Probably a little late for reviews, but I'll post some anyway if y'all are interested.
2 Girls 1 Cup LYRICS: 5/5- You did the best you possibly could with such a vapid lyrical theme. In a way, I almost wish Mr. Lemmy was singing them, just to hear how they sound like in his voice. GENRE CHOICE: 3/5-Like many others said, it kind of took me by surprise. I wasn't even really expecting something specific, but I expected thrash, traditional, speed, groove or power metal. Definitely not Blackened Thrash, but hey, you surprised me, I'll give you that. COMPOSITION: 3/5-Everything doesn't really mesh awful well together. The instruments conflict with each other stylistically which gets in the way of my enjoyment of the song. I don't know if sonic clashing was your attention, but it reallly overshadows some pretty cool riffs. PERFORMANCE: 5/5-No complaint here. Everything is played to the best of your ability PRODUCTION: 4/5-Pretty good. It could be better, but that's fine, and not really your fault. OVERALL: 20/25-GOOD JOB!!!!
Dormant Choirs You know how about we just skips this one shall we. I don't need to waste time with it. Good lyrics spoiled by a guy who can't write music and doesn't know how to produce.
The Ninth Ring LYRICS: 4/5-Its hard to do Dante justice. It really, really is. And Decaying My Youth/MoonPenetrator, you gave it a valiant effort and did a pretty good job. But nobody can live up to the man, who was Dante Alligheiri SONG GENRE CHOICE: 5/5-Exactly how I saw it as well. Pretty obvious COMPOSITION: 5/5-THIS WAS YOUR FIRST TIME WRITING A METAL SONG!!!!!????? WRITE SOME FUCKING MORE MAN!!!!!!!!!! Great DSBM, albeit generic. Those synth passages are haunting and beautiful, and the atmosphere created by the keys is contemplative yet also desperate and demented. PERFORMANCE: 4/5-I want to get something out of the way right now. I read a comment from someone that said your shrieks sounded like post-hardcore... they're wrong. Your vocals are awesome. Other than that, everything was honestly a little too easy (playing wise) to mess up on. PRODUCTION: 4.5/5- Have to take .5 off for one reason and one reason only. Either you need to turn your spoken word vocals down, or turn your harsh vocals up in the mix. Preferably the latter. The last "Abandon all hope.... ye who enter HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRREEEE" would do a lot better if the shriek was the same volume as the spoken word, and would create more of an effect. OVERALL: 22.5/25-One of the standouts, excellent job.
Cleansed in Blood LYRICS: 3/5-I don't really like them, say sorry. They're generic and frankly, way too short. Granted, them being short was what caused LordOminous to have to fill in with an "UUUUURRGG SATAN" that made the song... So I can't complain too much. SONG GENRE CHOICE: 4/5- I expected them in a vikingish setting, but I didn't expect it to be this fucking happy sounding. Why is this happy sounding? The song title means to CLEAN YOURSELF IN BLOOD!!! Why the fuck is it happy? Its good, but doesn't fit. COMPOSITION: 5/5- Once again, no complaints. You did a great job LordOminous (and I have an Alestorm hard on by the way, can't wait for the new album). Synths sound awesome and I must applaud for making a guitar sound good the first time you played it. I also loved the nintendo bit by the way, and the transition where the song picks up the pace halfway through is awesome PERFORMANCE: 5/5-Once again, no complaints. Played Well all of the way too. PRODUCTION: 4/5-One of the better production jobs OVERALL: 21/25- You know what, fuck overalls. I liked yours, The Ninth Ring, Drowning Sleep, Irrelevant, and The End of the Bronze Age the most.
Irrelevant LYRICS: 5/5-Just beautiful, really. Awesome. Indeed, we are irrelevant amidst the seas of black cosmic infinity, the depths of the endless swarming abyss where we are just a speck only to be washed away. SONG GENRE CHOICE: 5/5-Perfect COMPOSITION: 5/5-The orchestration at the beginning was quite simply unbelievable, apparently Devirginizer did that, so wonderful, wonderful job. Honestly, I cringed when I saw the song was ten minutes. But you guys kept my interest for the whole time, and for that, you gain a standing ovation. Well done PERFORMANCE: 5/5- I see no sloppy playing. Nothing was messed up here and this was obviously meticulously crafted. PRODUCTION: 4/5-It could have been better, but I have no room to complain OVERALL: 24/25-This was my favorite song of the whole competition, absolutely brilliant. I want to hear more from the two of you. So link me any of your other projects.
Years Have Passed LYRICS: 2/5-Honestly pretty generic and boring. They scream thrash SONG GENRE CHOICE: 5/5-Thrash, just like I expected COMPOSITION: 4/5- It's done reasonably well, but I am simply not a fan of this style. So I can't give it a 5. I can't comment on thrash since I don't really listen to it PERFORMANCE: 5/5- Nothing wrong here. Everything's played well PRODUCTION: 3/5-Could use a little work, but its pretty good nonetheless. OVERALL: 18/25-Not bad, but just a little below the quality of some of the other work present here. But.... it's better than Dormant Choirs, much much better.
The End of the Bronze Age LYRICS: 5/5-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Still dying laughing at the interpretation of the lyrical theme. STEEEEEEEL Indeed man, steel. SONG GENRE CHOICE: 5/5-This was pretty obvious,but I still loved it. COMPOSITION: 4/5-There are some pretty cool riffs on here. But in the meantime the opening riff is unpromising... to say the least. So one point off for that. PERFORMANCE: 4/5- A little bit of sloppiness towards the beginning, but otherwise its played pretty well. Also STEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEL THE END OF AN AGE!!!! STEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEL THE END OF YOUR LIIIIIIFE!!!!! Also, I must applaud you to be able to sing those lyrics pompously and seriously without bursting into laughter PRODUCTION: 3/5-It could use a little work, but it was pretty good OVERALL: 21/25- Fucking steel!!!!! (by the way I thought this was much funnier than 2G1C. Mainly because of the creativity)
De Cryptikon LYRICS: 2.5/5-They're not bad, but I have two problems with them. 1. They're awfully generic anti-religous lyrics, 2. How the hell are they cryptic? Other than that, the "Heed the call" part was pretty good and I thoroughly enjoyed the first stanza. SONG GENRE CHOICE: 4/5-Honestly I don't know what to call the genre you chose, I've never heard anything like it before, so props for originality. Just about anything could've fit the lyrics, and these fit them pretty well. COMPOSITION: 3/5-Pretty boring to be honest. I think the song is composed approximately of one, not very interesting, riff. Drums are pretty obviously programmed and they sound pretty "mechanical". Didn't really care for it, sorry. Effort put in though, I can tell, just not my thing. PERFORMANCE: 3/5-Whoever recorded the vocals, were you sick? They sound like Abbath with strep throat. Other than that, everything was so simple you couldn't possibly screw up PRODUCTION: 4/5-The production, at least, for this track, was good. OVERALL: 16.5/25-Not something I would listen to personally, but you did a fairly reasonable job under the pressure of the deadline.
Drowning Sleep LYRICS: 5/5-Great job here. This is a theme that I'm sure most of us can relate to in some way, but we're sick of the cliches that defile it. You've managed to write something thought provoking and original, and for that, I applaud you. SONG GENRE CHOICE: 4/5-Once again, surprise factor. I didn't expect drone, but it fit the song perfectly, unlike 2 Girls 1 Cup which I felt was odd and disjointed. COMPOSITION: 4/5-Very good job. Drone, contrary to popular belief, is quite hard to compose because its hard to make a genre with so little complexity interesting. Bands like Sunn 0))) and Earth can do it, but there are plenty of bands that can't. Of course, the musical god and maestro SLK can keep it interesting. Well, it starts to get a little repetitive towards the end, but other than that, good job. PERFORMANCE: 5/5-Obviously its hard to mess up in terms of technicality when playing drone. But I have to give my thoughts on the drums, which in my opinion make the song. I am positive those are real drums (and if they're not, that's the best programming I've ever heard), and they honestly show why programmed drums simply can't live up to their real brethren. It sounds so organic, so real. And the drums alone are what keep the song from being a borefest and instead, quite an intense, heavy listening experience, well done. PRODUCTION: 5/5-No complaints here, great job. Also I want to take this section to ask this question, "How the hell, after taking a quarter of the time as everyone else, can you write one of the best songs?". I guess you really do shit music man. And you shit GOOD music. OVERALL: 23/25-Wonderful job, and a fantastic score to show for it.
I Am Despair LYRICS: 3/5-I'm sure you could've done better, and it's not because of the theme. But I feel these are pretty whiny/emo SONG GENRE CHOICE: 3/5-Speaking of emo....WHY?????? Depressive Metalcore/Post-Hardcore????? It fits the lyrics, I'll give you that. But you could've done something much more interesting, you know, gothic? doom? DSBM? Drone? Ambient? I rest my case. COMPOSITION: 3/5-This song is a real victim of the 3/5's. I liked the first riff, but you repeat it way too much. Same with that bridge riff. Actually that can be said for the whole song, it could've been a good three minutes shorter and have gotten a 4/5 from me. But not only is it long, I can predict everything that's going to happen after the break about halfway through. PERFORMANCE: 5/5-I can't complain about this, you played everything to the best of your ability and I like the vocals. PRODUCTION: 4.5/5-For this kind of music, I would prefer to hear it recorded more professionally. But that's not your fault. But I have to take half off anyway because I feel that's distracting. OVERALL: 18.5/25-Not bad, but some seriously messed up genre decisions....
Total Fucking Destruction LYRICS: 2/5-You know, I just want to point out that the lyrics for "Purgatory" were much, much better than what Bonged wrote. I understand not liking lyrics, but keep your mouth shut about it unless you're reviewing them. I definitely laugh now that he says others "can't write lyrics" (when they can write quite well) when he can't himself. For example: what the fuck does environmentalism have to do with anything? SONG GENRE CHOICE: 5/5-Couldn't have been better. These lyrics screamed thrash COMPOSITION: 4/5-I liked the riffs for the most part. The solo at the end was a nice touch and helped create a no-frills short and sweet, thrash song. PERFORMANCE: 4/5- Vocals were awesome. Other than that, there's a few minor, almost unnoticeable screw ups in the solo that actually make it sound more organic, and a little bit of sloppiness on the bass (its not THAT bad), but overall a nice job here as well. PRODUCTION: 5/5-One of the best produced pieces of the whole challenge, very nice job. OVERALL: 20/25-Good job, this and 2G1C were on about equal footing, so this rating actually does do justice (even though lyrics aren't your faults, I coincidentally enjoyed both tracks the same musically)
Three Headed Snake LYRICS... ORIGINAL: 5/5, MODIFIED: 4/5. This is a hard part to review and I must say, you took some liberties with the lyrics that IMMO shouldn't have been taken (you did make the challenge, however). But the point is. The original was poetic and quite thought provoking and you lost some of that when you changed the lyrics to make them more "singable" or whatever. I'll factor the modified into the overall score because that is what was used. SONG GENRE CHOICE: 4/5- Fits the modified lyrics, and the "grab yourself a beer" line does kind of scream this style. But I would have loved to hear the original lyrics in a deathrash sort of style. Or maybe Blackened Death/Bestial Black Metal. I can appreciate the hard rock though, yes I can. COMPOSITION: 4/5-Again with these 4/5s!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway, I liked it for the most part. The intro was a nice build up to the verse which led into the enveloping chorus and kept you filled with adrenaline all the way to the soft outro. My only real complaint is that I think the pre-chorus could be done without. PERFORMANCE: 4/5- Great job on guitars, drums, and bass. No sloppiness detected. BUT!!!!!!!!!!! YOUR VOCALS AREN"T VERY GOOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. Its like a cross between James Hetfield and a bored Layne Stayley (see Sickman chorus). They aren't terrible (like De Cryptikon) but they have some sort of annoying overtone that really aggravates me. Sorry. PRODUCTION: 5/5-Can't complain here. Could be the best produced song of the whole challenge, nice job. OVERALL: 21/25-I did this last for two reasons. 1. This song was a significant stylistic departure from the others and I felt it fit for it to be seperated from the rest. and 2. I want to thank you for organizing this challenge so I could hear so much great music being made. Thanks in the highest order!!! YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!
Must-Listens: Irrelevant, Drowning Sleep, The Ninth Ring, Cleansed in Blood Good Listens: The End of the Bronze Age, Three-Headed Snake. Worth Listening: 2 Girls 1 Cup, Total Fucking Destruction, I Am Despair Listen to if you're curious: De Cryptikon, Years Have Passed Don't Listen, under any circumstance: Dormant Choirs
So there y'all go.
_________________ "There is something vaguely homosexual about that picture, and what did you use for drums? Hub Caps?"-SteelCranium
Last edited by bfernandez on Sat Jun 04, 2011 12:01 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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