Poll

Did you suffer enough in this roulette?

Yes.
2 (33.3%)
Yes.
0 (0%)
Yes.
3 (50%)
Yes.
1 (16.7%)

Total Members Voted: 6

Author Topic: Parama's Spontaneous Roulette v1.5 (Back From the Dead)  (Read 74838 times)

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Offline Crow

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Re: Parama's Spontaneous Roulette v1.5 (FINAL ROUND LISTENING)
« Reply #910 on: September 21, 2016, 11:58:27 PM »
ok i'll do this soon i swear.
have really been feeling exhausted today, and writing is actually pretty tough when you are exhausted

hopefully friday i can have results up ???

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Re: Parama's Spontaneous Roulette v1.5 (FINAL ROUND LISTENING)
« Reply #911 on: September 22, 2016, 12:27:55 AM »
Just end my misery already.
This first band is Soen very cool swingy jazz fusion kinda stuff.

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Re: Parama's Spontaneous Roulette v1.5 (FINAL ROUND LISTENING)
« Reply #912 on: September 22, 2016, 01:02:43 AM »
it's my fault for hosting an EP round tbh. the one in my first one didn't go spectacularly and i can't say i'm particularly impressed by either EP this time either but w/e my fault for hosting this thing.

i dunno if i'll even run a roulette next year at this rate, it's really draining and this one's been relatively disappointing all things considered

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Re: Parama's Spontaneous Roulette v1.5 (FINAL ROUND LISTENING)
« Reply #913 on: September 22, 2016, 03:58:58 AM »
So basically one of us just screwed up a little more than the other?  :lol
Break the mold, let's shake the ground, wreak havoc!

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Re: Parama's Spontaneous Roulette v1.5 (FINAL RESULTS)
« Reply #914 on: September 23, 2016, 11:45:03 PM »
Evermind: When Whiskey and Cat Unite

iamthemorning – I Came Before the Water (Part 1)

First Impressions:
Well, it’s a simple and brief intro. The vocals are maybe a bit shrill for my tastes but on the whole this is pleasant enough. Not really… much else to say, especially on a time crunch!

Final Thoughts:
As an intro track, I’d say this does set the tone pretty well. Some lovely string-heavy textures and a lonely vocal line. Very brief though. I’m still not sure I’m a huge fan of the vocals, but they’re… alright. But as a song by itself, this really just doesn’t have much time to even offer much, unfortunately. And I don’t have the time to say much more, either. This would probably work better in the context of its own album, and it feels a bit unfair to judge it here on its own, but that’s the roulette format, I suppose.

5.5/10 (#17 of 18)



Serious Black – I Seek No Other Life

First Impressions:
I legitimately can’t tell these vocals apart from Avantasia or Blind Guardian. It sounds like the exact same singer. I’m not particularly noticing any other qualities about this song at all, either. The vocals take center stage pretty heavily. Most of the guitar work is background chugging, the drums are straightforward and energetic but pretty standard. Well okay there is one solid riff and the guitar solo’s fine enough. This is basically the kind of song that I don’t mind listening to but doesn’t stand out enough in any way for me to really remember much about it, I feel.

Final Thoughts:
Yes, the contrast between the previous song and this one is suitably jarring and I know you did that on purpose. As for the song itself. Uhh. I said… basically everything there is to say in my first impressions writeup. There’s a decent amount of power and energy to this that I can kind of get caught up in if I don’t think about it too much. But if I do think about it too much I tend to notice how spectacularly standard this song is in every way.

I won’t say that’s necessarily a bad thing to be, but for me, yeah… you know I like my unique, memorable stuff quite well and this just doesn’t do it for me in any real way. But I mean, I don’t particularly dislike it either, it’s just unlikely I’ll ever remember it.

6/10 (#15 of 18)



Árstíðir – Ages

First Impressions:
Really liking the vocal harmonies at the start here for some reason, can’t put my finger on why but they’re nice. The song does a solid job of being dynamic enough even when maintaining a quiet mood. The strings help too, always nice. A bit of a simple track and maybe not especially satisfying as a ballad but it’s nice enough.

Final Thoughts:
Yeah, the vocals are the clear highlight of this track, the harmonizations are pretty strong and both voices are rather pleasant on the ears naturally. And the vocals have a nice build to them throughout, while still being anchored on a main melody.

The repeating guitar line throughout this is probably the element I like the least, it’s a bit too repetitive in its structure and a bit generic too. It’s the kind of guitar line always used to give things a bit of a folky feel, which it accomplishes here I suppose, but it isn’t especially interesting on its own. The strings and horns and piano and everything else though, they create a great atmosphere for the vocals to play off of.

It does feel like the track ends a bit anticlimactically, or ends before it really hits its stride, or something along those lines. It doesn’t have any climax to build to, I suppose, which is probably its biggest failing, but that aside it’s an enjoyable enough track, though I can’t say it hits me especially hard.

7.25/10 (#9 of 18)



David Gilmour – Faces of Stone

First Impressions:
The somber piano intro is pretty effective if I say so myself. I really like that kind of sound in general, though. I thought this was going to be a straightforward ballad at first but there’s circus music or something in the background for some reason? Which is… an interesting choice. I guess it’s more like polka though? Or something? I dunno. The guitar solo is, unsurprisingly, pretty great. I mean, it’s David Gilmour here. The song feels like it lacks a climax though, and ends a bit unceremoniously. On the whole I like this, though there are some weird choices and it feels like it lacks… something, to make it really work.

Final Thoughts:
Honestly that verse is so out of place here. What’s that weird melody doing anywhere near the rest of this song? Why is there polka? This doesn’t even work with this part of the song, much less the rest of the song that surrounds it, which is a more straightforward ballad track. Sure, the weird bits give it flavor, but… flavor in a bad way, I’d say.

The rest of the song though is quite good, really. I really like the piano intro, probably more than any other part of the song, and I can’t put my finger on why. The guitar solos are both quite solid, especially the longer one near the end, and there’s a pretty solid moment of build after the first brief solo. I think that bit was supposed to serve as the climax? But it comes too early and doesn’t hit hard enough. The outro solo could also be the climax, but it never feels like it reaches the peak of what it’s building too and fades out before it gets the chance.

It’s a bit of a malformed song in that regards, and with regards to the random polka on the verses as well. There’s parts of this song that I like, but it just doesn’t feel particularly well thought-out or stitched together right.

Also, I never commented on the vocals I guess. They’re fine. Never been a massive fan of Gilmour as a singer, but he’s fine here, sure.

6.75/10 (#12 of 18)



Primal Fear – When Death Comes Knocking

First Impressions:
Yeah, will already agree with what you said in your essay, this is much more up my alley than Serious Black. This song, for one, has riffs! And the riffs have a strong groove to them, which I dig. Also really liking that chorus. Though I’m not finding much else to talk about here. The sitar (?) bit in the middle is fine albeit maybe a bit cliché at this point really. On the whole it’s a solid metal tune though, sure. May need more listens to really pick it apart though.

Final Thoughts:
The transition from the previous song into this one works pretty well with that quiet intro. It gives a bit of breathing room before the song kicks in. Though honestly this isn’t especially heavy, but that main riff does have a really nice groove to it.

I said I might need more listens to pick it apart, but… no, this is definitely a “what you see is what you get” kind of song. There’s not a ton of meat on the bones of this track, but I’m alright with that when the main basis of the song, namely that main riff and that chorus, are both pretty strong.

The only bit of flavor comes in the sitar bit in the middle and the way the crushing guitars play off it, and while, yeah, it’s a bit standard for this kind of power metal track, it’s executed well enough to be interesting regardless. The guitar solo is pretty solid too, though there’s a weird bit where it sounds like it’s about to end but then goes on for a few more measures, and those last few measures are maybe a bit disposable in comparison to the rest.

But yeah. Pretty basic song structure here and I could see myself getting tired of this one if you gave me more time to spin it, but as it is I do like this a decent bit.

7.5/10 (#5 of 18)



Mark Knopfler – Kingdom of Gold

First Impressions:
Folk music wasn’t what I expected from this artist but sure I can roll with it. Ahh, hmm. This is probably a very nitpicky thing and it came up with The Flower Kings before but. Vocalists that just sound really… old, I always have trouble with. It’s just simply not a style I like. And I worry that’s going to hold true here. Musically this song is fine enough, pretty solid though not hitting me especially hard, so hopefully the vocals grow on me because they’re not doing much for me right now.

Final Thoughts:
…nnnnnope. Don’t like those vocals at all. Just doesn’t do it for me. It doesn’t help that the vocal melody itself is reeeally repetitive, and the same melody that the flute and violin around it plays too. That melody is the only thing I ever remember about this because it’s a bit hammered in. But really the problem here is just the timbre of his voice. It’s too gravelly and deep for me, it’s just specifically a style that has little appeal to me. I wouldn’t say he’s a bad singer or anything, just not what I’m looking for.

Of course, the vocals dominate a lot of this song, and what they don’t dominate is mostly dominated by the flute and violin line that, while it has a decent amount of swell to it, gets old pretty quick on multiple listens. There’s a lot of parts of this song that sound fairly empty and only a few points where the song really builds to anything; the bit near 4:15 has a nice build going, a climax that some of the other songs on this EP have lacked, but it’s pretty brief.

I just don’t feel there’s much about this song that makes me want to come back to it. Musically it’s little else besides flute and violin driving one melody and the occasional buildup, and the vocals are simply not my style. Gonna have to call this one a definite miss, I think.

4.5/10 (#18 of 18)



David Gilmour – A Pocketful of Stones

First Impressions:
Gilmour really likes his stones, huh? Comedy. Musically this is leaning more towards… classical than anything else. Piano and strings and all. Though the strings especially are what makes me feel that, with the way they’re arranged. It’s again a pretty mellow song and again feels like it’s missing a real climax, but it’s pleasant enough regardless? Again the guitar solo is pretty solid, as well.

Final Thoughts:
This song has one major thing over the other Gilmour song on this EP: no polka. Nothing to break the mood or feel horribly out of place. I already like it more simply on that basis alone.

There’s an… interesting atmosphere to this song. It’s very tense, I’d say. The slow atmospheric buildup, the very melancholic strings and pianos behind the vocals, the vocal melodies that sound kind of like a ballad track from a stage play, in the sense that there’s some kind of hopeful sound to them, that the music significantly undercuts in the best way.

Again though this is definitely lacking a climax to tie everything all together. It does build up at a few points and the guitar solo has some swell behind it, but it never feels like it reaches the peak that it should, and cuts off kind of abruptly at the end.

I would say I do like this, but it again doesn’t hit me especially hard and I’m not sure I’m going to remember it very well. Pleasant enough song though, sure.

7.25/10 (#7 of 18)



Trail of Murder – Your Silence

First Impressions:
What is it about power metal singers that make them all sound so similar? That holds for both male and female vocals by the way. This guy sounds really similar to the Vanden Plas guy. I mean, I don’t really mean that as an insult as he sounds fine enough, but… ehh, whatever. Anyways. The riffs and groove of this one are pretty solid and there’s a nice amount of dynamics to it. It doesn’t feel particularly fresh but it’s fine on the whole. Not much else to say.

Final Thoughts:
This song finds a nice balance between the Serious Black song and the Primal Fear song, in that its riffs have a nice amount of groove, but also more energy than the latter. The drums kind of keep that energy going throughout the verse, too, even with the quieter, more subtle sound. And I also really dig the punchy chugging that cuts through the atmosphere of the second verse. It’s a neat way to mix things up a little.

The chorus of this one is a little underwhelming though. Doesn’t really feel like it has much power to it, the vocal lines aren’t very memorable, it’s basically overshadowed by every other part of the song. The guitar solo here is pretty tasteful, a decent balance of shred and melodic hooks, doesn’t go on too long and isn’t overindulgent, I dig it.

As with all the other metal tracks here, there isn’t a ton to this one, it’s pretty simple, but as a straightforward metal song I’m pretty fine with it. I feel like I’d grow tired of this one a little less quickly than Primal Fear but I also don’t like it quite as much at the moment.

7.25/10 (#10 of 18)



Temperance – Change the Rhyme

First Impressions:
Second time I’ve been unable to find a song anywhere online (edit: the album is out now so never mind), though that could be because this album’s not out yet apparently. Anyways. Big bombastic intro you got there, huh? This is like the first song to have female vocals since the iamthemorning track, I think, a surprising lack of those coming from you. I uhh. Can’t find much else to say about this though. It’s a pretty solid symphonic metal track. The strings and piano and whatnot are all used pretty well and give the song a really organic feel that I quite like. Don’t know if it will be particularly memorable though.

Final Thoughts:
Actually, the vocals on this track are probably my favorite on any track here besides the Árstíðir track, given further listens. The chorus here is a bit strange and ends on this kind of jagged melody that I weirdly dig.

It’s cool how this song continues building up every moment until about the midpoint; the first chorus outdoing the first verse, the second verse outdoing that chorus, and then the second chorus really exploding into life. It gives the song a really strong sense of direction. And the bridge that follows the chorus is pretty solid too, having a second singer in there helps. The little break before the final chorus, that little bit of breathing room, really helps the final chorus hit with more power, too. Without that it’d just be a wall of sound from the middle to the back of the track. Smart touch, that.

What I wish this song did better was its riffs, though, I can’t say there are any compelling riffs here. The piano and strings do help carry the song musically, and the quieter moments have some neat touches as well, but it’s a very vocal-centric song by design. Still like it a decent bit, but like the other metal tracks here, would probably get tired of it given more listens. Solid.

7.25/10 (#8 of 18)



iamthemorning – Lighthouse

First Impressions:
So this is the song your competition gave a 9.25, huh? Let’s see then. The freeflowing piano work here at the start is pretty nice. Thus far though I’m kind of… waiting for the song to really start? Thus far it feels a bit empty, I suppose. I guess that’s just what the song is though. Gentle, subtle, somber. That’s fine to be. Oh, never mind, the song does kick in when Mariusz joins the party. Will freely admit he’s never been one of my favorite singers or anything but he’s fine and he creates a nice counterpoint to the female vocals here. The last two minutes here are definitely more my style than the first four but it’s solid on the whole. Probably not a 9.25 though, sorry.

Final Thoughts:
I can see the appeal of this, sure. I guess, for me, the watery piano throughout a lot of this song, the lack of any consistent rhythm, doesn’t particularly work for me though. Especially when a lot of it feels like, not a unison between the piano and vocals, but a tradeoff, two elements not really working in harmony in any real way.

The song does come together a bit more on the chorus, having a consistent rhythm and a solid vocal melody. And the chorus at the end with drums and strings and the addition of a second singer, it works pretty well. The two vocalists work off each other pretty well and the vocal melody the chorus is based around is really pretty nice, yeah. And the song gets points for actually having a solid climax to make the song really feel complete.

But as a whole… most of this just kind of bores me, sadly. I’ll gladly listen to the last two minutes but that leaves an entire third of the song that just doesn’t do a ton for me. And even the last two minutes aren’t spectacular, just pretty good. I do wish I liked this more than I do, it’s a bit unfortunate really.

6.5/10 (#14 of 18)



Overall EP thoughts:
I can kind of see where you’re coming from with this EP; the quieter tunes are all diverse enough to stand out, and the metal tunes are all diverse enough to stand out, nothing here ever really got too confused in my mind. It’s mostly just a shame that not a single track on this EP really does a lot for me, though there’s only one I actively dislike, and it’s not, awful or anything.

As far as flow and structure goes, I think you did a pretty decent job. The brief intro track sets the stage, and, well, the Serious Black song kind of destroys it, but the rest of the songs flow together pretty well, and there’s a balance between the quieter and louder tracks to keep things dynamic.

It’s a pretty well-constructed EP, I wouldn’t say there’s any one song here that feels like a notable outlier from the rest, though obviously there’s a bit of a gap between the metal tracks and the ballads, but not one wide enough to create a disconnect, and it mostly just creates a nice sense of dynamics.

8/10
« Last Edit: September 24, 2016, 01:23:42 AM by Parama »

Offline Crow

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Re: Parama's Spontaneous Roulette v1.5 (FINAL RESULTS)
« Reply #915 on: September 23, 2016, 11:45:24 PM »
home: Imagining the Flow

Ludovico Einaudi – Primavera

First Impressions:
It’s really impressive that you managed to send not one but two songs from artists I received in my first roulette’s EP round, and on top of that two of the lowest scoring ones, so uhh, hopefully these are better songs? Anyways, for classical-type stuff this is pretty fine. I’ll fully admit that this isn’t my usual fare though. And it serves as a pretty nice intro too. I don’t know what to say about it, it’s well orchestrated of course and sounds pleasant enough, but it just feels like it’s missing an emotional factor to me. Which is a feeling I often get from classical music, don’t really know why but. Yeah.

Final Thoughts:
All things considered, this seems like a weird thing to send me in particular. But, maybe not that weird, since seneca sent the same artist as the opener of his EP and he won the roulette. Not because of the Ludovico Einaudi song he sent me though, in fact it was one of my least favorite tracks of the round. I wouldn’t say the same about this track though.

I do think this song does have a pretty nice sense of build to it, it starts off soft and somber and gradually builds up to, for classical, a pretty satisfying level of intensity. There’s definitely some degree of power to it, for sure. The fast string lines build a great sense of tension when the build reaches its peak.

It is definitely a bit longer than I’d want it to be though; cut the length of this track in half and I’d like it a lot more, especially since a lot of the second half feels like retreading ideas from the first half in a not particularly interesting way. The climax at the end of the track is a bit bigger than the one near the middle of the track, but not by a lot, and it’s a lot of the same general string lines.

That’s about as many coherent thoughts as I think I’ll be able to put together for this. Like I said, not really my genre, but this is certainly fine enough, I wouldn’t mind listening to it again, though it sort of feels like I listen to it twice every time I listen to it once, so…

7/10 (#11 of 18)



*Shels – The Conference Of The Birds

First Impressions:
Transition to this from the previous track works really nicely. And I’m pretty okay with how this starts, a straightforward post-rock feel but it’s got a nice amount of texture to it. Yeah, definitely feels pretty straightforward and pretty simple thus far about halfway in. And then oops it’s a lot heavier all of the sudden, sure. This feels like the kind of song that works better in the context of an album than as a song on its own, really, but for what it is I do enjoy it regardless.

Final Thoughts:
I feel like I have little to say on any part of this song, as it makes more sense to just discuss the track as a whole.

Mmm, yeah, I really find myself digging this the more I relisten to it. It’s got that great, majestic sound that I like in my atmospheric music, and it has that sound rather effortlessly, or at least feels that way. It’s really a pretty simple track. Straightforward rhythm, lots of basic guitar chord strumming and straightforward drumming. Yet it all works pretty well together.

And the way the song flows is really well-executed; there’s that initial build to a satisfying atmosphere that backs off for a shorter build until the song really explodes into life; there’s a great sense of tension when you know the song is building to that burst of heaviness but hasn’t quite reached it yet and it’s conveyed pretty well through the music.

I kind of wish there were more of the ethereal, drowned-out vocals on the track, because they work pretty well here, just naturally sliding in beside the instrumentation and creating another layer of texture that adds some emotional depth to the song.

I will say that the horns that come in during the later parts of the song don’t sound spectacular, and they end up a bit unfortunately drowned out when the song reaches its loudest, but it’s a nice touch to have regardless. The song also feels like it could hold on its final climax a bit longer, but it doesn’t overstay its welcome at the length its at nor does it really feel over too soon, so that’s more of a nitpick than anything.

The biggest knock against this song is that it isn’t really particularly special for what it is, and while I do enjoy listening to it I worry if I’ll remember it in a few months’ time. Perhaps I’ll check out the album and see if it really sticks then, we’ll see.

8/10 (#3 of 18)



Eluveitie – Isara

First Impressions:
Short little folk track here. With the addition of some drums in the background that make it a bit unique, it’s kind of folk rock but really mostly the folk? Despite its length it goes quite a number of places and I quite like where it does go. Not much to say beyond that at this point, out of time.

Final Thoughts:
Honestly, I’m not sure what to say about this one regardless. It’s… a fine little folky interlude and a pretty nice breather track after two lengthier tracks on the EP. But… there’s not much too it besides that one leading melody, and a bit of buildup when the drums come in. It’s… fine, but it doesn’t particularly interest me, on a stylistic level as well as on a song level. Not much to say, really. It’s fine? Way past out of time to write on this one though.

5.75/10 (#16 of 18)



Nothing More – This Is The Time (Ballast)

First Impressions:
The production on this for the first minute is reeeally strange. That vocal effect, the weirdly muted bit before the song really kicks in that just sounds… unfortunately muddy. I don’t think it sounds awful either but they’re definitely some weird  production choices I’m not sure I agree with. When the song kicks in it’s… pretty solid metal, yeah. The singer sounds really poppy, but more in a phrasing/rhythmic way, the way the vocal melodies are structured especially. Probably the kind of song that needs more listens but I’m pretty okay with this as is, yeah. I think Train really liked this one if I’m remembering correctly. I can see it really being up his alley, yeah.

Final Thoughts:
I vaguely like this up until the 1:30 minute mark, which is the first point where something really cool happens in the song for me. Still can’t say I dig the production on the first minute, though the part that bugs me the most is the bit right before the heavy riff kicks in, it just sounds bad.

But yeah at the 1:30 minute mark there’s a really catchy vocal line that comes in and a noodle guitar line that plays off the energy of the vocals quite well. And the chorus is pretty dang strong too, the singer sounds really into it and sells the power of the chorus pretty well.

The one thing that bugs me about this the most is the vague influence of nu-metal that creeps throughout a lot of this track; it explains the weirdly electronicized bits and the main riff definitely has traces of that sound. As well the timbre of the vocals could be described as “a bit whiny”.

But in the end I suppose it’s all little things that don’t add up to a bad song, rather a pretty solid one. It doesn’t feel like there’s a ton to this one either, though. Probably because of how long it takes to get started? After that it’s verse chorus verse chorus bridge chorus end. Still. It’s fine enough, yeah.

7.75/10 (#4 of 18)



Beardfish – Voluntary Slavery

First Impressions:
So as long as this isn’t a jokey song about a misrepresentation of homosexuality with annoying moments of rotten cheese I’ll hopefully be fine with this, because I was pretty okay with South of the Border musically for the most part but just eeeuugh to the vibe of the song in general. This definitely sounds more like a real song I’d actually want to listen to right off the bat though. It’s got this “not quite metal but still a bit heavy” vibe to it. Maybe not so sure about those vocals, they kind of lack presence or power. I feel like the mixing or production of this really lets it down. Everything kind of feels like it blurs together, it seems really muddy.

Final Thoughts:
Kind of feel like I haven’t given this one enough listens yet, it comes off as pretty interesting stylistically; there’s a rough sound to the whole song, with a lot of palm muted guitar bits, and a big bass presence throughout. And there’s all these little background flourishes that are slightly unsettling. I think that’s the attitude they were going for with this song though.

The vocals, too, have a bit of a rough edge to them, though in that case I’m not sure they quite work in the songs favor, since I can’t say I’m a fan of the vocals. Maybe it’s something about the vocal melodies, too, they don’t particularly grab me, but I think it’s more the rough-edged timbre of the vocalist. He just doesn’t sell that style for me very well.

The song also definitely feels a bit meandering. I sort of just… spaced out listening to this because there’s this stretch in the middle where… not a lot happens musically. The song hits upon that one jagged riff with some not particularly interesting soloing going on for a while.

I definitely feel it’s a bit premature of me to judge this since of all the tracks here I feel like this is the one I have the weakest general grasp on, but, I don’t know. I don’t mind this but it’s not making me want to go out and listen to a lot of Beardfish either.

6.75/10 (#13 of 18)



Gong – Occupy

First Impressions:
Okay my immediate vibe from this one is “Shining, but not as heavy/abraisive”. But daaang this hits on a mood for me. Chaotic, jazzy, rigorously tight prog with delicious saxophones. It looks like this is a pretty old band that’s still making music to this day? It kind of shows, there’s definitely a sense of experience to this song. This definitely just struck on a mood really well and I’m kinda wishing it was twice as long as it is, but oh well.

Final Thoughts:
Okay, giving this one more listens, I definitely feel the initial shock of it wore off a little and the curtains drew back to reveal that there’s not exactly a ton of depth to this song. There’s some degree of chaos, but it’s very organized and very predictable once you know what the song’s going for. There’s two main sections to the louder parts and then the cooldown bit that follows.

The sax wailing throughout is probably the most interesting thing overall, since it’s far less predictable, and I suppose the drums keep the energy and frantic feeling going quite strong. Even if it feels a bit stretched thin, I’d definitely say I’m still onboard with this song stylistically. I just wish there was a bit more too it.

It sort of feels like… an idea for a really cool song that they didn’t really flesh out and just left as this short little proof of concept track, that’s pretty neat to listen to on its own, sure, but wears out its welcome pretty fast and leaves you craving something meatier. I like it, sure, but I’d love to like it more, and I feel like the potential was there for something cooler and more interesting. But ehh.

7.5/10 (#6 of 18)



Nothing More – God Went North

First Impressions:
That intro buildup is already giving me better feelings about this one than the other song you sent from them. The middle of this song too, with the multiple layers of vocals going on, that’s a pretty cool moment. Yeah, I really feel the power behind this one, whew. The singer nails it during parts of this one and the music’s doing a good job of backing him up. I don’t think this song is firing on all cylinders throughout its entire runtime but when it’s on it’s pretty dang on.

Final Thoughts:
So uhh. On first listen I liked this. On relistens… geez. The entire build of this song. So well-paced. It starts out quiet and ambient, and just keeps building and building, to the point where only a really grand climax would be satisfying and anything else would be underwhelming.

There’s this break from the song’s flow at 1:40 that’s just utterly haunting. The vocals sound so strained, it feels like all hell is about to let loose. And well, it doesn’t quite there, but I mean, it gets there eventually. I just really like that particular bit.

And from the halfway point the song is just… great, really. The big high note at 3:30 that transitions into the big climax of the song is utterly breathtaking, honestly. There’s a sense of vertigo right when he hits that high note and the crushing layers of guitars come in. The song maybe doesn’t quite hold up the climactic feel until its end but it’s a very satisfying climax for the build before it, regardless.

And the song maybe could’ve ridden its high out a bit longer, but I do like where they went with it instead, this really quite cooldown that has its own build into a gorgeous choir of voices. Works really well.

If every part of this song was as good as the best parts of the song, it’d easily be my favorite song of the whole roulette, but even as it is it’s still a damn strong song and one I enjoy listening to every time.

8.75/10 (#1 of 18)



Slowdive – Golden Hair (Live)

First Impressions:
Yeah, having a crowd noise at the start might not be the best for flow but WHATEVER. Peeking at this band on RYM and they seem like Zantera/Sacul music more than anything else, hipstercore that’s pretty highly rated. Time to hate on them ahahehehe. Not really though. This has a nice, ethereal sound to it that I’m generally a fan of. It’s very chill, very pleasant. And the way it builds up to a really dense, fuzzy atmosphere. And the drums, doing their own thing during it all. I like it. Sort of hits upon… Oceansize vibes, I think, this is such an Oceansize closer track, I can definitely see why you put it as your closer for sure. Hot damn, that ending. Oh man. I haven’t had this strong a positive reaction to any other song in the roulette this far. I already have the feeling. I’d bet this is the highest scoring song of the roulette. Let’s see if it holds up.

Final Thoughts:
I think the biggest flaw of this song for me is that it takes a little bit to get going. The dreamy, ethereal vibe at the start is nice, but it doesn’t really pull me in until the 2 minute mark when the full band enters.

What really ties the song together for me for the next phase is that driving drumline, with the bass accompanying it; they tie the twinkly guitar lines and warm ambience of the track together and give it a sense of direction.

As well, the drums are the main driving factor into the build of the song, which is, for lack of a better word, awesome. Like, the way the song starts building at the 4 minute mark to eventually reach this roaring wall of sound, dense guitar lines practically screeching out of my speakers, with the drums continuing to tie everything together, and picking up the momentum of the guitars as the song goes forward.

I’ll be honest, I have a weakness for the spastic, chaotic drums like the final climax of this song and a bit of the earlier section has. But especially the drums at the end, they are just plain awesome. It’s basically exactly what Train said about Djakninn in his roulette; the drums have such an emotional charge to them that it’s almost impossible to not get caught up in them, and they have a really intense wall of sound in the background to play off of, so it’s not just like they’re going crazy for nothing. It all comes together for a really, really satisfying finale, both to the song and the EP.

If the entirety of this song were as good as its best moments, again, it’d easily be my favorite of the roulette. As it is, I think it’s juuuust edged out by Wilderun, and maybe the previous song on your EP as well (2 in one EP though, wow) but it could overtake them if I gave this a few more spins, I’d bet.

8.75/10 (#2 of 18)



Overall EP thoughts:
Some of the track placement on here feels really well-thought out; especially God Went North as a second-to-last track. It has a really grand and massive climax to it, but ends with that quieter phase that doesn’t quite resolve the EP on its own. And then throwing the relatively chill but still pretty grand Golden Hair after to really bring things to a satisfying conclusion, it’s a one-two punch of great songs that play off each other really well.

Primavera also makes a solid opening track and I think Shels was the right choice to follow it with, they flow into each other well and having a bit of a bigger song following the intro track is always a solid structure. Everything else in between feels… a bit there, in comparison, Eluveitie is a nice interlude I suppose, and the next three tracks could basically be in any order and it’d hardly matter.

I’m not especially sure all of the songs here particularly feel like they go together, as well; Ludovico Einaudi and Beardfish are about as stylistically opposite as possible without going full grindcore or something ridiculous, and the Gong track feels a little out of place as well, even if it’s a fairly solid song on its own merits. It sort of just feels like a collection of songs you liked more than a really cohesive EP during the middle stretch, but I mean, I kind of said that the EP score would be relatively minor compared to the individual song scores, so that’s fair enough.

It’s still pretty functional as an EP regardless, and considering the quality of a good chunk of the songs, I can’t really complain.

7/10
« Last Edit: September 24, 2016, 01:25:19 AM by Parama »

Offline Crow

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Re: Parama's Spontaneous Roulette v1.5 (FINAL RESULTS)
« Reply #916 on: September 23, 2016, 11:47:03 PM »
Considering those scores, it's really not hard for me to pick a winner for this round, and this roulette as a whole...

home!!!

I couldn't even be bothered to do the math and sum up all the scores, what's the point, it unfortunately wasn't really that close, ehh.
Honestly this roulette was particularly exhausting for me and maybe a bit underwhelming as a whole but there are definitely still a number of bands I'll be looking into further that I wouldn't have checked out otherwise. This format probably did nobody any favors though, definitely wouldn't run it again.

Offline Train of Naught

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« Reply #917 on: September 24, 2016, 01:18:27 AM »
I feel like I kinda underrated Golden Hair in my roulette even though I admitted many times that I loved it. Unlike you, I was more about that dreamy intro, with the climax complementing it rather than taking over the attention.

I don't remember liking that Nothing More album a lot but based on those comments on God Went North I should check it out again.

Also I know Evermind kinda went above and beyond with the comfort-zone breaking thing but it's still pretty disappointing to see such scores for Faces of Stone and the Mark Knopfler song :(
people on this board are actual music fans who developed taste in music and not casual listeners who are following current fashion trends and listening to only current commercial hits.

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Re: Parama's Spontaneous Roulette v1.5 (FINAL RESULTS)
« Reply #918 on: September 24, 2016, 03:42:51 AM »
Primal Fear ended up being the best song on my EP? Okay.  :rollin
This first band is Soen very cool swingy jazz fusion kinda stuff.

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Re: Parama's Spontaneous Roulette v1.5 (FINAL RESULTS)
« Reply #919 on: September 24, 2016, 06:04:50 AM »
Wowa, thanks! Two songs scoring a 8.75 is way better than I expected  ;D I should have sent the single version of This is the Time without that intro part (I think I sent Train the version without it) ah well, I thought that intro part was a pretty cool addition. I didn't check with songs you got in your previous roulette EP's, I considered sending South of the Border too  :lol Glad I didn't. I didn't recon that that Primavera would score higher than a 7 btw, I still had some time left on my EP and thought it'd be a nice opener (and I really love the song myself) Thanks for hosting this Roulette! I enjoyed playing in it :azn:


Quote
It sort of just feels like a collection of songs you liked more than a really cohesive EP during the middle stretch
Hence the title ;p
Break the mold, let's shake the ground, wreak havoc!

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Re: Parama's Spontaneous Roulette v1.5 (Back From the Dead)
« Reply #920 on: October 21, 2016, 11:42:33 PM »
some quick writeups on sacul's ep or something i dunno

Igorrr - Tout Petit Moineau

Honestly I don't really care for breakcore. The only reason it works for me in that Destrage song is because there's this build to it that it capitalizes on and there's a driving melody throughout the whole thing. Here it just sounds like someone inserted spammy drums on top of an unrelated song. The track doesn't reach any sort of intensity until over halfway through the song, at which point it does get kind of cool, yeah, but it doesn't last long and the stuff I dislike about this definitely overtakes the stuff I like. It's not awful on the whole or anything, I like the base of the song, but I just don't get the breakcore stuff at all.

Swans - Lunacy

I feel like these guys work better in small doses than they do long periods of time, so I have no bloody clue why they make all their albums so damn long. Like, this song has a nice build to it and eccentric enough instrumentation to at least be interesting throughout. I like it. I wouldn't say I love it, but it's solid. Not really a fan of the deep male vocals here, though, but you already knew that. I've complained about that like three or four other times in this roulette, I think. I don't know what else to say about this track. It's fine but it's not going to make me run back and see if I missed something after like 3-4 hours of trying to get into these guys in the past.

Bohren & der Club of Gore - Painless Steel

What can I say about this. It's a nice little ambient piece with some nice saxophone going on throughout. I'll probably check out the album??? I like it. It's pleasant. Saxophone is good. It's hard to write any decent kind of writeup for this.

KASHIWA Daisuke - meteor

I like this more than the long program music 1 track I heard, but probably because this is a lot more concise and, well, more to my taste. It's a nice upbeat piece and the strings really add a lot. Sounds like something out of a video game kind of. It's pretty pleasant overall. Also I forgot to write something while the song was playing because I got distracted and I bet it shows in this writeup but I mean this is a lazy sort of writeup to begin with.

Choir of Young Believers - Hollow Talk

I don't really have anything to say about this song one way or another. I'm sitting here trying to think of any words at all but this is just the most "there" song I've heard recently. No real negative qualities and some mildly positive ones, but... nothing that really catches my interest or makes me want to return to it. I've listened to this EP three times now and I couldn't remember a second of this one before this relisten. I guess this is just not for me in the most literal sense of the word.

Gazpacho - Chequered Light Buildings

This song starts off pretty unassuming and kind of in a similar vein as the previous track on your EP but it builds up a lot better and reaches a pretty satisfying climax by the end. I feel like this is one of the tracks I definitely haven't listened to enough to really be writing anything significant about, but here we are.

Janelle Monae - Cold War

If you were officially in the finals I'd have rejected this, since I've heard it before and found it pretty solid when I did, though that was like, 5 years ago? But uhh yeah I only kind of liked it before but it's definitely a "wow this is my jam" kind of song these days. Monae's a great singer and the instrumentation is a nice balance of a semi-retro feel with a more modern pop atmosphere. And I dig how organic everything sounds. I don't really know what else to say, it's just a tight, enjoyable little song.

Indukti - ...And Who's the God Now!?

This is the other song here I don't feel like I have a very good grasp on after only three listens, but to be fair this song is just a lot more complex than the rest of the songs here. I can definitively say I like it though, it's an interesting kind of metal song on the whole. I get a ton of pain of salvation vibes from this honestly, between some of the vocals and the instrumentation. It definitely gets heavier than they ever really get though. It's an adventurous song while still sticking to a pretty consistent main rhythm throughout, not relying on "prog wackiness" to be interesting. The kind of track I'll probably revisit or check out the album for. Honestly probably the best straight prog metal song of the entire roulette too, or as far as I can remember it is.

Overall:
The EP as a whole sort of feels a bit slapdash, the Igorrr song has nothing to do with the rest of the EP and the last two tracks are kind of off in their own little world too. But the stuff in the middle all feels pretty cohesive and well-paced, the slow build of Swans, the brief break of Painless Steel, the brighter jolt of energy from meteor, and then the two kind of similar but different enough songs that follow. And it definitely ends with a bang, the last two tracks easily my favorite on the whole thing. Wouldn't grade it especially well for flow since the transitions into the last two tracks are a bit weird as is the really abrupt ending of the closer here, but. Yeah. 'Tis a solid EP on the whole.


I'm also going to try and throw together a "best of" album for this roulette this weekend but it will probably be a bit slapdash and not especially well thought-out, most likely just throwing a lot of the songs in the 8 to 8.75 range together until I hit 60-70 minutes or so  :P

Then I can let this thread rest in peace, not having a writeup for this EP was bugging the hell out of me tbh.

Offline Sacul

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« Reply #921 on: October 22, 2016, 12:31:46 AM »
Yeah the Igorrr track was mostly out of curiosity, to see how you'd react :P

Yeah check that Bohren album, the sax is porn on it.

For Swans, go with Soundtracks for the Blind, only got a handful of long songs, many short tracks, quite experimental and ambient, it's great. You'll also hear where much of modern post-rock comes from and how it influenced GYBE!

Gazpacho's Night is definitely more cohesive and intense than Demon, you'll dig it.

The ArchAndroid goes through many styles it never gets boring. Very pleasing album.


Glad you ended up liking some of the stuff on my EP. Looking forward to that Best of Roulette thing  :tup