like it a fair bit, even if it’s not exactly original, but up until that point I find it hard to stay interested or focused on this.
Final Thoughts: Okay, I think you might have taken the theme a liiiittle too literally, since this song is very little but rhythm. The low synths are basically just percussion on top of a decent enough drum beat. There’s a few softer bits with some melodies and decent atmosphere and I’m okay with those sections, though the sampled voices that always accompany them are not my favorite.
The louder part at the end is cool too but there’s not so much any buildup to it as much as it just happens out of nowhere, and it’s not exactly enough to save the song, nor does it last for very long. I think this is short enough that it doesn’t bore me or anything, at least, and I kinda dig the rhythms, but at the end of the day… this is just reminding me why I never got into OSI to begin with.
Score: 5 (+.5 Bonus) = 5.5/10Tomislav95: Gojira – Esoteric SurgeryFirst Impressions: Did try to listen to these guys once but didn’t make it through an entire song when I did. Let’s try again. Intro is not attracting any favor, straight kicks and going on a fair bit long and all. Once that passes the rhythm of the song definitely gets more interesting, though it’s a bit lacking in tone; very Meshuggah-esque. Like, yeah, these guys definitely listened to a lot of Meshuggah… and I don’t really care for Meshuggah… oops… I think the biggest thing about this is that not only does it lack much in the way of dynamics, but it also doesn’t have any huge shifts musically. It goes from loud section to loud section to slower loud section with chugging riffs and lots of double bass. It does cool down a little eventually but at that point it’s lost me anyways.
Final Thoughts: You, too, may have taken the theme a bit too literally, though this at least has a fair bit of melodic and musical meat on the rhythm bones. I like how the one vocal line comes in early at the last repetition of the intro, that’s a good touch. And I like the rhythmic breakdown after, it’s pretty cool, the drums do some neat stuff for that part.
A lot of this is just… too straightforwardly heavy for me to get in. Straight double-bass kicks and tremolo picking like this song uses in spades is basically a deathcore trope that I’ve heard done to death by basically every deathcore act I’ve heard, and I do not actively seek out deathcore (can’t stand it, honestly).
The song gets to a much more interesting place for the second half, though, the pace slowing down to give some nice headbanging riffs, even if they’re a bit simple. It never really goes anywhere with it, though, kind of just dying out into a clean section at the end, perhaps a bit too soon.
I think what keeps me from enjoying this more is that nothing about it is really that fresh, nor is it that gripping. The rhythmic breakdown section is a Meshuggah type thing that I’ve heard before. The flat drumming/tremolo picking stuff I’ve heard before. The slower chugging riffs I’ve probably heard in a hundred different songs. Far from calling this a bad song, but just not a particularly interesting one.
Score: 6.5/10Sacul: Massive Attack – Dissolved GirlFirst Impressions: I don’t really know what trip-hop implies but apparently not as bad as I’d feared. The relaxed groove of the instrumentals are nice and the singer’s voice is okay though a bit rough and not particularly powerful. I like the use of guitar here, it’s not a primary instrument but it can add texture to quieter moments and heaviness to louder moments. I found myself zoning out a little while listening to this, though. It’s not especially engaging…
Final Thoughts: Well, now I know what trip-hop sounds like, I guess. Vaguely pleasant but not especially engaging, downbeat electronic music. The kind of song I’d put on in the background and not mind at all, but not really notice much either. For 6 minutes it’s stretched a little thin. The climax of the song happens less than halfway through and it has nowhere to go from there. It just… meanders.
I’m neutral on her voice. It’s okay. It’s not great. The synth sounds are okay. Not great. The guitar sounds good and is used well. The beat’s decent but not fantastic or anything.
Man, I just, have a hard time saying much about this. It’s chock full of subtleties, sure, but the subtleties are put onto a framework that’s not exactly great. It’s not making me want to go and check out some trip hop, that’s for sure.
Score: 6.5 (+.5 Bonus) = 7/10mikemangioy: Destrage – My Green NeighborFirst Impressions: Yeah, I can pretty quickly tell where you’re coming from sending this. What the heck is that higher pitched voice even doing, though. I guess it’s a singing voice but it’s hard to tell. This song feels a bit schizophrenic on first listen, even for the genre, it can’t tell if it wants to be really pretty or if it wants to be really heavy or if it wants to be more technical. All three of its moods work well enough on their own though and it’s not like the transitions are bad either. I don’t think any of this is particularly original but it’s plenty competent at the very least. You could do far worse sending me metalcore.
Final Thoughts: This may suffer from the fact that my most recent delve into metalcore stuff happened to be Burst, who did this exact kind of song just a lot better in every way. Cooler riffs, better harsh vocals, very interesting cleaner parts, and a general focus on writing heavy music, but not overly heavy music.
This is trying to be loud and heavy a lott of the time, and that’s fine. That’s where metalcore and death metal stuff in general runs into a problem for me… heavy for the sake of heavy is just not my thing in the slightest.
So I don’t really like the harsh vocals here at all. Especially the higher-pitched ones, they just irk me. And some of the riffs are a bit too “look how heavy this is”. But as a whole, there’s a ton of stuff here I like.
There’s plenty of decent riffs here and you can tell all the band members have definitely practiced, but they use that to build one hell of a hook and some really interesting frantic instrumental breakdowns. There’s one really heavy part with chromatic chords in the middle that I think works well as a really heavy thing. All the elements come together well there.
I kind of don’t like the ending at all though, that sample is… eugh, and the band comes in just for a quick punch in the face that really doesn’t add anything to the song.
The song as a whole, I can’t say I fully enjoy, but there’s so many good parts to this that outweigh the bad parts and I can’t say I dislike it or anything either, I dig this quite a bit actually, but I can’t say I’m especially eager to check out more from the band.
Score: 7.5/10425: Yes – Siberian KhatruFirst Impressions: Yes, I haven’t listened to much Yes, which is mostly my fault. The guitar lines in this song are pretty noodly but they’re not given too much focus so as to overwhelm everything else. The rhythm is a little flat though, a basic kick-snare-kick-snare beat for the early parts at least. The guitar lines have a bit of groove to them, I guess. My first time listening to this, a lot of this song is just in one ear and out the other, which I kinda expected to be fair, but oh well. It’s a fairly complex song both structure-wise and instrumentally, so. That’s why I give a fair number of listens to everything.
Final Thoughts: Yeah, the groove here definitely comes more from the guitar and synth than it does from the drumming. But it’s there well enough. I don’t think it’s a high level of groove or anything but at least well enough there to please me.
I will say that I’m a little disappointed that this isn’t as adventurous as the other Yes songs I’m familiar with (Close to the Edge and Roundabout, mostly). It makes up for that by just being a damn solid prog rock song, though.
It does kind of hammer in its guitar lines and riffs a bit much, though. There’s two of them that are just played over and over and while they’re cool lines, I don’t think they’re cool enough to sustain so much of the song.
Yes as usual does a lot of cool things vocal-wise, harmonies and ear-catching melodies aplenty. And the quiet parts with more atmosphere are cool in their own right, as well.
I think mostly what keeps me from rating this higher is that… I feel this song could be trimmed out a bit, the writing tightened some, and a much better 6 or 7 minute song could’ve come out of it than the 9 minute song it is. As it stands, it’s basically a classic track off a classic album that I’ve somehow never heard until now. And I like it. Don’t love it.
I keep pingponging between 7.5 and 8 for this one so I’m gonna give you the benefit of the doubt and go for the higher one since I can’t really make up my mind. I wish I had quarter scores
Score: 8/10Train of Naught: Royal Blood – Loose ChangeFirst Impressions: Oh, that guitar line is delicious. Hmm. When it gets quiet for a moment I expect a louder chorus to come in but it doesn’t. Oh well. Okay, it has to be building to something now, right? Yes, alright. You tricked me the first time. Though it doesn’t have a lot of room to work with this does feel like a complete song. I think its guitar line is strong enough to carry the first half and the raw energy can carry the second half, so it works.
Final Thoughts: Okay, so I have been informed in-thread that that is not actually an electric guitar, it is a bass.
Goddamn, I love the tone on that bass, then. This is easily the grooviest song of the bunch and the kind of straightforward rocker I dig. The vocals fit the music perfectly. The drums just add to the groove of the main riff. It’s short enough that it doesn’t have time to wear out its welcome. You’d have to try really hard to beat an idea completely into the ground in two and a half minutes.
I will say that the faster part of the song probably isn’t as good as the groove of the slower parts, but being “not as good” as “really damn good” is not something to feel too bad about. The way that the vocal line remains the same between the two and the bassline is like, an alternate version of the slower riff keeps it feeling cohesive throughout the tempo shift.
Listening to this song just makes me very happy and if the rest of their album is cool rockers like this song then I’m definitely interested. And you definitely win the “best fit to theme” prize of the round, though there’s no bonus for that.
Score: 8.5/10LordCost: The Contortionist – ThriveFirst Impressions: So yeah I’ve listened to this album before but I don’t exactly remember the specific songs. I just remember “djent with pretty good atmosphere” and that’s basically what I’m getting here. There’s a balance between the more chaotic bits and the more straightforward bits that keeps the song interesting. The only thing is that it may be a bit of a blur, musically; a lot of the riffs aren’t that distinct. It seems like you went both for the groove and the complexity factors of the theme this round, and shoved in some atmosphere for good measure.
Final Thoughts: Maybe it’s kinda cheating since I already heard this album all the way through once and liked it enough to decide that I’d probably pick it up at the end of the year or something, but considering that I wasn’t familiar with any of the songs at all, and that I was fairly sure I would like it, yeah, felt okay letting this one through.
And I’m glad I did. Obviously. There’s just a lot about this that works. It’s heavily textured and there’s a ton of atmosphere in the quieter moments, but at the same time there’s a frantic energy to it throughout, and a lot of rhythmical complexity that flows well and feels natural.
I’d hesitate to call this djent at all, now that I’m more familiar with it. It’s more a specific flavor of progressive metal that has a bit of djent inspiration in it. The bass does some djenty stuff during the quieter moments that keeps the song’s energy going strong and I really dig that; the bass in general here is actually really good, very audible and it’s not just mimicking the guitar like a lot of bands tend to have it do.
I will say that my feeling of “this kind of blurs together a little” has still stuck, but at the same time, there’s a definite progression and flow to the song to where it doesn’t really feel like a blur even if a lot of the kinds of riffs and rhythms are samey. I just have to hope that the entire album doesn’t sound exactly like this one song, I imagine it doesn’t though.
Score: 8.5/10Shadow Ninja 2.0: Shining – FisheyeFirst Impressions: Considering how dissonant and noisy this intro is, you think I’d hate it, right? Uhh. I don’t, it’s actually pretty cool. Frantic but organized music like this is something that seems to work well, and there’s a strong underlying sense of groove to it that keeps it grounded. I worry that once the initial shock of this wears off I won’t find as much making me want to come back to it, though. And it’s a little too consistently loud, also. Oh hey there crazy sax, ahah. Yeah, this song is just… exhausting, more than anything.
Final Thoughts: Please keep sending me weird stuff. This kind of weird stuff definitely pays off well. Even when it’s like, made up of elements I’d usually not like, but everything works together here so well that the chaos just ends up sounding great.
What the heck does ONE THREE SEVEN FIVE mean though, seriously.
Anyways, the guitar line has a ton of groove to it and I love it. Also that crazy noodly thing that happens just before the first “verse” or whatnot is kind of hilarious but super cool.
I think this song really earns the right to be pretty consistently heavy because even when it’s heavy it still has room to build. The really frantic heavy part towards the middle is a clear step up from the heavy groove of the parts before.
And when this song returns to an older idea, there’s always something new added to keep it fresh. Vocals getting louder, guitar noodling over the dissonant synth line, let’s just have a random sax solo out of nowhere because it ups the already manic feel of the song to a new level.
This song is definitely exhausting though, but it never wore out its welcome, each time I listened to this I noticed more subtleties that made each listen better than the last. Something this weird that still ends up working this well definitely deserves both its high score and its bonus point, I’ll definitely dig into more of this band’s stuff, though hopefully it won’t all be as… tiring to listen to, haha, I don’t think I could take 50 minutes of just this kind of song.
Score: 8.5 (+.5 Bonus) = 9/10(Continued in next post...)