Anybody who writes reviews regularly have any advice for me? some things to avoid or a good format/ rating system? I've always been a good writer when I want to be, but I've never particularly ventured into reviews. Other than maybe a brief summarization and why I like it, like when talking with friends.

Just be sure be correct grammatically and use a good word editor like word and write the review beforehand.
The rest is how you feel about musicand expressing it.

You'll find your own format and rating system the more you write. Describe the music and your impressions of it. Different people have different styles: when I write about music, it's generally a blend of conversational shit and a lot of scrutiny on structure, pacing, and dynamics. You might do something different. Listen to an album (one you really like or really hate) and figure out why you like or hate it. Relate the album to other albums you've heard- use the rest of the scene in your review.

Also, for your first few reviews, don't do albums you're ambivalent on or just bored with. The hardest reviews aren't for bad albums, but mediocre ones.

Yeah that makes sense. I definitely plan on doing some that I really like first. There's a couple albums that need their average score boosted a little!

The only thing I'm a little worried about is I'm not very musically knowledgable. For example, I recognize when a riff is badass, but I don't know why it's badass. I can tell when a guitarist is ripping his instrument to shreds on a scorching solo, but I have no idea why it's such a good solo. I have some understanding of drums and percussion, but the melodic instruments are another story. Concepts like "pinch harmonics" are lost on me. Let alone recognizing when they are applied in a song.

What are your favorite bands? Why do you like them so much? What separates them from similar bands? It's rarely something completely undefinable; you just have to identify what it is, exactly.

That helps. Thanks man, now I just have to buckle down and do it and stop thinking about doing it.

To be honest, if you can't answer the questions you've posed yourself before hand then you probobly shoudln't bother writing any reviews.

When I review something on my other account, I generally keep a pen and paper when listening to write down pros and cons. I generally talk about the album as a whole and the individual parts. I hate reviews that go song by song and I am sure a lot of people don't like it, so avoid doing that.

Otherwise, do it the way you want! Have fun with it too. Also, this might sound like a request but when approaching a review be a journalist first and a fan second. Metal-Archives has a lot of reviews that simply praise something without explaining it.

Here is what I wrote for Abyss Records. Not the best, but just to show that I have made stuff.

http://www.officialabyssrecords.com/pro ... ews_id=134

I have just started writing reviews too (well a few months ago.) I have learned a lot in a short while. First of all try to say something no one else has said. Describe the music, but make sure its not a boring description; be creative. I agree that you should start out writing reviews of albums you really love or absolutely hate, it is hard to write reviews about albums you are completely apathetic to. Like the other guy said, don't get into the habit of writing reviews song by song. It is alright to do in some rare occasions, but in general it comes off as very amateurish. At first I found it very hard to write reviews, but I eventually got the hang of it. It just takes a bit of practice.