Walrus A very Gwenty walrus

[Texas Cloverleaf]

In 13th place with 6.3 points, shubaka17 with Incantation by Cacharpaya

Heh this is pretty off the wall, kinda neat, cool beat to match the pipes. Ah. Oh dear. Well this is difficult to judge then. I feel like this should be a catfail because this category kind of necessitates vocals, an instrumental feels like cheating. I think I'll say that this is pretty cool and I like it and you'll get docked two points off of the true score because this really doesn't fit the cat at all.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

In 12th place with 6.4 points SketchUp with Epilogue of a Car Crash by Orchid

This is neat, funky intro that draws me in to the set up. I can dig the hyperdrive for a bit but it does get old pretty quickly so the last minute is kinda eh. It's aight tho.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

Tied for 10th place with 6.9 points, Aura Guardian with Am I Evil? by Metallica

Instrumentals are really strong, vocals are pretty uninteresting, though at least not annoying. Song just can't really keep my interest unfortunately. Solos are terrific though.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

Also tied for 10th place with 6.9 points, FMD with Rocky Road to Dublin by the Dropkick Murphy's

This grew on me after a couple listens. Vocals arent where I'd like them to be for something like this but then I suppose it wouldn't have been submitted to this category. It’s a fun listen but not one that particularly inspires me to listen to it again.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

In 9th place with 7 points, Walrein with 小さな君の手 by Maximum the Hormone

You're lucky this doesn't cat fail. Also, fuck you for wasting a minute and a half of my life with garbage. Intro aside this is pretty solid. Bass is pretty banging, vocals aren't the annoying kind of growly, good pace. You get capped at 7 hardcore for that fucking opening.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

In 8th place with 7.1 points, ItsYaBoi1337 with Question Everything by Five Finger Death Punch

Holy shit the percussion is good on this. Vocals are kinda weak on this track and the instrumentals are weak on the verses but solid on the chorus. Good growls. Relistened to this and it wan't as boring as I thought, this deserved a point up from where it started at.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

Tied for 6th with 7.5 points, RODAN with God of Forbidden Light by Dissection

Nice clean sound on the rhythm guitars with the heavy pace is a great sound. Vocals are pretty decent, fit with the tone of the song pretty well, if they kept up with the pace it would work much better though. Good attention grabber. Kind of goes for an anthemic sound throughout a lot of the vocals which doesn't match up to what's being put out which is kind of jarring. The instrumentals are really on point during solos though. Good submit.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

Also tied for 6th with 7.5 points, Lord Gauis with Blood and Thunder by Mastodon

I dig the instrumentals, catchy riffs. Vocals don't really do it for me, they contribute to the headbangy sound but not much beyond that. Instrumentals really are sick though.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

In 5th place with 7.7 points, Da Letter El with Killing in the Name by Rage Against the Machine

This is pretty nice, solid instrumentals with the classic Morello guitar sounds, vocals are decent. Hard to see much replayability on this for me, but a fun listen.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

In 4th place with 7.8 points, KnightsOfCydonia with We Are the Reasons by We Came as Romans

nstrumentals are pretty engaging with this one, strong rhythm arrangement. I kinda dig the juxatposition of the slightly whiny growls with the really whiny vocals, the pairing works. I could listen to this again.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

Tied for 2nd with 8 points, Asek with Carrion by Parkway Drive

Hey now this actually works! The growls aren't obnoxiously low in a song with relatively upbeat sounds, the more upbeat growls work well with the backing. The verses are a bit forgettable but the intro and chorus are quite nice, this is cool.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

Also tied for 2nd with 8 points, Lightwolf with Hatredcopter by Dethklok

I like this, dunno why. The vocals seem to blend into the music really well as rhythm when they're growly and then are catchy when they aren't. Who doesn't want to fly the hatredcopter?

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

And in 1st place with 8.4 points, Blazade with The Second Stone by Epica

Reckon it's fair to say that you know my taste for instrumentals by this point. Vocals are good enough. I like this but it isn't particularly inspiring for some reason. Dunno.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

And scoresheet after cat 2

Cat 3 reveal is probably going to be like Monday or something

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

Will need submissions from JJayyFeather Granny Pie Steven Snype ItsYaBoi1337 Lord Gaius LightWolf

 

[FMD]

Managed to maintain my foothold at 7th place AND get 2.2 points higher than Jayy! I feel like the next song is my strongest for the category, so hopefully, it boosts me even higher.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

Cat 3 reveal happening NOW

(dw blazade i'll be done before you start)

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

In last place with 1 points, Adam with Have a Nice Life by I don't Love

Ack this is kind of the opposite of what I was looking for. Melancholy for me is a very comforting feeling, the sadness and the sounds are soothing. The distortion in this is jarring and disturbing and really not anywhere close to melancholic for me. Doesn't help that I don't care for this sound on its own merits. Sorry mate, but this is a total bust.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

In 19th place with 2 points, Asek with I Want Wind To Blow by the Microphones

This doesn't work for me at all. The mood isn't melancholic at all with the driving beat and the vocals are far too airy to set a mood. Not sure what's going on with the rattling in the background but it's quite distracting. Not a bad song really, but a total whiff for this category.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

In 18th place with 3 points, VonFiedler with Cambodia by Kim Wilde

Same situation as Asek really, whiffs on the moods I go for despite being a fine song on its own merits. I just don't really get any melancholic moods from it and the synths and beat don't really lend themselves to that either.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

In 17th place with 4 points, Steven Snype with Next Year by Two Door Cinema Club

Musically this is pretty decent but I don't get any melancholy from this at all. It's like upbeat wistfulness.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

In 16th place with 5 points, Blazade with Threshold by Hollow

So on the one hand I quite like this song and I probably add it to my library. On the other hand it doesn't evoke melancholy at all with me. I won't be complaining though!

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

In 15th place, mxtmx with Kalopsia by Qieens of the Stone Age

Not what I've come to expect from QotSA, this is alright though doesn't have anything particularly notable about it. It was doing a decent sob of touching on some melancholy themes at first but the rock breakout was ultimately pointless. Mediocre overall.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

In 14th place, Da Letter El with No One Knows Me Like the Piano by Sampha

This doesn't do it for me. I feel the mood he's creating but it's not one where that I can identify with. Comes off as generic sad mood song to me, rather than anything specifically melancholy. It's a decent song though.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

In 13th place with 6.5 points, RODAN with Return of the Greivous Angel by Gram Parsons

I feel like this is pretty close to being melancholy but the instrumentals are too upbeat to really lend itself to that mindset. The lyrics are suitably bleak to fit the idea, though in a perfect world melancholy lyrics should focus on inner turmoil so this kinda is a bit off in a couple ways. I don't mind it though.