So, I know that vmadera and Litho are in; pretty sure that Doc and Puppers submitted; but not entirely sure on the final 2. I'm guessing Faizoff and ariich. I've included my predictions below, and fully expect to be 0/6
Edit... submittors confirmed by Tim. I was 2/6!
In:
Litho: Ebony Ark / Desire (prediction: Litho)
This is the goods. Giving me Triosphere vibes was definitely a good thing. Nice riffage, and I like the metal side of the vocals - nice mix of Ida Haukland and Magali Luyten, and a little ‘sandpaper’ to them. It lost me a little with the operatic and smooth vocal melodies, but it wasn’t a turn off. Musically, it’s not anything that dropped my jaw, but was quite enjoyable.
Puppies: Everon / Replay (prediction:
vmadero)
I love me a good Power Ballad. Throw in a heaping pile of prog, and what’s not to love about this song. I’m not usually a mid-tempo kinda guy, but when it comes through as a power ballad, then something just clicks for me. Lots of great elements here - in particular, the backing vocal melodies and the splashes from piano/keys are especially nice. The production is kinda thin - especially the drums - it’s like a stale/flat soda. But luckily that wasn’t a deal breaker. The musicianship in the drumming compensated for the weaker sound. Vocally… it did the job. I wasn’t wow’d, but it was good (enough).
Out:
Faizoff: Nine Inch Nails / Discipline (prediction: faizoff)
Ah, see… we’re off to a bad start. Whoever sent this had a set of stones on them. It wasn’t terrible, but this alt/grunge style just ain’t my thing. The industrial drone of the rhythm section and the keyboards had no appeal - it’s like it was trying to give me a hangover this morning. Vocally, not terribly interesting or compelling. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a NIN song before, and this kind of justified why I never had any interest. Apologies to the sender, but not my thing.
Vmadera: The Contortionist / Thrive (prediction:
ariich)
And an even bigger set here. I mean, Ruslan didn’t even need to listen to the songs to know that this (or NIN) was the impression it was. Vocally … I mean, it’s not bad, but there’s a certain something that just grates on me. It just sounds quasi-depressing.... like the guy ran over a dog on the way to the recording sessions - there was just no enjoyment in his voice. The repetitiveness of the guitar riff/arpeggio gets old pretty quick. The rhythm guitar being that ‘wall of sound’ didn’t click either. The slowdown/atmospheric part with the nice bass lines was the best part of the song - but then back to that guitar run and wall of sound. I think I should like this more than I did… there was a bit of a Kingcrow vibe, but it was the Kingcrow songs that I didn’t like as much.
On the bubble:Ariich: Nospun / The Death of Simpson (prediction:
Dr. DTVT)
Thank you for sending them, although I would’ve got to them at some point anyway, seeing as how they’re playing PPUSA. Devy vibes on the mic isn’t a bad thing; Haken vibes for the music could’ve been. I grew to like it, and will probably enjoy it more the more I continue to listen to it. But for the first few listens, this song was (imo) rather disjointed, and had a LOT (ie, too much) going on musically. I should really dig this, but there is a lot to digest here. Some of the passages are great (the 90 second segment after the intro in particular), then the Devy vibes kick in. Other passages sound out of place, and jammed in whether they were needed or not. This song sounds like it’s trying to pack about 4 different genres/styles into 9 minutes, and the flow suffered because of it.
Dr. DTVT: Church of the Cosmic Skull / Cold Sweat (prediction:
Puppies)
Vocally, the style and range of this is largely similar to The Contortionist - but there’s life in the delivery. This one was fun, and I just found myself loving how eclectic this was. The bluesy guitar licks that dash in and out as an angst to the vocal harmonies, the subtle organ in the background. This one was pretty simple and straight-forward. The key change in the outro is such a cliche way to close out a song, but it worked.
Style wise, the Nospun submission is (should be?) more in my wheelhouse, and should be the one that appealed to me more. But I’m going to give the VERY SLIGHT nod to the sender of Cold Sweat for taking a chance, that paid off.
So, feel free to reveal yourselves, and every one else ….