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7: TsuBaKi - Artemis Wept ~ Moon's Lament Betrayed! TsuBaKi's well deserved reputation set certain expectations even before I started listening, and these were only reinforced by the introductory instrumentation, promising an enjoyably dramatic arrangement. Then the vocals hit. I have made a concerted (and largely successful) effort to develop appreciation for as many musical styles and genres as possible over the past several years; the one genre that has continued to elude my attempts at sympathetic comprehension has been screamo death metal. Music is uniquely suited to intensifying and influencing emotions, and is often utilized for this purpose; as such, one of my standard considerations for a piece is what kind of emotional response it is likely to evoke. This extreme form of emotional expression is characterized by its negative energy, largely uncontrolled and unfiltered; in a word, "raw." Thus far, I have not been able to discern a beneficial usage for it, and am much more inclined to consider it a risk. Granted that this song is only partially performed in this style, but even the limited use is enough to preclude this from being a personally enjoyable experience. I also couldn't find the lyrics, so . . . My one weakness; I am aware of my (arguably unreasonable) bias, but it cannot be helped. At least the production quality is good. 2/10 8: Lycoris Sound - Hammersmith in the Sky Highlight of this round. Rather refreshing to hear a more laid-back rock style instrumental arrangement among all the vocal metal and pop. On initial listening, I thought it a bit simplistic, but subsequent listenings highlighted its creativity. The pipe organ is a rare enough instrument choice to be novel in most settings; its inclusion here helps maintain the slight eeriness that the intro brought in (an ideal tone for the source motif), but also reinforces the playful mood of the piece. It continues to keep the balance between these two tones throughout the arrangement, initially as a lead instrument and then as an accompaniment for the electric guitar. I'm so used to hearing riffs, it's somewhat unusual to hear a more steady note-by-note performance. I don't normally appreciate this style, not because of its sound but because of its concept; why do note-by-note when you could jazz it up a bit with some improve? This piece has examples of improve, but it also showcases the way a proper accompaniment can enhance the simple performance, uniquely highlighting the versatility of the instruments. It helps that both approaches are balanced against each other, allowing me to appreciate them simultaneously. On that note, I remember posting a piece from this circle early on it Musical Discoveries. I think it's a testament to how much my tastes have developed since then, that what I found dislikable then is now something I can appreciate for its creativity and skill. Slightly nostalgic, and more generally pleasant. Bonus points for the neat video. 8/10 9: MA.S ATTACK - Hartmann's Youkai Girl The creeping dread. There's a line between ambient music and what I call "true ambience," and I tend to define that line according to melodic progression. I characterize ambience by its overall lack of significant progression; its purpose is to set a mood, not to "tell a story." While all music has mood, ambience is specifically focused on developing atmosphere, and thus does not need to "move" anywhere to accomplish its goal. This piece is very close to the line of true ambience, in as much as you could remove the melodic part and it would not harm the piece at all, aside from disqualifying it as a remix. Nonetheless, there is something gained by the inclusion of a distinctly out-of-key motif in the background of the fuzzy noise, especially one with the already discordant progression of Hartmann's Youkai Girl. The motif is alone, unaccompanied except by the foreground noise and percussion, and this isolation within the music communicates to the atmosphere of the piece. It may seem a bit long, but that is also part of the effect; were it shorter, it could not drag out its atmosphere nearly so effectively. Another arrangement came to my mind while listening to this; a similarly intentioned piece that was almost part of the ill-fated "halloween" remix tournament, by the artist Pola. Unlike MA.S ATTACK's track, this had a lot more activity and discordance in it, making it difficult to identify the source piece and escalating the underlying dread to genuine discomfort. Between the two remixes, I can confidently say I prefer the current tournament's feature. Well accomplished in its intentions, if not particularly suitable for casual listening. 6.8/10