Final results, part 2 of 2Part 1 (Clortho and Tomi) here:
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54225.msg2594422#msg2594422--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Luoto
"A World Made of Haze" 1. Communic – Waves of Visual Decay
2. Communic – Unpredictables of Life
3. Wilderun – Far from Where Dreams Unfurl
4. Oddland – Ire
5. Oddland – Untrue
6. Skein – Cartographer
7. Diablo – Grace Under Pressure
First impressions: Nice storytelling though not sure the music entirely fits the narrative in the latter stages. All the songs seem pretty solid and there’s a good consistency of tone. There wasn’t anything that hugely jumped out at me on first listen.
Final opinion on each artist:
- Communic - One of the biggest growers of the round. My first reaction was that it was decent prog metal but nothing special. I still wouldn’t say it’s mind-blowing or anything, but it’s really solid and there’s some fantastic stuff between the two songs. I gather from the difference in production that Waves is the older one - it’s a little rougher around the edges, but it has some great tunes. Unpredictables feels immediately punchier, more riff-driven and with tighter production. Surprising Nevermore vibe to it at times too. It’s a great tune, and I’ve come to absolutely love the chorus.
- Wilderun (banned artist quota) - If I factored this into your overall quality score, you might have placed higher in the round, because it’s a lovely song. I think it serves the story well so I can see why you’ve included it anyway. Interesting that there are no harsh vocals at all on it, but it’s a great bit of cinematic folk metal and I’m looking forward to the new album very much!
- Oddland - Pretty interesting prog metal, but on balance the weakest on the album because although I find them really intriguing, I never find myself really getting into it. There’s some Opeth in their harmonic approach (particularly in Ire), but they’re definitely quirkier and proggier and there are moments that remind me of Pain of Salvation. The mix is unusual and in principle is right up my alley, the biggest thing holding it back for me is a lack of hooks, and I find it hard to really remember anything about either song even after multiple listens. I think the style fits the narrative well, but musically feels maybe slightly out of place with the rest of the album.
- Skein - Back in strong territory with a really top notch bit of… post-metal maybe? Whatever it is, it’s a really engaging mix of melancholy and intensity. The opening in particular is really moody and reflective, and fits so well with your storytelling at this point both lyrically and musically. I’m not sure the heavy sections really fit with the story at all here though, which is a bit of an issue for the flow of the album, but it’s a great song overall and I’m looking forward to checking these guys out.
- Diablo - This feels like the most familiar territory for your roulette submissions (Finnish and broadly in a melodic death metal vein, although the vocals are pretty unique for the genre), and it’s a great way to end the album both for that reason and also because it’s just a cracking tune. Not convinced the mood is really upbeat enough for the surprisingly positive ending to the story, but the song has a great atmosphere and a fantastic chorus.
Overall quality: 3rd place in round = 7.5 pointsMostly really great stuff and lots of stuff for me to check out. The Wilderun is fantastic but I have to ignore it for this score. Most of the rest is excellent, the main weak point just being Oddland who are still pretty cool, just don’t really grab me. The key difference between this and the two albums that placed above it is simply that the highs aren’t as high.
Musical flow: 3.5/5Oddland are being the bugger again, because apart from them I think there’s a real consistency of tone and approach that makes the album mostly flow well, even though the songs cover some pretty different styles. The transitions from song to song work well too.
Narrative flow: 4/5Another example of really good storytelling and imaginative use of the lyrics to craft a pretty engaging tale. Of the three story-based albums, this one is the most grounded and personal, and it works well. On lyrics alone this might have competed with Cyril in terms of narrative, but as noted above there are places where the music doesn’t seem to do a great job of supporting that narrative.
Score: 7.5 + 3.5 + 4 = 15 points--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cyril
"Sol Omega and the Murder of the Universe" 1. Alkaloid – Dyson Sphere [I. Mining the Oort Cloud; II. Assembly; III. Kardashev II.1; IV. Sol Omega]
2. Sunless Dawn – Biomorph [I. Polarity Portrayed; II. Collide into Being; III. Between Meadow and Mire]
3. Shade Empire – Anti-Life Saviour
4. An Abstract Illusion – Skeletons of Light
5. Progenie Terrestre Pura – [.Proxima:B.]
First impressions: This is ridiculously epic. I thought it might be a bit one-track initially but actually there’s some nice variety, even if it doesn’t always hit the mark. The story-telling seems pretty cool and imaginative.
Final opinion on each artist:
- Alkaloid - I like this, but I don't love it. It fits well with the rest of the album and especially the story (more on that below) but in and of itself, I find it a bit tonally jarring. It's fairly heavy, but also quite cheesy and full of basically every sci-fi trope/cliche. Things like rhyming "interlace" with "Hilbert space" just make it sound like death metal Ayreon, which is a combination I struggle to really engage with. The way it ends is fantastic though, and a fantastic transition into...
- Sunless Dawn - This has quite a lot in common with the previous song, but is a step up in quality, to my ears at least. The cheesiness is gone and there's a much more atmospheric and organic approach. Love the use of choirs, the whole song has a really grand and cinematic feel to it, and more intensity too which is partly helped by the production which is really strong and clear. Will definitely be checking this album out.
- Shade Empire - This is one of the joint best songs of the round, it's absolutely fantastic. It's a real grower too, it wasn't a favourite at first but now I adore it. Again a nice development in the sound and narrative of the album, more organic again but also probably the most epic in feel. The main motif that first comes in after the spoken word excerpts of Milton (and is reprised throughout) is absolutely huge and really beautiful, almost heart-breaking tonally. It’s just really exciting music all round. This is the peak of the album for me and I can't get enough of it.
- An Abstract Illusion - The transition into this one is done nicely, though there's a bit of a shift in style that creates the first slightly jarring moment of the album for me. It's another strong track, maybe a smidge below the Sunless Dawn but broadly comparable. It's probably the proggiest thing on here and brings a good bit of variety despite still being on the death-black metal spectrum like everything else.
- Progenie Terrestre Pura - I love the storytelling idea of this song's inclusion, but as a song its by far the weakest of the bunch. It's not terrible, but the more low-fi approach doesn't really work for me and while the electronic elements are kind of cool, the core metal sound I find quite bland. Just not really interested in listening to this again.
Overall quality: 2nd place in round = 8.5 pointsWhile Puppies' album was a little up and down in quality, it starts and ends really strongly, whereas this is the opposite. How much I like the album is pretty much a bell curve. The three middle songs are all very strong and the peak is amazing, but overall it's let down a bit by a weaker start and finish that make the overall experience slightly less enjoyable.
Musical flow: 4/5Overall this has a very good flow musically. It's fairly consistent in its general style and there's not a huge difference in vocal styles which helps it feel coherent. The sound does develop though, and while some shifts are smoother than others, you did the transitions excellently which definitely helped make this feel like a real album.
Narrative flow: 4.5/5I didn't really expect anyone to achieve 5/5 here but this comes close as it's really rather brilliant storytelling. Of course it will never be perfect taking songs from different albums, but you took the subject of each song and built that into your narrative in imaginative and surprisingly detailed ways. Reading through the lyrics, with only a few exceptions your story really does link everything nicely together. The story itself is ludicrously epic to the point of being slightly over the top, like a Stephen Baxter novel.
Score: 8.5 + 4 + 4.5 = 17 points--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Puppies
"Like Fire We Are Banished in the Storm"1. Pillorian – By the Light of a Black Sun
2. Havukruunu – Jo Näkyvi Pohjan Portit [Where You Can See the North Gates]
3. Shylmagoghnar – Journey Through the Fog
4. Fen – Our Names Written in Embers Pt. 2 (Beacons of Sorrow)
5. Equilibrium – Kurzes Epos [Short Epic]
6. Havukruunu – Kelle Surut Soi [Whose Sorrows Are Ringing]
7. Moonsorrow – Huuto [The Scream]
First impressions: Pretty dark and emotionally intense. Rich storytelling although not yet sure it really links all that well to some of the lyrics. One of the artists is one I’d wondered if you’d send me, and I’m glad you did as it’s probably the best thing here.
Final opinion on each artist:
- Pillorian - Solid black metal to kick things off. Wasn't entirely sure about this at first because I think the song does take a little bit of time to get interesting, but it's a real grower and the more sorrowful folky section in the middle really adds a lot. It works excellently as a scene-setter for the album, with a cold, bleak vibe that fits perfectly into the narrative setting and is present throughout the rest of the album.
- Havukruunu - OK, two songs for these guys, and I like them but I feel like they’re slightly hit and miss. I love the dark folky side of the music (both the acoustic and the folk metal) - there’s a great vibe and an emotional intensity to it which fits well with the story at these points. Oddly enough, it’s in the outright black metal sections that I mostly find the music a bit less engaging and therefore less intense (Kelle Surut Soi has less of this and I find a bit stronger overall). So, a bit inconsistent, but interesting enough to make we want to check out the album these are from.
- Shylmagoghnar - Back to strong territory again. That dark folk vibe continues, but the whole sound and quality of this song is the best thing up to this point. Really moody, quite intense, and matched by a nice punchy production. Not sure exactly how to categorise this, possibly somewhere between folk, black and death metal? Either way, it’s pretty immersive. The main riff that comes a few minutes is a particularly good hook (folk metal riffs can border on cheesy sometimes but this feels convincing), and the instrumental sections that pop up from then on are wonderfully atmospheric.
- Fen - Your transitions throughout the album are mostly really good and natural, but this one is quite jarring. As Cyril noted, I already knew Fen’s Winter and wasn’t the biggest fan, my main issue being that it just seemed overly long and not enough happened. I feel somewhat the same way about this. It’s decent enough, it fits with the vibe of the album, and lyrically it works with the story, but it does just plod along. It’s not bad at all, but it is the weakest on the album and hasn’t changed my mind about Fen.
- Equilibrium - An interesting choice this one, it’s still in that folk metal vein but instrumental, and much more upbeat and adventurous. I like how in the story it represents a vision of what had come before. I’m not sure it quite fits with the musical flow of the rest. However, in and of itself, it’s cracking fun and covers a lot of different ground. Very interested to check the band out fully as I’ve no idea what to expect from the vocals now!
- Moonsorrow - I’ve seen you plug Moonsorrow so many times and so honestly wondered if you were going to send me something by them. I know very little about them - I’m sure I’d previously heard a song at some point, but my vague and possibly incorrect recollection was of drawn out, poorly produced black metal. So I was slightly apprehensive. But I had nothing at all to worry about - this was an early favourite of the entire round, and I absolutely love it and it’s ended up joint favourite with one other. It still has that icy vibe that you’ve kept throughout the album, but it also has a warm beauty to it, like a sunny winter’s day. It’s richly melodic and just dripping with atmosphere, even in the heavy sections. This round had a lot of strong stuff, but ending with this song really makes this album stand out because it leaves me with such a buzz and a desire to listen to it again after I finish.
Overall quality: Round winner = 10 pointsNot quite the strongest on either musical or narrative flow, but the clear round winner on overall quality. Even the weaker material is solid enough, so it’s all pretty consistent, and the highs are so high. It’s paced well too - the best stuff isn’t all clumped together, it’s engaging from the start and the end is such a wonderful experience.
Musical flow: 4/5Really good musical flow throughout, helped by staying within a folk/black metal spectrum but moving around a fair bit within that. There’s one jarring transition which I think is mainly because the production of the two songs is so different, and the Equilibrium feels tonally slightly out of place, but these are minor quibbles, generally the album flows great.
Narrative flow: 4/5Great storytelling for this, and the way you essentially turned your narrative into a short novel, with characters and dialogue, really brought it to life. The setting and the cold feel remind me quite a lot of Horizon Zero Dawn, only more bleak. I think the story and the music match really well, and the writing made great use of snippets from the lyrics (or their translations). If I have one minor criticism, there are moments where the narrative interpretation of the lyrics feels a bit of a stretch. But it works well, and I like the intense but somewhat open ending.
Score: 10 + 4 + 4 = 18 points--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Final scores and thanks:1. (=) Luoto = 7.0 + 7.0 + 11.0 + 10.5 + 10.0 + 7.0 + 8.5 + 15.0 = 76.0
2. (=) Cyril = 9.0 + 6.5 + 6.0 + 8.5 + 7.5 + 8.5 + 12.0 + 17.0 = 75.0
3. (=) Puppies = 4.0 + 11.0 + 9.5 + 6.0 + 8.5 + 5.5 + 9.0 + 18.0 = 71.5
4. (=) Tomi = 7.5 + 5.5 + 8.0 + 11.0 + 6.5 + 10.0 + 4.0 + 13.5 = 66.0
5. (=) Clortho = 12.0 + 10.5 + 4.0 + 4.5 + 9.5 + 4.0 + 6.5 + 10.5 = 61.5
Congrats Luoto! Your performance in the last three rounds was a little middling, but thanks to your ridiculous lead after round 5 it was solid enough to hold the others at bay. I’m glad to say that you did achieve the highest average rating of anyone, so I’m glad that my scoring system didn’t screw anyone over. Very well deserved, and almost everything you sent is something I want to dive into and explore more.
Cyril, so close again (arguably even closer)! Your comeback after only scraping through round 5 was pretty remarkable but not quite enough. In general, considering your efforts to introduce me to stuff that you’ve really been into recently without really knowing how much I’d like it (and some of it was damn risky), I’m really impressed with how much I have liked stuff more than I thought I might have. It’s part of why I really genuinely value having you in my roulettes (as well as of course the fact that you send me some amazing stuff too).
Puppies, it was a long shot for you to be able to win, but damn you took a good shot at it. A couple of weaker rounds let you down, but otherwise you consistently sent me so much great stuff, and I feel like you’ve got a better handle on my tastes since my last roulette, and you’ve done a lot better while sending me a much more varied range of styles. Can’t wait to explore some of the artists you sent me.
Tomi, it was a strong performance and you scored better than anyone else who’s new to my roulettes, just not quite consistent enough to challenge for the title in the end. Wishbone Ash is probably the one I’m most excited about (thank you for plugging that gap!) but there are a bunch of others I’m looking forward to delving into.
Clortho, my most inconsistent friend who never came outside the top 2 or bottom 2, thanks for introducing me to such a varied and enjoyable range of different artists and styles. You sent me three of my absolute favourites of the whole roulette, two of which I’ve already purchased and the other I’m excited to start exploring more (Blue October). Shame the other stuff never quite hit my tastes as much but I couldn’t be happier that you took part.
I’d also like to thank everyone else who participated. Everyone who got eliminated in Round 5 sent me at least two 8+ rated albums, which means I’m almost certainly going to end up purchasing them. And everyone who didn’t make it past the prelim, I’m sorry you didn’t get to fully participate but I will check out those albums, and there will be future no-elimination roulette opportunities for you to send me everything you’ve got.
Topic: ariich’s roulette 5.0 – The End (again (the actual end this time (really))) (Read 57164 times)