I'd venture to guess if everyone's ranking in this cat reflected their knowledge of this type of music there's be a crowded McPodium.

But I thank you all for humoring me. And for helping me find some great stuff.

Is this genre your wheelhouse or just something you dabble in?

Okay, on with the show.

It's probably my go-to genre. A lot of the drumming technique I developed growing up was a result of this kind of stuff.

Pumped we are getting a reveal already. I also knew nothing about this category but feel ok with my entry.

In b4 anti-podium

I really dig the ambient guitar lines. The layering is solid and reminiscent of Explosions in the Sky with dirtier drums. I do think their softs could be softer, which would make their louds louder. The builds are there, but feel more sudden than they could be. One great thing about this song is that you can’t tell the band is from Nicaragua.

Prediction: This should be top 10 when all is said and done.

2nd listen – Still a decent tune, and obviously the best song [redacted] received for his category. The field just too solid in this one.

Sigur Ros has definitely had a strong influence on post-rock. They were on my final two for RRHOF snub, but I went with the band that I think will be a true snub and never get in. Sigur Ros will get in. Not my favorite melodic line that they chose to go with once the guitar gets in, but I appreciate that it doesn’t last that long and then we get into some piano. Oh hey, interesting transition into some more almost EDM flavor. Oh, and now combining it. I see where they’re going. They introduced us to the layers one by one and then started putting them over top of each other. I can dig that. This is nice, easy listening. Nothing offensive here, but nothing that’s really grabbing. Well, I do like the piano outro probably best.

Prediction: I’ll guess this will be middle-of-the-pack.

I'm at a red light, on the way to work, listening to this song at full volume. And digging it.

Yes I liked this quickly fast forwarding through it. Something was off with the drumming I thought. Needed to be a bit more patient or something. But would listen again

Haha, did you just give last place to the song you submitted to eb?

Nasty bass opening, interesting. Totally different sound from the ones I’ve listened to so far. A little bit of gutbusting, which I can rally around. Starting to feel a little bit like this is a Metallica track with the guitar effects and drum tuning changed. Getting a “For Whom the Bell Tolls” vibe. It’s not bad, still kinda seems like a long intro. Oh hey, 2:00 is new. I actually really dig this. Reminds me of If These Trees Could Talk. Oh yeah, I like these lines quite a bit. This is turning into a tale of two songs. I’m not big into the blues rock (?) sections that come in from time-to-time. Definitely like the effect and voicing that comes in around 4:30 and the triplet pattern introduced. Not bad. Prediction: Gonna be close to right in the middle +/- two spots.

2nd listen – still getting that backtrack of Metallica with a twist vibe. Almost like the major key remix of “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” https://youtu.be/dVehv_LDWaE

Not anti-podium!

Nice ambient opening. When the drums kick in, it reminds me a lot of How It Feels To Be Something On era Sunny Day Real Estate. Promising build, but the song’s only 4:39, how are they going to get there? Definitely enjoy the part that kicks in at 2:25. Nice layering across the board. I’m definitely digging this, but it almost seems like it has topped out and isn’t going to go anywhere else, which is a tad disappointing. Yeah, now it’s over. Not as satisfied as I’d like to be, but still a good tune. Prediction: Surely good for middle-of-the-pack.

2nd listen – Yeah, still left wanting a bit.

Hmm well faded the anti-podium but not by much I didn’t love a lot of the songs I was finding for the category so tried to mix some sounds

I started with 14th place, so hold your horses, hoss.

Aren't there supposed to be 17 songs? Are you doing a 'middle' 'top' 'bottom' type reveal?

Oh wait, looks like you're doing the kind of reveal that saves anti-podium til the end.

Probably just jinxed myself.

Piano intro – oh, right into some dirty guitar. This one could rock. It’s definitely building that way. I like the anticipation it’s creating. Let’s see what happens. Okay, around 1:15 it’s starting to remind me of Linkin Park. 1:37 the drums come in and they’re good. 2:30 and a new layer. It’s pretty clear by now that’s how they’re doing the build. Just keep everything going and add more and more and more until your face melts off. Getting there at 2:50. Interesting pivot at 3:15 back to just piano, but urgent. Singing??? Oh, come on. And, like, a lot of singing. There something interesting about it, but not really pleasant interesting. Mostly it was just the beat that came in under the choir. 5:45 onward is what I was looking for when the song started. I got chills at 6:00. This is going to be the first one I listen to again immediately after the first play through.

Prediction: Too early to tell. This song has serious range. I’ve never gone from impressed to disappointed to blown away to this degree on a song.

Okay, just finished my 2nd listen through and this song is ****ing great. The singing bugs me re: category fit and, worse, doesn’t make the song better.

Updated Prediction: I could see this landing top-6, even with the singing.

3rd listen – The song is still great, but the singing is still there, and it harms more than helps. Gotta knock this one back a little bit.

Oh, and thankfully the Linkin Park thing ended quickly. Forgot to include that in the write up. What I was hearing around 1:15 was not a good sign, but they turned it around.

Not anti-podium!

i would have submitted that if i could remember what the name of the band was

I was a bit worried about the singing bit, but I thought your description said not to worry about that too much.