Here are the submissions for Metal Archives February 2012 songwriting contest, the theme being death metal with a twist! We received twelve submissions this time, which is an admirable number that surpassed my expectations, and considering the high quality of many of the submissions, I'd say this one was a great success.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/27651675/Metal ... .02%29.rar
or
http://www.filefactory.com/file/1iisoyh ... _twist_rar

Now the rules. Post your reviews of each submission other than the one you've written. More precisely, if you collaborated with another participant with an instrument or some, but did not participate in the songwriting process, review the submission. If, for example, you collaborated drums for another user, and technically wrote the drum parts, but did not contribute to the riffing or song structure decisions, feel free to review the submission. If you collaborated guitar and also wrote some of the riffs, do not review the submission. If you're not sure, review away. Each song will be reviewed separately, and each review should be around 150 words. There is no maximum, but more than 300 words is a bit unnecessary. Rate each song from 0 to 100, using the following scale as a guideline:
100 = Absolutely perfect.
75 = Quite good, has flaws but is not ruined by them.
50 = Not entertaining, not annoying.
25 = Rather awful.
0 = The ultimate nadir.
You may use any score between 0 and 100, not just 100, 75, 50 etc.

If you have any interesting or amusing information to share about your own submission or one which you collaborated to, you're at liberty to do so here. You may also post your lyrics here since I have not included them to the compilation archive, however if you do, please use spoiler tags.

Track list:
1. Menschenfeindlic: Menschenfeindlich - Revelation - Average score 80% based on 5 reviews
2. Xanzotire & ShaolinLambKiller: Graveyard Blues - Average score 76% based on 5 reviews
3. Apteronotus: Awarewa - Acutely Awake - Average score 75% based on 5 reviews
3. RageW: This Existence - Average score 75% based on 5 reviews
4. ShaolinLambKiller: Uzumaki - Confrontational Invisibilities - Average score 73,8% based on 6 reviews
5. Sokaris: Kaos Aeon - Ominous Phenomenon (Demo) - Average score 73,5% based on 6 reviews
6. Haightred: An Unpleasant Experience - Average score 73% based on 3 reviews
7. Ilwhyan: Profane Anal Ritual - Phallus Dominus (Ecstatic Post-Coital Ingestion of Vaginal Fluids) - Average score 69% based on 5 reviews
8. RageW & The_Beast_In_Black: Death 'n Funk - Average score 67% based on 5 reviews
9. diamondfamicom: diamond famicom - With Your Pride - Average score 64% based on 6 reviews
10. odinallfather: The Mammoths Roam - Average score 61% based on 5 reviews
11. Astrum502: Christ Denied - Average score 47% based on 5 reviews


If the link is dead, feel free to ask for reuploads.

Hate to be a pain, but as I said in the other thread, mediafire is blocked for me. If someone wouldn't mind uploading the files to google docs and PM'ing me the link that'd be swell.

EDIT: Ok, got the files, will get to listening

Damn, I always miss this.

it's spelled with an M
diamond famicom - With Your Pride

sorry I have to be so particular

Yo Ilwhyan, could we have the user names along with the band name and song name like was done for the doom metal challenge? I liked that method but if you disagree no big deal.

Some notes/interesting information on my track "Acutely Awake": the twist was the use of tone clusters. Tone clusters are chords with at least three adjacent notes in a scale, mine being the chromatic scale. E.g. db, d, d#. I did this using some unusual tuning, tripling up on the guitars (the easiest method), and focusing on minor second intervals. You may notice how when the tone clusters are really going some unexpected frequencies sometimes appear in the mix and was pleasantly surprised with this (e.g 0:32, 3:57). One interesting result what that when I used the bass to act as a part of rather than reinforce the tone clusters’ dissonance it sounded more out of tune than when it was just the guitars. This is likely due to how much lower the bass notes are and the traditional role bass all too often plays in metal where we expect it to play the root note and I did this during the riff starting at 3:22.

I will listen throughout the week and post up reviews on Friday.

I had to download a free trial version on Winzip to open the RAR file.
I didn't know how else to open it.
If I had something already installed, I don't know.

Anyway, I got them, and will work on the reviews tomorrow.

This sounds interesting, can't wait to hear it...

Also, I'd like to say that my song, The Mammoths Roam, was an atempt at adding elements of prehistoric music to dm.
other than the obvious drumming, the whole songs uses only 3 tones: B, D and F#, trying to mimic the supposed scales of 3 tones used in those times...

excuse the lack of vocals, but I had to submit early, because I was leaving for colleage

Sorry I didn’t put any number scores on my reviews. I don’t know if I’m the right person for that, yet. Either way, I want to say Great Job to everyone who did this challenge. It’s great to be a part of all this. this was also my first time ever reviewing anything, so hopefully I'll get better in time.

christ denied - astrum502
I like this song. is it death metal with a crossover twist? I think I mostly like the pretty fuzzy guitars and funny vocals. both vocal styles are kind of cartoonish to me and the lyrics make me happy that death metal doesn't have to take itself so seriously.
the guitar solo is good, too. the recording quality is okay, though sloppy at times.

acutely awake - awerewa
I think the dissonance and contrasting chugginess. the vocals are sweet, too. I like the reverb type and the painful expression in them. the drums sounds pretty good, though. the kick is there. the snare could use more punch. I think this song could have more dynamics or have more aggressive changes if it's going to be death metal. it kind of drags on the same way for too long. other than that, this is a really cool track.

with your pride - diamond famicom
this is my song. I haven't tried to write a death metal song in 10 years. the drums were done with fl studio. the guitar is a kramer striker in d standard played through a crate gfx-212. the bass (if you can ever hear it) is a crappy Yamaha through a fender rumble 15. like already stated, the vocals were originally all deathy but I did some black vocals to make it twistier.

haightred - an unpleastant experience
cool track. I like how you can hear the bass. really, you can hear everything in the mix though it could have been mastered much louder. I really like the riff around 1:30. it's catchy and the guitar tone is good. I'd prefere if the song kept a more consistent rhythm through more of the song. it's a little hard to listen to sometimes, even though I really like the chord structures.

Kaos Aeon - Ominous Phenomenon (Demo)
nice intro. the guitars are loud and thick, which is nice, and the leads are good. the orchestra is great. the drums sound really good with choice beats for each part. I keep waiting for an evil groove riff that doesn't come until for a few seconds toward the very end, amidst the endless barage of epic and melodic stuff. some vocals would be great to make the flow more interesting and add some general meannness. it kind of just goes on, though the recording sounds really great. it would be cool to get some advice on guitar eq in mixing.

menshenfeindlich – revelation
this is definitely one of my favorite tracks. the sound quality is great and there is plenty of heavy/evil groove. the bass tone sounds great and the parts are all pretty thought-out and tight. the sound bites and whispering vocals during the droned-out part are pretty sweet, too. if I was stoned, they would be really great. too bad it's always hard to find a place for a droned-out part in a song. as an outro, it always feels lack-luster.

odinallfather - The Mammoths Roam
I'm surprised you didn't have access to midi drums that didn't have a somewhat real-sounding snare. the song is pretty good, though. the riffs are cool and the guitar solo is pretty sweet. is there any bass? Sorry I don’t have much to compare this to or say about it.

Profane Anal Ritual - Phallus Dominus (Ecstatic Post-Coital Ingestion of Vaginal Fluids)
sweet death grind with somewhat melodic breakdowns. nice tight guitars and mean vocals. I'm not sure what the compare it too, since I don't listen to this genre very much. the recording quality is pretty good for any death/grind. I really like it, though it could be more brutally incomprehensible.

RageW - This Existence
the drums sound really great. I don't hear a lot of home recordings where people have a whole set of drum mics. the guitar is pretty all over the place, but it's quite pleasing to the ears. the tone is quite fat and the bass is so clean and "chill". Like usual, I don't know what to think of death metal without vocals. The china cymbal is really nice to hear, though.

RageW & The_Beast_In_Black - Death 'n Funk
The guitar sounds pretty crazy at first on this song. Kind of like it’s overly compressed, but maybe that’s part of the whole funk atmosphere thing. This song sounds good, but I don’t think I like funk death metal. It’s kind of annoying.

Uzumaki - Confrontational Invisibilities
Wow. Though not completely precise, I like the drums a lot. I like how brutal this track is, even though it’s not super heavy. This song probably could've been made into 5 pretty short songs and didn’t need to go on so long, but then where would the crazy guitar solo have gone? The recording quality is really good, too.

Xanzotire & ShaolinLambKiller - Graveyard Blues
This song is a real head banger. I’d probably go as far as to say, it’s the most head bangable track in the challenge. I’m glad the blues is mostly limited to the scale in the solo and the nod to nwobhm in the riffing. Also, I commend Shaolin for a great job on the drums. It would be great to someday make transitions sound so heavy.

ASTRUM502 - Christ Denied

I am at heart, an old punk.
My "twist" was using UK82 punk style music and vocals for the verses(like CRASS/Conflict).
And a death metal approach for the chorus.

Christ Denied.

Christ Denied - Keep Your Fairytales
Christ Denied - Your Master has failed

Deny! Deny! Deny! Deny!

It's Just a spectacle for the masses to see
A fuckin' ego stroke as you praise the Big G
You really think his son gave a shit about you
You're living in a fantasy without a fuckin' clue

So you think ya' fuckin' got it all wrapped up
A straight trip to heaven you're shit outta luck
Your ingrained ignorance can't just be erased
It's all a fuckin' scam to keep you in your place

I'm downloading and about to start listening right now.. I also wanted to say for my track... my additional challenge was actually writting a full length album in this style do all the artwork and layout and have it pressed and out before the end of the month:

uzumaki.bandcamp.com


I did and had the cds in my hands a week before the 29th. I actually put off promoting the release so it was more of a surprise.

first week I wrote and recorded 5 songs. then I was gone for a week to Florida where I started the artwork. came back and wrote 3 more tracks. recorded all the vocals during this week and mixed everything that weekend. the following week I finished all the art and layout and sent off for it to be pressed.

Not too bad I think. The only thing I didn't create during this month was the logo. I had already had the plans for the name and the basic ideas of what I wanted to do for the band prior to that for a year and never acted upon them till now.


I already have a 2 song ep for Uzumaki that is planned to be released on March 15th.

Only two songs did it for me.

Kaos Aeon - Ominous Phenomenon
Xanzotire & ShaolinLambKiller - Graveyard Blues

Hey, SLK, do all your song start with feedback?

literally yes through out all my projects. I love feedback.

My twist was that i used the 12 tone row writing technique. I created a row composed of all 12 notes in the chromatic scale (which can be heard at 1:35) and the rest of the riffs in the song are made up of different variations on the row such as inverting the intervals or playing it backwards or moving certain notes octaves and altering the rhythms and such. Then I added some dissonant sounding harmonies. My song also focuses on dissonance rather than consonance. It also contains 24 time signature changes. Just thought I'd mention that.

And I'll probably post my reviews tomorrow or the next day. Been looking forward to hearing these.

lol, my twist was that the second part of the song is retrograde inverted, so I guess the concept wasn't too dissimilar to your idea. I'm having a hard time listening to your song though, too low volume. Maybe I can manage tomorrow on my speakers.

My song should be finished by thursday... Yeah I know, way too late, but it's hands down the best challenge song I've done yet. I may need a vocalist though.

Hey Haightred & kingnuuuur, my first plan for a twist was to use 12-tone serialism but now I am really glad I went with another direction for it. This is almost the metal version of two women wearing the same dress at a party. I got frustrated with trying to create harmony while maintaining true atonality and had difficulty remembering the riffs and creating memorable riffs. With all the P0 to R7, I8, RI5 type nonsense I felt like I was playing battleship (and loosing).

Shame on me for not making it, but I'm pretty excited about hearing what you guys made still, so I'm downloading the comp and will post reviews later.

Astrum502: Christ Denied- God I hate the tone. it works a bit more in the actual song cause the rest of the instruments kinda help cover up how fuzz and non-awesome the tone is. I like your dirty/strained vocals. I don't like the snotty punk vocals. I know you were going for that but i've never enjoyed them in anything I've ever heard. The chorus is way over fucking undone I know that's the point though.. I guess i'm just not a fan of most punk ingeneral. I think if the song was 30 or 40 secs shorter I would've liked it more. The riffs and structure works for me. Some of the programming sounds a bit sloppy. The solo works for me just how it is... unchained and fuzzed reverb totally works for me.

Apteronotus: Awarewa - Acutely Awake- Loving the bass murmures reminds me of something off some haunted space ship... like Event Horizon. The drums are way too far in the back. I almost thought it was supposed to be some build up and then they are there frightening us... But I was wrong. The riffs I like. The tone and reverb drenched guitars work for me. I'm not the biggest fan of the walking guitar line...it's kinda sounds more like a circus than something really creepy. Everything just sounds so distance except for the vocals. I like the vocals they are just too upfront for me. I think this song would be much more awesome if it was just mixed differently. There are points that really remind me of the last Celtic Frost/Triptykon. Totally approve of that. I'd love to really hear this re-mixed more to my liking cause It could totally be crushing as fuck. Oh god that ending guitar line... I wish you milked that fucker for another minute with some double bass rolling over it slowly as an outro instead of cutting it.

diamondfamicom: diamond famicom - With Your Pride- Raw and unhinged. I can totally get behind this. Reminds me a bit of early Deicide aside from the vocals. The vocals I actually like a lot... the remind of a couple of old as fuck hardcore/metalcore bands I really enjoy. And not the shitty melodic ones. If there was a ting of cleaning up on the guitars that would help disguish the riffs more, but on the other hand I'm not sure if I would like it as much. Was the bass playing the entire time cause I only heard it towards 2mins which was kinda cool. I really don't like your clean vocals at all. I really like the first half of your song more than the 2nd half of the viking metal at the end. good programmed drums from what I can make out which is mainly the snare and some hihat. hell it works for me. I'm used to hearing lots of raw as fuck demos. I can kinda see this being a song Azrael would write... i think who I'm thinking of. which was a blackened metalcore band... thinking of it like that makes me like it even more.

Haightred: An Unpleasant Experience- sweet I was hoping there would be some more brutal styled death metal. I really like that I can hear the bass popping up. I think the guitars could have a bit more clarity with a better tone. Vocals sound great but I wish they were down further. the drums were programmed excellently for this style. I really like the weird walking transitions esp into the weird sorta lurching riff at 1:45ish. And I even like the stop start blasting... kinda reminded me of the last Deeds of Flesh. It's pretty catchy as far as brutal death goes. It's kinda long in the tooth if you get what I'm saying. where it breaks into the slow slow shit it really sounds like it's a follow up song intro. And there are a few mistakes during that end or the shit was on purpose and I thought it was... anyway better mix and higher master and some gold is there.

Sokaris: Kaos Aeon - Ominous Phenomenon (Demo)- I love the intro and the lead in riff... really reminds me of some Nile styled death is about to happen but I'm down with the more midpaced thrashier direction you took. The string slides I'm hearing are a bit gratting on the ear. The drums sound very tinny to me. the snare is good but the kicks are like typewriters. The tone i'm not the fondest of but it works. There are alot of cool parts and it all transitions well. Really love the slower chug stuff right into the solo at 2mins. I think with some busier/faster drums this could've been pushed up to fleshgod sorta porportions. I kinda feel the midbreak kills a bit of the momentum. but after that point is awesome and all of a sudden the kicks totally sound much better and more present. All the solos are great I really wish there were some vocals on it though. i thought things sorta stopped too suddenly at 5:00 You could've easily ended the song there cause what follows really sounds like a new song to me. And that's kinda how I picture it more. I like the chugging with the trumpets like the calling to arms in hell. the kicks totally went back down to to barely audible for me. Really liking the harmony guitars towards the end and the transition into more standard trilling death is pretty great. But the last 15 seconds almost sounds like a bunch of idea riffs that weren't full fleshed out just thrown together and ended. Really this would work great as 2 separate songs.


Menschenfeindlic: Menschenfeindlich - Revelation- Fuck this is just about perfect. I love this intro it reminds me of something Antediluvian or Sonne Adam would start with. Thus far the best production. Perfect tone for the guitars, I love that I can hear the bass clanking and popping away. Drums are perfect in where they are sitting and the right tones and sounds. Vocals are great and at the right volume. I love how disgusting it all sounds. I like how there are a bunch of different uses you did with the drums instead of the steady normal time keeping. Overall it kinda reminds me of Mitochondrion a good bit. I love the sweet ass groove at 2:48. Kinda wish you went even a bit further with it. Oh the doom with the whispers is just so epic.. though I would've made the whispers a tad lower... in my headphones they almost hurt my ears during certain tones. I can't make out the sample so it didn't matter as much if it was there. I'd totally buy a cd of this.

odinallfather: The Mammoths Roam- Oh i realized it was damn midi file after a few seconds and erased what I started to type. Uhmmm it sounds like it's skipping but that's how that is..I really can't listen to this. I hate midi files.

Ilwhyan: Profane Anal Ritual - Phallus Dominus (Ecstatic Post-Coital Ingestion of Vaginal Fluids)- I love the backwards intro... I wish the actual regular tone of the guitar was better. This actually reminds me of some grindcore bands.. the lofi ones. I would've like more natural drum tones. everything is very upfront but at least I can make out most of it. some the sorta chugs during the melodic parts seem a bit sloppy. other than that pretty enjoyable.

RageW: This Existence- I really hate the synth/midi bass. I just about wish it wasn't there. A little reverb on that blues solo would've been welcome. the drums sound good for the samples. The distorted guitar is like a wall of noise almost... so I'm not really a fan of that tone at all. I can make out some of the riffs at least. So that's a good thing. I'm not liking the transitions at the begining into each other cause they are just cut and past to each other. no real lead in or anything between parts. esp with no vocals. the stuff at 3:33 is pretty cool. the cymbals get a bit high during it. God I really hate the damn distortion a lot of this song would be better with a better tone. it's grating. the solo at 5:55 is really sweet and sounds good. overall the song sounds more like a bunch of ideas kinda sewn together than an actual song and I'm a bigger fan of your solos and blues and jazzish sounding stuff in the clean tone than anything else.

RageW & The_Beast_In_Black: Death 'n Funk- hate the tone again..it sounds like a white noise tornado. drums again are good. this song sounds more like an acutal full song instead of a collection of parts. around the min part I don't like the funkish parts or start stopping stuff whatever. now the straight up funk part with the fake bass I liked. solos are good again. Please for the love of god throw that tone in the goddamn garbage and find a better one.

ShaolinLambKiller: Uzumaki - Confrontational Invisibilities- motherfucker doesn't know what he is doing on anything.

Anyway I think i should've put the bass up more. This is what I envisioned organic pure twisty horrifying death metal sounds like with me at the helm. and if anyone liked it please give my other compositions a listen on the bandcamp I listened. I really love wonky solos and I think it's kinda obvious what my main influeces are since I wore them on my sleeve.

Xanzotire & ShaolinLambKiller: Graveyard Blues- Xan did an excellent job in composing something that was quite easy for me to quickly write and record drums to. I did a quick as fuck mix on it. so minus the reverb is what my kit sounds like live. I hope we work further in the future.. there was plans for vocals on this but Xan wasn't able to record them in time.

I'll download and check out everyone's stuff (really pumped to) tomorrow or the next day when I'm off work and can spend some time analyzing but I wanted to reply to SLK really quick on his review.

I actually do consider what I submitted as two separate songs. I was just extremely inspired by the challenge and kept writing riffs, haha.

The first song is called Maelstrom Colossus and the second is Ominous Phenomenon.

Nice work boyos, looking forward to listening to the fruits of your labors. Oh, and-



Hahaha. My first thought was of a specky 16 year old shouting 'Duuuude! I just got laid!' and then licking the wet spot.

Just to clarify, yes, the mistakes at the end of mine are on purpose. One guitar is playing it right, the other one is playing it way off rhythm and missing notes. It's supposed to create kind of an unpleasant, dissonant atmosphere i guess.

I was surprised two so far considered my song grind-esque. Maybe it's the higher screams and the lack of structure in the second riff and outro. I was also surprised you both found something positive to say about it.

The chorus, or the melodic breakdown, is based on something I came up with when playing Manhã de Carnaval, and the twist was that melodic, Bossa Nova-esque break infused with extreme metal.

Haven't heard anything yet, but this sounds promising. I'm especially intrigued by the use of twelve tone technique and tone clusters, the latter of which I have been planning to experiment with for some time now. What tuning did you use, Apteronotus? I have been contemplating on using EFF#EFF# (octaves apart), but I don't know how the tension would be like.

Just to clarify -- my guitar tone sounds muddy as hell because I used a pitch-shifter to downtune from E standard (on both songs). I really didn't have anything else to work with so I did what I could with the tools I had!

Anyway, everything on This Existence is 100% improvised on the spot. I didn't write a note because I was looking to give it a free-jazzy jam session vibe (recorded by a strange death metal band), so that's why the tempos and riffs are shady at spots. The entire thing was pretty much recorded in a single take!

I'll write reviews for the other ones when I finish listening, I have a lot to study these days so that might take a while.

My tuning was D, G, C, C, A, D. I wont be using it again though because I would prefer something I am either more used to like standard tuning or something like your proposed tuning where the tone clusters are readily playable with normal fingering technique. I preferred double/triple tracking the guitars but its always easier to compose with an instrument in front of you than in your head so I am not really sure how to resolve that issue other than with tunings. There are a lot of possibilities I still want to explore with tone clusters so I might make more music in the vein of the song I submitted except with a less conservative approach.

I haven't made a good thorough listen to it all yet. I made a CD of it, and I'll give it the headphone listen later.
I don't how old everyone is here, but I do think it plays a big part on how one approaches music, and what they are most inclined to personally like.
I'm 45 years old, and I try to write music I would personally like. And the music I grew up on, late 70's early 80's was the foundation for how I look at music, and write. The new stuff of today just didn't exit then. So, my song to me, is more like an early Napalm Death, twisted with some CRASS. So, it may not resonate with many, if they are younger and didn't live through that time.

One thing I have noticed, is for me, it's kinda hard to notice the twist on many songs. To me, the twist would be death metal, mixed with another style. Not so much playing odd notes, or something backward. But like if it had a country style chorus, or a rap section.... that's what I was expecting to hear and didn't.
I did hear some jazzy guitar, and some old time rock-n-roll sounding guitar, and some kinda electro stuff.
But I'll give it a proper listen later, and give a proper overview.

On my song, I did not program the drums, I just played it by hand.

You can play heavy stuff in E standard or just below, you know. My riffs were written in E standard and recorded a half step down. My thinking is that if it was good enough for Morbid Angel and Slayer it's good enough for me.

Couple of other points about the track I worked on: You might notice that the guitar in the intro sounds a bit messy in points. That's because I basically made it up on the spot (Not entirely, I do quote the riff from the mid-section). In retrospect, it probably would've been better if I'd used an acoustic guitar and planned out more what I was going to play. The solo was also a one-take improvisation but I was actually kind of happy about how that turned out. It was originally played to some crappy MIDI drums which were made even more mechanical by the fact that I can't write drums for shit, SLK's drums are awesome and add quite a bit of depth that wasn't there to begin with.

Totally disagree a twist just being adding death metal to some other form of music. that's kinda lazy and it would've been boring if everyone did that. I far enjoyed the songs that didn't do that and say spent more time in developing something odd to listen to.

I'm 30 and I just don't care for most punk though I spent a great time in the scene of actua punk bands. It's great live but a lot of it recorded sounds lifeless and boring to me.

RageW I would've totally rather you just played everything in E.


Haightred, well it was unpleasant but didn't really work for me. just sounded like mistakes.

and you are very welcome Xan I'm glad you liked them!

1-6 reviews:

100 = Absolutely perfect.
75 = Quite good, has flaws but is not ruined by them.
50 = Not entertaining, not annoying.
25 = Rather awful.
0 = The ultimate nadir.

Astrum502 - Christ Denied.
This is my song. The twist was, using a UK82 punk element for the verses, with a grindcore death element for the chorus. I wrote the song and played all instruments, and played the drums by hand. I'd rate myself a 75, as this is something I would like and buy, even if another band was doing it.

Apteronotus: Awarewa - Acutely Awake.
Cavernous sound, reminds me of Celtic Frost. The drum is not so good, as a real drum would make this sound much better. The song itself is pretty rockin'. I'd give it a 75. A more traditional recording, with a bass, and real drums, and this would be awesome. Vocals are good too. Downpoint is, based on the challenge, I don't hear any twist. It sounds like blackened deathdoom.

diamondfamicom: diamond famicom - With Your Pride.
Odd vocals. I like the riffs. Has a good powerful sound. Has a modern blackmetal music sound. The vocals are unique, and I think in a good way. Song has a strong rockin' flow and sound. Instruments sound good. I like the lead. This is good, I'll give it a 75 too. But again, I don't hear a twist. This sounds like 90's Swedish black metal to me, with a odd vocal, but odd in a good way.

Haightred: An Unpleasant Experience.
Modern death-grind vocals. Music is death-grind style. All I hear is a shallow guitar. Sounds like programmed drums. Song is OK. This is just not my style of metal. I never cared for this style of vocal, as well as music. But, it appears to be done well.I think I hear a bass. It's all well executed. I've heard many band play like this. Really trebly guitar, but it works. I'll give this one a 50, and I did not hear any twist.

Sokaris: Kaos Aeon - Ominous Phenomenon (Demo).
Cool synth start. Then some raging guitar. This is a good start. Drums sound good enough. Kinda black synth metal. Well played. Kinda epic sounding. Past 2 minutes in and no vocals. Good lead. Decent main riff. Kinda reminded me of Arcturus there for a moment. Some acoustic. Good instrumental, a vocal might help it, like in Borknagar. Experimental synth black. Well done. Give it a 75. But I don't hear a twist.

Menschenfeindlic: Menschenfeindlich - Revelation.
Heavy start. Grind death style vocals, and music. Chunky chunk chunk. Well played. Drums sound good. Instruments all sound good and distinctive. Cool heavy double bass programmed part. Deep gutteral vocals. Different sounding mid-part, real heavy and slow with some vocal sound effects. I wouldn't classify it as a "twist" though. Then fade out, with some more vocals, sounds like from a movie. Decent song, well played, but to me, no noticable twist. Not my style though, I'll give it a 50.

Astrum, thank you for the reviews, but I didn't intend those five scores to be the only ones to be used. I probably should've clarified that. You may give them anything between 0 and 100; the ones in the list are merely examples to give you a picture of what each score approximately represents qualitywise.

As for age and different approaches to music writing and appreciating, I won't draw any conclusions, but I'll illuminate my personal stance somewhat. I'm 20. I appreciate maturity, cohesion and intelligent songwriting, but also greatly enjoy chaotic, relentless intensity. When the two are well combined, the results can be nothing short of amazing.

Songs 7-12

odinallfather: The Mammoths Roam.
Atmospheric wind. Electro beats. Electro rythym. Kinda cool sounding. Is that a guitar played through a synth? Sounds like it. Like a death metal sound played with synth. Percussion a bit too minimal, but the tune/riff dounds decent. No vocals. Just a minimul electro beat, with what seems like a synthy guitar, and some lead over it. Can't say I personally like it, but it does have what I'd call a "twist", as it's synth played DM, but it could be better. I wanna give it 50 for my taste, but 75 for having a noticeable twist.

Ilwhyan: Profane Anal Ritual - Phallus Dominus.
Starts with a phaser like guitar, then starts a cool riif, fast beat. Kinda deathcore style strained vocals. Well played guitar. Is that real drums? I can't tell. No, I don't think so. Did have a different sounding music part there for a litle bit, not sure what it was. Kinda sounded all like modern deathcore to me. I guess it was well played, but it's not my style. I'll give it a 50, and no really noticeable twist to me.

RageW: This Existence.
Starts with some bluesy guitar. Bass and percussion present. Sounds good. Kinda freestyle. But yeah... like a smokey night club, now some electric guitar lead, kinda fuzzy. jazzy, now some death like riffs with chunkin' riffage. Nice riff lead. Yeah, best so far. This to me, is what a "twist" is. Something noticeable. Now back to to jazzy nightclub sounds. Now back to some deathly riffage. No vocals though. If there were some death vocals over the jazzy part, that would have been cool. Well played instrumental. I give it a good 75.

Death 'n Funk.
Starts with some had riffage, powerful, and double bass. Cool simple main riff. Aspect of the guitar kinda reminded me of Hendrix, and then with some funky bass, yet flowing into death territory, all well played. Instrumental. Cool solo. Percussion sounds good. This rocks good. Give it a 75, as the twist is apparent. I like the previous song more though.

Uzumaki - Confrontational Invisibilities.
Dissonant sounds starts this off. Good percussion sounds. Tortured like vocals, like depressive black metal. A few growls. Kinda obscure guitar tone. Has more a overall sound that to me sounds like depressive black metal. With distorted disjointed guitars over wailing shrieking vocals. Fast paced overall, with lots of noise. Lots of stops. Personally this is not my cup of tea. Seems well played though. I've heard other stuff life this. I guess I give it a 50. But I do not hear any twist.

Xanzotire & ShaolinLambKiller: Graveyard Blues.
Kinda blusy riff with distortion starts it off, with incoming drums, and a decent guitar riff, that seems to be playing the basic bluesy riff at the beginning, but maybe a bit different. It sounds good. Kinda lo-fi, kinda rocknrollish, Carlos Santana? Not bad. Some death elements with a bluesy Santana rock style. Well played. I give it a 75, it sounds good, has a twist that is apparant, and it works.

Final comments.
To me, "Death Metal with a Twist", is death metal, that incorprates something that is not death metal into the song, that should be noticeably different, but still work as a whole song. Everything here was good, I think, though I personally liked some more than others. But too much for me, I did not notice the twist. Death Metal has been played so much with experimental elements for years, little things may not be noticeable to me, if it is a twist. But, as it's obvious different people have their own view of what a twist is. So, it is what it is.

You are welcome.
I think the 5 numbers and what they mean worled fine with my reviews.
Overall, I think it's a good collection of songs.
As far as age goes, sometimes I feel I just can't relate to newer stuff, movies and music, etc.

I guess my dad loves Elvis and Chuck Berry, but for me, it's Discharge and Venom.
So, while I do like some new stuff, it's usually only because it's influenced by old stuff.
And I think I tend to write the way I do now the same as I did in the early 80's.
I just can't help it, nor do I want to.

Nothing wrong with that but really thinking that death metal with a twist can only be defined by incorporating another style... and clearly having them defined from one another is kinda just not that much of a twist. My song is more based in free jazz along the lines of Naked City and you can't say something about it being new cause they were around in the late 80's. And if there is depressive black metal that sounds like what I did... I'm def interested in hearing it, cause I've never came across it.

Everyone hears their own music often in a different way than others do.
And everyone interperates things in their own way.
That's why we are all individuals, and different people will like or dislike things according to their personal tastes.
As well as hear things in their own way.
I often write music with a certain idea, but others don't get what I was trying to do.
It's just normal.

I didn't participate, but I really like pretty much everything here. And for some reason, the riff at about 0:26 in "Christ Denied" makes me think of a song off of Under the Sign of the Black Mark.

I don't own electric guitar, and it's gonna be atleast another 6 months till I do, that's why I used the synth guitar sound, cuz it was either that or play the song on the acustic guitar, and that's already been done

it's cool. I don't think any of us begrudge you for that, though I hope it works out and you get one soon.

As usual, let me point out first that I'm not trying to offend anyone with what I'm saying, might sound harsh here and there, but hey, this is death metal, we're big mean men with hairy chests and low voices, so don't take my criticism it too bad, there's always going to be people who enjoy what ya do and some who don't.
You'll notice I tend to give rather low scores, it's just the way I'm used to. To me a 50-60 is something passable and kind enjoyable, a score over 90 is saved for stuff like NSV, Nesphite and the like, while anything down from 20 is everything I dislike about death metal: groove, breakdowns, lame melodic crap, childish vocals and so on.

I've decided to avoid talking about sound and production too much since the compilation is more about songwriting and not everyone has the same means and equipment, or even knowledge to record so it'd be kinda pointless.

Anyway, here be my short reviews



There are a few I left out, I'm gonna review them later since I got kinda distracted while listening to those and well, that.

Glad you liked the song, garthmargengi. Here are the lyrics to the song:


I have plans of starting a death/black metal project, I'll be sure to advertise it if anything happens!

Sorry if it seems I rant about stuff, possibly off topic.
I'm an old guy and sometimes I do that.

It's just I've been a metal punk since the 70's, and I like to express my views on music.

That argument, like every attempt at genre/band reductionism, doesn't make any sense. That punk influenced metal to become something that, in itself, was not punk, does not necessitate any kind of reverence or "respect" for that genre. It certainly doesn't mean that one should have to like it. The kind of reasoning that states "Well punk/classical/The Beatles/cavemen/aliens paved the way for everything that came after it, so clearly you must appreciate the former in order to claim to be a fan of the latter!" is completely ridiculous.

Anyway, I don't have a problem with punk or punk influenced metal, but your song just wasn't very good... that may be more the problem here than some kind of widespread derision of the genre. There are certainly good songs which exist in this style, this just wasn't one of them.