Board 8 > [VGMC] Day 10! Mimic/Aerolith Aurorablast, Nuedori/ -(PHENYLALANINE)- + Tiebreak

(+) Yeah! (+)

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim - -(PHENYLALANINE)-

Mimic
Nuedori
46-:ri9

Flipped on the tiebreaker

Aerolith Aurorablast (HAGANE Remix)
-(PHENYLALANINE)-
46-:ri9

Aerolith Aurorablast (HAGANE Remix)
Nuedori
Egg Reverie ~ Extra Boss Theme

Sonic Mania - Egg Reverie ~ Extra Boss Theme
Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown - Mimic
Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception - Nuedori

Aerolith Aurorablast (HAGANE Remix)
Nuedori
Egg Reverie ~ Extra Boss Theme

Blue Revolver: Double Action - Aerolith Aurorablast (HAGANE Remix)
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim - -(PHENYLALANINE)-

Xenoblade Chronicles X - 46-:ri9

Mimic / Nuedo/ri9

Mimic: With a strong conviction, the pilot skillfully maneuvers their craft through the sky, practiced motions allowing for perfect execution.

Aerolith Aurorablast (HAGANE Remix): Preparing for a fight, they snap their headphones over their ears, nodding their head to the beat to get in the zone.

Nuedori: The camera pans down from a dim, cloudy sky as the sun rises over a lush, verdant field of green, marked with a dark line of soldiers marching.

-(PHENYLALANINE)-: A simulated star shines brightly on a vast plane of unnaturally smooth and crisp surfaces, blindingly brilliant.

Mimic >= Nuedori = PHENYLALANINE = Aerolith > 46-:ri9 > Egg

some of the toughest R1 matches yet for me...these are very closely near each other in strength, and it's not in an easily comparable way -- i like them for very different reasons

Mimic
-(PHENYLALANINE)-
Egg Reverie ~ Extra Boss Theme

Aerolith Aurorablast (HAGANE Remix)
Nuedori
Egg Reverie ~ Extra Boss Theme

Mimic
Nuedori
Egg Reverie ~ Extra Boss Theme

Aerolith Aurorablast (HAGANE Remix)
Nuedori
46-:ri9

Mimic
Nuedori
Egg Reverie ~ Extra Boss Theme

--
Mimic [8.4]
Aerolith Aurorablast (HAGANE Remix) [8.3]

As much of a sucker I am for steel_plus and his work, I still really like his remix a good amount, but Mimic is surprisingly getting my vote for this. The bass and drums in Mimic are admittedly pretty cool, even if I wish there was some more melody used in the song.

Nuedori [8.5]
-(PHENYLALANINE)- [7.7]

Nuedori is super cool with the tribal rhythms it adds in to the vocals. I wish it didn't veer into the direction of sounding a little generic once it reaches the chorus, but the rest of the song still fills me with warmth from the singer's performance.

This 13S track just feels kinda there for me, it's not gripping me like a couple of others have done almost instantly.

Tiebreaker Round:
I'm sorry Sawano, but Tee Lopes is still winning my vote for this.

Aerolith Aurorablast (HAGANE Remix)
Nuedori
Egg Reverie ~ Extra Boss Theme

Write ups may come later. Prob after the cut off time.

Mimic
-(PHENYLALANINE)-
46-:ri9

Mimic
Nuedori
46-:ri9

Mimic has some really cool parts but also a lot of only-okay parts which hold it back a bit, especially because this general instrumentation isn't really my preferred style. Aerolith Aurorablast has a lot going for it in terms of overall feel and is close to being great, but as-is it just feels too repetitive for me. It needs like one extra melodic part or for the backing parts to change more often or something.

Nuedori is really good. Suara is one of my favorite singers. The chanting at the beginning and the folk instruments really give this song a distinct grand feel, and the emotional lines in the chorus are also great. I don't think I ever skipped this opening when I was playing through the game. Phenylalanine is another cool 13S song with a nice, pretty blend of electronic and not-electronic sounds which has a lot going for it. The sound builds really effectively throughout the song also. This would be an easy pick over either of the match 1 songs and plenty of other songs in the bracket, but alas. It ended up a lot closer than I expected here also considering I think I doubled Nuedori in nominations.

Nuedori > Phenylalinine > Mimic > Aerolith Aurorablast

--
-(PHENYLALANINE)-
Egg Reverie ~ Extra Boss Theme

unabstaining for the tiebreaker (this time)
and instead abstaining match 1, both real cool songs there

Mimic
-(PHENYLALANINE)-
46-:ri9

re: -(PHENYLALANINE)-
b1

One of my favourite 13 Sentinels battle tracks. I love the pluck synth and high strings that introduce this track, setting a tone of nervousness and anticipation, the feel of a storm on the horizon. When the heavier part of the track comes in I'm actually vaguely reminded of some early Hybrid tracks I listened to (and, revisiting, am also reminded of how much Hybrid music feels like VGM in retrospect.) Like most Kaneda music I enjoy, this track spends a lot of time choosing not to resolve itself cleanly at the end of musical phrases; it's always a little uncertain, always leaving room for doubt. 3:52 is the closest thing to a payoff, a more hopeful string melody, but even then it's still asking a few questions.

other notes:
-this is a harsh first match; Nuedori grew on me quite a bit in the time between nominations and the contest. this is the kind of sound I like from 'anime OP'-style tracks. I'm especially fond of the verses, and the propulsive feeling of the 6/8 here.

Aerolith Aurorablast (HAGANE Remix)
Nuedori
46-:ri9

46-:ri9 >> Nuedori >> Aerolith Aurorablast (HAGANE Remix) >> Egg Reverie ~ Extra Boss Theme > -(PHENYLALANINE)- >>> Mimic

Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown - Mimic
Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception - Nuedori
Sonic Mania - Egg Reverie ~ Extra Boss Theme

MATCH 1

Mimic is good prog rock. It has some lulls and otherwise meh parts in the song that weaken the song some in my eyes like that first minute or so of buildup and 2:20 with the crazy neck sliding or whatever stuff on the guitar. I'm all for guitar noodling up and down the scale, but I don't like what it's doing there. Same goes for 6:15. Could do without the lengthy drum fill at the end too. But with that out of the way, I really enjoy when the song gets more energetic in the guitar riffs and when the hammond organ (I may be misidentifying the instrument here) comes in. 3:46-4:20 is my favorite part of the song. Really like that progression with the fast-paced drumming in the background. I've noticed, and probably pointed out before, that I really like it when the drummer's really rocking it out on a song. Same goes for any time there's those rapid drum hits like at 4:39 (but more in the context of something like 3:54).

Aerolith Aurorablast has that general cool Hagane sound to it. Nice sounding piano with some cool stuff layered over it. This match is tough because I like Aerolith Aurorablast overall, but Mimic has higher peaks and lower troughs. Those kinds of matches are often really tough for me to decide. I think here, Mimic wins out on average, but I'd be happy with either song winning here. I'm also reminded that I really like One Step From Eden - Triggered: Shopkeeper's Theme that got nominated and/or was used in one of the VGMC crowdsource lists and kinda wish it got in. I would've taken that song here for sure.

MATCH 2

Nuedori is my second favorite song in Bracket A! But I was very close to taking this over Mystic Pendulum when filling out the bracket, so it's a very close second. There are a lot of things I like about this song. First of all, Suara is a wonderful singer and really adds to the overall quality of the song and all the other Utawarerumono songs she's sung for. It's especially so in the chorus when she hits the higher notes like with "hodo" at 1:32. Speaking of the chorus, that's definitely my favorite part of the song! The powerful melody and vocals with the strings in the background is very much my thing. Really, everything about this song is great, but a few other highlights for me is the chanting at 0:39 and the brief key change at 3:41.

-(PHENYLALANINE)- is pretty cool as well. When I was listening to that intro, I was hoping it would eventually lead to something else that really kicked off the song, so 1:08 was not a disappointment! Still, I'd say Isoleucine is the better 13 Sentinels song, but I definitely like Phenylalanine over Deoxyribose.

Nuedori > Egg Reverie ~ Extra Boss Theme > Mimic = 46-:ri9 > Aerolith Aurorablast (HAGANE Remix) > -(PHENYLALANINE)-

mimic

Aerolith Aurorablast (HAGANE Remix)
-(PHENYLALANINE)-
Egg Reverie ~ Extra Boss Theme

Aerolith Aurorablast (HAGANE Remix)
-(PHENYLALANINE)-
Egg Reverie ~ Extra Boss Theme

Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown - Mimic
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim - -(PHENYLALANINE)-
Sonic Mania - Egg Reverie ~ Extra Boss Theme

Not much to say for this one. A bunch of songs I like. Today's spread:

[8.5] Mimic
[8.5] -(PHENYLALANINE)-
[7.5] Egg Reverie ~ Extra Boss Theme
[7.5] Nuedori
[7.5] 46-:ri9
[7.0] Aerolith Aurorablast (HAGANE Remix)

Aerolith Aurorablast
PHENYLALANINE
Egg Reverie

6.2 - Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown - Mimic
6.9 - Blue Revolver: Double Action - Aerolith Aurorablast (HAGANE Remix)
7.5 - Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception - Nuedori
6.0 - 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim - -(PHENYLALANINE)-
9.4 - Sonic Mania - Egg Reverie ~ Extra Boss Theme
9.3 - Xenoblade Chronicles X - 46-:ri9

Yeah nothing comes close to the tiebreak today for me still lol (I still will feel bad if I'm the deciding vote). Some decent songs, though I expected PHENYLALINE to feel a lot more like a tournament winner to me than this, idk pf

Once again I enjoy vocal tracks more than average, I guess