Round 5 ResultsRead this first please:My sincere apologies for drawing this round out for way too long. While I’ve had plenty of time to listen to all of your songs in the car over the course of the past two weeks, unfortunately real life gets priority and it has been a busy time. I realise this is not your problem at all, but it has set me back in finding the will and the time to sit down and actually write these results. I bought a house with my girlfriend and we are moving in together in a little under two weeks from now. Doing this kind of thing for the first time, I had no idea that I had to arrange so much shit, from making sure there’s electricity and internet there, to finding furniture and household appliances and lot of other stuff. At the same time, it’s the end of the school year (I work as a teacher) and getting everything done before the holidays start brings a lot of work-related stress. To add to all of this, a family member was hospitalised last week, so I really didn’t have my head at DTF or at delivering results for that matter. I hope this stuff clears it up a little, but with me moving in about two weeks, I can not promise the next round to go down quickly either, though I’ll honestly try my best. I like running this roulette and discovering new music and I would like the participants to feel like it matters to me. It really does and I’m very sorry for holding you back. So, here’s the results for round 5, finally, a week (and a day) too late.
5 PointsTomislav95
Votum – Vertical
‘Progressive’ Metal – from ‘:ktonik:’ (2016) I have heard of Votum and I’ve seen them live before as well, but I never checked out this band’s music afterwards. It must have been at the ProgPower fest, and there’s always a bunch of bands that leave a good impression that I want to check out further, and some bands I didn’t really care for enough to bother. Listening to this band, I can imagine they fall in the latter category. There’s not that much wrong with this song, but it commits the (for me) cardinal sin pf contemporary progressive rock bands: it’s forgettable, samey throughout and doesn’t do anything to resolve that. The chorus is fairly okay and the song builds up a little towards the end, but it’s too late too late crammed into a song that’s too long for it’s own good. At first I enjoyed this song a bit, but through repeated listens it became stale.
With 5 points added to your score, that means you’re the first to cross the 16 points line and that means you’ve been eliminated from the remainder of this roulette. Thank you very much for playing!
4 PointsLordCost
Black Peaks – Hang ‘Em High
Progressive / Post-Hardcore / Sludge – from ‘Statues’ (2016)If ‘Vertical’ by Votum didn’t leave a bad impression through repeated listens, this one would have surely ended dead last. The vocals are beyond annoying in the first half (“to love, to break, to hate”) and the last two minutes are absolutely atrocious. The groove and musicianship is pretty much what saves this song from the last place, but I wouldn’t lie if I said I’d gladly have skipped the final section of the song. It serves no point whatsoever other than to be ‘artsy’ or whatever and succeeds only in being stupid. If you want to hear a climaxing breakdown section at the end of the song done right, listen to the end of ‘Contaminate Me’ by Leprous or ‘Chapter V: The Walls Bled Lust’ by The Fall of Troy.
TAC
Hyperomm – Whispers of Heavenly Death
Progressive Metal – from ‘From Nothing to Eternity (2017)The best thing about this song is that it’s pretty short and compact. Pretty much what you expect from a progressive metal band when they write a short song, except that this one has growled vocals. The main melody is catchy and the instruments basically take the main role of actually providing melody to this song, since the vocals are pretty monotonously growled. I actually literally laughed the first time I heard the first line, because it sounds rather ridiculous. The vocalist redeems himself throughout the rest of the song, but it never really seems to take off beyond being a rather solid progressive metal song. The final minute is a nice addition with that sort-of solo section tacked onto the end. Quite solid, but nothing extraordinary.
3 PointsPuppies_on_Acid
Warpaint – Elephants
Experimental Rock – from ‘Exquisite Corpse’ (2009)Why do you send something completely different every round? There’s no logic in your submissions, but this is a really good submission nonetheless. I think I have never heard anything quite like it, and my first listen I didn’t really know what to think about it either really. The distorted vocals I found especially weird, but I actually do like the effect it creates. It’s pretty chill, but with an underlying anger that occasionally gets the chance to break out. I find the orchestration to be very nice, because despite using traditional instruments, this band manages to create sounds that are fairly uncommon. In a sense, this song reminded me a little of Alt-J, which I like, but this is definitely more intense. What I hear here is some kind of restrained intensity that’s hard to describe, like the sounds this band makes. Nice submission, thanks!
Sacul
Snarky Puppy (with Shayna Steele) – Gone Under (Live)
Jazz-Fusion – from ‘Family Dinner – Volume 1’ (2013)I’m going to the North Sea Jazz festival in Rotterdam in 3 weeks and this band is playing. I’ll definitely be checking them out there, because this is some insanely smooth, funky and groovy jazz. A love the big band vibe and the way the band plays to this singer’s strengths. From what I checked, they are mostly a jam-band and they randomly add singers at will. It shows in this track that the band knows exactly what they’re doing. Extremely well-composed & well-performed. This actually being live shows how good this band really is. I love how the band adds intensity through adding more parts in the latter half, with the guitarist taking a lead role, accentuated by the brass players. Really cool stuff indeed.
2 PointsTrain of Naught
Le Grand Guignol – Lucilinburhuc
Progressive Metal – from ‘The Great Maddening’ (2007)The start of this song sounds like it was badly cut off from the previous track on the album, but from the get-go it’s clear that we’re in for some intense symphonic blacked death metal stuff. The sound this band is going after in the first part of the song is comparable to stuff like Dimmu Borgir I guess (I’m seriously bluffing here, I only know that ‘Progenies of the Great Apocalypse’ track), but this song goes beyond imitation and adds some epic vocals, an acoustic passage and various build-ups towards the more extreme moments. While this song definitely has it’s flaws (production, mostly, but a couple of strange transitions here and there as well), it remains a fun listen that, while a little jarring at times, is adventurous enough to be interesting.
ariich
Destiny Potato – Lunatic
Djent Pop – from ‘Lun’ (2014)I have heard of this band before and I think I might have listened to this album at least once back when it came out and some of the folk on this website here were raving about it. I don’t think I really payed attention while listening to this though, because this warrants more listens than just one (or two) some time ago when I wasn’t really focused. I love the guitar sound throughout, lovely djent tones and the chorus hook with the female singer is in stark contrast to the almost industrial sound of the instruments. Then that bridge kicks in; first time I was really floored, surprised that they actually managed to turn a song with pop sensibilities into a death metal blast-beat fest. The obvious comparison to Devin Townsend’s ‘Addicted’ is easily made here, but where Devin’s album is more metal-infused pop, the djent influences on this track make this more pop-infused djent. A small, but noticeable difference.
1 PointNekov
Kiev – Ariah Being
Neo-Prog-ish Alternative / Experimental Rock – from ‘Falling Bough Wisdom Teeth’ (2013)Damn, this is easily the best song you’ve sent so far this roulette. It’s chill and laid-back, but in a very relaxing way without getting uninteresting at all. It’s lovely throughout, with lots of sounds that I can’t immediately place. This band creates lush atmospheres through very layered sounds, never sacrificing intricacy. Despite the singer not being remarkably good, he definitely gets the job done, but the highlight of this track are easily the textured background sounds and the instrumentalists. The saxophone lick takes the song to a new height and the ending in which everything comes together and climaxes into new material is of special notice. Amazing stuff and, like I said, easily your best submission yet, for being different and unique in a special way.
0 PointsParama
Aenaon – Oneirodynia
Progressive Black(?) Metal with Saxophone – from ‘Hypnosophy’ (2016)How the hell can a black metal song be so much fun? The first listen had me scratching my head a little at the vocals, which admittedly still sound slightly funny occasionally even on later listens, but the song definitely clicked almost instantly. I have guessed this song in numerous hangmanens before, but having never actually heard it, I was very interested in listening to this one and man, I understand why you send this song in almost every roulette. This is a beast, front to back, with lots of interesting sections and the intensity dialled at 10 almost all the way through. The musicianship is great and even though the vocals are still a little wacky, this song had no problem to take the #1 spot this round.
Current Standings
Parama: 2, 0, 2, 2, 0 (6)
ariich: 2, 1, 2, 1, 2 (8)
Puppies_on_Acid: 1, 2, 0, 3, 3 (9)
Train of Naught: 1, 3, 1, 3, 2 (10)
Sacul: 4, 5, 1, 0, 3 (13)
LordCost: 0, 4, 5, 1, 4 (14)
Nekov: 3, 3, 3, 4, 1 (14)
TAC: 4, 1, 4, 4, 4 (17)
Tomislav95: 3, 4, 3, 2, 5 (17)
Stadler: 5, 2, 4, 5 (16)
Barely any changes in standings, but with a surprising elimination due to Tomi's low (or high) score, considering so many players were on the edge of being gone this round. Next one is at 20 points, which as of now is only possible for TAC to achieve next round, but further rounds could push more players to that edge. The top 4 seem relatively safe as of now, but a misstep could potentially throw out all assumptions of safety.
---
Like I said in the introductory text of this round, I can’t promise any quick results due to my ridiculously busy life at this moment, but I’ll try my best. I will definitely not be able to churn out any results whatsoever without songs, so the sooner you send for Round 6, the better.