Big Big Train of Daftness Roulette! POST-ROULETTE CEREAL HOURS

[Train of Naught]

After 4 full listens I can successfully deduct that both of your submissions are actually songs by bands

2.25/10 sum of your scores

[Crow]

DOWN! LOWER! TO THE BOTTOM!

[Evermind]

I'm going to the bar tomorrow after work to celebrate my win/mourn my loss (more likely), hopefully results are up in the next ~20 hours

[Crow]

Congrats TAC!

[Crow]

Gonna get 2 more listens in today and hopefully post results tonight 

[Puppies_On_Acid]

Gonna get 2 more listens in today and hopefully post results tonight 

[Train of Naught]

BLEGH yesterday was hectic, I was traveling for over 10 hours and then only had 40 minutes of free time 20 of which I used for food. BUT I am finishing the write-ups now on my last listen, 7 to go. No comparisons this round, sorry. WRAPITUP WRAPITUP WRAPITUP

[Train of Naught]

FINAAAAALLLLL RESULTS



TAC: Dawn of Silence - Lead Wings
A very 'okay' song on all levels.

I can't say much about this song that I've also felt about some of your past submissions, it's simply a melodic metal song that doesn't resonate with me. The vocal melodies are made to be anthemic and fun to sing along with, but it doesn't stick with me. I just have a hard time saying anything about something that I don't actively like or dislike that much, and it's all just average.

5/10




Bolsters: The Naked and Famous - I Kill Giants
Pleasant listen, but nothing that excited me all that much.

The song I just feel all there is to it is this pleasant feeling that I get off some TV commercial song, where I don't engage in any of the music, any of the lyrics, but I simply just kind of let it pass by. I will take out one or two key elements in the song and latch onto them but beyond that don't get any more out of future listens. I'm missing the depth on one end and then the emotional engagement on the other end. All in all it's perfectly 'ok'.. but can't say any more.

5.75/10




Puppies: Deathspell Omega - II
This song seems a bit too all over the place on first impression, let's see how it unfolds over the next few days.

And it's definitely still kind of all over the place, riff after riff after riff, different tempos around every corner, not that many common recurring themes. It reminds me of Death in that sense, though more relentless and aggressive. The vocals are give or take, I don't think they're as powerful as they could be. I'm not that big of a fan of deathmetal vocals to begin with when I compare it with the likes of post-metal and metalcore. Johannes Persson has to be my all-time favorite harsh vocal frontman. There's many good moments, my favourite being the section that starts around 9 minutes, and it stops at 10 minutes when it abruptly breaks into the fast main theme once again. Oops, I guess I lose focus during this song all the time because I can't fully wrap my head around it. I want to like it more than I do, because there are some really cool riffs. But that's really what it feels like to me, a collection of good and not as good riffs, but I'm missing more of a coherence.

7/10




home: BROCKHAMPTON - J'OUVERT
Not doing all that much for me, I think this kind of mood doesn't excite me much in this genre.

So there is quiet a lot going on here for a song with a run-time under 4 minutes. Cool busy lower end production, smooth lines, and.. a super high energy angry rapper. I never liked it much in rap when there is too much anger channeled through the vocals, especially in that more emo approach. BUT this is just a fraction of the song, and it is catchy and very groovy at the same time. I can vibe with it, I could see myself getting into the album if it shares the same overall vibe.

7/10





Kattelox: Arcturus - For to End Yet Again
Great composition, ambitious tune, I think I like it?

If any chorus has been stuck in my head this round it would be this one. I got very skeptical after the first listen, because I'm normally not into overblown theatrical and dramatically superfluous stuff, but maybe those are wrong descriptors here. Maybe it's just a really well-done, subtle, emotionally driven tune with the ability to switch between different moods seamlessly. I am really into this spiritual quiet mid-section, I don't know any music quite like that section. I'm actually pretty sure I wouldn't like a whole album like this, sounds like a lot to take in, but based on this song I'm very satisfied.

8/10




Evermind: Evan Carson – Otriad
Pretty greyt first impression

I try to avoid obvious first impression messages but I chuckled at this one cause my sense of humor is terrible. I think Jim Grey fits this song, and probably this artist's music perfectly. The vocal melodies and rhythms are really cool, it's very prog but it's not too technical for my tastes. It's very Haken-y. I can't say a bunch about it other than it's catchy AF and very well composed. Some of the second half sounds more Lindsey Stirling influenced, with some more modern instrumentation combined with the violin. Maybe could do with a less overblown / epic ending, but that's just nit-picking at this point.. very good song.

8/10




ariich: Caravan Palace - Wonderland
Quite a lot of diversity for a band I that thought had a pretty straight-forward sound.

From the beginning through the first minute I was pretty certain this would be the round-winner without any contest, it is such a fun song. It feels weird to say that coming in only at 3 minutes, it does seem like there is a bit of redundancy to it, with the "all up in the ()" repeating quite a lot. But like I thought at first, the music around it is so dynamic and they're not scared to keep experimenting to build upon previous bars. I can't NOT love it, it's too damn infectious, I need to hear this album now too.

8.25/10




Elite: Swans - The Sound
Beautiful beyond my expectations, this will definitely take more listens to fully grasp though.

I'm a bit familiar with Swans, i've listened to The Seer, To Be Kind, The Glowing Man, and.... this album! That was 2 years ago, and I remember I was very focused on studying during that. I always knew that their music was very slow in its progression, but I don't remember at all how beautiful the vocals were. Very angelic vibe, and a very recognizable sound. THE SOUND. I've also grown more patient over the years and am getting more used to longer song compositions, so that helps. And when the song hits it really HITS, so much heavier than I remember it like in my head. I recently listened to the album "My Father Will Guide Me..." recently and there I already found out that I actually could like these guys more. This is a solid effort, definitely going to dive into Soundtracks for the Blind soon.

9/10




Cyril: Midnight Odyssey - From a Frozen Wasteland
Now that's a freaking journey.

This really couldn't have been any other song could it. What a unique and monstrous tune. I would always be scared to tackle a 20+ minute song, but when I heard that all of the intro was an isolated, reverbed vocal passage I knew I would be in for something special and most of all super epic. The tone of the vocals themselves is not super exciting, it does border a bit on that 'fantasy cheesy' tone that you hear in prog-power music, but the reverb does wonders at making the overall sound more ethereal and mysterious. In the middle it becomes really drony, kind of reminds me of Om. I can also hear some Devil Doll in the piano passage coming after that. But it really does keep building and does get better all the way through the end. I didn't really expect to like this as much as I do, but it really is a hell of a journey, and a great way to end the roulette!

9/10




Sacul: Gorillaz - Empire Ants
Completely different from what I expected from this band.

Man, I've been listening to some Gorillaz lately and was actually pretty surprised about how much I liked it since I last checked them (when Humanz came out). But this came completely out of the left field. I've never listened to anything from this album. The use of synth is so authentic but it still sounds innovative and futuristic. There's a really cool groove laid over it. And the build into this section is smooth as well. It's one of the most pleasant things I've listened to in recent years, and I keep wanting to just loop this the whole time, it's so damn catchy. Perfect build. Perfect usage of the Little Dragon guest spot.

9.5/10



Final standings

Sacul: 61.75
Evermind: 61.75

ariich: 61.25
Puppies: 60
Kattelox: 58.75
Elite: 57.5
home: 56.5
Cyril: 53
Bolsters: 52
TAC: 46

I'm going to the bar tomorrow after work to celebrate my win/mourn my loss (more likely), hopefully results are up in the next ~20 hours

I purposely did not look at the standings before compiling my final scores because I didn't want to subconsciously manipulate anything to avoid a tie, I knew it would be somewhat close with Sacul's ridiculously high score..

Sorry buddy, we're not done here yet. What shall we do? In my view, there are two possible scenarios:

1.) Declare both Sacul and Evermind winners (is this allowed @Bolsters?)
2.) Have a final tie-breaker. If we do this, let's do 1 album per person. No themes, nothing longer than, say, 75 minutes though.



To the other 8 troopers, thank you for participating, hope this roulette was somewhat okay. I found out roulettes are a bit too overwhelming for me nowadays and I'm not likely to host another one, but I'm glad to have received some great music and one or more artists from each one of you that I'm curious about checking out!

[Evermind]

Yeeeeah I'm really good at these tiebreakers/additional rounds things, I don't think I've ever won any of these

I'm down with anything though, maybe I'll finally have my revenge for that Championship loss 4 years ago!

[Elite]

I'll take that for the final round! Glad you liked it. Thanks for hosting!

[Sacul]

Woooo, now that's an unexpected comeback for me . Glad you loved the song, it's such a nice album, very atmospheric and catchy.

I'm up for a tiebreaker as well, let's do it Ev

[Bolsters]

1.) Declare both Sacul and Evermind winners (is this allowed @Bolsters?)

It's been done before. Pretty sure there's even a roulette in the archive somewhere with a three-way tie. It's always left up to the host to decide what they would prefer to do.

[Train of Naught]

maybe I'll finally have my revenge for that Championship loss 4 years ago!

Okay let's do this! Please send me uno albumo beforo endo of Sundayo

Glad you loved the song, it's such a nice album, very atmospheric and catchy.

I actually immediately tried spinning the album and I heard Snoop Doggy Dogg on the first track and turned it off immediately. I hope it gets better

[The Walrus]

Given how I started I am quite pleased with how my songs resonated with you but the end. This was fun. Thanks for letting me play, Train!

[Sacul]

Glad you loved the song, it's such a nice album, very atmospheric and catchy.

I actually immediately tried spinning the album and I heard Snoop Doggy Dogg on the first track and turned it off immediately. I hope it gets better

don't worry it's a great album!

I'll try to think of something carefully and send it tomorrow.

[Evermind]

I've lots of plans for tomorrow so it's possible you'll have to wait until Sunday but I'll do my best!

[Train of Naught]

Monday should also be fine to be honest!

One ting bothers me though, I heavily underscored The Island by The Decemberists, possibly because it topped the round and therefore already felt really high compared to the other songs, but damn. That should probably be 9.25. I see now that it wouldn't make enough difference though, but I had to say it.

[home]

Thanks for hosting this mister Train! I hope you got at least something out of my submissions 

By the way, no words about the amaazing transition from the angry part to the next one? "excuuuuuuse we"

[Buddyhunter1]

Empire Ants is guaranteed to score well if sent in a roulette, this has now been confirmed scientifically.

[Crow]

empire ants is good

also heck yeah finishing stronk

[Puppies_On_Acid]

Deathspell Omega is a lot to take in. I knew it had a chance of not doing great, but that's ok. I'd recommend giving their album Paracletus a listen. I didn't send a song from that because it's better to listen to it as a whole album.

[ariich]

Dammit, so close! Only 0.5 in it.

Really glad you liked the Caravan Palace though! Their first three albums are all fantastic - the first is probably the most consistently good IMO so ends up being my favourite, but my favourite individual tracks are mostly on the second and third.

[Train of Naught]

Thanks for hosting this mister Train! I hope you got at least something out of my submissions 

By the way, no words about the amaazing transition from the angry part to the next one? "excuuuuuuse we"

I DID catch that yeah I'm not commenting on everything but am definitely listening closely, just a bad reviewer.

Deathspell Omega is a lot to take in. I knew it had a chance of not doing great, but that's ok. I'd recommend giving their album Paracletus a listen. I didn't send a song from that because it's better to listen to it as a whole album.

Thanks for the rec, deff still interested in this band.

Dammit, so close! Only 0.5 in it.

Really glad you liked the Caravan Palace though! Their first three albums are all fantastic - the first is probably the most consistently good IMO so ends up being my favourite, but my favourite individual tracks are mostly on the second and third.

To be honest I should have listened to the first album ages ago when I received Suzy and pretty much instantly loved it. Thanks!

Sacul, Evermind just informed me it'd be better to wait another day for the album submission, so you have until Monday too! Until then I'm going through some Cyril post-roulette stuff and will add some comments

[Evermind]

Yeah I'm just... not up for this today at all. However I'm gonna kick your ass tomorrow, Lucas, so there's that, pick your best album

[Train of Naught]

Seizures - Reverie of the Revolving Diamond
Feeling a heavy sense of identity-crisis with this group... The influences are all over the place. I hear primarily Genghis Tron and Full of Hell type riffs in the more grindy parts, obviously without the cyber- aspect of it from Genghis Tron. And then everything around it ranges from post-metal moods such as Isis / Cult of Luna to more technical -core moments such as early Between the Buried and Me, Full of Hell and Cryptodira. Still, there's a lot to like about this album, but I can't help but go 'why was THIS section inserted HERE on the album??' every so often. There's some very odd pacing, such as the first song basically being a short build-up track with a strong ending, but then pretty much being neglected when the second track starts.
I could probably pick out 4 different musical approaches of this album that would make for albums ranging from great to amazing when you dissect them and flesh out the ideas. An excellent example of a song that's pretty crazy throughout but not very spastic in terms of songwriting is Of Indigo and Seven Crowns, and it's also pretty train-core AF. Very Dillinger Escape Plan, some BTBAM here and there, some Genghis Tron. Some examples of annoyingly chaotic songs are Bedlam Blues and Toxophola. Toxophola in particular just sucks because there is SUCH GOOD STUFF on that song but as a whole it feels off. I want to love this song so hard.

Highlights: Mazarine, The Ponds Have Dried yet Still You Stare, Of Indigo and Seven Crowns
I do feel like I will return to this though.

[Puppies_On_Acid]

Mmm, Genghis Tron!

[Train of Naught]

I hope that doesn't mean you're banning them they were on my list to send you, but if you know them I probably shouldn't.

[Crow]

oh yeah i did not end up liking this album very much. i totally forgot i sent you this one.

listen to the EP i sent you first that's where all the good stuff is probably
it looks like i sent you that joliette album and there's already a song off it on the EP i sent so yeah listen to the EP first? the joliette album is actually killer. like a mexican analogy for the hirsch effekt

[Train of Naught]

Cool, yeah that one will be next

[Crow]

the EP, you mean?

[Train of Naught]

Yeah that one


.... just kidding, the Joliette album



...just kidding, the EP

[Crow]

of the albums i sent the joliette one is the only one with any overlap with the EP so yeah

i probably should've sent adrift in the roulette proper too

[TAC]

Alright Train! Seems I lost the plot halfway through.

Cheers!

[Sacul]

However I'm gonna kick your ass tomorrow, Lucas, so there's that, pick your best album

We'll see about that, I think I'll send some 36 min Japanese thing, I'm having a deja vu...

[Train of Naught]

Kashiwa Daisuke is Big Big Banned, you sent them to me one time!

Alright Train! Seems I lost the plot halfway through.

Cheers!

Thanks for participating man, clearly didn't really match after the first couple rounds, but it happens.