Author Topic: Parama's Confrontational Roulette v2.5 (Quick Album Reviews)  (Read 68653 times)

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Offline Luoto

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Re: Parama's Confrontational Roulette v2.5 (Round 8 First Impressions)
« Reply #805 on: August 06, 2017, 06:22:22 PM »
Suspyre
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Offline Nekov

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Re: Parama's Confrontational Roulette v2.5 (Round 8 First Impressions)
« Reply #806 on: August 07, 2017, 11:27:26 AM »
Give me an E
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Offline Crow

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Re: Parama's Confrontational Roulette v2.5 (Round 8 First Impressions)
« Reply #807 on: August 07, 2017, 07:28:43 PM »
???: _a___s - _ee_.___e.________.__.
???: ____ _ra__ - S__e__e __ _a_e
???: ______ _a__er__ - ____e _a_ace
???: Suspyre - Re___
home: Caspian - Arcs of Command
???: __r_a _ea_ - ___e ___ds
???: __d_e___c__er - _e__
Train of Naught: Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik's Skuggsjá - Skuggsjá
???: ___d__ _ra__ar - _e_ ___
???: Rainbow - Gates of Babylon

Letters Guessed:
ABCDERS

Nekov waits 3
Luoto waits 2
Train waits 1

Offline Bolsters

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Re: Parama's Confrontational Roulette v2.5 (Round 8 First Impressions)
« Reply #808 on: August 08, 2017, 12:39:00 AM »
P

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Re: Parama's Confrontational Roulette v2.5 (Round 8 First Impressions)
« Reply #809 on: August 08, 2017, 12:47:42 AM »
???: _a___s - _ee_.___e.________.__.
???: ____ Pra__ - S__e__e __ _a_e
???: ______ _a__er__ - ____e Pa_ace
???: Suspyre - Re___
home: Caspian - Arcs of Command
???: __r_a _ea_ - ___e ___ds
???: __d_e___c__er - _e__
Train of Naught: Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik's Skuggsjá - Skuggsjá
???: ___d__ _ra__ar - _e_ ___
???: Rainbow - Gates of Babylon

Letters Guessed:
ABCDEPRS

Bolsters waits 3
Nekov waits 2
Luoto waits 1

Offline Bolsters

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Re: Parama's Confrontational Roulette v2.5 (Round 8 First Impressions)
« Reply #810 on: August 08, 2017, 12:58:34 AM »
Second song title is Someone To Have/Make/Take?
Third song title is a Palace
Is there a band called Norma Jean?

Offline Crow

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Re: Parama's Confrontational Roulette v2.5 (Round 8 First Impressions)
« Reply #811 on: August 08, 2017, 01:03:14 AM »
close, yes, yes

Offline home

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Re: Parama's Confrontational Roulette v2.5 (Round 8 First Impressions)
« Reply #812 on: August 08, 2017, 01:07:10 AM »
Faunts - feel.love.thinking.of
Suspyre - Reign?
« Last Edit: August 08, 2017, 04:15:16 AM by home »
Break the mold, let's shake the ground, wreak havoc!

Offline Bolsters

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Offline Crow

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Re: Parama's Confrontational Roulette v2.5 (Round 8 First Impressions)
« Reply #814 on: August 08, 2017, 09:40:04 AM »
???: Faunts - Feel.Love.Thinking.Of.
???: ____ Pra__ - Someone to Hate
???: ______ _a__er__ - ____e Palace
???: Suspyre - Reign
home: Caspian - Arcs of Command
???: Norma Jean - ___e ___ds
???: __d_e___c__er - _e__
Train of Naught: Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik's Skuggsjá - Skuggsjá
???: ___d__ _ra__ar - _e_ ___
???: Rainbow - Gates of Babylon

Letters Guessed:
ABCDEPRS

Bolsters waits 3
Nekov waits 2
Luoto waits 1

Online twosuitsluke

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Re: Parama's Confrontational Roulette v2.5 (Round 8 First Impressions)
« Reply #815 on: August 08, 2017, 01:05:08 PM »
T

I'm starting to think I've made a terrible mistake with my submission. It's got 4/10 written all over it! Goodbye top 3

Offline Crow

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Re: Parama's Confrontational Roulette v2.5 (Round 8 First Impressions)
« Reply #816 on: August 08, 2017, 01:18:01 PM »
nah the highest score this round is gonna be like 6/10 so you're fine

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Re: Parama's Confrontational Roulette v2.5 (Round 8 First Impressions)
« Reply #817 on: August 08, 2017, 01:47:43 PM »
Ok then now it's certain, Luke sent Norma Jean :biggrin: song name is Hive Minds

This'll probably blow up in my face as my song is gonna rank below the metalcore song eh

F me up please
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.

Offline LordCost

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Re: Parama's Confrontational Roulette v2.5 (Round 8 First Impressions)
« Reply #818 on: August 08, 2017, 02:13:50 PM »
Rainbow sent by Stadler?

Offline Crow

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Re: Parama's Confrontational Roulette v2.5 (Round 8 First Impressions)
« Reply #819 on: August 09, 2017, 09:58:04 PM »
???: Faunts - Feel.Love.Thinking.Of.
???: ____ Pra__ - Someone to Hate
???: ______ _a__er__ - ____e Palace
???: Suspyre - Reign
home: Caspian - Arcs of Command
???: Norma Jean - Hive Minds
???: __d_e___c__er - _e__
Train of Naught: Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik's Skuggsjá - Skuggsjá
???: ___d__ _ra__ar - _e_ ___
Stadler: Rainbow - Gates of Babylon

Letters Guessed:
ABCDEFPRS

Train waits 3
Bolsters waits 2
Nekov waits 1

all the Fs are already filled in, grats.
just about to start writeups so i might have everything done tomorrow night? Friday night for sure if not

edit: wanted to get the lowest-scoring song out of the way first, settled on 4.75/10 for it  :corn
« Last Edit: August 09, 2017, 10:09:30 PM by Parama »

Offline Luoto

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Re: Parama's Confrontational Roulette v2.5 (Round 8 First Impressions)
« Reply #820 on: August 10, 2017, 03:34:19 AM »
M

Also, __d_e___c__er is probably Tomislav :P
Always too soon, always too late, always in between.

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Re: Parama's Confrontational Roulette v2.5 (Round 8 First Impressions)
« Reply #821 on: August 10, 2017, 05:48:00 AM »
all the Fs are already filled in, grats.
just about to start writeups so i might have everything done tomorrow night? Friday night for sure if not

Whatever works for you  :tup
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Offline LordCost

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Re: Parama's Confrontational Roulette v2.5 (Round 8 First Impressions)
« Reply #822 on: August 10, 2017, 11:22:29 AM »
edit: wanted to get the lowest-scoring song out of the way first, settled on 4.75/10 for it  :corn
I'm prepared. :hat

Offline Crow

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Re: Parama's Confrontational Roulette v2.5 (Round 8 First Impressions)
« Reply #823 on: August 10, 2017, 11:45:13 PM »
Round 8 Results

twosuitsluke: King Prawn – Someone to Hate

First Impressions:
I’ve been given the impression that the “someone to hate” here is going to be Luke for sending this, so let’s see. And yeah I am positive I’d said this many times before but hip-hop is not my thing, at all. In general it puts emphasis on the lyrics over the music, which is just the polar opposite of my musical taste. Though there’s at least okay music here. Also wow the quality of the vid you sent me is so bad, I’m gonna find a better one if I can. There’s at least, moments here where this kind of hits on something enjoyable and it’s not unpleasant in general at the very least. But in general this is just not for me, and I know you know that, but whatever.

Final Thoughts:
Dude, I have no clue what you were thinking with this one. There was no way this was ever going to get any decent points from me, solely on style alone. I specifically warned against this too in my tastes post that I’m pretty sure nobody has read anyways. And it does primarily come down to the vocals. I just don’t like the tone on the verses. It’s slightly melodic but it feels like he’s just loudly yelling words most of the time.

Other than the vocals though I mean, musically this is pretty okay? Every time the intro tricked me into thinking I was going to be listening to a decent song. The guitar melodies are kind of sinister, the bass groove is decent, the strings that come in provide a bit of texture. But it’s not really enough to hold my interest in general, especially with the vocals on top of it. And it does get kind of repetitive too.

Obviously I think the chorus of this is pretty fine. It’s heavier and more intense. Maybe a bit lacking in qualities besides that, the drums are kind of cool I guess but it’s basically just, heavy guitars. It’s really only notable for being the only metal aspect of the song, and it’s so brief every time that it hardly matters.

But yeah overall this is too basic and too far removed from anything I’d really want to listen to. Do I hate it? Nah. I think this will end up scoring higher than I originally expected to give this, but not by a lot. But it’s still easily my least favorite of the round and one of my least favorite tracks of the roulette for sure.

4.75/10



Nekov: Faunts – Feel.Love.Thinking.Of.

First Impressions:
You’re right, this is totally out of my comfort zone and I hate it, 0/10. But no in all seriousness I don’t like that synth tone, it’s super 80’s sounding in that it sounds really cheap and cheesy. I do like the vocals though. The vocals are nice and smooth, the singer has a tone I just really enjoy in general and has pretty solid melodies to work with. So it’s kind of a bit of a shame that musically the rest is just not doing anything at all for me. Like it’s vaguely pleasant but eehhh. I don’t have much else to say, I am not feeling this in general on first listen.

Final Thoughts:
I will give this song this much, it’s at least kind of catchy? The chorus sticks with me at least a little bit. And that main synth line is memorable as well. Though I honestly wish it weren’t, because I really don’t care for that synth tone at all. I don’t know why bands go through the effort of recreating the worst aspects of the 80’s sometimes.

Musically this is also really repetitive – that synth line is only so memorable because it gets repeated a heck of a lot throughout the song, and the drums are pretty rigid and unchanging too, they do shift up for the chorus but that’s about it. Maybe there’s subtle differences but not enough for me to bother trying to point them all out. The chorus does have some nice swell going on behind in, it’s just in general the part of the song I can kind of get into, the first time at least.

The song does kind of… die at the end, stripping back in a way that doesn’t really flatter the better elements of the song and leaves only the blocky percussion and a quiet synth to close the track out. And the second chorus doesn’t have any power behind it either, the song peaks early and just kind of dies from there instead of reaching a satisfying climax.

Again, I do like the vocals the whole way through, they feel decisively like an anachronism in the song but to my modern-favoring ears they sound great and I’m thankful they sound the way they do instead of like some 80’s new wave act. The song is also brief enough that I don’t really have time to get annoyed by anything or feel bored, but I do kind of lose interest entirely after the two minute mark.

So yeah as a whole… this is another weird entry to be sent at all, considering my tastes in general. I’ll again say it’s not awful but it’s a very meh track that has a few moments that catch my interest but little else beside that I can really care about.

5.5/10



Bolsters: London Grammar – Hey Now

First Impressions:
Hey, this song that Shadow Ninja put on his EP once & that’s like the only thing I know about it. Right off the bat I am digging the somber atmosphere, and the vocals here definitely have a tone to them I can appreciate. I’m not sure whether or not I like the quiet guitar picking going on throughout this though. On one hand it’s kind of nice sounding, on the other hand it feels like it breaks the atmosphere a little. It also kind of fails to come to any satisfying climax, making it feel like it would’ve actually been better off if it had stayed more minimal and atmospheric.

Final Thoughts:
I think this is one of those cases where I wish I liked this more than I do. I can absolutely see why you’d send this considering more atmospheric, downtempo pop tends to be my preference in the genre. I guess what this lacks though is anything notably memorable. The only part of this I remember much at all is the opening synth melody that repeats throughout the song.

I think what lets this down is how inconsistent the vocal melodies are. During the verses half the time there’s just blank space. And come the chorus, well, she’s certainly belting well but there’s nothing approaching a memorable melody. And again it’s kind of sparse. Performance-wise I do think she is a pretty good singer, maybe a bit too husky of a tone for me at points but in general she sounds good. I just feel like, she isn’t given great melodies or lyrics to work with.

And most of the instrumentation stays in the background throughout, doesn’t really develop in any meaningful way aside from the drums coming in to give the end of the song a bit of swell. There’s too much going on to hit really good minimalist vibes but not enough going on for the song to ever feel lush enough, compelling enough in any real way. The end result is something that sounds nice but I am just not into at all, unfortunately.

I think the biggest problem for me personally is that I just don’t emotionally connect to this, at all. Obviously I am supposed to, but… no, it feels like a very cold and emotionless song to me. One that sounds nice, but one that does nothing for me otherwise and thus one that I can’t get very into. Maybe it’s personal failing but more likely it’s just that the song is a bit shapeless and meandering in general and fails to do what it intends to do. But I mean, you tried.

6/10



Tomislav95: Todtgelichter – Neon

First Impressions:
I was promised black metal. So this better deliver. Okay right off the bat I am really digging the use of the female vocals here. It’s just a fit that works. Musically though it’s a bit bare so far. Solid atmosphere but nothing else is really happening. I guess, the drumming is pretty impressive? Not really very black metal-y though, which I mean is fine just a comment. It does change up eventually at least. The ending is pretty grand and intense, there’s a lot more going on there between the driving rhythm, the vocals, and the guitar leads. Just a shame it took a while for the song to really get going somewhere.

Final Thoughts:
The female vocals are pretty much the selling point of this song and, yeah, I think they do a good job of selling the song for me. Her voice has some solid presence, and when it gets going with the harmonies it’s pretty intense stuff. And the harsh vocals sound pretty fine too. Not huge on them but not bothered by them either.

The bigger issue here is that musically a lot of this is very shapeless. The first half of the song or so feels like just one guitar line repeated over and over, with the drums not doing much to help vary things up, and the bass is barely there at all. Sure, it sounds nice and dense, but being overwhelmingly dense for so long without having much to show for it gets boring, even with the vocals being enjoyable as they are.

I do kind of dig that two-note chord progression that anchors the first half though, especially when it comes to the forefront. But that’s just the thing, even that gets old quick because it’s literally just two notes. There’s other stuff going on besides but that’s the anchoring element of the song and it just lacks substance outright.

Things do change up eventually, the atmosphere strips back some to give way to some more melodic guitar work before the intense, heavier climax kicks in. And for the song it’s certainly a satisfying climax, I think the drums do the most work to really sell it though, switching up to keep the mood feeling propulsive and frantic. It still has a tendency to feel a bit repetitive and they try to fill the gap with some more melodic guitar work, but it too does wear thin by the end of the song.

I dunno, I think my biggest problem here is that while it has elements that work, it stretches them far too thin and doesn’t do enough in the meantime to keep itself interesting. This isn’t my least favorite song of the round by any means but it’s one of the more boring songs, if I’m being honest. I don’t feel like I will get anything out of relistening to this one. The black metal almost feels like a gimmick with how uninterestingly written it is here.

Man, I’m coming down harder on this that I originally expected to. I think it’s because this makes better background noise than anything. Didn’t really mind it when I was doing casual listens but doing a critical analysis of it and whew I am underwhelmed. There’s basically only one element here that stands out and it’s not enough to save the song as a whole for me, I feel.

6.5/10



Stadler: Rainbow – Gates of Babylon

First Impressions:
So I know like, two Rainbow songs and one of them only because of a dream theater cover I haven’t actually listened to in years but whatever I got the special edition of black clouds on release & I listened to it so yeah. Anyways this is the second song in a row with kind of cheap-sounding bleepy 80’s synths I don’t care much for. Except this predates the 80’s so whatever. 70’s synths aren’t any better. The bass in the song is also… really basic in the verses with only the occasional flourish but the THUMP THUMP THUMP makes the song feel a bit overly simplistic. It gets better in the rest of the song though, there’s some cool bass work going on I dig a fair bit. The guitar seems to be sticking to a middle eastern-esque scale, or at least that’s what I hear in it… not my favorite kind of scale to be fair but it doesn’t sound awful either. It sets a tone, for sure. Oh and, Dio is a good singer sure yeah not hugely my style but he’s technically very sound and emotive so whatever. Not feeling this one much first listen either but we’ll see.

Final Thoughts:
Rounding out the trinity of stuff that’s just “not for me” this round is some heavy metal thingy. I thought when listening to this the first time that it’d probably be right up Evermind’s alley and apparently he’s sent it in a roulette before so, yeah, nailed that one.

The intro they try and pull in this song is just something that I think was legitimately beyond the ability of the technology at the time. If the synths had more depth and presence, and more ability to create an ominous atmosphere, I think that could really work well. I mean, of course, I’d also like a better tone, regardless of judging things for their time I still think it doesn’t sound great.

I will say that I totally respect Dio as a singer. He has a lot of power in his voice and a tone that sounds pretty great too. I feel like he is enjoying what he is doing and putting his all into it. Yeah sure the style isn’t exactly my favorite but he sells it here, not really going to complain about anything on that front.

I will totally complain about the one guitar line that feels a fair bit overused throughout the song, being the primary instrumental focus throughout the verses as well as backing the first guitar solo. And the bass is actually a bit loud in the mix, for once. I think the thumping it’s doing would be fine if it wasn’t overtaking the rest of the mix ever so slightly, but in general it sounds okay, and there are some bass moments I’m glad to be able to hear clearly.

I think my favorite part of this is the bit in the middle of the instrumental break where things slow down and get dramatic, all the instruments are working together to create a powerful moment in the midst of the showmanship surrounding it. That may point to the root of why this doesn’t quite work for me in general – the guitar lines drive a frantic pace throughout the song that generally just isn’t my thing. I can dig fast-paced music but I tend to find that my preferences in rock music lean towards the slower and more bombastic a lot of the time.

There’s a lot of this song where I feel I can certainly appreciate what it’s doing, but there isn’t a lot to this that really sticks out or does a ton for me. And it does have a bit of a dated feel to it that I can’t really get past either. At the very least though I prefer this over the Dio song I was sent in my last roulette, it has a fair amount of substance to it and definitely has its moments, unlike that one where I kind of got bored of it by the time I did my writeup. So yeah. It’s pretty fine.

6.75/10



home: Caspian – Arcs of Command

First Impressions:
To be honest whenever someone says they’re sending me post-rock I always assume the worst because post-rock is such a dead and drearily uninspired genre these days. The way this starts out though is definitely a lot different from what I expected. Like the actual start itself is not that good but the song builds off it very nicely and steadily to reach a pretty solid and still somewhat energetic peak. This reaches borderline metal levels of heaviness as it goes on too while still having a generally pleasant sound to it. And the ending is just completely unhinged haha, the drums are just freaking out and it’s just a huge wall of sound. Yeah congrats on sending me a song I quite enjoyed in a genre I’d basically written off a while back, I guess.

Final Thoughts:
If there’s one thing I would nitpick here, it’s that the synth intro actually doesn’t do much for me. The synth has this really stiff and percussive sound to it that makes it lack any sense of atmosphere and it’s repeating the same five notes over and over and gets tiresome pretty quickly. I understand they want to use it to launch this 5/8 groove but they could’ve done that with a better synth sound or a less repetitive melody or something, anything.

That’s like, the most major complaint I have towards this entire song though and the synth line kind of gets blurred into the background once the rest of the instruments start coming in so it’s not a huge deal really. And the build this song has to it is pretty cool in general, building up slowly but surely, adding more distortion to its guitars, drums cranking up the intensity.

The song kicks into the heavier stuff about halfway through, kicking off with a fairly memorable riff that’s one of the few individual moments here I can remember aside from that synth line. That is one thing, that with how this song is structured there aren’t really any standout moments, it just goes on with the intent of focusing on atmosphere over memorability, but for what the song is trying to do that’s fine, really.

I also think the song could’ve held onto its peak a bit longer instead of going completely unhinged as fast as it does, but to be fair the heaviest moments are just repeating a riff from earlier in the song anyways.

The song does have a nice build to it but it’s not something I find myself emotionally feeling very strongly – it’s just pleasant at best, while certainly having enough to keep me interested, but due to lack of memorability and lack of connection I don’t know how strongly I’ll remember this one. Basically once the surprise of how intense it gets wears off I’m just left with a fairly solid post-rock/post-metal track that knows how to handle a build well. It’s nice, it’s got some unique qualities, but ultimately I can’t really say I love it.

7.5/10
« Last Edit: September 05, 2017, 12:55:41 AM by Parama »

Offline Crow

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Re: Parama's Confrontational Roulette v2.5 (Round 8 First Impressions)
« Reply #824 on: August 10, 2017, 11:45:56 PM »
Evermind: Suspyre – Reign

First Impressions:
I’m pretty sure I listened to the most recent Suspyre album before but beyond that totally forgot what these guys’ thing is. Starting off with really bad guitar effects isn’t a great sign though. Bringing in a violin is an improvement though. The verses have that herky jerky awkward vibe that I don’t really care for in my prog metal, having no sense of flow can just kill my interest outright. Is that a saxophone? I am interested in that though. Anyways stuff happens and okay. Then the song switches up for an acoustic section right in the middle. I dig this a lot more than the meat of the song honestly, even when it starts getting proggy again there’s still a sense of flow. I guess there is stuff here I like but it kind of feels drowned out by a lot of the reeeeally generic prog metal stuff going on here that is just not doing anything for me. The last chorus is pretty solid though. I don’t know if it’s even a chorus I don’t recall that happening anywhere else in the song.

Final Thoughts:
This is one of the songs where I just feel like I’m not quite ready to write about it, probably because it has the most going on of any song this round. And I also kind of said a lot of what I have to say about this in my first impressions writeup, really.

I think one thing that bugs me is how mishandled the “eccentric” instrumentation is used. Yeah there is violin and sax stuff, but they’re playing lines that don’t really feel suited to the instrument. And especially with how they sound, they’re basically just used as stand-ins for guitar solos. That’s… really disappointing, really. If you’re going to bring in these instruments use them in a way you wouldn’t use other instruments.

That chorus is really good though, a bit of cheese to it but the harmonies & the power behind it are undeniable. TAKE YOUR RIGHTFUL PLACE AMONG THE STARS heck yeah. Mostly just that line. I love that. The guitar line going on in the background of the chorus is pretty cool too and really helps with the climactic build.

The clean break in the middle is also a nice change of pace and just sounds way better from a production standpoint too, everything is really crisp and lush whereas the rest of the song does kind of have a compressed feel to it. So that’s a kind of backhanded compliment. But I do like that section, the prog elements work better there than elsewhere in the song and it’s a nice break even if it kind of happens abruptly.

Also the ending is really anticlimactic. It just fades into this electronic percussion bit after the last chorus. Ehh, nitpicks. I don’t have much to comment on here besides the moments I really liked and the stuff that bothered me because the rest of this is… solid but unmemorable. They try to bring in weird elements for flavor that end up losing their flavor, but then the most straightforward and basic stuff they do ends up being the most compelling and it’s a weird case of the band going against what they seem to be good at.

Overall? I like this, yeah, but it’s definitely not convincing me I’m missing out on much. This will probably be a song I’ll revisit when I do relistens and be like “yeah, ‘s’alright. Not giving it more points, but it’s okay, yeah.” And then move on and forget about it and this band forever. There’s plenty of better bands incorporating sax and violin into prog much better, hello Thank You Scientist you beautiful bastards. Heck, they have the powerful choruses too. Anyways I digress. Yes, this is fine.

7.5/10



Train of Naught: Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik's Skuggsjá – Skuggsjá

First Impressions:
I remember this one yeah but I don’t remember if I ever listened to it, at all? I don’t remember what it sounds like anyways but from the title I get the feeling it’s something weird. Apparently it’s actually just a 6 minute flute solo though. Or at least a nearly two minute one starting off the song. Yeah that’s a bit too slow of a start for me, if I’m being honest. When the song starts up for real though it’s got some cool and dark atmosphere to it that I do dig a lot more. Though I’ll only be truly satisfied if it builds to something. It kind of is just one long build, isn’t it? This feels like the kind of thing you’d save for an EP opener rather than have it be a song sent on its own in a roulette because it clearly belongs as part of an album rather than a standalone track, but I mean, it sounds pretty cool so, sure.

Final Thoughts:
This song is suuuuper slow to start. I just don’t have interest in this intro, it’s not emotionally evocative and it’s not particularly atmospheric either. I think the entire thing could’ve been chopped off and the song could’ve started around 1:45 and been better off for it.

But then like, when this does kick in it’s awesome? Absolutely menacing atmosphere that builds itself up pretty quickly but never too quickly and there’s just a lot to pay attention to and it’s pretty overwhelming in the best way. The layers upon layers of vocals are probably the biggest factor in the song though the strings throughout certainly help add to the mood. And there’s the constant drone in the background that keeps the song grounded as well. It’s not something I connect with on an emotional level really but damn if it isn’t intense.

There’s a moment of reprieve where it does cut back and then start building up again to maybe a slightly bigger climax than the first time? And it’s pretty awesome but does end up feeling like the song runs out of original elements and then starts repeating its same loop again for good measure. Maybe the initial build was too fast, I don’t know. Whatever the case, it’s not like it sounds any less dark and intense the second time around but it does lose its bite a little and makes the song feel a bit anticlimactic in the end.

For that and for the unnecessarily long intro I’m definitely going to have to score this lower than what I would have, but this was still among the more enjoyable tracks in the round regardless and if I was listening to it in the context of the album I wouldn’t really mind the long intro at all. It’s just, that’s not what I’m doing here, so. Gotta judge it as a song.

7.75/10



Luoto: Omnium Gatherum – White Palace

First Impressions:
I mean sending a song just because it’s the longest isn’t necessarily a good idea, especially around me. I do tend to find songs over the 10 minute mark tend to drag or are bloated with uninteresting filler at least to some degree. But anyways. I see we are going with these types of harsh vocals… sure. I am actually digging the riff behind when the vocals come in a lot though, it’s sludgy but also kind of triumphant in tone. This is actually a rather bright-sounding song considering it’s some degree of death metal, yeah. I’m sort of having trouble saying much else about this despite its length though, it does kind of stick to a similar vibe throughout. Some softer moments and some heavier moments and it all just sounds fairly nice. So yeah that’s about it.

Final Thoughts:
This really is quite a bright sounding song as a whole considering the genre. Like even behind the first harsh vocals you have this heavy but triumphant riff, and the leads that come in after fit into the triumphant mood as well. And you know what, I totally dig it. I can dig heavy, happy music a lot. It’s basically the appeal of blackgaze stuff, though that tends to be more upbeat when it gets heavy. And honestly I prefer the more downbeat vibe of this song over that. I seem to prefer more downtempo metal in general, over fast and aggressive stuff, but both are good.

Anyways. This song does kind of have a bit of a substance problem, in that for how long it is, it sure feels like you hear a lot of the same segments a lot. The first chorus doesn’t even come in until around 3:30, and that’s after hearing the intro melody three separate times and the entire verse loop twice. They’re all good segments, mind you, but the song lacks a sense of progression with how slowly it evolves in general. And some sections are just slight reprises of earlier sections as well – the quieter moment after the first chorus, that’s just a clean version of the melodies on the verse.

Again, that’s not necessarily a bad thing when the segments themselves are good and I don’t think there’s any part of this that sounds bad in the slightest, it’s enjoyable front to back. Especially with how grand and powerful that chorus is. There’s not even a ton of tension to this track yet it feels like a huge release of tension every time it hits. There’s also a decent guitar solo that comes in around two thirds of the way through the song. That’s something new that happens. It’s just about the only new idea that comes in past the halfway point really. There’s that and a heavily melodic segment near the end, and that’s it.

So yeah my biggest gripe here just comes down to an outright lack of content – this definitely could’ve been improved by being a shorter song. But as far as how it sounds? Yeah, I am way on board with that, I just wish there was a bit more to the sound than what’s shown here. Still, one of the more enjoyable songs this round quite easily.

8/10



LordCost: Norma Jean – Hive Minds

First Impressions:
I vaguely know of this band so, we’ll see, I guess. Corn corn. This actually is starting out really cool though, some great atmosphere going on and tension building quite well. Like I genuinely would listen to a song that’s just nothing but that kind of sound, honestly. Though the first riff that kicks in is pretty solid too. The vocals, a bit less. The –core style of harsh vocals I generally only like in moderation & not as the primary vocal style of a song like they’re used as here. There’s some nice moments where the bass is given room to breathe as well and it holds a solid groove whenever it does. Yeah I think as far as songs in this style go this was a solid pick, it doesn’t have the mindless aggression a lot of –core leaning stuff can devolve into (and kind of what I was expecting from this), more just some solid laidback grooves with the occasional harsher moment. I’m not fully behind it but it’s one of my favorites this round on first listen, at the very least.

Final Thoughts:
This is one of those songs where, while I do enjoy this particular song a fair bit, I am almost positive I’m going to hate this artist’s catalogue in general if I do dig into it. Which is, you know, pretty likely to happen.

I will complain about those vocals a little though because they just have the most generic screamy –core sound. Sure they fit in with this kind of song fine enough but they’re just a style of harsh vocals that’s never appealed to me, they’re really monotonous without really having much power behind them. It always feels like they’re singing over a compressed radio.

I’m also going to slightly spoil a secondary judge comment saying that this lacked any melodies, because I disagree to an extent – there’s definitely some riffs with melodic power here, just that it’s more low melodies than high-pitched guitar leads. And yes the song does love its dissonance too, which, surprise, I’m all for. I like slower-paced noisy sounding music more than I like really frantic and chaotic stuff and this definitely hits on those vibes for me.

Also I gotta say, the bass break in the middle is absolutely wonderful. The bass gets to hit on this cool groove while waves of guitars sweep in to build up some dense atmosphere and it really builds up some great tension leading to the end of the song. There’s also like, a few moments where the harsh vocals sort of slip and end up with a bit of a melodic edge to them (“they always do”) and become like, way more appealing, I don’t know why the singer doesn’t just do the whole song that way, it’s only a rare moment unfortunately.

But yeah this is a song that I don’t quite love but definitely has a lot going for it and appeals to me in particular pretty strongly, though I wouldn’t call it one of my absolutely favorites in the entire roulette or anything. I think if there was less presence from the vocals in general and more focus on the guitar riffs and bass grooves it’d score higher. Oh and that intro. Is still really cool too.

8.25/10


Current Standings:
Luoto – 70
home – 68.25
Nekov – 67.75
Evermind – 66.75
LordCost – 66.75
twosuitsluke – 66.5
Tomislav95 – 66
Bolsters – 65.75
Train of Naught – 65.25
Stadler – 61.25

Luke plummets out of the top three due to a particularly weak entry while Nekov works to close the gap between the top three and the rest of the entrants. Meanwhile home jumps up to #2 primarily on the weaknesses of those above him. A lot of shakeup in the scores this round really. Exciting stuff. This was a rather mixed round after all. Honestly I think I may have been slightly harsher on stuff this round than in previous rounds, or at least it feels like it to me, I don’t know.
« Last Edit: September 05, 2017, 12:56:07 AM by Parama »

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Re: Parama's Confrontational Roulette v2.5 (ROUND 8 RESULTS)
« Reply #825 on: August 10, 2017, 11:58:17 PM »
Round 8 Secondary Judge Results – Judge Stadler

London Grammar – Hey Now

I liked this.  I am a sucker for that electric piano sound at the start, and while I liked the vocals, I was expecting them to break into the sort of wailing and vocal gymnastics that characterize much of the female-fronted pop (melismatic singing and an overreliance on tremolo in the vocal lines) but it never came.   Hannah Reid (I looked it up) danced the perfect line for me, showing incredible versatility and carrying the emotional burden of the song (the plaintive “Hey now!”) while simultaneously showing an incredible restraint in terms of the performance.  Well done, and easily the best song of the lot.

5 points

Ivar Bjornson & Einar Selviks Skuggsja – Skuggsja

Being a big fan of traditional music (celtic and renaissance music) I really like the juxtaposition of the old and the new.    I didn’t care too much for the vocals (no, not the language, but the monotony of the vocals) but I got the impression that this is a historical piece, and a little research proved that to be the case, so from that standpoint the intent of the work came through clearly.   I really enjoyed the ending section, starting with the double-vocals and the almost chant-like vocalizing at the end.   This was a creative piece of art, and I was impressed by the scope and ambition of the work.

3 points


Caspian – Arcs of Command

First, “post-rock” is not really my scene, but this was not without it’s good points.  I like the patience with which the song built, and it certainly reached a crescendo (at around 6:30, but I was expecting more of a firm denouement, and it never really came.   The band reached this maddening apex, then – with little of the patience showed earlier in the piece, we were hearing the crashing chords of the conclusion, by far the most “rock” portion of the song (and I half-expected to hear “Attention all planets of the solar federation, we have assumed control.  We have assumed control.)   The piece would have made a great counterpoint to either a movie, or as an introduction to a large, more coherent piece, but as it stands, seemed incomplete.  There certainly was an “arc” of sorts to the work, but I didn’t connect with it on any level other than technical observation.

2 points

NOTE: The rest of these are in no particular order

Faunts – Feel.Love.Thinking.Of

This song propelled me back to the MTV days of 1985.   The song seems a modern take on the electronic synth pop of the 80’s, mixed with all the intervening alternative developments.  It was okay for what it was, but it lacked the simplicity that was inherent in the best synth pop of the 80’s, but didn’t have the depth of the best alternative in the years since.  I prefer melody – of some sort – in my music, and this seemed to be close all counts, but never quite meeting the mark. 

King Prawn – Someone To Hate

Everything I despise in music, frankly; genre specific, without any of the cred of the original participants in the subject genres.   “Wildstyle” basically mixes all the styles of music that connect with me least, so I knew there was to be little emotional connection here.  I went in hoping, at least, for a technical accomplishment, something to say “well, not my thing, but I get it and well done”.   Not this one.  It sounded to me like one of John Lydon’s post-Sex Pistols excursions, and as such just seemed to be trying a shade too hard.   I thought the chorus was a nice respite of melody in what was otherwise a sort of mishmash of styles that never really connected, but that minor break in the clouds was dashed by the reversion to style trope in the outro section. 

Norma Jean – Hive Minds

Out of respect I listened all the way through, but this is just noise.    No melody whatsoever – we didn’t even get a style shift into the chorus as often happens with songs that feature growl vocals.  Growl vocals are to me a flavoring, like salt or garlic, and are best used as a seasoning in contrast to other flavors.  There are no such subtleties in this.   The background music is generic metal-core, and offering little that hasn’t been heard before and better.    Even the lyrics are only pseudo social commentary, and confusing at best.  Are the vines the spirit of those that won’t be broken under the oppression of the “concrete” of society?  Or are they the tentacles (the “cancer”) that will bring down that society?   The narrator says at the end “I will leave you behind”, and so as I leave this behind, I at least find some emotional connection.

Omnium Gatherum – White Palace

A promising opening once again destroyed by growl vocals.  I get it; it’s a style, it’s a way of projecting an emotion, but it brings the most subtle and evocative music down to such a one-note presentation as to overwhelm and obliterate the message.   I absolutely LOVED the music part of this song – the ending solo section and what I would call “guitar symphony” was amazing and really emotive, and yet it was all swept away by the over-powering vocals.  Even the subtle, melodic vocal section (reminiscent of Peter Steele from Type O Negative) wasn’t enough to add color and temper the relentlessness of the brutal vocal presentation.   It wasn’t abundantly clear, but I gather the lyrical point was to present the “White Palace” as the culmination of the power of the individual to create lasting, unified monuments that unite us all into one.   The duality was nicely portrayed by the music – there is clearly metaphor in that closing harmonized guitar section, something I LOVE in music.   This would have won easily had it been Bruce Dickinson, Ronnie Dio or Rob Halford (or any of a number of prog metal singers) singing on it.  As it stands, bottom tier.

Rainbow – Gates of Babylon (Judge's Song)

The intro really sets the mood, transporting us to a different time and place.   The verses are a shade generic, and the less said about the lyrics the better, but I like how the verses lead into a more evocative, pre-chorus and chorus, and the music does a great job of communicating “motion” and “travel”.  I get the real sense of “Babylon” as an exotic location and a place we might want to go to to experience something interesting.  The solo is excellent, and I love how the solo helps build the song and bring it to a new place, as opposed to being just a break in the vocals, though that is sort of dashed with the repeat of the verse.  This song is crying out for a final section that completes the journey, and it is lacking that, but is otherwise a good song.

Suspyre – Reign

I liked this; the influences were obvious (including our “host band”).   I didn’t care for the vocals much and while I liked the creativity of thinking out of the box a little, the saxophone section seemed a tad out of place, and as such, too much of a juxtaposition.  This sounds like the initial demo of a band that has a lot of promise but needs to focus a little, and move from their influences and incorporate more of their personal outlook into their music.   There were too many parts – the aforementioned saxophone, the celtic interlude, the percussive outro – that just seemed to be added for no apparent musical, emotional, or communicative reason.  Well played, but missing a fire or spark that sets it apart from that which came before.   

Todtgelichter – Neon

The music is dreamy and atmospheric, and, in my opinion, evocative of the title.   The initial vocals, seem a tad dislocated from the music; I don’t know if that is a recording technique, a result of the timbre of the singer’s voice (he/she sounds 12 years old), or something else, but it creates, for me, a sort of jarring effect, tempering the electric – in the sense of spark - feel of the rest of the music.   The harsher tone of the vocals later – not quite growls, but close enough to ruin the song – don’t change that disconnect, and don’t really change the disembodied feeling that the vocals have with respect to the rest of the song.  The music is strong, and evocative of the best propulsive metal, but is held back by the top line of the song. and isn't enough to overcome that burden.   

Parama’s notes:
Obviously not surprised that me and Stadler’s tastes don’t align that much here and I didn’t expect him to take well to any of the songs with growls but his pick for 5 points caught me a little off guard regardless. Not a ton else to say here.

Current Secondary Judge Standings:
Train of Naught - 13
Tomislav95 – 12
Bolsters - 12
Evermind - 11
Luoto - 7
twosuitsluke - 6
home - 7
Nekov - 2
LordCost - 0
Stadler - 0
« Last Edit: September 05, 2017, 01:07:55 AM by Parama »

Online twosuitsluke

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Re: Parama's Confrontational Roulette v2.5 (ROUND 8 RESULTS)
« Reply #826 on: August 11, 2017, 12:55:17 AM »
 :facepalm:

I knew this was a risk and did second guess it after sending it. I know you said you hated hip hop but King Prawn just mix hip hop elements into their music. I've always been a sucker for music that splices genres and that's why I love stuff like this, plus they are great live. I'll have to find something pretty special now to get back in this thing. I'll kick myself if I don't make it into the EP round after being at the top early on!


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Re: Parama's Confrontational Roulette v2.5 (ROUND 8 RESULTS)
« Reply #827 on: August 11, 2017, 01:19:50 AM »
i like genre fusions too but hip-hop is always a turnoff for me. like if it was instrumental it'd have scored higher, for sure. not scored great, but, higher

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Re: Parama's Confrontational Roulette v2.5 (ROUND 8 RESULTS)
« Reply #828 on: August 11, 2017, 01:42:05 AM »
i like genre fusions too but hip-hop is always a turnoff for me. like if it was instrumental it'd have scored higher, for sure. not scored great, but, higher

I think that's the angle I was going for, I was trying to maybe expose you to those kind of vocals over a different style of music. I knew it was a huge gamble but I honestly didn't think I'd fail that hard!

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Re: Parama's Confrontational Roulette v2.5 (ROUND 8 RESULTS)
« Reply #829 on: August 11, 2017, 01:49:25 AM »
I guess I never sent anything else than the title track because the growls (read, actual climax in songs that you are apparently missing) are a bit repulsive at first. But actually, I've seen you enjoy repulsive growls in the past so maybe you'll like the album more than I do. I still think it's a decent album but it doesn't hold up to the 'buildup' IMO. Worth a listen though.

Wow Norma Jean actually won the round :lol awesome. I don't know that song/album so maybe it's time to fix that.

BTW I have quite some EP material submissions left so I'm thinking of sending you an EP regardless of whether I make it through :corn I wanted to just use them all in these last rounds but that's no fun, would be pretty hilarious if I make it to the EP round being second to last place though
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Re: Parama's Confrontational Roulette v2.5 (ROUND 8 RESULTS)
« Reply #830 on: August 11, 2017, 01:51:36 AM »
everyone should send me an EP so we can have the most epic hangmanen ever had in a roulette

i won't seriously listen to any but the ones from the people in the finals at first though but i will listen to them all

and tbh i doubt you'd like the norma jean song but i dunno what people like & people dunno what i like so it's all good

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Re: Parama's Confrontational Roulette v2.5 (ROUND 8 RESULTS)
« Reply #831 on: August 11, 2017, 02:02:29 AM »
The length of the song wasn't the primary reason for sending it, was more about the sense of progression and ending into a sort of climax, though you just found it lacking a bit. The way you described their music as "bright" definitely suits a lot of their material and they have a quite unique sound for a melodeath band. It's also probably worth mentioning OG is the other band of Insomnium guitarist Markus Vanhala ;)
« Last Edit: August 11, 2017, 02:10:19 AM by Luoto »
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Re: Parama's Confrontational Roulette v2.5 (ROUND 8 RESULTS)
« Reply #832 on: August 11, 2017, 03:46:57 AM »
oops :lol I honestly expected to get more than 8 here, I love that song and I thought you would, too. Nevermind, you're getting blacker metal this time :P
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Re: Parama's Confrontational Roulette v2.5 (ROUND 8 RESULTS)
« Reply #833 on: August 11, 2017, 06:20:39 AM »
Not too shabby! I do realise that it's kind of impossible to get a really good score with post rock songs in your roulette, but this score is decent enough. Now I should send you some Kendrick Lamar, I really need to get out of the top 3 before the EP round  :lol
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Re: Parama's Confrontational Roulette v2.5 (ROUND 8 RESULTS)
« Reply #834 on: August 11, 2017, 08:32:20 AM »
Please do, I wouldn't mind getting into the Top 3. :lol Seriously though, how the hell I'm tied for fourth place all of a sudden? My highest scored song was an 8 in the preliminary round and after that most of my songs got "yeah, this is fine, whatever" attitude, even the power metal ones.

I'll send something tomorrow.
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Re: Parama's Confrontational Roulette v2.5 (ROUND 8 RESULTS)
« Reply #835 on: August 11, 2017, 09:03:12 AM »
Wow, that was bad. I guess this will discourage me from risking it again.
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Re: Parama's Confrontational Roulette v2.5 (ROUND 8 RESULTS)
« Reply #836 on: August 11, 2017, 09:07:04 AM »
Trying with folky black metal this time, hoping to have more luck :D
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Re: Parama's Confrontational Roulette v2.5 (ROUND 8 RESULTS)
« Reply #837 on: August 11, 2017, 09:16:37 AM »
Oh and I forgot, props to Stadler for sending that Rainbow song, it's one of my favourites from the band. :tup
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Re: Parama's Confrontational Roulette v2.5 (ROUND 8 RESULTS)
« Reply #838 on: August 11, 2017, 09:52:19 AM »
Just dropping in to say I know nothing about London Grammar and am fairly sure I never put them on an EP.

edit: It's really good, though.

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Re: Parama's Confrontational Roulette v2.5 (ROUND 8 RESULTS)
« Reply #839 on: August 11, 2017, 10:15:52 AM »
Ok I'm positive I've seen them in a roulette before though

Also you should send me an EP

Edit ok home sent that song in tomislav's roulette & you also sent a chill ep so I can be forgiven for getting that wrong
« Last Edit: August 11, 2017, 10:23:08 AM by Parama »