AriichIhlo - StarseekerFirst Impression - Maybe I'm missing something here, but I don't get it
Theme - kicks off heavy and explosiveThis felt very bland to me at first, but it slowly worked it's way from mediocre to.....well, at least better. It's still not the most interesting, intriguing, technically challenging, melodic, or fun song ever. However, there are some great parts here and there, but it's all just so....ok. I like that cool little drum groove at around the 2:45 mark. There are some memorable vocal melodies. That build up near the end is also kind of neat. Overall it's just fine.
6.5/10__________
Ihlo - CoalescenceFirst Impression - This went on far longer than it had any right to
Theme - spacey prog epicOut of all the 10+ minute songs I got this round, this was the only one that could never remember anything after the song was over. Nothing really reaches out to grab your attention. It's all very fine while listening to it, but it suffers from the same issues as Starseeker, just in a longer format. It actually sounds like a less interesting Anesthetize by Porcupine Tree. There's actually a number of guitar riffs that sound almost identical to Anesthetize and a number of drum patterns that are ripped straight from the book of Drumming Like Gavin Harrison.... But I digress. The song is fine. It's longer than it needs to be by roughly 4 or 5 minutes and for that reason it's going to score even lower than Starseeker.
6/10
EliteAncestors - Bounty of AgeFirst Impression - Perhaps longer than it needs to be, but cool nonetheless.
Theme - Epic length-wiseThis goes in to some really cool jammy/stoner/sludge metal. The whole middle third is basically just a laid back super groovy jam session. I like the way it builds and releases and then builds again. Love the cool bluesy guitar leads. The great drum grooves. And then there's the hammond organ that's going in the background that gives it this super fun 70's meets sludge metal sound. It's great! The only thing that would have made this better would be some saxophone....oh well. Still, this song is a super slick and super fun listen.
9/10_________
Ancestors - Into the FallFirst Impression - I've heard other songs from this album that were much better
Theme - slightly less of an epic, but they kind of changed their sound with the last recordThe sound change from the album that Bounty of Age is on to this one is pretty staggering. It's within the same genre, but this sounds like a completely different band. This one has more Post Rock leanings instead of the bluesy stoner leanings of the former song. I've heard 3 other songs on this album before and this one isn't quite as good as those. I do like the use of violin, though, and the song is again really laid back with not too many lyrics. This song is still really good, but it just has a completely different mood from Bounty of Age.
8/10
StadlerNight Ranger - PennyFirst Impression - 867-5309
Theme - breakthrough recordThis was a good re-introduction to Night Ranger. I used to listen to these records when I was a little kid. It's what my parents listened to a lot. Plus I grew up in the general area where Night Ranger is from and my parents took me to a few of their shows. I don't really remember this album too much, but this song was good. It reminds me of the Tommy Tutone song 867-5309/Jenny in the chorus. It doesn't sound the same musically, it's just the lyrics were similar. They might have been inspired by the Tommy song since it came out first. Anyways this is just some fun catchy classic rock, if not terribly original.
7.7/10__________
Night Ranger - Follow Your HeartFirst Impression - This may suffer from the same issues as the newest Whitesnake album
Theme - The band went through some rocky times; Jack Blades did some other things, band members fell out then buried the hatchet. I think it also has a sort of affirmation that is consistent with what I take from the members of Rush, their music, and their way of looking at the world (as far as we can know it).This doesn't sound anything like the other Night Ranger song here. This song has a bit of a problem with production. It's too loud, the mix is too hot, and it's brickwalled. If the music was allowed to breathe like Penny, it would be so much better. It has great melodies and a good song structure. The one thing it's missing is a signature Brad Gillis guitar solo. Oh well.
6.5/10
LetheanCynthesis - IncisionFirst Impression - I hate to be rude, but this is legitimately the worst song of the roulette so far
Theme - The album, DeEvolution, is kind of a sci-fi concept album, so it relates to 2112 in the way. What's happening here is quite different than 2112, but some of the lyrics recall 2112I am very familiar with Jasun and Troy Tipton from their Zero Hour and Abnormal Thought Patterns projects, both of which I like quite a bit. They are both super talented and guitar and bass respectively, but they sometimes have a problem with writing good melodies. This is part of the problem with this song. The other big issue is the vocals.....they are bad. Really bad. I'm familiar with Erik Rosvold from the early Zero Hour albums. He was fine on those. This though, is not good. The vocal tone, cadence, phrasing, and melodies are all just wrong and at times sound off key. They are almost seemingly meant to be bad. This completely ruins the song, despite the fact there is a cool bass tone with some neat bass lines.
3/10_________
ICS Vortex - Odin's TreeFirst Impression - This isn't really doing anything for me
Theme - References "the wisdom of the hanged man" and Peaceable Kingdom also has the hanged man in the lyrics. There's also just a feel of overcoming in this song, which Vapor Trails the album is all about.This is much better than Cynthesis, if not completely original. That's ok though. I've always like ICS Vortex's vocals, even if he was in one of the worst Symphonic Black Metal bands ever Demon Burger......I mean Dimmu Borgir, but I won't hold that against him. The song does evolve in to a pretty epic climax with some fantastic Enslaved like guitars and atmosphere. I got to be honest at first this song wasn't doing much for me, but it grew on me in a pretty big way. Speaking of Enslaved, I'm surprised ICS Vortex has never collaborated with Enslaved, but I digress....
8/10
KatteloxFrigoris - Die Gleise an denen wir starben II (...in Stille)First Impression - Not what I expected from you. Also "nice" job to the drummer for using the diarrhea blast almost exclusively in the second half of the song
Theme - epicAn Atmospheric Pagan/Folk Black metal band I've never heard of, that's amazing! The first half of this song is very epic! The second half is epic too (diarrhea blast notwithstanding)! I want to headbang my way through a forest listening to this! I love the harsh vocal tone and guitar tone! The drums are great! (until the second half) I think I need to send you more Moonsorrow!
8.2/10__________
Richie Kotzen - Devil's HandFirst Impression - Bad guitar tone on the leads, song was longer than it needs to be by about 2 minutes
Theme - Vapor Trails seems (to me) to be an album about coming back from something that kept you down, a loss, a personally devastating event. Devil's Hand is thematically in line with that, about a man losing himself to his own faults and vices, which ends up in him losing his love and learning how to stand on his own feet.You pulled a Lethean and sent me one good song and one bad song. Or at least that's how this started out. This started to grow on me after about the 4th listen. It's still too long, but the lead tone on the guitars started growing on me (I still wish the tone was like it was at the very end of the song throughout...). Also I typically like Richie's vocal tone, but it started to grate on me here after a while. So the song ended up way better than it started (like 4/10), but it still isn't fantastic.
6/10
TomislavUnitopia - The GardenFirst Impression - I'm not enamored with the vocals, but the song has a lot of great moments
Theme - epicThis song came close to topping Iapetus for the best epic song of the round, but ultimately it suffered from the same issues that song did. The vocals were the one road block for me. The rest of the song is fantastic, with a plethora of amazing and memorable moments. That groovy saxophone (at least I think it's a sax), the various percussive instruments, the flutes. It's all great. They have a lot of the best qualities of The Flower Kings and Yes, but they really they remind me a ton of Magenta....if this band had female vocals... Anyway this is just a great track with a ton of great elements to it.
8.5/10____________
Nothing More - Fade In/Fade OutFirst Impression - Powerful
Theme - emotional song with theme of family, watching your kids being born (fade in) and them watching us go(fade out).I received God Went North in my first roulette. I couldn't for the longest time decide if I liked this song more than that one. I think ultimately this one wins out slightly. It has a lot of the same emotional qualities (vocally, lyrically), but this song has less unneeded excess. This song doesn't overstay it's welcome, which is always nice. I never become bored with it. I wouldn't say it's a fun song, but it certainly hits me in the feels.
8/10
Scores
Train - 18.5, 19, 16.7 = 54.2
Romdrums - 17, 16.75, 18.7 = 52.45
Cyril - 15.25, 18.25, 16.5 = 50
Tomislav - 16, 16, 16.5 = 48.5
Nekov - 17, 16, 14.8 = 47.8
Kattelox - 17.5, 14.7, 14.2 = 46.4
Ariich - 16.25, 17.25, 12.5 = 46
Stadler - 14, 16.3, 14.2 = 44.5
Elite - 10.5, 16, 17 = 43.5
Lethean - 13.5, 16.5, 11 = 41
TAC - 11, 11, 17.2 = 39.2