Finally! It took some time...
Tomislav: Indieana Jones and the Thirst for real blood
01: Thy Light - Suici.De.Pression (Introduction to my end) 6.5I can see why you choose this song as an introduction as it does a great job of setting the mood. However besides creating a nice atmosphere this track doesn’t do a lot for me, my main complaint is the piano sound, it sounds very un-organic and programmed. I feel the playing lacks some dynamics especially at the runs in the middle, it sounds a bit robotic almost. The composition is quite nice but not doesn’t strike me as being very special, it has some nice melodies. It’s kind a stupid that this song drags down the total ep score as it does works great as an intro track, but I guess it increases the flow score. I do wonder how this song would sound with a more organic sounding piano and some more dynamic playing.
02: Okkervil River - For Real 8.5Nice mood with the acoustic guitar and subtle sounds in the background at the start. I really like the short bumps of louder instrumentation accompanying the vocals. Nice instrumental bit in the middle, quite an interesting lead sound. I really love the vocalist, he does a great job of conveying emotion, I love how his voice gets all raspy near the end of the song. Pretty great ending too.
03: Giles Corey - No One is Ever Going to Want Me 8This starts very subtle and mysterious with very fitting vocals. The strings and organ really add to the atmosphere. The songs starts dragging a little halfway, I’d really like them to break out of the same feel for a bit I guess. The extra voices are really beautiful. There’s finally some variation at about 5 minutes in the form of a pretty nice acoustic instrumental part. Then the “WANT TO FORGET” and this wakes you up. It suddenly gets super epic, I really feel it wow. This is joy, it honestly makes me smile. Overall I feel a bit mixed, the first part has a really nice feel but is dragging on just a bit too long, the ending however is definitely worth the wait. I want to add that I feel the song is dragging less when I know what’s coming since it’s building anticipation, but I wouldn’t mind if they’d cut the first part by two minutes or so
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04: Manchester Orchestra - I Can Feel a Hot One 7,5I love the melancholy in this, it’s pretty sad but also beautiful. The minimalistic instrumentation really adds to the mood. I like the switches between multiple vocals and just one voice.
The nonsensical vocals
05: Mumford & Sons – Thistle and Weeds 8,5The dynamics in the intro are really cool. The singer’s voice is pretty good too, the vocal melodies in the chorus are quite catchy. The bridge is great, some lovely piano and really great dynamics again, and touching vocals. It ends in a beautiful climax followed by a very bare bones outro, which works just perfectly. I guess this is indeed a pretty radio friendly song as you mentioned but it’s a great one!
06: Okkervil River – So Come Back, I'm waiting 8,5The vocals in the intro feel so fragile, which is only amplified by the soft guitar playing. I like how the vocalist starts to sing more confidently as the song progresses and more instrumentation is added only to get back to subtleness again. The climax near the end is really good, this is a great way to end this EP man!
Flow: 4I think the flow is really good! Suici.De.Pression, although my least favourite track on this EP works great as an intro. There are enough loud moments to break up the soft music on this EP and it ends with a nice climax too. I really enjoyed listening to this EP, thanks Tomislav!
Average EP Songs Score:
7,92Total EP Score: 23,75 + 4 =
27,75 Total Score: 77,5 + 27,75 =
105,25
Sacul: Broken Chords can sing a Little.
01: Nine Inch Nails - Something I Can Never Have 7.5I like how this starts really minimalistic with a pretty simple piano figure repeating itself over and over. There’s enough emotion in the vocals to keep this song interesting despite its repetitiveness. I’m not a big fan of some of the vocal effects, not too sure if it’s an effect or just the microphone, but it sounds a little compressed. The guitar playing a subtle melody is pretty nice. The way the vocals get really raspy is pretty great.
02: Silver Mt. Zion – Movie (Never made) 7,5Nice chilling atmosphere from the start on. Another pretty minimalistic song, though this is way more subtle, even getting completely silent at times. It makes me kind of feel that it lacks some substance. It’s a pretty nice piece, but besides some of the vocal melodies there’s nothing that really stands out. The vocals are really beautiful though.
03: Dead Can Dance – Amnesia 6.5I’ve heard the name of this band in a Steven Wilson song, which pickled my curiosity but I have never really checked this band out, so thanks! The note that keeps repeating itself sounds quite interesting at the start, but starts getting kind of annoying at some point. IT has more substance than the song before it but is less beautiful and also quite a bit longer. This song really starts dragging,
04: Sufjan Stevens – John Wayne Gacy, Jr. 9.25This is definitely the highlight of your EP, wow. It’s really beautiful with some great vocal melodies. Great voice too, the high notes are so beautifully, the oooh my good is just chilling. I think the best part might be the lyrics, that last line “And in my best behaviour, I am really just like him” If I understand correctly it’s about how even serial killers start out as “normal” persons, hence the comparison. Easily the most poetic and touching song about a serial killer I’ve heard so far!
05: Glen Hasard – Bird of Sorrow 8I’ve think I’ve read you really praising this song, and I can see where you’re coming from even though it doesn’t hit me as hard as it probably hit you. Love how he screams haaanging on, The instrumentation doesn’t stand out too much but the vocals are really good, there’s really a lot of emotion in them.
06: Sufjan Stevens – Blue Bucket of Gold 8,25This is again really beautiful! I love the almost ethereal backing vocals (oohohooho)in some parts. Not much to say about this song really, I like John Wayne Gacy, Jr. a bit better but if these two songs are representative I’m really looking forward to checking out more from this artist. Also, the ending of this song is really chilling.
07: Johnny Cash – Hurt 8,75This song is quite depressing but also really beautiful. I listened to the NIN versions, and yeah this one’s better. It sounds even more honest to me, like he’s feeling the lyrics more than the original singer, which is quite peculiar since he didn’t write them. Yeah, the amount of emotion conveyed trough the vocals is just really good.
Flow: 3,5/5There’s nothing jarring in the flow, but the EP starts to drag a little during the first half with three pretty minimalistic songs. From the first Sufjan Stevens song on I really love this EP. Hurt is a pretty great song to end it! I will find a way….
Average EP Songs Score:
7,96Total EP Score: 23,9 + 3,5 =
27,4 Total Score: 76,25 + 27,4 =
103,65 Parama: Siege of the Superego01: Cult of Luna - Marching to the Heartbeats 7,5This song definitely has a great atmosphere to start the EP of. Not a track that works super great as a standalone but it fits the mood of the EP. The vocals aren’t exactly my cup of tea but I appreciate what they do for the song. The song doesn’t really go anywhere, but I don’t feel like it needs to. It just has this very interesting sound that really does something.
02: Earthside - Mob Mentality 8,75Love the almost theatrical intro! The short bursts are really great, and coupled with a very organic sounding orchestra it’s really amazing. I think the vocalist really fits the theatricality of the song, but he does sound a bit one-sided sometimes, he doesn’t handle the softer parts as superbly. The chorus kicks ass though, and I really love his voice here. The orchestration in the background is really good there too. I really like how the heavy parts are switched with some softer orchestra parts giving them some breathing space. They help to build up to the second chorus perfectly too. The combination of orchestra and heaviness is done quite often, but not often so well as it is done here!
03: The Ocean - Stenian (Mount Sorrow) 8Nice brooding mood during the first part which goes on for perhaps a bit too long before transitioning into a really epic sounding riff. Just love the groovy sludgy feel here! The screaming vocals turn me of a little but when the cleans enter I’m digging this again. Some nice grooves overall, this song has me bobbing my head duude. The drumming rolls in the bridge part goes surprisingly well together with the floaty vocals. I like the screaming vocals a lot more when they’re together with clean vocals at the end. This song does end a little abrupt.
04: Dissona - The Last Resistance 7,5Again a nice intro that sets the atmosphere just right, this time transitioning into something I would hesitate to call djent. It’s an interesting sound for shore. Love how it resolves in piano but after that it starts to get pretty standard prog-metal. I like the burst of energy with the rawer vocals. It’s followed by a slightly more unique sounding part too, with some almost easternish sounding vocal part. The return of the piano as outro is pretty great. Overall, I can say I love the first one and a half minute but after that I feel a little indifferent about the song. It picks up again as the song progresses though.
05: Cynic – Nunc Stans 8,5I just love the mood in this song, it’s very mysterious and slightly melancholic. The floaty vocals fit just perfectly, yeah the vocals really contribute a lot to the atmosphere, which is hauntingly beautiful. Not sure what else to say about this.
Flow: 4,5Definitely the most consistent EP, great flow too! Though you kind of cheated by adding crossfades, just kidding, I appreciate the extra effort! Love how the intro track sets the mood just right and Nunc Stans is a surprisingly good way to end the EP. It’s the perfect calm after the storm (I know such a cliché)
Average EP Songs Score:
8,05Total EP Score: 24,15 + 4,5 =
28,65 Total Score: 76 + 28,65 =
104,65
And the winner is….Neither the person sending the highest scoring song this roundat the third place: Sacul with a total of 103,65 points
Nor the person with the best scoring EP:At the second place: Parama with a total of 104,65 pointsBut it is:Tomislav with a total of 105,25 points!Congratulations Tomislav! I really feel like you deserve to win, you we’re on a roll for the last few rounds and I absolutely love Between The Bars, I’ve listened to it almost daily since you sent it, so thank you so much! Also a lot of thanks to Sacul and Parama, you’ve both given me a ton of albums to check out. A Hair On The Head Of John The Baptist was even my third most listened to song on Spotify in the past half year.
I will post a best-of playlist soon, I guess this weekend, and also do a short write-up of Train’s EP and Parama’s bonus songs.
I do now realise that I should've picked a less busy period to start a roulette, as I really had to cramp some time in to do write-ups, and finished this roulette more than am onth later than I anticipated. But I really loved having a playlist of songs to listen to everytime, and I discovered some absolutely beautiful musc!
Thanks everyone!