This time around, here are all my thoughts on your songs after the first listen, I'm giving every song a total of 3 or 4 listens, and results will be up in 1 or 2 days, I want to get the last round done pretty quickly after this one so maybe posting first thoughts could give you more time to think about your last song, make it count, because it could very well be the last!
Once more here are the standings after Round 8 results:
Elite: 62 + 8.5 = 70.5
Evermind: 61 + 9 = 70
senecadawg2: 60 + 9.5 = 69.5
Parama: 61.5 + 6 = 67.5
Tyrias: 60 + 7.5 = 67.5
425: 59.5 + 8 = 67.5
Sacul: 59.5 + 7 = 66.5
Bolsters: 58 + 8.5 = 66.5
mikemangioy: 56.5 + 9.5 = 66
LordCost: 58 + 6.5 = 64.5
splent: 56.5 + 6.5 = 63
Shadow Ninja 2.0: 53.5 + 8 = 61.5I'll just go ahead and open the last round, which is...
Round 10: This is the EndThis is the eeeeeeeend It's been a great experience guys, and every single one of you has at least gotten me to really like a song so much that I want to check out the album. Sadly, 9 of you have to leave, and it's coming down to this round. Send me your closing songs! Great album closers, or songs that could close an album very well, whatever works for you.
So here are my first impressions:Tyrias:I’m not very familiar with Indie Rock, I listen to one or two bands that could be classified as Indie. On first listen I’m not getting a whole lot out of this, vocals are pretty good, I like the guitars. Drums, not so much, they’re there, nothing especially interesting IMO. So overall it’s ok, but I don’t think this will be a game changer.
Senecadawg2:Melodic death metal? Awesome, been looking for a good one anyway, maybe this’ll fill that hole. You might’ve noticed Gojira on my list. Indeed a lot of harsh vocal songs have scored high, but they are a bit risky sometimes, this is a style of growling that I find easier to tolerate however, it’s that kind of growling that’s kind of a blend between screaming and just singing very loudly (if it’s not clear what I mean by that, Gojira and Machine Head both have the style I;m talking about).
But yea on to the song, on first listen, I’m pretty damn impressed at how well this song transitions from the almost-relaxing guitarwork into the melodeath-style verses, over and over. I quite like the chorus and it’s pretty catchy, not my favorite part of the song though, I’m more into the verses and these short calm guitar passages. Will he secure a top 3 spot? Will he even push for the top spot?
Yo Train, no more fucking around.
Find out, in 1 or 2 days.
Mikemangioy:Hmm, first impressions: Is this their newer stuff? I could never really get into most of their older stuff but I quite like this. The singer is IMO more tolerable here, and the music is more straightforward, so it’s not that hard to follow what’s happening musically. It has that in-your-face rock edge to it that I really enjoy, along with some likable vocal melodies. I’m liking this.
Sacul:You’re damn right you took a risk, but why the hell not? The roulette is almost over, time for some whacky shit. So maybe as a song this can really weird people out, but I think this song particularly, and probably Igorrr in general, is looked at as a form of art more than anything. I don’t see myself listening to this kind of stuff though, it’s a tad bit overwhelming for someone who has just listened to it once. I doubt it will suddenly
click with me too, I applaud you for your courage, but I don’t think the over the top electronic elements and the all over the place singer will be a grower.
Elite:Is this really what thrash metal sounds like now? I guess I have no idea what thrash is anymore, but what the hell, whatever genre, this is a great song! The guitars during the verses are mind-boggling, it adds so much power to the vocals. Overall I like how this song gets straight down to business, it has the progressive edge, but no unnecessary instrumental sections, all business. Which gives the song plenty of time to get everything done in just 4 minutes, they do squeeze in a guitar solo, an amazing one at that, but that aside, it’s pretty straightforward.
En het refrein is instantaan meezingbaar.Splent:Still not sure how I feel about classic rock, it differs a lot, and I think the closest something came to this song in my roulette was Journey in round 1. Overall, the first 2 minutes of the song don’t do a whole lot for me, it gets a lot better starting from the 3rd minute though. Not a winning round 9 song by any means so far, but it’s a good rocker!
Evermind:Goo’ol power metal

sure why not? You’ve oddly managed to make it work a couple of times already. First thoughts: I was just hoping the vocals wouldn’t be a total disaster, and they weren’t, maybe I like power metal more than I thought I did. Also a big fan of eastern stuff in music, this song has loads of it. That quiet middle-section is beautiful, you’ve got your shit together when it comes to long songs, this ties it up very nicely. I won’t really be going into the story yet, I don’t mind the cheese, because musically this song is awesome, and that’s what it’s about for me at the moment. Having now heard all songs of the current top 3, the rest of the guys better have some crazy good stuff to keep up.
425:Nope, never heard this song. I was a bit underwhelmed after the first minute, but it gets tons better after that. From what I’ve heard now, this song does the “chill acoustic“ style you’re going for better than the last song, and that one was already pretty good. Musically this is a pretty simplistic song, but that’s alright, I’ve been into a lot of straightforward stuff for all my life. The vocals are powerful enough to make this not just another simple acoustic song, so far.... so good.
Bolsters:Don’t know a lot of Whitesnake songs, but after my first listen of this song, I honestly thought they were way softer than this, like your average 80’s rock band, but this is just some juicy hardrock, even getting some metal vibes from it. I’m liking the husky vocals, very different from the other Whitesnake songs I heard. Guitar solo isn’t doing much for me, but the rest of the guitarwork on this song is pretty strong.
Parama:Apparently this music is labeled as sludge metal, no idea what that is, I guess I’ll find out. First thoughts: I actually thought this band was full-on harsh vox, the clean verses are quite nice, but I was expecting heavy shit. That instrumental section starting at like 3 minutes in actually kinda bores me, it’s going nowhere. The second half of the song is better, but I still am not very impressed by this song, maybe you were afraid to send me some of their heavier stuff and went for something more accessible instead? I did like the vocals, but the song overall hasn’t really wowed me at any point. Maybe it’s a grower.
LordCost:I have all the confidence in the world that you will manage to deliver another amazing track, you’ve been doing phenomenal in a lot of the rounds, with a few oddballs. Liking the intro, pretty energetic metal stuff. The verse feels like it’s just there, not too special, but the way it built up to the chorus is great, and the chorus itself is awesome, with epic backing vocals and just some good metal lead vocals. The overall style of pure agression in the middle of the song is perfectly executed, you can really feel the anger. Ending is just great aswell, keeps up the quality with one last blast. I got a good feeling about this song.
Shadow Ninja 2.0:Interesting, acoustic guitar-singer with an eccentric twist. This might be the single most talented person I’ve gotten in this roulette, he is pretty much playing guitar, drums and singing all at once, I wouldn’t believe it if this wasn’t a live recording. Enough about him, the music is just.. beautiful, even if it was an entire band I’d still be impressed.