What I also did for this round is keep changing the order of songs on every listen, for some random reason. So some writeups may be in the opposite order of submitting the songs.
Next writeup will be on Prospekt by Lonestar:
Akaibara:This song was basically one big build up and reminds me heavily ofthat Shattered Skies song you sent me and also All A Man Can Do by Beyond the Bridge. Instruments are added here and there in the background very subtly and it feels like everything that's being used is necessary to get to the end goal, which is to create one bombastic ending. I wouldn't be surprised if this was the album closer but apparently one more song follows on the album.
Alien Makers of Discord:Now this song is essentially Symphony X in 2018, with less 'tough guy/gritty' vocals and more prog-power leaning vocals. Difference being most Symphony X songs, while having a lot of different riffs and ideas, are fairly grounded. This tune here is all over the place with its ideas and throws a dash of creative excellence in there every once in a while. I can name a handful of bands that sound vaguely similar to this one but do what these guys do a tad better, but I still wouldn't really complain too much because this is just really good progmetal. I had some trouble getting into the vocals at first, and the lyrics can be a bit cheesy "we hold on to the other side, can't force the everlasting light". It's the reason I never read Persefone's lyrics.
All in all a good round for you, and pretty respectable AOTY artist (though I definitely preferred what I heard from Der Weg Einer Freiheit, another 2017 album I got sent (by Parama)). Akaibara was my favourite, an easier digest and more compelling as a whole, but both were good.
Next up is Jolly by LordCost:
Now this was pretty embarassing, because the Lord had already sent me Jolly in my first roulette and I actually did enjoy it enough to check out the album. Then for years I just forgot about them because I remember them hyping up a new album but just forgetting about that too so I forgot along with them.
The Pattern:Now this song was sick, completely took me by surprise. I thought of Where Everything's Perfect as the major Jolly tune because that's the one that gets sent most in roulettes. The chorus on this one is super catchy, the singer has a very strange appeal about him, his voice sounds a bit careless in a grunge fashion, but at the saame time really powerful and energetic. The lovetapping on the guitar is really cool, but what wins me over in the end is those crazy heavy guitar riffs - almost like a breakdown - in the second half.
Where Everything's Perfect:Now this one remains a bit more of the catchiness factor but swaps it for some more of that cool factor. It's good but it's also more on the dreamy side of the spectrum, which seems to be a side of Jolly I don't like just as much. It's just so... Jolly? They remedy that during the last minute, but it seems very glued on there just for the sake of it. I might be harsher in this writeup than I am, but that was a bit of a disappointment after hearing The Pattern.
Clearly I preferred The Pattern, but both were good. Though with 2 tunes of the quality of The Pattern, you probably would've taken the #1 spot while right now I'm leaning more towards #3.
Blindead by Parama:
Affliction XXVII II MMIX:Now I just know this will work better in the context of the album. On its own it just feels a bit lost, not having much of an identity other than tying loose ends of the album together into a humble closure. The ending jam with the harsh vocals is pretty killer though, I bet that's gonna be an incredible payoff when listening to the full thing.
My New Playground Became:This song was a bit more interesting, especially with the more back and forth usage of clean and harsh vocals. The crisp post-metal sound with strong but more in the backgroun lead guitar tones and very deep vocals that kind of emulate sinking into the ocean really make up that sound that the genre creates that I love so much. I also dig when the clean vocals sound a bit 'weak' as to expand that contrast, which must be why I like BTBAM's wimpy cleans so much.
Just like with the Affliction song though, I probably enjoy the ending the most, it's a really manic riff but at the same time very controlled.
My New Playground Became was definitely my favourite, but both were pretty great. I think this entry edged out Prospekt for my #3
1. Tool - Parabola
2. Jolly - The Pattern
3. Blindead - My New Playground Became
4. Tool - Schism
5. Prospekt - Akaibara
6. Blindead - Affliction XXVII II MMIX
7. Prospekt - Alien Makers of Discord
8.
9. Jolly - Where Everything's Perfect
10.
I don't have enough time to do the last writeup and it'll have to wait until the evening
but I think it's pretty clear now that if I were to eliminate someone this round, it would have been TAC. Sorry buddy, but I hope you won't let me down with this extra chance I gave you. In short, I'll say that Bloodshot Dawn was just a bit
too heavy for me, the vocals were quite extreme, but the technicality in the instrumentals grew on me and started to tke over my attention so in the end I kind of just numbed out the vocals in my head. I still ended up enjoying them a fair bit.
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