TOP 15
Adam
birdwithteeth11
BLOODYRAIN10001
Frog
Kane
LordQuas
marmot
MyNameIsNothing
Psycho666Soldier
Roman
roro__b
schadd
shubaka17
staypositivefriend
Visorslash
[WALRUS] Shad Walrus 2021
Moderator: Community Team
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
15th place:
roro__b
Pogo - Dance on Water
The "don't be afraid" sound clip is from 14:58 into the English dub of Spirited Away. I actually checked. No unfamiliarity points for you.
Mmm... I feel like this could just as easily be a cat 1 sub, granted the same doesn't apply in reverse to the Pogo song I got there. Swaying on the sea under the stars, yeah, I can see that. The mood is more of a pleasant dream than a harsh reality, but that doesn't really matter. It's close enough to slide when I enjoy it this much.
8.6
roro__b
Pogo - Dance on Water
The "don't be afraid" sound clip is from 14:58 into the English dub of Spirited Away. I actually checked. No unfamiliarity points for you.
Mmm... I feel like this could just as easily be a cat 1 sub, granted the same doesn't apply in reverse to the Pogo song I got there. Swaying on the sea under the stars, yeah, I can see that. The mood is more of a pleasant dream than a harsh reality, but that doesn't really matter. It's close enough to slide when I enjoy it this much.
8.6
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
14th place:
LordQuas
Jim Nopédie - La Casino Engloutie
I feel we're exploring from the safety of a controlled dive, and if the sax at 2:25 can be postured as glimpses of a strange world below, we're soon down in it, investigating with relaxed toe-tapping excitement. This song does a great job of generating imagery that's not only oceanic, but pretty specifically the scene laid out in the category name, besides that there's not the slightest hint of danger.
8.7
LordQuas
Jim Nopédie - La Casino Engloutie
I feel we're exploring from the safety of a controlled dive, and if the sax at 2:25 can be postured as glimpses of a strange world below, we're soon down in it, investigating with relaxed toe-tapping excitement. This song does a great job of generating imagery that's not only oceanic, but pretty specifically the scene laid out in the category name, besides that there's not the slightest hint of danger.
8.7
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
13th place:
Adam
Stan Rogers - White Squall
Yet again I walk into a Stan Rogers sub expecting to not like it, and yet again I walk away amazed. It's a silly reaction, but something in hearing a guy sing and play folk conventionally instinctively makes me leery, like I'm expecting it to serve as compensation for a lack of artistic passion. But in all of the tracks I've heard, Stan just had it. He was able to perform in a refined, flawless manner while still fully grounding and immersing himself in the humanity of the stories he told. It's a rare convergence of talents, and I'm happy to have had another opportunity to really sit down and soak it in.
8.8
Adam
Stan Rogers - White Squall
Yet again I walk into a Stan Rogers sub expecting to not like it, and yet again I walk away amazed. It's a silly reaction, but something in hearing a guy sing and play folk conventionally instinctively makes me leery, like I'm expecting it to serve as compensation for a lack of artistic passion. But in all of the tracks I've heard, Stan just had it. He was able to perform in a refined, flawless manner while still fully grounding and immersing himself in the humanity of the stories he told. It's a rare convergence of talents, and I'm happy to have had another opportunity to really sit down and soak it in.
8.8
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
12th place:
Frog
Glass Animals - Space Ghost Coast to Coast
I absolutely love what you did here haha
Because the genre is so radically different from anything I expected, but the pulse and depth and effects radiate exactly what I asked for. I feel like you went all in for the Ruins of Beverast sample and absolutely drilled it, except you converted it from black metal to this.
Well played.
8.9
Frog
Glass Animals - Space Ghost Coast to Coast
I absolutely love what you did here haha
Because the genre is so radically different from anything I expected, but the pulse and depth and effects radiate exactly what I asked for. I feel like you went all in for the Ruins of Beverast sample and absolutely drilled it, except you converted it from black metal to this.
Well played.
8.9
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
11th place:
shubaka17
Covet - Sea Dragon
I have to draw a line on this one somewhere between god this is beautiful and is it reeeeally a cat fit? The good news is that I already bought the album based on the cat 1 entry and this is another very promising sign that I won't be disappointed. But as much as I want it to belong here, it really doesn't. There's nothing about it that screams aquatic to me, disregarding the music video. I could make a case for the way she's letting the notes ring out giving it a sense of fluid motion, but that's me talking, not how my head's parsing it. For the opening minute or so it has a forlorn feeling that could distantly go there, but it quickly progresses into a dainty thing taking me to my happy place, which doesn't really belong in this category either. There wasn't much in the way of true cat fails here, but this comes close. I'm stubbornly refusing to tank it anyway, but I can't let it into my top 10. It just doesn't fit. It doesn't feel right there. This would have likely won my Fall category a few years back.
9.0
I disagree with this write-up and think it fits but i'm not re-writing it
shubaka17
Covet - Sea Dragon
I have to draw a line on this one somewhere between god this is beautiful and is it reeeeally a cat fit? The good news is that I already bought the album based on the cat 1 entry and this is another very promising sign that I won't be disappointed. But as much as I want it to belong here, it really doesn't. There's nothing about it that screams aquatic to me, disregarding the music video. I could make a case for the way she's letting the notes ring out giving it a sense of fluid motion, but that's me talking, not how my head's parsing it. For the opening minute or so it has a forlorn feeling that could distantly go there, but it quickly progresses into a dainty thing taking me to my happy place, which doesn't really belong in this category either. There wasn't much in the way of true cat fails here, but this comes close. I'm stubbornly refusing to tank it anyway, but I can't let it into my top 10. It just doesn't fit. It doesn't feel right there. This would have likely won my Fall category a few years back.
9.0
I disagree with this write-up and think it fits but i'm not re-writing it
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
TOP 10
birdwithteeth11
BLOODYRAIN10001
Kane
marmot
MyNameIsNothing
Psycho666Soldier
Roman
schadd
staypositivefriend
Visorslash
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
10th place:
Kane
Ye Banished Privateers - Parting Song
When I saw Napalm Records I got a bit nervous about how this would transition, but they hold steady. The song is incredibly haunting. I thought the verses would be a little more raw lyrically, but it's not their native language, so fair enough. This was on the cusp of going megadeep, tempting me with that perfect closer feel. Unfortunately, the voice acting in the background from 3:55 is horrendous, and while that's not a game-ender, it's too much of a glaring issue to be a top 5 contender either.
9.1
Kane
Ye Banished Privateers - Parting Song
When I saw Napalm Records I got a bit nervous about how this would transition, but they hold steady. The song is incredibly haunting. I thought the verses would be a little more raw lyrically, but it's not their native language, so fair enough. This was on the cusp of going megadeep, tempting me with that perfect closer feel. Unfortunately, the voice acting in the background from 3:55 is horrendous, and while that's not a game-ender, it's too much of a glaring issue to be a top 5 contender either.
9.1
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
9th place:
Visorslash
Karl Flodin - Osiris
I have this soundtrack. Very briefly skimming through it again, I think you picked the best track for the category. This is pretty much perfect for what I was looking for, and might have even been floating around subconsciously in the back of my head in that froth of sounds that spawned the idea for this category in the first place. I feel like I'm a mile below the surface in a completely different world. I was concerned that the length might hold it back a bit, but that ended up not being a factor. This feels like the anthem to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
9.2
Visorslash
Karl Flodin - Osiris
I have this soundtrack. Very briefly skimming through it again, I think you picked the best track for the category. This is pretty much perfect for what I was looking for, and might have even been floating around subconsciously in the back of my head in that froth of sounds that spawned the idea for this category in the first place. I feel like I'm a mile below the surface in a completely different world. I was concerned that the length might hold it back a bit, but that ended up not being a factor. This feels like the anthem to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
9.2
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
8th place:
marmot
Dirty Three - The Restless Waves
This is a five minute song that feels like twenty but isn't really any worse off for it. It's called Restless Waves, but they seem to be meandering along calmly to me. Even the closing minute climax is a subtle thing--a brief restlessness that quickly passes on. Godspeed You! Black Emperor might generate an anthem with a fairly similar sound, but this was a pleasant plod along the way, and I kind of liked the lack of a true spectacle to end on. It adds value to the rest of the song--moments to be appreciated as they are and not as steps in the progression. This album is actually contemporary to f#a#oo, when post-rock was barely an idea on the map. I'm really curious to hear more, both because I like it and because it tickles my historical fancies.
I pulled up some samples from their most recent album, Toward the Low Sun. At a quick skim, the production was strikingly different. Ocean Songs was produced by Steve Albini, and you can't get much better than that, but it was pretty bizarre in contrast. Maybe I'll give it a more than five minute attempt again later. For now, Ocean Songs is sitting in my Bandcamp cart and I will definitely be hearing more of this band post-walrus.
Ok, looking back on this one a long time removed. I give a bonus point to my favorite sub between all the categories. This is not my favorite sub, though it's way up there. But given how relentlessly I have been listening to them for the past month now, it would feel a bit absurd to not award it something. I'm still ok with the 8th placement here. I liked a few others more in the context of this category. But you get some extra. Their discography has been my work playlist for weeks. And yeah, Towards the Low Sun is definitely the oddball of the crew, though I dig it in its way.
9.3 + 0.5
marmot
Dirty Three - The Restless Waves
This is a five minute song that feels like twenty but isn't really any worse off for it. It's called Restless Waves, but they seem to be meandering along calmly to me. Even the closing minute climax is a subtle thing--a brief restlessness that quickly passes on. Godspeed You! Black Emperor might generate an anthem with a fairly similar sound, but this was a pleasant plod along the way, and I kind of liked the lack of a true spectacle to end on. It adds value to the rest of the song--moments to be appreciated as they are and not as steps in the progression. This album is actually contemporary to f#a#oo, when post-rock was barely an idea on the map. I'm really curious to hear more, both because I like it and because it tickles my historical fancies.
I pulled up some samples from their most recent album, Toward the Low Sun. At a quick skim, the production was strikingly different. Ocean Songs was produced by Steve Albini, and you can't get much better than that, but it was pretty bizarre in contrast. Maybe I'll give it a more than five minute attempt again later. For now, Ocean Songs is sitting in my Bandcamp cart and I will definitely be hearing more of this band post-walrus.
Ok, looking back on this one a long time removed. I give a bonus point to my favorite sub between all the categories. This is not my favorite sub, though it's way up there. But given how relentlessly I have been listening to them for the past month now, it would feel a bit absurd to not award it something. I'm still ok with the 8th placement here. I liked a few others more in the context of this category. But you get some extra. Their discography has been my work playlist for weeks. And yeah, Towards the Low Sun is definitely the oddball of the crew, though I dig it in its way.
9.3 + 0.5
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
7th place:
Psycho666Soldier
Neurosis - The Tide
I... don't think I've ever actually given a Neurosis sub less than 10th place. They're my favorite band I never listen to. A Sun That Never Sets came out right around the same time a lot of other groundbreaking metal albums were released (I think I rambled about this last year), and I was still fairly new to exploring non-mainstream music. There was so much new stuff for me to listen to, and so much of it was so exceptional. Neurosis were always on my short list of great bands, but I never got around to binging them for days on end the way I did with say, Isis or Boris around the same time. I feel like they're in some walrus sweet spot where I walk in already knowing I love the song but not having the level of intimate familiarity with it that can deprive me of the discovery experience.
So yeah, that turn of the century wave of post-metal is one of the most fulfilling sounds to have ever graced my ears. This track is no exception and entirely appropriate for the category. God I love Steve Von Till's voice.
9.4
Psycho666Soldier
Neurosis - The Tide
I... don't think I've ever actually given a Neurosis sub less than 10th place. They're my favorite band I never listen to. A Sun That Never Sets came out right around the same time a lot of other groundbreaking metal albums were released (I think I rambled about this last year), and I was still fairly new to exploring non-mainstream music. There was so much new stuff for me to listen to, and so much of it was so exceptional. Neurosis were always on my short list of great bands, but I never got around to binging them for days on end the way I did with say, Isis or Boris around the same time. I feel like they're in some walrus sweet spot where I walk in already knowing I love the song but not having the level of intimate familiarity with it that can deprive me of the discovery experience.
So yeah, that turn of the century wave of post-metal is one of the most fulfilling sounds to have ever graced my ears. This track is no exception and entirely appropriate for the category. God I love Steve Von Till's voice.
9.4
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
6th place:
schadd
Matana Roberts - All Is Written
This is hard to process haha. I heard Matana last walrus and know there is so so much more to her sound than just this minimalism. There's probably a bit of an advantage that I can appreciate this more in that context. I had a great deal of respect for her art going into it. Even then, the song is so sparse that there's no taking it in without strapping yourself in for the full ten minute commitment. It's such an eerie drone, and the control in her voice is just as fabulous as last time. The spoken samples and the way the fuzz in the background has the dim hum of humanity remind me of my Isidore sample--the ghostly memories of things left behind. But the mood is nothing like that song. If we're adrift on the waves--and the lyrics seem to allow room for that--our bodies have long grown numb to any perception of motion. We're beyond those final longing days of health and coherence, lying on the brink of death.
9.5
schadd
Matana Roberts - All Is Written
This is hard to process haha. I heard Matana last walrus and know there is so so much more to her sound than just this minimalism. There's probably a bit of an advantage that I can appreciate this more in that context. I had a great deal of respect for her art going into it. Even then, the song is so sparse that there's no taking it in without strapping yourself in for the full ten minute commitment. It's such an eerie drone, and the control in her voice is just as fabulous as last time. The spoken samples and the way the fuzz in the background has the dim hum of humanity remind me of my Isidore sample--the ghostly memories of things left behind. But the mood is nothing like that song. If we're adrift on the waves--and the lyrics seem to allow room for that--our bodies have long grown numb to any perception of motion. We're beyond those final longing days of health and coherence, lying on the brink of death.
9.5
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
TOP 5
birdwithteeth11
BLOODYRAIN10001
MyNameIsNothing
Roman
staypositivefriend
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
5th place:
Roman
Iosonouncane - hiver
The mood to this is great. It feels... not jaded, but aware of its circumstances and accepting its fate. I think it's a great cat fit. I don't have to try at all to find myself in one of the scenes in play. I love the way the harp synth floats in the back of my head. His vocals are great, and the way he seamlessly rolls back and forth between languages seems to match the overall feel of swaying onward into nowhere.
9.6
Roman
Iosonouncane - hiver
The mood to this is great. It feels... not jaded, but aware of its circumstances and accepting its fate. I think it's a great cat fit. I don't have to try at all to find myself in one of the scenes in play. I love the way the harp synth floats in the back of my head. His vocals are great, and the way he seamlessly rolls back and forth between languages seems to match the overall feel of swaying onward into nowhere.
9.6
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
4th place:
BLOODYRAIN10001
Death Ambient - Lake Chad
mmm... I love the acoustic guitar in this. I wouldn't quite call it a siren, because the danger is already clear and we're keeping our distance from whatever lies down here. But it's a connection that roots the sheer otherness in something relatable. The banjo hints at it, but when the guitar is strummed it's like an echo from the dim light shining on whatever this submerged thing is, calling back to say that it is earthly. This is no illusion, and the patterns of predictability you've grounded yourself in cannot reconcile such mystery. A stagnant foreign scene just leads to uncertainty. It's that sudden sentient connection that sends the unnerving feeling creeping up your spine.
That is to say: cool tune dude, I liked it.
9.7
BLOODYRAIN10001
Death Ambient - Lake Chad
mmm... I love the acoustic guitar in this. I wouldn't quite call it a siren, because the danger is already clear and we're keeping our distance from whatever lies down here. But it's a connection that roots the sheer otherness in something relatable. The banjo hints at it, but when the guitar is strummed it's like an echo from the dim light shining on whatever this submerged thing is, calling back to say that it is earthly. This is no illusion, and the patterns of predictability you've grounded yourself in cannot reconcile such mystery. A stagnant foreign scene just leads to uncertainty. It's that sudden sentient connection that sends the unnerving feeling creeping up your spine.
That is to say: cool tune dude, I liked it.
9.7
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
3rd place:
MyNameIsNothing
Maudlin of the Well - Stones of October's Sobbing
I remember listening to this when I was too young to appreciate it and just going what the fuck and moving on with life. ...Unlike now, when it uh... all makes perfect sense to me, I assure you...
This feels like Oxbow if they were metal. I think this really captures the essence of the category in terms of like... what a strange and beautiful place, and fuck me we're all going to die. 4:45 o_o;'s me the most, but this entire song is a maddening merger of sweet and sinister. It doesn't even stab you in the back. It stands there with the knife in plain sight and manages to coax you in anyway.
9.8
MyNameIsNothing
Maudlin of the Well - Stones of October's Sobbing
I remember listening to this when I was too young to appreciate it and just going what the fuck and moving on with life. ...Unlike now, when it uh... all makes perfect sense to me, I assure you...
This feels like Oxbow if they were metal. I think this really captures the essence of the category in terms of like... what a strange and beautiful place, and fuck me we're all going to die. 4:45 o_o;'s me the most, but this entire song is a maddening merger of sweet and sinister. It doesn't even stab you in the back. It stands there with the knife in plain sight and manages to coax you in anyway.
9.8
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
2nd place:
birdwithteeth11
Cult of Luna & Julie Christmas - The Wreck of S.S. Needle
I remember reading about this when it came out, and I never got around to picking up a copy. That has since been rectified. They sound so much better with her that I wish they'd made it a permanent thing. The dynamic she brings into this is just incredible. She seems to have complete control of her voice even as it's shattering, and I feel like the song is built to maximize her potential. The climax to this is huge, and yeah, I love it.
9.9
birdwithteeth11
Cult of Luna & Julie Christmas - The Wreck of S.S. Needle
I remember reading about this when it came out, and I never got around to picking up a copy. That has since been rectified. They sound so much better with her that I wish they'd made it a permanent thing. The dynamic she brings into this is just incredible. She seems to have complete control of her voice even as it's shattering, and I feel like the song is built to maximize her potential. The climax to this is huge, and yeah, I love it.
9.9
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
1st place:
staypositivefriend
Slothrust - Horseshoe Crab
This is devastating.
I had to eventually stop putting it on because it would make me not want to listen to music anymore.
10
staypositivefriend
Slothrust - Horseshoe Crab
This is devastating.
I had to eventually stop putting it on because it would make me not want to listen to music anymore.
10
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
Scoring through 2
41. 5.8 PunchyTheCat
40. 12.0 Made
39. 12.6 Logic
38. 12.9 Ampharos
37. 13.0 BoKnows
35. 13.1 Aladyyn
35. 13.1 KnightsofCydonia
33. 13.2 Relm
33. 13.2 soah
30. 13.5 Bloobird
30. 13.5 Moose
30. 13.5 nutella
29. 14.0 staypositivefriend
28. 14.5 vanity.
26. 14.7 Kane
26. 14.7 LordQuas
25. 15.0 gbsfranca
24. 15.1 Newcomb
23. 15.2 Cory
21. 15.3 Ace Marvel
21. 15.3 Zack
20. 15.5 Zarathustra
19. 15.7 Owner
18. 15.8 Marcher Jovian
17. 15.9 fluffy rabbit
16. 16.0 Keldeo
15. 16.1 tane
14. 16.6 Tangrowth
13. 16.9 Frog
12. 17.1 Psycho666Soldier
11. 17.4 marmot
10. 17.6 Adam
8. 17.8 BLOODYRAIN10001
8. 17.8 roro__b
7. 17.9 ladd
6. 18.2 Visorslash
4. 18.7 Roman
4. 18.7 shubaka17
3. 18.8 birdwithteeth11
2. 18.9 schadd
1. 19.8 MyNameIsNothing
41. 5.8 PunchyTheCat
40. 12.0 Made
39. 12.6 Logic
38. 12.9 Ampharos
37. 13.0 BoKnows
35. 13.1 Aladyyn
35. 13.1 KnightsofCydonia
33. 13.2 Relm
33. 13.2 soah
30. 13.5 Bloobird
30. 13.5 Moose
30. 13.5 nutella
29. 14.0 staypositivefriend
28. 14.5 vanity.
26. 14.7 Kane
26. 14.7 LordQuas
25. 15.0 gbsfranca
24. 15.1 Newcomb
23. 15.2 Cory
21. 15.3 Ace Marvel
21. 15.3 Zack
20. 15.5 Zarathustra
19. 15.7 Owner
18. 15.8 Marcher Jovian
17. 15.9 fluffy rabbit
16. 16.0 Keldeo
15. 16.1 tane
14. 16.6 Tangrowth
13. 16.9 Frog
12. 17.1 Psycho666Soldier
11. 17.4 marmot
10. 17.6 Adam
8. 17.8 BLOODYRAIN10001
8. 17.8 roro__b
7. 17.9 ladd
6. 18.2 Visorslash
4. 18.7 Roman
4. 18.7 shubaka17
3. 18.8 birdwithteeth11
2. 18.9 schadd
1. 19.8 MyNameIsNothing
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
3. 11am at a MIDI street performance in Renaissance Spain
I'm not quite sure how we washed up here, but nothing inspires art like the stench of human waste baking in its shallow street-side grave. A wizard tips his hat and plagued vermin scatter off a cadaver resting casually against a dusty stone wall as we set up the Casio next to a nude figure in stocks who laughs maniacally any time we make eye contact. The rabble quickly assemble--ragged bodies dancing to St. Vitus under a filth-blotted sun. Send me something rough and medieval.
I don't mind whether it's holistically positive or negative, and you can sub a poppier tune if you're really stumped, but a perfect cat fit ought to have something harsh, bleak, primordial about it. I'm going to offer a lot of samples, but medieval metal, dungeon synth, neoclassical darkwave, and European folk that's rough around the edges have a home here.
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
39th place:
Frog
Saweetie - Fast (Motion)
This could only bait me in one of two directions, and unfortunately it's not quite a 10 for me. The first shall be last and the last shall be first. I wanted to sort this in higher but had too many other shitposts to juggle. The post-song please click like on my videos screen has a pretty solid jam.
4.0
Frog
Saweetie - Fast (Motion)
This could only bait me in one of two directions, and unfortunately it's not quite a 10 for me. The first shall be last and the last shall be first. I wanted to sort this in higher but had too many other shitposts to juggle. The post-song please click like on my videos screen has a pretty solid jam.
4.0
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
38th place:
LordQuas
Garden of Bones - To Doom
I was torn out the gate between the cool album cover and the highly dubious typeface, but the feeling was pretty one-sided once I clicked play. The guitar is fine in itself. It sets a dark minimalistic backdrop and otherwise gets out of the way. But that requires the singer to deliver, and she just doesn't. Her singing is very plain, forcing attention on the lyrics, and the lyrics are high school goth to the point of feeling awkward. This fails to inspire me for reasons that are not far removed from my complaints about Taylor Swift in the last two categories, with the caveat that it would be unfair to assume this duo was trying to impress anybody as opposed to just making the music they personally enjoy. It's not really much of a cat fit, and it's definitely not for me.
4.2
LordQuas
Garden of Bones - To Doom
I was torn out the gate between the cool album cover and the highly dubious typeface, but the feeling was pretty one-sided once I clicked play. The guitar is fine in itself. It sets a dark minimalistic backdrop and otherwise gets out of the way. But that requires the singer to deliver, and she just doesn't. Her singing is very plain, forcing attention on the lyrics, and the lyrics are high school goth to the point of feeling awkward. This fails to inspire me for reasons that are not far removed from my complaints about Taylor Swift in the last two categories, with the caveat that it would be unfair to assume this duo was trying to impress anybody as opposed to just making the music they personally enjoy. It's not really much of a cat fit, and it's definitely not for me.
4.2
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
37th place:
PunchyTheCat
Taylor Swift - ME!
Having now experienced three Taylor Swift songs, I finally realize why manufactured pop sensations are not traditionally allowed to write their own lyrics. The squirming awkward horror of this makes it almost relevant. If it bopped along or the singing was any good it could have hedged up a bit, with so many tosses in this category, but it feels very firm retailcore in the same circle of hell as Newcomb's cat 5 Trainwreck robbery last year.
In one of the iterations that lead to the creation of this category, we were off to visit the local necromancer to share our favorite jams for being slowly eaten by worms chained up in a basement.
You nailed that.
But I'll grant that I did enjoy writing this, and by "Hey kids, spelling is fun!" I opened my mind to the far more satisfying possibility that this entire composition was a troll job.
4.3
PunchyTheCat
Taylor Swift - ME!
Having now experienced three Taylor Swift songs, I finally realize why manufactured pop sensations are not traditionally allowed to write their own lyrics. The squirming awkward horror of this makes it almost relevant. If it bopped along or the singing was any good it could have hedged up a bit, with so many tosses in this category, but it feels very firm retailcore in the same circle of hell as Newcomb's cat 5 Trainwreck robbery last year.
In one of the iterations that lead to the creation of this category, we were off to visit the local necromancer to share our favorite jams for being slowly eaten by worms chained up in a basement.
You nailed that.
But I'll grant that I did enjoy writing this, and by "Hey kids, spelling is fun!" I opened my mind to the far more satisfying possibility that this entire composition was a troll job.
4.3
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
36th place:
ladd
Dredg - The Canyon Behind Her
I remember this band's name coming up a few times circa 2000, but I never listened to them enough to remember what they sounded like. Feels like they have a sort of prog-lite thing going on, teasing at eclectic but never really deviating from the standard format at length. The chorus is deliciously thick during the choruses for an album released in 2002. The vocals are a bit dull to me but unobtrusive. There's not really anything about it to stand out or grab my attention. The sudden break at 3:17 does stand out as intended, harshly clashing with the flow and mood of the song up to that point, but in so far as the band had the idea to inject something weird there, I don't think they were particularly creative about it. Overall the song left me a bit bored, and repetition didn't help. But more importantly, I can't even begin to guess why it was subbed to this category. I don't think it would have done outstanding in 7, but it would have at least made sense to me there.
I mean, this category saw plenty of open throws and plenty of hard misses, but I can't even tell which this is supposed to be. It doesn't feel like a throw sub, but it has absolutely no place here when I imagine ways people might have misinterpreted what I was looking for? Something in that bugged me, which, coupled with feeling pretty luke-warm on the song, eventually drove it down to the bottom. Once its hard tank was pretty well locked in, I spoiled it to make sure I hadn't grabbed the wrong link. This is indeed the song I received to category 3.
4.5
ladd
Dredg - The Canyon Behind Her
I remember this band's name coming up a few times circa 2000, but I never listened to them enough to remember what they sounded like. Feels like they have a sort of prog-lite thing going on, teasing at eclectic but never really deviating from the standard format at length. The chorus is deliciously thick during the choruses for an album released in 2002. The vocals are a bit dull to me but unobtrusive. There's not really anything about it to stand out or grab my attention. The sudden break at 3:17 does stand out as intended, harshly clashing with the flow and mood of the song up to that point, but in so far as the band had the idea to inject something weird there, I don't think they were particularly creative about it. Overall the song left me a bit bored, and repetition didn't help. But more importantly, I can't even begin to guess why it was subbed to this category. I don't think it would have done outstanding in 7, but it would have at least made sense to me there.
I mean, this category saw plenty of open throws and plenty of hard misses, but I can't even tell which this is supposed to be. It doesn't feel like a throw sub, but it has absolutely no place here when I imagine ways people might have misinterpreted what I was looking for? Something in that bugged me, which, coupled with feeling pretty luke-warm on the song, eventually drove it down to the bottom. Once its hard tank was pretty well locked in, I spoiled it to make sure I hadn't grabbed the wrong link. This is indeed the song I received to category 3.
4.5
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
35th place:
gbsfranca
C418 - Ward
I don't know, it's... kind of chill chiptune. Maybe if the entire song was the first 30 seconds and that passage from 1:36 to 1:55 it could function here, but otherwise I'm just hearing a very beat-driven tune that maybe employs some Amiga-sounding chip tones but doesn't get anywhere near droney fantasy or a medieval melody or really anything relevant to the category here. The tune is alright, and maybe its subtle touch could have done something for me in a category that desired it, but in this setting it's a struggle to stay engaged through the full 4 minutes.
4.8
gbsfranca
C418 - Ward
I don't know, it's... kind of chill chiptune. Maybe if the entire song was the first 30 seconds and that passage from 1:36 to 1:55 it could function here, but otherwise I'm just hearing a very beat-driven tune that maybe employs some Amiga-sounding chip tones but doesn't get anywhere near droney fantasy or a medieval melody or really anything relevant to the category here. The tune is alright, and maybe its subtle touch could have done something for me in a category that desired it, but in this setting it's a struggle to stay engaged through the full 4 minutes.
4.8
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
34th place:
MyNameIsNothing
Lorem Ipsum - S e r g e ï
These vocals are hard for me. He's got no depth. It sounds sort of like when you've been screaming for an hour without much conditioning and your voice is just shot and breaking without the underlying control to make those moments flow tastefully with the rest of the music. I don't know if... tasteful ways to scream at the top of your lungs is really a meaningful talking point, but his voice is such a dominant force throughout the song that it's hard to treat it as say, the weakest link in a screamo song where everything else is coming together and he's at least giving it his all. He's the entirety of the harsh counterpoint to the emotionally driven but still tonally soft violin and guitar, with the keyboard taking a more spooky angle. They sound best to me when they start chanting together around 2:40 and the screaming is hauled back a bit, but it's short lived.
It's not a cat fit. Hardly anything was really, to the point where I often felt tempted to let things like "ok well it has a violin" fly, but in the end most of those songs fell out of favor for ones that belonged here. This could have gone higher if I wasn't put off by his voice and how it ties into the rest of the music.
5.2
MyNameIsNothing
Lorem Ipsum - S e r g e ï
These vocals are hard for me. He's got no depth. It sounds sort of like when you've been screaming for an hour without much conditioning and your voice is just shot and breaking without the underlying control to make those moments flow tastefully with the rest of the music. I don't know if... tasteful ways to scream at the top of your lungs is really a meaningful talking point, but his voice is such a dominant force throughout the song that it's hard to treat it as say, the weakest link in a screamo song where everything else is coming together and he's at least giving it his all. He's the entirety of the harsh counterpoint to the emotionally driven but still tonally soft violin and guitar, with the keyboard taking a more spooky angle. They sound best to me when they start chanting together around 2:40 and the screaming is hauled back a bit, but it's short lived.
It's not a cat fit. Hardly anything was really, to the point where I often felt tempted to let things like "ok well it has a violin" fly, but in the end most of those songs fell out of favor for ones that belonged here. This could have gone higher if I wasn't put off by his voice and how it ties into the rest of the music.
5.2
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
33rd place:
birdwithteeth11
Chelsea Wolfe - Dragged Out
I've tried Chelsea Wolfe albums now and then but never really gotten beyond a one spin that was ok I guess followed by quick forgetting. I gave her some proper listens this time, but I'm not really feeling it. Her sound rubs off a bit too restrained for my tastes, I guess. I'm not going to pretend to have a great memory of what I've heard before, but this track in particular has a very funeral doom lite vibe to me, which is to say it's just a little less distorted, just a little less thick, just a little less filthy, just a little less alive, just a little less dead, just a little less of everything I could want. That denial hammers home the morbidity while simultaneously making it feel almost radio-friendly. The whirlwind distortion in the background at 1:30 and 2:45 is pretty compelling, kind of Nine Inch Nails-esque, though it's so low in the mix that it never really grabs me. From a category standpoint, I feel like it's the near opposite of what I was looking for. The recording quality is excellent. It's a structured and morbid dirge in the most modern of soundscapes. And whether by intent or not, I found it very unfulfilling. That can be a great thing from an artistic perspective, sometimes. I think it gets there effectively, accomplishes what it was aiming for. But this was not a category where very unfulfilling could achieve roundabout higher level relevance.
I dunno, maybe I'm being unfair to a song I came around to respecting, but where I can typically draw a line of appeal and go "ok, this is the highest I'm placing a cat flop" and then just enjoy those tracks independently and see where they land, the way this actively grates against the category is eating at me.
5.5
birdwithteeth11
Chelsea Wolfe - Dragged Out
I've tried Chelsea Wolfe albums now and then but never really gotten beyond a one spin that was ok I guess followed by quick forgetting. I gave her some proper listens this time, but I'm not really feeling it. Her sound rubs off a bit too restrained for my tastes, I guess. I'm not going to pretend to have a great memory of what I've heard before, but this track in particular has a very funeral doom lite vibe to me, which is to say it's just a little less distorted, just a little less thick, just a little less filthy, just a little less alive, just a little less dead, just a little less of everything I could want. That denial hammers home the morbidity while simultaneously making it feel almost radio-friendly. The whirlwind distortion in the background at 1:30 and 2:45 is pretty compelling, kind of Nine Inch Nails-esque, though it's so low in the mix that it never really grabs me. From a category standpoint, I feel like it's the near opposite of what I was looking for. The recording quality is excellent. It's a structured and morbid dirge in the most modern of soundscapes. And whether by intent or not, I found it very unfulfilling. That can be a great thing from an artistic perspective, sometimes. I think it gets there effectively, accomplishes what it was aiming for. But this was not a category where very unfulfilling could achieve roundabout higher level relevance.
I dunno, maybe I'm being unfair to a song I came around to respecting, but where I can typically draw a line of appeal and go "ok, this is the highest I'm placing a cat flop" and then just enjoy those tracks independently and see where they land, the way this actively grates against the category is eating at me.
5.5
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
32nd place:
Visorslash
Jeff van Dyck - Deal of the Millennia
It took me a bit to place why this felt familiar, but the beginning part sounds similar to Masashi Hamauzu's Assault from Final Fantasy X, in a coincidental sort of way. I can see an old world scene to this, sure, maybe on a hot pursuit through some Arabian bazaar. It's hurry up music, at any rate. I think it could serve its purpose well in a broader game setting. As a stand alone track... yeah I don't know, I don't think it's particularly original nor trying to be. It's a professional effort and paints its scene well, but for a distinct setting that isn't mine. Maybe this should have been shipped to the desert category? I'm not sure what that competition will look like yet, but I can feel a place for it there. A cinematic hurry-up tune feels too constrained into a space that doesn't overlap with my vision for this one. And it takes a very modern symphonic approach to applying the old world elements that doesn't feel medieval in the slightest to me.
5.8
Visorslash
Jeff van Dyck - Deal of the Millennia
It took me a bit to place why this felt familiar, but the beginning part sounds similar to Masashi Hamauzu's Assault from Final Fantasy X, in a coincidental sort of way. I can see an old world scene to this, sure, maybe on a hot pursuit through some Arabian bazaar. It's hurry up music, at any rate. I think it could serve its purpose well in a broader game setting. As a stand alone track... yeah I don't know, I don't think it's particularly original nor trying to be. It's a professional effort and paints its scene well, but for a distinct setting that isn't mine. Maybe this should have been shipped to the desert category? I'm not sure what that competition will look like yet, but I can feel a place for it there. A cinematic hurry-up tune feels too constrained into a space that doesn't overlap with my vision for this one. And it takes a very modern symphonic approach to applying the old world elements that doesn't feel medieval in the slightest to me.
5.8
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
31st place:
Relm
Ian Stocker - Basse-Terre Beach
While this had the right idea in that the synth brings the retro quality I was looking for, it's not really the song for the job. I didn't need the box art or game title to tell me the setting. It's about as classic sneaking around at night as a composition can get. The occasional woodwind flares and the hollow tone of whatever that melodic percussion instrument is place it in a jungle. I thought it held up surprisingly well over the extended play for a fairly cliche piece, but not quite what I'm looking for here.
5.9
Relm
Ian Stocker - Basse-Terre Beach
While this had the right idea in that the synth brings the retro quality I was looking for, it's not really the song for the job. I didn't need the box art or game title to tell me the setting. It's about as classic sneaking around at night as a composition can get. The occasional woodwind flares and the hollow tone of whatever that melodic percussion instrument is place it in a jungle. I thought it held up surprisingly well over the extended play for a fairly cliche piece, but not quite what I'm looking for here.
5.9
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
30th place:
shubaka17
Darren Korb - Bynn the Breaker
The harp synth at the intro and sprinkled throughout is within the spectrum. I feel like we're exploring the ruins of some lost civilization filled with advanced technology buried in a forest. Yeah, I think it's that sense of technology. Ancient, but not vibing that primitive, earthy feel. Maybe that's an odd stance given this category invited electronic music, but I'm looking for a specific sort of electronic. Poorly recorded, low quality samples, distorted, trance-evoking, something that makes it feel pseudo-archaic despite dependency on modern equipment. This song is pretty refined. I've achieved a level of nitpick that usually results in a pass if I'm really feeling the song, but this, while nice, did have some pronounced redundancy that wore on me over time. I quickly tire of the staccato strings. When I put it on for the first time after a day I go oh come on, this should be a little higher, but after eight minutes, I get why it is where it is.
6.3
shubaka17
Darren Korb - Bynn the Breaker
The harp synth at the intro and sprinkled throughout is within the spectrum. I feel like we're exploring the ruins of some lost civilization filled with advanced technology buried in a forest. Yeah, I think it's that sense of technology. Ancient, but not vibing that primitive, earthy feel. Maybe that's an odd stance given this category invited electronic music, but I'm looking for a specific sort of electronic. Poorly recorded, low quality samples, distorted, trance-evoking, something that makes it feel pseudo-archaic despite dependency on modern equipment. This song is pretty refined. I've achieved a level of nitpick that usually results in a pass if I'm really feeling the song, but this, while nice, did have some pronounced redundancy that wore on me over time. I quickly tire of the staccato strings. When I put it on for the first time after a day I go oh come on, this should be a little higher, but after eight minutes, I get why it is where it is.
6.3
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
29th place:
Ace Marvel
(여자)아이들((G)I-DLE) - '화(火花)(HWAA)
God I love these kpop subs. This sounds fantastic. There's one thing I'm a little disappointed about. There has to be kpop out there with traditional oriental vibes that could have toyed at the category just a little. The Lim Kim sub I got last year had it going on. I dunno, this feels like a lost opportunity for some creativity points. But I absolutely did enjoy it.
6.4
Ace Marvel
(여자)아이들((G)I-DLE) - '화(火花)(HWAA)
God I love these kpop subs. This sounds fantastic. There's one thing I'm a little disappointed about. There has to be kpop out there with traditional oriental vibes that could have toyed at the category just a little. The Lim Kim sub I got last year had it going on. I dunno, this feels like a lost opportunity for some creativity points. But I absolutely did enjoy it.
6.4
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
28th place:
roro__b
Pogo - Forget
Ok, apparently I will be getting a Pogo sub to every category. Unfortunately, where the last two had some relevance, this one is completely off the mark. Since most subs were and this is awesome, it probably won't hurt you that much.
6.5
roro__b
Pogo - Forget
Ok, apparently I will be getting a Pogo sub to every category. Unfortunately, where the last two had some relevance, this one is completely off the mark. Since most subs were and this is awesome, it probably won't hurt you that much.
6.5
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
27th place:
BoKnows
Jean Baptiste Lully - Air
This is the only authentic classical piece I got uh... I mean it's not quite medieval, but this category is so baroque that I'll take what I can get.
AHAHAHAHAHA
AHAHAHA
But what a way to go. This guy accidentally stabbed himself to death in the foot with his conducting staff. Anyway, I am certainly not well versed in this sort of stuff to distinguish exceptional from average, but I would happily listen to it all day. It seems just maybe a little too easy in a manner that would see it trend down hard over music I hadn't heard the likes of a hundred times before, but apparently this category was nothing of the sort. It was always a 6.something for me, but it ended up a bit higher than usual in placement for that score.
6.8
BoKnows
Jean Baptiste Lully - Air
This is the only authentic classical piece I got uh... I mean it's not quite medieval, but this category is so baroque that I'll take what I can get.
AHAHAHAHAHA
AHAHAHA
But what a way to go. This guy accidentally stabbed himself to death in the foot with his conducting staff. Anyway, I am certainly not well versed in this sort of stuff to distinguish exceptional from average, but I would happily listen to it all day. It seems just maybe a little too easy in a manner that would see it trend down hard over music I hadn't heard the likes of a hundred times before, but apparently this category was nothing of the sort. It was always a 6.something for me, but it ended up a bit higher than usual in placement for that score.
6.8
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
26th place:
Bloobird
Espers - Travel Mountains
That's a pretty chilling take on España cañí. It wears on me a bit over time. Not to a point of annoyance, but just losing its initial charm without possessing the qualities of a tune that works well in the background for me. The lower register is fairly empty. The guitar is distinct and loud. It's such a simple melody to improvise and build around, and I can't help but wonder what other directions and additional layers they could have pursued with this. They opt to keep it fairly simple, never really evolving from the introduction of the electric guitar a minute and a half in to the gradual dissipation into silence three and a half later, with the exception of that break in the middle that only feels like it adds by taking away. Overall, it leaves me wanting more. Cool cat fit though.
7.0
Bloobird
Espers - Travel Mountains
That's a pretty chilling take on España cañí. It wears on me a bit over time. Not to a point of annoyance, but just losing its initial charm without possessing the qualities of a tune that works well in the background for me. The lower register is fairly empty. The guitar is distinct and loud. It's such a simple melody to improvise and build around, and I can't help but wonder what other directions and additional layers they could have pursued with this. They opt to keep it fairly simple, never really evolving from the introduction of the electric guitar a minute and a half in to the gradual dissipation into silence three and a half later, with the exception of that break in the middle that only feels like it adds by taking away. Overall, it leaves me wanting more. Cool cat fit though.
7.0
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
25th place:
Logic
Jesper Kyd - Ezio's Family
Jesper Kyd is fantastic. I went digging through his earlier discography out of curiosity to see if there was anything that could maybe fit more directly here, but his earliest works were SMD, which was very... not conducive to this sort of music, and his earliest ambient PC scores trended sci-fi. At any rate, while this is nothing approaching a category fit, I think its subdued fantasy nature at least renders it benign to the theme where a number of other subs clashed head-on, and it's quite pleasant. I'm impressed by his success at layering some distortion in after the 3 minute mark without corrupting the mood of the song. It's something I've heard done poorly often in these sort of light-brooding suspense tracks, but Kyd pulls it off. My continuous urge to go oh but it doesn't not work in the category tells me I'm enjoying it too much to leave behind. Maybe it's not "medieval", but it's so perfectly applicable to a scene set to fantasy ideals of that time. If it seems like I'm cutting this a lot more slack than other vgm subs that missed the mark, it's probably because I think it's an absolutely beautiful composition in its own right where the others felt more like solid complimentary pieces to a bigger picture.
7.1
Logic
Jesper Kyd - Ezio's Family
Jesper Kyd is fantastic. I went digging through his earlier discography out of curiosity to see if there was anything that could maybe fit more directly here, but his earliest works were SMD, which was very... not conducive to this sort of music, and his earliest ambient PC scores trended sci-fi. At any rate, while this is nothing approaching a category fit, I think its subdued fantasy nature at least renders it benign to the theme where a number of other subs clashed head-on, and it's quite pleasant. I'm impressed by his success at layering some distortion in after the 3 minute mark without corrupting the mood of the song. It's something I've heard done poorly often in these sort of light-brooding suspense tracks, but Kyd pulls it off. My continuous urge to go oh but it doesn't not work in the category tells me I'm enjoying it too much to leave behind. Maybe it's not "medieval", but it's so perfectly applicable to a scene set to fantasy ideals of that time. If it seems like I'm cutting this a lot more slack than other vgm subs that missed the mark, it's probably because I think it's an absolutely beautiful composition in its own right where the others felt more like solid complimentary pieces to a bigger picture.
7.1
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
24th place:
nutella
Goat - Det som aldrig förändras / Diarabi
This ended up being one of the last tracks I got around to doing a write-up for, perhaps because I was waiting for it to grow on me more. I think it's a cat fit, and those are words I have typed very sparingly up to this point. Moreover, it seems like a cat fit that required some thinking, or knowledge, or digging, where some others had the feel of a five minute Youtube search. I want it to do well. But in a world where the majority of subs feel like they belong here, I don't know that it gets this high on direct enjoyment. Something in that 60s psychedelic beat never much appealed to me. It paints the medieval world as some sort of hallucinogenic trip, where I think it's so much more fun to imagine fanciful visions of that world as reality. Maybe my dislike for chilled hippie jams in general is rooted in that--an association with openly acknowledging a delusion, precluding temporary immersion in the fantasy. Or maybe I just find that sort of rhythm cliche in a dull way that doesn't hype me up enough to not care that I've heard it a thousand times before. I dunno. I wasn't much feeling this one, but it was a solid effort, and I'll grant it's fun in small doses.
7.2
nutella
Goat - Det som aldrig förändras / Diarabi
This ended up being one of the last tracks I got around to doing a write-up for, perhaps because I was waiting for it to grow on me more. I think it's a cat fit, and those are words I have typed very sparingly up to this point. Moreover, it seems like a cat fit that required some thinking, or knowledge, or digging, where some others had the feel of a five minute Youtube search. I want it to do well. But in a world where the majority of subs feel like they belong here, I don't know that it gets this high on direct enjoyment. Something in that 60s psychedelic beat never much appealed to me. It paints the medieval world as some sort of hallucinogenic trip, where I think it's so much more fun to imagine fanciful visions of that world as reality. Maybe my dislike for chilled hippie jams in general is rooted in that--an association with openly acknowledging a delusion, precluding temporary immersion in the fantasy. Or maybe I just find that sort of rhythm cliche in a dull way that doesn't hype me up enough to not care that I've heard it a thousand times before. I dunno. I wasn't much feeling this one, but it was a solid effort, and I'll grant it's fun in small doses.
7.2
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
23rd place:
Kane
Johan Carlsberg - Mein Herz Brennt
Bardcore ahoy. He did a pretty cool job with this. The core of the song that's still Rammstein is so modest that I think he could have probably written his own original song inspired by it without much extra effort. That's not a fault; covers have their own entertainment value, and I might have said something to the effect of it's pleasant but easily forgotten were it not one. But I guess my most direct reaction here wasn't so much wow this individual song is great as it was oh hey, this guy can probably do a lot of other cool stuff too. I went digging through his youtube channel and found his B.Y.O.B. cover delightful. Rammstein's maybe a bit too drab for my tastes to be a real zinger. His bouzouki feels a bit loud over the accompaniment, a bit one-dimensional in his execution, but appealing for its diy origins. And I got a kick out of this sub that lead to exploring other fun material. It looks like he's just getting started with this more refined approach after a number of lower-reaching covers.
7.3
Kane
Johan Carlsberg - Mein Herz Brennt
Bardcore ahoy. He did a pretty cool job with this. The core of the song that's still Rammstein is so modest that I think he could have probably written his own original song inspired by it without much extra effort. That's not a fault; covers have their own entertainment value, and I might have said something to the effect of it's pleasant but easily forgotten were it not one. But I guess my most direct reaction here wasn't so much wow this individual song is great as it was oh hey, this guy can probably do a lot of other cool stuff too. I went digging through his youtube channel and found his B.Y.O.B. cover delightful. Rammstein's maybe a bit too drab for my tastes to be a real zinger. His bouzouki feels a bit loud over the accompaniment, a bit one-dimensional in his execution, but appealing for its diy origins. And I got a kick out of this sub that lead to exploring other fun material. It looks like he's just getting started with this more refined approach after a number of lower-reaching covers.
7.3
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
22nd place:
vanity.
Cages - D.I.E.?
Hmm... I got a lot subs to this category that were dismal and dreary when I feel like all of my samples had a clear spark of life to them. Twenty minutes is a long time to dwell on this being a bit more depressing than what I was looking for. To be clear, I gave it a good six or seven full spins and definitely enjoyed it on the whole, but the first half of the song does a lot to remind me that, like the vast majority of the subs, there was some sort of miscommunication going on. I guess my only direct criticism of the first half is that her vocals get progressively more normal as the song develops. I feel like we should be very slowly breaking apart here, but she goes from odd croons to outright singing. It bugged me in passing from my first listen (my one-liner first impression note was great except vox) and never quite resolved as I established familiarity. I experience some brief disconnects beforehand, but I think 8:43 is the part where it really starts to clash for me. I'm not saying her vocals are bad; far from it. But they feel at odds with the bigger picture. By 10:15 things are solidly back on track, but it is my pedantic duty to grief one minute and 30 seconds of a 20 minute minimalist odyssey.
And then 13:40 happens and bam we are in the categorical zone and I am instantly satisfied and please don't stop doing this. It's kind of wild how much a single sustained chord can accomplish, but we're done wallowing around in the trenches here and now staring this bizarre landscape in the eyes. This is where the vocals bothered me the most, actually, because I was just so happy with what the song was doing before they showed up. Imagine just that single chord with the lazy fearless bass meandering around beneath it. Moments like her long vocal descent starting around 16:20 are working, but enough with the actual singing. Or at least bring it in a bit later and a bit more crazy from the start. She sounds wild singing over those mechanical noises at the close. That part worked for me. I just would have liked a bit more of the pure drone first before she became a factor. Song was too short.
7.4
vanity.
Cages - D.I.E.?
Hmm... I got a lot subs to this category that were dismal and dreary when I feel like all of my samples had a clear spark of life to them. Twenty minutes is a long time to dwell on this being a bit more depressing than what I was looking for. To be clear, I gave it a good six or seven full spins and definitely enjoyed it on the whole, but the first half of the song does a lot to remind me that, like the vast majority of the subs, there was some sort of miscommunication going on. I guess my only direct criticism of the first half is that her vocals get progressively more normal as the song develops. I feel like we should be very slowly breaking apart here, but she goes from odd croons to outright singing. It bugged me in passing from my first listen (my one-liner first impression note was great except vox) and never quite resolved as I established familiarity. I experience some brief disconnects beforehand, but I think 8:43 is the part where it really starts to clash for me. I'm not saying her vocals are bad; far from it. But they feel at odds with the bigger picture. By 10:15 things are solidly back on track, but it is my pedantic duty to grief one minute and 30 seconds of a 20 minute minimalist odyssey.
And then 13:40 happens and bam we are in the categorical zone and I am instantly satisfied and please don't stop doing this. It's kind of wild how much a single sustained chord can accomplish, but we're done wallowing around in the trenches here and now staring this bizarre landscape in the eyes. This is where the vocals bothered me the most, actually, because I was just so happy with what the song was doing before they showed up. Imagine just that single chord with the lazy fearless bass meandering around beneath it. Moments like her long vocal descent starting around 16:20 are working, but enough with the actual singing. Or at least bring it in a bit later and a bit more crazy from the start. She sounds wild singing over those mechanical noises at the close. That part worked for me. I just would have liked a bit more of the pure drone first before she became a factor. Song was too short.
7.4
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
20th place:
Moose
Middle Ages - Y.M.C.A.
I only get one Middle Ages sub to the entire category and it's Y.M.C.A.
Whether either of those statements are good things or bad things, I will leave up to you to decide.
Half way hype.
7.6
Moose
Middle Ages - Y.M.C.A.
I only get one Middle Ages sub to the entire category and it's Y.M.C.A.
Whether either of those statements are good things or bad things, I will leave up to you to decide.
Half way hype.
7.6
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
TOP HALF
Adam
Aladyyn
Ampharos
BLOODYRAIN10001
Keldeo
KnightsofCydonia
Made
Marcher Jovian
marmot
Newcomb
Owner of a Lonely Heart
Psycho666Soldier
schadd
soah
staypositivefriend
tane
Tangrowth
Zack
Zarathustra
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
19th place:
Keldeo
Vessel - Arcanum (For Christalla)
This is deliciously broken, half holding on to traditional patterns and half scattering away into madness. More of an experience than a song, I found it intriguing and unnerving within a range of sounds that traditionally calm me. It's accessible eclectic, and that's one of the moods this category was designed to facilitate. It was resting in my top 10 for quite a while, but it began to interest me less as my head normalized it, and it kind of took a hard dive at that point. More of an experience than a song probably sums up my perspective best. It has diminishing returns.
8.0
Keldeo
Vessel - Arcanum (For Christalla)
This is deliciously broken, half holding on to traditional patterns and half scattering away into madness. More of an experience than a song, I found it intriguing and unnerving within a range of sounds that traditionally calm me. It's accessible eclectic, and that's one of the moods this category was designed to facilitate. It was resting in my top 10 for quite a while, but it began to interest me less as my head normalized it, and it kind of took a hard dive at that point. More of an experience than a song probably sums up my perspective best. It has diminishing returns.
8.0
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
18th place:
Made
Igorrr - Oesophage De Tourterelle
The Igorrr I've heard is a bit more of an Animetalmaniacs meme amusement than a thing I enjoy independently, maybe because breakcore in general feels rather one-dimensional to me. But I am entertained. It's a cat fit. It held up over repetition in a peaceful-zany zone that didn't begin to overpower through percussion. I'm not sure where something like this would successfully make the leap from novelty to full aesthetic appeal, but the drumming is... I don't find it jarring, but outside of the crazy run from 2:07 to 2:23, I would still choose the classical by itself in most circumstances. Lucky for it, this category is not particularly typical.
8.1
Made
Igorrr - Oesophage De Tourterelle
The Igorrr I've heard is a bit more of an Animetalmaniacs meme amusement than a thing I enjoy independently, maybe because breakcore in general feels rather one-dimensional to me. But I am entertained. It's a cat fit. It held up over repetition in a peaceful-zany zone that didn't begin to overpower through percussion. I'm not sure where something like this would successfully make the leap from novelty to full aesthetic appeal, but the drumming is... I don't find it jarring, but outside of the crazy run from 2:07 to 2:23, I would still choose the classical by itself in most circumstances. Lucky for it, this category is not particularly typical.
8.1
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
17th place:
staypositivefriend
Virgin Black - Walk Without Limbs
This took me back a lot to the Chelsea Wolfe sub at first. The industrial pulse is just very hard to square here at first and feels almost anti-cat, bleak and modern. But I suppose I might say the same about blast beats if the association wasn't conditioned in me through frequent encounter. Granted medieval black metal has actual medieval melodic progressions to it, the frantic tremolo and blast beats facilitate a mood that works for me in that kind of twisted kind of beautiful kind of ridiculous setting. I was sort of hoping for a dark psytrance sub like the Crying Orc / Technical Hitch one last year as a yolo I could potentially slot in high anyway, because the beat there established a similar sort of gateway for me. So here I've got a tune that's very much on the gothic side of industrial, and I'm hearing that almost tribal trance beat and starting to think yeah, yeah this could definitely work as a starting point for the category. It doesn't really have a medieval flare. It's fantasy sinister. It's vampire music. But is that so far off the mark really? I think that throughout the broad range of samples and ideas I was open to in this category, the most common element outside of early music itself was a juxtaposition of madness and beauty, humanity and fantasy--some clash that flipped the table and made the mythos feel real, the real feel mysterious. And for the most part this doesn't have that, to me, but it's not far removed from the possibility. I warmed up to it a lot. The long break in the middle was tedious at times--the operatic vocals in particular feel a bit contrived--but that intense trancy aggression when he brings the beat back at 2:58 finishes the track out strong.
8.2
staypositivefriend
Virgin Black - Walk Without Limbs
This took me back a lot to the Chelsea Wolfe sub at first. The industrial pulse is just very hard to square here at first and feels almost anti-cat, bleak and modern. But I suppose I might say the same about blast beats if the association wasn't conditioned in me through frequent encounter. Granted medieval black metal has actual medieval melodic progressions to it, the frantic tremolo and blast beats facilitate a mood that works for me in that kind of twisted kind of beautiful kind of ridiculous setting. I was sort of hoping for a dark psytrance sub like the Crying Orc / Technical Hitch one last year as a yolo I could potentially slot in high anyway, because the beat there established a similar sort of gateway for me. So here I've got a tune that's very much on the gothic side of industrial, and I'm hearing that almost tribal trance beat and starting to think yeah, yeah this could definitely work as a starting point for the category. It doesn't really have a medieval flare. It's fantasy sinister. It's vampire music. But is that so far off the mark really? I think that throughout the broad range of samples and ideas I was open to in this category, the most common element outside of early music itself was a juxtaposition of madness and beauty, humanity and fantasy--some clash that flipped the table and made the mythos feel real, the real feel mysterious. And for the most part this doesn't have that, to me, but it's not far removed from the possibility. I warmed up to it a lot. The long break in the middle was tedious at times--the operatic vocals in particular feel a bit contrived--but that intense trancy aggression when he brings the beat back at 2:58 finishes the track out strong.
8.2
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
16th place:
Psycho666Soldier
Enslaved - 793 (Slaget Om Lindisfarne)
Mmm... I was going to say this was the first sub from my last.fm top 50, but it looks like they fell back to 58. Either way, suffice to say I am a pretty big fan of Enslaved. I love their founding black metal works more than most, and I think they've had the most creative late career out of that early 90s bandwagon. It's hard to argue that this isn't a cat fit when dungeon synth basically emerged as a genre from music like the opening three and a half minutes of this song. I do think this is an understandably dull incarnation of it compared to artists who have focused on it as their core sound with an extra 25 years of precedent to build upon. The quintessential viking metal sound that follows is sort of anti-medieval in ethos--a sound that emerged as a rebellion to Christendom, glorifying--whether remotely historically accurate or not--Norse tradition prior to its adoption of broader European norms. Maybe it's that petty but distinct difference in my head or maybe it's just the fact that I'm already familiar with this, but it's not really the sound I had in mind for medieval black metal. That's ok. These peasants could use a good smiting.
I never really thought about it before, but this song has a pretty neat narrative flow to it. The metal kicks in with a sort of free flowing triumphant feel. It takes a turn towards trouble brewing at 5:30, then a sense of motion and adventure at 6:30 like they're sailing across the sea, then the slaughterama of 8:20. It goes straight into a dirge at 9:15. And the song never regains its carefree spirit from before the first battle, but the war machine marches on, ending in, well, a sort of cheesy rock and roll finish when they would have probably been better off fading out. It's a bit monotonous in its individual movements, but they do a pretty cool job of conveying a story through sound. What's a medieval walrus category without a viking horde invasion.
8.4
Psycho666Soldier
Enslaved - 793 (Slaget Om Lindisfarne)
Mmm... I was going to say this was the first sub from my last.fm top 50, but it looks like they fell back to 58. Either way, suffice to say I am a pretty big fan of Enslaved. I love their founding black metal works more than most, and I think they've had the most creative late career out of that early 90s bandwagon. It's hard to argue that this isn't a cat fit when dungeon synth basically emerged as a genre from music like the opening three and a half minutes of this song. I do think this is an understandably dull incarnation of it compared to artists who have focused on it as their core sound with an extra 25 years of precedent to build upon. The quintessential viking metal sound that follows is sort of anti-medieval in ethos--a sound that emerged as a rebellion to Christendom, glorifying--whether remotely historically accurate or not--Norse tradition prior to its adoption of broader European norms. Maybe it's that petty but distinct difference in my head or maybe it's just the fact that I'm already familiar with this, but it's not really the sound I had in mind for medieval black metal. That's ok. These peasants could use a good smiting.
I never really thought about it before, but this song has a pretty neat narrative flow to it. The metal kicks in with a sort of free flowing triumphant feel. It takes a turn towards trouble brewing at 5:30, then a sense of motion and adventure at 6:30 like they're sailing across the sea, then the slaughterama of 8:20. It goes straight into a dirge at 9:15. And the song never regains its carefree spirit from before the first battle, but the war machine marches on, ending in, well, a sort of cheesy rock and roll finish when they would have probably been better off fading out. It's a bit monotonous in its individual movements, but they do a pretty cool job of conveying a story through sound. What's a medieval walrus category without a viking horde invasion.
8.4
Last edited by Shad on Fri Aug 20, 2021 8:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
TOP 15
Adam
Aladyyn
Ampharos
BLOODYRAIN10001
KnightsofCydonia
Marcher Jovian
marmot
Newcomb
Owner of a Lonely Heart
schadd
soah
tane
Tangrowth
Zack
Zarathustra
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
15th place:
Owner
Old Sorcery - Tears of a Dying Star
Finally some actual dungeon synth! The beginning is a little rough with the enunciation and had me concerned that it would go absolutely nowhere, but from 2:23 on this is a delightful ride in just the sort of soundscape I was hoping for. Would it have made it this high if I'd actually gotten more than one like it? Hard to say. Maybe not; that intro is a little rough. I was kind of expecting a lot of dungeon synth, because it's an easy thing to generically search and yolo sub the first sample that doesn't sound like garbage. But in the complete absence of anything else like it here, this put a huge smile on my face.
8.5
Owner
Old Sorcery - Tears of a Dying Star
Finally some actual dungeon synth! The beginning is a little rough with the enunciation and had me concerned that it would go absolutely nowhere, but from 2:23 on this is a delightful ride in just the sort of soundscape I was hoping for. Would it have made it this high if I'd actually gotten more than one like it? Hard to say. Maybe not; that intro is a little rough. I was kind of expecting a lot of dungeon synth, because it's an easy thing to generically search and yolo sub the first sample that doesn't sound like garbage. But in the complete absence of anything else like it here, this put a huge smile on my face.
8.5
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
14th place:
Marcher Jovian
Thurnin - Vagrants
It's not very often that I hear a song built mostly of acoustic guitar that's capable of really nestling into my background space. It usually feels a bit too porous and leaves me wanting more. This has plenty of come and go accompaniment, but the guitar's doing a lot of work solo to keep this thing feeling full. There's a beautiful sustaining ring to it. Each note is pronounced but soft. It all flows together so nicely. I'm really impressed by the performance and production here. I don't want to think about the other instruments woven in throughout, because it's so pleasant to just experience them as a seamless continuity with the rest of the music. This is wonderful. It's not quite a cat fit, but what was really? And like Jesper Kyd, it's not opposed to the setting in any way. It just doesn't directly create it.
8.7
Marcher Jovian
Thurnin - Vagrants
It's not very often that I hear a song built mostly of acoustic guitar that's capable of really nestling into my background space. It usually feels a bit too porous and leaves me wanting more. This has plenty of come and go accompaniment, but the guitar's doing a lot of work solo to keep this thing feeling full. There's a beautiful sustaining ring to it. Each note is pronounced but soft. It all flows together so nicely. I'm really impressed by the performance and production here. I don't want to think about the other instruments woven in throughout, because it's so pleasant to just experience them as a seamless continuity with the rest of the music. This is wonderful. It's not quite a cat fit, but what was really? And like Jesper Kyd, it's not opposed to the setting in any way. It just doesn't directly create it.
8.7
Re: Shad Walrus 2021
13th place:
Ampharos
Yuzo Koshiro - Shining Dagger, Shadow Blade
My desktop is presently littered with obscure Koshiro recordings I still need to sort. I've been on a kick lately. But I've never knowingly heard any of his post-90s material. I was going to get to this inevitably some day, but you beat me to it.
That's not important right now though. I went through a strange journey with this sub that I have to relate to you. I accidentally sorted it into cat 2 originally and listened to it in that context. It didn't seem questionable at first. I mean, it tanked, but the bongo-sounding percussion had me thinking ok, you're trying at some sort of Pacific Island sound plus metal. I wanted something connected on a deeper level, but I at least see what you did there. But what I ended up really criticizing it on was the flat production, often unavoidable in vgm, which makes that genre tend to stand up poorly taken out of its context and crammed into a walrus.
Fast forward to the present category, I saw the link pop up again and thought oh surely I copied the wrong one. There is no way this a cat 3 sub. It's prog metal. But it was.
And I'll be damned if the same features I was complaining about in the ocean category didn't make it feel right at home here. I clicked play on this and it was like hearing a completely different song. Because the crudeness, the chaos, the frantic cheesiness, all of the things that turned me off in a category that aimed to be taken seriously with expansive oceanic sounds, they just seemed to slot right in here. And it has bongos, which something something fuck yeah.
I ended the original write-up noting that I'm not sure I'm enjoying the song that much as a thing in itself. The appeal's more in just getting a kick out of hearing what Yuzo's been up to lately. I'd still rather be listening to Ys I or Misty Blue or Streets of Rage. I would say I'm enjoying the song profoundly more here, but I had to preserve the shout out.
8.8
Ampharos
Yuzo Koshiro - Shining Dagger, Shadow Blade
My desktop is presently littered with obscure Koshiro recordings I still need to sort. I've been on a kick lately. But I've never knowingly heard any of his post-90s material. I was going to get to this inevitably some day, but you beat me to it.
That's not important right now though. I went through a strange journey with this sub that I have to relate to you. I accidentally sorted it into cat 2 originally and listened to it in that context. It didn't seem questionable at first. I mean, it tanked, but the bongo-sounding percussion had me thinking ok, you're trying at some sort of Pacific Island sound plus metal. I wanted something connected on a deeper level, but I at least see what you did there. But what I ended up really criticizing it on was the flat production, often unavoidable in vgm, which makes that genre tend to stand up poorly taken out of its context and crammed into a walrus.
Fast forward to the present category, I saw the link pop up again and thought oh surely I copied the wrong one. There is no way this a cat 3 sub. It's prog metal. But it was.
And I'll be damned if the same features I was complaining about in the ocean category didn't make it feel right at home here. I clicked play on this and it was like hearing a completely different song. Because the crudeness, the chaos, the frantic cheesiness, all of the things that turned me off in a category that aimed to be taken seriously with expansive oceanic sounds, they just seemed to slot right in here. And it has bongos, which something something fuck yeah.
I ended the original write-up noting that I'm not sure I'm enjoying the song that much as a thing in itself. The appeal's more in just getting a kick out of hearing what Yuzo's been up to lately. I'd still rather be listening to Ys I or Misty Blue or Streets of Rage. I would say I'm enjoying the song profoundly more here, but I had to preserve the shout out.
8.8