Song Contest 108 (RESULTS POSTED)

[Parama]

Dunno if I should send a pop song I heard recently that I quite like or more metal that I expect to do poorly but gets me top 5

[Parama]

welcome to your new hell

[Parama]

Yes

[Parama]

welcome to your new hell

I'm totally getting cut at this rate

[Parama]

@peg so it's good?

[Parama]

anyways i went the weeb route & entered a song from a japanese band

[Parama]

the song i entered is technically not metal, too

tho the band that performs it is metal

also what challenge

[Parama]

definitely didn't enter j-pop

[Parama]

eww not having the mp3 files yourself gross

[Parama]

I have mp3s for court and red because i have both albums

[Parama]

I actually have no clue what I'll enter next botb, not been a ton of bands I've been too crazy about and I don't like entering bands I've entered myself in these

[Parama]

man the song i entered is still genuinely terrifying to me. i love it

[Parama]

goddammit

[Parama]

redbone was already sent anyways it's banned

[Parama]

Experimental music nobody will like for $200, alex

[Parama]

There's even a really cool video that adds nothing to the music unless you like men hitting percussion

i never watch the videos & if it's intrusive i'd rather not

[Parama]

the song i submitted is one of the weirdest songs i've ever submitted and very much unlike anything i've ever sent but also everyone knows i'm iceland so you'll know right away it's mine

[Parama]

What band I'll help you pick

[Parama]

Oh nvm never really been a fan of them

[Parama]

I don't like either
I prefer metallica in general but holy wars is the best song between the two bands

[Parama]

Sweet, getting cut soon

[Parama]

raving rabbles

[Parama]

Bring on the cut rabble

[Parama]

tool of rabble

[Parama]

I haven't been cut in quite a while now and its weird but I'll accept it

[Parama]

I would've been except you just pointed it out so now I'm guaranteed not to be cut

Anyways with how much persona 5 I've been playing it makes too much sense for me to be sending a Japanese artist now, hah

[Parama]

heck yeah last place in empire's rankings

[Parama]

Tool I am expecting no points from you so dont let me down

[Parama]

feeling a solid to strong NO on this one, and that's all, tran-

[Parama]

kraska go listen to wilderun - sleep at the edge of the earth you might like it

I don't listen to a ton of folk metal but that's some seriously good stuff imo

[Parama]

Yes we know you have bad taste in music panzer no need to rub it in we're all very jealous

[Parama]

Yes we know you have bad taste in music sesq no need to rub it in we're all very jealous

[Parama]

USA – The piano line at the start of this sounds really familiar, but that might just be because it’s a kind of standard/generic melody for the sound they’re going for here. But I mean the style they’re going for here is pretty great and man this song does a lot for only three minutes. I think the vocals are probably the weak element here, this would’ve been perfectly fine as an instrumental. Nonetheless I do still enjoy it quite a bit, good start to the contest. (GOOD)

Greece – Oh hi, Moby. Never heard anything from you ever before. But I mean I’ve never heard this one so whatever. This is… pretty nice. Feels a bit generic, but it’s pleasant. More rock-oriented than I was expecting really. Yeah, don’t mind this at all, it’s alright. (DECENT)

Chad – The riffing in this song feels really djent-y, but the synths at least make this kind of interesting. Also okay suddenly clean vocals. On that note I don’t like the harsh vocals here much at all though, but they at least have personality compared to generic metalcore singer #500. Yeah I’m not fully on board with all of this but it’s alright enough. (DEcENT)

Burkina Faso – This is a bit of a nothing song, isn’t it? Yeah the atmosphere is nice and mellow but beyond that there’s basically nothing here. The instrumentation barely changes, and the vocals are so off-kilter that there’s barely a tune being held. It’s not bad or anything but it fails to evoke any real reaction from me. (AVERAGE)

Italy – I was kind of digging this at first but those vocals just do not fit at all. They don’t even sound bad, they just sound completely out of place. Also the random screamed words make this give off a suspiciously nu-metal feel with how forced they come off. I think the guitar work saves this one somewhat though, it’s nothing special but I can groove to these riffs. So yeah, s’ok. (DECENT)

Afghanistan – Y’all know what I’m gonna say. The instrumentation is nice but a bit repetitive. The chorus vocals are okay but don’t really feel strong as a hook. And the verses are rap, so. Yeah. (MEDIOCRE)

Bhutan – Two in a row huh. This is also really dated though. Early 90’s hiphop is all really dated & everyone’s inflections all sound exactly the same to me. Again the music is alright enough, actually does a decent variety of things especially with that saxophone(?) in the background. But it’s still playing second fiddle for the vocals, which I just can’t get into at all. (MEDIOCRE)

Ecuador – Such an awful band name. Getting strong country vibes from this right away though, especially the deep, booming vocals. Okay and when this kicks in it’s actually pretty great. Good energy to the song, addition of the fiddle at moments is pretty nice too, it’s just an all around fun listen. Awful band name though. (GOOD)

Laos – I’m a sucker for this kind of 6/8 cadence so I’m already biased to like this from the start. And yeah, it’s pretty nice. I don’t quite think I’m on board with the vocals, and they are definitely given a bit too much prominence, especially when you have those strings coming in in the distant background, they definitely should’ve been given more of the attention. Despite its problems though I do end up liking this a fair bit, though it’s also maybe a bit generic? I dunno. It’s nice though. (DECENT)

not a bad start all things considered

[Parama]

i'm actually deaf and i listen to music just by feeling the vibrations coming through my speakers. i pick the songs with the most vibrations and give them the most points

[Parama]

Taiwan – Hmm. It’s a “nice” song. And the instrumentation is a bit nonstandard at times, it at least has a bit of flavor. But beyond that there really isn’t much to say beyond “I liked it, kinda.” (DECENT)

Hong Kong – I only know these guys as “that one band what did a song that was in guitar here one time”. I actually kinda dig the vocals here, both the rougher edged ones and the clean ones. It’s preferable to the standard metalcore growls, for sure. And yeah I guess these guys are metalcore but this has more melody to it, though it honestly doesn’t feel that heavy at all. But I mean that’s fine, I like this. Maybe not that special but it’s enjoyable. (GOOD)

Kenya – I feel like I should enjoy this more than I do, but it’s kind of just. A nothing of a song. The vocal melodies are a bit off but not in an interesting way, the instrumentation is pretty basic, and it never really feels like it goes anywhere. I can’t say it’s bad but I can’t say I care for it either. (AVERAGE)

Bolivia – I lasted about 3 minutes. (DID NOT FINISH)

Fiji – For an anime song, this is okay I guess. I don’t think it has much personality but it sounds nice enough for the decent tier. I lower my standards quite a lot for these contests. Actually no you know what now is the perfect time to realign my ratings. (AVERAGE)

Cote d’Ivoire – I was tempted to literally just copy + paste the comment from the previous song here to be memey but no this is actually a fair bit better, for one this does actually have some personality to it while being just as lushly orchestrated. Granted, the personality it does have I can’t say I’m a huge fan of, but I notice it. It exists. It stands out. (DECENT)

Georgia – More like YYZ amirite AHAH. But mostly this is. Boring. No way around it there’s just not much to this. The guitar line gets really repetitive really fast and besides that and some percussion the vocals are the only thing this has. And they’re not that interesting either. And it’s too short to ever go anywhere, it’s completely static really. So yeah, pass. (MEDIOCRE)

The Federated States of Micronesia – Well, this is pretty nice. It kind of sounds exactly like a lot of other indie rock in a similar vein, but it’s, pretty nice? I don’t know. It’s just kind of. There. (AVERAGE)

[Parama]

The album Voices is off of is not very standard black metal either, it's actually a lot closer to nwobhm with some weird stuff happening too & it's pretty solid but this track is the only one i really love

[Parama]

Nicaragua – Thus far this is fitting into the category of “pretty nice background music” but, will, it continue down that path I wonder. It kind of stays there sometimes but other times has interesting stuff going on. I would definitely call this “nice” but I wouldn’t say it’s particularly compelling, either. The weird dissonant bits are also simultaneously the most interesting and least enjoyable parts of the song for me. Overall though it’s. Fine. (DECENT)

Canada – I don’t know, the bright & sugary sound of this just doesn’t hold much appeal to me, at all. It’s actually fairly diverse for its runtime (though there are moments I do find genuinely annoying) but that hardly matters when I don’t find most of the song that appealing. (MEDIOCRE)

Sweden – Okay maybe just a personal nitpick but I have never, ever, liked the syncopated synth swell effect a lot of electronic stuff does. It makes a song feel automatically generic and a bit annoying. Beyond that this sounds… nice enough, but it really is quite generic. Like I have nothing else to say. It’s just dull lol. (MEDIOCRE)

Republic of Kugelmugel – Musically this has no appeal to me. And otherwise, it’s rap. Yeah, no thanks. (BAD)

Albania – This is actually pretty nice. I just really enjoy the texture the atmosphere of this song has. Instrumentation is maybe a bit simple but it works. Yeah, I can dig this. Don’t know if I really “love” it but I’m on board with it. (GOOD)

Azerbaijan – An 11 minute song called “OMG”. This is gonna suck? Mostly it’s just kind of. A bit too minimal, and with a lot of sounds I don’t find pleasant. Bleh. Not much else to say, not my thing in the slightest. (MEDIOCRE)

Somalia – Start feels a bit disconnected from the rest but as a whole it’s a pretty okay metal song? Can’t say I’m really loving any part of it but the instrumentation is pretty solid & diverse and there’s nothing really offputting so yeah I can dig it. (GOOD)

Latvia – This is just too 80’s for me. I dunno it doesn’t really sound bad or anything but I don’t care for the vocals & the instrumentation is a bit bleh too. I don’t really mind it in any real way though, it’s not bad, just not for me. (AVERAGE)

Iceland – I don’t even know what makes this song work but I know that it does. And I think it’s kind of terrifying too. The rest of this album is way cheerier in comparison, and it’s, pretty alright yeah.

[Parama]

voted. would say on the whole this was an above average contest when taking into account only the songs i liked, since the quality of those averaged a big higher than usual, but there was also a fair bit of bad stuff too so w/e

[Parama]

i'm just proud i've done enough in my life for me to be someone's rival in a music thread on a forum about playing a game where we pretend to kill each other

[Parama]

i gave flip flap minor points

[Parama]

goddaMMIT SESQ

[Parama]

i did something

alright back to sending metal nobody will like next contest

[Parama]

SC109 is open!