Finals Round 2 Results!
Matchup 1 - bl5150 vs TAC
Dyscordia - Dreamcatcher Tree/The Empty Room vs Project Aegis - Angel in the Ashes
bl5150 - Dyscordia - Dreamcatcher Tree/The Empty Room
This was a really interesting song, and it caught my attention right away. After an awkward King Diamondeque intro things kick in nicely and I found this an interesting submission from Brent, with growls and all and just an overall dark and evil vibe. The variety of vocal styles was excellent and the clean high vocals which seem to have a lot of King Diamond influence also was really solid. This song didn't get old and was actually easy to keep listening too because even though it sparked my interest right away, there was still lots to discover each listen. Definitely something that I could see listening too and getting into. Really liked it. Also to show the strength, I only just noticed while writing this up that there is no guitar solo, didn't look for it, that's good.
Appeal of Style - 9.0
Instrumentation and Vox - 9.0
Structure and Songwriting - 9.0
Replay Value - 9.0
Would I Purchase - 9.0
Score - 9.0
TAC - Project Aegis - Angel in the Ashes
So here we have one of these all star tracks raising money for stuff. I'm not normally a fan of these because it's normally just a track or two and I wouldn't see myself ever listening to it as I like the full length thing. These one off charity projects are normally just so cheest IMO. Nevertheless, this was okay but not spectacular. Decent power metal and well written enough, but didn't blow my socks off. The chorus was nice, but wasn't big on the female vocals. Rob Rock was a nice get and the solo was well done although I actually think it was a bit overdone for the style of the song. Would I purchase gets the first ten by default, because I couldn't find the track from my normal sources so purchased the mp3 from bandcamp haha.
Appeal of Style - 9.0
Instrumentation and Vox - 8.0
Structure and Songwriting - 7.5
Replay Value - 7.0
Would I Purchase - 10.0
Score - 8.3
Brent wins this one with a much more interesting and original track.
bl5150 - 9.5
Tac - 8.3
Matchup 2 - Dr. DTVT vs Big Hath
Omnium Gatherum - The Second Flame vs Ice Age - Perpetual Child
Big Hath - Omonium Gatherum - The Second Flame
What an interesting and somewhat original band. At first I was taken aback by the more commercial and more power metal style mixed with a gruff Dan Swano type growl. I hear a lot of Swano in this and especially the cleans too. Once I got my head around this, I really liked it, everyting about it seemed to work so well together and was one of the songs I kept coming back too. Love the melodic solo too and just the straightforward structure but really well performed and put together. Will check more of this band.
Appeal of Style - 9.0
Instrumentation and Vox - 9.0
Structure and Songwriting - 9.0
Replay Value - 9.0
Would I Purchase - 9.0
Score - 9.0
Dr DTVT - Ice Age - Perpetual Child
This was a tough song for me. Everthing here is good, really good, but for some reason, just didn't hold my interest as much as some of the other songs. Love the solo in the intro, well done and the whole instrumental aspect of this band is stellar. I think it was the singer that I wasn't too keen on to be honest, but the more I listened the more he grew on me and the chorus grew on me too. I think though it was teh only thing holding it back just that little bit. Still a great song, and I did enjoy it each time.
Appeal of Style - 9.0
Instrumentation and Vox - 8.0
Structure and Songwriting - 9.0
Replay Value - 8.5
Would I Purchase - 8.0
Score - 8.5
Big Hath just edges this head to head with a wonderful dose of original melodic death metal.
Big Hath - 9.5
Dr. DTVT - 8.5
Matchup 3 - Evermind vs jjrock88
Amadeus Awad's Eon - Incarnation vs Killer Dwarfs - Dirty Weapons
Evermind - Amadeus Awad's Eon - Incarnation
Here's another one of these all star style of projects and since doing this roulette can't believe how many of these things actually float around. Seems like this is only from an EP or something which is a bit of a turn off but whatever. Nevertheless, what we have on offer is some really cool heavy prog in the egyptian and middle eastern vein which works for me. Then the voice comes in and of course I recognize it right away. The shred on this too is really impressive, and love he the solos keep popping up. As the song went on, I like the change in style and the second half was really cool. Allen is the perfect voice for this sort of thing at around the 3 minute mark. Surprisingly I hear Amanda Sommerville come in who works really well too and sounds great. Good track, definitely want to hear the whole EP.
Appeal of Style - 9.0
Instrumentation and Vox - 9.0
Structure and Songwriting - 9.0
Replay Value - 8.5
Would I Purchase - 8.5
Score - 8.8
jjrock88 - Killer Dwarfs - Dirty Weapons
Another staple Jason submission and again we have a solid tune. This didn't blow me away, but it was a good listen. Nice vocals, well performed and a melodic and catchy chorus. Not much more to say as this was a great song but perhaps just not as original and interesting as Everminds submission
Appeal of Style - 8.5
Instrumentation and Vox - 8.5
Structure and Songwriting - 9.0
Replay Value - 8.5
Would I Purchase - 8.5
Score - 8.6
Ruslan just takes this one out. The style, the solos and Russ gave it the edge
Evermind - 9.3
jjrock88 - 8.6
Matchup 4 - jingle.boy vs lowdz
Shaft of Steel - Drive vs Reign of Fury - Faustian Mastery
First off, Chad sent a bonus band in WarMachine and the song Eye For An Eye, this was one of the two Canadian bands on offer with the bonus bands. I'm not gonna go into detail because Shaft of Steel is what I really want to focus on, but this WarMachine was fucking excellent too, great solid riff, tough vocals, really liked it, a solid 9 indeed.
jingle.boy - Shaft of Steel - Drive
When I saw the band name, I though Chad was sending me some sort of Manowar style metal band haha, interesting name indeed but what I got I didn't expect. This literally blew me away, I fucking love it. Havne't really had much of this style sent in this roulette, but this is how good AOR should be done, and this sort of quality has been missing in the genre for a couple of years now, so it was good to hear this. I took me back twn years when I got into the genre and the song instantly made me nostalgic and took me back to various points in my life where this style reflected with. This even has a strong Work of Art vibe which was surprising since Chad isn't really a fan. I see Dennis Ward is involved and you can certainly hear him in the background. Love the vocals, love the melodies, love the simplicity of it, perfect melodic rock. It's a shame that this is only from an EP too, hopefully we hear more from this band, Chad knocked this one out of the park. The only thing I knocked a point off was the the chorus could have been cut in half without losing the effect.
Appeal of Style - 9.5
Instrumentation and Vox - 9.5
Structure and Songwriting - 9.0
Replay Value - 9.5
Would I Purchase - 9.5
Score - 9.4
lowdz - Reign of Fury - Faustian Mastery
Here's some nice thrash metal. I see this is only a few years old, so these guys do well honing in on old school Metallica, Anthrax and bands like that. Nice solid riffing here and the melodies are right out of the Metallica handbook, but that's cool. Love the chorus, very melodic and a nice change of pace. Great guitars and the lead work was really nice. For a 9 minute song it didn't overstay its welcome and was great to listen too each time. Didn't blow me away but a great track.
Appeal of Style - 8.5
Instrumentation and Vox - 9.0
Structure and Songwriting - 8.5
Replay Value - 9.0
Would I Purchase - 8.5
Score - 8.7
Paul put up a great song, but Chad just blew this one away.
jingle.boy - 9.9
lowdz - 8.7
1. bl5150 - 62.3 + 9.5 = 71.8
2. Dr. DTVT - 62.2 + 8.5 = 70.7
3. Big Hath - 61.1 + 9.5 = 70.6
4. TAC - 60.6 + 8.3 = 68.9
5. Evermind - 60.5 + 9.3 = 69.8
6. jingle.boy - 59.1 + 9.9 = 69.0
7. lowdz - 58.9 + 8.7 = 67.6
8. jjrock88 - 58.8 + 8.6 = 67.4
New leaderboard heading into round 3 of the finals
1. bl5150 - 71.8
2. Dr. DTVT - 70.7
3. Big Hath - 70.6
4. Evermind - 69.8
5. jingle.boy - 69.0
6. TAC - 68.9
7. lowdz - 67.6
8. jjrock88 - 67.4
Sorry Tim, what can I say, too close. Chad sneaks through and takes 5th spot on the leader boards and gets to play on.
So here's the matchups for Round 3 of Finals;
bl5150 vs - Evermind
Dr. DTVT vs Big Hath
And Chad gets to play but no bonus point opportunity. big thanks to Jason, Paul and Tim for being part of this, loved having you guys on board.
So one band, but send me two songs from this band. Doesn't have to be the same album, lineup, no restrictions just two tracks from the one artist.
Go!