Okay, I’m keeping my genre promise, and here are my takes and some of what I’m listening to, but I’m not expecting anything, of course, and I’m really curious to see the comments.

𝔗𝔯𝔦𝔭𝔱𝔶𝔨𝔬𝔫 - 𝔄𝔲𝔯𝔬𝔯𝔞𝔢 🇨🇭

ℌ𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔞𝔰 - 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔄𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔞𝔩 𝔖𝔢𝔢𝔯 🇸🇪

𝔍𝔢𝔩𝔲𝔰𝔦𝔠𝔨 - 𝔇𝔦𝔢𝔡 🇭🇷

Edited February 11Feb 11 by Nine And ¾

I picked 'The Astral Seer' because I think it had the "friendlier" music and vocals of the three, but my ears (or judgment in general) cannot exactly be relied on.

I came here seeking big energy when I saw that metal was on the menu, so here's my thoughts after listening to all three in full...

𝔗𝔯𝔦𝔭𝔱𝔶𝔨𝔬𝔫 - 𝔄𝔲𝔯𝔬𝔯𝔞𝔢

This may start slow, but it builds into something by the midway point. For me at least, It's not the best example of the genre to showcase, and I'd look for something maybe with more tempo or varied vocals which this didn't have. That said, it may have an audience in BJSC but I would expect only a minority.

ℌ𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔞𝔰 - 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔄𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔞𝔩 𝔖𝔢𝔢𝔯

A live version of a song is always a risk, so the performance needs to be quite striking if it is used. This had much more energy that I was expecting from a metal song. I like the vocals much more in this one plus a much better use of guitars. The visuals are great too. Love the change up from 4:37 too!

𝔍𝔢𝔩𝔲𝔰𝔦𝔠𝔨 - 𝔇𝔦𝔢𝔡

I think for me this was my favourite. I live for the chaos which is on display here from the start. Big energy is a must. It's very Metallica and that must be a good thing! I think this is the one out of the three I would give more points to. I can see it getting some fans in this contest for sure.

I hope some of that input was helpful and I hope others add comments too!

Thank you so much, Wardy, for the honest comments and for the dedication to help me and listen to everything. 🖤🤘

I chose three completely different metal songs, purely to test your taste here, and I made sure they would all be absolutely unknown to you. I could have put three stylistically similar Jelusick songs into the selection, but then I would have missed the chance to hear comments about two other types of metal.

Metal is a broad genre and has a lot of subgenres, and they differ quite a bit. I specifically chose Triptykon because of the instrumental aspect and the overall atmosphere (taking inspiration from some instrumental songs that are shared here), Hallas because it has a more classy 70s style, which, as AllStar said, is more friendly, and Jelusick because it’s raw energy with a clean vocal and, in my opinion, phenomenal lyrics.

One more song to vote, Tunisian metal/rock :

𝕸𝖞𝖗𝖆𝖙𝖍 - 𝕭𝖊𝖑𝖎𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗 🇹🇳

I changed my vote to 'Believer'. 😄

Also, I realised the live video of 'The Astral Seer' you posted is only on YouTube.

Thank you 😆

I didn’t think the live version had to match on Spotify and YouTube, but now I know for next time 😂

44 minutes ago, Nine And ¾ said:

Thank you 😆

I didn’t think the live version had to match on Spotify and YouTube, but now I know for next time 😂

It doesn't have to, people do sometimes submit live versions for the YouTube link but still want the studio versions on the Spotify(/Apple) playlists.

Voted for "Died"

My ranking:

1. Died

2. Believer

3. The Astral Seer

4. Aurorae

died for me, believer second

Voted for Believer.

There's two layers to this. There's my personal ranking, and there's what I think could do best in the context of the contest haha. Based on one listen, my personal favourite was 'Aurorae', but I think 'Died' would maybe be the best entry. I also seriously enjoyed the middle 8 in 'Died'.

Personal ranking:

1. Aurorae

2. Died

3. Believer

4. The Astral Seer

I wasn't sure how I should vote, but I voted for 'Died' because I think it would make for the strongest entry in the contest, even if it wasn't my personal favourite.