SONGWRITING CHALLENGE: DOOM (Fall ’12)

THE CHALLENGE IS OVER!

DOWNLOAD THE COMPILATION HERE AND PUT THAT SHIT IN YOUR EARS!

Alternate download link using dropbox.

Nice work everyone who submitted a song! High fives all around, grab a beer or a bowl, put your feet up and bask in the glow of a job well done. This is a hefty compilation we’ve got here and the songs have a huge range of influences including trad, funeral, death, noise, and more. Tell your fellow posters, pass it on to your friends! Does your mom like doom metal? Well shit, get her in here!

Here’s what we’ve got for submissions and the randomly assigned themes:

1. Howling Doom - diamond famicon - Lycanthropy
2. Dead and Cold – infinitenexus - Pride
3. Persephone’s Dream – gioval9 - Mythology
4. High Definition Boredom – dystopia4 & necroticism174 - Technology
5. Antipathy – Syntek - Civilizations & Cultures
6. Whispers in Darkness – Shaolinlambkiller - Horror & Macabre
7. … - Flesh bag - Suicide
8. Broken Skulls & Shattered Faith - Corpsefister - Religion
9. Behind the Veil of Consciousness - GeoCO3 - Dreams & Reality
10. Nauseous Waves – PhilosophicalFrog & Necroticism174 - Nihilism
11. The Horrors that Dwell Within - Awblaster - Lovecraft Mythos
12-16. Yzord EP - Shaolinlambkiller - Horror & Macabre

Unless I’ve fucked something up the comp should be bundled up so it loads as a proper album in itunes or windows media and what have you. I’ve listed the tracks in the order I received them (gold star to diamond famicon for being the first to finish) with the exception of SLK, who hit us with a whopping 45 minutes of music. Yeah. It’s comprised of a 5 track EP and one stand-alone, so I put the single song in the running order as it was received and you can check out his full EP as the last 5 songs on the compilation.

Most people submitted lyrics and info, so check those readmes out as you listen. I've also included an additional readme listing everyone's assigned theme so you can reference that if need be. Anyone who didn't include that info feel free to post it in the thread if you want.


Now, to the reviews!

I strongly encourage everyone who participated to take some time and review each other’s work, it’s a great opportunity to get and give feedback from your fellow musicians. Anyone who didn’t participate is more than welcome to post up some reviews as well- the more the better!

Here’s a few things you might want to comment on:
-Lyrics/Theme (ie how well did the song/lyrics fit the randomly assigned theme?)
-Composition
-Performance
-Production

Feel free to assign 1-10 scores if you’d like. I usually try to comment on each of the 4 main compontents, but however you’d like to do it is just fine! Try to avoid one liners though.

Alright, happy listening!

Ps- If I fucked up anything in the download let me know and I’ll re-upload it if need be.

The file of the above link no longer exists. This could be for several reasons:
The uploader deleted the file.
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You tard.

Well, those do seem like rather legitimate reasons.

Okay. I double checked, re-pasted it and it works fine when I'm not logged in to rapidshare so I think it should work now. Try again!

Okay it's working now. Will probably be posting reviews and shit tmwr.

yeeeAAAAAHHHH GONNA DOWNLOAD NOW.

Downloading:)

Wooooo 16 tracks! This has truly exceeded my expectations since, to be honest, the original thread wasn't very active, and then that fucking hurricane came along...

Excellent job everyone, and thanks CorpseFister for hosting this challenge! As usual I'll also mirror the comp on dropbox, so if anyone is having trouble downloading from rapidshare, they'll have an alternative very soon.

Congrats to all you productive people. Also downloading currently.

Dropbox download is up

I'm about half-way through the comp. It's pretty good, diamond_famicom's track is my favourite so far.

hey thanks. and also thanks for using the M at the end of my name. I'm working on my reviews right now.

Thank you sir. I should really get with dropbox, but I'm a bit slow at using the internet.

Diamond_Famicom
I recorded this song pretty quickly (in one afternoon) and it was a whole lot of fun. it's my first attempt at using flute in a recording. though the parts aren't super original, I think they work well with the song. everything was recorded with one microphone not super close to the drums or amps. I used a squier telecaster and a kramer striker, in standard tuning, through a crate gfx 212 combo. the bass is my girlfriend's rogue through a randall 10" bass amp. the drums are percussion plus with the shitty factory cymbals. the chugging riff may be too quick/non groovy for doom metal, but I really wanted to do something palm-muted in the higher frets with the telecaster. there are a lot of poorly executed sweeps and pinch harmonics in this song, due to my lack of proficiency. hopefully that isn't too annoying. truth is, I didn't put a ton of thought into the lyrics. I just know I wanted to do a howling part. in the recording, lyrics are pretty coherent from what I can tell. I like this song, but I'm still unsure. to me, it's too fun to really be doom metal. I’m glad we chose this style, though. It’s easier to do than say death metal with a twist. these are my goofy lyrics:
my grandfather told me not to look to the sky at night when the moon is full. every time I have, I woke naked somewhere and someone was dead. It was him. I never would do it again. Grandfather! My tail stays with me. to make it stop, tonight, I will party. It's still pretty much a full moon. I will eat you. Tonight, I will drink blood. My thirst- unquenchable. It's too late now. It's still pretty much a full moon, tonight.

infinitenexus
I like the goth feel of your song. especially the creepy spoken vocals and super smooth/equally creepy singing. your guitar leads sound great, though I'm not a huge fan of your riff that comes in around 2:30, but heavy guitar and low violin keys compliment each other well. your song has definitely given me some things to think about trying. good work!

gioval9
Good patience in this song. The intro length is good and when the vocals come in, they sound awesome. it sounds like there are a couple keyboard layers going on behind the growls. one of your cymbal samples sounds pretty crazy mixed in with all of it. overall, your peformance is pretty solid. I would believe it if all of your guitar parts were looped, though. the whole thing is pretty repetitive, when I would've tried to spice it up (lacking the focus one part the same way for so long).

dystopia4 & Necroticism174
This is pretty interesting. I don't like the clean vocals, but everything else is pretty cool and weird. the ambient sounds really add a lot, since otherwise it would just be those fake sounding drums and guitar. It works with the theme, though. TECHNOLOGY.

syntek
I like the huge fade-in of whatever (sort of peaking) noise that is. it's great once the drums come in. that must've been some monstrous bass I heard earlier? funeral doom isn't really my cup of tea, but you did really well on this song. the vocals sound great and every chord shift makes the song sound bigger and sadder. beautiful. good lyrics, too. Another stranded raft onto the ocean absurd.

SLK
Quite horrific. It's nice to hear something from you with a slight melodic edge. The vocals are brutal as ever. The dissonance is great. your mixes and performances are ideal to my taste. not crazy tight and not super polished. very natural and well-performed. I understand how your release goes with the theme, but I may be too soft for all of these long, ugly songs with a million parts.

Flesh Bag
The atmosphere in this song is great. I also like the excessive bending in the lead guitar. Very good black/death doom. I'm glad you used some guitar with delay in the build-up and left it sort of empty sounding. Then the song ended and I'm still not sure where it was going... so I guess it works great with the suicide theme.

CorpseFister
I think I like this more than most of your black metal. The guitar lead that appears around 2:30 is great. I'm reminded of a more goth Saturnus. I would like the drums more if they were from an acoustic kit. samples don't seem to work very well unless they are played with more precision. you could've used a heavier sounding mix. especially with the bass. aside from my small critique, I think this song rules. I’d like to hear more like this.

GeoCO3
This song could use a heavier sounding snare sample. I'm really not a fan of predictable shifts between chugging and melodic leads, though I do like the leads you used. With a less poppy arrangement, I would like this song more. other than that, I think the performance is good. Your vocals are pretty good too.

Worms
I don't know what kind of doom metal this is. From what I can make out, the lyrics are pretty nihilistic. I can admire PF's ability to fight the urge to shut up for a bit. I think the guitar could've been much louder. The way it is, I only feel crushed by the really good vocals. When the double bass comes in, it doesn't sound the guitar is in time at all. I guess that adds to the noise vibe that finds its way in and out of the track.

Nest of Vipers
Standard heavy doom with no exciting dynamics, really. The vocals come across like they're mostly spoken like an orc of some kind. This isn't bad, but it's pretty boring. My favorite part is the marching riff around 6:30. For a second, I'm reminded of Satyricon and finally a kind of cool guitar solo to break the monotony. Next time, dirty it up a bit.

In case it was unclear, I did the first 9 or so minutes of vocals on Worms, and Frog did the rest. As you could see, there are a LOT of lyrics, so "fighting the urge to shut up" was necessary

Based on the first three songs I've heard so far, the level seems somewhat higher this year. diamonfamicom's howling part doesn't really bear listening although the song is otherwise good.

Famicom- thanks for the reviews! I definitely agree my mix could have been heavier. I'm still pretty inexperienced at working with guitar and bass so hopefully I can improve upon that with time and practice.

And I for one dug howling. It's whimsical and made me smile. I'll be posting up full reviews in a bit, but probably not till after the weekend.

Reviews: 1-7.

It might take a few more days before I get to the rest but here are some reviews. Keep in mind everything is intended as constructive feedback and not to hurt feelings. Congrats to everyone who finished, and thanks to CorpseFister for hosting!

1. Howling Doom - diamond famicon - Lycanthropy
I really liked the harmonic choices with the riffing here as they serve well to create that feeling of doom. The howls you did also managed to not come across as cheesy and made the song more memorable, although I know many might disagree. This also showed you had a keen sense for composition because along with the really nice intro everything flowed well, particularly the transition to the faster riffing around 2:40. I have mixed feelings about the tonal and production choices though. Sometime the looser feel really worked but at other times I felt like I was listening to a black metal song particularly with how loud the snare was. The vocal style you used isn't one I am really into, but you it fit in so well that I never pick it out as such.

2. Dead and Cold – infinitenexus - Pride
This intro has more balls than a pool table and built up a lot of tension to what becomes a comparatively boring chuggy riff that the vocals go over. It sort of set the wrong framework for the song at that point because the cool stuff like the warm reedy vocals with bass in tow and crystal clear cleans still do not dissipate that anticipation you created in the intro. Each part alone would have worked much better for me so by the time this stuff repeats it is much more effective because the intro isn’t in my mind. As expected, really clean production and performance. The clean vocals were really nice. With how softly you articulate the lyrics, it almost sounds like you are saying “cannonball” but it works really well. However, that cello or whatever sounds really fake, especially when it is on its own. Maybe it needs some ADSR envelope tweaking?


3. Persephone’s Dream – gioval9 - Mythology
Impressively enjoyable given how simple the 1-2 chord pattern throughout song was. Layering sound upon sound really kept me interested in what was going on and felt really fitting for the lyrical direction you went in. It sounds like Persephone’s Dream, ethereal and underworld...ish. Very crafty use of synth and vocals here, and again it all comes together so well that the pounding drumming also never feels repetitive but rather works to further the continuing atmosphere. I liked how the vocals were well in the background and act as another textural layer rather than trying to jump in and dominate the music and potentially ruining the feel.

4. High Definition Boredom – dystopia4 & necroticism174 - Technology
I liked the weird effects in of themselves but felt they were applied really randomly. Randomness is really the best word to describe how I felt about the song. While a lot of the parts would be fine in something else, they felt arbitrarily put together to stiltedly fit the lyrical theme. Some of the harsh vocals sounded like they were clipping and were much louder than the majority of everything else. While I like the super low synth choir effect in the intro and outro it would benefit from some layering to add depth - but I also see how a more synthetic sound fits with the theme.

5. Antipathy – Syntek - Civilizations & Cultures
Often I think that funeral doom is not really my thing but songs like this make me reevaluate that assumption. This is beautiful. Delicate composition, rich sounds (except for the drums), and precisely controlled vocals. It isn’t often you hear such distorted sounds from the human voice ring out such long notes so clearly and powerfully. Piano and other VSTi instruments sound excellent, and are used effectively to give a plaintive feel to the absolutely crushing guitars. I also really enjoyed how the lead guitar melodies worked in the same way and sounded naturally harmonized, which oxymoronically reinforced the tone while adding layer of fragility to it. With the double bass drumming parts the perfect timing and volume sounded a bit too artificial but I can’t find anything else to fault aside from the drums. My favorite track.

6. Whispers in Darkness – Shaolinlambkiller - Horror & Macabre
I have an SLK action figure that makes feedback noises when you pull the string on the side. This music is always takes me a bunch of listens to get a grasp of because of how you mix really natural and subtle details with a starkly dissonant and abrasive tapestry, and I like almost all of it here. However, by the end of this song, its feeling long and less structured. That isn’t to say that I felt there was any filler, on the contrary it was more like how a movie can feel long but the director would have to make careful decisions in the cuts. For example, the long feedback section at the end works quite well as a close to the song. I think this one feels long because you often use frenzied drumming alternating with sparse sections to help structure things but kept much more on the slow and sparse side here to keep a doom feel.

7. … - Flesh bag - Suicide
While I enjoyed the use of the slow metallic pick scraping on the strings none of the riffs here were gripping or set up much of an atmosphere for me. I liked the approach with the black metal influence and how great the raw tones sound with everything but the melodies came across as one dimensional and generic. Although the marching and dirge-like feel are entirely apt for the theme there wasn’t enough going on to keep me into the song, some counterpoint would have helped go a long way with this. Raw sounds can be abused but you did a good job mixing this to keep it gritty but very listenable. You could have gone for more clarity in the vocals but it works well as is.

diamond_famicom- When I read you were using a flute I was certain I'd hate it. But I don't this opening really reminds me of Jethro Tull. I like it and the flute works very well in context with it all. I actually like the very natural plain drum tone...till the distortion kicks in and then it's just not loud enough. Distortion is not the best but I like it... it and the riff progression kinda reminds me of Fall of eferera like a practice demo of them. Love the vocals. those are perfect. Shouted and throaty. Works great in the organic nature of the song. Some of the drum playing... sounds very unnatural. that howl... oh god lol. I'm not a fan of the clean vocals.. just doesn't work for me. Really like the death vocals towards the mid. I really would like this song better without the whole section of the clean vocals and the noodly stoner rock sounding stuff. it's kinda distracting. with that stuff taken out this would've been near perfect aside from production issues with the drums for me. and towards the end... kinda sounds like the guitar falls out of tune.

infinitenexus- Solid intro. Really recalls early Death. I hope the rest of the song lives up to that begining. I would like the chugging part in the begining more if the drums weren't hammering down with it on each hit, if it was cut in half it would carry it much better. around 2min mark... didn't like the dun dun dun... it was like a breakdown or something to my ears. I really don't care for the distortion, you can tell it's a amp plugin... and if it's not... well that just sucks. I don't like the vocals too much. they just really rub me the wrong way. overall I feel this song was rather disjointed and didn't live up to the intro. Like a lot of the parts never really got developed into something more cohesive... it was kinda like oh here's this and now it's gone here's something else

gioval9- The tone made me frown when the distortion kicked in. it has no power or umph behind it. Vocals are great though. The riffing is kinda repeative... but I wouldn't mind it so much of the guitar had a strong presense just crushing everything. Overall the song is good. just marred with almost synth sounding guitars. I do like the ending synths... it's like a space journey or something.

dystopia4 & necroticism174- I was digging the intro and then the song kicked in i thought it was a joke and was then going to be treated to some crushing riffs that were on time... Then the vocals started and disappointment kicked in. This sounds like something sorta thrown together after an hour of drinking and just taking some random drum loops from a totally separate song and then just attempting to force the guitar to work over it. I hate these clean vocals. I hate how it transitioned into this weird whatever the hell section. The guitar tone is horrible and weak and the playing is off time. and the synth and keyboards are sorta just wandering plucking. The distorted vocals aren't so bad but they are overblown in the mix. I wish the drums had a different beat at some point. the swelling ambience is the best section in the song and I kinda wish it was just that. I honestly couldn't wait for it to end.

syntek - Goddamn yes. finally some brute fucking crush. I was really loving the intro and build up. and it's perfect that it actually cresended into some fucking thick monsterous shit and the high lead is perfectly matched to it. Love the vocals, sat very well in the mix... almost too loud but just barely under the threshhold I have for loud vocals. This has perfect pacing and plenty of room to breath letting everything crawl and ring out. The kick almost sounds blown out but again just under where it isn't. The layered leads and the cleans here is great and just enough to not overwhelm it. Kinda almost Jesu-ish. I like how you worked some fast double bass into the crawling. Works very well with it all. hell even after 5 minutes I could listen to that drag on for at least another 4. that's how much I enjoyed it. Also i'm liking the piano as well I like that it's paired with something else i can't pick out so it's just not piano there. Oh this around 7:40 is great... actually reminds me of that section of song that was playing towards the end of 28days later. just really gripping shit. would buy this

My song/ep... actually the ep is what I first wrote and the single song by itself was composed afterwards. Anyway with the single song I kinda wanted to build upon the anticipation and anxiety that was taken from the story cause most of it was taken as a second hand account to another. And like how Apteronotus said in his review with the frenzed drumming but paired with the more sparse and simplier riffing at the end was to convey the sense towards the end of the story how something is very wrong and unsettling but the protagonist can't place his finger on it so he just kinda just does his best to handle the situation as if nothing was wrong and all is normal as it could be.
Additionally I thought I was going to have more time.. for some reason I thought the challenge ended at the end of Nov. I had also planned on creating another album more in the more standard sludge direction that I use in mountain of beard based around cartel tortures/killings. I'll still do this eventually but I wanted to pair it with this where these songs are horror /macabre in the literary and fitional sense and I wanted to pair it with something ugly and realistic based in reality. Maybe if I was home instead of out of town working I might have gotten it all down.
Warning selfpromoting bastardlyshits:
Anyway I plan on releasing the ep/full length songs as a release a bit later this month and the single song whispers I plan on putting on a comp release of all the yzord songs i've done for challenges with 2 additional unheard tracks that was meant for a split that never happened last year.

Oh and lol SLK with a feedback pull string.

Flesh bag- Very lowfi and dirty. for some reason I think of big black or scratch acid on downers.Not that it directly sounds like either band but that's what I picture this as. The solo single note stuff... it's just so messy and wrong sounding. I'm not sure if it's intential but I like it... but I shouldn't... somehow works for me. At first I wasn't like the vocals but as the song progresses I don't think there could've been any other type of vocals. So Now I like them. overall it doesn't quite sound like doom to me but like one of the noisy rock bands i've meantioned doing a dirge. Not that is a bad thing. I like it but if I try to think of it more metal based I'm thrown off mentally to it. weird... I don't really like how singsongy the lyrics are... i read them after listening and I just figured things would be uglier on that front. I hope to do more stuff like this in this vein. I'd like to see it develop further.

Corpsefister - Like the chants at the begining, and I really like the vocals.. they could actually be louder. I don't like the tone of the guitar. it's too weak and with the synths overpowering this is def more DSBM than any doom I would say. The double bass and bass section sorta does sound like something you would hear in traditional. I like the shouted vocals as well. it didn't quite transition as well into the ending void of ambience for me. it just stopped with no warning. Overall as a song it's pretty good but mared by the production and it feeling incomplete. Like you said... kinda more of a demo as you write and develop something.

GeoCO3- Right off the bat this reminds me of Katatonia... sorta their mid era. I like the quite guitar in the begining, I wish the distorted guitar had some more balls to it. It's just weak sounding. I really like the leads and sorta reminds me of Amorphis's earlier work. The clean vocals... I'm kinda on the fence.. some parts sound good and then some sound meh. Reminds me of Maudlin of the Well's on their first album... not quite perfect but somehow fits. maybe if there was some reverb on it. The heavier vocals I really like. I don't like the riff at 3min mark. it's totally a typical metalcore progression it really throws off the whole mood and flow of the song to throw down some sick breakdowns for the kids to pick up change to. and after hearing that it almost makes the second riff with the chug at the end of a phrase sound more typical metalcore cause it had me thinking of that. This song sorta pisses me off cause it could be something really gripping and but it just gets ruined by quite a few things.

PhilosophicalFrog & Necroticism174- Quite interesting lyrics so I'm already intrigued to listen to the song. I like the vocals here at the begining they fit with the sparse vocals and minimal guitars... i wish the guitar was louder/more crush. cause it would be something really special there. Necro are you using a mic that actually changes the output? cause at 3:06 I hear something like a click or some sorta mic adjustment right before the distortion on the vocals changed. The guitar and drums are a bit off from each other. More sloppy than intentional. This song really sounds like it's far far longer than it should be. I know at 7mins I was checked out to a degree. to a degree it kinda sounds like DSBM with the weak guitar and very repeative structure. with the double bass the snare sounds off. like not on the proper beat. Oh yea... totally hate white noise outro. Love feedback hate bullshit white noise.

Awblaster- i'm liking what i'm hearing aside from the doubled echo vocals. I never really liked them in anything I've heard and this is the same... no like or care. I wish the guitar tone had some more meat on the bones. a bit too clean. would've liked a bit more meat to the snare and kick as well. the dirtier vocals I like a bit more. like the chugging around 6:30 the entire riff up to this was played for way too long. I feel it couldve been like 4 minutes cut out. I do like the pick scraping leads and dive bombs. This is another one where I started zoning out. I didn't even realize it stopped playing before I was already on youtube going and listening to the jesus lizard.

No, I actually recorded vocals through computer speakers cause I had no mic (I do now). There's no effects on the vocals beyond a slight delay. Any distortion is a result of me basically overpowering it. Not sure what the click you speak of is. As for the drums and general sound, Frog himself recorded in a very lo-fi way, and that's what we were going for. Just not quite right, and sick. Oh and DSBM? I'm not sure if you're half-joking. Maybe one of the riffs that goes on for a minute or so could recall that, but if you're serious, I would love to hear DSBM composed of really slow, non tremolo picked held chords.

I'm actually a little irritated with my mix, as I must've opened up a previous version when I went to do the final export. The guitars were actually thinner than I had intended them to be, and the drums were better compressed originally.

But with that said, I'm very happy with the reactions I've got so far. Thanks all.

it's something popping or clicking there is some static shit. and yea it sounds like DSBM. most of that I've heard is the not tremolo held chord varity. it's not my thing so I can't really pick something. No need to get so defensive, this is one of the reasons I have you on mute. Whatever the case that song wasn't doom at all.

I'm not being defensive, I'm genuinely curious. And you can't produce any examples, so no need to derail further.

Even if I could provide samples, I wouldn't waste my time doing so. In my review I discussed why it brought to me that conclusion.

Haha. Ok, you had some legitimate criticisms, but then you pulled that one out of your ass and now you're just being a dick cause you can't justify it. By the way everyone, weak guitar + repetitive structure = DSBM. Classic SLK, don't ever change

Definitely liked the tracks by Syntek, CorpseFister, and Awblaster the best. Syntek's has a grand sound, with a little more production polish and compositional development it might sound at home on an Esoteric record. Would've liked to have heard some more nuances to evolve the harmonies in the final portions, but yeah...good stuff! CorpseFister's was really solid, nice atmosphere and mixing, strong emotions, well played in terms of themes. Might like it the best of all, all things considered, though it's hard to say. Awblaster's was great pulp horror material, flirting with campiness but weighed down with enough grim theatricality to fall on the appealing side of the fence. Simple but effective. Makes me think of rough-hewn concrete catacombs, and some college student reading Poe or Lovecraft for the first time in the 1970s while high out of his mind.

You are getting defensive again. Like I said from the stuff I have heard that was DSBM that was the norm. Not being a dick, just going off what I have from past experiences. it's nothing I listen to on the regular so I can't help that I associate such things as it. So it's nothing of pulling out of my ass, it's just what it is. If you don't like it you can always opt to not talk about it since all it shows is you getting upset and being a crybaby about it.

To be fair. I made the music. But I still don't hear it. If everything you heard in DSBM sounded like that you could at least give me an example. Like one band would be nice.

It was a sloppy project. God himself tried to stop us from making it. But it was a thematic project that had a lot of nuances to it. Its not doom in the traditional sense but bit certainly isn't even close to any kind of black metal. Its probably not even really metal. Especially compared to other amazing contributions to the compilation. Its noisy drone stuff with splashes of metallic offerings. The drums were programmed in two hours and I must say they sound pretty good for that time, and the mix was intentional. We go for caverns, not studios. It was recorded using a shit Line6 and a fucking phone microphone. Dagoth is not for everyone and its outsider art and I knew we would be heavily criticized for it so I'm not the least bit surprised.

This is not pulling a "haters gonna hate" thing but its not a normal sound. I never intended it to be so. You are more than welcome to criticize every aspect, but calling it close to black metal and saying that it sounds like all the stuff you've heard but unable to come up with a single band is a move that doesn't make things easy to talk about. And really just makes it seem like you didn't know what to say so you just said anything.

Anyway, I'll have my review of the compilation up soon.

Careful man, pointing out SLK's bullshit = being a crybaby. Keep that in mind everyone, even if he's almost preposterously wrong, don't call him out.

But I'm not wrong. Sounds like it to me and tht's pretty much it. Going on and on about it really is being a baby about it. I'm not going to actively find bands of a genre I don't particularly listen to in order to sedate a couple of people who are upset I called their music they feel it isn't. It's not a matter of being wrong or clueless in what I say, it's just a matter of that's how I feel and it's not going to change with all the pointless bitching about it. In all this time you could've done your reviews of the songs and posted them. and not just some one/two line shit either. paragraphs worth.

Dudes, SLK is never wrong. When he is, he make sure he's not using his Amish beard and A'nold in Predator wannabee body.

In other words, settle down, boys. Both sides.

I should download this comp, I'll do it in the coming days.

It is never productive to defend and argue about your music, that's something that is problematic time and time again on this forum. If you don't think criticism is valid, feel free to ignore it. The point of the reviews of these challenges is to get feedback, and he clearly put a good amount of time into providing feedback to people. Phrasing and tone is important in feedback, and you could ask why he thought it sounded like DSBM rather than questioning his sincerity in one piece of an otherwise extensive and sincere post.

Everyone on this forum should quickly be able to identify a meritless argument against a meritful debate - the meritless argument is about the validity of the poser, the meritful argument is about the clarity of the message. I suppose I'll have to explain this to people who aren't accustomed to this forum, but veterans should also be used to it.

My reviews (almost all positive, haha, I really liked this comp guys! Awesome job!)

"Howling Doom" - awesome intro, and amazing instrumentation, there's such a cool 70s prog-rock vibe in the production. I even think the vocals are pretty sweet, and the harmonies are excellent. There's a lot going on, and it's done extremely well, the earthy drums add a lot of the sound, and the whole track has this cold and distant feel to it. The sped up riff is classic Rotting Christ.

"Dead and Cold" - man, I loved this intro. It reeked of Autumnal, Draconian and all the other delicious gothic/doom stuff I love so much. I like your clean vocals, even if they aren't my style, and have to admire your enthusiasm. The production is really awesome, save the REAAAALLLLLY terrible synth cello :[ but, that being said, making synths sound realistic is tough. But, I LOVED that part of the song. Excellent buildup.

"Persephone's Dream" - BADASS INTRO, BRO. Overall, the song didn't do too much to me, but I loved the minimalism and the vocal delivery was good, really got that guttural feeling. The solo was particularly ace, and that melody was really great.

"High-Definition Boredom" - this was an odd one. The production made it particularly difficult to enjoy (especially that weak drum track man! gotta get an upgrade on your samples!) it sounded a bit like a song off of the DOOM soundtrack with growled vocals. Not bad, but definitely not my thing, in spite of the occasional great moments (when the synths come on, slightly off kilter with the rest of the song, the echo on the vocals).

"Antipathy" - HOLY FUCK. DAT INTRO. I was ready to punch a hole in my wall when the bass track starts up. If the whole song ended up being that, I would've been in love. But, it was very Esoteric-y, and I LOVE WHEN YOU SLIGHTLY TIP THE THRESHOLD of your recording. It adds this nauseating, pulsating feel to it that makes it seem like the song itself is crawling about, trying to escape from its digital prison. I really liked this man.

"Whispers in Darkness" - as usual, I really liked the layering effect, and the bizarro riffage that goes on. Makes it sound like the offspring of Oxbow and Until Death Overtakes Me. I'm not usually a fan of this much drum-wankery, but in this case it works well, in the same way that Hellhammer's incessant bashing worked well for Ordo Ad Chao, adding another layer of noise on top of the already brimming soundscape.

"..." - This sounds like something straight off of Funeral Stench. Hyper Lo-Fi doom-y noisy vibes. I like it quite a bit, and the tinny production works well, especially when the bass drum breaks the cackling cassette sounding production. Makes it seem like I've come across an old 90s demo of some weird band. The main melody of the song is really haunting too. Pretty sweet stuff dude.

"Broken Skulls, Shattered Faith" - nice gothic rhythms going on. Really get that old school progression going with this, and the repetition adds a lot to it. As usual, the synths are outstanding and minimal and add a really awesome layer onto an already strong song. When the clean/growl layers come on, it really reminds me I'm listening to Tor Marrock or mid-era Tiamat. The change in speed was really well placed and I dug the shit out of it, good poppy doom metal. Definitely wearing the gothic rock on your sleeves here.

"Behind the Veil of Consciousnesses" - a better drum song would've put this over the top with how cool it could've been! The melodies are really amazing, and remind me so much of rainy spires and grey skies. The balance of clean and growls really add to the mid-90s gothic metal vibe created by the song. You know your strengths, and you play them extremely well. But, goddamn! This would've slayed with a better production!

"The Horrors that Dwell Within" - what can I say. This was so fucking good, man. An amazing balance of psychedelic with metallic, and the repetition and vocal layering at the beginning are ripped straight from the entrails of classic acid bands, draped in cloaks and masks, with weird wigs singing about horrors and terror! You nailed it. The slight growl you have oddly enough, works really well....I thought it would sound weak, but in this case it just makes the 70s vibe all the more poignant.

Antipathy by Onerous is pretty excellent, I've been looking for funeral doom of this style for a long time. I still haven't listened to the entire song, I'm about six minutes in. If there's a fast, brutal passage somewhere in here, I'm going to have to declare this song nearly perfect.

Sorry, man, no brutal passage, unfortunately.
I was focusing primarily on atmosphere when I wrote it. But I was thinking of maybe writing something Ataraxie-ish for the next doom challenge, so we'll see.

On that note, what do people think the next songwriting challenge'll be, and when? I'm eager to get writing again!

Probably not till the new year I'd guess. We'll need to come up with a new theme too, if anyone has any suggestions feel free to post them here:

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=80714

Review time!

Corpsefister: I rather liked all of your vocals in this song, but I agree that they could have been louder. I disagree that this was demo-ish, as it didn't sound that lo-fi to me. Yeah, the synths are louder than the guitars, but that's what gives it it's interesting sound. The ambiance at the end was decent, but your transition into it was kind of sloppy, though I can hear what you tried to do. The riffs are really cool and emotional, and when I turn up the bass I can hear it fine and it fills in the low end quite well. I like the fuzziness of the guitars and your synth tones are cool. I'd definitely be interested in hearing that DSBM album you're working on. The lyrics were nothing special, but they did fit with the song so it's a minor complaint.

GeoCO3: The vocals were much too low, but I guess you were trying to blend them into the song. I'm not a huge fan of the chugging that comes in at 3 minutes in or so, as your guitar tone isn't really fitting for it. Your clean vocals are interesting though, and you perform them with decent passion. This song is very melodic, and I like that. The transitions are good though, as their seem to be quite a few distinct parts. The production was rough, but decent. The drums were kind of just there, wasn't a big fan of them, but at least they weren't intrusive. Keep it up, it was enjoyable.

gioval9: Right away, I'm liking the clean melody and tone. I like your lyrics, you have some nice imagery going but two short stanzas isn't enough for a song of this length, and you could have elaborated on them quite a bit, as the Persephone thing is an interesting and ripe angle. Distortion has kicked in now, with a very dry drum sound. Maybe a bit more echo on them would have fit better? The vocals are niiiiice though. Really low and throaty, a funeral doom standard. The riffs have a steady pace for the genre too, faster than usual, and the keys really hammer that point in. This is more oppressive than sad, was that what you were going for? The production is quite good, and something you would probably hear from an established band in the genre's second album or so. I really like the tone of your leads, not really piercing, creamy and straight to the membrane. I like the way that it slowly all cools down to only synths to lead the song out.

infinitenexus: Not a fan of the way this starts, or your lead tone, but it's certainly competent. The MDB type cleans were unexpected, and I don't really like those either. The drums are quite punchy, and punctuate that riff starting at 1:50 well. The riffs from then fare better than the vocals, and I really like the drums over cello bit. The cleans in the chorus were a lot better, I must say. So far, my least favourite song, but still good.

Awblaster: The spoken word over that heavy riff made me laugh. When I saw that the song was 9 minutes long, I was expecting quite a bit of repetition and was wondering if you would pull it off. And you did, the riffs were all ace, but I really don't like most of the vocals. Except the instances of slightly higher, throaty rasps. It seems half as long as it really is, and the production is fuzz laden and bassy as fuck. Old school, like I enjoy my doom. The bass was really prominent, and added lots of oomph and oozing menace to the song. I'm really pleasantly surprised so far at the level of production we've gotten in this challenge, it's easily the best so far and this song is no exception. I'm impressed. I LOVE the solo section. Weird as fuck and ear piercing.

Syntek: Starts with some sad, strange melodies. Almost alien. Right then and there, I could feel a sense of dread. Of something monstrous lurking around the corner. The way the other clean guitar made it's way in was perfect, the bass just boooooming. And then, when it becomes almost excrutiating, some Esoteric and Catacombs lovechild riff starts playing, building on the clean melody. Just for those three minutes, this is the best song so far. I like it a lot. I would buy the album this is on. The production is perfect, the bass registers very well captured, thunderous and echoey drums with prominent tone, MONSTROUS vocals (I'm really curious as to what effects you used on them). The lyrics are perfect for this aesthetic, painting a picture of abominable dread and desolation. You're giving the best funeral doom bands a run for their money. Do you have other projects?

Fleshbag: Right off the bat, reading the lyrics, I wasn't expecting much. Very cliche, unoriginal, bland. The song is very raw, distant sounding, the drums have too much reverb and an abuse of cymbals in a non-pleasing way. The riffs are average and most don't do much for me, but I like your use of overbending in some of them. The vocals are kind of just like gollum came into your recording room and decided to chill there. You said you wish you had more time, and it shows. I can see potential, but it's unfulfilled. Also, it's kind of funny to note that every song so far has had a clean guitar section. We sure love those on MA!

Howling Doom: Your first section sounds like something I've been messing around with recently (without flute of course, which I thought was actually nicely interwoven). The guitars have a very blown out sound when they start. Like they're too loud and always on the verge of clipping. The vocals are alright, sounding like they have some minor distortion on them (not unintentional, though). I do like the riffs (except the chugging section) and I wish they sounded better. The ''howling section'' is laughable though. Were you just messing around? The drum sound is pretty bad too, as are the lyrics. Sorry man, I can't really get into this :/

Me and Frog: Vocally, I went for a kind of ''harsher Khanate'' vibe. Really tried to go for a deranged and sick feel above everything else. Lyrically, I did some research on severe autism and it's associated medications, and found it fascinating. The idea was actually Frog's, but I was really into it and thought the breakdown and insanity would really fit the nihilism theme we'd been assigned as well as the really slow, crawling, lo-fi guitar madness. I think it goes faster than 25 beats per minute like once. Funeral doom noise outsider music, if you will.



SLK: Not down to review an entire EP of this, so I'm just going to do Whispers in Darkness because it's a standalone song. I like the use of feedback in this, I'm a sucker for that kind of thing. The guitar tone itself is just really... ''wrong'' sounding, if you will. And I can't recall if it's your usual one, but I don't think it is. It's noisy, it's dissonant, definitely a painful experience, but I think that's what you were going for. Some sections are basically just chaos, feeling like they have nothing to ground them, and it doesn't alternate enough into melodic resolution to be interesting to listen to very often. It's more of an experience. The drums are cool, and one of the only ones in this competition that are natural sounding. I don't like the vocals in this song, the kind of short croaks with no real rhyme, reason, or rhythm, were you drunk again?
An exercise in discordant bass crushing.


That's it folks, this has been my favourite competition so far (and the only one I participated in). It was a cool experience, and I look forward to your thoughts. Who says we were born too late?

All I really used was good EQing (because my mic is terrible), a shit-tonne of reverb, obviously, and a small bit of gain for good measure.
I did have a previous black metal project, Asininity, that I've abandoned completely, but I'm currently working on a demo for a new black metal project (that I haven't named just yet), but I'll post it on MA when I've finished the first song.

Anyway, I digress.

necro: It is the same tone/guitar/amp settings/strings/tuning as all other yzord songs. It's just an emphasis on the higher end dissonance instead of the lower regions cause I wanted to convey less of a sense of dread but more confussion, panic, and the absurdity of the events being relayed to the protagonist. The vocals are were actually all paced out deliberately cause I wanted there to also be breathing room in the song for the other strange chords to ring and speak. I really didn't want to do a run of constant vocals just suffocating the entire piece. I haven't drank while recording vocals since last year around this time for the first yzord which was also the last time I drank ingeneral.. I find it more counteractive than productive. But it was the first time i was doing vocals in quite awhile and for something as long as that before. Thanks for the review!

looking forward to this!
and SLK what a coincidence there's a track called whispers in darkness on my dark ambient album haha

I really should be asleep right now, damnit but before that I just wanna say I've listened to bits and pieces of this stuff and what I can say so far is this;

SLK: WiD sounds sick, but the riff reminds me a tad too much of another yzzdrjfadkfsmfuckit song. however I can hear the difference.

Corpse: Your fuzzy/Filosofem-esque guitar tone and brooding keys are FLAWLESS and I love what I've heard so far, do you have any actual projects going? I'd love to hear em.

Syntek: Bueno as fuck! quality funeral doom!

Cheers thanks man!

I’ve been working on a DSBM project for a little while, but heartened by some of the positive feedback I received on this song I started last night on a couple more doomy, gothy ones more in this vein. My new wave band keeps me pretty busy, but I’m hoping to get at least an EP length recorded by the new year.

Anyway, I’ve been listened through all the tracks a few times over the past days and I’ll be posting reviews soon!