Here we are: Part 1/3 of the Round 1 results!
kingshmegland
Rush
First impression: While they seem to stick with the same general sound, they manage to make each song unique despite that.
Final review: I've heard quite a few Rush songs before; specifically, I've heard 2112, YYZ, and every song on the albums A Farewell To Kings and Hemispheres. But I've never quite really gotten into them (even if I love 2112). With these submissions, however, I think I finally "get" them now. What I like about Rush is that, as I mentioned in my first impressions, they use the same general sound and aesthetic for their songs, but each one sounds unique. Of the four songs I was sent, I could probably tell them apart without much difficulty. Speaking of those songs, my favorite would either be “Dreamline” or “The Spirit of Radio”, probably the latter. TSoR has a really nice opening (that’s a little less reminiscent of The Best of Times’ guitar intro than people let on), and I especially love that guitar riff after the intro. The other two songs, “Limelight” and “Marathon” are pretty good as well, though a little less remarkable, I feel. I might start going through their whole discography at this point! These guys are great.
Dreamline - 8.5/10
The Spirit of Radio - 8.5/10
Limelight - 8/10
Marathon - 7.75
Roulette score: 8.2
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Sacul
Anathema
First impression: A couple really great songs, and I have a feeling the other ones will grow on me a lot.
Final review: This is an interesting one. Anathema is one of those bands where it’s about conveying a lot of emotion, and I would say overall they do a pretty good job. My favorite, as well as the best example of their emotion, is the song “Anathema”. It’s a pretty nice song on its own, but there’s a cathartic climax a little towards the end of the song, with the line “And I loved you!” being sung in a very powerful way. The vocals are usually well-done on other songs, and at the very least they do interesting things with them. “A Natural Disaster” features some female vocals that I don’t particularly enjoy, but they’re okay. At the end, they basically decide to do the ending to Mellotron Scratch where everything except the vocals fade out, except instead of this lasting 5 seconds, it lasts 50 seconds. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing, though. So yeah, Anathema is pretty good; I may check out more of their stuff in the near future.
Fragile Dreams - 8.25/10
A Natural Disaster - 7.75/10
Untouchable Pt. 1 - 8/10
Anathema - 8.75
Roulette score: 8.2
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Elite
The Ocean
First impression: Quite interesting. I'll need more listens to gauge how much I like this one.
Final review: This one is a little hard to discuss. I like this band. I know I do. But I think this one will take a while to really grow on me. What I mean, is that I don’t really remember much about their songs after listening to them. To describe them, they are primarily metal, but they have a lot of mellow moments interspersed throughout the songs. It’s kind of hard to talk about any of the songs individually, since there’s not much I remember. I know I think all of these songs are great, though; I just need a lot more time with this music to really solidify my feelings.
Hadopelagic II: Let Them Believe - 8/10
Devonian: Nascent - 8.25/10
Pleistocene - 8.25/10
The Grand Inquisitor II: Roots and Locusts - 8/10
Roulette score: 8.1
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Evermind
Beyond the Bridge
First impression: The vocals seem a little too aggressive for the music at times, but other than that, this is very good.
Final review: My first impression contains the only thing I could call a flaw with this band. Maybe that makes me sound like I love these guys a lot more than I do, but when I think about it, even if they’re not my favorite of the artists in Round 1, I think they might have the least amount of problems of them all. And that one issue I mentioned? That only applies to two of the four songs, anyway. My favorite of the songs is “Where the Earth and Sky Meet”, which partly feels like a fusion between Dream Theater’s “Begin Again” and Transatlantic’s “Bridge Across Forever”. And that is a compliment in every sense of the word. I also really liked “The Call”, even despite the vocals being a bit much at times. And the other two songs are so good, too. I just want to listen to the whole album that these songs are from. Very good stuff right here!
The Call - 8.5/10
The Difference is Human - 8.5/10
Where the Earth and Sky Meet - 9/10
All a Man Can Do - 8.25/10
Roulette score: 8.6
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Nekov
Frost*
First impression: I don't think I care for the vocals, at all, but the music is really good and greatly makes up for the weak vocals.
Final review: I have to be honest… If the vocals were significantly better, this could almost guarantee this band to be the best artist of Round 1. Or at the very least it’d be in the Top 3. Instead, it ranks a bit lower. I know I’m giving off a somewhat negative impression, but let me just say, when this band does good, it does AMAZING THINGS. It probably will not surprise anyone after reading this to learn that my favorite song in the submission is “Hyperventilate”, a 7-minute instrumental track. It’s a very beautiful piece of music, and I’d listen to this over at least half of Dream Theater’s instrumental tracks. I also really enjoyed “Black Light Machine”. While there are vocals, I’ve grown to like them a little better on this song. Plus, there aren’t many vocals to begin with, so that leaves more room for the amazing instrumentals! However. The other two songs are… subpar. “Towerblock” in particular has unpleasant vocals, and while I do like the focus on a more electronic genre, it feels way too erratic at times. It’s an okay song, but after the brilliant tracks from Milliontown, it is something of a letdown. So my thoughts are mixed, but let me say it again: When these guys are good, they are amazingly good.
Hyperventilate - 9.5/10
Black Light Machine - 9.25/10
Welcome to Nowhere - 7.5/10
Towerblock - 6.5/10
Roulette score: 8.2
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Buddyhunter1
Devin Townsend
First impression: Fantastic! It's not what I expected as far as what the songs ended up being, but this is some amazing stuff. I might become addicted to this.
Final review: I’m just gonna say it, this is the best artist of Round 1. There’s another one I’ll be talking about later that comes REALLY close, but if I had to pick the best, I think Devin Townsend would be an easy choice. The big thing I want to talk about is how different this ended up being from what I initially thought. See, I went in expecting something along the lines of Dream Theater or Haken. What I actually got was one song that I guess is uniquely Devin Townsend, and the other two songs are basically Between the Buried and Me meets KMFDM. And wow, I love this. When I said I might become addicted to this, I wasn’t just sneaking in a hint to it being Devin Townsend; I’ve probably listened to these songs the most out of all my Round 1 submissions. And the funny thing about this, is that I do find a glaring flaw with Devin Townsend; with the exception of “Kingdom”, the lyrics are not very good. I would say these are the worst lyrics out of all the Round 1 artists. But you know what? The music is so good, that I don’t even care. I mean, in the case of “Addicted!” it’s a pretty impressive feat to make a song I love that contains multiple uses of the word “pornography”. And then there’s “Planet of the Apes”, which has Tommy Rogers as a guest vocalist, so the song’s automatically a 9/10. I am very impressed with this music. You bet I’ll be seeking out more of this stuff!
Addicted! - 8.75/10
Planet of the Apes - 9/10
Kingdom - 9/10
Roulette score: 8.9
Topic: Revenge319's relatively normal roulette: Love list complete! (FINAL RESULTS) (Read 61759 times)