Board 8 > [VGMC] Day 24! SnowRainbow/Bhavaagra, TrainCourse/Nrcolepsy, WrldMirror/noisemkr

(+) Yeah! (+)

Abstain
Training Course
noisemaker

Rainbow after snow
Narcolepsist
noisemaker

i def greatly prefer the original wonderful heaven (the saxes are too saxy for me) but this version is still great and i wouldn't mind it moving on!!

From TunnelScene:

Rainbow after snow (IIDX 20/jubeat saucer)
Training Course (Tenchu)
noisemaker (FutureGrind)

if "Three Trapped Tigers - Rainbow Road" turned into elebits anime

you know how I said the last touhou picked sounded like nekomata master well I wonder what would happen if you put a touhou song against nekomata master. . .

training course was one of the biggest standouts in noms. I love some of these long sustained chord pads, and the atmosphere both the electronic and acoustic layers convey is just in the end exactly my thing. has a great deal of the appeal Muramasa has to me, and also that zork grand inquisitor track I nommed because of the harp glisses

some nice tense crackly mellotron string bits in this

I've been a lot more interested in the guilty gear picks than I used to be

quite a tight match. I originally lisntened to these two back and forth for the majority of time spent on the favorites bracket, trying to decide. I don't even remember what I decided there. but these transposy chord stabs hit me hard.

From rwlh:

Rainbow after snow
Narcolepsist
noisemaker

Rainbow after snow: Very nice song with nice vocals and great production. Love the synths used. The ending is a bit abrupt, but that's not a huge knock on it.

Catastrophe in Bhava-agra: I like the piano in this one, but there's something weird about how the horns/saxes are mixed that makes me mixed on this one. Decent song.

Training Course: The intro is a bit misleading on this one. Kind of an odd intro that I don't feel fits the rest of the song, but once the acoustic guitar kicks in, this one really takes off. What an atmosphere. Great track.

Narcolepsist: This one's pretty interesting. Definitely doesn't feel like a part of the soundtrack it comes from. Very ambient start which builds up to a very intense track. Pretty unique structure, and one that I respect quite a bit. The gasp in there is very appropriate for the mood its setting. Good song.

Mirror of the World: I like the guitar in the intro of this one. Unfortunately, NAOKI is here to ruin it. The instrumental is very good and doesn't become overbearing like a lot of GGS songs do, but the NAOKI vocals are just something I can't enjoy whatsoever.

noisemaker: This one's really cool with the sharp synths. Love the somewhat subdued synth melody starting at 2:07. Great song.

Pretty good day.

Votes:
Rainbow after snow
Training Course
noisemaker

Catastrophe in Bhava-agra ~ Wonderful Heaven
Training Course
noisemaker

beatmania IIDX 20 tricoro / jubeat saucer - Rainbow after snow
Atelier Shallie: Alchemists of the Dusk Sea - Narcolepsist
FutureGrind - noisemaker

MATCH 1

I swear I've heard Rainbow After Snow before, but I definitely would've remembered a song like this. I know for a fact I've seen this song name before, so I guess I was just aware of it previously but never actually listened to it before. In that case, that puts this song up there among my favorite discoveries of the contest this year. Probably in the top 5? I would've happily picked this song to retire in my favorites bracket if it wasn't for Until stopping it in round 3. Anyway, I really enjoy Rainbow After Snow's bright melody. Great singing overall as well. The chorus is where this song really shines. Just feels like a very me part of the song for some reason. Especially 1:31. God that part is so good. Actually gives me goosebumps. It feels like a big emotional release and I really love things like that. The ha-ah's after that are really great too. It's not quite the kind of vocal harmonizing that I really really love, but it's close enough. Maybe I ought to check out that Crevice album. The only other song off that album that I've heard before is Connective, which I also really enjoy, so that's a good sign at least.

Catastrophe in Bhava-agra's not really a hit with me melodically, but it's not bad at all. Still a decently enjoyable listen. I'm probably being a little too harsh on this because there's plenty of songs I'd take this over. Maybe I'm mentally comparing this against better Touhou songs, which is for me a fairly high bar, so I might be treating this song a little unfairly, I don't know. In any case, this song simply doesn't hold a candle to Rainbow After Snow, so that's the obvious pick for me.

MATCH 2

Training Course has some interesting sounds in it. For example, the way the very start of the song sounds like distinct parts bleeding into one another. Or like you've chopped them up and mashed them together in a sampling-like style. I don't really know how to explain it, but it creates an interesting effect to the sound. The first few seconds of the part at 0:41 is pretty nice too. Has a lobby/lounge area type vibe to it. Though, it starts to get into the sort of chromaticism that I don't really like afterwards.

I don't really find myself getting very into Narcolepsist for most of the song. Only at the 3:12 mark does it really start to get interesting to me. But WOAH, 3:37 until the end turns everything up to 11. By far the best part of the song and what makes it noteworthy in my eyes. I can understand liking the journey leading up to that point, but eh, I don't know, it doesn't really resonate with me. Back to the ending, though, that gasp followed by this big wall of sound is super cool. I don't know what it is about it, but the gasping sound is such an interesting choice of sound to use and I think that part would be significantly worse off without it, even though I really enjoy the ending in large part for the big dramatic sound that follows it. Speaking of, the choirs here are a big yes for me. Dramatic, full, high-pitched choirs are often very much my thing. The reversed notes at 4:29 are also really cool. What a great way to finish off the song! Taking an epic, dramatic finale and then making it eerie and distorted. The shift in mood, but keeping the intensity of the previous part, is very pleasing to my ears.

MATCH 3

Mirror of the World feels lacking compared to what I normally like in Guilty Gear songs. I like them a little more faster paced and intense. Really not a fan of the vocals either, mainly in the first half at parts like 0:54. It's better when they're singing in the chorus. 1:56 is cool enough too, I guess. I wonder if it's just that I'm getting more used to the song as a whole, but the latter half feels a lot better than the first half. 4:39 was a pleasant surprise, and the synth solo afterwards was mostly cool as well.

noisemaker is a pretty solid house beat that works in some harsher synths that are pretty enjoyable as well here. Though, I think I like the cleaner synth melody at 2:08 the most. Definitely a song that keeps me entertained all throughout and to a degree that I think is enough to overtake Mirror of the World, which can be comparable in enjoyment but just more sporadically.

Rainbow after snow > Narcolepsist >> Catastrophe in Bhava-agra ~ Wonderful Heaven = noisemaker > Mirror of the World > Training Course

Rainbow after snow
Training Course
noisemaker

Rainbow after snow
Training Course
noisemaker

really love match 2 here, think both deserve to advance...lowkey over either song from match 3...but everything today is pretty good..

sometimes i feel unable to like accurately judge how much i like the guilty gear strive songs since i've heard them so much. Do i like this, or is it just stockholm syndrome? you know what i mean. its a good thing i actively like noisemaker

edited bc i forgot gamefaqs doesnt leave in extra spaces...my conversational style of formatting is ruined..

beatmania IIDX 20 tricoro / jubeat saucer - Rainbow after snow - 6-Solid consistent vibe but i thought there should have been a more major beat drop moment

Touhou 15.5: Antinomy of Common Flowers - Catastrophe in Bhava-agra ~ Wonderful Heaven -7 - oh wow the jazz goes so hard on this one. Ive heard this track but i dont know if ive ever listened through it all the way. The sax is the star of the show, but i feel the underlying beat and syncopation, the rhythm and energy that keeps the song moving forward, shouldnt be ignored. Gives me dolphin shoals feels
Tenchu: Stealth Assassins - Training Course - 5- So gleaming from the box art as well as the vibe of this music, its stealth spy thriller mixed with traditional japanese pagodas. The instrumentation really sells it well, the drawn out baited breath notes for the sneaky stealth compliment the mandolin? And strings in a unique way. Its still kind of a boring track

Atelier Shallie: Alchemists of the Dusk Sea - Narcolepsist - 6- hmm oh ok i see its one of those tracks that slow burns from 0 to 100 so by the second half you have dreadful intense screaming enveloping your soul. The last minute with the gyrating slow rhythm of the piece was actually really scary and sinister. I felt like an eldritch beast with no face was behind the sound

Guilty Gear -Strive- - Mirror of the World -5.5 more than what i expected with its rich fanfare of all the instrumentation and path

FutureGrind - noisemaker -8 funkiness off the charts. Love how it builds and has a call and response

Catastrophe in Bhava-agra ~ Wonderful Heaven
Narcolepsist
noisemaker

RAS
Narco
WroldMirror

AHHH I ALMOST FORGOT I HATE PST

Rainbow after snow
Narcolepsist
noisemaker