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Vmadera – Fit for An Autopsy1. When the Bulbs Burn Out
2. Far From Heaven
3. Black Mammoth
4. Two Towers
First impression: Good grief this is pretty relentless, and yet there’s probably just enough sense of melody to make it work.
Final opinion: Deathcore is not a genre I get sent very often. I guess in principle, the intensity of it makes it quite risky? But then again the only ones I can think that would largely fit in that description are Kardashev (from Puppies in my v6) and Slice the Cake (from Train in my v4), both of which I liked a lot. With both of those, the relentless ferocity is there, but it’s balanced out with moments of ambience and held together with enough of a melodic approach - generally with a pretty epic slant - to work really well for me. And it’s exactly the same here, albeit in a slightly different way. These songs don’t have much in the way of ambient moments, but there’s a melodic richness throughout that is very compelling when combined with the heaviness, and then there is that less intense section towards the end of Two Towers that’s incredibly immersive and has some gorgeous guitar work.
Score: 8.3
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Crow – Gospel1. Bravo
2. Deerghost
3. Hyper
4. S.R.O.
First impression: Didn’t love every aspect of this right away but the instrumentation is unusual for the genre and works great, and each song seems to keep getting better as it goes.
Final opinion: This is not entirely dissimilar to your first round, in the sense of being on the spectrum of hardcore to post-hardcore and reasonably raw in sound. I think one of the main differences here is that this is even more raw and, for want of a better word, noisy in style. The vocals especially are kind of messy and frantic at times, especially early in the first song. My first impression was a bit of a reaction to those features, mainly, but once I got used to them, I’ve found so much to like here. There’s a kind of proggy influence that contrasts interestingly with the rawness of the overall sound but also adds variety and melody. Related to this, the instrumentation is also quite rare for the genre in just how much use they make of keyboards right up in the forefront. The one that stands out most is the organ, which adds a big immersive sound to some of the more climactic points, but there are some great moments with other sounds as well like electric piano and even some 80s style synths.
Score: 8.3
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romdrums – Obsidious1. Under Black Skies
2. Iconic
3. Delusion
First impression: I tend to find this subgenre a little cold, but this might break the mould with some strong choruses.
Final opinion: There aren’t all that many tech death bands that I’m into - even some of those I’ve liked initially have worn a little thin, and part of the issue I think is that it’s often quite cold and mechanical. But this is the first of three submissions this round that demonstrate why I don’t like closing myself off! As I said via PM, this isn’t the first off-shoot of Obscura that I’ve been sent (indeed it’s the third, and yet I’ve never heard the original band!) but previous efforts haven’t really hit the mark, suffering from the same issue I often have. So this is a nice discovery for me because it has all the intensity and complexity that can make the genre exciting, but expands on it with huge melodic choruses that inch the overall sound a little more towards prog metal. Really memorable hooks and epic vibes. Also, that jazz fusion section in Delusion is *chef’s kiss*.
Score: 8.3
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Buddy – Rivers of Nihil1. Subtle Change
2. Terrestria III: Wither
3. The Void From Which No Sound Escapes
First impression: Intense, intelligent and interesting - not sure it entirely hits the mark on what I look for in the genre, but the more atmospheric moments sounded good.
Final opinion: Ok so this links to romdrums’ submission above in terms of bucking the trend when it comes to technical death metal, but it’s also one of a set of submissions where my first impression was pretty much just flat out wrong. In a way, there is indeed a coldness to this that I associate with the genre. There’s a lot of groove and complexity, and the melodies aren’t especially immediate. I think this was the main driver of my first impression, but once I did my usual recalibration based on that first listen, I found loads to like. And if I’m honest, Evermind’s submission also offered me a fuller and more rounded sense of the band, which I suspect probably benefited you slightly. But anyway, back to your songs - yes there’s a coldness here in the heavier sections, but it’s still engaging, and the atmospheric moments don’t just sound good, they’re fantastic. That section in the second half of Subtle Change for example, starting with the ambient bit with the saxophone and leading up to the chorus reprise is so good (even if the chorus itself is nothing special). But really, there’s lots of great stuff in all three songs.
Score: 8.3
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Evermind – Rivers of Nihil1. Cancer / Moonspeak
2. The Silent Life
3. Where Owls Know My Name
First impression: Intense, intelligent and interesting - not sure it entirely hits the mark on what I look for in the genre, but the more atmospheric moments sounded good.
Final opinion: I’m quite enjoying the little rivalry that you and Buddy - my most recent winners - seem to have going in this roulette. Congrats on getting the slightly better score here, although as I said in Buddy’s writeup, you sending the same band probably inadvertently gave him a slight boost.
I wonder if one of you will either slip up or send something special to get your scores further apart… Anyway I won’t repeat what I said in his writeup about the genre or the band in general, all of that applies here too. The question is - why do I like this even more? It’s not only The Silent Life, which everyone seems to be raving about (and yes is pretty damn epic), but the title track as well which may even be my favourite of the lot with its proggy vibes and great hooks. These songs have all the same qualities as the ones Buddy sent and the difference is marginal, but it just comes down to finding these more consistently compelling - there’s not really a moment here that I don’t find interesting and exciting in some way.
Score: 8.4
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Litho – Mercenary1. Firesoul
2. Music Non Stop
3. The Hours That Remain
First impression: Sounds like a really cool mixture of aggressive and epic - elements of the vocals are not normally what I go for, but they seem to work well here.
Final opinion: This strikes me as a really interesting amalgamation of what various other bands were doing in the late 90s and 2000s, with various aspects very reminiscent of something else but the overall effect not quite sounding like any of them. Musically, Firesoul is absolutely a cross between earlyish In Flames and Children of Bodom, but with lots of King Diamond style vocals. It’s not a vocal style I tend to like (I’m not at all a fan of Halford, for example, although I do think King Diamond is so dark and theatrical and some of it works great) but this is delivered well and blends in with the music very effectively such that it’s not bothersome at all. The harsh vocals are also quite full-on but again they work. Music Non Stop is quite a gear shift, in much more of a straightforward hard rock vein, but it’s a nice little song and I appreciate the variety. And then Hours That Remain has more of a power metal vibe with, presumably, a different vocalist as the singing is more tasteful, if still a little cheesy in a different way.
But anyway it’s great - I liked all the songs a lot from the start and the first and third ones have grown on me further with each listen.
Score: 8.4
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jingle – Triosphere1. Onwards, Pt. 1 - All Is Fair in Love and War?
2. Onwards, Pt. 2 - Decadent One
3. The Heart’s Dominion
4. Worlds Apart
First impression: Big sound, huge voice and, especially in the last two songs, strong hooks - this seems like a pretty safe bet.
Final opinion: I can’t work out if it’s that I’ve become more receptive to power metal in the past few years or if people have just got better at identifying the stuff I’ll like, including where it borders on other genres. I’m sure it’s a bit of both but I do wonder how much the latter is having an impact, because this is yet another success (in this case with some proggy elements). I don’t really have anything to say about the short intro, but the three main songs are full of fantastic hooks and are all cracking in slightly different ways. Onwards is the most straightforward - almost hard rock really - and probably my least favourite but only because the other two are even better. The Heart’s Dominion is dramatic and epic and a really great showcase for her voice. And Worlds Apart is mostly classic power metal fare, but with an emotional edge in the chorus and some quite upbeat moments too. Great stuff all round.
Score: 8.4
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nick_z – Descend1. Avalin
2. Blood Moon
3. Lily
First impression: Not sure I hear that much of the influences this band apparently has, but this seems rather fantastic anyway - dark, epic and huge in sound.
Final opinion: OK so it’s not only you who compared this band to Opeth, I’ve seen it mentioned by others as well, including a handful of reviews. But other than a few moments in Lily - especially the moody intro - I’m not really hearing it as a substantive influence. The general genre and sound, in terms of instrumentation, sure, but that’s hardly unique. But in melodic and harmonic approach, I find Opeth really ethereal and flitting between delicate and demonic, whereas these songs feel more musically straightforward. Not that it matters anyway, because it’s really great stuff. Compositionally it’s amazing, just really well crafted progressive death metal, full of rich music and intensity. One thing that particularly stands out to me is how intricate and interesting a lot of the riffing is. Looking forward to giving the album a listen!
Score: 8.4
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soupy – Dynazty1. Presence of Mind
2. All the Devils Are Here
3. Yours
4. Instinct
First impression: Super catchy, pretty epic and just gravelly enough to give it a bit of hard rock punch.
Final opinion: Another strong showing for power metal right here! It's over-simplified, but if power metal exists loosely on a spectrum from dragons and adventures, via grand and symphonic, through to crunchy and thrashy, these songs seem to cover a range somewhere around the middle and leaning towards the latter. Which is probably where my natural comfort zone would sit, on the whole. But it still depends a lot on quality, which this has in spades. Every song is insanely catchy, with big anthemic choruses that instantly lodged themselves in my brain. While they don't dominate, the thrashy influences do also lend a slightly gravelling edge in some of the songs which is great too. Excellent stuff all round.
Score: 8.4
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wolfking – Wolfheart1. Shores of Lake Simpele
2. The Hunt
3. Cold Flame
4. Valkyrie
First impression: This sounded like solid death metal but nothing particularly stood out - hopefully I’ll get more sense of it with further listens.
Final opinion: And here we come to the last of my “oops my first impression was dumb” writeups.
I don’t know what was going on with that first listen, I can only assume I was distracted because on my second listen there was loads that stood out - I loved it and that’s stayed the case with all the remaining listens. The first track is clearly an intro and it’s a great scene-setter - the music is pretty lush and the way it builds up from acoustic to heavy is terrific. The Hunt is probably the least exciting and comes closest to nothing standing out (which might have influenced my first impression, being the first substantive song?), but it still has plenty of great stuff in it and a very melodic approach. Valkyrie would have to be my favourite, just such an atmospheric, grand and epic piece of melodic death metal - all kind of based around one main motif but the way it develops is just masterful. It might even be my favourite song of the round, and I was so immersed in it on my final listen that I nudged the score upwards slightly.
Score: 8.5
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seneca – Dan Swanö1. Sun of the Night
2. Uncreation
3. Add Reality
First impression: Well, this feels like a pretty big oversight on my part - the limited amount of clean vocals is kind of surprising for how melodic most of the music is, but it’s a great sound anyway.
Final opinion: There's not been any particular reason that I've not checked out Swanö's solo album before. He just has so many different projects that I don't think I even knew he'd done one.
But of those I've heard, the ones I really like a lot are Nightingale and Witherscape, and this sounds like a fantastic marrying of the two styles. The music is closest to Nightingale, a pretty classic prog/AOR sound, very synth heavy, but with more crunch and a slightly darker and more modern edge. But vocally it's much closer to his heavier projects, almost all growls even though the music is so tuneful and proggy. The contrast is not nearly as extreme as what Puppies sent me this round though - this is unusual, but feels comfortable once I got used to it, and indeed it creates a very engaging effect. Really great stuff!
Score: 8.6
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Luoto – Kalmah1. The Groan of Wind
2. Heroes To Us
3. Drifting In a Dream
First impression: Sounds like a strong example of the genre and right up my alley, with a great mix of the slower atmospheric side and the faster, more aggressive (yet always melodic) side.
Final opinion: My experience here is very similar to with seneca's Dan Swanö submission. I hesitate to call this one an oversight as I didn't have any previous experience with the artist, but it's definitely a hole in my collection - I've seen them mentioned a lot in relation to other bands I like (Suotana, Children of Bodom) so I don't really know why I've never got round to checking them out. Anyway this is really excellent. The general style seems to come from the super melodic, power metal infused side of melodic death metal, which tends to go down well with me if the melodies are strong (which they definitely are here). On their own the first two songs may not have scored quite so high, but including the third was brilliant as it showcases a slower, more atmospheric side which you know is something I'm attracted to. It's an absolutely gorgeous track and really completes this selection of songs.
Score: 8.6
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Scores after Round 4:
1. Crow = 8.8 + 8.4 + 8.6 + 8.3 = 34.1
2. wolfking = 8.6 + 8.1 + 8.4 + 8.5 = 33.6
2. Luoto = 8.3 + 8.7 + 8.0 + 8.6 = 33.6
4. nick_z = 8.2 + 8.5 + 8.3 + 8.4 = 33.4
5. Buddy = 8.4 + 8.3 + 8.3 + 8.3 = 33.3
5. Evermind = 8.4 + 8.2 + 8.3 + 8.4 = 33.3
5. TAC = 8.2 + 8.7 + 8.2 + 8.2 = 33.3
8. Glasser = 8.1 + 8.1 + 8.8 + 8.2 = 33.2
9. Sacul = 8.3 + 8.9 + 8.0 + 7.8 = 33.0
10. soupy = 8.4 + 7.9 + 8.2 + 8.4 = 32.9
10. Litho = 8.3 + 7.8 + 8.4 + 8.4 = 32.9
10. jingle = 8.2 + 7.7 + 8.6 + 8.4 = 32.9
13. romdrums = 8.0 + 8.2 + 8.0 + 8.3 = 32.5
14. Puppies = 7.9 + 8.3 + 8.3 + 7.8 = 32.3
14. seneca = 7.6 + 8.3 + 7.8 + 8.6 = 32.3
16. luke = 8.2 + 7.9 + 8.2 + 7.9 = 32.2
16. lonestar = 7.8 + 8.0 + 8.2 + 8.2 = 32.2
18. HOF = 7.5 + 7.9 + 8.7 + 7.7 = 31.8
19. Stadler = 7.9 + 8.4 + 7.9 + 7.4 = 31.6
19. Vmadera = 8.0 + 8.0 + 7.3 + 8.3 = 31.6
21. King = 7.3 + 8.2 + 8.2 + 7.8 = 31.5
22. Reaper = 7.6 + 8.1 + 7.7 + 8.0 = 31.4
23. faizoff = 7.2 + 8.2 + 8.3 + 7.0 = 30.7
24. Elite = 7.8 + 8.0 + 7.5 + 7.2 = 30.5Click the graphs to enlarge.