Round 1 Results
Here we go. I had quite a lot of listens to these songs and thoroughly enjoyed exploring all of them, and looking forward to the rest of this thing. You guys set a high standard. Anyway;
Big Hath - Moon'Doc - Watching Your Way
Well well, what the fuck do we have here? Who is this band and where the fuck have they been all my life? When I finally decided to run a roulette, possibly getting a track like this is the sole reason I decided to do it. This is brilliant. The power, the testosterone, the vocals, the guitars, the melody, it has it all. The style is right up my alley and just exactly what I was looking for. The singer is incredible and love what he does here. Sounds like he's holding his nuts right in his hand as he sings and doesn't give a fuck, love it. I hope Jonathan hasn't blown his load early cause the benchmark is set very high with this track and it's only round 1. I see Herman Frank is in this band, which is cool. It's also surprising to see hardly anything about them on the net, and I can't even get lyrics online to this song! This song has gotten so many spins already, I can't stop listening to it to be honest, and I'll be getting the album for sure. I've already looked it up and seems very rare and pricey, but based on this song, could be worth it. The only thing if I had to something something slightly negative about it, was that the tempo change at the end was not really needed, but it's a minor gripe. I don't want to say much early but I think it's going to be hard to top this song in the coming rounds. if someone can, kudos.
Appeal of Style - 9.5
Instrumentation and Vox - 9.5
Structure and Songwriting - 9
Replay Value - 9.5
Would I Purchase - 9.5
Score - 9.4
Ruslan - Bloodbound - Bloodtale/Satanic Panic
I've seen the name float around here once or twice so it's not a surprise that this band showed up early on. The intro set things up nicely and I could tell I was in for some nice cheesy heavy metal. The main riff gets me going quite a bit and then vocals are right up my alley. This is like some Dream Evil or Hammerfall but with a harder edge which I like. The chorus is cheesy as hell but one that got stuck in my head and actually kept popping up throughout the day. Solid guitar work too and it doesn't overstay its welcome. There is nothing really groundbreaking with this song, but everything about it is classy and floats my boat. Second best song of the round for me, and a band I would definitely look into, and listening to it, not sure how I haven't checked them out or know before now. Will be looking at this album definitely.
Appeal of Style - 9
Instrumentation and vox - 9
Structure and Songwriting - 9
Replay value - 8.5
Would I purchase - 9
Score - 8.9
bl5150 - Lethal - Fire in Your Skin
Well, who likes old Queensryche, Crimson Glory and Mercyful Fate? I fucking do, and I fucking liked this. A perfect combination of all those bands like razor sharp riffs and tastey King Diamond/Queensryche-esque leads. Incredible vocals and as good as Tate in his prime or Midnight, seriosuly. It's a shame these guys came around a bit too late, they would have been quite big. Not much to say with this one, it's very safe but Brent knows my style and everything is solid here. This I think would definitely an album I'd enjoy. Probably impossible to purchase but I'll have a look nevertheless.
Appeal of Style - 9
Instrumentation and Vox - 9.5
Structure and Songwriting - 8
Replay Value - 8
Would I Purchase - 9
Score - 8.7
Dr DTVT - Wolverine - Your Favourite War
The only Wolverine band I've heard of is some sort of hilbilly redneck shit, so I was a bit worried. Lucking this is a different band that I've actually never heard of. It definitely wasn't what I expected and was very surprised. This song has a very somber mood and a terrific atmosphere that I really liked. Sort of reminded me of Katatonia, a bit of Opeth and maybe shades of darker Evergrey perhaps. Hard to define but a wonderful sound. This song was a grower and a bit tough to get into at first, but turned into one of my favourites. Probably a surprise to some that I'd rate this as high as some of the others but it's excellent. The style I enjoy, great vocals here, awesome instrumentation and a fitting solo. I really like the lyrics too, and everything flowed really well. It's one of those songs you can't listen to at any time, but they are a band I'd like to check and see what else they can do. Hopefully they change things up a little.
Appeal of Style - 8.5
Instrumentation and Vox - 8.5
Structure and Songwriting - 9
Replay Value - 8.5
Would I Purchse - 9
Score - 8.7
jingle.boy - Anthriel - Haven of Grace
This is exactly something I knew Chad would sound, sounds exactly like something he'd dig. I actually had to check the file name 30 seconds in to make sure he didn't send Symphony X by mistake. This is a style that while not being as direct as the songs above I love, but it has to be good. Chad loves his concept albums and I do too, but if something doesn't click, my short attention span sometimes just will turn off and not even bother. Luckily this wasn't the case with this track. Very interesting structure, but builds really well towards the end, with the last section being close to brilliant. To be honest, I'm not a fan of the verses, and it kind of hurt the rating just a little, but then the chorus just fixes things right away. For me the vocals in the verse is a bit awkward, yet the vocals in the chorus are catchy as hell, but that's the only real gripe with this one. Great riffs, great melodies and it has something that I think would make me want to hear the whole album. Sometimes it's tricky to pick out one song from a concept but I hear enough here to warrant checking out the album. I think it would interest me very much, just like the song.
Appeal of Style - 8.5
Instrumentation and Vox - 8
Structure and Songwriting - 8.5
Replay Value - 8.5
Would I Purchase - 9
Score - 8.5
TAC - Darkest Hour - Tunguska
Tim sending growls? Yes, Tim sent growls. This seriously surprised the fuck out of me, as you could imagine. After picking myself off the floor, what I realise is that Tim sent some really solid American melodic death metal. Reminds me heavily of Trivium's first album which is a good thing. I like the growls here, as even though I like growls, they can still be hit or miss, but this guy has some nice balls. It's quite simple for the style and effective. Didn't knock my socks off but a band I'd check out, simple, cause I love the style. Interesting structure but quite common for the genre which I like. I wish I knew Tim had this hidden away and I would have taken a few more risks with his roulette, as this certainly was unexpected but applaud for having the balls and sending this.
Appeal of Style - 9
Instrumentation and Vox - 8
Structure and Songwriting - 8
Replay Value - 8.5
Would I Purchase - 8.5
Score - 8.4
Bolsters - Damnation Angels - Pride (The Warrior's Way)
Again, I've seen this band mentioned a few times but never heard a note from them. This one left me torn a bit. To cut to the chase, the song itself, the vocals, the production and the playing are all brilliant. The only thing is that I feel it's too long and could have been cut down. I can see they are going for the epic and it does achieve it but I just think it could be 5-6 minutes and it would have slayed. It doesn't have enough to warrant 9 minutes IMO. But I still love it quite a bit and the quality of the playing and the vocals, I want to check out the rest of the album, as I can see it's the last song, so I'd expect some more straightforward songs. To be honest those, this has one of the top choruses of the whole round, and I think it would have cracked up to a 9 if it were trimmed.
Appeal of Style - 9
Instrumentation and Vox - 9
Structure and Songwriting - 7
Replay Value - 8.5
Would I Purchase - 8.5
Score - 8.4
lowdz - Red Dawn - Flyin' High
Paul knows my soft spot and sends some classic AOR. This was a great track, but simply safe. I've heard quite a bit of AOR over my time now I pretty much like most of what I hear, but these days nothing sticks much unless it's an artist I love and follow. Nevertheless, this had a great sound, great feel, well produced and executed and great leads from both the guitars and keys. Wasn't a huge fan of the vocals, they were a little gruff for the style IMO but a great AOR song, and I might go back and check the album out.
Appeal of Style - 9
Instrumentation and Vox - 8.5
Structure and Songwriting - 8
Replay Value - 7.5
Would I Purchase - 7.5
Score - 8.1
jjrock88 - Villain - She'll Make You (Fall in Love)
Jason sends some old school hard rock, and really this is no surprise, and I didn't invite him to send me new style I've never heard of. Not much to say about this one, but the choruses were nice and catchy. Great hard rock feel throughout with simple lyrics and the guitar solos were the highlight where they were razor sharp and nice chops throughout. There was nothing bad about this song, but like Paul's just pretty safe and didn't have the edge to match the songs at the top.
Appeal of Style - 8
Instrumentation and Vox - 8
Structure and Songwriting - 8
Replay Value - 8
Would I Purchase - 8
Score - 8.0
Parama - Caligula's Horse - Marigold
I've only heard of these guys with the new album they have put out which is weird because they actually come from my home town, so I'll try not to be biased. This is an interesting song where another Brisbane band Dead Letter Circus comes to mind, which I like quite a bit. This alternate heavy style seems to be the representation of modern rock up here in Brisbane, or maybe it's just the popular thing going around. This is a style I am quite fond of, but I find my attention doesn't stick with the style for a long period of time usually. I really liked the Tool like riffs and it held my interest. The vox aren't my preferred style with the falsetto here and there but the chorus was really great, and I really liked the atmosphere. The melodic guitar solo really kicked things up a notch and really made me listen. I have a feeling the album might be a little samey in style, but if there was enough variety, I'd be interested, adn the song did hold my interest throughout. Also, out of the few submissions in the style in this round, this was by far the best.
Appeal of Style - 7.5
Instrumentation and Vox - 7.5
Structure and Songwriting - 8.5
Replay Value - 8.5
Would I Purchase - 7
Score - 7.8
Lonestar - Destrage - Where the Things Have No Colour
Sorry RJ, this song was decent enough, just didn't match most of the other songs. It still deserves a mid 7 score but a song that didn't really get my interest. Wasn't a fan of the vocals at all really, but the melodies were pretty good still, and kept the score up due to the catchiness. It didn't wow me but the best part was the wonderful guitar solo. Great moments here and it almost makes me want to check the band cause the chops they have here are excellent. If it wasn't for that solo the score would be a lot lower. A decent and cool enough song, again just doesn't match the others.
Appeal of Style - 7.5
Instrumentation and Vox - 8
Structure and Songwriting - 7.5
Replay Value - 7
Would I Purchase - 7
Score - 7.4
Train of Naut - Earthside - A Dream in Static
This reminded me very much of the Caligula's Horse in style, but unfortunately not as effective. The style again was a little off for me until the heavy riffing came in near the end. I found my attention drifting until that section came in. it just didn't hold my interest much. The vox I didn't really like, and weren't strong enough to keep me interested, even though he was quite strong in the choruses, and the atmosphere in these sections was very good. Not sure how an album would pan out, but can't see myself getting into this too much. I see Bjorn Strid of Soilwork guests on a song, that might have had a better response from me. This was a well thought out and well crafted song really, just didn't do it for me, sorry.
Appeal of Style - 7
Instrumentation and Vox - 7.5
Structure and Songwriting - 7.5
Replay Value - 6
Would I Purchase - 6
Score - 6.8
Elite - Agent Fresco - See Hell
Yeah, this was an interesting song. I could tell right away it just wasn't a style for me, but I gave it a lot of listens. The sound was good and the playing itself was solid, but I just didn't dig the vox, too much whiny falsetto and it just irritated me. For what it is, it's done nicely, just not something I'd check out unfortunately.
Appeal of Style - 6
Instrumentation and Vox - 6.5
Structure and Songwriting - 7.5
Replay Value - 6
Would I Purchase - 4
Score - 6.0
Standings after round 1;
Big Hath - 9.4
Ruslan - 8.9
bl5150 - 8.7
Dr. DTVT - 8.7
jingle.boy - 8.5
TAC - 8.4
Bolsters - 8.4
lowdz - 8.1
jjrock88 - 8.0
Parama - 7.8
lonestar - 7.4
Train of Naut - 6.8
Elite - 6
Bands added to the banned list
Moon'Doc
Bloodbound
Lethal
Wolverine
Anthriel
Darkest Hour
Damnation Angels
Red Dawn
Villain
Caligula's Horse
Destrage
Earthside
Agent Fresco
Round 2 open
open for business.
Topic: wolfking's roulette to end all roulettes v. Kip Winger approved! (Read 98940 times)