First Snow - 8. This is the kind of music that initially seems boring and somewhat artificial, but towards the end, it becomes captivating and even mesmerizing.
Dark Souls - 6. Just a decent soundtrack from the game. I felt like I was sitting by a campfire in a dark and inhospitable world.
Hearts of Pandora - 7. Not bad. Violin, and all that.
Celtic Dreams - 8. No, Celtic music is cool, and good Celtic music is even cooler, but the first two melodies in this set are too poppy and uninspired for me. The third one saved it: when a set ends with a cool melody, that's already a success.
For the River - 6. Piano music, not bad. It seems like I've heard it somewhere before.
Free Run - 6. While listening, I was torn about what score to give it: on the one hand, it has Celtic elements and decent melodies, but on the other hand, the rhythm section is again too poppy, although there's a good attempt to create something similar to a real bouzouki (or bodhrán, depending on how you like it), but towards the end, this very monotonous pseudo-bouzouki starts to get tiresome.
Steps - 9. This is what real Celtic folk music should be for me. I've listened to this piece too many times to give it a ten.
Royal Hearts - 7. I don't really like this type of soundtrack, but I liked this one.
Human Error - 6. Piano music, not bad (2).
Beautiful Dead (or Dead?) - 5. It didn't impress me, although it has a certain atmosphere. The drums reminded me of Buckethead, but I don't love Buckethead for his drums.
Cossack March - 7. I'm not a big fan of Ukrainian folk music, but everything here is good. I couldn't find a reason to give it a lower or higher score.
Towards the Horizon - 8. Cool, even though I'm not particularly into this kind of music right now. But why is the sound quality so bad, as if it was run through a "voice removal" filter?
Celestial Worlds - 7. 2 Steps from Hell are good, but they somehow got boring.
1 Piano 2 Pianos - 10. Okay, I need to give at least one ten, especially since I already promised these guys in the first contest. And they didn't disappoint.
Jeeves and Wooster - 9. I've never watched this, but the melody is good. The score was definitely boosted by the fact that, out of everything presented, this piece is closest to my current playlist.
I don't know, maybe I'm just being nice right now, but overall, I liked the instrumentals this year.
To sell my soul