---ROUND 1 RESULTS---1st Place: King Puppies and the Acid Guppies (+15 Points)
dredg - Ode To The SunFirst Impression:
Alright, this band’s been sent to me before, not expecting too much he- oh damn.Well this was a nice surprise. I’ve heard some dredg songs in the past, and they’ve been pleasant but not particularly memorable or impactful. But as soon as the guitars came in here, I knew this was different. There’s a ton of emotion conveyed through the chord progression and vocals in the verses, and the powerful chorus compliments them quite well. The mood is bright and warm, but also unmistakably melancholy, which is one of the most beautiful combinations to me. Hits right in the feels, and the tasteful post-rock style guitars are a nice touch to the whole package. Looks like I’m overdue on checking this album out.
2nd Place: King Postwhore (+14 Points)
Quantum - Moths & LeavesFirst Impression:
A little spooky, a little jazzy, pretty fun.This one starts off slow but gets better and better as it goes on. It opens with a very moody intro, with a nice creepy chord progression and some subtle organ in the background. This then breaks into a pretty fast-paced verse with a nice riff that kind of reminds me of some post-hardcore adjacent prog acts like In The Presence Of Wolves or The Mars Volta. If there’s one weakness of this song it’s probably the vocalist - he does an okay job but he doesn’t have much personality or presence. Maybe he gets to shine more on some other songs. Really though, it’s the second half of this song that’s responsible for it ranking so high. After the guitar solo there’s this sudden jazz breakdown with a horn section, which would be gimmicky on its own, but the way it swells and transitions into the following shreddy passage is just smooth as hell, and the horns add a satisfying layer to the climactic final verse. An awesome ending to a fun and not overly-derivative prog rock song - I’m liking it for sure.
3rd Place: Crow (+13 Points)
Hudson Mohawke - BicstanFirst Impression:
Maybe I’m just thinking of that Reddit post too much, but this does put a smile on my face.
As wacky as this is, the appeal of it is pretty damn simple - my brain loves it when those drums and synth bass go really really fast. That main rhythm is also just janky and off-kilter enough to be simultaneously catchy and interesting. Electronic music usually fares the best for me when it’s either super atmospheric or super energetic, and this song definitely hits the latter. It kind of reminds me of the Aphex Twin songs I got in my last roulette, especially in the middle section, and in hindsight I rated one of those songs (Come To Daddy) way too low. It’s not as satisfyingly visceral as that song, or the catchiest or most energetic electronic song I’ve heard, but it does all of those things well enough and is just a really fun listen at the end of the day. Still probably wouldn’t have sex to it, though. I have no idea what to expect from the rest of the album, but I’ll definitely check it out at some point.
4th Place: LithoJazzoSphere (+12 Points)
Volkor X - This Is Our Planet NowFirst Impression:
Surprisingly tasty instrumentation. Goes decently hard, but will it be hard enough?Another electronic song, and another round highlight, so I’d say we’re off to a pretty good start. It does have a lot of guitar for an electronic song though, along with some pounding drums and slap bass, which gives everything a really cool, satisfying sound (it kind of reminds me of the first Boucle Infinite EP - that's a good synthwave release with some guitar and post-rock style passages). The composition is a little repetitive, but the chorus prevents things from getting too stale, and the focus seems to be more on the great production and how the song gets more and more layered throughout its runtime. The guitar solo in the second half is the clear highlight here, and by the end of the song the sound is so layered and massive that I can’t help but enjoy myself, even if the melodies themselves aren’t super special or captivating on their own. It’s not quite as dark or intense as my favorite kinds of synthwave, but hey, if it’s good it’s good.
5th Place: lonestar (+11 Points)
Anciients - Following The VoiceFirst Impression:
Decently blistering.I got another song from this album (Ibex Eye) in an old roulette. It got first place in the round it was sent in, though in hindsight that was a bit too generous of me, because there’s no way in hell it’s better than the two Thank You Scientist songs I also got that round. It’s still a good song though, and I’m enjoying this one too. It’s definitely not the most unique sound out there, but it’s got a great energy to it and a driving groove. The guitar tone is nice and sharp and there are some pretty killer riffs here, especially the one that plays after the chorus and under the first part of the guitar solo. The harmonized, Iron Maiden-esque lead guitars after the solo are also super fun. The mix is a little on the muddy side and the clean vocals are maybe a bit too smooth for how gritty the instrumentation is, but neither of those things ruin the song. The more dissonant final stretch does lose me a bit though - it’s not too abrasive for me or anything, but this song mostly appeals to me for its energy and groove, and those things get mostly lost in the last couple minutes. It’s a bit of a sour end to an otherwise enjoyable song. But hey, I’ll still probably check this album out now that I’ve heard two pretty solid songs from it.
6th Place: twosuitsluke (+10 Points)
The Ongoing Concept - AmendsFirst Impression:
The intro reminds me of Imagine Dragons. Thankfully the rest of the song does not.Out of all the songs this round, this one’s probably the most inconsistent in that despite only being a few minutes long, it constantly flip-flops between parts that I think are fucking awesome and parts that don’t do as much for me. Some sections feel like they’re channeling a particular kind of 2010s sing-songy pop rock that I don’t really vibe with, particularly the intro and the “you will never be my lover” break towards the end. It’s funny that you guessed that your first impression was me not liking the verses but liking everything else, because it’s kind of the opposite. The parts with blaring guitars and punchy drums are easily the best parts of the song, and I definitely prefer the vocalist when he’s screaming his head off instead of singing. If all of the song were like that, it would probably be a contender for the best song of the round. Another complaint is that the production feels way too busy at certain points - the part where the screams first come in has a bunch of different layers going on at once that don’t work that well together and feel like they’re fighting each other for space, and while I appreciate the usage of horns in the song, they get pretty buried in the mix. All that being said, even though I have my criticisms, this song does have a ton of infectious energy and provides a nice, short hit of dopamine while it’s on. Hopefully this gives you enough direction on which elements to dial in on if you plan on sending more post-hardcore later on!
7th Place: Metro (+9 Points)
Coheed And Cambria - No World For TomorrowFirst Impression:
Some groovy parts, but not as melodically gratifying as the equivalent songs from their previous two albums.Another roulette, another Coheed song. To reiterate, the two songs I’m referring to in my first impression are In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth: 3 and Welcome Home, and while I do like this song, it doesn’t quite meet or surpass the quality of those two. There’s nothing here as catchy or satisfying as that awesome “man your battle stations” refrain in In Keeping Secrets, and the more I hear from this band, the more I’m starting to think that the epic levels of grandiosity on Welcome Home were a bit of a fluke. One thing this does have over those other songs is that it’s considerably groovier - all of the musicians seem to have a lot of chemistry together, and there’s some really nice 6/8 riffs here, especially the one that kicks the song off and turns up again before the final chorus. The chorus is a bit more straightforward by comparison, and the sudden burst of gang vocals feels like it injects a bunch of energy into the song only for it to immediately go back down afterwards. I’m also not that into the slow, chuggy bit towards the end - the guitars and vocals aren’t heavy enough to do it justice and it just ends up sounding pretty limp as a result. So yeah, I thought this was decent enough, but I did make a more concerted effort to get into this band a few years ago that didn’t really bear fruit, and this song isn’t really changing my mind. They might just not be for me.
8th Place: ReaperKK (+8 Points)
Animals As Leaders - Tooth And ClawFirst Impression:
A band I haven't banned, but it’s hard not to be familiar with them. This certainly sounds like them, all right.I’ve known about Animals As Leaders for a long time now; I feel like it’s pretty much impossible to ignore them if you’re a fan of progressive metal, unless you’re Tim levels of living under a rock. Hell, they opened for Dream Theater last year! So yeah, while I’ve always admired their technical proficiency, and seeing them live was pretty fun, I’ve never really dived into their albums because they just didn’t interest me that much. I’ll be honest, most guitar-focused instrumental rock/metal bores me to tears, especially if it’s a whole album of that. With that in mind, I liked this song a bit more than I expected to, though nothing about it really surprised me or caught me off guard. The performances are extremely tight and punchy, as I would expect from these guys, and the song has a decent momentum to it, switching riffs and tempos enough to not get too boring. But like most of the other music I’ve sampled from them, it’s pretty lacking in hooks or memorable ideas, and most of the ones that do stick out to me show up super early into the song - I like the harmonized guitar lick 22 seconds in and that chuggy riff 39 seconds in. Other than that, it’s pretty typical, inoffensive djentery. I like it, but I feel like the more I listen to it the more bored I’ll get of it.
9th Place: Sacul (+7 Points)
Chelsea Wolfe - House Of Self-UndoingFirst Impression:
This should absolutely be my jam, but I think it needs to grow on me.Unfortunately, I think I wanted to like this song more than I ended up doing so. It’s got a cool, dark atmosphere for sure, but that seems to be where the appeal starts and ends for me. As a song, it’s just not grabbing me much. I’m assuming the main draw for most people is Chelsea’s vocals, but I’m honestly not connecting with them that much; they’re just too wispy and detached to me, and unlike on her collab album with Converge, there’s no one else for her to compliment or bounce off of. Yeah, her smoky delivery fits the mood, but it leaves me without much to latch onto, since the song is pretty simple from a compositional standpoint. There are some little details I enjoy - I like the short synth breaks with the descending notes, and the nice little guitar melody at the end of each chorus. I think I would have liked more synths here; I’m guessing other songs on this album have a larger emphasis on electronics? Either way, I’m left feeling mostly indifferent to this one. It’s certainly not bad, but it’s not something I’ll likely feel the need to come back to.
10th Place: Ariich (+6 Points)
Arcane Roots - Off The FloorFirst Impression:
Felt like an appetizer.This could certainly be a case of right artist, wrong song. The instrumentation is definitely nice - it’s got an interesting mix of indie rock with some more futuristic, punchy elements that almost remind me of modern progressive metal. The problem is, I feel like I’ve only gotten a slight taste of that sound, rather than a proper introduction to it. This song’s just too damn short for how much of it is build up or ambiance. The build up and release is kind of satisfying, but it’s done too quickly - once the song finally kicks into full gear halfway through, there’s barely a little over a minute left before it’s all over. Maybe that could work if that small stretch was absolutely amazing, but it’s just not at the level to make up for the brevity for me. Maybe it works better in the context of the album, but that’s not what I’m ranking these songs by. I need more! I (don’t) have a family to feed here!
11th Place: TAC (+5 Points)
Nomy - Dark SkiesFirst Impression:
Man I don’t like those verses. The rest of the song kind of makes up for them though.This is a very simple song, which isn’t inherently a bad thing, but it becomes a problem when the few elements that are here don’t connect with me that much. The verses have this, for lack of a better term, butt rock attitude to them that I don’t really vibe with, the production is pretty flat, and the vocals are alright but don’t have much to them beyond a somewhat gruff but melodic delivery. The riffs are extremely simple, which can work when they’re supporting something else more interesting, but in this case it’s basically just the vocals. I will admit though, the song is certainly catchy, and the chorus has a nice bright melody to it. The key shift at the end is quite predictable but it does result in some more impassioned vocals - I think I like this guy more when he’s screaming his head off more than when he’s doing his more restrained, tough guy delivery. At the end of the day though, I usually want something more from a song than just being catchy, and I’m not really getting that here, unfortunately.
12th Place: Elite (+4 Points)
Twelve Foot Ninja - Dig For BonesFirst Impression:
I think I’d enjoy this group more if they used their off-kilter instrumentation throughout entire songs instead of relegating it to one-off incidental bits.
If the first impression didn’t make this clear, this is another band I’m at least somewhat familiar with. I remember watching several of their music videos from their first album and finding them quite funny and enjoyable, especially the one for Ain’t That A Bitch. I even re-did the sound effects for the scene where that guy beats up the internet troll in his bedroom for a college audio class (and got a very good grade for it). That said, I never seriously checked their music out because it just didn’t impress me that much. Their formula seems to be switching between mid-tempo, somewhat djenty alternative metal and brief sections of some other completely unrelated music style, seemingly just to be quirky or for shits and giggles. They pull off these sections decently enough that I’m left feeling like they’re wasting a ton of potential by not incorporating elements of them throughout entire songs, because man do these metal sections need something more to them than these plodding, incredibly simple riffs. I guess there’s some alright vocal melodies here - I do like the “dig for bones, lick your wounds” bit. Some of the riffs are… vaguely groovy. There’s a part that sounds like Sega Genesis music. That’s pretty much all the compliments I can muster here, unfortunately. There’s not even a music video for this one…
Newly banned artists:- Anciients
- Animals As Leaders
- Coheed And Cambria
- dredg
- Hudson Mohawke
- Twelve Foot Ninja
- Volkor X
CURRENT STANDINGS1: King Puppies and the Acid Guppies - 15
2: King Postwhore - 14
3: Crow - 13
4: LithoJazzoSphere -12
5: lonestar -11
6: twosuitsluke - 10
7: Metro - 9
8: ReaperKK - 8
9: Sacul - 7
10: Ariich - 6
11: TAC - 5
12: Elite - 4
I need a break, but I'll be back in an hour or so with the
ROUND 2 ITEMS.
Topic: Welcome To BuddyhunterKart! (Roulette v6) - ROUND 3 IMPRESSIONS (Read 5830 times)