Puppies_On_Acid: The Human Abstract
Positive: This compilation serves as a proof these guys know how to write freaking fantastic melodies, and also freaking fantastic song endings—one buildup and payoff in particular is one of my early favourites in this round. And so the question arises: why do they so rarely employ that particular talent of theirs?
Negative: It seems that whenever this band is stuck at some fine points of songwriting, or at least at writing vocal melodies, they scale back to the tried and true tactic of let’s scream something on top of our lungs even if it doesn’t fit the rhythm of the song at all and then just rewrite our rhythms to fit the syllables; we’ll call it a progressive touch and it’ll be just fine.
Man, this is seriously impressive in terms of how much of iron and carbon mixed to create those immaculate balls it took you to send this thing. This monstrous thing is unbelievable, and by that I mostly mean I can’t believe you sent this to me. You, of all people, and this, of all the things you could’ve sent.
I will say this: this is unexpected, and this is daring as hell, and this is something I never really thought I would get in a roulette and I appreciate it for that single notion, if nothing else. This is something that really oversteps its bounds where it comes to my familiarity with progressive music, as it’s technical as fuck, proggy as fuck, and the singer also screams his guts out as if he’s pissed. At the same time, some of it is really great, so there’s that.
There is a lot of stuff I don’t connect with in this compilation. Mostly, it’s the growly stuff and the spoken word parts—and whenever they combine the growls and the spoken words it gets really bad—but it’s also the whole technical aspect of their music. The way they’re doing those incredibly technical guitar runs is impressive, but in most cases, it really doesn’t enhance your music. And well, some of the songs sound like the band just didn’t know where to go with what they’ve got.
There’s also a lot of stuff I love. I mean, hell, these guys know how to write great melodies—I only wonder why they don’t use them more often. They also seem to know how to employ the build-ups and the climaxes in their songs. Both Complex Terms and Antebellum have stellar melodies, and A Violent Strike is great in terms of satisfying pay-off. I only wish they’ve used that more frequently.
Overall, this was all over the place, honestly. There was a lot of stuff I liked, and also a lot of stuff I could’ve lived without. With the 50 minutes you had, you’ve got my attention for like 20 minutes of great stuff, and the rest was just there. This band seems to have a lot of ideas, some of them great, some of them quite mediocre, and this compilation does a great job shedding light on both aspects of their music. It’s just all over the place.
Favourite songs: Antebellum, Complex Terms, A Violent Strike
The way the quiet, calmer sections—sometimes even acoustic ones, and I know, I can’t believe it either—intertwine with the incredibly good parts that heavily remind me of Haken’s Initiate except heavier, damn, this song is something to live for. Best song from your compilation and also somewhere in the nine-ish spectrum, this is rich and fabulous.
Honestly, those three are mostly the reason this compilation is going to win. Antebellum and Complex Terms are incredibly melodic and just fantastic, and A Violent Strike has this unbelievable ending which is possibly my favourite thing in this matchup. These three songs are great and are way above the rest of your compilation.
Least favourite song: Breathing Life in Devices
This feels like the band was trying to reach out of their comfort zone—if they even have a comfort zone—and it ended up being a tacky wannabe hard rock song which I was ambivalent at first and developed a strong dislike on my subsequent listens.
I stand by what I thought in my first impression—this song is honestly pretty awful. Good thing you had those other songs to back you up, because this is really like a 4/10 or even worse. I pretty much hated this from the beginning to end.
wolfking: King Diamond
Positive: I will say one thing for this compilation: these guys certainly know how to write those kickass guitar riffs because holy shit, almost every song here has a riff that belongs in the riffs’ hall of fame if such thing even exists.
Negative: I mean, I knew what to anticipate going into this one, and still I was surprised at how much I didn’t like the vocals mostly. And again, I get why they are like this, but whereas the music and the songwriting is well above the average here, the vocals are something I can’t quite get past, no matter how much I try.
I’ll admit, I had high expectations for this one, because that was one band that I constantly saw referenced as one of the classics from that era, and I will say, they certainly deserve that status purely from the songs you sent me—the riffs on those are unbelievable. The guitar work on those songs is just incredible.
That being said, the vocals are also fairly standard for 80s metal—and this is where this band loses me. The way the main singer is screaming is impressive and ridiculous and I kinda wonder how did that translate live in 80s, because that must’ve been hell for anyone attending the concertbut s. It’s sufficient to say I don’t quite like it. I also don’t really like his clean vocals, if you can call that clean—he’s a bit too villainy for my taste.
I found this band to be a curious case because, you know, I’m fine with a lot of older bands and vocals, and even when we’re talking screaming heavy metal, I mean, W.A.S.P is one of the bands you recommended to me and it’s great, but this particular band is just killing me when it comes to the vocals—I don’t think they’re terrible, but I’m pretty sure they’re the reason my enjoyment of all these songs is plummeting down. I guess it’s an acquired taste.
But hey, I will say this again and again if I need to: the guitar work here is on point. Whether I like the vocals or not, the riffs here are just fantastic. The triple strike of Arrival, The Family Ghost and Abigail is really something.
Favourite songs: Arrival, At the Graves
This kind of feels like older Helloween with someone like Kiske doing the high vocals, Deris doing the lower, menacing parts, and both Hansen and Weikath are playing dirtier than usual and more riff-oriented.
Least favourite song: Welcome Home
Not only I found this song a bit boring, I honestly thought that was a fabulous material for a misheard video—then I searched for the lyrics and they were pretty much what I’ve heard in the song.
LET ME TAKE YOU
OUT OF THIS CHAIR
WICKED GRANDMA!
Yeah, this isn't doing it for me.
Conclusion:
Both of these compilations were impressive in their own way, and I liked some of the aspects here and there, but I will say: I liked The Human Abstract songs more than I liked the King Diamond ones. Both of these compilations were far from being great, and I’m fairly sure that both of these are actually in the lower half of the submissions I’ve got this round—but if I had to pick one, and I do, I would pick The Human Abstract. But while we’re at it, Puppies, you’ll have to step up your game next round if you want to have any chance to get to the finals. But hey, welcome to the semi-finals.
Winner: Puppies_On_Acid
wolfking, man, I knew what to expect from you—some hard rock and metal entries you literally think about in a few minutes before sending them. And they worked quite well! And honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm kinda sad you're out at this point, but at the same time, I'm kinda glad you played in my roulette. Your ranking is coming up soon.
Topic: Evermind's Third Roulette v. Final Round Results (Read 73195 times)
