Round 2 Results!!!
Here we are. Again, a lot of listens, and I told you guys I'm putting the foot down with some of these.
Dr DTVT - Iris Divine - Prisms
Well, when I opted to run this roulette, I wanted great music, but was also hoping I'd get something a little different but absolutely killer at the same time, as I feel things for me have been getting a bit stale. I wanted something fresh and new. I think my call has been answered. I said in round 1 I didn't know how the Moon'Doc would get trumped but I think we have a winner. This band is simply incredible. This band is quite original to me. They have the DT thing, but also like an Evergrey feel also, with some POS too. It's hard to describe what else they sound like but I love what the band are doing here, great melodies but nice and heavy and dark too. This song on the first listen to all 13 songs was the one that made me say, "Shit, song of the round by far." Obviously other songs closed in, but I can't get enough of this song, it's still the best, and I think best song so far after 2 rounds. Love the chorus, love the instrumental sections, love the slightly different structure, love the vocalist, love the originality. Definite purchase.
Appeal of Style - 9.5
Instrumentation and vox - 9.5
Structure and Songwriting - 9.5
Replay value - 9.5
Would I purchase - 9.5
Score - 9.5
lowdz - Orden Ogan - To The End
This was the song battling it out for first place with Iris Divine. The only thing Iris Divine had over this was that it was more original. This song is simply brilliant. This takes me back to a teenager discovering the likes of Hammerfall, Gamma Ray, Blind Guardian and Stratovarius. This is how power metal should still be done, it's so refreshing to hear a band do well written 90's quality power metal, a genre that's really died in the ass IMO. This actually started in the middle of the pack as it was just another power metal song to me at first, but the more I listen, I discovered how mature and well done this is for the style. Everything about it is brilliant and the long instrumental section was glorious. This is the sort of power metal that I've been missing for a long time and will be checking out this band for sure. As good as the Moon'Doc in round 1 I think.
Appeal of Style - 9.5
Instrumentation and vox - 9.5
Structure and Songwriting - 9.5
Replay value - 9
Would I purchase - 9.5
Score - 9.4
TAC - Iris Divine - In the Wake of Martyrs
If I was going to get two songs from the one band, I'm glad it's this one. Basically what I wrote about Prisms applies here, but the only reason the score is slighly lower is becuase, well, I like Prisms better. Also, this one reminds me more of TOT style DT which is fucking good. Everything else is wonderful, what a teriffic band indeed. The only reason the OO get a slightly higher score was cause I have listened to that one a few more times than this, simply because of contrast in style I think.
Appeal of Style - 9.5
Instrumentation and vox - 9.5
Structure and Songwriting - 9.5
Replay value - 8.5
Would I purchase - 9.5
Score - 9.3
bl5150 - Almanac - Self Blinded Eyes
Looks like Brent snuck one in here as this was a band on my radar but hadn't checked out yet. The big thing for me was David Readman, who I love, he has a brillilant voice. This is a band created by ex-Rage guitarist Victor Smolkski, and IMO he is one of the most underrated metal guitarists around, his leads are brilliant and it's no different here. The solo I'll say is incredible and due to him being the leader of the band warrants them being on my purchase list. The verses were impressive and had a nice older Edguy feel to me which is cool. Chorus was solid enough but not as good as the verses, but an album I'm really looking forward to indeed.
Appeal of Style - 9
Instrumentation and vox - 9
Structure and Songwriting - 9
Replay value - 9
Would I purchase - 9
Score - 9.0
Big Hath - Armored Saint - Reign of Fire
I was expecting this band in round 1 from Jason but nevertheless here they are nice and early in round 2. Didn't know anything about this band really. I've listened to Win Hands Down once which was solid but have never checked out anything else, and the older stuff was what I'm most intrigued about. This is actually really strong hard rock. John Bush I find has an interesting voice. I only know him briefly from Anthrax but even what I'm discovering from them is new to me. His vocals seem to be very cut and dry and rough and even lacking melody, but for some reason is quite enjoyable to listen to. This song has everything I could really ask for, great riffs, solos, good chorus and nice guitar harmonies too. Obviously the big thing is if it keeps my interest and is purchse worthy and after one or two listens I thought, 'cool song,' but the more I listen, the more enjoyable it is, so despite it being so safe and not out of the box, I want to get this album, if it's all like this. Great song.
Appeal of Style - 9
Instrumentation and vox - 8.5
Structure and Songwriting - 9
Replay value - 8.5
Would I purchase - 9
Score - 8.8
lonestar - IQ - The Road of Bones
IQ are a band that I know the name but have never heard a single note from. From what I gathered, I knew they were prog, and after listening to this track that pretty much was confirmed. The first time I listened to this, it was kind of 'meh'. It has a massive Porcupine Tree sound and I am quite a fan of them, so I persisted. This actually opened up to a really enjoyable track. I really like the vocals and the atmosphere and style are wonderful. The mellotron melody gets stuck in the head and makes the song very infectious, love that. The heavy section at the end was great too. Definitely a song you would have to be in the mood for, but enjoyed it more and more each time and I'm definitely interested in what else this band does, they have a superb sound. I hope they crank things up a little from time to time, but this is a strong start.
Appeal of Style - 8.5
Instrumentation and vox - 9
Structure and Songwriting - 9
Replay value - 8.5
Would I purchase - 9
Score - 8.8
Evermind - Absolute Priority - Fear of the Night
When this song kicked in I thought I was listening to Vanden Plas, which is a good thing. This is simply some run of the mill solid prog metal that's just done really well. Love the crunch, the vocals are pretty good, great keys and the structure here was common but well done. Didn't blow me away with any originality or anything but solid metal with a good hook, that deserves to be checked out. Great chorus on this one.
Appeal of Style - 9
Instrumentation and vox - 9
Structure and Songwriting - 8.5
Replay value - 8.5
Would I purchase - 8
Score - 8.6
Bolsters - Glass Mind - Survive
Here's some more solid run of the mill prog metal. This song was really enjoyable and I liked the sound, style and production. There was nothing really new here, but everything here is well done. Great playing and some good riffing and lots of DT influenced prog melodies. If anything I feel it could have been a bit stronger in the vocal melodies departement, but I think the song is just a grower too. That's the only thing the Absolute Prioriy has over it, the melodies. So with a stronger hook, it probably would have taken the score up a little. I gotta say too, the Petrucci inspired solo at around the 4:30 mark was quite amazing and that alone makes me want to check the rest of the album out. Solid submission.
Appeal of Style - 9
Instrumentation and vox - 8.5
Structure and Songwriting - 8
Replay value - 8
Would I purchase - 9
Score - 8.5
jjrock88 - Joshua - Crying Out for Love
Another strong but safe entry from Jason. Never heard of the band before but I see the guitarists name is Joshua so that makes more sense. Smooth, melodic rock that was instantly catchy with good replay value. I instantly recognized the wonderful vocals of Rob Rock which sure makes this track more enjoyable. The guitar solos and melodies were especially excellent and something I'd certainly want to keep listening too. I guess the only thing keeping the score from being higher than it is, is just how safe it is and really there's nothing here I haven't heard before, but I don't mean that in a negative way as it's a great catchy song.
Appeal of Style - 9
Instrumentation and vox - 9
Structure and Songwriting - 8.5
Replay value - 7.5
Would I purchase - 7.5
Score - 8.3
jingle.boy - Phantasma - Enter Dreamscape
Another song that has Chad's name written all over it, and he decides to do a bit of cheating sending me a band featuring old mate from Serenity and a guest appearance from the Tom Englund, but that doesn't always constitute in instant win. Things started off really really strong and positive. Great riff and feel and the verses were powerful and excellent. The chorus is where I struggle with this song, IMO it just drags it down unfortuantely. I'm not the biggest fan of female voices in my metal, but they do have their place mainly in projects exactly like this, but for me, the chours just irritated me and cut the enjoyment down just a little bit. I felt it held the song back instead of making it take off. It is still are really solid song, and I'd probably still listen to the album due to the personel involved, and just how everything else about it was so good. A bit unfortunate Chad, sorry.
Appeal of Style - 9
Instrumentation and vox - 8
Structure and Songwriting - 7.5
Replay value - 7.5
Would I purchase - 7.5
Score - 7.9
Elite - Arkentype - Ashes and Dirt
This song was somewhat interesting. The style seems to be the newer metal Periphery style of thing, and they are somewhat effective. I found the variety in the vocals to be quite good and the first couple of minutes I found nice and strong. The only thing I didn't quite like was the chorus, it seemed to rely too heavily on it as the song went on and took some of the agression and power away from the song. It also had a bit of an emo feel, (if that's still a genre these days) The ending dragged it on too much too. Saying that, the band has chops and the tune has a nice atmosphere. I think with time they could make something of themselves. I probably wouldn't purchase this, but I'd definitely like to check out the rest of the album. But saying that, the more I listened to this song, the more I lost interest.
Appeal of Style - 7.5
Instrumentation and vox - 7
Structure and Songwriting - 7
Replay value - 7
Would I purchase - 7
Score - 7.1
Train of Naut - Ihsahn - Celestial Violence
For some reason, I always wanted to check out Ihsahn. I've never been an Emporer fan or anything, but I thought his solo stuff from what I could gather would be something I might like. Unfortunately, while this was interesting, it doesn't make me want to check out more of his stuff. What is on offer here is quite good, but I think perhaps my tastes have steered away from this dark, slow, plodding type of extreme music. His black metal vox are excellent, and his cleans portray nice emotion. It did get going a little towards the end which had me a little more interested but on a whole, not something that really blew my socks off. Saying all that, I wouldn't mind checking out a full album to see if there was anything else, but at the moment, not something I'll jump into.
Appeal of Style - 7
Instrumentation and vox - 8.5
Structure and Songwriting - 7
Replay value - 6
Would I purchase - 6
Score - 6.9
Parama - Oceans of Slumber - Sunlight
Well, Parama I just want to apologise in advance to you now, because I really didn't like this song at all. Unfortunately, it just didn't click with me at all, and I listened to it many times but now when it comes up, I want to skip it. I'm not a huge fan of female vox, they have their place for me, but I will say the singer's vocals are pretty good and I guess the atmosphere overall is good too which is a plus, but there just wasn't anything here that I found positive, it just plodded and went nowhere IMO. I'm sorry for the score, but I can't rate this any higher. Feeling I should rate it lower too.
Appeal of Style - 5
Instrumentation and vox -7.5
Structure and Songwriting - 4.5
Replay value - 4
Would I purchase - 4
Score - 5.0
Current standings after round 2
Dr. DTVT - 18.2
Big Hath - 18.2
bl5150 - 17.7
TAC - 17.7
lowdz - 17.5
Evermind - 17.5
Bolsters - 16.9
jingle.boy - 16.4
jjrock88 - 16.3
lonestar - 16.2
Train of Naut - 13.7
Parama - 12.5
Elite - 13.1
Bands added to the list;
Iris Divine
Almanac
Orden Ogan
IQ
Armored Saint
Absolute Priority
Glass Mind
Joshua
Phantasma
Arkentype
Ihsahn
Oceans of Slumber
Round 3 open.
Topic: wolfking's roulette to end all roulettes v. Kip Winger approved! (Read 98915 times)