Part 2 incoming!
TACIron Knights-Jacob's LadderFirst Impression - This is like all the worst parts of Soundgarden and Pantera mixed together
Theme - Song TitleThis song is just bad. The vocals are bad, the music is boring and uninspired, the production is terrible. The vocalist sounds like he's trying and failing to sound like Chris Cornell. The heavy bits sound like he's trying to sound like Phil Anselmo, but he just ends up sounding weak. The guitar tone is like a third rate Dimebag.... What I'm trying to say is, this song sucks. Sorry buddy...
3/10_________
Aeon Zen-The Heart Of The SunFirst Impression - Is this Circus Maximus?
Theme - The Heart Of The Sun is a great line from DreamlineThis is much better than the other song you sent. Seems Michael Eriksen is doing guest vocals here, hence my Circus Maximus comment. The music here is pretty fun and engaging too. Nothing too original or anything, but Prog Metal done mostly right. The keyboard patches are a little on the wrong side of cheesy, but for the most part everything else is spot on.
8/10
StadlerSound of Contact - I Am Dimensionaut
First Impression - Mmm, that's some tasty drumming
Theme - I don't share the love that most have for Permanent Waves or Roll The Bones. Permanent Waves is my least favorite of the "Hemispheres > Moving Pictures" run, and I was/am a HUGE fan of Presto and was looking forward to Roll The Bones and yet was disappointed. So I went down that route and am sending you two songs from Sound Of Contact, a band comprised primarily of a guy named Dave Kerzner and Simon Collins, a man who's dad you might know. I loved the album at first, and the songs I'm sending you are still favorites of mine, but in hindsight, there's more disappointment here than not. Phil Collins is on my drumming Mt. Rushmore, and while Simon is good - very good - it's not the same, and it's impossible not to lament what could be - the same way I feel about both PW and RTB. They're good, they're entertaining, but there's a whiff that I can get the same or better elsewhere. HAHA, what a ringing endorsement, right? But the songs I'm sending you ARE good.This song is pretty great from start to finish. Starting off slow and building/changing into a more epic climax. I've obviously heard of this band before, but never gave them much of a listen. I'm familiar with all the band members here too. Dave Kerzner has some other projects that I really enjoy. This song really takes an old school Genesis meets Marillion approach and it works very well. There's also this really cool spacey quality to the music that I really like. Simon is definitely a beast drummer, with not only technical chops, but tasty fills, just like his dad. Overall a pretty amazing song.
9/10__________
Sound of Contact - Not Coming DownFirst Impression - Sounds like a Vertical Horizon song
Theme - See AboveThe song, unlike the above Sound of Contact song, takes the approach of melding Fish-era Marillion with H-era Marillion with the pop sensibilities of Vertical Horizon. The verses are very Marillion sounding, while the choruses are very Vertical Horizon sounding. I don't like this song quite as much as the other here, but it's still very enjoyable.
8/10
EliteArcade Fire - Wake UpFirst Impression - Better than I was expecting
Theme - beautiful melodiesI have lots of friends that are Arcade Fire fans, but I was never convinced. I don't think this song is necessarily going to change my stance, but this is a pretty decent song. I'm not sure I understand all the high ratings this album gets either. There's nothing amazing here. There are some nice melodies, there's a lot of different instrumentation, neat change ups, and various vocals, but nothing that would demand my attention.
7/10__________
Sublime - JailhouseFirst Impression - There are parts of this song I wish were different
Theme - song from the first album *I* ever boughtI think Stockholm Syndrome started to set in after repeated listens to this song. I was conned into liking it. Sublime forced me. Even though I initially didn't like the vocals at times, after a while I started......eh, actually I still don't really care for them. On the other hand this is a style of music I enjoy very much, like The Expendables, Tomorrow's Bad Seeds, and Pepper. So stylistically it's right up my alley. I'm not sure why I never got into this album back when it came out. All my friends got it. I was just in to other stuff I guess...
7.5/10
TomislavmewithoutYou - Red CowFirst Impression - Not exactly what I look for in this genre
Theme - based on Jacob's Ladder. Even though it's not song with biblical references, title is so I choose a song with obvious biblical (old testament) referencesEhh, this song is OK. When it comes to Post-Hardcore influenced Indie Rock, this leaves a little to be desired. Maybe I'm just not feeling this particular song. I'll try the rest of the album to see if it does anything for me.
6.5/10_________
Russian Circles - Death Rides a HorseFirst Impression - What's that phrase all the kids are using these days? Oh yeah.... That was a banger!
Theme - InstrumentalNow this was a hip song. This must be that new fangled rock n roll all the kids are going on about these days. You know, the devil's music. Well it sounds pretty tasty to me. Great riffs and progressions! Not much else to say.
8.5/10
AriichRX Bandits - Ruby CumulousFirst Impression - That's an interesting way to start a song
Theme - succinct songwriting, strong melodies and prominent rhythm sectionI'm disappointed in you! Why didn't you send me this band sooner? This is awesome! So much cool stuff going on. A little bit of prog, a little bit of reggae, a little bit of ambient/electronic-ness, a touch of ska. The whole band is pretty much on point here. I love it!
9/10________
RX Bandits - Will You Be TomorrowFirst Impression - Lots of cool stuff going on here
Theme - succinct songwriting, strong melodies and prominent rhythm sectionI could pretty much just repeat what I said for the last song, except this song has a bit more of a sexy grooviness to it. This song has a great variety to it, without being jarring between parts. It's smooth!
9/10
Scores
Romdrums - 17, 16.75, 18.7, 16.5, 16, 14 = 98.95
Train - 18.5, 19, 16.7, 13, 13.6, 16.9 = 97.7
Kattelox - 17.5, 14.7, 14.2, 18.9, 14, 16.5 = 95.8
Cyril - 15.25, 18.25, 16.5, 17, 14, 13 = 94
Ariich - 16.25, 17.25, 12.5, 12, 17.7, 18 = 93.7
Nekov - 17, 16, 14.8, 14.3, 16.5, 15 = 93.6
Tomislav - 16, 16, 16.5, 16, 12.5, 15 = 92
Elite - 10.5, 16, 17, 18.6, 14.2, 14.5 = 90.8
Stadler - 14, 16.3, 14.2, 11, 13.5, 17 = 86
Lethean - 13.5, 16.5, 11, 18.2, 11.6, 14.5 = 85.3
TAC - 11, 11, 17.2, 16, 14.5, 11 = 80.7