hhmmm… apparently I do still have a lot of shit to say.
Big Hath -
Seventh Key / I Will Survive
Similar to H.E.A.T., nothing was truly spectacular, but it all came together very nicely. Intro was a little bland, but business picked up pretty quick. Chorus was fluffy, but catchy - and reminded me a lot of a band called Cryptic Vision - not sure if anyone has heard of them. I felt this one needed a little more edge - it felt too polished, much like how I feel about Work of Art.
Ranking - 8th (4 points)
bl5150 -
Universe Effects / Equilibrium
I don't know what you were worried about… this was straight off the top shelf. All the elements of a great prog-metal tune. This was the total package - piano and acoustic interludes, time and key changes, tremendous vocals, variety in melody and rhythm, multiple instrumental sections demonstrating their talent, and that final scream, and final outro - gold baby, gold.
Ranking - 1st (11 points)
Bolsters -
Mree / Monsters
Oh YEAH!! And by "yeah", I mean "hell no".
I appreciate you trying to mix it up, but there wasn't anything here that appealed to me.
Ranking - 11th (1 point)
Evermind -
Empire / Ring of Fire
Production wasn't as horrible as I expected, though upon a dedicate headphone listen, the guitars do sound like shit. Boals can be hit and miss for me, and on this one, he's closer to a miss than hit. Vocal melodies kinda sucked too. Like Tim's song a few rounds ago, the more I listened, the more I disliked it.
Ranking - good thing you had another song to tag in.
Evermind -
Mostly Autumn / Evergreen
Another gorgeous female vocal performance - you love you ladies more than Zook methinks. I didn’t get the folk-sy vibe you were preparing me for, but liked it long time anyway… the slow acoustic start allowed her voice to seep right in, instrumental mid-way was nice, but it was the outro that blew me away - highlight of the song.
Ranking - 7th (5 points)
jjrock88 -
Steeler / Hot On Your Heels
I was never a huge fan of early Malmsteen, and the first (instrumental) 1/2 was typical early Yngwie shred-tastic talent, but shredding for the sake of it just never really did much for me, so I was only luke warm on this to start with. The second half of the song absolutely melted my face though… killer. If had been more of the latter, and less of the former, this would’ve been top 3 material.
Ranking - 9th (3 points)
Lowdz -
Giant / Can't Let Go
Love Dan Huff's voice - smooth like an 18-year old Scotch. I've spun a bit of Giant before, and always liked 'em. Didn't know this tune at all - while I enjoyed it quite a bit, and it had all the right pieces for a power ballad, I wouldn't quite call it wow-worthy.
Ranking - 10th (2 points)… and I feel REALLY bad about it.
Mystery Machine -
Kenziner / The Last Horizon
Most excellent. Killer opening riff with nice background keyboard accompaniment. Overall, it was a great blend of prog and power, with the vocal style that seems to appeal most to me - raspy and aggressive without being harsh or growlie. All the right pieces were present, including a nice instrumental bridge that wasn’t a wankfest at all, just good musicianship.
Ranking - 5th (7 points)
senecadawg2 -
The Chronicles Project / Forever
Holy shit does THIS guy sound like Roy Khan. The whole experience was very, VERY Kamelot-ish… but better. More prog than power here, whereas Kamelot is a little more power than prog. Can't believe the vocal similarities to Khan. Some really nice keyboard action here. Definitely gonna be on the lookout for this release when it’s out.
Ranking - 3rd (9 points)
TAC -
Golden Resurrection / See My Commands
Nice frantic power metal. Killer guitar shredding arpeggios all thru this one. The double bass kick was used just right, even if it was a little excessive. Catchy chorus, despite being fairly predictable. I'm not so sure that style appeals as much to me as it did a few years ago. Still, I loved it. It was a virtual tie with Evermind, and I'll give you the nod for being just a tad more diverse in your submissions over the course of the roulette. A little, but not much.
Ranking - 6th (6 points)
wolfking -
Crazy Lixx / Call To Action
I'd call this proggy-glam. Definitely more glam than not, but overall it's a very nice package. Has all the appeal of glam, while still delivering some creative writing, and excellent musicianship. Add on some nice vocals, and this hit all the right buttons.
Ranking -
8th (4 points) 4th (for 8 points)
Zook -
Iced Earth / Pure Evil
Despite my effort to try Iced Earth on multiple occasions, they just never clicked with me. The music here was the really good, it really reminded me of 80s Metallica - even though I wasn't much of a fan of 80s Metallica, I enjoyed this one. Vocally, didn't appeal to me at all, and was the downfall of this tune.
Rating - good thing you had another song to tag in ….
Zook -
Black Fate / Weight of the World
… and mother of God did you make the best use of the tag-team option. Holy shit does this guy sound like Roy Khan too. Very Kamelot-ish, but almost entirely guitar led… very little keyboard, which gives this one it’s own uniqueness, and just a shade ahead of Seneca’s submission. And man did that guitar melt my face. Killer shit here man.
Ranking - 2nd (10 points)
Standings:
bl5150 - 49
wolfking - 48
senecadawg2 - 42
Big Hath - 41
Evermind - 39
TAC - 37
Zook - 36
Lowdz - 36
Mystery Machine - 27
jjrock88 - 22
Bolsters - 20
Traditional 10 point scoring wise, the range between first and last is 49 vs 42... and the 42 is only that low because Bolsters tapped out a few rounds ago, and has been "experimenting".
Brent and Kade continue to leap-frog one another, and it looks to be a 3-way dog-fight for 3rd place - although TAC/Zook/Lowdz are not mathematically out of it. It would take a few people dropping a turd this round for either of them to post a big comeback and grab third place.
Top 3 (including ties if there are any) make it to the finals.
Big Hath and wolfking still have their tag-team option to use in this final round.
Please get your songs in to me within the next 36 hours, so I can listen while I'm away on business next week.