The Paul Bothner sponsored January Challenge - Category 3 [VOTE]

FruitarGeek

The first group of Advanced challengers for 2015. Goodluck.

[b]Fahey[/b] - Triple Kill http://guitarforum.co.za/gfsacomps/mp3s/Fahey.mp3 [i]Two bands that I really admire for their rhythm sections are Lamb of God and Opeth. I tried to go for a mix of those two bands in this month's rhythm challenge.[/i]

[b]Kotzen [/b]- Rythm Comp http://guitarforum.co.za/gfsacomps/mp3s/Kotzen.mp3 [i]It's just drums, bass, guitars and some "koto" synth sound

The timings are:

120bpm 4/4 120bmp 12/8 200bpm 12/8 200bpm 4/4 180bpm 7/8 180bpm 12/8 100bpm 4/4 90bpm 7/16

There's a bunch of polyrythms going on like more straight guitar over 12/8 with accents on odd then even places etc [/i]

[b]Jones [/b]- Cause and Effect http://guitarforum.co.za/gfsacomps/mp3s/Jones.mp3

(old forum) Poll Results: Please Vote

Fahey: 3
Kotzen: 5
Jones: 1

doc-phil

Fahey

I can hear the LoG and Opeth influence. I liked the riff at 0:49. My criticism is that it sounds more like a string of riffs as opposed to a cohesive track. Overall tight drums and bass which is the foundation of a good rhythm section (just need to tighten up those chops!)

Kotzen

Definitely the best production-wise of the lot. I feel like you cheated a little throwing in a lead for everyone to be impressed by ? I am very impressed with your use of time signature and tempo changes. The koto was a tad loud for me when it first comes in. This was like an oriental version of Tool.

Jones

Like the ambient/chill vibe to this. This would be great in the background on a loop. There is some kinda synth coming from the left channel that I think should have been more centre, it kinda popped out too much on the left. I think I also would have liked to hear the guitar playing less lead and following the rest of the rhythm section more.

It'll be a tough pick on this one.

Mixerboy

Fahey: nice tripplety metal throughout, guitar playing is pretty tight throughout. The snare could use some more compression and less reverb for me (that's just personal taste though), overall, I have to say, to me this sounds better than a lot of actual metal bands from around here, playing and production wise.

Kotsen: this sounds huge, it's like Japanese prog metal or something. I liked the way it's mostly odd times but doesn't sound too odd.

Jones: this reminds me of old prog rock from the 70's, I think with some different production/sound it could even work in a Portishead type vibe. It sounds straight forward but the drums are in an odd time which is pretty cool, if the strumming guitar was a bit louder it could've added to the rhythm a lot more I think.

FruitarGeek

I enjoyed all these entries very much. And you all got the idea for the rhthm thing quite well.

I'll start with Jones:
You took a different angle from the other two, so it was more refreshing to my ears. Intro is the greatest thing ever. I won't lie, the rhythm was, ummm interesting. It had this deliberate off sound, as if you JUST missing the count. I don't know if that was intentional or not, but I will give you the benefit of the doubt. The lead guitar also had that delayed vibe, as if it only JUST catches the other guitar. Again, not sure if intentional or not. My only crit would be to revise the lead guitar - I don't know how much it was doing for the song. Perhaps too much legato?

Kotzen:

That synth. My man, that is mind blowingly awesome. I think this song had the best grasp of different time signatures. Not even Tool could keep up with this - so well done on pulling it off, and so convincing. I think one of the biggest problems in changing signatures so often is keeping it natural i.e. it doesn't feel out of place. You kept it very natural. So for that, you stole my vote. You kept it 2 min, and I believe you when you say its only drums, bass and guitar + synth. Impressive man, impressive. It sounded much bigger to my ears

Fahey:

The first song I heard, and you did not disappoint. The tone is amazing first of all. This is very convincing for this kind of genre - I imagine you to be in a metal band. The drums sound awesome. Are they sampled? You kept the signature the same, but I see the rhythm was emphasised with your guitar strumming. This was an incredible song. Well done.

FruitarGeek

Fahey - doc-phil
Kotzen - Mixerboy
Jones - WEM

Another successful theme. Well done Mixerboy, and others. Doc-phil, as you are the true runner-up, would you like to select the theme?

doc-phil

Ya sure, no problem.

I'll give it some thought and will send you a PM sometime today.

WEM

Awesome stuff on here guys! I've been so busy putting together the new EP and mastering 2 songs and that's besides my day job so apologies for being on the dark side of the moon.

Kotzen - Mixerboy, well done, I loved the track and the overall tone, the potential on this here forum is mind blowing and inspirational.