Round 1 Results!Puppies_On_Acid: Fall of Efrafa - Republic of HeavenOh boy, here's the second longest song of the round, yes, it's only the second longest. It's a lot to unpack, and I can't possibly have my opinion ready after one listen, but what it sounds like to me so far is a mixture of extreme metal I'm not that into, along with some slower metal that I can tolerate, but am also not really into.
This feels way too long to warrant its length, that could change upon subsequent listens, but there isn't much that drew me in here.The only thing I remember liking after that first listen here is the riff around the middle, when they change up the tempo. That's still pretty cool, but hardly worth its while. I've listened to the song 5 times, and still barely remember anything of it. The vocals don't do anything for me, they're more in the background anyway which probably suggests that the main goal is for the vocals to complement the instruments that I don't really like in the first place. I like the piano bit at the very end a lot, but I'm not a fan of how mostly the end of this massive tune is just the main riff slowly simmering down until it's nearly entirely quiet. I'm actually not sure if I'm being generous with my scoring, I can say for sure it's not a band I'm excited to get back to. Sorry man
4.25/10Bolsters: Insomnium - ValedictionHmm, this is definitely the most popular DTF band sent in this round, and most obvious hole in the banned list from this round as well. I was more into this type of music some years ago, when I was bigger on Amorphis, Solution .45, and in some way I still am. Solution .45 is still my favourite melodic death metal band, I think they make very catchy music that also packs a punch when needed, and somehow Ghost Brigade also kind of scratches that itch, though they're more doom/sludge than melodeath.
I was a bit letdown by this, it basically sounds like a less catchy version of another band I listen to.That other band was Amorphis, though I'm not sure about that comparison upon more listens. My issue with this is that when the harsh vocals come in, the music doesn't really warrant it? The heaviest part of the song is the main riff, which is a really cool riff, and I'm a fan of harsh vocals complementing heaviness, and clean vocals complementing melodies. Of course there are exceptions, but it still feels somewhat out of place. Besides, it is also not a style I'd say I'm very easy to please with. There are some redeeming qualities to it, I'm a big fan of the main riff, I think some of the melodies in the verses are catchy enough, and it's not too long.
I'm not into it enough to revisit the band anytime soon though.
5.75/10Kattelox: Zierler - WaterI was very excited to see what kind of music you have to offer. We're one listen deep, and I'm on the fence about it right now. The music is fine enough, and actually does a really good job of shifting between moods. I like it when they can be powerful/euphoric, and one moment later go into a chill and theatric vibe. Vocals are my main gripe right now, but we'll see how they will go down after a while.
This guy has the kind of voice that I pretty much avoid in all of my metal, totally not my cup of tea. Luckily the song has a couple of saving graces, but I doubt it'll do much for me by the end of this round.That was a bit harsh to be honest, it's not completely like that. Excuse me for possible bad comparison as I am not familiar enough with these singers, but I get that Jorn Lande kinda vibe sometimes, you know, the 'grit' in his voice puts me off a tad. But I've come to appreciate this song more, quite emotional, very carefully put together it seems, and the riffs are pretty good too. I also like it when the singer goes into a more Daniel Gildenlow (Pain of Salvation) type voice, he's pretty versatile when I think about it. Now, my real issue with the song is the sudden change to the instrumental section, it feels very tacked on. And I'm also not big on the jordanrudessWEOWEOcircussounds random keyboard moments generally speaking. The instrumentals I am into are more riff based than solo based, and stay pretty concise, if that makes sense. When they finally dive back into the main theme and the "I'm alone" part it's pretty cool and feels like a very good conclusion. Not a bad effort, but some problems I'm having all the same.
6/10Cyril: Extremities - ColossusAt the beginning of this song, I was sure this would end up near the top. It's all exactly the stuff I'm into. Fast mathy instrumentation while still having a good groove, nice aggressive core-vocals. But not too far down the song changes entirely to this kind of middle-way post-metal with odd shouty screams, kind of reminiscent of Hacride vocals but worse.
The first half is right up my alley, but as the song progresses I lose a lot of interest.The chorus is just a chore to listen to, and sadly it's a chorus so I've had to hear it quite a lot over the past few days. This does seem like the kind of band that probably has music I would like scattered throughout their discography, but not entire albums. Their name always struck me as something more extreme than this song, this is pretty proggy. For example, those drill sergeant type breaks are super cool with this music, I got to admit. Regardless, it doesn't seem like the kind of band I would dig into, though maybe if they have more music that sounds like the start of this song.
6.5/10Evermind: Poem - DisciplineI don't understand the Bilateral-era Leprous comparison... at all.
Not gonna lie, that got me pretty hyped, but I almost remember nothing about this song. Of course, a first listen is a first listen, but I was hoping at least something would stick. I remember the last 5-10 seconds were pretty cool though!
This is the song I remember the least about, let's hope for you that will change on future listens, but the vocal melodies sounded very dry and unmemorable to me and the instrumentation isn't doing anything very interesting so far.Now that I've had some time to digest this, it turns out it actually ain't that bad. A good dramatic chorus, nice technical but still focused instrumentation, and no derivative instrumental sections (one of my main gripes in prog). I think they would be great at heavier music, and this is making me pretty curious how much they sound like this on other songs. It's definitely one of the catchier songs this round, I just needed some time with it, but still have no idea how they compare to Leprous?? My main issue with the song is actually that it doesn't have that much to offer for a song over 5 minutes long.. it mostly stays within the standard song structure, and the riffs while cool don't do anything crazy. I'm not incredibly drawn to the band's sound, but I'm also not put off by them in any way. Will probably check out the album, but this sounds like a classic 7/10 description to me.
7/10 Elite: Scarlet Stories - In Blood and Limbs and Gore and ClayI had no idea what to expect, never heard of this band. From my first listen I can't really say much, as it didn't stand out all that much among the other submissions. Two songs this round sounded pretty similar to me at first and it's no coincidence that I liked both of them.
I need more listens to remember how this goes as it all blended together a bit for me, but I made a mental note to keep in mind that this song was mostly really cool. I guess that's good?This song and TACs song got mixed up in my head all the time, I just kind of tagged them in my head as 'dark doomy prog with a female singer'. Anyway, super good vocal performance, for what it's worth, I found the instrumentation a bit dull, but slow heavy riffs are a fine enough basis for a doomy tune like this. Guitar solos: not a fan generally, but this is not taking away anything from the score, it makes for a pretty good ending.
7.75/10Sacul: Lingua Ignota - Woe to All (On the Day of My Wrath)So of course I've heard of Lingua Ignota, she received a LOT of positive feedback since her appearance at Roadburn this year, and also released an album that is loved by many people in the scene. I have actually listened to Caligula once and was pretty impressed by it but somehow didn't return yet or check out this album. Right from the start I got hooked, but I was super put off by how this song was arranged, as it never really picks up where it left off about 5 minutes in, when the music goes chill.
Got me super excited at the start, and then just leaves me hanging right before the climax, what the hell man?There wasn't really any climax coming up, but what I mean to say is she creates this super brooding evil atmosphere throughout the first movement of the song, and got me expecting something to follow that up, maybe in the last movement. But instead, it meanders for 10 minutes in this calm atmospheric section. I was ready to bomb this tune, but upon repeated listens I found out how much I liked the second part of the song as well. It's beautiful, but I just feel like the two don't belong together (other than sharing some similar lyrics from what I've picked up). There's literally nothing I dislike about this song, it could've been so much more had it been a better 'journey' though, instead of being several parts that I love that don't belong together very well.
8/10ariich: Destiny Potato - LunaticThis style of djent really works for me, it has a good groove, but it's not overly technical and heavy. I've always liked Alex' vocals (or whatever her name was?) on DMM's solo project and the other Destiny Potato songs I know, and her solo album. This song is certainly weirder than the other songs I've heard, but that's cool, I don't mind a bit of weirdness in prog if it doesn't come completely out of the blue.
Seems totally like my kind of prog, I haven't remembered much about the song but I'm hopeful that this will do well upon future listens and end up near the top.Right away I was pretty confident this would do at least okay, as I'm familiar with Love Song and House of Lies. I like Love Song, but I love House of Lies. This is looking to be right in the middle of those. I really like how the ending is identical to the beginning and you can essentially loop the song infinitely.
But in all seriousness, the vocals on this are great, the only moment I'm not that into is that opening hook of the chorus, which comes back quite a lot. But everything else in the chorus is right up my alley. The instrumentation is simple, but not dull in any way. Like I said in my first impression, it's kind of a 'weird' song, but not off-putting weird. I will definitely check out the album now, which I've probably already done in the past without remembering.
8/10TAC: Soulsplitter - The TransitionAnother band I never heard of and had no idea what to expect. From first impression, I can definitely say I liked it a lot, but not much more. I remember there was a female singer, and the song was pretty long and built up very well to an epic ending. Beyond that, I'm a bit lost, but fairly confident this song was going to rank well.
The build was really subtle and the payoff was amazing, but at the same time I don't remember how any of the song goes.Over repeated listens my interest in this song has shifted more from the "build and the payoff" to that opening instrumental section. That's a really well done instrumental section, and much more to my taste than the one in the Zierler song from this round, to give an example. It's groovy, also heavy, and plain fun to listen to. There's different things to pay attention to during almost all of the different sections, it takes a while to unpack but it's worth the repeated listens. The only thing I find a bit odd is this tiny little theatrical break near the end, but it's.. tolerable.
8.25/10home: FKA twigs - home with youI just got into Billie Eilish a couple weeks ago and the production on that new record is just perfect. This reminded me a lot of it in that it's both really interesting for mainstream pop, but also just perfect in its production. It has kind of a cold dissonant feeling when the vocals go more echo-y, and the little glitches add a lot to the overall feel.
Easily one of my favourites of the round, but maybe my mood and overall setting caused that.I like to go out longboarding with music, especially when it's cold outside, and this was just perfect for that. Beautiful melodies, very sweet and 'harmless' sound, and also elegant. At the same time it also has a pretty serious attitude, and can feel a bit dark. It switches a lot between that sweet chorus and the more dark rest of the song. I won't let an album cover keep me from checking out the music anymore.
I can't even say too much about this song, it's short and not groundbreaking, but I love it.
8.5/10Standingshome: 8.5
TAC: 8.25
ariich: 8
Sacul: 8
Elite: 7.75
Evermind: 7
Cyril: 6.5
Kattelox: 6
Bolsters: 5.75
Puppies: 4.25
There we have it! One round in and already a 4.25 score difference, oops
Some of my favourite songs this round ended up growing on me, while the lower ranking songs kind of stayed the same throughout. Please send for the next round within 48 hours!
Fun fact: The biggest grower this round was the Lingua Ignota song, while the one that dropped the most over repeated listens was probably the Scarlet Stories song (since most other songs didn't really drop at all)
Topic: Big Big Train of Daftness Roulette! POST-ROULETTE CEREAL HOURS (Read 33110 times)