Board 8 > [VGMC] Day 30! gram-enc/Astebreed, FlowerWind/Megaraph, Rampage/PPPPP

(+) Yeah! (+)

Welcome to Video Game Music Contest 17, an annual celebration of the best of the best video game music according to the voters!

Important Links:
Bracket: https://www.bracketmaker.com/tlist.cfm?tid=477304
Contest info sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SAJKYJmYhccLvbf_H-5uSA7-eMwXfW8k1q74Qho1bLU
Contest discussion thread: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/80433657
Main bracket playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLT3m7iohpL0wlcxj-kHQRU1yHo-kpMxGe
Last years spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_IU5iCFTM_4WEx8ZWKwznMz5v2tarCKh1Ag0mxIgAes
VGMC total stats sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1K1XdLWiUKB2kX99qYBgnRbLU_sCz4dvZSByKKJHCT6o
Discord: https://discord.gg/WDvMS4a

Rules:
- Listen to both songs in a given match, at least through the loop time provided (to make sure you don't skip before you've heard the whole thing!)
- Please consider the loop point listed when judging the song; if a video loops one minute 5 times, don't treat it as if it's a repetitive 5 minute song
- If it's a match between your favorite song ever and a song you despise, still LISTEN TO BOTH! Votes can and will be disqualified if there is suspicion songs are not being listened to, and you may be discounted for the rest of the contest for repeat offenses.
- No alt accounts, no rallying or begging, etc., etc.... You only get one vote! Swapping votes is alright, just make clear that you've already made a vote and are swapping.
- Make clear what your voting options are! Please keep votes separate from any comments, and use the titles given in the topic post.
- Voting in all matches is not mandatory, feel free to skip matches you do not wish to vote in.
- Vote based on the links provided, and not other sources of audio. Links are specifically chosen for best quality and the like.
- Don't discuss vote tallies in this thread, or in other threads, as they may influence votes. Likewise, please refrain from looking at the running tally before voting.

Voting Period:
- Today's matches will last 24 hours from the time of posting, or 24 hours from 10pm Eastern, whichever is the later time.
- Please note this may mean that two topics will be active at the same time!
- If you anticipate being unable to vote in a given day, please send an absentee vote to @banshiryuu, or post your absentee vote in the discussion thread!

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Match 1

TRianThology - gram-encounter
Composer: xaki
Loop Point: 2:24
https://youtu.be/1W5cIhFONC4

Astebreed (PS4) - Astebreed ~ The Void
Composer: Shoichiro Sakamoto
Loop Point: 5:09
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVKJVyWTZ4k

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Match 2

Nobunagas Ambition: Tenshouki - Flowery Wind
Composer:

gram-encounter
Megaraph Fleet
Pre Paid Pog Punk Panic

Astebreed (PS4) - Astebreed ~ The Void
Spark the Electric Jester - Megaraph Fleet
Nirvana Pilot Yume - Rampage

Astebreed ~ The Void
Megaraph Fleet
Rampage

Astebreed - Astebreed ~ The Void
Spark the Electric Jester - Megaraph Fleet (Stage 15)
Nirvana Pilot Yume - Rampage

Megaraph Fleet (Stage 15) > Rampage > Astebreed ~ The Void > gram-encounter > Pre Paid Pog Punk Panic > Flowery Wind

Top three songs were all great. gram-encounter is something I'd like in theory, but in practice it feels off. PPPPP is what some (myself included) would call "penis music", but hey it did make me laugh. Flowery Wind is very much not for me.

Astebreed ~ The Void
Flowery Wind
Rampage

Astebreed ~ The Void
Flowery Wind
Rampage

Flowers
Positive Potential Predestined Pushing Pressure

Astebreed ~ The Void
Megaraph Fleet
Rampage

gram-encounter
Flowery Wind
Pre Paid Pog Punk Panic

gram-encounter
Flowery Wind

Astebreed ~ The Void
Megaraph Fleet
Rampage

gram's a good jam. Funky from start to finish. The Void is one of my favorite discoveries, though. Gets off to an awesome start, then has a great change, though I actually prefer the starting segment.

Flowery Wind doesn't do much for me. Doesn't stand out. Megaraph is a ton of fun.

Hell yeah 80s-style music. Pog isn't as much my style.

Astebreed ~ The Void
Megaraph Fleet
Rampage

Astebreed ~ The Void
Megaraph Fleet
Rampage

Encounter
Fleet
Panic

Astebreed (PS4) - Astebreed ~ The Void
Spark the Electric Jester - Megaraph Fleet
Nirvana Pilot Yume - Rampage

Megaraph Fleet
Pre Paid Pog Punk Panic

Astebreed (PS4) - Astebreed ~ The Void
Spark the Electric Jester - Megaraph Fleet
Nirvana Pilot Yume - Rampage

Man, the two best songs in Bracket C stacked against each other in Round 1. I'd have chosen gram-encounter over the entire rest of C, but it drew The Void

gram-encounter
Megaraph Fleet
Rampage

Astebreed ~ The Void
Megaraph Fleet
Rampage

Astebreed ~ The Void
Megaraph Fleet
Rampage

gram-encounter
Megaraph Fleet
Rampage

gram-encounter
Flowery Wind
Rampage

Strong day! The first 2:30 of The Void is much better than the rest imo, and I like Megaraph Fleet but Flowery Wind is gorgeous. Rampage keeps ascending throughout its runtime, whew.

Astebreed ~ The Void
Megaraph Fleet
Pre Paid Pog Punk Panic

Third match is rude. Two of my favorite new discoveries against each other.

Also opposite opinion to Andy here. First 2:30 of Void is decent but unremarkable to me, where as the latter 5:00 rocks.

gram-encounter
Flowery Wind
Pre Paid Pog Punk Panic

Astebreed ~ The Void
Megaraph Fleet
Rampage

gram-encounter
Megaraph Fleet
Rampage

gram-encounter: The mixing on this one is kinda questionable by overemphasizing higher end frequencies, but it's not awful. The song itself is interesting, but not really something I'd go back to. I can see why someone like FL81 would really like it though.

Astebreed ~ The Void: Astebreed sounds like a classic eurobeat instrumental, which is fun. I like the synth pads at 1:48. A bit short-lived though. The Void is also really cool. Love the driving rhythm, guitar, and piano. The chords in the intro also remind me a lot of a Hollow Knight song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjBTtNU27Ec). Very cool song.

Flowery Wind: This is easily my favorite song in all of Bracket C, and probably my second favorite song in the entire contest. The moment that cello (performed by Hajime Mizoguchi, Kanno's ex-husband) plays those opening notes, I get chills. The string-writing is absolutely fantastic. So much nuance and emotion in each instrument playing their respective parts, from the piano to the winds to the subtle percussion. It feels like a simple song, but the more you listen to it, the more you realize how complex and how much detail is really there. Definitely a top 20 Kanno song overall for me, which is really high praise.

Megaraph Fleet: The vocals in this remind me of Balan Wonderworld. This song is also pretty good, I like the strings more than anything. Cool e-guitar and snare as well. The piano-focused bit towards the end of the loop is solid as well. Good song, but unfortunately, it's up against a song that I basically will never vote against.

Rampage: Very cool synthwave. Not the best production in the world for this type of song, but it works. Pretty nice incorporation of e-guitar as well. The solo towards the end is fire. Fun song.

Pre Paid Pog Punk Panic: This song's pretty unique. A bunch of interesting samples mashed together to make a fast-paced, on-the-edge-of-your-seat, wild song. The transition to the calmer bossa section is pretty interesting too, and it works pretty well. Crazy song.

Very good day all things considered. Only one I didn't like again.

Votes:
Astebreed ~ The Void
Flowery Wind
Rampage

Astebreed ~ The Void
Megaraph Fleet
Rampage

TRianThology - gram-encounter
Nobunagas Ambition: Tenshouki - Flowery Wind
CHUNITHM NEW - Pre Paid Pog Punk Panic

didn't expect to hear jun.a today lol

gram-encounter
Flowery Wind
Rampage

gram-encounter
Megaraph Fleet
Pre Paid Pog Punk Panic

Today's roses: 200,000 -> 235,002

Astebreed ~ The Void
Flowery Wind
Rampage

crawled my migraine inflicted ass out of bed to vote so boy howdy i hope i get some wins. sad not to vote for spark and poggers but the competition is insanely good

Astebreed ~ The Void
Megaraph Fleet
Pre Paid Pog Punk Panic

gram-encounter
Megaraph Fleet
Rampage

im so mad bcos i missed voting yesterday, i was going to and had listened to all but one of the songs but then was busy and forgot and had to sleep

gram-encounter
Flowery Wind
Pre Paid Pog Punk Panic

Astebreed ~ The Void
Flowery Wind
Rampage

gram-encounter
Megaraph Fleet
Rampage

gram-encounter is probably a bit too chaotic for my tastes, but I do like when the guitar-sounding synth comes in. I had high hopes for The Void after the intro but ended up pretty low on it. This blaring synth effect is not one I generally like, and it has the same sort of too-repetitive-too-loud backing instruments that turn me off of a lot of rhythm game songs. (Yes I know this is not a rhythm game song itself) The second half is somewhat better but also doesn't stand on its own particularly well.

Flowery Wind feels like it could benefit by doing a bit more, but overall I'm definitely a fan. Some very pretty string parts here. Despite being a totally different song I have similar comments on Megaraph Fleet...it's a really solid high energy song that feels like it's just one cathartic line away from really selling it. The electric guitar part is cool and almost gets there but not quite. These complaints are both pretty nitpicky, for the record.

I like the low synths in Rampage a lot. It's a neat way to get the song to sound relaxing while giving a sense of tension and it accomplishes both things pretty well. The ending is also cool--reminds me a bit of Risk of Rain in the way that it's slowly building on itself. Pre Paid Pog Punk Panic is an amusing song. Lots of silly sounds which sometimes work against it but mostly make it a very fun experience. Honestly might be my 2nd favorite song today--#2 through #4 are very close.

Rampage > Megaraph Fleet > Pre Paid Pog Punk Panic > Flowery Wind > gram-encounter > Astebreed ~ The Void

Gram
Mega
Ram

Do you know la hee?

Also Yume looks super cool, I kinda wanna grab the game it's only $10...

Astebreed ~ The Void
Megaraph Fleet
Rampage

gram-encounter is my prediction for bracket C winner and Im not sure how I feel about it. It can be overly busy or repetitive at times but there are some parts where it all comes together like 0:48-1:20. Either way, Im not confident in its chances though I am prepared to be surprised.

Px5 is fun. The samples are well placed to add spice without getting annoying.

Medarot 5 - beat-diamonds

Astebreed ~ The Void
Flowery Wind
Rampage

Astebreed ~ The Void
Flowery Wind
Pre Paid Pog Punk Panic

Astebreed ~ The Void
Megaraph Fleet
Rampage

From TunnelScene:

gram-encounter (TRianThology)
Megaraph Fleet (Spark the Electric Jester)
Pre Paid Pog Punk Panic (CHUNITHM NEW)

xaki when he's going for unhinged aggressive dissonance is just so powerful

lots of pretty crystal bell synths in this one that I really like

0pretty music : )

I love bulgaria

if guilty gear had sex with "synth wave"

oh no it's the happy goofy song has far crazier composition thing again so I can't vote for the edgy song. what kind of guy who makes shadow the hedge hog be their avatar am i (actually I thought I would be voting the other way but some really erratic and tonally angular moments in this one convinced me. honestly a close match.)

From rwlh:

Astebreed ~ The Void
abstain
Pre Paid Pog Punk Panic

gram-encounter
Megaraph Fleet
Pre Paid Pog Punk Panic

Astebreed ~ The Void
Megaraph Fleet
Rampage

aeiou

Astebreed ~ The Void
Megaraph Fleet
Pre Paid Pog Punk Panic

Astebreed ~ The Void
Megaraph Fleet
Pre Paid Pog Punk Panic

A straight up legendary track, a Sonic-like and a Splatoon-like. Interesting day. Rampage is also cool. C3 had some immense swagger, damn.

gram-encounter
Megaraph Fleet
Rampage

Astebreed ~ The Void
Megaraph Fleet
Rampage

gram-encounter
Megaraph Fleet
Pre Paid Pog Punk Panic