Wolfking's Wonderful Winger roulette v.3 - Round 2 album listening commenced

[twosuitsluke]

Kade, I've been thinking about your post, and all the great responses, all day. I've been collecting my thoughts ready to splurge all over your roulette. Here goes...

I turned 40 last year. I know I did because my body has decided to say "fuck you" and give me all sorts of aches and pains I'd never had before. I even started doing daily yoga to help combat it!

For me personally, my musical consumption and obsession has always been quite rampant, however it significantly increased firstly when I joined DTF nearly 10 years ago, and again when I became a Dad/COVID/new job working from home (these all happened in a 6 month time period).

I definitely don't feel I am lacking in interest to discover new music, if anything I devote too much time to it, but I know for a fact that the hit rate for life changing bands/albums is REALLY low nowadays. I listen to so much music that I like, but it is very rare that something really knocks me for 6. In fact, in the last 10 years it's happened twice. The first was in 2016 when I became fully obsessed with The Dear Hunter (my #1 DTF discovery) and two years ago (almost to the day) when my obsession with King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard started. I know these two bands were huge for me, because when we did the recent Top 25 Bands thread, these were the only two 'new' bands that cracked my top 25. Like, most other bands in my top 25 were discovered relatively close together, at a really young age for me.

I will say, that for the two roulettes I have run, I discovered some great bands and albums, but definitely nothing that has ended up in my overall top 50 bands/albums, there's just too much competition. That's not to say I haven't received some absolutely killer stuff though. Just off the top of my head, that Autonoesis song Tim sent me was top notch, and I have regularly revisited that album since my roulette finished.

I mentioned this before in one of those threads about playlists, but I have a ridiculous amount of playlists that help me keep on top of rotating new discoveries, classic favourites, and everthing in-between. As useful as these are, I often just listen to what I fancy at any given moment, or when a band I haven't listened to in a while is brought up in conversation (usually on DTF), and I binge their catalogue. I also mentoned the other day, that as I get older, if I live long enough to reach my 70s for instance, I think my tastes will start to come back to my core bands. Much like the 'expanding and contracting universe' theory, my tastes will contract back to the point I'll be exclusively listening to the bands I discovered in my late teens/early 20s.

Your musical journey certainly isn't complete. You're on DTF for fucks sake, so it will never be complete as long as you're here. For me, I try to find ways to push my limits and try things out of my comfort zone. This is easier now because A) I work from home most days and can pretty much listen to music all day, and B) I rarely watch TV or play computer games now and music has become even more my 'thing'. It's my obsession, my safe place, my escapism. So yea, for me it's easy to devote a few hours a day to listening to new music. Having Spotify has been the other game changer, as I think we can all appreciate.

Let me ask you a question. What was the last band/album that solidified itself as a legitimate Top 50 contender for you? How long ago was this? Like I said, there have only been two bands for me in the last 10 years! That's not to say I haven't discovered some of the most amazing music, that fits my tastes perfectly, it's just it's tough at the top and the competition is too strong.

Tim, you make a great point about wanting to keep up your end of the bargain. Coming to DTF in 2014 was so eye opening to me, and so many forum members have been instrumental in the way my tastes have developed since I've been here. You start to get a feel for whose tastes line up with yours, and whose recommendations you can take as a guarantee. I want to be able to 'pay it back' as such, and recommend stuff to others around here. I'd be lying if I said that didn't fuel some of my musical exploration. It's great when you discover a new band and turn others on the forum onto them.

Roulettes are a part of that, and although the competitive side of me does want to win, I'm predominantly here for the camaraderie and the social side of things.

Chad, you make a great point about how every new band you discover, that becomes part of your regular rotation, leaves you less time to spend time with all the other music you enjoy. I'll say it again, that's why I have such an overly complicated set of playlists, they help me keep on top of my ever expanding library in a way that is more manageable for me.

That's just my stream of consciousness for the day. To give an example of some of what I mentioned above, following our discussion about Children of Bodom in Indi's thread, I might go listen through their first 4 albums, back to back, just because it's what's on my mind and I fancy it.

[wolfking]

Ok... long answer.

I don't think it's an age thing - I ran my first roulette in 2012, so I would've been approaching 41.  I think it's a 'stage-of-life' thing.  For me, my first phase of musical discovery was from 1986 to 1992.  But then I didn't do much of any musical discovery between 1992 and 2005 - 92-96 I was away at Uni; 97-99 I started dating mrs.jingle; 99-05 we got married and started the jingle.family.  Once the jingle.kids hit 5 years old and were in school and much more self sufficient, I had at least a little disposable time to myself, and that's when my second phase of musical discovery kicked in.  It was pretty insatiable for a long time.  This year it's seemed come to a bit of a grinding halt - I've only bought 2 albums so far, and maybe another 5 or so saved on Spotify.

I certainly did discover many many fantastic new bands and albums in the 2010s / in my 40s - many were courtesy of DTF recommendations, and a lot thru my roulettes* (still making my way thru the submissions I got back in Dec/Jan).  I'm not sure how I could rank these discoveries against my most favorite bands and albums from my first phase of music discovery - like, how do I compare Circus of the Tattered and Torn against Bat Out Of Hell?  Magnus Karlsson against Triumph?  How would Tim compare Theocracy against Alice Cooper?  Those bands and albums have 30+ years of history with me, whereas roulette and DTF recommended music has (at most) half of that.  I can fully understand the notion of comfort and familiarity with the bands that we each have from our own initial indoctrination to music.  It's something special for sure.  But newer discoveries can also be pretty special - hell, I just discovered a bitching instrumental act as a result of trying to solve Indi's bizarro clues.  And Nuclear Power Trio is something that I go to with some regularity.

However, I'm am finding it harder and harder to keep up my pace of musical discovery; every band and album I add to my inventory reduces the time I might be able to spend with my existing loves - and I still want to spend time with the great music I already own.  Until someone finds a way to give me more hours in a day, that's only going to continue to get worse.  I think THAT is why I'm getting far more picky and selective about what I end up buying/saving nowadays.  I get the sense that you (Kade) are approaching that point about 10 years ahead of my schedule.
..
So, to answer your question, in my 40s, I got LOTS of great music from roulette's that still sticks with me to this day.  I will respectfully disagree with JJ that the 'old school' is "so much better".  It's not better, just has a different effect on me.  There's still a metric shit-ton of great new music available to listen to - in fact, it's never been easier to find and consume with so many distribution avenues for artists; YT, Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple, Amazon etc. 

Now Shut Up And Rock!


*as you touched on, you own 3 of the top 4 songs I was ever sent in my first four roulettes.  Also, I purchased the album (and in many cases, the entire discography) from 21 out of the top 25 roulette songs I received.

Cheers for the detailed post Chad.  Reading through that, the bolded part I think you've hit the nail on the head.  The older we get the more we learn and discover and it just keeps accumulating, plus time seems to go faster and faster.  When we discovered those bands in our early phases of life we didn't have the resources and selections that we have know plus we didn't have the knowledge base of bands we do now.  I mean, when I discovered Maiden, Sabbath, Priest, WASP, DT etc. it was a small circle of bands that was all I knew, plus they were new and sounds I've never heard before, so you are all right, you can't compare newly discovered bands to those ones that are part of us. 

Also, which I didn't really touch on, even when I was discovering those bands, they weren't easily accessible online, I was saving up and going to buy a CD once every fortnight or whatever, that was special and times I'm sure we all miss.  I think another reason things to me don't feel as special is that everything is accessible with one click and if you don't really like it, one more click and its gone.  Even though I've converted to Spotify, I miss the old ways, that was something that also made it special.  We live in a world of urgency, entitlement and music has suffered in that sense too.

To your point of new bands being exciting, I don't disagree and certainly have albums recently that I think will become special as time goes on, it's just different.  But I think the change in how we access our music and the ease of accessibility plus the sheer amount is a big cause of my feelings currently.

I am so humbled some of my submissions have stuck with you too, 3 out of 4 top songs is an accolade I can certainly be proud of.

[wolfking]

Well, I'm not 40 yet (though I'm on the downhill of 30, so be there soon).

For me, I've gone through periods that I find it hard to enjoy new music, mainly because as you stated, it feels like a variation of something I already heard and it just doesn't feel...fresh I guess. But every so often I encounter something that sticks. I'm still going through the artists that were submitted in my roulette, and there are a handful or artists that I immediately added all their albums to my library. A few others I'm enjoying a lot of their stuff, just not everything. A handful I am still cautiously curious about, so giving them a second chance.

I think for me, I just don't shy away from trying new music, even if it is an artist, genre or style I don't normally like. 90% of the time it doesn't stick with me, but I still try it because you never know.

Fresh is a good word Victor, I think as I mentioned as time goes on, it would be harder and harder for things to really be fresh.  The last line is simple yet appropriate, if you don't shy away from it, you never know.  Subconsciously I think for a period of time I've closed myself off a little, but this roulette is a great place and no matter what everything scores, there's a great springboard into a lot of new stuff.

[EPICVIEW]

So ironic when I've never touched a drug in my life. 

Maybe I need some edibles, that may be my problem!?   

bro,,,,,, its not you!  its me!!... I cant figure out whats going on ?  you guys are awesome.

me and drugs well... ive touched them all many times : )   it was part of the job !! : )

[TAC]

I was mentioning this a couple of years ago...about our time left vs our musical libraries. I'm 55 likely living another 15-20 years. If I listen to...pick an album...Queensryche's Empire, which I probably listen to once a year...that means I'll only play it 15 more times in my life. That's weird.

[wolfking]

Ayreon, though it's a stretch to say they are on my "fav band list"; but I have purchased a couple of Ayreon disks and some of them are stellar records that I would listen to more if it was actively listening to anything these days.

But let me respond to your first post: I will be blunt here:  I struggle with roullettes.  I send the same shit every time, because I don't have a ton of "new bands" that I get into. And of the other stuff that's sent?  I'll be honest: I hear a LOT of shit out there. Some of you listen to some shitty "music" bro, and no mistake.     Why listen to a DT knock-off when I can listen to DT?  Why listen to second-rate Sabbath imitators when I can put on "Spiral Architect" and hear it done right?  I can confidently say that the ONLY band whose knock offs have really risen to the level is The Beatles; both Cheap Trick and Oasis - who unabashedly owe a LOT to the Fab Four - are both personal favorites that I listen to regularly.

Then again, there are breakthroughs. I watched Jay Buchanan of Rival Sons on stage on Jools Holland's show and thought "THAT guy is a star; I need to hear more of his music".    Neal Morse is top three favorite artists now (though I didn't rank him as such on our poll for... reasons) and I've almost entirely gotten into him in the last 10 years or so, through Mike and this site. 

I think one way of looking at it is from a different perspective.  Don't worry about whether anything is "set" or not, but recognize that you have a good - dare I say, GREAT - base from which to start and that at this point you listen to music for pleasure. Don't worry about whether you SHOULD like it or not, or worry about things that don't matter like "whether it's new or not". Who cares? Worry about whether it moves your unit.  I remember really struggling with "why don't I like Radiohead?" and "why don't I like "Grace Under Pressure?"   To the point I bought like four Radiohead records and immersed myself in it. TO THIS DAY, I listen to p/g through about once a quarter or so to make sure I didn't miss anything.    And I'm comfortable now that, no, I didn't miss anything.  In my world, Radiohead blows, Thom Yorke is overrated, and Rush stumbled with p/g.  It is what it is.  I don't lose a minute of sleep over it, I just go put on Pink Floyd (a far superior version of Radiohead, and their progenitors) or Signals and enjoy my life.   

Ironically, that approach has opened more doors for me than any roulette.  I now have a whole genre of music - well, two actually - that I can delve into in those odd occasions (rare for me) where I need "something new".   Country (old school) and pop (Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, etc.).   Not all of it is good, but no genre is "all good".   And I'm happy, which is all that matters.

Nice post Bill.  What you say about buying Radiohead albums and trying to immerse yourself in them is so true and I can relate.  I have probably around 2500+ CD's and so many I look at thinking, why do I own this?  I actually went through that off and on again too.  Thinking I should be liking different kinds of bands and buying their albums to try and 'force' myself into diversifying my tastes because I should have a broader spectrum of interests.  Maybe that's something I've come to terms with but now it's something that's come a little full circle, but again, we like what we like.

I think that's also where I struggle, with my guitar playing with more time on my hands I've been thinking I really want to start learning more and diversifying my playing and even delve into more different styles like even jazz and really learn more about the instrument.  Problem is I'm not that big a fan and while I like something like jazz, I just can't listen to it for all that long.  Catch 22.

I think the statement of why listen to a DT knockoff when I can listen to the real thing also becomes more and more relevant.  As I mentioned before we have so many options and so many more artists out there just a click away where 90% is shit we've heard before, I guess it can get a bit tiring.  If anything it makes me want to want to listen to the classics more. 

[TAC]

Bill totally misspelled Power Windows.

[wolfking]

I was mentioning this a couple of years ago...about our time left vs our musical libraries. I'm 55 likely living another 15-20 years. If I listen to...pick an album...Queensryche's Empire, which I probably listen to once a year...that means I'll only play it 15 more times in my life. That's weird.

Wow, that is weird to think about, especially the amount of classic albums I haven't listened to for a number of years, but dude, come on you can aim for a lot older than 70!?  That's young as fuck WTF?! 

[wolfking]

Bill totally misspelled Power Windows.

I was going to rib him on saying GUP sucks, but now I'll rib both of you as both are top 3 Rush albums for me.  I might listen to both now before the next round, now we're talking classics. 

[TAC]

I was going to rib him on saying GUP sucks, but now I'll rib both of you as both are top 3 Rush albums for me.  I might listen to both now before the next round, now we're talking classics. 

Ribs are buy one get one free tonight!

[wolfking]

Kade, I've been thinking about your post, and all the great responses, all day. I've been collecting my thoughts ready to splurge all over your roulette. Here goes...

I turned 40 last year. I know I did because my body has decided to say "fuck you" and give me all sorts of aches and pains I'd never had before. I even started doing daily yoga to help combat it!

For me personally, my musical consumption and obsession has always been quite rampant, however it significantly increased firstly when I joined DTF nearly 10 years ago, and again when I became a Dad/COVID/new job working from home (these all happened in a 6 month time period).

I definitely don't feel I am lacking in interest to discover new music, if anything I devote too much time to it, but I know for a fact that the hit rate for life changing bands/albums is REALLY low nowadays. I listen to so much music that I like, but it is very rare that something really knocks me for 6. In fact, in the last 10 years it's happened twice. The first was in 2016 when I became fully obsessed with The Dear Hunter (my #1 DTF discovery) and two years ago (almost to the day) when my obsession with King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard started. I know these two bands were huge for me, because when we did the recent Top 25 Bands thread, these were the only two 'new' bands that cracked my top 25. Like, most other bands in my top 25 were discovered relatively close together, at a really young age for me.

I will say, that for the two roulettes I have run, I discovered some great bands and albums, but definitely nothing that has ended up in my overall top 50 bands/albums, there's just too much competition. That's not to say I haven't received some absolutely killer stuff though. Just off the top of my head, that Autonoesis song Tim sent me was top notch, and I have regularly revisited that album since my roulette finished.

I mentioned this before in one of those threads about playlists, but I have a ridiculous amount of playlists that help me keep on top of rotating new discoveries, classic favourites, and everthing in-between. As useful as these are, I often just listen to what I fancy at any given moment, or when a band I haven't listened to in a while is brought up in conversation (usually on DTF), and I binge their catalogue. I also mentoned the other day, that as I get older, if I live long enough to reach my 70s for instance, I think my tastes will start to come back to my core bands. Much like the 'expanding and contracting universe' theory, my tastes will contract back to the point I'll be exclusively listening to the bands I discovered in my late teens/early 20s.

Your musical journey certainly isn't complete. You're on DTF for fucks sake, so it will never be complete as long as you're here. For me, I try to find ways to push my limits and try things out of my comfort zone. This is easier now because A) I work from home most days and can pretty much listen to music all day, and B) I rarely watch TV or play computer games now and music has become even more my 'thing'. It's my obsession, my safe place, my escapism. So yea, for me it's easy to devote a few hours a day to listening to new music. Having Spotify has been the other game changer, as I think we can all appreciate.

Let me ask you a question. What was the last band/album that solidified itself as a legitimate Top 50 contender for you? How long ago was this? Like I said, there have only been two bands for me in the last 10 years! That's not to say I haven't discovered some of the most amazing music, that fits my tastes perfectly, it's just it's tough at the top and the competition is too strong.

Tim, you make a great point about wanting to keep up your end of the bargain. Coming to DTF in 2014 was so eye opening to me, and so many forum members have been instrumental in the way my tastes have developed since I've been here. You start to get a feel for whose tastes line up with yours, and whose recommendations you can take as a guarantee. I want to be able to 'pay it back' as such, and recommend stuff to others around here. I'd be lying if I said that didn't fuel some of my musical exploration. It's great when you discover a new band and turn others on the forum onto them.

Roulettes are a part of that, and although the competitive side of me does want to win, I'm predominantly here for the camaraderie and the social side of things.

Chad, you make a great point about how every new band you discover, that becomes part of your regular rotation, leaves you less time to spend time with all the other music you enjoy. I'll say it again, that's why I have such an overly complicated set of playlists, they help me keep on top of my ever expanding library in a way that is more manageable for me.

That's just my stream of consciousness for the day. To give an example of some of what I mentioned above, following our discussion about Children of Bodom in Indi's thread, I might go listen through their first 4 albums, back to back, just because it's what's on my mind and I fancy it.

Luke, this a great, thought out post, I appreciate it.  First bolded part, again like the others, thank you for backing that up.  I knew it was the case with the strike rate of new bands cracking the legacies of the old, it's blatantly obvious when you think about it, I guess it's just nice hearing it from others who are similar and at a similar age to me.

The expanding and contracting universe theory is interesting and I've never really heard of that, but it makes sense.  Do you just keep exploring and exploring as you get older and older, it certainly seems unsustainable and like you and Chad mentions, every year you discover more, other stuff you do know potentially goes by the wayside.  Not really ideal in my book.  As I get older, I want the time listening to be quality, not sorting through shit finding something that will stick, but balance as you say and your playlists seem to have the covered.  I'm just pretty fucking lazy with shit like that.

Funny you mention about the top 50 thing, I've had a shortlist or doing another top 50 for a while with a list of albums and I think I made it past a certain year.  I think in my original top 50 2008 was the latest year for an album so the list I still have for another I think I was making all albums after that point or something to that degree.  You've made me interested in possibly revisiting that Luke.  That may help, I may have a look through that later as there's a few from a few years ago at least.

Agree with roulettes being about the social things more than the music discovery.  I know going back and listening to those COB albums will just give me that feeling again, such incredible albums.  And as I mentioned that short discussed inspired my post.  Those discoveries are simply special moments in time, it's naive to think those can be created over and over again as we age.  They are special memorable and pivotal moments in our lives for a reason.

[wolfking]

Ribs are buy one get one free tonight!

Did you say free?

[wolfking]

Probably should get some results out.

[wolfking]

Round 5 results!!


Reaper - CKY - 96 Quite Bitter Beings

Yeah......this one isn't for me.

I've tried a few times with this but to be honest I found the whole vibe and groove a little bit irritating and grating to be honest.  The vocals I found were pretty bland and nothing in those verses really had much value for me.  I did find it a little repetitive and 'boxed in' for the whole three minutes too.  Yeah sorry mate, this one isn't going to work.

Score - 4.5



Sacul - The Stooges - 1970

Oof........I can't do this.

Hmmm.....I tried a few times with this, but this didn't do anything for me at all unfortunately.  This old classic style is really not something I've ever connected with and this is no exception.  I don't have much to say about it actually just that I struggled with it for the most part.  The little solo picked it up for me a little and was a little unexpected so that was cool but I just found this a slog to get through, especially going for a full 5 minutes.

Score - 4.5



ariich - Psychotic Waltz - Devils and Angels

This one felt pretty meh all round.

I've heard a little from these guys I think, but again never explored anything more.  The intro is pretty nice and epic and has a cool groove once it gets going.  I gotta say though, the vocals aren't doing much for me.  The feel overall is pretty safe and non offensive.  The chorus melody is fine but doesn't realyl grab me by the nuts or anything.  A perfectly okay listen but didn't get me all that excited to be honest.  It wasn't until the solo that it felt like it was really coming together more.

Score - 6.5



Shadow Ninja - SikTh - Century of the Narcissist

Like the harsh vocals, but all in all not sure if this will stand out.

I've seen this band name a lot over the years but never checked them out.  The only thing I know is the project Adrian Smith did with the singer, which I thought was pretty shit truthfully.  I actually quite enjoyed the vocals here.  Very At the Gates inspired to my ears.  To me, this is fine and sounds like pretty much like any early 2000's nu metal but with a lot of other elements thrown in there.  I enjoyed it each time but nothing really blew me away.  The clean vocals were okay but I do think the harsh vocals were the thing I like the best.  A solid metal song.

Score - 6.75



Crow - Amendfoil - Skyline Escape

Hmmm....this may be your first slip up

Each time I listen to this one, I just don't know.  I really can't get on board with the verses here and that seems to set a bit of a sour taste from the get go.  The vocals on a whole are really difficult for me to get on board with also.  The chorus isn't bad, it's pretty well written actually, just not sure it's for me.  These guys do have a unique style for sure and the middle section is pretty nice which picks my ears up again.  Maybe it's that modern touch that isn't sitting all that well with me?  That outro section though was quite okay, kinda epic and I get some Alter Bridge vibes but all in all, while a pleasant enough listen, probably a band I'd be hesitant to move further with.

Score - 7.0



Lonk - Greg Howe - Throw Down

While technically brilliant, I'm not sure this will really stick with me

I know the name well, but I haven't really dived into any of his work.  Maybe I have but it didn't stick, and that's the same here really.  There's no doubt this guy is an amazing guitarist, but this type of standard blusey tune is hard for me to really fully connect with.  Weird I know because I'm a guitarist but the feel is pretty generic.  I didn't mind listening to it because he has a lot of cool ideas, runs and takes the style and uses a lot of fusion elements and some really intricate and outside playing.  There's no doubt here a lot of what he is doing is technically complex but it just didn't stick like I thought it would.  I guess I always gravitate towards the heavier style even my instrumental music.

Score - 7.0



King - The Moor - Passage

Didn't stay with me as much as I thought it might but enjoyed the dark atmosphere

So this one had a pretty cool atmosphere and was dark, heavy and crunchy.  The vocals were very strong too.  This was one song of the bunch though that was hard to fully grasp or even one that stuck in my head afterwards.  Got strong Fates Warning vibes at around 1:40, And Yet it Moves or something but it leads into a pretty interesting solo section.  Nice changes in there too going on also.  Going back into the verse and riffing, I always appreciate it more the second time around.  The structure is interesting really, we get one round before that quiet part which I'm coming around to.  During the last section I figured out what the band reminds me of, which is Katatonia.  I'm a casual fan of them and this song really fits that description of pretty nice and easy listening but hard to really fully stick and provide that lasting power.  Still a pretty nice powerful tune.

Score - 7.5



romdrums - SikTh - Riddles of Humanity

This one is actually a lot better, great chorus

Funny I got two submissions from the same album here.  I liked this one a lot better than the other song though.  The vibe is obviously the same but something about this one I liked a little better.  I think the chorus is what I really liked.  I enjoyed the vocal approach more than the cleans on the other song and the melody of the chorus is really catchy and cool.  The frantic riffing nice too between sections.  This one would encourage me to check out the album a lot more.

Score - 7.5



Litho - Silver Talon - Resistance 2029

This was a solid metal tune but is not knocking it out of the park for me

I assume picking a song with an Andy LaRocque solo was planned thing then haha?  This actually reminds me heavily of Eidolon in a few ways but all in all, this is fine metal.  Now, this didn't blow me away though to be honest but there's nothing bad about this at all.  The vocals were interesting and the melodies were fine, again just didn't kick my ass.  I think the song needed that little break around the 2:45 minute mark going into the LaRocque solo, that pricked my ears back up a little.  That middle solo is so recognizable from LaRocque too, what a cool style he has.  Anyway, this was a fine metal tune but didn't knock it out of the park for me.

Score - 7.75



Jingle - Into the Great Divide - Chapter 8: A New Perspective

Pretty nice melodies and playing.

So, all in all this has some really nice playing and a great tone.  The melody was a little distracting though as it reminded me heavily of Bryan Adam's Heaven mixed with some Journey.  Now saying that,  I was able to look past the more cliche feel of that melody and luckily things get moving a couple minutes in with a more prog metal kind of feel which works really well.  Another similar yet different melody definitely keeps your attention.  From around the 3 minute mark though we get some really tasty guitar playing and things felt more comfortable for me.  As I just mentioned, so really nice phrases and note choices with these lead lines.  Some expressive playing inbetween those set melodies really keeps your attention.  There's nothing in here for an instrumental that hasn't been heard before and while it's a tad long at 9 minutes, it weaves through a nice journey where for the most part everything has its place.  Interesting song, nice listen.

Score - 8.25



indi - Extrema - Headbanging Forever

Nice, heavy, ripping and gets the job done.

This was a nice change of pace in the playlist for sure.  Three and a half minutes of nice straight forward heavy metal.  Cool riffing, intense, cliche lyrics but who gives a fuck hey?!  Not much to say about this one, it's a straight forward ripper that isn't anything new but it gets the job done and I enjoyed myself each time it came up.  Appreciate the nice little solo in there too.  I was afraid maybe it was going to be sololess but it proved me wrong, cool shit.

Score - 8.25



lonestar - Mera - Coalition

This was pretty nice and had a really cool groove throughout.  Some parts I'm not sold on but nice modern sounding metal.

After I looked up the band I was shocked they have only had an EP and this single.  That's a shame.  I really enjoyed the harsh vocals on this one, and the main groove seemed to work really nicely with them.  Certainly nothing new but with the keyboards and the atmosphere I get a nice mix of In Flames, Soilwork and even some Dark Tranquility, with a modern touch.  The female vocals aren't that bad, but for me they drag the vibe down a little.  Well, sometimes I think they work nicely and other times I'm not so sure.  The chorus melodies though are enough to keep me interested.  Again, I really like the atmopshere and vibe on this one and certainly didn't feel 7 minutes long.

Score - 8.25



Stadler - Bruce Springsteen - The Rising

Surprisingly enjoyable song.  Liked this more than I thought I would

Here's another artist that I've never been a fan of but know a lot of the hits which are all enjoyable and never turned them off when they came on the radio.  I'm not sure if I've heard this song, but it does sound vaguely familiar.  Now, this is a fucking great song to be honest.  When it first started I wasn't sure but it builds really nicely and the structure is great.  I love the structure of a verse, chorus and then that catchy sing along part followed instantly by a small solo that is very very hooky in its own right.  It's like the end of a song but only a minute and a half in.  We get another round of everything and that very cool sing along part.  Surprisingly great song.

Score - 8.25



Evermind - Destinity - Reject the Deceit

No bullshit melodeath right here

Straight out of the gates we get some solid, enjoyable and dependable melodic death metal.  Definitely nothing new here to report on for the style but everything is done well and is very easy on the ears.  Each time the song started it made me feel pretty good as I knew I had 5 minutes of some good quality metal.  I like the vocals, no variation but fits the style and lots of aggression and balls.  I love the solo section too, that breaks it up and the quite section afterwards was a nice touch.  Funny how many albums they have under their belt, I've never heard of them.  Definitely from the Soilwork/In Flames/Dark Tranquility mould and that suits me fine.

Score - 8.5



TAC - Temnein - Thirty Tyrants

Pretty damn solid and dependable melodic death metal.  Lots of Between the Buried and Me vibes also.

So, this one was pretty bloody good right off the bat.  It did take a few listens to really get my head around the structure though for some reason, but each time it was easy listening.  These guys really love Between the Buried and Me by the sounds, the harsh vocals are very reminiscent of Tommy's and that clean section is a dead ringer of a Mordecai or something.  Nevertheless, none of that is a bad thing.  The whole thing really builds nicely through the middle with some really excellent guitar work and I love the way it hooks you back in to the intro riff at 5:26.  love the mixing here too, the guitars separated in perfect stereo, really adds to the vibe.  All in all, really strong, enjoyable melodic death metal.

Score - 9.0



Dr. DTVT - Lorna Shore - Pain Remains 2: After I'll I've Done, I'll Disappear

Wait.....is this metalcore?  Maybe I do like metalcore then? If it's not, it's still fucking awesome.

Now I'm sampled these guys quite a while ago and always thought they were impressive but not really my thing.  This song may have changed that.  This is amazing.  I don't find anything too aggressive or out there here, the variation in vocal delivery is fantastic, and the musicianship is top notch.  Wonderful guitar melodies too sprinkled though.  That key change at the end is next level too.  I'm not sure, are these guys metalcore, deathcore?  Or just extreme metal?  Anyway, this may have changed my opinion as this was fucking epic.  Really really liked this and found myself coming back to this a shit load.

Score - 9.25



Puppies - Darkest Hour - Goddess of War, Give Me Something to Die For

This is epic as fuck.

Now I remember I think Tim introducing me to these guys many years ago, but I never went on with them.  This song however, wow, this might change things.  Firstly the acoustic intro is amazing, sets the mood perfectly and the long intro buildup is incredible.  Once we hit 1:10 the atmosphere intensifies and the again the buildup itself is very epic.  One thing I find interesting is that the intro is over 2 minutes long for only a 6 minute song.  once we great cracking at the 2 and a half minute section we go into a pretty standard melodeath section but the mood beforehand has managed to make it more intense than it normally would be.  The chorus is pretty standard too I will say but it's all flowing well.  Again, the structure is excellent very different and I like that.  That section of the solo at 4:40 is fucking amazing too and how it leads into that half time epic outro feel is fantastic.  This song feels like a long epic in the space of 6 minutes and does it really well, impressed.  Very impressed.

Score - 9.5



twosuitluke - Akercocke - Disappear

Wow these vocals are fucked.....I love them

Now this was probably the most interesting and unique submission of the round.  Love that lead guitar at around the 30 second mark, cool shit.  Now, we start afterwards with a blatant Metallica rip off from somehwere but then I did not expect those vocals.  More like DT's version of Damage Inc.  Nevertheless, I found these vocals while pretty fucking extreme, I could handle them just fine as the music was pretty ripping.  The cleaner sections between the heavier parts were nice and it's produced well so everything really breathes.  As we head in around the 2 and a half minute mark we get a nice break and then around 3 minutes we get some more really fucked up vocals.  Gotta be honest, this section made me feel uncomfortable at first but I was really drawn to it.  Again, a lot of space and room behind everything too making the vocals more haunting, really strange and unique.  Going into the instrumental section, there was some nice shit going on here with the guitars.  One thing about the song is all the different sounding sections, it all came together really well and gave a unique, fresh and interesting experience.  That second solo at around the 5 minute mark was amazing and gave me strong Chris Poland vibes.  Going back into that vocal section, I loved it, especially with the double time and everything getting more intense.  More lead guitar and then a tasty gallop to close things out.  Wonderful song, exactly the kind of uniqueness I was looking for.  Well done.

Score - 9.5



After round 5;


TAC - 8.25+9.25+9.25+9.0+9.0 = 44.75
Evermind - 9.0+9.25+9.0+8.75+8.5 = 44.5
Indiscipline - 9.0+8.25+9.5+8.25+8.25 = 43.25
Crow - 9.5+8.5+8.75+9.25+7.0 = 43.0
Puppies - 9.0+9.25+8.25+6.25+9.5 = 42.25
Jingle - 8.75+8.75+7.75+8.25+8.25 = 41.75
Litho - 9.0+9.0+8.0+7.5+7.75 = 41.25
Dr. DTVT - 8.0+8.5+7.25+6.0+9.25 = 39.0
ariich - 8.5+7.75+7.5+8.5+6.5 = 38.75
Stadler - 9.25+5.5+6.75+8.5+8.25 = 38.25
King - 7.5+5.0+8.0+8.5+7.5 = 36.5
twosuitluke - 4.0+6.5+7.0+9.25+9.5 = 36.25
Sacul - 9.5+8.0+5.0+8.0+4.5 = 35.0
Lonk - 7.75+4.5+7.75+6.75+7.0 = 33.75
lonestar - 6.0+5.75+3.5+7.75+8.25 = 31.25
romdrums - 5.5+6.25+5.25+6.5+7.5 = 31.0
Shadow Ninja - 4.0+7.0+5.25+6.5+6.75 = 29.5
Reaper - 5.0+4.0+7.25+6.25+4.5 = 27.0

Posted the results backwards to stop the bitching!    Tim narrowly takes the lead after 5 rounds.  Luke continues his charge and Crow slips from second the fourth with Ale moving into the top 3.  Chris does nicely to leap Josh and Chad!

[wolfking]

3 people already in for round 6.  Cut off is 4:00.  I'll allow 4:01 is it's just a second of silence too.  Nothing more.  As mentioned will delay hangman until probably Monday my time and then move results to Friday.  That may work a bit better for everyone's schedules for the last 3 rounds.

[TAC]

Wait..there's 3 more rounds? Let's end it here and call it a day?

Cut off is 4:00.

Hmmm... Might have to go back and revisit a couple of things.

[twosuitsluke]

How the fuck did I win another round? I honestly didn't expect Akercocke to score THAT well. Thanks for not accepting my original submission

[wolfking]

Wait..there's 3 more rounds? Let's end it here and call it a day?



Hmmm... Might have to go back and revisit a couple of things.

Wait, did I not say that clear enough? Or have I fucked something up?

[wolfking]

How the fuck did I win another round? I honestly didn't expect Akercocke to score THAT well. Thanks for not accepting my original submission

I thought it was so out there and epic as shit, dunno just thought it was so fucked up enough it was brilliant.

Yeah, when I listened to it, I was like, 'nah, we'll enforce the rule that once a band is submitted they are banned.' 

[King Postwhore]

Hey. I can't complain!

[TAC]

Wait, did I not say that clear enough? Or have I fucked something up?

No, it's me..

Round 6 - Karma (2009) - 2009 rolls around and we are treated with a more consistent, energy filled, hook laden filled excellent album with a band back firing on all cylinders.
For this round like the rockers on this album, the max time limit for the song is 4 minutes, that's it.  No word criteria here, give me a short open round with songs under the 4 minute mark.

For some reason the only thing that registered with me was the UNDER four minutes part. I came a across a couple of 4:00 possibilities, but I dismissed them.



I think I know what my main submission is anyway, but since I have a free Wild Card, I may take another peak at my list.

[wolfking]

Ah fair enough.  Yeah, I'm happy with 4:00, 4:01 if the track registers that long with silence but 4:02 is a deal breaker.  Yeah, free wildcard mate, go for it, no rush.

[wolfking]

As I said, I'm moving hangman back past the weekend.  I'd still like to have submission within the next day, but if people get held up, that's not a big issue.

[Crow]

maybe i should've looked harder for something that fit the theme, i guess  surprised that did so poorly tho admittedly

[TAC]

maybe i should've looked harder for something that fit the theme, i guess  surprised that did so poorly tho admittedly

Since the theme is Winger, anything that sucks fits the theme.

[wolfking]

maybe i should've looked harder for something that fit the theme, i guess  surprised that did so poorly tho admittedly

Yeah, I tried hard to because you've been so damn consistent I kept thinking there was something I was missing but just didn't quite stick as much.  It did improve as the week went on, it was actually going to score lower during earlier listens.

[wolfking]

Since the theme is Winger, anything that sucks fits the theme.

[Crow]

i'm trying not to repeat myself with any two submissions even working within a fairly limited range of "raawwrrr metal" so i was bound to not hit the bulls-eye every time, it's fine 

[wolfking]

i'm trying not to repeat myself with any two submissions even working within a fairly limited range of "raawwrrr metal" so i was bound to not hit the bulls-eye every time, it's fine 

No, I've really enjoyed and appreciated your submissions, can't wait for what else you have for me.

The winner of the roulette only gets a romantic dinner with Kip Winger anyway so it's not wonder Tim is bringing his A game.

[lonestar]

Damn... Finally struck a nerve... Let's see if I can repeat this. I'd say my next submission is my personal favorite of the batch... Hope it works. Definitely hoping to nab that guitar award again.

[jingle.boy]

Since the theme is Winger, anything that sucks fits the theme.

Kade … you gonna let the leader make these kinds of comments unpunished?  I’d be taking points away for trashing the might Winger like that.

Also … hovering around 8 - I’LL TAKE IT.

[wolfking]

Kade … you gonna let the leader make these kinds of comments unpunished?  I’d be taking points away for trashing the might Winger like that.

Also … hovering around 8 - I’LL TAKE IT.

The real punishment would be the couple of people below him to blow him out of the water with submissions and knock him off his perch.  He's being ultra consistent.  I need a 9 from you mate, I'm still waiting on that submission to really kick me in the balls, I know you have it in you.

Damn... Finally struck a nerve... Let's see if I can repeat this. I'd say my next submission is my personal favorite of the batch... Hope it works. Definitely hoping to nab that guitar award again.

It's cool seeing the likes of yourself and Luke clawing back some ranks with some good submissions.  Keep it up.

[jingle.boy]

The real punishment would be the couple of people below him to blow him out of the water with submissions and knock him off his perch.  He's being ultra consistent.  I need a 9 from you mate, I'm still waiting on that submission to really kick me in the balls, I know you have it in you.

[TAC]

[wolfking]