Round 5 ResultsRound 5 Playlistariich: Wretched – Part I: AberrationFirst Impressions:It’s 10 PM at night and I’m making ramen. What’s happening to my life. The middle of this song reminds me of water simmering to a boil by the end.
Final Thoughts:I like this song but it seems like a really weird pick for a roulette. I mean, a four minute song that takes a break in the middle for an entire minute of ambient acoustic guitar and wailing mystical vocals or whatever I’m not finding the word I’m looking for here but you know what I mean.
The first minute or so of the song is probably my favorite bit of it too, good balance of heavy riffing and harmonized leads with a real moment of intensity before the break. The back half of the song is mostly riff- and solo- based and while both are fine there’s a lack of the instrumental synergy the first minute saw and I don’t find it quite as compelling.
There’s… not a ton else to say here, it’s just a solid prog mostly-instrumental track. Maybe that weird interlude works better in the context of the album? I don’t think it hurts this song massively and there is quality on display here albeit not a lot of personality to any of it, but it’s still solidly enjoyable overall.
Score:
Elite: Brutus – CarryFirst Impressions:This reminds me of something familiar, like the taste of ramen in the middle of the night. It’s a bit spicy, too, like the seasoning I tend to add to my ramen.
Final Thoughts:Fun fact, I’ve actually listened to both of this band’s albums before. And both gave me the same impression; “I should like this a lot more than I do”. That’s true to an extent in this song, I suppose, although I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed this as much as I do all the same.
I think what gets to me the most is the really shoegaze-y vibe of this entire thing. Instead of letting the riffs hit hard or letting the melodies soar, it’s all kind of washed out in this flat layer of reverb that also drowns out the vocals a bit, which is a shame because the vocal performance here is quite good with some real high points scattered throughout. The drum work does at least cut through the mix with some solid grooves and moments of intensity but the whole thing ends up feeling pleasant but vaguely homogeneous.
I can’t argue that they definitely have their own sound, this middle ground between shoegaze and post-hardcore, and I don’t think it sounds bad for what it is either – again, I enjoyed this more than I was expecting too – but it also highlights the weaknesses of their sound and why I probably didn’t click with the full album experiences much when I did listen to them – I could imagine this getting reeeeally old if I had to listen to it for 40 minutes straight. In this small slice though? It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty neat stuff.
Score: Stadler: Alcatrazz – Kree NakoorieFirst Impressions:This song contains an appropriate amount of noodling for something I’m listening to while making ramen. It does have some meat to it besides, like the chicken flavoring that I add to my ramen.
Final Thoughts:After 34 years, this band apparently put out a new album just a few days ago. That’s kind of insane to think about. Like, aside from the vocals it’s an entirely different band/set of instrumentalists but you know! Still neat!
Anyways even if you hadn’t told me Yngwie was the guitarist I’m fairly confident I would’ve figured it out, since I’ve heard enough of his stuff to know his very specific style when I hear it. He does good work even if he’s a miserable person to exist around (supposedly). I think if there’s any element of this I dislike it’s the synth tone, but I mean… 1983, that’s just what synths sounded like at the time as far as I care.
Uuhh. I was expecting way worse vocals based on what I was told but these are pretty fine? Again very very 80’s but he’s got decent power behind his voice and he’s really putting his all into it too. There’s definitely cheese emanating off this entire sound but it’s not overbearing and not intentionally trying to play up goofiness either, more going for a kind of gothic sound between the chord progressions, the neoclassical guitar, the touches of organ etc.
I think it could’ve served well to be a touch shorter or a bit more guitar-oriented, but other than that I don’t really have any major complaints? It’s just a very solid song all around that does feel a bit dated but not nearly as dated as I’d expect, either, for a song almost 40 years old by this point.
Score: Eliminations coming tomorrow! Sleep well, everyone.
Topic: Cyril's Lead-Filled Roulette! (Post-Roulette) (Read 40729 times)
