Here's some scores to kick off your 2023, although I can't promise it'll be a great start to your year.
This round ended up being a really solid one without any real standouts and only one dud.
As previously mentioned, we're going to be saying goodbye to the bottom three participants going into the final two rounds. I've purposefully not looked at the standings so it's going to be as much as a surprise to me who goes through, as the rest of you (well not all of you
).
Thanks for sticking with me through this slow paced round, and roulette as a whole. I swear, my next roulette will be an album roulette, and I'm going to limit to like 8 participants!
Anyway, as Litho is STILL slacking, and 425 has yet to post results, I guess I'll take advantage of the fact I appear to have my roulette shit together and go trash talk in the other roulette threads!
Anyway, for your delectation...
Cyril: Mac Miller - Good News Cyril, only you could go from round winner to round loser in such a style. I said that I can't stand this type of vocal, and I really mean it. That mumbly style is just irritating, and there isn't enough musically to save it.
"Mr Miller, this is your song, and you are singing it to your people, could you at least try to sound like you are enjoying yourself or into is a little bit?". That really leaves the lyrics to be the saving grace, which I guess is common for this style of music (not that I even know technically what genre this is!). Well, it's hits the holy trinity of trash. It's OK Paramacyrilcrow, I know you're too apathetic to care at this point, so you won't be offended. You used to listen to better music, this much is clear.
I'll go ahead and sign you up in advance for my next roulette though
Have your 4/10 you crave.
4/10Evermind: Antimatter - Too Late (Live) The impression for this was that it is 'a bit like grunge, but with string accompaniment, which is new to me'. Something in the vocal delivery says grunge, or kinda late 90s/early 00s alt rock. There was a time when I was all about that, but not so much nowadays. However, I do love me some string quartet, so parts of this really appeal to me. It almost feels like it shouldn't work, which is partly why the score is lower, and ultimately it doesn't fully work for me. It's just one of those frustrating songs where I really like some parts but can't get past the bits I don't like.
6/10Wolfking: The Tea Party - Psychopomp I'm really unsure on this one, and you may hate what I have to say about it. I appreciate you sending something in stark contrast to everything else you've sent so far. This does feel kind of dated, and I still think the synths and vocals sound somewhat weird, not really bad enough to effect the score, really just an observation. I think I've hit why this sounds off though, literally as I type this. It actually almost sounds like someone trying to imitate Glenn Danzig singing a Nine Inch Nails song. I love Danzig and quite like NIN but it's almost a bit like a Hurt and Danzig IV era Danzig mashup, and not in a good way. Now I've pinpointed my issue I don't feel so bad about scoring it on the lower side, it's just because it feels like a poor imitation.
6/10Ariich: Andy Gillion - Glitch I'd say you've got the measure of me my friend, with an entry like this. Video game inspired stuff, with plenty of guitar wankery, what more do you need? Songs like this are guaranteed to score pretty well, and appeal to my nostalgic side. Being an instrumental it has plenty going on to keep it interesting, and even a little flamenco style guitar briefly! The problem with it is, that I feel I've heard it all before and it's not really inspiring me. I'm aware of that statement is somewhat ironic based on the fact sone other songs that scored better this round were close to sounding like I'd heard it all before. Instrumentals can do really well but the lack of vocals may be what I'm missing here.
6.5/10Buddyhunter1: Year of the Goat - Gula I found this one pretty tough to write about. Yes, it is a pretty good straightforward rocker, no more, no less. I like the swagger of the intro guitar solo, and the riffs do have something about them. If I'd heard these songs blind, not knowing who'd sent what, I don't think I'd ever have picked this as yours. It does tick a lot of boxes of stuff I like, and should like, but ultimately doesn't quite stir my gravy.
6.5/10Nick_z: Borknagar - Up North I got serious Enslaved vibes from the album cover, and also quite a bit musically, and yes this does bode well. Enslaved are a band I slept on for an age but they've crept up on me to become a favourite band (apologies, I will keep mentioning them). I researched the band a bit and it turns out Ivar from Enslaved did play on their first album. The album art already conjures up images of a Norwegian winter, and the added synths just make me want to go listen to similar Enslaved songs (in this case Sacred Horse). There's probably more clean vocals here than Enslaved, although they are not exclusively a harsh vocal band. I'm fine with there being no harsh vocals but the whole song may have been improved with that sort of vocal contrast. I will certainly be checking this album out, and likely some of their others, so thanks for bringing them to my attention, if nothing else.
7/10LithoJazzoSphere: Freak Kitchen - Shithead As I said, this could legit be a 90s TV theme song. Seriously, such a 90s vibe, and I really do love the 90s. I don't know who shithead is but I'm sure I'd have watched this show. However, the whole style, and delivery of the chorus, did end up making this song feel a little novelty. I can clearly hear an early, funky Incubus style here. I was never too into Incubus, or similar funk metal styles, but I think what hurts this most is my ability to take it seriously. It's fun, it's nostalgic but I'm not sure I'd revisit. You might have to really convince me to check out an album here.
7/10Romdrums: Astrosaur - Poyekhali Yours was the impression about the nice thick slab of chunky bass. There is no denying that bass sound at all, it's as huge sounding as you'd expect from a band called Astrosaur. I hear the name and imagine a huge prehistoric beast navigating the astral plane. I'm not gonna lie, imagery like this will definitely not hurt any submission and I definitely went into this with high hopes. I can draw some Mastodon parallels, as well as bands like Intronaut, as I feel they occupy a similar space in the great tapestry of heavy metal. The bass and repeated guitar lines are the best bit, but I'd hoped for some meatier riffs.
7/10TAC: Entheogen - Journey Musically this has lots of layers and sounds like black metal, but how I like my black metal, not actually that much like black metal at all. By that I mean I like atmospheric/post/gaze kinda black metal (which you seem to have a knack for ferreting out), but barely any classic OG black metal. Luckily this feels like it sits in that ball park, and keeps you guessing at what comes next. I need to give a shout out to the lyrics, as these guys do sing something about fungus being nutritious, which I respect. It's the sort of shit King Gizzard sing about, so I'm all for it. That guitar solo that starts just after the 6 minute mark should round this song off nicely, as it is a bit of an extended solo, but it unfortunately fails to capture enough emotion, and feels a little lacking. Still a great song though, and an album to check out for sure.
7.5/10Puppies: Woe of Tyrants - The Seven Braids of Samson This is the sort of song I wish I'd discovered back in like '07/'08, it would've been right up my street. As it stands, in 2023, it's still very much up my street. The style of guitar work (and tone) this song opens with, is the sort I really like. Is there even a term for that style of guitar fret tickling? This has an upbeat energy, fast guitars and drumming, and (always a good sign) has me reaching for my air guitar/drums. The growlies are pretty solid and do their job well. I probably should have made an effort to read the lyrics as I can only imagine it's about some fantasy dragon shit (in a good way). Also that outro solo... Fucking sick stuff.
8/10Kingshmegland: Dilemma - The Inner Darkness This just goes to show a safe bet can sometimes work out. I'm pretty happy calling this a safe bet, as far as DTF roulettes go. It's a prog rock mini epic that sounds quite like Steven Wilson meets the guy from Frost* singing. I'm not an overly large Porcupine Tree fan, but quite like SW's solo output, and Frost* aren't bad. The strength is in the song itself, and not in that of it's influences. The slower, melodic intro part I like more than the synth heavy part that follows. It picks up around the 8 minute mark with a more Dream Theater style instrumental solo showcase, leading into the finale. This does everything really well, wears it's influences on its sleeve, but doesn't leave me feeling "I've heard this all before, but better", which is often the case.
8/10Standings: Buddyhunter1 - 60
LithoJazzoSphere - 59
TAC - 58.5
Evermind - 58
King - 57.5
Nick - 57.25
Wolfking - 56.5
Tie BreakAriich - 56
Puppies - 56
Eliminated:Romdrums - 55
Cyril - 52
So unfortunately we have to say goodbye to Romdrums and Cyril. Thanks for playing guys, and you've both given me at least something that I know I'll check out further.
As for Ariich and Puppies, we now have a tie break situation. I have not prepared for this at all, but I'm sure I can pull something out of my ass for it.
I'm toying with a few ideas and will let you know as soon as I decide on the format. In the meantime, I am open to tie break suggestions from anyone else