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y'all excited for the next thank you scientist record?

yes
1 (25%)
yes
1 (25%)
yes
2 (50%)
i'm a contrarian
0 (0%)

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Author Topic: Parama's EP-onymous Roulette v4 (Final Round Results)  (Read 41349 times)

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Offline ariich

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Re: Parama's EP-onymous Roulette v4 (Final Round Hangrich)
« Reply #980 on: May 02, 2019, 04:09:53 PM »
Bjork Cocoon seneca
Aphex Twin is also seneca
That other Mandroid Echostar song is Puppies

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Offline Crow

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Re: Parama's EP-onymous Roulette v4 (Final Round Hangrich)
« Reply #981 on: May 02, 2019, 04:27:23 PM »
Updated some crap

Offline King Puppies and the Acid Guppies

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Re: Parama's EP-onymous Roulette v4 (Final Round Hangrich)
« Reply #982 on: May 02, 2019, 04:51:11 PM »
THe Psion song is Recoil. I'm pretty sure that second song in part one is called Prelude, but I have no Idea the artist  :corn

Gregory Alan Isakov - Big Black Car, which is seneca
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Offline Crow

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Re: Parama's EP-onymous Roulette v4 (Final Round Hangrich)
« Reply #983 on: May 02, 2019, 10:39:34 PM »
one writeup down.
i'm adding small comments on the concept & a score alongside that but don't expect that to factor into the rankings very much if at all. i kind of already knew going into these writeups what the final ranking of these albums was gonna be and it's pretty much irrelevant the quality of the concept alongside the music. the one that wins is the one i enjoy listening to the most

Offline King Puppies and the Acid Guppies

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Re: Parama's EP-onymous Roulette v4 (Final Round Hangrich)
« Reply #984 on: May 02, 2019, 10:47:38 PM »
Win or lose, I had fun making the concept album. :metal
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Offline Crow

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Re: Parama's EP-onymous Roulette v4 (Final Round Hangrich)
« Reply #985 on: May 02, 2019, 10:51:18 PM »
that's the idea  :tup

i just really love putting together EPs/albums like this tbh. someone else host an EP roulette so i can have the time of my life. i was gonna make an ariich EP just for the lolz but he told me he's running a roulette fairly soon so i didn't

Offline King Puppies and the Acid Guppies

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Re: Parama's EP-onymous Roulette v4 (Final Round Hangrich)
« Reply #986 on: May 03, 2019, 01:22:40 AM »
Perhaps I'll do a half EP, half 2019 missed albums roulette at the end of the year. 2-3 Rounds each  :corn
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Offline ariich

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Re: Parama's EP-onymous Roulette v4 (Final Round Hangrich)
« Reply #987 on: May 03, 2019, 04:42:11 AM »
that's the idea  :tup

i just really love putting together EPs/albums like this tbh. someone else host an EP roulette so i can have the time of my life. i was gonna make an ariich EP just for the lolz but he told me he's running a roulette fairly soon so i didn't
Haven't decided when yet. Might give myself a bit more time to finish exploring artists from my last 2 roulettes (almost finished properly exploring all the 8.5+ scoring artists including from post-roulette submissions, but want to explore more of the 8.0s as well) and then start my next roulette in August when I get back from my holiday so I can dedicate time and attention to it. But yeah there's a good chance I'll steal Puppies' greatest hits and concept album ideas!

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Re: Parama's EP-onymous Roulette v4 (Final Round Hangrich)
« Reply #988 on: May 03, 2019, 04:53:08 PM »
So I saw the new poll question...

seneca wins yet another round to nobody's surprise
 puppies wins my roulette to ensure every one of my roulettes has a different winner
 ariich wins again and TAC gets really angry about it


Nope..I'm good. I'm out now, which honestly is better than getting my guts ripped out in the finals. :lol
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

Offline Crow

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Re: Parama's EP-onymous Roulette v4 (Final Round Hangrich)
« Reply #989 on: May 03, 2019, 05:02:53 PM »
poll amended

Offline TAC

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Re: Parama's EP-onymous Roulette v4 (Final Round Hangrich)
« Reply #990 on: May 03, 2019, 05:11:05 PM »
Voted!
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

Offline senecadawg2

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Re: Parama's EP-onymous Roulette v4 (Final Round Hangrich)
« Reply #991 on: May 03, 2019, 06:06:51 PM »
Option 1!
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Oh seneca, how you've warmed my heart this evening.

Offline Crow

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Re: Parama's EP-onymous Roulette v4 (Final Round Hangrich)
« Reply #992 on: May 04, 2019, 03:41:40 PM »
alright, i've got all three writeups done, just need to organize results & do the stack ranking & all that. gonna just post third place right now and second & first tomorrow morning, because...

long story short; there is a very clear third, second, and first place here. One of these I'm kind of meh on overall, another I liked well enough, the third being one of the best submissions of the entire roulette, maybe even the best, it'd be close. I also feel like that's gonna end up reflected in the stack ranking as out of the 8 songs that cracked 8/10 or higher, 5 are on the same album, and most of the lowest scores are on the same album as well, though the in-between of that is a bit more all over the place. It's kind of interesting & surprising how easily that slotted out.

Offline ariich

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Re: Parama's EP-onymous Roulette v4 (Final Round Hangrich)
« Reply #993 on: May 04, 2019, 03:55:14 PM »
Time to lose!

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Offline King Puppies and the Acid Guppies

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Re: Parama's EP-onymous Roulette v4 (Final Round Hangrich)
« Reply #995 on: May 04, 2019, 04:25:21 PM »
Results, Pt. 1

3rd Place: senecadawg2 – Falling Freely

1. Lord Huron – The Night We Met

First Impressions:
As ever I have no real clue what to expect from your album. I know a few of these artists but I’m not particularly familiar with any of them. This has a nice simple, atmospheric guitar line but it’s really more about those layers of vocals than anything. Picks up the energy a bit in the middle but returns to the softer sounds by the end. I think paying better attention to vocals might help this one, especially considering the concept, but on first listen I still like it well enough, yeah. (DECENT)

Final Thoughts:
Yeah, at the end of the day this is a pretty simple song, but it’s a pretty effective one for what it’s trying to do. I uhh. Dunno if I have a ton else to say about it. The  vocals work for me and I definitely feel it well enough, though I don’t feel it as strongly as some of the other stuff you’ve sent. I enjoy it for what it is, though, for sure.

7.5/10



2. Laura Stevenson – Master of Art

First Impressions:
That most famous drumbeat to kick off this one, huh. I get why this one has the tone it does in the context of your album and I think it sounds fine enough, I guess, but it’s a bit… uninteresting, to me. I’m not a huge fan of her voice, mostly when she goes for some of those high notes. I don’t have the time to juggle lyrics sheets and doing write-ups, especially with songs this short, unfortunately, so maybe having lyrics would help this one, but then again who knows. It’s not unpleasant, I just don’t get much from it. (AVERAGE)

Final Thoughts:
This one grew on me a little, I’d say. The vocal melodies were a bit weird at first but I got used to ‘em soon enough. And while I’m still not a huge fan of her voice, she sings passionately enough that I can at least feel something from this. I don’t think I find it particularly memorable and aside from the vocals there really isn’t a ton to this one, though. It also feels like it goes one chorus longer than it needs to. I think an unspoken criteria that I’ve been applying to a lot of songs is that for something to be a 7 or close to a 7, it’s something I’d want to actually follow up on, on the basis of just the one song. And here, I am not feeling anywhere close to that, I feel like an entire album of this would make me sick, but this song in isolation… y’know, it’s alright.

6.5/10



3. The Smiths – Cemetry Gates

First Impressions:
This is possibly the most generic band name ever. Wow. No real clue what to expect from this one. And… I don’t really have much of anything to say about it, either. It sounds fine enough, again. Bright-sounding music in this vein is something that rarely clicks with me though. Uhh. I dig the bass work, if nothing else. It’s also really brief, too. Mmm. (AVERAGE)

Final Thoughts:
I basically echo my thoughts on the previous song towards this one. It’s… kind of a depressing topic for a song this bright and upbeat but then framed in a romantic way somehow such that it actually kind of works with the music? I’m again not a huge fan of the vocals, but the melodies themselves are nice. And it’s not as dry-sounding as I originally thought. It’s even more musically basic, though, and kind of one note in that regards too. I get the appeal of this, but it’s kind of outside of my wheelhouse enough that I can’t really imagine ever being too into these guys.

6.25/10



4. Bjork – Cocoon

First Impressions:
Bjork is one of those artists I’ve known about forever but never really dug much into, aside from the one song I got from her in my first roulette, and probably a few other scattered songs. The instrumental of this one sounds like a mum song, except maybe not as lush. And she has a nice voice, yeah. I feel it’s maybe a bit too mellow & lacking in dynamics so far, though. Yeah, I think I would like this more if there was a bit more to it, as it is it feels a bit too long for what it is, I like how it sounds though. (AVERAGE)

Final Thoughts:
Sooooo this one crosses a line for me. I am asexual and explicitly sexual topics like this song inherently is make me super uncomfortable, I really don’t want to hear lyrics like these, at least not if I can actually understand them. Aaand… the song if you take away the vocals would be super dang boring, too. Like, she sings well enough. The song if you ignore the lyrics is pretty inoffensive musically, though not very interesting either. But Iiii really haven’t wanted to listen to this after like the second listens where I was actually paying attention to lyrics and figured out what it was about. Yeah, sorry, hard pass.

3/10



5. David Gray – Falling Free

First Impressions:
The one artist who has two songs, so let’s hope I don’t hate them. This one seems to be a piano ballad. Fair enough. He’s got a pretty emotive voice and the piano is kind of sparse but does enough to drive a mood. There’s not much else to say about it though. It is what it is. I liked it a bit more than the past few tracks, if nothing else. I can feel something off this one. (DECENT)

Final Thoughts:
I still really don’t have a ton to say about either David Gray song, honestly. They’re nice enough piano ballads, performed pretty well. I can’t say I really feel much of anything off either of them though. I guess the climax of this one is at the very least got something to it. I guess songs about death make me feel a lot more than songs about love, huh? I don’t know, I feel inclined to be at least a bit kind to this one on the basis that it doesn’t really have anything wrong with it at all, but I honestly wouldn’t be able to tell you what it sounds like without listening to it.

6.25/10



6. Aphex Twin – Jynweythek

First Impressions:
Another real short one here, I’d expect this to be an instrumental interlude? It’s uhh. A unique enough sound, I guess. I don’t really feel like it has any appeal to me, though. I don’t really get anything out of this. Don’t find it at all unpleasant to listen to, I’m just really wondering why it was included at all. (AVERAGE)

Final Thoughts:
Okay, I know conceptually why this song was included. And it’s pretty short, so it’s not like it takes up a ton of time in the album, either. But uuhh. Musically this is nothing. I don’t dislike it, I don’t like it either. It’s clock sounds to symbolize the passage of time. I feel like you could’ve probably had that effect in a gradual way rather than hammer it home with this song’s existence and it would’ve both had a better effect conceptually and not wasted 2 minutes of my time each listen to this album, but. Whatever.

5/10



7. Tori Amos – Precious Things

First Impressions:
Okay, this one starts off kind of quiet but it does pick things up a little bit, which I feel like this album was desperately in need of at this point. In general I feel like this has a more unique sound to it than pretty much everything up to this point, at the very least I can’t draw any comparisons to anything I’ve heard before with it. It’s got some singer-songwriter vibes, some rock vibes, and even a bit of country twang. I can’t say I’m super in love with it, but I like it more than anything else on this album up until now for sure. (DECENT)

Final Thoughts:
Yeah, this one has been pretty cool on every listen to this album thus far. For one, it’s got a ton more swell to it than anything that came before it, and it’s just generally more dynamic. There’s some of those quieter moments with the tense piano line and even the muted screaming vocals. The percussion feels like it drives the mood the most and when some of the bigger drum hits come in for the louder moments it really makes them sound propulsive and effective. And when the song really kicks in around the three minute mark for a pretty solid climax… mmm yeah that’s good stuff. I sort of feel like I almost want it to get more intense than it does end up getting, but that’s maybe because of how much of a metalhead I am and this doesn’t sound quite powerful enough for my tastes. I still definitely get a lot more from this than a lot of the previous songs here though, for sure.

7.5/10



8. David Gray – Ain't No Love

First Impressions:
Okay, so both songs from this guy seem to be piano ballads then. This one adds in a bit of orchestration to back up the piano and vocals too, though. I don’t have much to say about this that I didn’t already say about the last one. Still drives up some emotive resonance, he’s still a solid singer, it’s still pretty nice. I guess I like this one slightly more but it’s slight alright. (DECENT)

Final Thoughts:
I feel like the main difference between this one and the other one is that that one is driven mostly by the vocals, whereas the music is pulling most of the weight on this one, while the vocals do sound nice here they don’t really reach the intensity, which I guess for the subject matter makes sense. Meanwhile there’s strings and choir vocals and some plucky instrument I can’t name. Again I don’t have a ton else to say beyond that. Still not that emotionally impactful, but, it’s nice enough.

6.5/10



9. Sarah Fimm – Story of Us

First Impressions:
A bit of a low-key electronic groove to this one, another pretty solid though not particularly unique vocal performance. I recognize this artist’s name but I’m not actually sure from where. It’s again a bit lacking in dynamics for me, seems to mostly be carried by the vocals and presumably the lyrics. This one does feel a bit long for what it’s doing, though, felt a little bit bored of it by the end. (AVERAGE)

Final Thoughts:
Still not sure where or how I recognize the name. There’s something about the downbeat, chill vibe of this one that’s actually grown on me a little since my first listen. There’s actually some trip-hop vibes to this one, even. It is definitely a little dry and not particularly catchy or memorable, but I think it’s better than I originally gave it credit for if nothing else.

6.5/10



10. Gregory Alan Isakov – Big Black Car

First Impressions:
Folksy acoustic piece here, something about the vibe of this one is really working for me though. Especially when those strings come in towards the middle. There’s just something to the laidback, chill groove that appeals to me. Kind of reminds me of the Bill Callahan songs from your earlier EP, though it’s not going for that same vibe. It’s working for me, though. (GOOD)

Final Thoughts:
This song has a nice vibe to it. I already said that like five times in my first impression. I dunno what else I can really add! I like his voice and I like the vocal melodies. The simple instrumentation accompanying it is again pretty effective, even if not that special, and there’s a few moments of swell throughout to keep it feeling at least dynamic enough. It’s pretty solid.

7.25/10



11. Ingrid Olava – Mens Jeg Sover

First Impressions:
Okay I already know I’m likely to have trouble with this one, it being a piano ballad type song in a foreign language to boot. The sparse percussion up against the pianos gives this at least a bit of a different vibe, though. It’s a nice vibe, though. And this is a bit more dynamic than some of the other piano tracks here which does make it stand out. I don’t think it has the raw emotion of the David Gray tracks but makes up for it with its own little bits of flavor. (DECENT)

Final Thoughts:
I genuinely don’t know what to say about this one. I just don’t get much of anything from it. I don’t even know what I got from it the first time. It sounds… nice. A bit shallow, perhaps. I did look up the lyrics but I don’t really remember them and I don’t have them in front of me right now. Sure, it’s kind of dynamic, but it’s also just not something I can really… feel, especially with the language barrier.

5.75/10



12. Jonsi – Kolniður

First Impressions:
I’ve never actually checked out Jonsi’s solo work surprisingly enough but considering he comes from a Sigur Ros pedigree I’d hope it’s pretty good. There’s definitely a good atmospheric swell to this right off the bat. Ahh and then the way it kicks in towards the middle. Uhh, yeah, I like this one a lot. Is that particularly fair? I dunno. Who cares though. It’s definitely a good climax to close off the album aside from just being a good song in of itself. (GOOD)

Final Thoughts:
On the other hand, the language barrier doesn’t really affect this one, since a bit part of the appeal is very much the instrumentation. Also because I’m already familiar with his vocals from all the Sigur Ros I’ve listened to. And this does kind of have some of the same vibes as Sigur Ros. Unsurprisingly. This feels like it wouldn’t be too out of place on Takk in particular. But no, whew, I’ve been missing out by not checking out his solo stuff before, there’s just a lot about this one I like, by a very sizeable margin my favorite on your album.

8.25/10



Concept:
There’s a lot of really clever things going on with this concept album. For one, the way it’s structured to always be alternating between male and female perspective, with only the very first song being the one with both their voices, though it’s situated chronologically after everything else on the album. And the use of the Aphex Twin song for the passage of time is I guess a clever thing even if I feel a more gradual shift would have worked just as well. And your comment about how “by the end, they can hardly understand each another” being represented by two songs in different languages is actually incredibly funny to think about. The progression of themes across each song is also pretty clear. It’s a sad but realistic story conveyed well by the songs used to craft it. Maybe not a particularly unique one, and I do have minor gripes as I’ve pointed out, but on the basis of just the concept alone this feels like the best executed of the three albums I was sent.

9/10



Overall:

First Impressions:
It’s hard to comment on this one in a first impression context because I can already tell this is the kind of thing that’s either going to grow on me with relistens as I get more familiar with the songs, or lose my interest and start to bore me. Considering that I feel this album picks up significantly towards the end I’d hope it’s the former rather than the latter, and there’s nothing here I disliked, but it’s not as strong of a first impression as any of your previous submissions so far have left on me either.

Final Thoughts:
Yeah, it’s kind of plain to see, but this was not ever really in the running for my favorite of the round. Hell, I’d probably call it my least favorite of your submissions. The concept is well-executed and there are a few songs here I like a fair bit, but there’s a lot here I can’t find more than just “nice”, and one or two I’m not much a fan of. It’s cohesive enough and structured well enough and all the pieces of a solid “album” are there except for the fact that a large portion of this kind of stuff is very hit and miss for me and there just weren’t a lot of hits. I feel like you focused too much on the concept at the expense of the songs themselves, or maybe just ran out of the kinds of songs I really like in this vein after having sent a bunch in previous rounds. I still don’t dislike this album but I didn’t get as much out of it as I would’ve hoped to.



Song Rankings:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6. Jonsi – Kolniður
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12. Lord Huron – The Night We Met
13.
14.
15. Tori Amos – Precious Things
16. Gregory Alan Isakov
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25. Sarah Fimm – Story of Us
26. David Gray – Ain't No Love
27. Laura Stevenson – Master of Art
28. David Gray – Falling Free
29. The Smiths – Cemetry Gates
30.
31. Ingrid Olava – Mens Jeg Sover
32.
33. Aphex Twin – Jynweythek
34. Bjork – Cocoon
« Last Edit: May 05, 2019, 10:01:42 AM by Parama »

Offline Crow

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Re: Parama's EP-onymous Roulette v4 (Final Round Results Pt. 1)
« Reply #996 on: May 04, 2019, 04:26:21 PM »
For the record, there are 21 songs that scored 7/10 or above this round. Two of y'all sent a lot of stuff that worked for me pretty well, like I said it was obscenely easy to rank these this time, sorry seneca

Offline Evermind

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Re: Parama's EP-onymous Roulette v4 (Final Round Results Pt. 1)
« Reply #997 on: May 04, 2019, 04:28:10 PM »
Oof

I thought he was going to win. :lol
This first band is Soen very cool swingy jazz fusion kinda stuff.

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Re: Parama's EP-onymous Roulette v4 (Final Round Results Pt. 1)
« Reply #998 on: May 04, 2019, 04:51:07 PM »


look at how awful my followup for this round is gonna be lol
this is excluding the below too;

does anyone have anywhere i could listen to the Dog Fashion Disco album Sweet Nothings? cannot find it anywhere on the internet  :lol
maybe Adultery too since that one seems to be notably higher reviewed than the rest tho if I like Sweet Nothings enough I might just not bother for now

I ended up including all the 6.75's in the followup list too just because they seemed interesting enough that I at least wanna give them a shot
also blacked out two bandcamp albums to prevent spoilers since this is vaguely in order of my scoring for these

Offline Evermind

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Re: Parama's EP-onymous Roulette v4 (Final Round Results Pt. 1)
« Reply #999 on: May 04, 2019, 04:56:41 PM »
I mean, does this work in your country? Might not work whatsoever because I pay for the subscription but hey, worth a try:

https://music.yandex.ru/album/2003294
https://music.yandex.ru/album/716097 (Adultery)
This first band is Soen very cool swingy jazz fusion kinda stuff.

Offline Crow

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Re: Parama's EP-onymous Roulette v4 (Final Round Results Pt. 1)
« Reply #1000 on: May 04, 2019, 05:00:15 PM »
google translated the page and
"YANDEX.MUSIC IS NOT PLAYING IN YOUR COUNTRY YET"

so, nope  :lol

Offline King Puppies and the Acid Guppies

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Re: Parama's EP-onymous Roulette v4 (Final Round Results Pt. 1)
« Reply #1001 on: May 04, 2019, 05:01:07 PM »


look at how awful my followup for this round is gonna be lol
this is excluding the below too;

does anyone have anywhere i could listen to the Dog Fashion Disco album Sweet Nothings? cannot find it anywhere on the internet  :lol
maybe Adultery too since that one seems to be notably higher reviewed than the rest tho if I like Sweet Nothings enough I might just not bother for now

I ended up including all the 6.75's in the followup list too just because they seemed interesting enough that I at least wanna give them a shot
also blacked out two bandcamp albums to prevent spoilers since this is vaguely in order of my scoring for these
I ended up picking up both of those Dog Fashion Disco albums after Ariich sent them in my roulette. I'll PM you.
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Offline Evermind

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Re: Parama's EP-onymous Roulette v4 (Final Round Results Pt. 1)
« Reply #1002 on: May 04, 2019, 05:02:30 PM »
google translated the page and
"YANDEX.MUSIC IS NOT PLAYING IN YOUR COUNTRY YET"

so, nope  :lol

Try VPN then, that's how I browse DTF. And also how I use Spotify. And pretty much everything else except for Yandex.Music. :lol
This first band is Soen very cool swingy jazz fusion kinda stuff.

Offline Crow

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Re: Parama's EP-onymous Roulette v4 (Final Round Results Pt. 1)
« Reply #1003 on: May 04, 2019, 05:09:22 PM »
fair lol
i could set it up but puppies already sent me the albums so i think i'm good  :lol
only using 'em to check out the albums, odds are i'm gonna get at least one of them if they're available anywhere

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Re: Parama's EP-onymous Roulette v4 (Final Round Results Pt. 1)
« Reply #1004 on: May 04, 2019, 05:11:17 PM »
fair lol
i could set it up but puppies already sent me the albums so i think i'm good  :lol
only using 'em to check out the albums, odds are i'm gonna get at least one of them if they're available anywhere
I found the albums in a local record shop. Amazon has the CD versions of those albums.
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Thes sng is are sounds rally nece an I lyke tha sungar

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Re: Parama's EP-onymous Roulette v4 (Final Round Results Pt. 1)
« Reply #1005 on: May 04, 2019, 05:13:02 PM »
oh, yeah, if amazon has 'em then no problem finding them at all
just weird they ain't anywhere else online  :lol
i actually was completely stumped trying to find End of the Road online anywhere so it's the only song of the roulette i haven't provided a link to listen to on its own

Offline ariich

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Re: Parama's EP-onymous Roulette v4 (Final Round Results Pt. 1)
« Reply #1006 on: May 04, 2019, 07:41:47 PM »


look at how awful my followup for this round is gonna be lol
this is excluding the below too;

does anyone have anywhere i could listen to the Dog Fashion Disco album Sweet Nothings? cannot find it anywhere on the internet  :lol
maybe Adultery too since that one seems to be notably higher reviewed than the rest tho if I like Sweet Nothings enough I might just not bother for now

I ended up including all the 6.75's in the followup list too just because they seemed interesting enough that I at least wanna give them a shot
also blacked out two bandcamp albums to prevent spoilers since this is vaguely in order of my scoring for these
I ended up picking up both of those Dog Fashion Disco albums after Ariich sent them in my roulette. I'll PM you.
Great to hear, I'd say those are probably their best two. Ad Nauseum and Committed to a Bright Future are great too.

Ariich is a freak, or somehow has more hours in the day than everyone else.
I be am boner inducing.

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Re: Parama's EP-onymous Roulette v4 (Final Round Hangrich)
« Reply #1007 on: May 04, 2019, 09:27:46 PM »
I recognize this artist’s name but I’m not actually sure from where.
Still not sure where or how I recognize the name.
She's been used in roulettes before. I think I got one of her songs from Shadow Ninja originally.

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Re: Parama's EP-onymous Roulette v4 (Final Round Results Pt. 1)
« Reply #1008 on: May 04, 2019, 11:04:24 PM »
that's probably it then

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Re: Parama's EP-onymous Roulette v4 (Final Round Results Pt. 1)
« Reply #1010 on: May 04, 2019, 11:44:57 PM »
i legit don't even remember that song, lol
but that makes sense too

also ftr i am actually already starting my album listening but will hold on any comments until after final results. but between having caught up on my backlog list atm + having so many albums this time around i figured it's reasonable to just go ahead and start, i wanna check out some of these pretty bad anyways
« Last Edit: May 05, 2019, 12:38:42 AM by Parama »

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Re: Parama's EP-onymous Roulette v4 (Final Round Results Pt. 1)
« Reply #1011 on: May 05, 2019, 10:03:09 AM »
Results, Pt. 2

2nd Place: Puppies_On_Acid – Starfall Ascension Book 3: The Wheel of Destiny Turns

1. Hope Drone – Every End Is Fated In It's Beginning

First Impressions:
My understanding is that the first stretch of this album is black metal all the way down. Right out the gate I am liking the general tone of this one. I don’t think the guitar tones are quite as sharp as I’d like them but it still has plenty of atmosphere. I think DWeF have basically become the standard for “what black metal tones should sound like” for me because I just love their tones so much. There’s enough dynamics to this one too, some buildup at the start and a chill bit in the middle, but for the most part it sticks to intense walls of sound. I figure at this point you know what kind of black metal I tend to like and this fits the bill pretty well, though I don’t think it matches Altar of Plagues either. (GOOD)

Final Thoughts:
Of all the black metal on this album, this is the one that I’ve consistently found to be my favorite of the bunch. And there’s, uhh, a lot of black metal on this album. But I mean yeah. This isn’t especially unique but it’s got that kind of sound I like in black metal. It’s intense while still being decently melodic too, and it’s got a very dense sound to it that I always appreciate. I don’t really have a ton else to say about it? I don’t like it as much as Altar of Plagues, to be certain. They are kind of similar though. It’s definitely the most comparable to that song out of anything else here. I don’t have much else to say about it though. It’s pretty cool.

8/10



2. Nokturnal Mortum – I'll Meet You in Ancient Darkness

First Impressions:
So I forget if I called it out when you sent your auditing list but when I saw the song titles I was like “oh yeah that band” because I know I’ve listened to “Голос сталі” before but I wouldn’t ban it since I don’t remember it in the slightest. I’m looking at the track length of this one and listening to the start of it and I’m just like “oh. this is an interlude track isn’t it”. Which is completely fine to add, to be fair. But I just have no clue what I’m supposed to comment on in this, it’s the kind of track I ignore whenever I do “best/worst” songs from an album because it’s not intended to stand alone! I refuse to rate this, but I’ll add it in hangman at least. (N/A)

Final Thoughts:
I’m skipping this one and including it as part of the next song’s review, I guess.



3. Nokturnal Mortum – Molfa

First Impressions:
Right, these were those folky black metal dudes. Uhh. The production of this feels a bit… dense. The drums are absolutely mixed too loud, the guitars end up blending into the background as a result, the folky elements are nice to have and give this a bit of personality but half the time they aren’t really providing any distinguishing melodies, though the violin (?) on this sounds pretty great throughout. And there’s a complete tempo shift in the middle and the production works a looooot better for this more downtempo pace. Also really appreciate the ambient-ish bit towards the end. Yeah, my initial impression of this wasn’t too great but it’s pretty diverse, maybe a tad disjointed but overall enjoyable. Don’t know if it’ll have huge staying power, though. (DECENT)

Final Thoughts:
If I take the previous track as part of this track (which it is) then it’s kind of comparable to Altar of Plagues in that it has a long ambient opening before the song kicks in proper. Yes, I’m apparently just comparing everything you send to that one now. Deal with it. This otherwise doesn’t sound much alike though. There’s like one repeating melodic hook that plays throughout of the first bits of this that stands out as a kind of memorable bit. I also feel like after all the listens I’ve given this one I still don’t really… have much of a grasp on it. I will say the production quality feels at least a step below my standards, though it’s not awful either, not the worst on this album even. There’s that “hey hey hey” bit in the back half that shows up a few times I dig too. I still don’t know quite how I feel about this one overall though if I’m being honest. There’s moments where I’m like “yeah this is kinda cool” and then moments where I’m… not too sure. It still feels kind of like a disjointed mess overall, too. More like a string of song segments than a cohesive track. I’ve kind of struggled with it but I do like it overall at least a decent bit?

6.75/10



4. Abigail Williams – Beyond The Veil

First Impressions:
A band name like that gives the impression of some singer/songwriter type ordeal but I know who Abigail Williams is, I ain’t that allergic to history. Anyways this one’s hella long and I don’t plan to write nonstop about it for 17 minutes, but. Starts off pretty solid, if maybe a bit stereotypical sounding? The strings in the background I wish were a bit louder, but uuhh, the atmosphere building up here is rad. Aaaand… the production ain’t. Yeah wow this is some weak, muddled production when the song really kicks in alright, hmm. Oof, I’m really worried about this one. I talk about black metal production a lot when I talk about black metal because it matters so damn much and I have a hard time enjoying the stuff this song has to offer when the production during the louder parts is just… wrong. I think the rest of it at least sounds fine enough, it’s got the post-black metal vibes going on with the strings and clean guitar stuff while still keeping darker tones (legally distinct from blackgaze). It’s just. The sound, man. There’s even some good riffs here in the mid-level parts, but any time the wall of sound really builds up it’s just… nothing. And I mean… this is from 2012, they don’t really have an excuse. Even with my complaints there are enough nice moments here to outweigh the ones that sound weaker and the use of strings throughout remains pretty consistently good, but… there are definitely some stretches of this I consider a miss in my book. (DECENT)

Final Thoughts:
Wooo boy. This one. If I had to make one broad, sweeping comment about this entire thing, it’s that the strings are very consistently the highlight and most interesting element of this song. And the buildup at the start before the song kicks in proper is a real solid build, some good melodies driving it and a growing sense of tension as it goes on. And yes like I said I totally do have problems with the heavier bits here having, kind of, muddy as hell production. It’s really only a huge issue in the moments where the blastbeat drumming is crushing everything else in the mix though, I don’t mind it as much in the more spacious moments, though they still don’t hit with the power or texture I feel they could otherwise. But then like, beyond like the few moments that sound that way? The strings keep killin’ it and the riffs actually have some power to them. Like, don’t get me wrong that the production issues continue being issues throughout the entire song, and I am absolutely holding it against this one, but it’s not as big an issue as my first impression made it out to be, yeah. Maybe it’s a bit overlong? I dunno, I kind of ran out of things to say now so it’s kind of on in the background. The stuff that makes it overlong is a lot of the solid string-y type stuff though, so. I dunno. This song is kind of. Huge, and hard to have cohesive thoughts on after only 5 listens. But, I dig it? More than I originally thought I would, at least.

7.5/10



5. Children of Nova – The Complexity of Light

First Impressions:
So we move away from black metal for a bit for two bands I know are proggy rock/metal type ordeals. I know I got a song from these guys before but I don’t remember it at all. I like the upbeat and jagged vibe of this one right out the bat. It’s kind of post hardcore-sounding actually. I guess I’m either wishing the guitar tones had a bit more punch to them so the riffs hit harder or there was a bit more melodic work going on. But I mean, they’re definitely leaning more towards the latter, and regardless I do dig how prominent the bass is throughout most of this too. Yeah, there’s a fair bit to this one too. I think I’m more enjoying the general sound than the actual song itself, but the song itself is still enough to get me interested in wanting to hear more from these guys. (GOOD)

Final Thoughts:
Seriously wondering about the other song I was sent by these guys before and if that was just an odd duck or if this one is the one that isn’t very representative, because I remember being pretty meh towards them before while this, on the other hand, has pretty consistently been one of my favorites, if not absolute favorite, on your entire album. The bass-groove driven chorus followed by the more full and immediate-sounding chorus is a good dichotomy you kind of see a lot in this kind of sound for a reason. It’s actually a surprisingly straightforward song structure when you get used to it and maybe not as diverse as I originally thought on first listen, but at the same time noticing the patterns and main elements of the song does make it feel a bit more cohesive. Only real gripe is that it’s maybe a bit dry? Sounds cool but I don’t really feel much listening to it. Ehh. And I don’t really think there’s anything about this I’m completely wild about, but I still enjoy it a good bit at the end of the day.
7.75/10



6. Mandroid Echostar – To the Wolves

First Impressions:
I know I did listen to these guys before and I just remember them going all in on the super noodly guitar lines and sounding like protest the hero. The way their singer sings is a bit… weird, to me, I guess. He doesn’t sound bad but he sound kind of out of place here, I feel like? A problem I tend to have with this kind of sound is the use of reeeally basic melodies when they do those guitar runs, which definitely I notice here but the rest of the riffing and melodic work feels stronger besides those few moments. Uhh anyways. I feel like I didn’t have as much to say about this one but it also was a bit shorter, I liked it but I don’t know if it’ll be a standout either. (DECENT)

Final Thoughts:
Those really fast noodly guitar runs feel kind of unnecessary. I said this the first time and I still stand by it. The rest of this though. Well, they have some pretty good riffing going on through a lot of this and while the calmer melodies aren’t, like, anything amazing or especially memorable, I still enjoy how they sound a good fair bit. And I do like the general sound of this one, I just don’t know if I can say this particular song quite does it for me? There’s some good vocal moments but I don’t think it ever gets to driving up the power I’d want it to. I also feel like this one just ended up overshadowed by the other song you sent from them because I have had a hard time remembering this one in particular, to be honest. But I mean. I don’t want to undersell it either, I do like this a decent bit. Just not as much as I feel like I want to.

7.25/10



7. Mandroid Echostar – Citadels

First Impressions:
Okay, the guitar run stuff on this one sounds a lot better, maybe because it’s not as fast so they’re able to wring more interesting melodies out of it. The singer sounds better here too? These are off the same EP, right? I feel like again with this one it doesn’t immediately jump out as something I’d love, but I do find it stronger than the previous track and I could imagine it being a grower as well. (DECENT)

Final Thoughts:
Like literally the first thing this song does is kick in with a riff way cooler than anything in the previous song. And it keeps that darker tone throughout the first bit of the song, enhancing it with some pretty solid guitar runs and vocals that connect more too? This one does kind of go off on a weird short tangent that sounds… fine enough, I guess, the transitions don’t feel too awkward but they’re not super smooth either. It kind of separates the first half and the second half of the song which are basically completely different songs but both good in their own ways too. Really like the 6/8 feel and the twin guitar leads driving a lot of the back half, it makes for a good climax. And again, the vocals here just work a lot better for me too. This basically just fixes the issues I had with the previous song, apparently. I can’t say I’m in love with it enough for it to get a super high score but I do enjoy it a good bit, absolutely.

8.25/10



8. Woods of Desolation – Torn Beyond Reason

First Impressions:
And here’s another band I know I’ve listened to before but that’s about all I remember about them, other than that they are black metal. I will say, it isn’t the worst-produced black metal song you’ve sent me, though it does still come off as a bit muddled. Black metal feels… a bit out of place on this stretch of your album, to be blunt, but not something I’m opposed to hearing in general. I uhh. Don’t have a ton to say about this one though. It has some solid melodic work and a decent driving force to it but it doesn’t really have a ton of personality either, it also does have to be compared to some of the songs that came before it on both this album and your second EP too though. I feel like commenting on it now is a bit futile so we’ll see where it ends up. (DECENT)

Final Thoughts:
This is black-metal shaped black metal that sure does sound like black metal alright. Like, I’m being kind of facetious, but I genuinely don’t have anything to say about this. It sounds totally fine but it doesn’t stand out at all. Black metal that sounds fine but doesn’t stand out is still gonna perform better than, say, melodic death metal that sounds fine but doesn’t stand out, and I feel like I enjoy this one more than Nokturnal Mortum for at least having solid production and for making me feel something. But also it’s so damn out of place in the tracklisting here it’s almost comical and I feel like that more than anything has harmed my ability to properly take this one in. I still feel like commenting on this is a bit futile. I feel like I’m overrating it even with the relatively conservative scoring I’m giving it/have been giving most songs this roulette. Ehh.

7/10



9. Perihelion Ship – Misplaced Rainfall

First Impressions:
I… did not at all like the album I heard from these guys, but this isn’t from that album, I believe, so maybe I’ll like it more? I just remember the production being… bad, and not liking the vocals much either. When the guitars on this one kick in I can tell that, yeah, the production on this is pretty fine. So that’s one obstacle cleared. Uhh yeah, the vocals are fine but feel kind of low in the mix? The riffing on this is pretty solid, vaguely Opeth-y but not a clone or anything either. I don’t know how much of a standout song I’m going to find it though because while the riffs do change they all seem born of the same riffing style and it ends up not feeling very diverse. I also don’t know how much a fan I am of the thin-sounding synths/organ, dunno. I like this more than I was expecting to but it’s not a barn burner of a track either. (DECENT)

Final Thoughts:
I… don’t know how much I care for the organ sound on this song. It’s like. Really reedy and kind of a piercing tone. Mostly the bit at the start I think is what I’m complaining about. When this kicks in after there’s some pretty good riffing. Like yeah these riffs have power and groove. Not especially noteworthy riffs but they do their job well. The vocals aren’t great but the chorus itself is kinda solid too. I feel like there was a bit in the middle of my listening where I was more into this one than I currently am. It’s kinda just the organ intro then 6 minutes straight of riffs though, isn’t it? Like, yeah, cool riffs and all but I feel like I’d appreciate a bit more diversity more than what I actually got here. I still like it well enough though, yeah.

7.5/10



10. Todtgelichter – Oblivion

First Impressions:
The transition into this song from the last one was so well-done I didn’t even realize at first the song had changed, wow. I remember getting something from these guys before and being kind of meh about it, another one of those “black metal type bands I don’t have a strong opinion on”. I like the doomier riff this kicks off with though. What it devolves into when the vocals kick in, uhh… that ain’t working for me, though. Yeah seriously what the heck are they doing there, that guitar riff just doesn’t work, mate. I’d honestly prefer straight chugging. Another song that just completely changes moods halfway through, too, sure, why not. Everything after the mood switchup is pretty solid, yeah, though nothing as cool as that first riff. But then nothing as bad as that verse riff. A fair tradeoff. Anyways I hate to keep this nonstop stream of “decent” scores going for this one, but, I mean, well, it is just that. (DECENT)

Final Thoughts:
Seriously what’s up with that verse riff? I have no clue what they were thinking. I dig the hell out of the doomier riff and the off-kilter melody that accompanies it. That’s pretty much my review of the entire first half of this song because that’s about all there is to it. And here’s my review of the second half: It’s fine. It is absolutely a completely different song altogether and there’s barely a transition between the two halves, but it’s got good driving melody to it and the production on this one is probably the best on any of the black metal-type songs here (though this one is borderline black metal at best, honestly).  Like, I know I’m kind of being reductive, here, because there’s more going on than that, but this song, while cool at times, mostly feels like the first half is a dichotomy of something I like and something I dislike, while the back half is a lot of solid stuff that’s kind of just there. Dunno. I like this one well enough I guess but it hasn’t really been a standout either.

7/10

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Re: Parama's EP-onymous Roulette v4 (Final Round Results Pt. 1)
« Reply #1012 on: May 05, 2019, 10:03:18 AM »
11. Moonsorrow – Pimeä

First Impressions:
Okay I’m kind of making an exception allowing these guys at all so this one better at least be good or I’m going to be real disappointed. So far I’m like… kinda feeling it, yeah. They lean towards the folkier side of black metal, of course, but the production’s solid and the groove’s solid. I have their 2016 album which I did like but never loved, not enough to get me to check out any of their other stuff at least. Can appreciate that the bass actually gets some presence and a few brief moments to itself. I do feel that, for a 14-ish minute song, so far it does feel a bit lacking in diversity. I think a big part of why I liked that Paara album is that it was doing this style of black metal (with slightly better production, mind you), while not being afraid to at least change up things every so often within its songs. This is kind of just hammering on a similar mood throughout a decent chunk of its runtime and while the touches of folk elements are nice and the occasional dynamic shift does break up the pace a bit it’s not something I feel can hold my interest for this long of a playtime. I dig the guitar solo that kicks in around the 10 minute mark, but I also wish it was a bit higher in the mix? I can see this growing for me on relistens though, but it’s not doing a ton for me on this first listen. It’s… solid, but feels too long for the style. (DECENT)

Final Thoughts:
I know this is the one you reeeally wanted me to like and the one I kind of let you cheat to send. And I kind of suspect that there’s a reason I never followed up on this band, huh. Like, again. This sounds completely fine. Let me state that outright. I have absolutely no clue why it needs to be as long as it is though. The riffs are solid but the whole thing just isn’t very diverse for a 14+ minute track. And it doesn’t even really stand out from other folkier black metal type sounds either. I have one Moonsorrow album. I have one Primordial album. In both cases I feel like I got my fill of the sound they have on offer with each of the albums I do have. With the rare exception this groovier type of folk metal just never seems to come across as deep or compelling enough for me to stay interested. Like, it’s entirely possible there’s actually a lot of different riffs and melodies and all that stuff in this song but I simply don’t hear it. There’s like. The one folky bit played on a ??? I don’t even know what instrument that is, that recurs a few times. That’s about the one main element of this that stands out to me. I can absolutely casually groove along to this and it’d probably be fun in a live setting, if not also a bit exhausting? Like. I dunno. I honestly think the length is the biggest problem with this one. And the lack of dynamics. I don’t even know what dynamics I was commenting on before because they flat aren’t there. 7-8 minutes of this sound I could be more into, but 14 minutes straight of it just ain’t it. Even the other Moonsorrow songs I’ve listened to off before off the album I have, I remember being more diverse than this. Eeehh. I’m honestly not even sure how to rate this, because it’s in that weird spot where it all sounds totally fine but I’m bored of it by halfway through. Iiiiii. Don’t know.

6.75/10



Concept:
So I know you’ve been building up this concept across most of your previous submissions and like. Damn, if ariich’s is just dark yours is totally nihilistic as hell, my dude! I definitely feel like there’s probably some tonal inconsistency to some of this – mostly the Children of Nova and Mandroid Echostar songs in general sound too bright and happy for the events they’re supposed to portray – and this definitely feels like a case where most if not all of these songs are taken out of context to fit a story that would be hard to derive from just the lyrics by themselves. But the story itself is done pretty cohesively and the majority of the music does at least fit with the story too. I can’t say I’m crazy for this kind of story as a whole but it works out well enough.

7/10



Overall:

First Impressions:
So full disclosure, on my first listen I opted to listen to each of the three parts with a bit of a break in-between them, and even then it did feel a bit overwhelming. I guess in part it’s because of how much black metal dominates this album, and how a lot of them fall into a kind of similar style of black metal. And I mean, I love me some good black metal, to be certain, but… well, a lot of this doesn’t stand out to me all that much. There’s certainly a few tracks here I’m looking forward to revisiting and I wouldn’t be surprised if there are some growers either but it’s not blowing me away either.

Final Thoughts:
So yeah, I do like everything on this album to at least some extent. But there’s one huge, huge issue. This thing’s too damn long. Yes, this is coming from the guy who sent you a two hour concept album, but the thing was that I sent you two albums. This is just a 90 minute solid wall that I don’t think I ever once listened to all the way through without at least a bit of a break between the three segments. I also feel like the track order hits a weird hurdle in the middle, where the Woods of Desolation and Perihelion Ship songs absolutely feel like they should’ve switched places, so that the first and last segment are all black metal-type stuff with the melodic, proggier stuff sandwiched in the middle, rather than Woods of Desolation ending up feeling way out of place on the tracklist. Either that, or it should alternate more so there aren’t huge chunks of black metal – but I don’t feel like any two songs in a row sound too similar to each other so I can’t say there would be a need for that approach, the way it’s structured. And it does kind of feel like two different sounds clashing, similar to both of your previous 40-minute affairs, with the balance heavily shifted towards black metal again, making the rest feel kind of like outliers, though pretty solid outliers at the very least. For as long as it is it still ends up being pretty consistent, at the very least, but the highs aren’t super high either and a lot of it feels like it drags, especially towards the end. I do like this album but I don’t think there was ever a point in this round where it ended up feeling comparable to the winner.



Song Rankings:
1.
2.
3.
4. Mandroid Echostar – Citadels
5.
6. Jonsi – Kolniður
7.
8. Hope Drone – Every End Is Fated In It's Beginning
9. Children of Nova – The Complexity of Light
10.
11. Perihelion Ship – Misplaced Rainfall
12. Lord Huron – The Night We Met
13.
14. Abigail Williams – Beyond The Veil
15. Tori Amos – Precious Things
16. Gregory Alan Isakov
17. Mandroid Echostar – To the Wolves
18.
19.
20. Todtgelichter – Oblivion
21. Woods of Desolation – Torn Beyond Reason
22. Nokturnal Mortum – Molfa
23. Moonsorrow – Pimeä
24.
25. Sarah Fimm – Story of Us
26. David Gray – Ain't No Love
27. Laura Stevenson – Master of Art
28. David Gray – Falling Free
29. The Smiths – Cemetry Gates
30.
31. Ingrid Olava – Mens Jeg Sover
32.
33. Aphex Twin – Jynweythek
34. Bjork – Cocoon

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Re: Parama's EP-onymous Roulette v4 (Final Round Results Pt. 1)
« Reply #1013 on: May 05, 2019, 10:04:03 AM »
1st place: ariich – The Journey

1. Acke Hallgren – Prelude

First Impressions:
A good old fashioned symphonic opener track. I don’t really have a ton to say about this one on its own because it kind of feels like it isn’t meant to be much of a thing by itself. Will say the piano sounds a tad stiff, I guess? Don’t really have much to say about it though. (AVERAGE)

Final Thoughts:
It kinda just sounds like movie trailer music. Which I mean, fair. For the dark tone of the album in general I’d say it sets the stage well, especially for the track that follows it. One of the best transitions of the entire round too. And having this motif here is nice when it reoccurs in the final song of your concept album (which I assume the original album also does too). I mean, it’s hard to rate this much on its own as it isn’t meant to be taken on its own. But it’s. Pretty fine? I’m tempted to just not rate it but I feel there’s enough substance for it to count.

6/10



2. Psion – Tyranny

First Impressions:
Nice transition there though, whew. I’m still trying to figure out where this slots between “2010’s prog metal” and “melodic death metal” and it feels kind of in-between the two, though closer to the former. Singer seems power metal-y too. It’s a good sound to have, though admittedly nothing about this I’m finding especially impressive so far, just… nice. There’s enough atmosphere to this production & just a lot of layers of… stuff going on in general. They hit upon some good riffs from time to time too, though some of it also feels a bit too chuggy for my tastes. On one hand I do like the progression it goes through during its runtime, but it’s hard to say it feels like it’s the same song by the end as it was when it started and I’m finding that’s something I tend to nitpick a lot nowadays. Dunno, I like it but it doesn’t strike me as a standout either. (DECENT)

Final Thoughts:
Okay, now here’s the band of the round for sure. “It doesn’t strike me as a standout either” is one of the stupidest things I’ve said this round or even this roulette, what the heck. Maybe I just suddenly slid more into the mood for this kind of prog metal during this round, it’s entirely possible. But this is just a stream of great riffs, powerful vocals, and a generally dark and intense atmosphere that keeps the song feeling driving. That one riff has some great groove to it too. And it’s certainly a song with enough going on in it that it doesn’t get stale on multiple relistens. I’m sure there’s bits and pieces of this that still haven’t properly sunk in, but considering I’m probably just gonna blind-buy this EP on the basis of the two songs you on this album. Also I dunno quite what I was saying about how it doesn’t feel like the same song by the end, there’s very much a chorus and central theme to the first half of the track that serves as the jumping-off point for the faster-paced second half. However, I also kind of see why I may not have been as kind to this one on first listen – I do feel a lot of the instrumental jams in the back half don’t hit as hard as the stuff in the first half, though I don’t think they let the song down that much either. I feel I’m being a little conservative with my scoring here in part because I feel more strongly about the other song you sent from them, too, but. Y’know. Still pretty great tune.

8.25/10



3. The Reign of Kindo – City of Gods

First Impressions:
Yeah I checked out these guys’ first album a while back (and I’m seeing ‘em in about a week and a half – might have already seen them by the time I put up these results!). Anyways this song itself. Uhh. Hmm. One thing I find is that it’s very rare any kind of piano-fronted rock works for me. Piano can absolutely be a fine element but overuse of it only ends up making any band sound more generic because of how generally overused it is and a fair bit of this feels driven by the piano lines I don’t find particularly compelling. I’m also not huge on the singer, he leans too close to the neo-prog sound I’m really allergic to. The instrumental section in the middle is kind of cool at least, though I don’t think it builds up a particularly strong groove, nor does it go on long enough to be satisfying. And the synths, I’m also not wild about. And it breaks into a completely unrelated groove at the end too. Yeah dunno, lukewarm thoughts about this one. (AVERAGE)

Final Thoughts:
I saw them last night at the time of writing this! Probably at about the same time last night that I’m writing this tonight, even. Uuhh. They were the weakest act of the night, even more so than the local opening act. I guess this one’s grown on me at least a little from the first listen I gave it, but… for one, it’s following up a much better track and followed up by a much better one too. They have some decent groove throughout the whole thing. I’m still not wild about the vocals but they aren’t Neal Morse-level grating. The instrumental breaks feel almost completely out of place in terms of songwriting even if they fit in with their sound technically, because they come and go so quick with little connection to anything. And I mean, they’re my favorite parts of this, but that’s not setting a very high bar either. It’s. Fine, I guess?

5.75/10



4. Soilwork – The Ride Majestic (Aspire Angelic)

First Impressions:
Hey, another one from your puppies album I listened to. I remember this being associated with most of the Earth’s population being exterminated, funnily enough. My comment was “i like this last soilwork song more because it has proggier tendencies, naturally”. Listening to this one right now I’m not actually seeing those proggier tendencies though. It switches from 4/4 to 3/4 like once or twice? There’s some proggier melodic bits too near the start and end actually so fair, past me. Uhh but anyways. It does have intensity, groove, good riffs throughout. I already like this one and I feel like it could be a grower on relistens too. This band has been one I’ve known about for ages but never really had much appeal to me but I can dig this one well enough. Didn’t listen to their new album this year, though. (DECENT)

Final Thoughts:
Okay yeah for one, a big thing I didn’t mention. That chorus slays. Great groove, great group vocals, it’s a fun chorus in the middle of an otherwise rather frantic and intense song and that contrast only makes it stand out more. I think the energy of this one is what makes the rest of it work, chorus aside. There’s some more melodic noodly bits, and then some bits that just go hard and take you along for the ride (majestic) (aspire angelic). And there’s enough twists and turns to this one too while still having some very strong core elements. So yeah. It’s just an all-around really solid metal tune. Honestly worry I may be underrating it even still. I know that not all their songs are like this one unfortunately but I at the very least want to check out this album now.

8.25/10



5. Psion – Recoil

First Impressions:
Oh man, repeating an artist before the last artist even gets a chance? Rude. Anyways this one has some kind of electronic grooves to it towards the start? Feels like a slower, heavier track when that first big riff kicks in, which I dig the hell out of. Sort of keeps up the feel of being a slower track throughout, but there’s a fair bit of calmer, atmospheric moments too. I don’t really feel like I have a ton to say about this one but it feels a lot more cohesive than the other song here from them and nails both the heavy and quiet bits to boot, I’d rather just sit here and enjoy it than criticize it. (GOOD)

Final Thoughts:
I didn’t give any song “great” in first impressions this round, but I regretted that almost immediately, because this song definitely deserved it. I mean like. The intense tension of that haunting opening. And it slowly builds up until it just slams you with the big chords & intense vocals. And it lingers on that a bit before slamming you a second time with the even bigger riff and the growls. If I had to gripe about soooomething, I think it’s that the riffy section goes on a bit too long before the moodier, quiet section kicks in, feel that could’ve shortened the track at least a little. That entire quiet section slowly building up and up until it explodes in another jagged riff is a great suspense/payoff scenario too. I dunno. I sort of feel like I’m in a weird place because I’m not super in the mood for this kind of sound at this specific moment while I’m doing this review, but at the same time my previous listens have already kinda proven to me this song is killer and my critical brain just needs to shut up about it. Still gonna call it the song of the round for sure, yeah.

8.75/10



6. Dog Fashion Disco – Struck By Lightning

First Impressions:
Okay I already know this band is a bunch of weirdos but I don’t really know a ton else. There’s like, a surf rock vibe throughout this but also some horns and cinematic touches as well. But it doesn’t just sound like random gibberish like your Mr. Bungles of the world. And then something that sounds vaguely like salsa but driven by organs, and with a sax solo over it. There’s, uh. A lot to unpack here, but I’m surprised at not only how cohesive this all is but how well it actually works as a song, it’s certainly one of the more interesting songs I’ve received all roulette just on pure style alone. (GOOD)

Final Thoughts:
Okay yeah this was about the best possible thing I could’ve expected from this weird as hell band. It’s honestly the kind of thing I’d expect from Sigh if they could ever get their act together properly? Like, I don’t hate Sigh at all, I like both albums they have, but this is one of those rockin’ Sigh songs with the weird elements, but just done better than Sigh ever has. Maybe it’s because they’re correctly using clean vocals instead of black metal rasps. But yeah, this just sounds like a fun, rockin’ metal track that they added some weird stuff to that only enhances the sound they were going for instead of conflicting with it. Nitpicky mode is going “well the last bit is kind of disconnected from the rest” which it definitely is, absolutely, aside from y’know, reprising the chorus, but it’s also a rad section on its own that prevents the energy of the first two-thirds of the song from getting overwhelming. Yeah, nah, this rules too.

8.25/10



7. Soilwork – The Windswept Mercy

First Impressions:
Halfway through and everything from this point on is a repeat artist, which fair enough if you have songs from four artists across six tracks. This one doesn’t look like it’s off the same album you sent all of your songs for your puppies album off of, though. This one is a loooot more straightforward it seems. Big chorus, pretty straightforward riffing throughout. And I mean, it’s not bad, it just comes off as a bit… shallow, for my tastes. Not a ton else to say about it. (AVERAGE)

Final Thoughts:
Ehh, okay, maybe I was being a little harsh on this one before. It’s still a fun enough rocker of a song, but it has to compare with the previous Soilwork song almost by definition and it doesn’t have nearly as much that appeals directly to me. The chorus is again pretty banging’ though, they have a good ear for choruses if the songs on this album are anything to go by. And there’s still a decent amount going on here even if a lot of it isn’t that complex or unique. It’s a lot better than a lot of the straightforward rockin’ stuff you sent last round though, even still. Not a favorite but better than “average” for sure.

7.25/10



8. Acke Hallgren – Home

First Impressions:
Okay while technically this is a repeat artist it’s the first “real” song from them so fair enough. And it’s uhh. Just a really standard ballad track. I sat here and listened to the whole thing and then didn’t realize it was over when it ended. It’s a fine enough track and it’s nice to have a quiet reprieve after the heavier and more chaotic tracks preceding it but on its own it doesn’t do much for me. (AVERAGE)

Final Thoughts:
Okay, so, hear me out – you won’t believe it – but I guess this is better than a really standard ballad track. Or at the very least, it’s better than my first listen implied. That definitely didn’t happen with any other tracks on this album, did it? It’s not an amazing track by any means but it does its job in making me, y’know, feel something if nothing else. It’s still basic enough that I can’t say I’m huuuuge on it, but I like it, sure. Again, it sets up a great transition too.

6.5/10



9. The Reign of Kindo – Dust

First Impressions:
Okay, this one at least has some emotional resonance to it. Ironically moreso than the track before it which felt like it was exclusively going for that emotive sound. It’s also a much more straightforward track in general, no weird breaks or jazzy grooves or anything, there’s still a lot more of the same instrumentation but it’s more subdued. I guess I’d say I prefer it the other way in general but in this case I do prefer this one, it’s a case where the more stripped-back and simple track does work better. Not a favorite, regardless, but I enjoyed it. (DECENT)

Final Thoughts:
They didn’t actually play either of these songs when I saw them yesterday. I don’t know what that implies other than that I guess neither of these are expected to be fan favorites. Anyways this one. It’s more subdued but it has just as much groove as the other track when it wants to. Maybe even more. I think it’s the lack of the cruddy-sounding synths that helps. Also I will say, the first song they played last night that I actually liked a fair bit was a song off this album, that I kinda felt was better than either of the songs on display here? Wouldn’t be able to tell you which song it was unless I heard it again with the name. I’m getting distracted I guess but my first impression writeup kinda said it all about this one. It’s nice. I enjoy it. Got some emotional resonance, the music has at least enough going on to be interesting on its own, it’s kind of moody but doesn’t ever ruin its mood with an awkward instrumental out of nowhere. Not in love with it but it works for what it does.

7.25/10



10. Dog Fashion Disco – End of the Road

First Impressions:
Man this character in the story just has no luck whatsoever. Anyways this starts off with bluesy guitar. Mmm. Goes into a jazzier sound as it goes on because, well, they’re pretty closely related genres to begin with anyways so why not. I am admittedly a bit sad that this isn’t as wild or intriguing as the other song from them. I was gonna comment on how also I’m a bit sad this is the third quiet track in a row but it kicked into a heavier riff right about when I was going to start typing that comment, haha. The heavy riff is cool and builds off the mood of the song before it well too. Hmm yeah I can already tell I’m going to need to check out these guys further, huh. (GOOD)

Final Thoughts:
This is like the polar opposite of the other song sent by them in every way except quality. The music has a slow, laidback groove to it and a pretty dark atmosphere. And I mean, there’s a kind of fun, catchy quality to the guitar lines, but that’s almost ironically the case. I do kind of feel the sluggish instrumental in the middle does let this one down a little bit, it goes on a bit too long before the big, heavy riff kicks in towards the end. And here it’s not like the song is completely changing, that riff is keeping the same vibe and similar melody of the quiet half of the song, just with a lot more power, and the chorus sounds ever moreso frightening on top of the heavier instrumentation. I feel like in general this song maybe could’ve used a bit of tightening up but most of the stuff that gets dragged out is stuff I like a lot at its core so I’m not complaining too terribly much. I do prefer the more upbeat sound, for sure, but that doesn’t stop this from being a cool track.

7.75/10



11. Soilwork – Father and Son, Watching the World Go Down

First Impressions:
More of these guys huh. Well, I already like the riffing of this one and the chorus a lot more than the last one. I can groove/rock to this riff. I don’t really have a ton else to add about this one that I didn’t say about the previous one really. A bit shallow for me but I’m at least jamming along to this one, which I didn’t get out of the last one, so. (DECENT)

Final Thoughts:
I actually really like the ominous piano intro of this one, possibly even one of my favorite things about this song. Anyways, surprise, the chorus here rules. I think the big notable difference between this album and their previous album, from the small sample size of songs, is that the riffs here lean more melodic than just straight chordy stuff, and it feels like there’s always just one more layer of stuff going on here than there is on the windswept mercy. It’s the line between “yeah, this is fun, I guess this would kill live” and “this rules even not live”. I do remember this album getting a lot of acclaim around the time it dropped and I guess it’s about time for me to find out why, eh? This isn’t quite as good as aspire angelic on the basis of just not having the real intense, frantic elements that one has, but in pretty much every other aspect it’s a close match.

8/10

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Re: Parama's EP-onymous Roulette v4 (Final Round Results Pt. 1)
« Reply #1014 on: May 05, 2019, 10:04:20 AM »
12. Acke Hallgren – Let Go

First Impressions:
I feel like I’ve heard the start of this before so either I suspect it just sounds standard enough that it sounds like something else I’ve heard before, or just that it’s a reprise of one of the earlier songs on this album. This isn’t an intro track nor is it a ballad track though, it’s a 10 minute closer, so hopefully there will finally be something noteworthy from these guys? I appreciate the heavier riff that kicks in and the bass solo that follows it. And the singer is pretty good, not amazing but, y’know, solid. It’s kind of a straightforward song on the whole but there’s a lot of little touches or moments of instrumentation here, as a denouement kind of closer song I get what it’s trying to do and I could see it resonating with me more on relistens. (DECENT)

Final Thoughts:
Yeah, after a bit of sleuthing, I can confirm: The start of this isn’t a reprise of either of the other songs sent on this album. There IS a reprise of the opening, with the piano that comes in. But that’s not what I was referring to with the bit that sounded familiar. So I’m not sure what I think it sounds like. But it’s a nice song. I feel like this song has kind of suffered from being not as up my alley on top of starting an hour into your album, at the point where I’m kind of exhausted from everything that came before. But I’ve at least passively enjoyed it on all my listens. I feel like the real intent of this one is for me to emotionally connect with it in some significant way. And I mean, it’s the kind of song where that emotional connection absolutely can manifest – Oceansize ended most of their albums this way to great effect, in particular. I, obviously, don’t have that level of connection with this one, but I do like it well enough. I feel like this is the song of this album that would most reward further listens though. There’s a lot of little movements to it with only a few repeated motifs throughout, and a lot of stuff I enjoy that I feel I haven’t fully taken in. Like, the bass sounds great throughout a lot of this, especially in the moments where it’s given more room to breath. It might just be that for the intensity of some of the songs that come before it, it just can’t feel like a satisfying finale even at its loudest moments? I’ve written a lot about this one and said very little. I guess my ultimate conclusion is that “I dunno lol it’s pretty good tbh sure”. It at least makes me want to check them out. So that’s 5/5 on this album. Crap.

7.5/10



Concept:
I like the concept of using each of the artists as characters in the story. The story itself, well. I think for the first half the story is pretty fine and the songs are used to narrate it pretty well. But a few of the characters feel… unnecessary, and don’t really even interact that much. It feels more like the characters are there just because you wanted to include the songs, which, fair enough, y’know, but. And there’s some tonal inconsistency between the story trying to be told and the songs themselves – the subjects of the last two Soilwork songs, in the context of the album, are pretty dang dark and depressing, but the songs are both upbeat rockers. And Struck By Lightning is way too fun to be about torture, though I’d totally believe it’s about sanity loss at the very least. I also feel that to at least some extent it’d be hard to determine the concept just from the lyrics themselves. And of course the story just ends really depressingly without any proper resolution. I definitely see the effort in trying to make this one work and for most of the songs it does well enough but without the context of the audio clips like you added for Puppies’ album (which, I mean, wouldn’t fit in with the concept here, for sure) it’s not as strongly cohesive as it could be. A solid effort though.

6.5/10



Overall:

First Impressions:
Aside from one song I feel like this one is pretty cohesive as well as most of the artists bringing their own sound to the table, and on the whole it works pretty well. A few of them even bringing different sounds to the table across their two or three songs each, even. Also amusing how this means Heaven’s Basement is the only artist you sent only a single song from across your three submissions. But yeah, I’m not “wow”ed by anything off this but it kept me interested the whole way through across a 68 minute runtime and I’m probably looking forward to revisiting this one the most out of the three albums after my first listen, so there’s that.

Final Thoughts:
Yeah, this stands out as probably the most musically cohesive album of the entire round, maybe even the entire roulette. And a lot of these songs definitely grew on me on repeated listens, as evidenced by all the unusually high scores. It feels like you spent two rounds of  the roulette sending mostly okay-ish stuff specifically because you were saving most of the real bangers for this one. The only artist I’m let down by is Kindo, again, but I did at least like one of the two tracks here. And I can’t say I actively disliked anything present here, not even close. It’s a good solid nearly 70 minutes of a variety of styles that don’t ever feel too out of place with each other and all mostly drive up pretty strong feelings in me. Dunno if I could really ask for much better.




Song Rankings:
1. Psion – Recoil
2. Soilwork – The Ride Majestic (Aspire Angelic)
3. Dog Fashion Disco – Struck By Lightning
4. Mandroid Echostar – Citadels
5. Psion – Tyranny
6. Jonsi – Kolniður
7. Soilwork – Father and Son, Watching the World Go Down
8. Hope Drone – Every End Is Fated In It's Beginning
9. Children of Nova – The Complexity of Light
10. Dog Fashion Disco – End of the Road
11. Perihelion Ship – Misplaced Rainfall
12. Lord Huron – The Night We Met
13. Acke Hallgren – Let Go
14. Abigail Williams – Beyond The Veil
15. Tori Amos – Precious Things
16. Gregory Alan Isakov
17. Mandroid Echostar – To the Wolves
18. Soilwork – The Windswept Mercy
19. The Reign of Kindo – Dust
20. Todtgelichter – Oblivion
21. Woods of Desolation – Torn Beyond Reason
22. Nokturnal Mortum – Molfa
23. Moonsorrow – Pimeä
24. Acke Hallgren – Home
25. Sarah Fimm – Story of Us
26. David Gray – Ain't No Love
27. Laura Stevenson – Master of Art
28. David Gray – Falling Free
29. The Smiths – Cemetry Gates
30. Acke Hallgren – Prelude
31. Ingrid Olava – Mens Jeg Sover
32. The Reign of Kindo – City of Gods
33. Aphex Twin – Jynweythek
34. Bjork – Cocoon