Here's the end to your torture guys...
4th Place
Evermind: Árstíðir - Ages / Cannon / Lover / Fruðŕlþægingin / Shades I went to Iceland for the first time last year, and absolutely loved it. Before going I did a deep dive into some of the iconic Icelandic artists, as well as some lesser known ones. There is something quite special and unique about Icelandic artists, so this was a nice selection to listen to. I suppose the songs themselves weren't that special, but they have that certain something that do set them apart. Maybe it's the thought of relaxing in geothermal water, with an Icelandic landscape before me, beer in hand, that helps give these songs something extra. The obvious thing that I'm drawn to is the use of cello and violin in these songs. I tend to love that sound, especially when babds like Leprous have done it in the past.
I 100% have to be in the right mood/setting to fully enjoy and appreciate these songs. Most of the time I prefer listening to high energy music but there are times I just need something like this. Árstíðir are actually the sort of band my wife loves (and wished I listened to more of) so these would certainly score even better with her. The other thing a found a challenge in scoring these songs, was that they all kinda roll into one when I listen. It made scoring individually really difficult.
Ages - Simple yet beautiful.
7/10
Cannon - Love the strings and piano on this one.
7/10
Lover - This one has a bit more going on with it.
7/10
Fruðþægingin - This bring the only one sung in their native tongue didn't effect it, lyrics often wash over me anyway.
7/10
Shades - More of the same really.
7/10
Round score: 7/10
Overall score: 723rd Place
LithoJazzoSphere: Jeff Loomis - Escape Velocity / Tragedy and Harmony / The Ultimatum / Surrender I really feel I should know more about Jeff Loomis, but I honestly don't. I've been aware of the name for years but Nevermore have been another one of those bands that have fallen in my blindspot. A band destined for me to say "why the fuck haven't I been all over these guys for years?". These songs pretty much stole the show from the off. I wasn't too sold on the female vocals on Tragedy, however the video game vibes of Escape Velocity and the cheeky guest vocals from Ihsahn (one of my faves) on Surrender more than made up for it. All up this is just great metal which shreds, has plenty of melody and makes me reach for my air guitar. The guitar is at the forefront and that is just fine with me. Add in a certain video game soundtrack vibe and it's gonna score well.
Escape Velocity - Pummelling drums and lots of shredding solos? It's pretty great.
8/10
Tragedy and Harmony - This was the weakest of the four for me, pretty much purely based on those vocals. Following on from an instrumental, that I liked more, they kinda left me feeling like this music is better suited as instrumental.
7/10
The Ultimatum - Similar shred fest to Escape Velocity, but not quite as good.
7.5/10
Surrender - I take it all back about the vocalist, as this features Ihsahn, and it pisses all over Tragedy. I feel his vocals just fit way better, of course I also just prefer them.
8/10
Round score: 7.625/10
Overall score: 73.1252nd Place
Buddyhunter1: Parannoul - White Ceiling / Age of Fluctuation I have actually sampled these guys, I think last year, due to the album these songs were taken from being rated highly on RYM. I also think there is a crossover with King Gizzard fans, although that doesn't always bode well as lots of stuff that's popular on the Gizz reddit is not for me. So, this was quite an interesting submission and I particularly liked the fresh sound on the vocal delivery, different to what I usually listen to for sure. I wasn't too sold on the drum sound on White Ceiling and on the whole these songs seemed to drag a fair bit. I'm sorry to say that this wasn't enough to seal the win for you. I do feel bad as you were King of the Hill all the way through this. I don't listen to a ton of music sung in languages I can't personally speak, but of those I do, I really prefer the sound of Asian vocals.
White Ceiling - Not sure on the drum sound here, it's kinda grating at times.
7/10
Age of Fluctuation - I feel there's just something off about the production that doesn't sit well with me. I definitely prefer the more chill parts of this song.
7/10
Round score: 7/10
Overall score: 73.5
1st Place
TAC: Warfect - Into the Fray / Pestilence / Witch Burner I see you just went straight thrash for this final round. I can respect that, even if I longed for more stuff like Autonoesis. Warfect remind me of those early thrash albums that were proto-death metal, in particular bands like Kreator, but also Possessed. I don't have a great deal to say about the full on thrash fest, other than it's pretty decent. I have been digging into some thrash classics over the last few years, but nothing really wowed me here. It's enough that I'll at least explore the album, but I probably won't go much further than that.
Into the Fray - The intro grew on me, and there are some blistering riffs here. Definitely a bit Kreator, with that death/thrash sound. That spoken word bit about Russian nuclear submarines could be straight off a Megadeth album, Dave loves stuff like that
7.5/10
Pestilence - Pretty straight up thrash here.
7/10
Witch Burner - Not a lot to say, it's thrash.
7/10
Round score: 7.16/10
Overall score: 74.66Final Standings:TAC - 74.66
Buddyhunter1 - 73.5
LithoJazzoSphere - 73.125
Evermind - 72
Wolfking - 71.75
Nick - 71.5
Ariich - 70.875
King - 70.5
Here we are at the end and I just feel I have an overriding need to apologise for this roulette
Thanks again for participating everyone, and commiserations to Buddy for leading this thing for almost the entire roulette only to lose out in the end. Tim, congratulations as you really deserved the win. Autonoesis really won it for you towards the end.
I've come away with a playlist full of albums to check out. Everyone (as is often the case) was able to send me something I loved and I will be digging into these bands over the next few years at least.
Maybe my next roulette will run more smoothly than this one and I'll have developed my write up skills, but it's unlikely.
Love you all, peace out, and until then...
Topic: Twosuitsluke's Second Roulette v. Final Results Part 2 (Read 65055 times)
